How to lose the war - PDH vs Cpt Flam

[Senno]

I look at this game when I want to feel good. I can forget my own pathetic advance, haha.

I imagine PDH with his goggles on streaming over the Caucasus. Not a care in the world, just him and his panzers

Then I imagine turning him into Elie Wiesel...[;)]

But I digress....

[cpt flam]

really not so fun being in front[:@]
trying to change a little my "strategy"[&:]
I fear a HQ build-up in front of Moscow by Pz corps
2/3 made from this bloody "bad" weather next turn

[PeeDeeAitch]

I don't normally talk strategy here, because I don't use it. However, sometimes I have delusions of competence and I try to get funky. The Crimea on turn 12 is an example of this. The reason I will explain it here is that (in an almost zen-like way) it doesn't matter if my opponent knows this is a piece of strategy - his reaction dictates which path I take.

The Perekop Ithmus has been breached by the 11th Army. It is poised to strike deep into the Crimea and threaten Sevastopol and perhaps even make it to Kerch. However, it is also outside of the Crimea still, and able to move toward Stalino rapidly in the month until mud. It presents a solid threat to either, and the reaction that comes will help what I do. If the approaches to Stalino are heavily reinforced, then the Crimea will be mine (maybe even a venture into the Kuban), if the Crimea is shored up I will head with the 11th Army to Stalino.

Either course benefits me. Stalino will fall easier if he fights for the Crimea. The Romanian mountain corps will block the Crimea along with a heavy line of entrenchments and the near worthless rest of the romanians. While it is nice to have the Romanian mountain units further east, the Crimea has been a problem in winter games for players - so the strength of "winter-proof" brigades here plus entrenchments will likely at worst slow this down.

If he gives me the Crimea, then I don't have to worry about the far south collapsing in winter - I have plenty of troops to garrison the Crimea (ports especially), and a mountain brigade plus a few romanian divisions can hold Kerch short of a natural disaster. Stalino will be a harder slog and I will have to advance less in the Don region, but I can rest easier knowing that I won't be outflanked in the far south.

[PeeDeeAitch]

From now on no choosing opponents who have a life. We need to clone Oleg so it only takes the enemy 5 minutes to send back a turn!

[randallw]

I think you mean to create more clones of Oleg.

[Josh]

Oleg is a clone? Taking 5 minutes to return a GC turn? Cool!

[Keunert]

how could you possibly expect a reliable opponent if play against soviets?

[PeeDeeAitch]

Updates! Updates! Updates! I was out Monday evening and most of Tuesday, but now I have returned to the real world of fake gaming and I shall update as I might today.

Some teasers:

The worlds longest snatch and grab as Stalino et al are taken by hungry SS troops.
4th Panzer joins 3rd Panzer and is 30 miles from Moscow
Leningrad falls.
Crimea blitz starts.
Romanians still suck.

[Mynok]

Of course Leningrad falls...you isolated it.

[PeeDeeAitch]

The Stalino Dash

Well, it is turn 13, and I was facing a crisis of overconfidence. I had eliminated the Kiev pocket (perhaps 400-500k men), and Leningrad was on its last legs. The options were simple - rested 1st and 2nd Panzer Groups had been sitting around after Kiev drinking champagne and eating lobster tails, and they needed to do something. The obvious was a dash toward Moscow with 2nd, but there are a lot of troops to the south there, checkerboarded and chess-pieced, entrenched and actually armed with weapons and stuff now.

Instead, Heinz and Kleist went the unexpected direction, driving between Dnepropetrovsk and Kharkov straight to Stalino. 2nd opened the holes, 1st had two divisions mak it to the three cities there - capturing some factories, cutting rails (though there are still ports to the south) and generally causing mayhem. I want to winter a bit to the east of Stalino, so I needed to grab these - plus it might open up Kharkov to the north (along Black Sea I assume Capt Flam will have to pull back - the panzer threat could make another massive pocket here...)

Overall very fun, and I hope an "oh crap" moment for my opponant.

[PeeDeeAitch]

ORIGINAL: Mynok


Of course Leningrad falls...you isolated it.

Pfft, those were headlines.

[PeeDeeAitch]

Crimea

Here I am still playing around - I never have a strategy, and here is the same. I just like to drive my units around conquering stuff, so the purple horde is now smashing through the Crimea to make my southern flank secure.

[karonagames]

Oh dear - more 200 mile advances - very gamey.[:D]

[PeeDeeAitch]

Luckily I didn't advance through trackless wastes.

[karonagames]

Seriously though we were worried that the changes to morale would make this rate of advance harder to achieve, but the SS boys you used could obviously advance further than the lower morale units.

I assuming this is without HQ buildup. If you had used it you could have been in Rostov!

[PeeDeeAitch]

2nd Panzer used buildup - 1st had air supply and a couple of turns waiting. The lower morale units (one of the "higher teens" panzer divisions is only 72 morale I think) did go slower.

[76mm]

Holy crap...

And actually those probably are also trackless wastes, but at least trackless wastes through the steppe, so not completely implausible!

[karonagames]

I think the Soviet remedial defence classes will need to be reactivated. Where was the Alamo/reserve/training/digging line?

[Klydon]

The Crimea seems somewhat devoid of units. Too bad you didn't have a motorized/armored unit there or you may have been able to drive all the way to Sevastopol for a beach party.

[PeeDeeAitch]

On previous turns there was a unit in Sevastopol, so I expect one there now, however, 4-6 full strength 1941 divisions will set that right...