41-45GC Smokindave (Sov) vs. Zonso (Axis)

[Gorforlin]

Hold Moscow !!!

[CheerfullyInsane]

ORIGINAL: Gorforlin

Hold Moscow !!!

Very helpful.
I'm sure that hadn't occurred to him. [:D]

[Flaviusx]

Comrade Chuikov, STAVKA is pleased with your successful use of reserves!

[smokindave34]

ORIGINAL: Flaviusx

Comrade Chuikov, STAVKA is pleased with your successful use of reserves!

Thanks for the advice - I will use reserve forces liberally now in almost every situation, it really keeps the attacker guessing. I hadn't had as much success using it in my game against Q-ball - could be due to his attacks having high CV values and also the blizzard cutting down on the distance the reserves could commit from.

Since I am now in the good graces of STAVKA I imagine my NKVD "assistants" will be transferred to another front? I've been a bit nervous when turning my back on them........

[Flaviusx]

Weather might impact reserve commitment. It could be your CC isn't as good in the other game, too, your fronts may be more overloaded than in 1941. The burden of making the initiative check will fall much more on the armies and STAVKA in that case and Fronts will mostly drop out of the equation. So it goes. Things will get better by mid 43.

If the initial attack is strong enough in relation to the defense, it can cancel reserve commitment altogether even if it makes all the other checks. That's ok. The mere possibility of reserves has forced him to up the ante and stronger attacks means fewer of them.

As for the NKVD...unfortunately, we at STAVKA are as much under the eyes of comrade Beria as you.

[smokindave34]

T17 STAVKA report:

Last turn of clear weather. No major push on Moscow as Zonso appears to be re-locating his panzers somewhat. It looks as though 3rd panzer group is now positioned directly in front of Moscow readying for a potential head on push during the snow. He is only a few hexes away so I suspect he will make an attempt to push ahead here. 2nd panzer group pulled back a bit and it looks as though Zonso is getting them re-located to rail lines to refit and repair prior to winter.

In the north I can't find 4th panzer group.....It may be heading south to support a fontal assault on Moscow or getting ready to try and cross the Moskva-Volga canal in an attempt to encircle Moscow (although that would be risky this late in the season).

I have 46 cavalry divisions and have pulled them all back from the front line and placed them on refit to prepare for the blizzard. I also start building sapper and tank support regiments to attach to the new cavalry corps. I'll save up AP's from now unitl the blizzard to allow for a quick build of cavalry corps...I'll have to see what develops in the snow turns - I haven't yet decided on where to attack but the Wehrmacht seems very weak in the south.

Moscow....

[smokindave34]

In the south the III and XXXXVIII Panzer corps make some headway and the XIV Panzer corps is safely in Stalino. I pulled back just a bit here to straighten my lines. Based on the low CV's here I see on some of the axis infantry makes me think that this may be a good spot to concentrate forces for the blizzard. I'll watch closely during the winter......

[comsolut]

How are your armaments holding up? By turn 17 I dropped below 100K, however my OOB Men was 1 million higher.

[smokindave34]

ORIGINAL: comsolut

How are your armaments holding up? By turn 17 I dropped below 100K, however my OOB Men was 1 million higher.

It's a server game so I can't go back and look. I'll post the numbers next turn......your doing very well if you OOB is an additional 1 million!

[comsolut]

I'm just now getting back to the GC PBEM scene. I have two games going as the Russians (which as we know is more forgiving against German opponents learning the game), and I am relearning the Russian side of things after a year + of patches. Starting to get a handle on building a Russian Army rearmed for 43, much less using reserves, tank and rifle brigades, and Cav Corps in Winter.

I mainly want to play opponents who will commit to the entire campaign 41-45. I have started about 6 PBEM GC and (yes this was the earlier versions) and never got past the Blizzard.

But, I have also been reluctant to tackle very experienced German players (just look at Michael T and muling HQ's) because I lack the confidence to believe the Russian can come back from that. I play a forward defense style and that seems impossible against that particular strategy.

Anyway, enjoying your AAR's and appreciate all the time you take to post the screenshots.

[smokindave34]

Thanks Comsolut!

Were stuck in the mud now so here is some data through turn 18......By the way you will see I am also out of armaments.

Losses data

[smokindave34]

Production numbers...

[smokindave34]

And finally the OOB.....

[smokindave34]

T22 STAVKA report:

It's been a while since I posted any status updates. The mud season has come and gone and the first turn of winter weather has brought with it some limited axis attacks. Zonso launched 30 attacks this turn and won 27. I had reserve commitments in 8 of these battles and my record when reserves joined in was 2 wins and 5 losses. I was hoping for a bit better than that and had a LOT of units in reserve, however Zonso has changed tactics and is attacking with much heavier odds. This is a small victory in intself in that it lowers the amount of attacks he has per turn.

In the north it remains quiet with the Finns launching sporadic attacks against the Leningrad front.

North of Moscow the 4th panzer group backed up by elements of 3rd panzer make some headway into the lines of NW and Kalinin fronts. No major penetrations here and I continue to have good defense in depth. It will be interesting to see how much Zonso pushes forward with the blizzard just a few turns away.

Behind my main lines I have 7 armies in refit mode which include 49 cavalry divisions. I've been building sapper regiments, MG-arty battalions, and separate tank regiments to assign to the new cavalry corps I will build in December (I've also been hoarding AP's - I'm at 390 now - to support building all these new cavalry corps).

[smokindave34]

South of Moscow its a similar scene. More units of 3rd panzer army push forward into the lines of Western Front. Recon didn't identify any units from 2nd panzer army? They were south of the Oka river just before the mud hit. Zonso may have pulled them back to refit....not sure.

Bryansk front enjoys the first snows of winter without a single attack on their lines.

[smokindave34]

III and XIV panzer corps finish taking my industrial centers in the south. The industry was out of here long ago but these cities may provide Zonso a backbone to base his blizzard defense on. I feel like I can make some headway here during the blizzard - not many forts are built by the axis and the axis allies are holding a fairly substantial portion of the line in the extreme south. I have two reserve armies on refit at Stalingrad with plenty of cavalry - they will be heading to this area soon.

[smokindave34]

Finally the OOB. I'm happy with my numbers. I think having just over 5 million men in the Red army OOB is pretty good for this stage of the campaign.

[comsolut]

ORIGINAL: smokindave34

Production numbers...

Yes - I am up to turn 35 and still have not seen armaments revive and climb above zero.

[smokindave34]

I'll post my production numbers next turn. My armaments were not above zero and it sounds like they won't be for some time...

[smokindave34]

T24 STAVKA report:

Final turn before the blizzard. Overall I'm pretty happy with the way the summer has gone. My OOB is over 5 million and I managed to prevent any major encirclements. My losses are just over 3 million - a bit higher than I would have liked but not terrible. I gave up a LOT of ground in the north (which I will try and recover to some degree during the blizzard) but was able to hold Moscow and also hold Zonso to a bit less than historical gains in the south. I kept my cavalry divisions out of harms way and should be able to field 10+ cavalry corps to cause havoc during the blizzard.

In the past I have merged a lot of my rifle brigades into my rifle divisions to keep the offensive going but have decided against that strategy this time around. I'm going to use my rifle brigades and tank brigades to keep all the forts I built up to their full strength. I'll certainly gain some ground during the blizzard but in May/June the Wehrmacht will be back and I want to have a defensive line to build around (I learned this lesson the hard way in a previous game!).

Leningrad/NW front sector:


The Volkhov front has arrived and I've assigned the 60th and 1st shock armies which I had been refitting behind the lines to this new front. The 60th army will have a cavalry corps assigned to it and the 1st shock army will have two cav corps. I've tried to assign all of my cavalry divisions to armies whose leaders have high initiative. This will hopefully get me some more MP's to push the Wehrmacht back with. Tolbukhin gets assigned the 1st shock army.