Adventures in Russia

[larryfulkerson]

I wasn't expecting to get this close to Minsk so soon so I haven't planned what to
do with Minsk. It depends on the defenders configuration and I need some more recon
for that. Alo, I'd like to surround the city before taking it down so as to deny
Elmer any bits and pieces. But tather than surround it first I'd like to get a unit
into the city hex itself and shut off the Soviet production from that city. Holding
it for a full turn would be another topic to discuss.

[larryfulkerson]

This is what the south looks like now. Their defensive line is all but gone. Just
a little mopping up left. Then they will zoom to the SE to see what further adventures
they can find. I'm wondering how much further SE I can go and still guard everything.
So far I'm running into small Soviet groups that are easy to surround and defeat.

[larryfulkerson]

This is the north front lines so to speak. I've got the follow on forces doing mop
up and the Panzers ran into resistance and didn't get all the way to Riga this turn.
My main battle tank unit turned yellow and I couldn't shoot him or else the path
would be further north. Tanks and mechanized need a lot of supplies to run I've
noticed. You gotta rest 'em more often.

[larryfulkerson]

I forgot all about my plan to bombard that one Soviet aircraft unit that I came upon
and the results of the airfield strike revealed that there's some more there to be
bombarded yet. But there's a delicut balance of bombarding it often enough to keep
it in reorg but not enough to kill it outright. Watch the combat results screens
to see if there's any remaining from time to time. Not necessarily every turn.

[larryfulkerson]

This is what's left of the pocket formed by the Soviet front lins in this area and
it's the remnants of the middle group plus whatever retreated into this hex from
the west. Some of the stacks contain Soviet armor and I'm mostly using infantry to
try to reduce it and I'm having heavy losses and not getting much in the way of
results so I thought I'd bring in some heavy RR arty and see if I can't break the
logjam. This one unit isn't going to do it, I'm going to need some more yet.
Fortunately, there's a rail connection and it won't be hard to add some more juice.

[larryfulkerson]

I stopped the Soviet turn to get a peek at some of the losses right now. This is what he lost in one whole turn.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on around Riga right now. I've been concentrating on Riga and
Daugavpils for my main initial crossings to get into the Soviet backfield quicker.
He's got a guard there but I think one of my divisions can push him over. Follow on
forces are finishing up their mop up operation soon and they will join the stream of
units heading NE.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on around Riga right now. I've been concentrating on Riga and
Daugavpils for my main initial crossings to get into the Soviet backfield quicker.
He's got a guard there but I think one of my divisions can push him over. Follow on
forces are finishing up their mop up operation soon and they will join the stream of
units heading NE.

EDIT: Oh, and about that HQ unit out in the open by himself...I deemed it safe enough
to use him for a little recon because I had units close enough to come to his rescue
if need be. Every little bit helps.

[larryfulkerson]

I zoomed a recon unit out east to the river and found the crossing at Jekabpils empty
and ready for occupancy. I dug him in and put him on three dots and I'll take a look
around and see what I can send to rescue him. Plus, this crossing just became the
main crossing point. Get across the river and fan out north and south to Riga and
Daugavpils to free those crossings too.

[larryfulkerson]

I sent the 6th Panzer Division and actually got the recon element across the river
before he ran out of MP's. I'm going to send a lot more yet.

[larryfulkerson]

Forget what I said before about Daugavpils being a pushover for a division...I don't
think a division can handle this job. It's going to take several probably. I'll
just guard the crossing until some helpers arrive.

[demyansk]

I like this aar, by the way, what setting do you use to get the transparency of the main report and smaller tables on the right part of the screen?

Also, how do you view the Battle reports and then find that exact spot on the map?

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: demyansk
I like this aar, by the way, what setting do you use to get the transparency of the main report and smaller tables on the right part of the screen?

Also, how do you view the Battle reports and then find that exact spot on the map?

As part of my answer I thought I'd make someting visual and why not give you all the
settings I'm using. I'm glad you like the AAR by the way. It's like I'm writing a book.
And how to find the exact spot on the map. When you open the pending battles or the resolved
combat report when you click on the battle you want to review the game engine takes you to
the spot it happened. Also, I use the 'b' key and enter the coordinates I'm looking for
like "155,132" (without the quotes) and when I hit enter the map centers on the spot you
are looking for. It's handy when you're trying to find the spot one of your expected
reinforcements is arriving in. Thanks for posting by the way. I like a lot of posting traffic.

[larryfulkerson]

I had one of AGC's security forces sitting in Berlin, it arrived as reinforcements,
and I railed it out to it's formation and the difference between what MP's it started
with and the remining MP's is 46 hexes that it traveled to get to this spot. Just a
little interesting tidbit of the game.

[larryfulkerson]

I've got the MP's and other low-value units busy clearing the marshes. It looks better
after it's converted for some reason. It's probably all in my head. I have no idea how
long it's going to take to clear the entire marshes but I suspect about a month or so.

[larryfulkerson]

I drove the 20th Panzer Division down to Minsk and just when I got thee and was
ready to assault with a three-dot attack my unit went yellow and now he can't shoot.
So it'll have to wait until next turn for the capture of Minsk. Other units are
clearing the roads and rails and bypassing a lot of stuff for the follow on forces.

[larryfulkerson]

I zoomed up to get my bearings on where to move this division I'm on and I see an
area in the marshy area where I may have too few people to be safe. I might want
to review that area again sometime soon.

[larryfulkerson]

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This is what's going on down south right now. I'm running into resistance that's
more stiff than before and I've determined that I'm leaving too much room between
my formations and the Soviets sneaked in and gave me a hard time in the upper right.
I'm going to have to re-think my approach here. Formations running freely,
self-contained and self-supporting isn't working anymore and I'm finding that the
roadblocks and strong points are starting to contain what might properly be said to
take two or more divisions to subdue. I'm going to have to form a proper front line
at some future point, maybe sooner rather than later.

[larryfulkerson]

This is the pickle I've gotten myself into. I left too much space between two of my
formations and the Soviets sneaked some units in there and cut of some of my leading
units. They appear to be in good shape so far but they have no LOC but strangely
they don't shot to be out of supply. Strange. I thought it was because there was
an airfield or some other source of supply but that's not the case either. I'm
not complaining just wondering about it. It's not logical.

[larryfulkerson]

The pickle might be an opportunity if I can somehow cut off a lot of Soviets from
THEIR supply. But I've got to be careful because my recon unit is already yellow.
I'll have to see whether or not to move it next turn.