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This turn was spent reinforcing the Lenningrad perimeter and the link between Moscow and the reforger point at Ghorky. The progress has been satisfactory thus far and the holding action seem to have bought enough time to get adequate forces in place. The fascists have made probing attacks at a number of river crossing but no all out assaults as of yet. In the next couple of turns it is expected that some major offensives will begin at some points in the south. The focus of reinforcements in the next few turns will be south of Moscow.

Here is the micro movie

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Here is how the Lenningrad defenses have progressed the last 3 turns

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Karkhov looks as though it could hold against an assault until further reinforced. 

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In the Stalino district the situation is somewhat troubling.

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Crimea is still under constant assault but fortunately we have been able to reinorce by sea and the quality of the attacking Rumanian forces leaves much to be desired.

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Here's some Axis losses so far ( before any turn 22 combat ):
 

I gained a hex or two in the Leningrad area:
 

It's slow going in the drive for Sevastapol since most of the Romanians near Sivash are in reorg but I did gain one hex further to the east:

Here's the minimap view of the moves for turns 20 thru Axis 22:
 

Have you thought about using the Red Air Force to do some bridge-bombing? How effective would they be at this scale?

ORIGINAL: medck

Have you thought about using the Red Air Force to do some bridge-bombing? How effective would they be at this scale?

It's kind of funny, I've been trying to save my air force for the start of my offensive ops later on when winter comes and have had air supremacy for a while now. However, when I've experimented with airfield attacks and bridge blowing missions they've had absolutely disasterous results so I plan to leave that for a while and try again later

Not any significant combat this turn. we continue to try and build strong defenses to hold back the fascists until the fall rains when any attempts at offensive operations will be severely hindered.

Here is the movie of thelast six turns

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Here are the defenses of the great city of Lennin. The fascist will run into a wall of steel and the will of the Red Army!

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Here are the defenses of the Karkhov district. With the northern front and the cities of Lenningrad and Moscow adequately defended more reinforcements can now be sent to the south front. The fascists appear to be preparing a major assault on the city.

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Here is the Stalino area. In the next turn the district will recieve significant reinforcements. This turn the district defenses were stiffened by a number of free support tank brigades.

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Although our forces have been pushed back some, we are still holding the Romanians at the chokepoints to Crimea.

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It may be possible that the Axis has bitten off more than it can chew. At any rate, here's the north half of the front lines as of the beginning of Axis turn 23:

Here's part of the southern half of the front lines as of the beginning of Axis turn 23:
 

Most of the changes for this turn happened in the Leningrad area where I moved some units up against the Soviet lines:
 

Here's the minimap view of the moves for turns 20 thru Axis 23:
 

The Red Army continues to be successful in it's numerous holding actions along the whole front. Only the western flank of the Lenningrad defenses have been reached by the fascists and they will soon tire should they start assaulting the postitions. At this point no part of the line appears to be in great danger although from Belev down to Mariupol there have been a number of attacks and how this might be related to a major offensive is still being contemplated. While reinforcements continue to be sent to the central and south fronts those areas are still in danger. Should a major attack anywhere occur on those sectors STAVKA feels confident that at least one major offensive in the northern area can be launched to divert the enemy resources away. In the Moscow and Lenningrad front there are sufficient frontline/veteran formations to possibly due irreversible damage to our enemy.

Here is the micro map movie

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Here is a movie of the deployments and fighting in the Lenningrad/Moscow front

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Here is a shot of the Belev/Orel area.

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This is how things are progressing on the South Front

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Here's what happened in the first combat round of Axis turn 24 in the Leningrad area ( to the left of center near the Luga River there's a stack of Soviet units that got destroyed) :



Excerpt from "Spectre Gunners" :

The loadmaster, a stocky, busy guy with a bushy mustache, wearing a gray flightsuit, Vietnam boots, nomex flight gloves, and combat helmet, appears from the front. He has a nametag on, which has a set of red and silver wings and something Deacon can't read. The loadmaster is unwinding many loops of communication cord stretching from somewhere in the front that ultimately terminates to his green combat helmet. He makes his way quickly to the cargo ramp, throws the comm cord loops on the concrete behind the plane, and faces the passengers. He pushes his microphone up and out of his way.

"Your attention, please." He waits, both hands up in the air, palms forward. When he is sure everybody is listening, he continues: "There's an ice water cooler up front if you get thirsty but there's no food to be had on this flight. If you get airsick lemme know and I'll furnish the appropriate receptacle for the aforementioned affliction. If you barf in my plane I will pummel you severely about the head and shoulders. Our stops today, just as they were yesterday, just as they will be tomorrow, are as follows: Bien Hoa, Phan Rang, Tuy Hoa, Pleiku, Da Nang, Udorn, Ubon, Korat, and Bangkok." He has to speak up as the engines are starting. "When we get to Bien Hoa I'll stand here and yell, like this, Bien Hoa. If that's your stop, grab your stuff and get out. I'll announce the name of each of the stops similarly and the procedure will be the same for each. Strap in. Stay that way until we get airborne. We leave shortly. Any questions and or concerns?"

Here's some Axis losses so far ( just after the first combat round of Axis turn 24 ):



Excerpt from "Spectre Gunners" :

He carries his duffle bag up the outside stairs and enters the building. Polished linoleum floor, eight, bare plywood doors on each side of the hallway, there is the smell of socks and aftershave. It's almost uncomfortably cold. Oh. It's not screened in because of the air-conditioning. Subdued sounds from Can't Get No Satisfaction is coming from further down the hallway. The door to the first room on the left, room 201, has a small metal bracket at eye level with four spaces for slivers of paper to be inserted therein. There are three pieces of paper in this bracket: 'Fidler', 'Haberkorn', and 'Jones'. He pushes the door open, finds and flips the light switch on. He sees that it is a four-man room because it has two bunk beds. It has bare plywood walls, four wall lockers, none with locks on them, a light fixture in the ceiling, and nothing else. There are bare mattresses on the bunk beds.

He chooses an empty wall locker, sets his duffle bag down in it and works the combination on the lock on the duffle bag. Closing the locker, he locks it.

Walking to the CBPO, the consolidated base personnel office, his first impression is that this could be just about any airbase in the world. Then he notices all the bicycle traffic, all the signs in Thai, and that there were no sidewalks anywhere. He decides that the bus stops look like small Buddhist temples without walls. The busses are dark pink, and the drivers are natives. A Thai young lady in western-style dress passing him on the road, makes some sort of gesture, pressing her hands together in front of her face, and addresses him directly saying something like:

"Saw wah dee, cup."

He just smiles and nods, having no idea what on earth she just said or how he should respond.

Here's the Axis air losses report just after the third combat round:
 

 
Excerpt from "Spectre Gunners":
 
Deacon proceeds to the chow hall. There for a quarter he has an all-you-can-eat breakfast. Fresh eggs, real milk, toast, bacon, all of it good, obviously procured locally. Though the bacon was too limp. He likes it crisp. I eat at the NCO club from now on, he decides.
 
In crew ops, he finds Sergeant Horton, a slightly overweight staff sergeant from Idaho with a round friendly face. Horton gets up from the desk and sticks out his hand.
 
"Welcome to gunships. Caster told me a little about you. Coffee machine is over there, rest room is down the hall that way. You're early. We usually don't start our crew day until around noon. I'm filling in for Caster right now. Where you been before here?"
 
"Luke, Bien Hoa, Hurlburt. Glad to be here though. So...what do I do now?"
 
"You might wanna start by reviewing the rules of engagement. The local standard operating procedures, stuff like that. In the library. When Caster gets here I'll tell him where you are."
 
Thus it was that Deacon was deep in study in the library when the first of many memorable occurrences occurred.
What he didn't know, couldn't have known, was that several off-duty junior officers were milling around scheduling, when the squadron commander happened to make his way past them, deep in thought, noticing nobody. When the Colonel was just on the edge of hearing range one of the officers said a modified theatrical voice:
 
"Murphy, That's not some incompetent dipshit asshole colonel wondering the halls. That's our commanding officer."

Here's the minimap view of the moves from turns 20 thru Axis turn 24:
 

 
Excerpt from "Spectre Gunners":
 
In gunner crew ops, Horton was getting a third cup of coffee and there were several other gunners there playing cards when Deacon came through the doorway.
 
"Caster told me to find him when I was through with the test. Know where he is?"
 
"Test? What test?"
 
"The crewmember familiarization and standardization...something. I don't remember the name of it."
 
"You took the final exam already?"
 
"Caster said it would be okie dokie. He set it up. Is there a problem?"
 
"Nah. It's just that most people take that test after they learn what the answers are. Did you pass it? Don't answer that. You probably don't know. How do you feel you did?"
 
"Wasn't much to it really. I think I did okay."
 
"Well good. Hope Barker doesn't find out. Anyway Caster went to lunch. Do some errands. I guess maybe...." He looked at the ceiling, thinking. "Well, hell, I don't have anything to do right now. I'll show you the ropes. C'mon. Fidler, answer the phone for me willya?"
 
They proceeded down the hall to the armory. There, Horton showed Deacon how to check out his firearm, parachute, and survival radio. Found an empty locker for him to put all his stuff in. Labeled the locker as his, with a strip of tape and a black marker. Got him fitted with a helmet, flying, flack, size: small, one each. And a vest, survival, SRU-21/P, one each. And a knife, hunting, 5 inch blade, one each. And bottles, water, two each. Told him how to sanitize his person, remove all identification, squadron patches, and nametag. By then it was about 11:30 and he sent Deacon to lunch:
 

Here's a movie of the progress made toward Sevastapol:
 

 
Excerpt from "Spectre Gunners":
 
Arriving at the aircraft, tail number 623, he opened his checklist to a specific emergency page. He deliberately dropped the checklist. Picking it up, he opened it at random. He was satisfied that there were no evil omens. This is the procedure he had adopted following one particularly harrowing experience some three months ago. This was the procedure that comforted him. Somewhat.
 
He flipped to the preflight page and began his walkaround. There was a large, yellow, noisy, power cart plugged into the left side of the aircraft, so he put his earplugs in.
 
Both the 20-mm guns looked serviceable. The 40-mm gun was okie dokie. The 105-mm gun was a go. He jumped up on the ramp and was making his way forward, checking his gear, pulling on this, tugging on that. He had to do that to make sure it was snugged down good and tight. It was part of his procedure. He had made it all way to the 20-mm guns in the front when some officer appeared in the doorway to the cockpit.
 
"Hey, get off the damn plane. I'm aligning the INS. Gimme about ten minutes."
 
Haberkorn held up both hands in surrender. "Sorry, sir."
 
He walked slowly, carefully, not quite tip-toeing, to the ramp.
 
"Sheeeeeiiiiit, now I gotta start all over again" he said to himself.
 
He started again, in front of and facing the plane, opened the checklist to the emergency procedures page and purposefully dropped it on the ground. He picked it up and opened it at random. Satisfied, still no bad omens, he started at the forward 20-mm gun looking stuff over again, exceedingly slowly. See what happens, Hab. This is why you gotta come in so early. This is why you gotta start so early. You gotta allow enough time to do it right. Make the perfect walk-around. A perfect walk-around and nothing can go wrong.
 
Over an hour later, he was through with the pre-flight. He had had to start all over again one more time because the flight engineer asked him to 'come over here and gimme a hand with this' and he had done it. But the pre-flight was finally over. He could go inside, cool off a little, get a drink of water. The brief was to start in twelve minutes so he thought he might as well go sit in there.
 

Here's what happened near Murmansk:
 

 
Excerpt from "Spectre Gunners":
 
All the sensor operators went into the booth. The pilot, co-pilot, navigator and flight engineer went all the way forward, climbed the a small ladder, and disappeared into the cockpit. He hung his parachute just forward of the 40-mm gun, high on the wall, where he always stored it. He threw his flight bag to the right of the door of the booth, where he always threw it. He put his ear plugs in, put his combat helmet on, and wiggled it around until it was comfortable. Then he walked back to the far edge of the cargo ramp.
 
He jumped off the ramp, immediately turned around and climbed back on. Then jumped off and climbed on again. A third time he jumped off and climbed on.
 
Comfortable that he had satisfied the demands of luck and circumstance, he found the comm cord, coiled up near the 40-mm gun, and plugged it into his helmet. Immediately, he heard the low volume 400-hertz undertone that told him it was on and working. He was on the net with the rest of the gunners and the flight engineer.
 
The number three engine started its windup. Somebody turned the overhead lights to red and cranked the intensity down low. Somebody had raised up the crude sheet metal bench-type seat on the floor, just forward of the ramp. He sat down on the far right side of it, facing aft, where he always sat, and buckled the seat belt. Another engine was spooling up. Soon two gunners and the IO joined him sitting down. He heard the IO, Math, say on the intercom:
 
"Flight engineer, the guys in the back are ready."
 
"Okie Dokie."
 
When all four engines were running and stable, the prop whine changed in intensity and the plane started to roll forward. As they left the revetment, he saw a tire-kicker rolling up his comm cord, walking toward the air-force-blue, flight-line 'bread' truck. He felt the cracks in the pavement of the taxiway as the tires rolled over them. The smell of burned kerosene was strong in his nose. This was a part of the mission he enjoyed, the ride in the back of the bus. He wondered if he were the only one that felt that way.
 
Six minutes later the IO got up and did something with a handle on the wall. The bottom part of the cargo ramp came up and locked, and they eased out onto the active. The noise increased in volume. He felt a lurch. He was jostled from side to side slightly. The rumbling of the tires quit, the jostling suddenly stopped, and he knew they were airborne.
 

I'm running out of good places to attack.  My Soviet opponent has developed some really good defensive lines and those places where I have good supply also coincide with the places where his defensive lines are excellent.  Those places where his lines are skimpy also coincide with the places where my supply is low.  It looks like the Axis is going to have to build up the rails a bit more before any real progress can be made.

excerpt from "Spectre Gunners" :

The sun had set as they go outside and make their way across the ramp to the revetments. Flight line trucks have their lights on and the shadows are getting longer.

"This is the busy part of the day since our work is done at night. Those who aren't flying are either duty drivers or ammo detail. They load the aircraft. Unload the spent brass. Stuff like that."

They arrive at the nose of aircraft 65-1629. The revetments are the standard ten feet high, corrugated tin and concrete construction, three walls and an opening. The aircraft is parked nose out.

"You're familiar with the basic gunner stuff I'm sure. What did they tell you about the rest of the plane?"

"The rest of the plane?"

"Yeah. Know what that thing does?" He points to the sensor platform hole on the forward left lower side of the fuselage.

"That's the IR, TV, laser target designator...."

"Know what that thing does?" He points to a small radome forward of the sensor platform.

"Not really. I know it's something called black crow and that it's a secret. Something electronic."

Caster leans in so he wouldn't have to speak so loudly.

"Picks up electronic emissions. Like spark plugs. Ten miles away."