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It looks like I've been hard on my AT gun units as well. I don't remember losing this many AT gun units. I'll look into this as well.

My 7th Inf Division seems to be in distress. I seem to have lost one of the three pieces of the division and it won't be until T52 that I'll have the possibility to putting the division back together. I'm thinking of pulling this division out of the front lines and letting it rest a bit. Right now it's operating in the Moscow district and that's one of the especially active areas so I may have to rail a new division here to replace the 7th on the front lines.

My 137th Inf Division seems to be having troubles. The LCU is down to half strength ( 155 of 324 HRS squads ) and it's readiness is down to 55% so it needs to be refit and deserves some rest.

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

I seem to have lost a lot of my RR engineers somehow. I'm curious to know how that happened actually. I'm going to have to look into this.

You must have the railroad dudes right up at the front.

ORIGINAL: Lobster


You must have the railroad dudes right up at the front.

Most likely, the only other possibility I can think of is if interdiction is really bad and they're moving around by rail a lot.

ORIGINAL: Lobster

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson
I seem to have lost a lot of my RR engineers somehow. I'm curious to know how that happened actually. I'm going to have to look into this.

You must have the railroad dudes right up at the front.

ORIGINAL: golden delicious
Most likely, the only other possibility I can think of is if interdiction is really bad and they're moving around by rail a lot.

In fact I DO have the RR engineers right up at the front. And they move only infrequently but when they do move they DO get interdicted big time. Ken's INT aircraft are really busy. I've been moving my AA units to the most important river crossings to protect the bridge(s). Ken dropped about 6 bridges this turn alone.

The Soviets were terrible at bombing bridges. And thier most common bombers in 1941 (SB2) lit up like moths in a flamethrower. No self sealing fuel tanks and not much armor to speak of. Slowly replaced by Pe2 by March 42. But then not many SB2 left by then.

I wonder how you would model the poor bridge bombing ability of Soviet bomber crews.

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

In fact I DO have the RR engineers right up at the front. And they move only infrequently but when they do move they DO get interdicted big time. Ken's INT aircraft are really busy. I've been moving my AA units to the most important river crossings to protect the bridge(s). Ken dropped about 6 bridges this turn alone.

This being D21 I thought the culprit here was the PO, not Ken?

ORIGINAL: golden delicious

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson
In fact I DO have the RR engineers right up at the front. And they move only infrequently but when they do move they DO get interdicted big time. Ken's INT aircraft are really busy. I've been moving my AA units to the most important river crossings to protect the bridge(s). Ken dropped about 6 bridges this turn alone.

This being D21 I thought the culprit here was the PO, not Ken?

Right, right. I'm confusing my games again. In my D21 game Elmer is fond of intedicting my movers especially those on rail. But my fighters are busy protecting them when it does happen. But nothing like the INT Ken is conducting.

I haven't moved anybody yet and this is early in T47 and you can see how I'm sneaking up on Stalingrad and there doesn't seem to be much in the way of Soviet defensive units present in the city. Maybe most of it is invisible still. I'm fortunate to be able to repair the railroad all the way to the front lines in this AO because that raises the supply levels to such a level that permits the continuation of the advance. But the Soviet Winter Offensive has started and the Soviet shock is 120 and my shock is 80 so now isn't the time to go off on adventures. I'm going to try to hold what I have for right now. I've got 17.0K HRS's assigned right now and that's way too low for me to be comfortable about. I'm worried that the Soviets will make a breakthrough that I won't be able to plug and the great retreat will happen. My fingers are crossed.

Here's what's going on east of Leningrad right now in T48. I plan on having the Finns do an approach to Archangel to cut off the Lend Lease the Soviets are getting. I have a section of my front lines where there is a rather large gap and I'm thinking Elmer is going to find it and run some units through there and get into my backfield. I'd best screen that area with something pretty quick. The Soviet shock is 120 and my shock is 90 this turn. The supply level is 22 at the tip of the spear.

Here's what' going on in the Moscow area right now. I'm just trying to hold onto what I have for now. The supply level is 22 at the tip of the spear in this entire area because the rails have been repaired all the way to the front lines. I've got 16.7K HRS's assigned so far and that's still way to low for me to be comfortable with the situation. I still have no reserve to speak of and I'm going to need one real soon now. The weather has cleared up, no rain, but it's freezing cold out there.

Here's a T49 ( second combat round ) view of the area north of Moscow and shows the hasty front lines I have formed to deal with all the Soviet units that have come this way. The supply level is pretty much great and the weather is good and I have 15.7K HRS's assigned and I still have no reserve to speak of. I need to try to build some of those behind the lines as local reserves.

Here's a T49 view of the Sevastopol area and shows how I didn't make the deadline to capture the city and so I'm not going to get the Bulgarian forces so I disbanded all of them from the OOB. Odessa is still a pain in the neck also.

Here's a T50 ( 3rd combat round ) view of the Kalinin area right now. The supply level is 6 at the tip of the spear in this AO even though the rails are repaired all the way to the front lines. So I expect it to increase slowly. I have 15.3K HRS's assigned and 229 on-hand. So far I've been managing to hold onto what I have but there have been several places where the Soviets have broken my front lines and I've had to plug the hole. I still don't have a proper reserve. It's been really hard finding enough troops for a reserve because they are all employed right now.

Here's an early T51 view of the front lines right now. I have 14.9K HRS's assigned and 76 on-hand. The Soviets have started attacking seriously and have made at least three separate breakthroughs in my lines. I'm in danger of losing a lot of troops unless I start pulling everybody back to the west. The Germans aren't really good at disengaging so this could cost me a lot of troops just trying to retreat. I'm going to switch a lot of the CS bombers to INT to try to slow down the advance of the Soviets pouring through my lines. I still don't have a reserve and my neglect to build one has bitten me in the ass. This is going to change the character of the game. I'm going on the defense for one thing.

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

The Germans aren't really good at disengaging so this could cost me a lot of troops just trying to retreat.

One thing the Germans do have is a lot of HQs, so you should be able to use the HQs to cover your disengagement; i.e. put the HQ in hex, take the other units out, then take the HQ out last (since HQs don't generally suffer disengagement penalties). Of course you don't want to leave your HQs exposed as they're packed with artillery, but it may help. You can also use your mechanised divisions (which should have higher recon ratings) to cover disengagements; due to their high movement ratings it should also be possible to use a single recon battalion to evacuate several hexes of frontline (unless you're in really bad terrain).

If you're really struggling, the Germans have a fair number of smaller low value units which could be dropped into the frontline as sacrificial units. Divide, e.g., an AT regiment into three, stack each of the three fragments with an infantry unit you want to withdraw, then pull the infantry unit out. The AT unit won't hold the Soviets up at all, but it will save your infantry from disengagement penalties.

Finally, if all else fails, make sure there's always a friendly unit in the destination hex. This will reduce the likelihood of disengagement penalties. If you're evacuating a stretch of line, there should be lots of cases where a unit just disengaged can wait one hex back and provide this service to the next unit. Then when everyone is disengaged safely you can use any remaining movement points to get everyone back to the new line.

One more point- I mentioned it before but fortress hexes aren't directional for combat purposes, they just look that way on the map. So if you need to fall back from Moscow you can use the Soviet fortress positions at e.g. Mozhaysk as part of your line and you'll get the corresponding bonuses.

This is a zoomed out view of the front lines in T53 and shows how the Axis forces are retreating from the Soviet advance as fast as they can. I have 13.2K HRS's assigned so far and I'm losing them faster than I'm building them now. I estimate that I've lost about 1/3 of my forces so far and more are in danger of being killed because a lot of them are in reorg and can't move. About 1/3 of my aircraft are resting or are in reorg. I need to find a major river to defend behind somewhere close to the original start line of T1 because I don't have enough remaining forces to man a very long front line. The rivers have frozen over and are no longer a hindrance to the Soviets advance. I'm busting bridges as I retreat to slow down the Soviets.

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

TI need to find a major river to defend behind somewhere close to the original start line of T1 because I don't have enough remaining forces to man a very long front line.

Ouch. It's worth noting that the Soviets will start to have their own supply challenges as they advance. You may have a shot at stopping them further east than the start line.

It's now T54 and 11 of my bombers are resting, and 9 are in reorg.
13.3K HRS's are assigned and 45 are on hand.
I have lost 749 Me-109's and there are 224 on hand.
I've lost 491 Ju-88's and there are 215 on hand.
447 He-111's were lost and there are 12 on hand.
307 Me-110's were lost and there are 23 on hand.
I've lost 1210 RR engineers and 18 are on hand.
The Soviet shock is 120 and my shock is 90. The Soviet Winter Offensive continues.