GC 41 2ndAcr (G) vs Kelblau (S) No Kelblau

[PeeDeeAitch]

You also need to remember that it will be Clear-Mud switchoff turns through mid June.

[2ndACR]

True, but we are also using random weather so it is very unpredictable.

If I would have known he was going to sit the winter out, I would have been ready and hit him during the snow turns. I might just grind with infantry until June and then hit him with everything I got, depending on how he reacts.

Really wanted to get it done before I lose the 10th Panzer. That gave me 1 extra armor div. Then I start losing my SS Motorized Div. Going to take it a turn at a time I guess.

[Mynok]

It still shocks and amazes me how drastically weaker German infantry is after 41.

[Senno]

ORIGINAL: Mynok


It still shocks and amazes me how drastically weaker German infantry is after 41.

Yeah. 12-17 CV Infantry Divsions before the winter. 8 to 11 or so after. And this is just versus the AI. I can't imagine how bad you'd feel in a PBEM game. Well, I suppose I can, the issue has been covered by others here. And even if you do well in managing your Blizzard casualties, the '42 TOE change will still do you in, it seems. Suddenly the Romanians don't look so terrible as a relative comparison, lol.

[2ndACR]

Nope, this is versus a human. And I did not fire a shot in anger all blizzard until the very last turn.

But I also have been hit hard by the TOE upgrade experience loss in all my infantry div. I watched units with 85+ exp plummet to a 55-60 average in most area's. That is the most horrible thing.

[2ndACR]

Turn 43

Buildup continues. Mud has brought to grinding halt. All movement done with rail.

Hun 2nd Army released. Sad, but their div have almost as much combat power as my proud German Div. They are moving to the front lines by rail.

11th Army starts crossing the Dnepr river to assume assault positions in support of 17th Army. Hun 2nd Army might replace 6th Army on the line and it might shift north to help open the northern break out. Still undecided. Any idea's?

4th Army (dark blue?) is moving forward to help open north hole.

All armor units are in pre-assault positions. Once the grind begins, I will move them to right behind the infantry.

Here is a pic of the southern troop collection.

[2ndACR]

Turn 44

Mud all the way.

Partisans are being a real pain in the butt. I have the Luftwaffe regiments doing rail security duty.

The crying shame is looking at 700 FW190's that I cannot use. That makes me want to cry. I still have 109F-2 in action.

Build up continues, Hun 2nd Army is now east of Kiev. 11th Army is fully across the Dnepr. I hit his level 4 forts on the first clear weather I get.

My opponent has flown recon flights and spotted 4th Panzer Army. Hopefully, he does not know that is who they are.

[Q-Ball]

Good AAR, ACR, and I am following how this strategy works for the Reds. Poorly, methinks. Look at your Panzer Units: They all look VERY strong. They probably have full TOEs of tanks, and 90s morale.

He's got alot of troops, but without attacking you all Winter, it will be like 1941 all over, except alot more Reds this time. But the quality will be about the same.

You may as well wait to buildup until reaching dry weather; your units will improve in morale and experience as time goes on. So will his, but not as much, as your national morale is higher. I also wonder if he can logistically support much more than 8 million troops anyway. Crappy troops eat as much as quality ones......

[2ndACR]

They are all 100% TOE, 90 morale.......experience has taken a hit with the TOE upgrade bug though. All my units have taken that hit.

The more I think about it, the more I am leaning towards waiting for the general offensive, but might do some door knocking in the mean time just to see what I am in for. Most of his stacks are 10CV and 40ish defense behind level 4 forts. That is going to hurt pretty bad.

But, if it all goes somewhat to plan, I might be able to bag 1 million plus troops in that pocket. If I can create it anyway.

[randallw]

This may get really bloody; it'll be interesting to see how well the early fighting goes, with his units rested and in level 4 or 5 forts.

[2ndACR]

Oh, it is going to be extremely bloody. I have no doubt about that. I have my fingers crossed that once clear weather gets here, his CV's drop again since his units did not get that huge experience gain during the winter.

He may be 4 hexes deep in a lot of places, but he is still linear with light backup. Once I get thru his line, there is nothing back there to stop me. I just have to hold him as he makes his breakout attempt.

Turn 45

Build up continues. He is flying mass recon now. I may have to move forward into contact with the rest of his line to keep him from getting too suspicious. But that is a long weak line. I have stretched the line to basically single div from Estonia all the way to Gomel to mass the troops I feel I need.

2nd Hun Army is arriving on the front line alongside 6th Army. 11th Army has closed up behind 17th Army. 4th and 2nd Army have reached his defense line. All armor units are 60 miles behind the lines in most places. I will move them forward once I start making progress and it looks like I can break his line.

[Senno]

ORIGINAL: 2ndACR

Oh, it is going to be extremely bloody. I have no doubt about that. I have my fingers crossed that once clear weather gets here, his CV's drop again since his units did not get that huge experience gain during the winter.

He may be 4 hexes deep in a lot of places, but he is still linear with light backup. Once I get thru his line, there is nothing back there to stop me. I just have to hold him as he makes his breakout attempt.

Turn 45

Build up continues. He is flying mass recon now. I may have to move forward into contact with the rest of his line to keep him from getting too suspicious. But that is a long weak line. I have stretched the line to basically single div from Estonia all the way to Gomel to mass the troops I feel I need.

2nd Hun Army is arriving on the front line alongside 6th Army. 11th Army has closed up behind 17th Army. 4th and 2nd Army have reached his defense line. All armor units are 60 miles behind the lines in most places. I will move them forward once I start making progress and it looks like I can break his line.

I am worried that any of your attacks that fail will damage your morale, which will damage your fragile Infantry Divisions even more. It can be a vicious cycle.

[2ndACR]

Turn 46 May 7, 1942

Summer offensive begins and it is not pretty. Not pretty at all.

Casualties are high trying to even get started against the level 4 forts. No progress was made except I did manage to lower a fort to 3. I really don't want to have to commit 6 Panzer Div just to knock a small hole, but don't know if my infantry can manage. They are hitting defense values of 500+. The only place I can get 9 units on him he is in a swamp and we know that is not going to budge.

[Flaviusx]

Concentrate your pioneers and arty on the assault divisions, if you haven't already. Direct attachments to the max, and pile on the rest on the HQs.

Put some of the panzers in reserve immediately behind the infantry to support the attacks. You can crack this, just approach it the way you would approach Leningrad or Sevastopol. His utterly passive stance allows you to concentrate. He isn't counterattacking, so pick your spots and grind forward.

If possible, pile on multiple infantry corps in the selected breakthrough points so you can run multiple deliberate assaults each turn. (A classic German trick for taking out Leningrad, btw.)

[2ndACR]

Turn 47

Mud, so I rest up and prepare. Brought 2 Panzer Div forward, 1 in the north and 1 in the south.

There is not a pioneer unit left in AGN and all of AGC are in 4th and 2nd Army, except for a few in the panzer units.

I will hammer my way thru this. Just going to be costly.

[2ndACR]

turn 48

Another mud turn. Just need some good weather. Fresh Div are arriving at the front. But I am really short of Corp HQ's. Seems to be the German curse, and I hate to overload.

Anyone figured out if doing air strikes before an attack helps any?

[Q-Ball]

How many German Corps HQ are there at this point, and how many divisions? I played the AI into 1942 and experienced the same thing, but didn't check on the answer to that question.

Which will bring up a question again....what is better, overloading a German Corps with a good leader, or assigning German units to Romanian Corps with poor leaders?

I ended up mixing Germans with the Romanian Armies, as they need a little help anyway.

[Flaviusx]

Q-ball, if the German leader was good enough, you could afford to overload the HQ a bit. By one or two points, and no more. Under no circumstances would I put German units under Romanian command.

Another possibility would be to take Romanian units and assign them directly to OKH, assuming you've got a good general there. OKH will never overload. You'll only have a single leadership checkpoint here doing this, however, so I wouldn't try this unless you had a Guderian or Manstein running the show. Units assigned to OKH are only going to get one bite at the apple, so it's got to be a good bite.

I've had some reasonable success doing this in a scenario I'm testing right now as the German covering the Ukraine during the 43-4 period.

Another possibility: deliberately overload German HQs in quiet sectors (presumably by Leningrad) to free up some HQs and strip those sectors of HQs for use elsewhere. Kind of a gamble.

Or you could just make those quiet sectors OKH commands, and strip them of their corps and armies. That's an even bigger gamble.

[2ndACR]

Turn 50

Mud again. I have overloaded one Corp that is not scheduled to advance and that freed up a HQ for offensive ops. I keep the Romanians under the Romanians. Since 2nd Hun Army is here, I might look over their leaders and maybe give them a German Div into each Corp. Right now I have 5 Div assigned to OKH and would like to get them into Corp HQ.

All Romanians are under AG Antos (whatever his name is). I stripped 11th Army of all Romanians. I have not done a complete HQ count, but will say it is not enough. German anyway. Plus you lose a couple HQ's right at the 41/42 area. That hurts further.

10th Panzer withdraws. Next turn I get 24th Panzer as replacement.

Partisans are being a real pest. I have the Luftwaffe regiments and Romanian Cav running around killing them.

Word to all, keep the Romanians in towns and cities during Blizzard. They take forever to rebuild.

[2ndACR]

Turn 51 June 4 1942

Mud again. Sick of mud every where. I think he is growing bored. He launched counter attack on AGN and got thrown back with heavy losses. Either I will be able to break his line or I will have to shift north to counter him. I am thin up there, but behind heavy forts.