Under the Red Banner: Q-Ball (R) v Baelfiin (Axis)

[Q-Ball]

3/11/43

The Winter Offensive continues.

I haven't posted much, but it's really been a grind. I think at this stage, the Soviet Player isn't looking for breakthroughs at all. You are just looking for wins; cheap wins, wins that take whole stacks, whatever....just get some wins. It builds morale and guards, and sets up the Red Army for later, when you have better morale and experience. Just kill Germans, and get wins, the rest will come.

Despite that, I have taken some territory; at most 3-4 hexes, mostly because Baelfiin pulled back after getting flanked.

I'll have to pick-up the pace later, but right now it's just about bloody fighting.

[JAMiAM]

Regarding the gapped defenses...

If you do attack the stacks, make sure that you're infiltrating the gaps first. This will reduce the chance of reserves committing to the defense, as the MP cost of moving through your ezoc will be factored into the check. Even if you're just pushing in some "throwaway" unit, like a tank brigade. Better yet, would be some cavalry corps so that they can help support a deliberate attack against the hex. The other thing this does is to reduce the number of allowable retreat hexes, so you're more likely to get a multi-hex retreat out of the defenders if you dislodge them.

If you're ready to attack the hex - infiltrate!

[Q-Ball]

6'/3/43

It's been awhile since I posted on this game; mostly, it's about building the Red Army and assaulting the German Wall of Defenses

We are making progress on both. I am really trying to max-out my capabilities as well as German casualties.

German Defenses:

Baelfiin has a very straight line, is well dug-in, and is making extensive use of Reserves. He is using them very well, almost every unit not on the front line is in RESERVE status.

To counter this, I need to make sure I have extra odds, and Artillery, on every attack. Generally, we are still getting successful pushes, though some costly failures are also mixed-in.

I try to end the turn with most Corps 1-hex back of the line. This allows for flexibility in where they are committed, and max MPs when they get there. When an attack fails, I try again on the same hex, because usually it's vulnerable.

At this point, I am NOT sending very many Tank units through the line. This is not the stage to try for a breakthrough; at this stage, I just want wins to raise Soviet morale, and whittle away at the Germans. Breakthroughs can't come until the Wehrmacht is knocked back a couple pegs.

Red Army:

My OOB is in good shape, though I would like more tanks on the map. I have built 21 Tank Corps, and I don't think I'll build more of those, saving the Vehicles for new Mech Corps. I hope to eventually create about 20 Mech Corps. 4 of them are already guards.

All Mobile units are maxed-out with 3 attachments. So far, Rifle Corps only have Sappers attached, but I am going to start working on attaching an SU Regt to every Rifle Corps to give them tank support. SU Regts are pretty cheap in terms of Vehicles, about 100 per, and of course there are plenty of AFVs in the pool. I'll mix-in some Sep Tank Regts as well. I would like to get to 15,000 AFV in the field.

At this point, the main objective is building morale. All but 1 Cav unit is Guards, and I am up to 105 Guards Divisions, and approx. 40 Guards Corps. I have a few Guards Divisions still to combine to Guards Corps. I have 8 Guards Tank Corps, and 4 Guards Mech Corps.