TTG multi-player teaching game

[EwaldvonKleist]

Good AAR. It seems the Soviets will lose the war in the Centre (if they do), wasn't that the only front with an experienced player (S-T?) too?

[thedoctorking]

The current lineup is:
North: Fetterkrolle
Center: Littlebrother
South: Tonyhnz
Air: Grant
CoS: Marauder

[thedoctorking]

Basically, everybody is a relative newbie except for Marauder.

[Fetterkrolle]

Yes Ewald, ST was playing AGC up to around turn 10 I think. The lineup mentioned by thedoctorking is the soviet lineup.

[thedoctorking]

TTG Neutral AAR
Soviet turn 7

The Soviet team continued their steady withdrawal this turn, for the most part getting well back in areas where Axis armor looked ready for major offensives.

In the north, the defenses of Pskov remained strong, with a small Axis salient forming in the clear terrain to the east of the city. Leningrad Front remained divided between the Pskov and Velikie Luki sectors. The city of Velikie Luki has fallen, but there again the Axis armored salient is small and appeared reasonably easy to contain.

The sector border between north and center seems to have moved north, as Reserve Front forces defend several hexes north of the Dvina. At one time, the Soviet team was discussing transferring control of Reserve Front to the northern commander, but in response to the big pocket on turn 6, this plan was shelved for the time being. Ultimately, the USSR will have 13 Front HQ’s, meaning that in a four-way split it is reasonable for each commander to control four fronts. Several of those fronts come in later – Voronezh Front in June 1942, (restored) SW Front in October 1942, and Steppe Front in May 1943. In 1941 there are 10 fronts plus the Moscow Defense Zone (which only has half the capacity of a normal front), so basically three or four each. This is insufficient to successfully command all the Soviet units, so you often end up with either fronts overloaded (a very bad idea) or lots of armies/individual divisions under direct STAVKA control. You should avoid having anybody under STAVKA control on the front line because the extra layer of command gives your guys an additional chance to make leadership rolls. Also, unless you have an air command with bases nearby that is directly under STAVKA, those units will get minimal air support.

[thedoctorking]

In the northern theater, the Soviets pulled back a bit in front of the southern breakthrough, taking positions in the hills and woods, difficult terrain for armored movement. Around Pskov, they strengthened their defensive lines and dared Model and Manstein to do their worst. No backup line of defenders holds the Plyussa or Luga lines, although one fortified zone did appear behind the Neva. The Soviets obviously remain confident in this area.

[thedoctorking]

In the central sector, the Soviet turn began with large enemy forces massing on both sides of the Denpr near Smolensk. Several of the German armored formations showed better than red fuel, indicating that they would have large movement allowances on the next turn. Organization of the Soviet defenses in this area was poor, with many powerful units transferred last turn from other fronts still reporting to their old HQ’s, far away. All the forces in the vicinity of Bryansk and along the Desna River were still under direct STAVKA control and not backed up by STAVKA air bases, meaning that they were unable to get any air support.

The Luftwaffe took the offensive this turn against the Soviet air force, with considerable success. They ran lots of recon missions, especially in the central sector, and then a series of ground bombing missions along the front. This appears to have been successful in drawing up the Soviet fighters and exhausting their ammo, fuel, or allowable miles. Then, the Germans had enough air power left to lauch damaging raids against airbases defended by fatigued or even grounded fighters. It didn’t help that the Soviet air force began the turn with at least 30 air regiments deployed in forward air bases with morale below 40. Ten or 15 air units started the turn with fatigue above 20. Normally, I start each turn as the Soviets by sending any air unit with <40 morale or >20 fatigue to national reserve. They are just targets for the Luftwaffe if they remain at the front. You can shade a bit on fatigue by setting high-fatigue fighter squadrons to short ranges (40 or so, equals 1 hex), ensuring that they will not fly during your turn and will be ready to oppose any airbase bombing missions in the enemy’s turn.

German air commanders need to tolerate higher levels of fatigue than Soviets (and their pilots can be effective at higher levels of fatigue due to their generally higher experience and morale). Nonetheless, similar rules should apply in their case – find the high fatigue and low morale squadrons at the start of your turn and send them to the reserve for a turn. Then, if they are still bad the next turn, move them to a rear area airbase and let them recover.

[thedoctorking]

Soviet central sector command took the opportunity to fall back about four hexes and reorganize its forces directly in front of the mass of German troops near Smolensk. All defending stacks were seemingly powerful enough to resist a hasty attack by German infantry. The line is two hexes deep, with backers sufficient to require any armored breakthrough force to traverse five or six hexes in zones of control, limiting its potential reach. To the south, the Bryansk sector forces are still under STAVKA control and some defensive stacks are very weak. There are also no rear-guard units here. On the other hand, the main mass of powerful German units is far to the north, possibly limiting the damage they can do in this area.

[thedoctorking]

In the Kiev region, the Soviets faced powerful forces now ready to attempt a crossing of the Dnepr. German armor showed up south of Kiev, with insufficient information to judge its fuel status. Infantry from 17th Army was massed along the river right in front of this armor concentration. To the north of Kiev, at least one German corps faced a few airborne brigades on the other side of the river. The Germans had allowed a large gap to open between 17th and 9th Armies near Cherkassy, offering the possibility of another cavalry raid, but without a realistic chance to isolate more than a few German divisions, was it worth losing the increasingly rare cavalry? Soviet players must consider the fact that their cavalry will be their strike force in the winter of 1941. The only corps-sized units that they can form are cavalry corps, so these become the mobile spearhead of the winter counter-offensives. If you lose three cavalry divisions in August, that’s one fewer powerful corps in January.

[thedoctorking]

Ultimately, the Soviets opted to continue their withdrawal in this region, giving up the defensive line of the Dnepr. Given the retrenching farther north, they had little choice.

[thedoctorking]

A really dangerous situation presented itself at the southern end of the Dnepr line, with little or no defense between Dnepropetrovsk and Crimea. Substantial Axis armored forces were visible on aerial recon, but no information on their fuel status was available. The fact that German armor remained immobile in this sector should have given the Soviet player pause for thought, though.

[thedoctorking]

In this sector, interestingly, the Soviets opted to try to hold the Dnepr line, sending one army from Southwest Front to hold the critical area. They formed weak STAVKA armies to hold north of Dnepropetrovsk and a thin screen of Southern front units between Zaporozhye and the Azov.

[thedoctorking]

Losses this turn were 257,705 Soviet to 23,448 Axis (843 to 78 in the air). Ready forces are 3,620,801 Soviet to 3,365,736 German (4824 to 2645 in the air).

[juv95hrn]

Interesting comments with lots of useful information. Thanks for a great read! Hope you will continue this game?

[Fetterkrolle]

The game is still being played at a slow rate. We are currently on turn 13.

[thedoctorking]

As soon as you guys start with Soviet 13, I'll put up Axis 8. The AAR is staying 5 turns behind the play so the sides don't get too much useful intel from reading the AAR.

[redrum68]

@thedoctorking - Just want to say great AAR. Rarely see a neutral AAR covering both sides and giving incredibly insightful information.

[Kilo59]

I'm new to WitE and for me, this is a fantastic information source, and fascinating read. Thanks!

I also think that a mp teaching game is a great concept. Good luck to both sides!