The Great Patriotic War (STE78 vs 821bobo)

[BrianG]

If you ask me the main fight and most important is down south.

If he clears your south area, will he have enough VP's.

or else he can throw all into a 43 offensive with no south to worry about.

[STEF78]

ORIGINAL: BrianG

If you ask me the main fight and most important is down south.

If he clears your south area, will he have enough VP's.

or else he can throw all into a 43 offensive with no south to worry about.

He has currently 227 VP (turn 66) and needs 33 more. He will get easily 10/15 more. But to win, he needs to take Moscow

[821Bobo]

Yep, no chance for auto victory.

[STEF78]

Turn 62, 20th august 1942

The battle extends now from Leningrad to Batumi through Voronejh, Astrakhan and Baku...

Leningrad
I manage to launch an assault against the finns in this area. The goal is to create another operational theatre, bleed the finns and threaten Leningrad. Shlisselburg is mine!



Voronejh
The germans are loking for the weak point... Heavy counterattacks



Astrakhan
Argh!!! The bad guys arrived from the north! Another 6 units doomed....



Baku
It's over for the units in western Caucasus.. The supply line is cut. At least, Baku looks safe...

[STEF78]

The losses in order to show the intensity of the battle



And the OOB

[jwolf]

It's over for the units in western Caucasus.. The supply line is cut.

Were some of the trapped units still frozen? That would be ... rather unfair.

[Mamluke]

dam, with those german Mtt. Div, there was no chance of protecting that rail line.
WOW, all those Hexes auto convert!? that makes life so much easier for ze germans.

can you show how many units and total men are trapped in the western Caucasus?

it seams most of the motorize units are now going for Stalingrad, ho boy here goes another epic fight, ready to unleash your inner Stalin?

EDIT: HO yeah, final question, I remember that when the Germans made their dash for the Caucasus, you where caught by surprise, did you have time to evacuated all the industry and LAG factories before the Germans cut the Astrakhan - Baku rail line? or did you evacuated all you could save to Baku?

[rmonical]

Similarly, the advance (or retreat) of the Russians into Hungary has not caused a reaction on T3 of my game, I am tempted to see if anything will cause a reaction, but I'll save that for solo play. The advance is sealed by the just activated Mobile Corps

[STEF78]

ORIGINAL: jwolf

It's over for the units in western Caucasus.. The supply line is cut.

Were some of the trapped units still frozen? That would be ... rather unfair.

They are still frozen... They only "awake" when a german unit is within 3 hexes

[STEF78]

ORIGINAL: Mamluke

dam, with those german Mtt. Div, there was no chance of protecting that rail line.
WOW, all those Hexes auto convert!? that makes life so much easier for ze germans.

can you show how many units and total men are trapped in the western Caucasus?

Roughly 15 units / 100K men

it seams most of the motorize units are now going for Stalingrad, ho boy here goes another epic fight, ready to unleash your inner Stalin?

No spoil... you have to wait but Bobo is fighting to win, not to get a draw.

EDIT: HO yeah, final question, I remember that when the Germans made their dash for the Caucasus, you where caught by surprise, did you have time to evacuated all the industry and LAG factories before the Germans cut the Astrakhan - Baku rail line? or did you evacuated all you could save to Baku?

All industries were evacuated, the last one to Baku...

[STEF78]

Turn 63, 27th august 1942

Random weather... we have mud in central russia

Leningrad
Offensive is stopped due to weather.It will give to the germans time to reorganize the defence.



Don
Bobo is always looking for the weak point near Voronejh. On the other side, he clears the Western bank of the Don



Astrakhan
the Pocket is almost cleared. More reinforcements are sent.



Caucasus
Novorosiisk has fallen, western Caucasus is agonizing. Baku looks safe, bobo is preparing a second line of defence. several units are still frozen...

[STEF78]

Closest view of baku with the fortifications



An example of one of the heavy fights near Voronejh



A focus on the air losses, the Luftwaffe is slowly losses air superiority



And the OOB

[STEF78]

Turn 64, 3rd september 1942

Voronejh

The germans are always seeking the weak point... Heavy fights



Stalingrad
Headache in this area, where will they hit?



Currently they are on for a frontal assault on the city



Baku
The last door to west Caucasus is firmly closed



But some units are still frozen!!

[STEF78]

Always smashing the Luftwaffe



And the OOB

[RKhan]

ORIGINAL: STEF78


But some units are still frozen!!

But at least you'll be ready when the Turks invade in support of Germany... [:)]

[jwolf]

ORIGINAL: RKhan

ORIGINAL: STEF78


But some units are still frozen!!

But at least you'll be ready when the Turks invade in support of Germany... [:)]

[:D] [:D]

Just how dangerous is the situation at Stalingrad? There's not much good weather left -- could the Germans really pull it off?

[STEF78]

ORIGINAL: jwolf

Just how dangerous is the situation at Stalingrad? There's not much good weather left -- could the Germans really pull it off?

It's not as easy for the german to take the city.

1) There are only 40 miles of clear ground to attack the city from the South as the Don and the Volga create natural defences. Concerning the Volga it's major river and swamp, nothing good for pzd/mot units
2) I had enough time to dig in and the stacks require strong deliberate attacks to be pulled off

And some thoughts about the general situation
3) At this stage of the war the front is over extended. It's a problem for both players but the russian can create new one, the german cannot. And the german requires Inf units to breach strong russian lines and it's hard for him to gather them without leaving other sectors.
4) Each week I create 1/2 rifle corps and a well entrenched rifle corsp is at least a defensive CV25. Most Inf german unts have an offensive value 5/7. Most pzd/mot 8/12.
5) The Leningrad attack proved to the german that he needs some reserve units to be able to react. We are now mid october 1942 in the game. I began creating each week an artillery division. My goal is to to be able during the winter to breach the german line even if defended with CV35+
6) Return of destroyed russian units is a game changer. Losing a rifle division is'nt as dramatic as before.

[Mamluke]

ORIGINAL: STEF78

Turn 64, 3rd september 1942


Baku
The last door to west Caucasus is firmly closed

Holy S%% from 466 CV it jump by 3,5 TIMES!? you don't mess with the gebirgsjäger.

I won't rest easy just yet for baku if I were you, Bobo has 4 Mountain DIvisions, give then each 2 pioneers and as show those are powerful units. they could clear those Hexes in the south and use at least 1 or 2 panzer Divisions in the North. the real problem here is that once they move forward, you CAN NOT Dislodge a gebirgsjäger Division in the Mountains! they get AT LEAST 40 defensive CV with OUT forts. 50 CV with fort level 1 O.O

and estimating how long it takes to move a rifle Division from the Mainland to Baku by rail and see... that's like 4 turns to reach the front lines and be battle ready?


it seams taking out the Fins early on could be very beneficial, even if you capture Leningrad, Bobo could still use then in the Defensive (and you know how strong those Fins are in the Defensive...)

I highly recommend a Main offensive towards Finland During the Winter! ( no river defense MAYBE you can get lucky and Bobo didn't prepare Forts in the Korelian isthmus..

what do you guys think? is Finland worth it in 1942-43? considering the Situation...

[chaos45]

the big problem the Finns seem to have in most games is German players like to use them to hold a fair chunk more land against much more determined soviet assaults than historical.

Which in turn is leading to finlands early collapses we are seeing. Yes its an economy of force for the germans until about 1943 but if the Germans dont win by 1943 then it in turn weakens the finns to the point they seem to get steam rolled by Soviet formations.

also in this game that Finnish line in front of leningrad is extremely weak......not even double stacked, Soviet stacks can easily smash that aside with alittle effort.

[STEF78]

About Baku

Even with MtnInf, it will not be easy for the german to crack the line. My defensive CV are climbing with the forts and the Pzd are gone north!
They can't be everywhere every time!

About the Finns

I had a bad luck with the weather in the north. Bobo won't make twice the same error. The line is now reinforced, the front held by finnish units shortened...

I will have to use massive artillery to break the line. It's just a question of time...