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It's now T77 round 1 and this is what is going on from Moscow down to Tula right now. I have 22.1K HRS's assigned and 78 HRS's on hand. It's a bright sunshiney but cold day, no snowing or raining anywhere on the map. I have a light screen covering a huge gap in my lines but I have some units headed that way so it may not be a crisis yet. I'm getting the rails repaired slowly and so far the existing railheads are on the left edge of this image. So the supply level is 5 at the tip of the spear. And that's not enough for continuous operations so I'll have to pause the push for at least one turn to give enough time for the supply level to rise a bit.

It's now T77 round 2 and this is how I move my units in round 2 and subsequent rounds. I look in the "Order of Battle - Units" dialog for the next unit that has MP's remaining and move that one. I go through the entire list before I commit the combat phase. And I look at the "scheduled attacks" dialog to cancel those attacks that go longer than I want them to go. The first combat phase rarely takes more than 2 rounds so I usually have at least 70% of the turn remaining at the conclusion of the combat phase. I rarely need more than 3 or 4 combat phases per turn to get my units to where they need to be and execute all the attacks that seem to need to happen.

It's now T78 round 1 and this is a summary of what's going on NW of Moscow right now. I made a movie of info that you need to know to appreciate the situation properly. The first image is an overhead view of where the units are and the second image is the current weather and the third image is the current supply situation and the last image is the bare terrain underneath all the units. I'm not sure how to stop it for a longer look so maybe a screenshot of the image you're interested in and paste it in a graphics app like MSPaint, etc.

I'm trying to wrap some of my units around a small group of Soviet units and destroy them but as is Elmer's predeliction he chose the worse terrain to defend in, which makes it as hard as possible to kill them, while increasing the attackers losses as high as possible, etc. So it's almost SOP to surround your target to hassen the take down.

It's now T79 round 4 and this is what it looks like around Kalinin right now. The supply level is 2 out at the tip of the spear but the weather is a bright sunshiney early March day. The rivers are unfrozen in the AO's down south. Note my liberal use of engineer units on the front line. I'm losing a lot of engineers that way. I have 21.8 HRS's assigned and 385 HRS's on hand. And as for engineers I have 4.1K assigned and 51 on hand but I'm making 43 engineers each turn so that means I'm losing them almost as fast as I'm building them. I need replace them on the front lines with an infantry unit somehow. I'll have to break down the divisions into regiments...that's the only way to have enough warm bodies to man the lines without using engineers.

It's still T79 round 4 and this is what it looks like west of Moscow right now. The supply level is 3 out at the tip of the spear. I've filled up that huge gap in my front lines and it seems that I've captured an intact river crossing at Yukhnov so now there's no more rivers between me and Moscow. That's encouraging. Surely there are Soviet units in that wide open clear space that aren't visible yet. If not then progress looks like it's in the near future. The main problem will be getting an adequate amount of supply on the east side of the river soon enough to continue the push.

It's still T79 round 4 and this is what it looks like west of Tula right now. The supply level is 4 out at the tip of the spear. I'm slowly pushing the Soviets toward Tula by attacking at the river crossings. I need those crossings for my supply to flow to the east side of the river properly. The repaired rails are nearby so the supply level will rise from turn to turn.

It's now T80 round 2 and this is what it looks like SE of Leningrad right now. The supply level is 3 out at the tip of the spear. A lot of the troops I have in this AO are Finns but they are needed north of Leningrad so I'm going to rail them a few at a time that direction. The Germans will have to take over this AO all by themselves. Which means that this AO will likely go quiet for the most part.

It's now T80 round 4 and this is what it looks like NW of Moscow right now. The supply level is 3 out at the tip of the spear. I'm trying to follow the roads and rails leading from Leningrad to Moscow for the most part. At the same time I'm trying to surround and destroy all the separate small Soviet groups that seem to want to oppose me. My plan is to somehow somewhere break into the Soviet backfield and make a path around all of the defenders to isolate them from their supply. I see a large gap north of Maksatikha that might be utilized to start such a path. Either that or directly north of Vyshniy Volochek there's a small gap that could be widened to allow passage of whatever troops are available, south to Torzhok along the east side of the river and from there continuing south to Kalinin whereupon there will probably be a sore contest for that river crossing.

It's now Soviet T80 round 1 and I stopped their turn just to get a glance at what the Soviet production looked like right now and I see where they are building 1.4K Rifle Squads per turn and they have 44.3K RS's assigned right now. In other words the Axis can't win a pure attrition style of war against the Soviets. Other strategies are needed. I'm wondering what would happen if the advance was stopped in non-strategic areas and continued just near Moscow and / or Stalingrad or maybe both.

I've been keeping all the old turn save game files for those of you who wish to look at one for whatever reason.

It's now T81 round 1 and this is what's going on near Cherepovets right now. I have 22.7 HRS's assigned and 36 HRS's on hand. There are only 3 hexes containing snow flurries on the entire map which is mostly clear and 1/10 cloudy. It's warming up nicely, the rivers are not frozen over any longer and it's a good late March day. Supply levels are good ( 25 ) except that it tapers off quickly so that it's 3 out at the tip of the spear. The plan here is to continue pushing north to cut off the supply line to the two seperate groups of Soviet units and having accomplished that to aim for the city of Cherepovets itself.

It's still T81 round 1 and here's what it looks like west of Kalinin right now. Most of the resistance I'm getting is in the middle of this image. That's where most of the terrain favors the defender and there's a couple of rivers running through there slowing things down a lot. But the rails are repaired almost entirely to the front lines for the most part so supply levels are good but for supply levels adequate for operations on the east side of the river I'm going to need the crossings, all of them. So the fight in this AO is for the crossings.

It's still T81 round 1 and here's what it looks like west of Moscow right now. I'm slowly pushing the Soviets backward and every once in a while I can infiltrate through small gaps to start a good surround on small groups of Soviet units and Elmer wakes up to the threat and each of the potential target units will attempt to escape to the east. Several of them get away and I have to settle for a single destroyed unit. But at least it's something. Rinse and repeat.

It's now T83 round 1, the second of two turns of the spring rain season and here's what it looks like near Tula right now. I'm constantly having problems keeping the Soviet units contained. One Soviet Infantry unit found a weak spot in my lines and forced his way into my front lines. I need to find the appropriate units to get into his path and force a halt to his progress. I haven't gone to the trouble to show you the weather but take my word for it: 90% of the map is covered in rain, T-storms, and thick clouds. I doubt that any air support will contribute any support worth mentioning. A lot of my Axis units are in reorg, I estimate about 30% of the force. The majority of my units are low on supply and I've been giving most of the units the day off. Just digging them in where they stand. The MP's have been severely curtailed so not much is being wasted. I'm in no hurry.

It's now T85 round 1, the fourth of four turns of the spring rain season and here's what it looks like near Kalinin right now. The skies are still full of rain and T-storms and very cloudy. The advance has ground to a halt because of the very few MP's allowed because of the mud. I've been giving the units a day off, digging them in where they are without moving them. It results in the turns taking only a few minutes to do. My shock is 75 same as the Soviet shock so most of the Soviet attacks don't result in Axis losses for the most part. So the front line isn't moving at all right now.

It's now T86 round 1 and here's what it looks like near Bryansk right now. Notice how most of the terrain is muddy. That's what happens when it rains for about a week continually. Most of my units can move at most 2 hexes before they run out of MP's. That's partly the reason that I haven't delt with the Soviet Infantry unit that's attempting to burst through my lines. The Infantry Division that's just now been railed in to deal with the Soviet burster is the 262nd Infantry Division just now disembarked, at Sukninichi [ NE of Bryansk about 10 hexes ] and due to move south from there. After dealing with the Soviet unit that division will take a place in the front lines to help deal with those huge Soviet Guards divisions.

It's still T86 round 1 and here's what it looks like near Kalinin right now. I'm also including the supply bubbles so you can get an idea what's going on supply-wise. The weather is still terrible so I'm surprised that anything is flying. I've been giving most of my units the day off but there will be the occasional opportunity to do something constructive by moving into a Soviet units path or attacking from three consequtive hexes, etc. I have 24.7 HRS's assigned and 185 HRS's on hand right now.

It's now T87 round 2 and here's what it looks like near Kalinin right now. I'm being slowed down to a crawl because of the limited MP allowance. None of my units can move more than 2 hexes per turn for the last 5 turns or so, for the most part. Of course rail movement isn't hindered at all, except for the decreased MP's because of the mud season rules. IIRC, T89 is the last of the mud turns. I think I read that somewhere. The supply radius is 2 right now so all my units are on a restricted diet. Nothing by mouth, PRN ( "pro rata normala", "whatever is appropriate" ). I have 24.2 HRS's assigned and 489 HRS's on hand and I'm building 407 each turn.

It's now T90 round 1 and here's what it looks like NW of Moscow right now. The mud season is gone, the MP's have been restored to the full amount, the muddy terrain is gone, the supply levels are restored, the supply radius is 4 again, and my LCU's are itching for some playback. The air war is heating up and my fighters are set at a three-dot setting because their proficiency is 90% or higher. I've just opened this turn and not everybody in this image has moved yet. My goal is to completely surround Moscow somehow eventually.

It's still T90 round 1 and here's what it looks like SW of Moscow right now. My goal here is to create a serviceable gap in the Soviet lines, get into their backfield, and roll up their flanks and destroy all the Soviet units I can as quick as I can. There are surely Soviet units in all that clear space behind their front lines but they just aren't visible to me yet.