Road to Leningrad AAR (for Beginners)

[critter]

What are your leader choices? Since this is a 41 AGN sen. Can you choose any leader? Manstein? Or only those not in command in other jobs?
Whats the cut off point? How bad does your leader have to be that it makes sense to change him vs use your points to further attack?

[Lützow]

Is that a smaller scenario, restricted to Heeresgruppe Nord?

[SGHunt]

Joe

Here's the after battle report of the Mot Division I just shattered. Note relative casualties. Please note that some 6000 men, 45 guns and 45 afvs escaped from this battle - no doubt to reform and get thrown into my path at some later date!

[SGHunt]

ORIGINAL: jomni

Just wondering if the game retains the movement plotting mechanics of the original.
I found that very annoying and clunky.

I am informed that there is no original! This is a unique, once in a generation new game! (And it is reeling me in good and proper [;)]

To answer your question, no clunky movement plotting: you move and fight with as many action points as you have, in any order you choose and you can go back to units you have already moved etc until they have no more points left. It's really easy to use.

[SGHunt]

ORIGINAL: Lützow

Is that a smaller scenario, restricted to Heeresgruppe Nord?

Yup - see the name of this thread! This the Road to Leningrad scenario (and I'm playing it on normal settings, with FOW for both sides). You see the darkened hexes at the South of the overview screen shot? That's the edge of the playable map.

[SGHunt]

ORIGINAL: critter

What are your leader choices? Since this is a 41 AGN sen. Can you choose any leader? Manstein? Or only those not in command in other jobs?
Whats the cut off point? How bad does your leader have to be that it makes sense to change him vs use your points to further attack?

I don't know really, Critter, except that my choices are limited. The three support units I have attached to combat units have cost me an admin point each.

Here's a shot of the choices to replace a Corps Commander (this was before I used my points! The cost to dismiss this corps commander would have been 9 points ie ALL my points this turn, so clearly not worth it, although I would love to have Model in the thick of things, in charge of an infantry corps). I'm only really interested in Leaders Armour/Infantry rating so far - that's the second pair of M I in the table. I know Initiative matters a great deal too. Advice welcome here![;)]

[ComradeP]

Stuart, I completely missed that you are now an official tester, so first of all: congratulations!

As to the AAR: Is there any incentive for the Axis player to widen the front as much as reasonably possible (in order to create a bigger ring around Leningrad), which was a significant flaw in the historical plan and in my opinion the main thing that slowed the final advance to Leningrad to a crawl compared to the initial advance. For once, the Soviets could use backhand blows of their own, more or less sending 8th Panzer and most of 3rd Infantry (mot) back to the drawing board during the battle for Soltsy, to name one example.

If the Axis player can decide to go "Leningrad or bust" and just focus on a narrow front, the advance to Leningrad could be a lot easier than it was historically.

[jaw]

Just to clarify, the ratings reading left to right are:

P = Political

M = Morale

I = Initiative

A = Administrative

M = Mechanized (Armor)

I = Infantry (Ground)

A = Air

N = Naval

V = Victories

D = Defeats

[SGHunt]

Pieter

Thank you!

I can go as wide as Kabozha and even furtherEast up in the North, and to Rzhev, to Torzhok and Vyshny Volochek in the East but I won't want to!  [;)]  This is only 15 turnsI agree with creating a wide Eastern flank as far as I can, but just taking Leningrad with these forces is going to be tough enough.   If I can take (and hold) Velikie Luki and Novgorod I shall be very pleased  - I gather these are key 'swing' cities in this scenario.   If  I can hold them both I should be in a good position to win, I am told!

But these are questions for much later
Stuart

[SGHunt]

Jaw

Thanks to you also - so Morale is kind of important too (oops!) but it only influences the morale of the combat units - it does not define it: these units have their own morale rating.

S

[SGHunt]

So the remaining ID of II Corps cleans house with the help of 11th ID from 18th Army (light purple - violet - Northern Star will no doubt be able to confirm the precise shade! [;)])

[wiking62]

Nice start Stuart and congratulations on becoming the latest tester.
 
[8D]

[SGHunt]

Finally, for the clear out in front of the main offensive 122nd ID smashes the 84th Mot Div at Kaunas. So 2 Corps and 1 ID to make the initial break through. I have routed or shattered everything in the front line, but no pockets. So, second phase, drive the next Infantry Corps as deep as possible to provide a carpet for the Pz and Mot Divs. Oh and we'll see how the lone Corps gets on in sweeping Courland.

Less frequent/detailed posts now, until and unless something of interest crops up or I need to do the rail repair or whatever.

[SGHunt]

Group Courland do well - especially in routing 23rd Tank Division with the loss of 286 afv's for the loss of 122 men.

[SGHunt]

Rail conversion follows the successful advance I Corps - the construction battalions (highlighted in yellow box) are working flat out in the summer sun, more than 27,000 men of FBD 4. Remember our civilian engineers are heroes too: without them, no more advances. Luckily the Baltic rail lines are more readily converted to the German rail gauge than those of the Soviet heartlands

[SGHunt]

Er-hem!   I had to re-do some of those moves because I went on to move the wrong division in support of a whole different Pz Corps attack.   This would not have happened to a real German general staff officer(!), so I took the move back.  This has meant some of the earlier moved units are in slightly different places but all is in essence as it was.  Lesson - use the Quick Save function often.

[SGHunt]

LVI Pz Corps fails to capture Daugavpils, as von Manstein did in reality!

[SGHunt]

Riga does fall, but I am not able to cross the river to occupy it, except with my HQ unit. Reinhardt and his staff are, I suspect, no match for Stalin's wrath in the coming turn!

[SGHunt]

OK - here's how it stands at the end of turn 1. How am I doing? What have I missed, forgotten or never knew about? What would you have done differently? And can I have another Panzer Korps, if I ask nicely?

[SGHunt]

...and the butcher's bill: