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An FYI, you mentioned Gimp, you should be able to do an Edit, Paste, as new layer. Then you can move it around and splice it nicely.

I know.
I'm just not very good at it, hence the occasional earthquakes in Russia. [:D]

Apologies for the width of the image. I just plumb forgot to crop it before uploading.



In the north the Finns keep at it, trying to open bunkers with wooden spoons. Same results, and another Guards unit, plus 2 Guard Arty SUs are produced.
It's starting to look like these attacks are 'scripted' into the AI, and when they fail it just loops.
Weird.

Around Leningrad the same swamp-hex gets vacated again. And with all the Germans stacked in the area, it looks like there'll be a full offensive to break the Luga line in the near future.

Center is still the biggest problem. Granted, the attacks get bogged down, but at a horrible cost.
I've already had to insert one of the precious reserve armies to plug the holes, and it looks like I might need 2-3 more to feel safe. Unfortunately I only have one left, and the Leningrad Front is screaming for reinforcements as well. So while I'm happy with the tenacious defence put up so far, the strain is beginning to show.

South-West Front is falling back as slowly as I can make them. Biggest problem is that I lose the precious fort-leves every time I retreat, making the line that more vulnerable next turn.
All is not bad news though as the 219th Infantry (Heroes of the Soviet Union all) manage to hold on to Kiev another week despite heavy and repeated attacks. They're down to 50% strength though, so it's a question of time.

Down south the Romanians are still too busy celebrating the liberation of Bessarabia to push any further east.

Okay, this is starting to get ridiculous......
While it's admittedly nice to have your own personal Guard Generator, this can't be WAD. [&:]



The assault across the Luga gets underway. Good news is that the Wehrmacht has to use so many units that only a single attack takes place.
Bad news is that I have nothing behind the line aside from a couple of brigades and FZs. I doubt Leningrad will fall before the mud, but whether I can hold it against a snow-offensive is a bit more iffy.



Still intense pressure on the Central/Bryansk Fronts. In and of itself not that troubling, but the front is starting to get stretched to its limit.



Kiev area is really starting to heat up. the 219th Infantry is finally dislodged from Kiev, and if the Germans manage to get over the Dnepr down here, I'm in serious trouble.
There's also more armor lurking east of Chernigov, and that part of the line is being held by nothing but airborne brigades, and whatever units I could scrape together.
Might be time to abandon the Dnepr altogether, but I hate giving up that natural fortress.......

2 fresh divisions gets up north to relieve the Guards, giving them a chance to rest and refit.
Reserves are sent to Leningrad to disrupt a push towards the city itself. If the AI decided to go east instead, outflanking along Lake Ilmen that's a problem. OTOH I doubt there'll be time before the mud hits.

In the center I decide (albeit reluctanly) to abandon the Dnepr line, and start a general retreat.
In the following turns every spare unit I have will start digging along the No-Retreat line, hopefully getting a head-start on the forts before the main army gets there.
It's going to be fun to see what happens with the Romanians when the opposition disappears.

The AI Finns seem to like the tactics used against them, by the Russians back in '39. [:D]

Yep. Didn't know they had lemmings in Finland.......

You can almost hear the conversation 50 years later:
"Grandfather, what did your unit do since they became Guards?"
"Well, for 3 weeks we stood balls-deep in snow, talking to our artillery...." [:D]

And the Finns insist on a somewhat gruesome version of Whack-A-Mole.......
Still, two more turns should result in even more Guards. [:)]



Leningrad is out of danger for the moment. Looks like the AI is trying dislodge me from Lake Ilmen, but with Mud so close, I should be able to buy enough time.



More pressure from AGC, but the continuous combat since June has depleted the combat-power of the panzers.
I won't be able to hold them completely, but they're not going anywhere far.



Further south things have started hopping. I'm not seriously worried since the pace of the retreat is still set by yours truly, but it does show the importance of fortifications. Even Lvl 2 forts will do much to discourage the kind of maneuver-warfare that the Axis needs.

All in all, things are very much under control as Mud is getting close.

Not much action on my turn.
A reserve army is sent north to contain the German attack around Ilmen, and everybody else takes a step or two backwards, shuffling units around to get fresh divisions into the line.
In the south the cavalry is being used to screen the main line. While cavalry is very good at exploiting a blizzard breakthrough, I have to have one first. That means infantry, and lots of artillery.
So the infantry divisions gets pulled into second line, hopefully avoiding attacks altogether.
Outside of the screen-shot, there are now 4 full armies refitting and training up east of Moscow. These will eventually get attached to the Volkhov Front, and after they get into combat I'll need to reorganize my lines.
Still far too many STAVKA armies roaming around plugging holes wherever needed.

Hi all,

Did AI ever tried / attempted encirclement in this game?


Leo "Apollo11"

ORIGINAL: Apollo11

Hi all,

Did AI ever tried / attempted encirclement in this game?


Leo "Apollo11"

It tried, but I was able to establish double- or triple-lines very soon, which made it tough going.
I'll rummage around in my save-games and see if I can find you some examples.
Might take a while though, since my vacation ends today. [8D]

But I think there's something wrong with the AI logic re. the Finns suicidal attacks.
The occasional low-odds attack would be fine, but this is ludicrous. [:D]

WHACK! [:D]
I do believe further comments are unnecessary.



AI is still trying to get around Ilmen, but the terrain (and the Russians for that matter) are against them.
A one-hex wide advance is actually to my benefit, since they'll get murdered during the blizzard.
Assuming of course that they stick around that long.....
No matter, I'll dig in behind the river. If the AI decides to head NE, there's nothing but trees up there anyway.



More pressure exerted by AGC. But if these are the kind of forces he needs to use to vacate a hex, it's a long way to Moscow.
Does anyone have an idea how my modified CV dropped THAT low?



AGS seems to have found their ball.....er, courage [:)]
It looks like bloody murder, but most of these are hasty attacks --> retreats, so the casualties are fairly low.
And I have no problem giving up more ground. Every city within miles have already been emptied of industry.

Whole lot of nothing, really.
The STAVKA forces around Novgorod gets their own personal Army HQ (10th Army), just in case the AI decides to get uppity. [:)]
Otherwise there's a fatigue-shuffle going along the line. Also, the incoming armor-brigades are starting to get assigned on Army level. Each army getting two, and in return they give their highest Exp. division back to STAVKA.
Plan is to have 2 (maybe 3) armies with Exp. in the high 40's for the Blizzard.
All the infantry brigades gets parked a good ways back, and are set to 50% TOE. Can't imagine I'll find a use for them aside from combining them in ´42.

ORIGINAL: CheerfullyInsane
All the infantry brigades gets parked a good ways back, and are set to 50% TOE. Can't imagine I'll find a use for them aside from combining them in ´42.

Forget the concept of digging rifle brigades. a) Forts are built slowly, b) construcion value of such brigades is really lousy and finally c) building forts during bad weather is reaaaaaaally sloooooow. If you don't plan to use them as cannon fodder and send them to the rear make sure they are a) minimum 10 hexes away from enemy units and b) on refit mode. This way they will gain morale MUCH faster (confirmed). Then when you combine them to form rifle divisions the morale of the new units should be quite high.

Don't forget to adjust the maximum TOE to let's say 50%. This way they will NOT suck manpower, materiel. They have to train, not fill up the ranks [:)]

Cheers

ORIGINAL: TulliusDetritus

ORIGINAL: CheerfullyInsane
All the infantry brigades gets parked a good ways back, and are set to 50% TOE. Can't imagine I'll find a use for them aside from combining them in ´42.

Forget the concept of digging rifle brigades. a) Forts are built slowly, b) construcion value of such brigades is really lousy and finally c) building forts during bad weather is reaaaaaaally sloooooow. If you don't plan to use them as cannon fodder and send them to the rear make sure they are a) minimum 10 hexes away from enemy units and b) on refit mode. This way they will gain morale MUCH faster (confirmed). Then when you combine them to form rifle divisions the morale of the new units should be quite high.

Don't forget to adjust the maximum TOE to let's say 50%. This way they will NOT suck manpower, materiel. They have to train, not fill up the ranks [:)]

Cheers

So I've found out. You'd think that just because it's a brigade they'd still be able to pick up a damn shovel. [:D]
But instead of merely having them train in the rear for the next 8 months, I'm considering moving them up once the blizzard hits. They're not going to do any fighting, just move into the vacated fort-lines to stop them from decaying, while the REAL army advances.
Had this been a human opponent I'd leave them to training, but at this point I seriously doubt I'll be needing them.......(famous last words).

Hi all,

Do you have savegames (preferably auto generated savegames for AI Axis turns) when Finns started to attack against the odds?


Leo "Apollo11"

ORIGINAL: Apollo11

Hi all,

Do you have savegames (preferably auto generated savegames for AI Axis turns) when Finns started to attack against the odds?


Leo "Apollo11"

That I can do.
They started on Turn 8, though the odds were fairly even in the beginning (1:2.7, 1:3.4 that sort of thing).
Around turn 11 and onwards it got just plain silly 1:200 and upwards. Odd thing is that if I remember correctly they kept sending the same lone division in even though otehr forces were readily available.
However, I'm too lazy to multi-post to avoid the 5 Meg limit on attachments, so I RAR'ed turns 8-16 Axis Auto-saves, and uploaded to Mediafire instead:
http://www.mediafire.com/?85pwzaj9ebvkvh4

Hi all,

ORIGINAL: CheerfullyInsane

ORIGINAL: Apollo11

Do you have savegames (preferably auto generated savegames for AI Axis turns) when Finns started to attack against the odds?

That I can do.
They started on Turn 8, though the odds were fairly even in the beginning (1:2.7, 1:3.4 that sort of thing).
Around turn 11 and onwards it got just plain silly 1:200 and upwards. Odd thing is that if I remember correctly they kept sending the same lone division in even though otehr forces were readily available.
However, I'm too lazy to multi-post to avoid the 5 Meg limit on attachments, so I RAR'ed turns 8-16 Axis Auto-saves, and uploaded to Mediafire instead:
http://www.mediafire.com/?85pwzaj9ebvkvh4

Thanks!


Leo "Apollo11"

Turns 18-21:

Dear Diary,

It rained today. [:)]

Zero action during the mud, aside from a few attacks against single armored brigades.
Russians kept cycling units on the frontline, and building reserve armies in the rear.
At present there are 5 complete armies (1 experienced, the rest training) just waiting for the snow to fall.

Turn 22:



Leningrad is silent. I doubt anything will happen up here for the next looong while. If the AI is silent, I will be as well. Far better places to use the troops, and the Luga is almost tailor-made as a fort-line.



Last gasp of AGC. As usual, I can't hold them when they concentrate, but neither can he manage a complete breakthrough. I imagine I'll have to fall back a few hexes before the blizzard hits. All dependant on whether the AI starts to pull back in preparation for the winter.



Basically the same thing in the AGS area. Plenty of attacks, most of them successful but I can easily drop back a hex every turn and suffer no ill effects.
I briefly toyed with the idea of simply pulling back out of my forts, to see if I could 'lure' the AI forward into open terrain, and then proceed to murder them during the blizzard.
I would've against a human opponent just to see if he fell for it, but I'd assume the AI is programmed to attack during '41, and the way I see it, the poor program is in enough trouble as is. [:D]

I won't be posting a complete front until the start of the blizzard unless something completely unexpected happens. Suffice it to say that for the next 4 turns I'll fall back where necessary to contain any attacks, and otherwise prepare my offensive in December.

So.....Not only are the Finns suicidal, they're apparently suicidal screaming pansies. [:D]
After 3 months of attacking concrete bunkers with reindeer-antlers, they've scampered...WTF?
Anybody know what the Finnish term for 'Sir Robin' is? [X(]



To their credit, AGC is still trying. But they simply don't have the moxie required to get through.



Further south everybody seems to have gone home for supper.....
Either that, or the AI is setting up defensive lines for the blizzard.
But that's a whole lot of nothing holding the front.....



AGS still hammers away, but again absolutely no threat to anything important.
I may have to give up Kirovograd, but I'm loath to give the German tanks a frontline town in which to linger in reserve-mode.....