41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 821 past first page.

[timmyab]

You look to be fried in the North.Is this an end turn shot?If not I'd get everything on the Western Luga and put it in front of 4th pz group, especially in the swamp hexes.Don't rely too much on those big tank divisions, they lose strength rapidly once they get into a fight.

ORIGINAL: notenome
Also, what is the deal with security regiments? I had to panic move my brigades to the border because I saw some sec regiments were withdrawn? How am I supposed to man the border with the fins???

Don't rely on them, they're good for virtually nothing now.Might as well be removed from the game really.

ORIGINAL: notenome
Notice the isolated spearhead and my use of speedbumps in front of the river line. I put disposable cav and AB divs in front of the river to mess the Axis attack plan. Its actually worked fairly well in the past.

Those hexes should be an important part of any good Dnieper defense.As long as you have a decent sized force to play with you can put a couple of divisions in each hex and get the CVs up in the sort of 12-20 range and force AGS to take them with deliberate attacks.In fact I defend any good terrain in front of the river including the light woods around Cherkassy, even if only with a token force.



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[notenome]

I understand they are useless, it's just that I usually man the border with the fins with them, understand? That's why I'm worried about withdraws, cause it would suck if a sec regiment all of a sudden dissapeared and the fins marched on Leningrad.

[Manstein63]

Don't use them to man the Finnish front as they will all be removed by September? just use them as blocking forces in front of your MLR
I had them manning large parts of the Finnish front in one game & when they vanished I was just about able to replace them with infantry brigades before the Finns arrived. But it screwed part of my front line making it weaker than I wanted.
Manstein63

[Flaviusx]

The NKVD units disband very aggressively now, so use them or lose them. By turn 6 or so they are mostly gone. With the latest rules for shatters/routs on ants, they're even more flimsy than before.

I personally think they ought to be removed from the game period at this point since they are practically notional units now. Basically, they are one shot deals.

Counterattacking is good, but that's gotten harder since you last played. The Germans are a lot tougher now in 1941 than they used to be. The new hotness is reserves.

So far as Leningrad goes, my own view at this point is that if you are at all serious about making a fight of it -- not holding it, mind you, just making the Axis sweat a little for it -- you have to go all in from the getgo and heavily reinforce it. And also 7. Army up north to stall the Finns as close to the chokepoint as possible rather than running to the Svir. If it falls too early that releases a panzer group and the better part of an infantry army for operations elsewhere, namely, Moscow. The Axis can easily contrive to push rails forward fast enough in the center to get at least a month of clear weather operations to nab Moscow, and holding it against 3 panzer groups for that long in clear weather is extremely difficult. Therefore the defense of Moscow begins in Pskov.

And, yeah, putting lots of stuff along the western Luga is just begging for them to be cut off. The real defense line runs roughly from Leningrad proper to Novgorod. Your goal here should to be delay a crossing of the Neva river by Pavlovo as long as possible. This is all that matters. Once across, the city is doomed. Keeping the Finns at bay also discourages the alternate method of a wide flanking maneuver to drive to the Svir to meet up with them.

[timmyab]

ORIGINAL: Flaviusx
Your goal here should to be delay a crossing of the Neva river by Pavlovo as long as possible. This is all that matters. Once across, the city is doomed.

This is excellent advice.
The Volkhov is also an important part of the defense of Leningrad.Against a determined Axis player, forcing them to take Sviritsa is the best you can hope for in the North unless it's heavily reinforced starting on turn one.

ORIGINAL: Flaviusx
Keeping the Finns at bay also discourages the alternate method of a wide flanking maneuver to drive to the Svir to meet up with them.

I think this only applies if you intend to actually try and hold Leningrad and the Northern fronts have been heavily reinforced.You'd need a pretty strong army to seriously delay the Finns and by around turn ten or so I'd rather have that strength facing South in the Volkhov marshes.

[bigbaba]

hehe, look at this chaos in the center. playing as axis against you is like a knife fight in a telefon cell notenome.

[notenome]

Turn 9:

MUD! Glorious mud! Field Marshall Mudovsky! This is before soviet moves.

In the south an attempt to isolate southwest front was halted and isolated, and now thanks to the mud, the panzers have stalled and are vulnerable.

[notenome]

In the center, after a 5 week battle for Smolensk (where around 20 divisions were encircled), the Axis advance was stalled, with no more than 10 miles advanced. Reserves! The new hotness. Some divisions withstood 4 attacks before retreating. Reserves!

[notenome]

In the north, The fascists gain nothing for the second week in a row as the heroic defenders of Leningrad desperately try to hold on until winter.

[notenome]

And in the swamps, cavalry divisions that had remained hidden spring forth, racing towards Axis supply lines.

[notenome]

Now I have little to no experience attacking in the mud (cause I never do). There are 5 isolated Axis divisions with 1-1 combat values, but my own units are in poor shape and have almost no mps, Are hasty attacks efective? I don't think I'll be able to surrender them... whats the best way to go about it?

EDIT: I booted up a vs AI game and tried some attacks in mud, my CVs dropped to zero almost instantly, those divs are probably gonna get to live unless there's something I'm not seeing here.

[Tarhunnas]

ORIGINAL: notenome

Now I have little to no experience attacking in the mud (cause I never do). There are 5 isolated Axis divisions with 1-1 combat values, but my own units are in poor shape and have almost no mps, Are hasty attacks efective? I don't think I'll be able to surrender them... whats the best way to go about it?

EDIT: I booted up a vs AI game and tried some attacks in mud, my CVs dropped to zero almost instantly, those divs are probably gonna get to live unless there's something I'm not seeing here.

Deliberate attcks against isolated units in mud can work. Hasty as Soviets against German - no.

Edit: Some of your posts read like they should have pictures, but there aren't any.

[notenome]

Yeah logistical difficulties, first I uploaded the pics on the wrong AAR, and then I uploaded them here (after deleting them) without the pics, all fixed now. Let's hope Abwehr didn't make use of this leak of information.

Problem with attacks is that all my units around the panzers are 1-1 and don't have enough mps for an attack. I'm thinking the best option is just going to be to form a coccon around the pnnzers, keep them isolated for another week, and hope next turn I can do some damage.

[Rodimstev]

Hi,

thanks for your AAR.

I have just a question why or how yours units (divisions for example) have a color inside (yellow or red or white) in function i think a army group or front?

thanhs a lot for your answer.

Rodimstev.

[notenome]

The game has different settings for aura (color around units) I normally use the chain of command option.
Yellow-Unit subordinated to the same higher HQ as currently selected unit
Red- Unit subordinated to the HQ that I have currently selected but outside of max range.
Blue- Unit subordinated to the HQ that I have currently selected but inside of max range.

Most of the time the units you see in yellow are STAVKA units, which are extremely useful for a variety of reasons.

[notenome]

A not catastrophic turn. Leningrad holds fairly intact. In the South the panzer divisions are resuplied after two weeks of isolation, but a corrider will allow me to pull out all of SW front intact. In the Center I foresaw a flank towards Tula, but coultn't do anything about it, and that's what I got. This is before Soviet moves. In the rear the cavalry units continue to attempt to break Axis rail lines, but two decided to spontaneously surrender. I hate it that when a pocket its closed the entire marshes all of a sudden flip Axis.

[notenome]

Quick question, I more than doubled the Red Airforce's presence this turn, doing a badly needed air overhaul. What is a good number of aircraft per Soviet ABs? I generally try to keep it at 100 per AB and morale above 50.

[Flaviusx]

For bombers, I try to stick to 6 groups. With fighters early on the regiments are so small and require so little support that you can safely pack an airbase to the max 9 groups with support to spare if need be.

If you're looking to force the AI to produce airbases, then 6 minimum in all of them. If not, then you may actually want to keep some undermanned airbases just to prevent the AI from producing yet more of them.

[notenome]

ah I see, I wasn't looking at group numbers, but instead at total number of aircraft per airbase. Personally I tired to keep the SAD ABs empty but thats not an option anymore, the Red Airforce has gotten too big.

[Callistrid]

I advise you:
1. to give up the bottom of the Dnyepr line. 15 div stand there for nothing...
2. with some units move near the german mot units to block his refit.
3. the full of the moscow front must be reserve, and send there all your reinforcement. keep your eyes on tula. the german will flanking you
4. on south surround the german mot units. Bobo will be sad with his 10-20 mp divs next turn
6. give up poltava, and move back, to be 4-5 hex from the german infantry.