Matrix Games Forums

Originally posted by Stefdragon
K62:

I'm not getting any image on the northern front.bmp.
Anyone else?

I'll only post jpegs in the future, everybody seems to get those. Sorry.:rolleyes:

With a dedication to my neighbor the mighty dragon

merci, mon ami.

What happens is that I get used to having so many of the attachments on this board and otherwise, being jpg files where all I need to do is "single left click" to bring up the image.
If I want to save it as a jpg or a bmp, I then right click, and click on "save target as" to whatever drive, folder, file name and type I want. (I mention this stuff 'cause I know there are other members who like myself are not computer wizards .{I'm a dragon, not a wizard} and who may not know this). If I'm not mistaken, if it is a bmp file, it can be loaded into your OS's paint program, (in Windows it's "Paint") where you can blow it up, etc.

Thusly when I "single left click" on a bmp attachment, I get nothing. To open that, it is necessary to "single right click", and then click on "save target as".

Being that I'm still having trouble with tapping the top of my head with one hand, while rubbing my tummy with the other, this right click-left click thing is a little confusing!

I hope this is helpful to anyone who has had the same problem.

Oh yes, and thank you for your attention in adding the jpg K62!

May the best and most FIERCE Marshal Win!

Turn 9

Losses so far are

17410/2857/9106/5082
28968/4907/11979/4124

Italy has finally surrendered, so I'm rid of their divisions on the East Front. I've stopped my advance in the north to reorganize, as he has brought a lot of tanks here. I am resuming my advance in the south. I only managed to inflict a couple of retreats this turn.

Turn 10

I sent 2 Tank Armies behind his lines, one going S-N towards Novgorod and the other in the general direction Bryansk-Gomel, with the purpose of overruning HQ's. It didn't work, they met heavy opposition. It's now apparent he's keeping his HQ's well guarded and I am sure I just lost 2 TkArmies to learn this lesson.

In the south I'm still advancing very slowly, in a couple of turns I guess I'll take Poltava. His center has finally begun to give way in a couple of spots.

Turn 11 09/13/43

The Red Army is slowly advancing on large sections of the front. Only one German corps is now in contact with Leningrad. West of Velikyie Luki and Demyansk there is no opposition. The railroad between Smolensk and Bryansk has been cleared. Further south, slow advance again in an open area. I'm in contact with Poltava now, which is defended by a PzKorps of unknown strength.

The total losses so far are:

20511/3259/10774/5816
34224/6007/14037/4638

Turn 13

The first snow has fallen at the end of this turn. I am attaching an image with the situation in the north. The other fronts are rather stationary.

Losses so far:

23119/3715/12225/6780
38426/6898/15648/5570

Turn 20 11/15/43

After winter came, we had several turns of small-scale skirmishes. I managed to push the north front forward a bit. Now it follows a route roughly 1 square west of the Leningrad-Vitebsk railway. However, Josan brought his PzKorps from the south to this area and brought my offensive to a halt. Especially since he captured (a couple of turns ago) two Tank Armies which had broken through the front to attack an HQ, but then disobeyed their orders to return.

However, the withdrawal of the panzers from the south left this area vulnerable. He had to abandon the entire region east of the Dnepr, which I took over. Last turn it rained and he retreated almost his entire air force to the Reich for training. That allowed me to concentrate a few Tank Armies unobserved near Poltava. This turn I managed to force a Dnepr crossing SW of Poltava and sent these tanks through the break to cut off the supply lines of his troops in the Dnepropetrovsk-Zaporojhe area. This will probably force him to bring the panzers and the air force back to the south again

Next turn we'll have the first blizzard of this campaign.

Turn 21 11/22/43

The Soviet winter offensive is proceeding well. One German corps surrendered - the first Axis prisoners so far. Three others fled in the direction of Sevastopol, where they're totally out of supply. Three more still are cut off in the Dnepropetrovsk area.

He sent 2 PzKorps to the south, but their flanks were not well supported and they got cut out of supply this turn. I could have been more ambitious and surrounded them completely, but I didn't want to take the chance, unfortunately (since the Luftwaffe put up a very good show I was unable to find out before just how weak their flanks were). They'll escape next turn, but he'll now have to bring in even more troops from the north, where he still has 3 strong PzKorps.

I am attaching 2 image files, one with the situation after each of the last two turns in the south.

Second image file

Turn 22

Of the two PzKorps that came to the south last turn and got isolated one moved back towards Odessa. The other, an SS PzKorps, successfully attacked east. Two more PzKorps arrived, one near Kiev (this one is still in condition to fight) and the other on the Odessa railway. The interdiction attacks of the Luftwaffe were mostly foiled by a couple of Yak9t groups at good strength.

During my turn, I sent a rather weak Tank Army around his 2 PzKorps on the Odessa railway and it worked - they had no backing and got cut off. The SS PzKorps (which had attacked east) got heavy losses from the air, but held at 4:1 odds and didn't surrender. One corps, defending Zaporojhe, surrendered. I tried to avoid attacking the others as they can still retreat south. They must have taken a lot of attrition losses already anyway.

Since he has now taken almost all his tanks to the south, I've resumed my attack in the north. Minsk held for the second turn in a row, however east of Pskov I surrounded 2 corps by a purely infantry action.

Blizzard again next turn.

It's already quite clear that the Axis can't win this game.
Against a competent Russian player, the Axis will have to fight desperately to obtain a draw. I think the 43 campaign we played proved that...!?

The question is: Will you take Berlin before 010745?

Originally posted by PzB
It's already quite clear that the Axis can't win this game.
Against a competent Russian player, the Axis will have to fight desperately to obtain a draw .

Sorry, but I dont think so. Playing the germans a defensive strategy from the beginning (i.e. fighting for a draw) can get it even against a skilled russian player. In the case the game I have with K62 I played for victory (and failed) and I will pay this cost. However, the real chance of germans to win in the ´43 campaign is the surprise. If opponent knows you will do in the this scenario he has a great advantage (of course the great skill of k62 gave the rest). Many of my losses (ground and air) were for offensive operations... but if the soviet player dont know he face an agressive german player and is the first time to face this strategy he can get many problems. [/B]

The question is: Will you take Berlin before 010745?

Yes, good question:p

The Russian player certainly have to be caught of guard to loose a 43 campaign. This is very difficult to achieve against an experienced player.

Ofcourse all the talk on the forums about the Germans winning in 43 made this all but impossible to achieve!

I often enjoy the first time I play a strategy game the most. Then everything you don't know about the it represents the fog of war, and as in real life you don't have any experience to base your tactics on.

My first Uncommon Valor long campaign pbem game is going on right now. Really exciting as I don't quite know what to expect.

Good luck with the rest of your game...you and Sodam are really in for it know

Originally posted by PzB
The Russian player certainly have to be caught of guard to loose a 43 campaign. This is very difficult to achieve against an experienced player.

Ofcourse all the talk on the forums about the Germans winning in 43 made this all but impossible to achieve!

I often enjoy the first time I play a strategy game the most. Then everything you don't know about the it represents the fog of war, and as in real life you don't have any experience to base your tactics on.

My first Uncommon Valor long campaign pbem game is going on right now. Really exciting as I don't quite know what to expect.

Good luck with the rest of your game...you and Sodam are really in for it know

Yes, I´m playing my very first PBEM games of Uncommon valor against my friends and...

But really I hope have more chances against K62 than Hussein:D

Turn 25 12/20/43

Total losses so far:

Axis: 37600/6762/21347/11210
Soviet: 56381/10636/20528/11125

The battle in the south ended in Soviet victory. Some 5 German korps surrendered and a few others had to go through no supply for some turns. I've captured the rail junction south of Kiev. My opponent has withdrawn his forces around Kiev and in front of Odessa. I have to suspend my advance for a couple of turns, though, because my troops were out of supply after the rapid advance and bombed by the Luftwaffe.

In the north, the two encircled korps surrendered. He has retreated all the forces north of Pskov, to shorten the front. He has placed quite a few tanks on the Pskov-Vitebsk railway, so I'm expecting counter-attacks in the area.

Another offensive has been launched in the Army Group Center sector. This one had been spared so far and pretty much held its positions, forming a salient in my line. The offensive plan involved tank attacks from the north and the south and an infantry attack in the center.

The northern attack, however, was stopped by a handful of panzers, saving half of Army Group Center, which got to retreat behind the Dnepr this turn.

The other half was not that lucky. Last turn it got cut off and this turn it was pretty much destroyed. 3 korps surrendered, 2 shattered and 1 is surrounded. I was also somewhat lucky and got a bridgehead over the Dnepr in this area too.

I'm attaching an image of the situation in the center at the end of this turn. Blizzard next week.

Originally posted by PzB
The question is: Will you take Berlin before 010745?

If you ask me (I might be subjective, though, because I play Soviet a lot ), that end date is way too early. The game does not simulate two events which played a major role in ending the war in '45:

1. In August '44, Romania capitulated with Soviet troops barely on its territory and turned against the Germans. The Romanians seized the Carpathians passes behind the rebuilt German 6th army, which had to surrender (again!). The result was what Liddell Hart calls 'the biggest flank opening in modern warfare'. Not simulated, although various sources estimate it has made the war some 200 days shorter.

2. The Ardennes offensive. At the beginning of '45, Hitler spends his best remaining forces in a last gamble in the west. Had they stayed on defensive positions (and in the east), the Soviets would have had huge problems in crossing the Oder. I don't even want to think about the Budapest attack, which was on the same lines. Not simulated.

Also, given the international diplomatic situation, I doubt Hitler would have gotten a truce even if he held until August '46.

And how about the A-bomb?

Turn 28 01/10/44

Losses so far:
40775/8076/23416/13061
60302/11472/22247/13512

In the northern sector, the Germans have been pushed back a couple of squares after heavy fighting. The Pskov-Vitebsk railway is now in Soviet hands, although the nazis still hold Pskov.

In the center a strong PzKorps arrived and drove back the first bridgehead over the Dnepr in this region. However, I managed to create another one, which withstood the attack last turn (but might have to retreat this turn).

In the south, he counter-attacked south of Kiev and made a couple of armies retreat. I reinforced them and sent them back.

In the air, after a few turns of absence the Luftwaffe is back to get its revenge with groups of 100+ Fw190. Needless to say, my bombers have begun to take horrendous losses and I had to send many of them back to Siberia this turn. The small groups of La5FN are doing decently, though, against the FWs, and the Yak9t even manages to turn back some bombing attacks once in a while, although I'm taking very heavy losses.

Turn 31

Total losses:
44575/ 9381/25679/15319
65446/12327/23532/15965

The PzKorps that had pushed back the bridgehead in the center got surrounded and destroyed. As far as I could tell, it contained the HG and Nordland PzDivisions and some PzGrenadier with a total of almost 400 tanks. After this, Army Group Center seems less capable of effective resistance, at least until it gets some tanks as reinforcements.

Army Group North continues to hold its positions extending towards the SE of Pskov. I've been attacking this city for a couple of turns now, but without success.

Army Group South holds two separate positions, one around Kiev and the other one in the front of Odessa, by the river. The Kiev area has been under attack for some turns, but I haven't made much progress. In front of Odessa my forces have taken positions and await supplies before they can start the assault.

In the air, we have both concentrated on the production of fighters and I don't see many bombers around anymore. It's mainly the FW190 vs. the La-5FN and Yak-9t, with large losses on both sides and not much impact on the ground fighting.