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After 3 weeks the war seems to be a continual exchange of pockets on both sides. The Germans push forward a bit surrounding my divisions and then I return the favour, albeit on a smaller scale.

Starting in the south one can make out the trapped SW Front troops. But all it not lost! Some creative moves along the bottom of the pocket and hey presto everyone is back in supply. What's more the panzers are themselves largely isolated in spots.

In the centre it is a similar story on a smaller scale. Creative use of the troops just east of Minsk has isolated the lead panzers. It may cost me an airborne brigade though - ouch. I'll take the chance.

thedrillsgt has not extricated the tanks north of Vitebsk yet. Did they run out of petrol? Or is it a trap? I reinstate the pocket around them and note the build up of German units just to the west. Perhaps this is the main thrust, well placed to go either toward Moscow or Leningrad?

In the north my strategy does not turn out quite so well. I try to cut off the units pushing north of Pskov but my morale is too low to assert control of the final hex. My back up plan is to plaster the area north of his units with divisions several ranks deep and hope his movement points run out.

Most my time is spent re-organising the army. C&C structure is not too bad now but most of the commanders are still worthless. Support units are well spread out and locked in place. I will try unlocking some select armies later.

Which raises an interesting question: sappers or construction units for digging entrenchments? It appears sappers have the higher value for creating fortifications but I read of many Soviet commanders praising the RR construction unit. If nothing else is sucks up a lot of manpower which is not helpful.

I'm feeling much better now than at the end of turn 2 about my tar baby strategy. Still, I know it is only a matter of time until I have to run a bit.

any up-dates?

Probably today Pelton. I'm staying a couple turns behind here so thedrillsgt can join in if he wants.

I forgot to mention my advance on Warsaw. Still going well at this point, but I know the poor buggers are not long for the world!

As others have written, playing Russian in '41 is a balancing act between delaying the German or running. There is no fixed answer - it all depends on what the German does/doesn't do. Sacrificing units to cut off spearheads is part of that balancing act - but sacrificing a poxy para brigade to cut off some pz/mot divs is a no-brainer. You have far more than you will ever need for airborne ops.

Although it doesn't seem so in the early turns,I actually think that playing German is harder. A good 1st summer is essential and there is little room for error and none for complacency. If thedrillsgt doesn't rack up a lot of kills in the early turns, the tar baby defence becomes extremely effective and demoralising. The Russians have more resilience and are better able to survive mistakes: within reason of course.

GL to both of you

Turn 4 North

Turn 4 Centre

Turn 4 South

Turn 4 - Time to Run

Before I start, I notice other AARs track some key metrics from turn to turn. I will start doing this as well in the future. I'm still well under 1m losses at this point and factory wise have only lost Minsk (which is clear from the map anyway).

My optimism of turn 3 has been sobered by the opening position of turn 4. Starting in the south, I can see thedrillsgt is sealing off the pockets much tighter now. He appears to be breaking down his corps to ensure no more sneaky Russians get through. While I'm happy to sacrifice a bit more to make life hard for the units in the upper right, my plan is to fall back and hopefully avoid more losses. In the meantime, I will continue pulling out the Ukrainian factories as he is sure to start a big push soon.

The sad news from the centre is the loss of my brave troops marching on Warsaw! They have set a brave example for the nation. I only hope making him fight 3-4 hexes inside the German border will delay his infantry a bit.

Again the panzers north of Vitbsk have gone no where. I think they are out of petrol and waiting for rescue. He has a strong build up of forces just to the west but north of the Dvina. I think he is still keeping his options open regarding a push north or east. I have put Zhukow and my reserve front opposite with strong troops but I know the Germans can push through even my best.

To the north I still have Pskov but barely. I would fall back but there is really no room. I have to rely on the terrain and spreading the troops thin but deep. I hope the attack on his movement points will not cost me too dearly. I have read here that Leningrad can not be saved from a determined German and I'm wondering if delaying the inevitable is worth the losses - once the factories are all out.

Now that the army has some semblance of order I'm thinking of bring my airforce back into play. Again, I read that most wait until September. However, I have tons of older aircraft that could be interdicting and keeping him busy so I'm thinking seriously of restocking the airfields sooner rather than later.

I'm also thinking of Odessa. I will hold on a bit to keep his rail repair from coming through but I hate to waste more troops at this point.

BTW Sillyflower, you can see I did lose my airborne brigade but I got most of the rest out.

ORIGINAL: RKhan

Turn 4 - Time to Run

...

I'm also thinking of Odessa. I will hold on a bit to keep his rail repair from coming through but I hate to waste more troops at this point.

they are pretty safe if all you do is to garrison the city. If beaten they will probably just rout back to the Crimea (ok they will take heavy losses but you can reinforce them etc). The strategy is tricky to balance, you can leave up to an army there (the forts around the city are good) but I think you'll need all those units in the Dombas etc. On the other hand a strong city defence takes 3 rifle divisions but it'll be clear to your opponent that you can't break out - easy to screen.

gain is a long term hole in the German rail net.

Turn 5 North

Turn 5 Center

~Turn 5 South

Turn 5 commentary:

It's clear that I did not run far enough in the south. Ouch, and so we learn. My poor SW Front is almost decimated. But overall I don't think it looks too bad yet as he is still a ways off the Dnepr river and no factories are threatened. I'm going to try to move a bit further this time but keep up the pressure while I evacuate everything in the Ukraine. As I recall I did break the pocket but only for a turn.

I am also putting on a good show in Odessa for the time being. I can always pull back by sea if needed.

In the center I still hold the land bridge and Dnepr river line. I will fall back a bit but see if I can slow him down another turn. I'm afraid of making the same mistake as in the south but my forces and much stronger and deeper here. Also, the saga of the panzers north of Vitebsk continues for another turn. They are clearly out of petrol until the rescue is complete. I'm sure a better player would have destroyed them by now but my army is just not that good yet.

In the north I still hold Pskov but it is clearly the end of the road for the brave defenders. Leningrad is almost empty of factories at this point so I don't have to hold much longer if I don't want to.

The curious thing is how many units, especially mechanised, he has between Vitebsk and Pskov. I didn't get a good screen shot of this but it is substantial. Maybe its because I'm new but I can't see why he wants to push in the forbidding terrain.

My airforce is partially back in play. It is annoying that I have lots of good Yak and Mig planes in my pool but the AI does not upgrade anything. I hate to waste the AP but this can't go on. Is there a setting I'm missing somewhere to get upgrades moving faster?

My armies are well stocked with support units and most poor commanders are gone. I am using 4 artillery, some AA and 2-3 sapper regiments. Once my front commanders are decent I will put some more SU with them, especially sappers.

I don't attack much at this stage. It feels very unhistorical but I can't see why I should waste troops at 10:1 or worse. Maybe I'm too soft to play Stalin?

From next turn I hope to have some proper stats up like other posters here.

RKhan

For beginners, german side is much harder to play than russian side.

Your opponent looks not enough aggressive but on the other side your forward defence is a tempting prey for a veteran german player...

At this stage of the game, I would say you have a significant advantage.

Refreshing AAR [;)]

ORIGINAL: RKhan

Turn 5 commentary:

...
My airforce is partially back in play. It is annoying that I have lots of good Yak and Mig planes in my pool but the AI does not upgrade anything. I hate to waste the AP but this can't go on. Is there a setting I'm missing somewhere to get upgrades moving faster?

...

don't worry too much, the VVS has a hard coded malus till November (? I think .. maybe December) where few planes actually arrive where you need them. Add on low experience and real problems keeping up your morale and its not worth the admin pts at this stage - use the better I-series fighters, some of them are actually not too bad (very high speed etc).

also by mid-42 the upgrade routine works well.

Its problem at this stage is the 'target' planes are relatively rare and the obsolete planes plentiful.

I simply get the few Yaks/LaGGs/Migs into the most important sectors (Leningrad and Moscow) and cope with the I-series elsewhere. Same with the SB-2/SU-2 - they are good enough for now given that you will only have a (valuable) marginal impact.

@Loki100, thanks... but for an Axis only player, how should Odessa w/3 divisions be taken? Seems you suggest the Axis screen the city and carry on with the threat of a surprise naval operation.

ORIGINAL: rrbill

@Loki100, thanks... but for an Axis only player, how should Odessa w/3 divisions be taken? Seems you suggest the Axis screen the city and carry on with the threat of a surprise naval operation.

Just stack HVY guns under Corp HQ and 3 pioneers in the 3 divisions under it, FZ levels fall very quickly.

Seeing in my games southern LW is about useless because I am so far ahead of RH's I bomb the port closed - then attack with 1 German divisons and a bunch of Romanians.

Once port is closed Romanians can take it-same for Leningrad.

Current game v .08.07. My opponent bombed it closed, then waited for Nov, clever devil, all the xx surrendered... what happened to beachhead supply??

In the end I did not leave much in Odessa and it was also not a problem for thedrillsgt to take on turn 7. I'm not bothered really as I think the battle had moved beyond it by then.

Thank you for all the comments and input on the air upgrades.