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Well I have to say the red air force is not that strong, I was only able to bluff my way to defensive victory in the Moscow area in 41 august and september. We started the game with wir 3.2. and I only lost 3000 planes at the first week. I was near total destruction in august. I used *all* of the red air force to bomb the panzers (with 6:1 losses against me). Luckily only a max of 2 or 3 fighter units were present at one german hq. But I could do major damage to his airfields and panzers in a time of about 4 weeks. He had to stop and I lived another day:) Shane even withdrew his Luftwaffe for quite a long time. But with 6-8 fighters at one hq I don't have a chance (I would never had). So I build up mine air force, and we will see in the summer if it is a mistake to withdraw.

With my 2 tank armies shane is right. I will be able to defeat any panzer korps with them 1:1 if they counterattack. Mech cavalry division is brutal. I always thought that tank korps should have stacking point 2 (smaller unit then panzer division), and mech korps 3. But mech cavalry for 1 might be too good. I will operate with 2 mech korps, 4 mech cav. div and 2 artillery in a tank army....

I do think now that the decisive battles will be in summer 42, I'm not to optimistic about the breakthrough, but I will try:)

1941. december 28.
Blizzard

The red army launched the strongest attacks since the blizzard started all along the front. The enemy has growing problems, as they beat us back but this is not the easy stuff they had just 2-3 weeks ago. Infantry losses are evening out nicely.

Losses this week:

Axis/Soviet

1181/1438
155/593
707/197
65/0

1942. january 4.
Blizzard

The new year saw the first soviet succes as near Tula the german defence line was forced to retreat at several places. On other fronts our attacks pounded the german lines, but only some damage was done, no retreats.

Losses this week:

Axis/Soviet

2304/1616
352/613
1206/184
643/1401

In my 41 campaign as Axis, the blizzards finally stopped in the first week of march! Hopefully for good....

The sit rep is as following:

In the North I'm holding a line 2 hexes west of Vologda and am still in controll of Kalinin, Rhzev and Smolensk. From there it goes south 1 hex west of Kursk and through Kharkov and is hinged on Zaphorozhe.

I think I can - barely - hold this line.
I've been forced back an average of 5 hexes in the north and up to 10 hexes in the south.

Losses have been horrendous, I had a lot of trouble in the south when the Voronezh - Rostov railroad line got cut.

In the north my divisions got mauled due to lack of supplies.
The railroad line from Tikhvin and 8 hexes eastwards got occupied by partisans and if I removed a corps from the line, it was immediately reclaimed as partisan area. This happened 2 times - then I had learned
Is this the way it's supposed to be? I got to have a weak div stationed on every single rail hex to keep the line open.

Not sure I'll be able to win this game - but I'll give it a try when the summer arrives.
Losses are approx 40/65k squads 6/13k tanks (Ger - Rus)

1942. january 11.
Blizzard

The soviet attacks continued the attrition of german forces. No retreats this time. Germans use and lose their panzers in greater and greater numbers.

Losses this week:

Axis/Soviet

1441/2176
430/648
843/310
97/0

1942. january 18.

The soviet attacks continued, with some succes as the first german infantry korps shattered. German panzer losses remain high.

Losses this week:

Axis/Soviet

1974/1575
467/492
1194/257
111/21

I found out that my opponent hadn't updated to V3.3...
That's why half the German army shattered. We have now restarted!

Do people think 3.3 is better? I have kept using 3.1 to avoid the 3.2 blizzard bug but the soviets cannot use air supply in it that is the only bug I know of. On the other hand, given Axis air superirotiy 1941/1942 does that really matter? The Soviet transports would be shot out of the sky anyway! Possum 5 I am very happy with. I have not tried Possum 6.

Shane
I Did About 8 months Reaserch, digging through just about every source I could obtain, To arrive at the Values I used to create the Possum scenario. While I found Many Inconsistancies, Every source that had information relevant indicated that .
1) Yes German Production really was that low.
2) Yes The Soviets Really had that many Tanks and Aircraft avaliable in June 1941
3) Yes Some Soviet Units where Excellent, easilly the equal of the Regular German Army, As they historically demonstrated when the Germans had the misforune to encounter these rare Elite units.
4) There is no difference in the Luftwaffe between the regular Scenario and the Possum scenario, as The regular scenario mannage to get this historically correct.
I Based My scenario Values on Books and Web Sites that I could Verify by Cross Checking with other, independent Books or Websites.
Where Are You drawing you Data From?
Yes I Ignored your First Post as you merly slammed my Scenario, without offering any references or citing specific examples I could go and check.
So Who am I going to Beleive, Several History Textbooks, a coulpe of Wargame that have an excellent reputation for Accuacy, and 20+ Websites that all more or Less agree, or Some Unknown person who Says that they are all wrong, and only he truly Knows what everyone had.

Signed
An Irate Possum

PS I'm Irate as the Whole point of creating the Possum Scenario was to create A MORE realistic 1941 Campaign, not a Fantasy Construct. The fact that it's much better ballanced for PvP is a happy accident.

I like your scenario:) Don't be mad at shane as my air supriority in 41 august and september was really unhistorical. But that is not the fault of your scenario, I think he just ignored his air defences for a while and he payed the price. Now he has firm air supriority and, and cares about air defence much more:) Things go far more historic now:)

42. january 25.
Blizzard

The soviet offense continued. One german korps in the south were forced to retreat. Panzer losses remain high for the enemy.

Losses:

Axis/Soviet

1610/2059
463/548
935/281
165/0

Three cheers for Possum. According to my research on the beginning of the Barbarosa campaign - quite extensive - it is historically very, very accurate.
It is also great fun to play. Especially if you are Russian!
And to do all the work to create the scenario, as with the other scenarios, Rick etc, is a very good thing requiring interest in the game, willingness to put the hours in, and a high degree of game and military history knowledge.
Thanks to everyone who has put in the effort to create the different versions of Wir. For a 10 year old dos game it is a marvel!

M

42. february 1.
Blizzard

The soviet assault continues. No german retreat this week, only some german casaulties.

Losses this week:

1410/1823
350/548
702/249
154/0

Originally posted by matt.buttsworth
Three cheers for Possum. According to my research on the beginning of the Barbarosa campaign - quite extensive - it is historically very, very accurate.

Well now, matt, how do you explain this then:

showthread.php?s=&postid=439727

Fierce criticism but my research indicates that Russians were much stronger - especially in production - than Wir gives them credit for.
They were already on a total war footing, not progressing towards it, which is how they survived the catastrophic losses of 1941.
My specific knowledge is not beyond that so unit specifics - some super strong units in possum - I cannot comment on.
Needs someone with more historical knowledge than me.
As a game play against a weak German it is too strong.
Against a very strong German you cannot equal in Wir, than it equals it up a bit.

Matt