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T36:

The mini pocket held (and was air supplied, costing the Soviets about 20 transports) and is cleared this turn.

It seems like my little threat towards the Kaukasus has worked, the Soviet lines around Rostov look much better now, but I have been essentially frozen in place at Kuban by fairly heavy Soviet forces.

With the large number of Soviet forces around Voronezh the Rzhev front will get no more reinforcements for now. The 2 infantry divisions and the HQ are send towards Kursk.

East of Stalino 1 Soviet tank brigade and a guards cav corps slipped through the line and retreat to the west after being attacked by XIV Panzer, I will try to isolate those, too.

In the north about 10 Soviet units were forced to retreat, some routed. It seems like the Soviets are massing quite a large number of forces there, I can count about 80 CV with most of them at the northern portion of the front (trying to liberate Leningrad? - but with the Finns sitting in lvl 3 forts this will not be enough).

Due to the number of unready units I start to merge some units (6 merged into 3) since even with only a few turns left before the blizzards are over I am afraid it would take too long to get them back up to strength in addition to being afraid they might be shattered by attacks.

Unless I am mistaken only 1 more turn of blizzards after this one. And while I should be able to largely hold my current positions it might still get a little ugly with the current concentrations of Soviet forces.

T37:

Not much to do this turn except assigning some OKH divisions to corps and some more attacks by the Finns.

The remaining isolated unit around Stalino (the pocket held) is forced to surrender and the armor moves into rest positions.

Around Kuban is attack at the weakest spot to keep the Soviets from building forts and making it more difficult for me to break out later. With the airdropped fuel all mobile units are at 100%+ fuel.

2 fairly banged up armor divisions are switched for 2 fairly fresh ones to the east of Tula.

With facing very high Soviet CVs (around 16)around Voronezh my 2 brave divisions manning my eastern lvl2 fort fall back 1 hex SW, no need to risk getting them isolated at this point.

I think for the Soviets it will be now or never to launch any further attacks, when this turn is over the Wehrmacht will start to get stronger again and I will start to look for weak spots in the Soviet line instead of the other way around. Especially with my armor to the NE and SE of Voronezh there might be the potential for a nice pocket and the situation around Tula might offer some possibilities, too.

And the Red Army has quite a number of spots where it can/should try to attack as long as its advantage lasts, mainly around Torzhok, Tula, Voronezh and Voroshilovgrad.

But it looks like the Soviets running into some supply problems of their own, a fair number of orange indicators now.

German force levels have stabilised while the Red Army is still growing, only in AFVs German has been able to maintain its advantage (lost factories?).

Figure out the supply problem for that corps yet?  Perhaps not enough support squads?

No, frankly no idea, I have put it on the blizzards and my low motor pool here, I suppose trucks are needed to get the supplies from the corps to the divisions, right?

Yes, there's some form of truck requirements for that.

1. No, I leave those totally to the AI (basically the only thing I did was setting my mobile corps to refit mode for priority replacements - and I emulated ComradeP's dismissal of the small flak companies). The only thing I do is trying to attack the hardest targets first for each corps/army to potentially get the largest number of support units.



I'd like to learn/know more about the dismissal of the small flak companies and other units the axis would dismissed to add more supply for mud/blizzard.

Thanks

Sath

T38:

A good number of Soviet attacks (20) from Torzhok down to Kuban, but only 2 of them succeeded, forcing 5 of my divisions to retreat.

Instead of starting this turn some "blizzard review" (start of turn 38 vs. end of turn 18):

The frontline has stayed largely the same with the Germans mostly losing some ground except for taking the Krim.

Despite the blizzards the Soviets suffered only slightly lower losses in men (989k vs. 950k), but lost way more guns (3.8k vs. 14.1k) and AFVs (0.9k vs. 3.4k).

The Germans lost a huge number of trucks due to moving supplies (62k vs. 21k during the first 18 turns).

Soviet air losses were actually higher than for Germany (0.6k vs. 1.4k), most likely due to training missions.

But due to their very superior industry - and having not that many other fronts to worry about -the Soviets managed to come out of this winter much stronger than before while Germany suffered. Germany replaced about 470k men vs. 2730k for the Soviets, about 0.4k guns vs. 39.7k, about 0.9k tanks vs. 4.3k and about 0.9k planes vs. 4.9k).

The brave Finnish forces lost about 100k men and some guns and as an estimate they took about 3-5 times this number of Soviet troops and freed up the German units from guarding the northern front.


Lessons learned:

If Soviets got damaged fairly heavily earlier no fortified zones are needed, just starting to dig in with the units is enough. Maybe fortified zones are not needed anyway as some players have suggested.

Freeing up the Finns (capturing Leningrad) is of paramount importance for Germany in '41. Only the line the Finns have been able to hold allowed me to have enough troops to cover the more sensitive areas on other parts of the front. And they were even able to attack and force the Soviets to keep fairly large numbers of troops in the north instead of using them to overrun my positions further south.

If you cant take Leningrad at least try to open up a way through the fortifications in order to allow them Finns to move south and take up defensive positions.

A line between Moscow (if you can get it) - Tula - Stalino should be as far east as the Germans should try to push IMO, everything east of it is basically overextended even if I have been able to hold onto Rostov and Voroshilovgrad. But try to advance as far east as you can before returning to this line since it will damage the Soviet rails and should give them some supply problems.

Mountain units (including the Hungarian and Romanian ones) are really great anchors for the defensive lines during the winter, often even being able to attack.

The attrition losses are really nasty (about 70k each turn) and the only thing which might mitigate this would be placing less units directly at the frontline. I am still not sure if the added losses from lost battles are worth it, but since the supply situation is pure hell during the blizzards having more units not in contact with the enemy should help there, too.

Also the bad supply situation makes smart rail repair very important, I neglected this (partly due to earlier mistakes which keep my FBDs behind where they could have been - watch out for curves, especially if you do not switch of the weather effects for the map - do switch them off, the map is a lot easier to read this way).

I have found no real means to improve my supply situation till the end, but suspect there is nothing that can be done about it during the blizzards. But setting security divisions and other (mainly Romanian) divisions that only guard cities to static mode did free up some vehicles. In addition getting rid of excess corps/airbases (mainly Romanian again) should help, too. And do this as soon as possible to prevent the strain from keeping those units around.

Use air supply to get supplies to the frontline, but be aware that often your fighters will not scramble to protect you level bombers/transports, so you will lose quite a number of those, but IMO this is better than getting overrun due to having weak units in the line.

And move those airbases as close to the front (while still getting good supplies) as you dare, I did this too late and think I could have prevented some supply shortages if I had moved them earlier. In some places I feel I have let them stay too far behind till the end.

Check your units on the front for low levels of supply/ammo and either switch them out or at least try to air supply them.

Keep mobile reserves in the rear to strengthen any weak spots or throw back breakthroughs. With sufficient strength and rested up units you should be able to contain most of the smaller breakthroughs. But in order to do this you have to try to have your armor stay behind the frontline and in cities as much as possible.

Try to use terrain (mainly rough/woods since rivers will ice over) in your defensive line as well as cities/towns.

It will remain to be seen if the drive through the Krim and thus getting into a good position for a '42 drive to Baku will be worth the losses of attacking during the snow in the end.

I am also still undecided about merging units. It surely helps in strengthening the line, but I am not sure if those units will not be missed during the '42 attacks.

And a general observation, dont leave your HQs exposed (like I still do too often) if you go for a concentraetd line with free hexes in between, Soviet mobile units will push through here fairly often and displace those HQs.

Despite the length of text I am sure that I am still missing some important points, so feel free to add anything which might be important.

ORIGINAL: sath


1. No, I leave those totally to the AI (basically the only thing I did was setting my mobile corps to refit mode for priority replacements - and I emulated ComradeP's dismissal of the small flak companies). The only thing I do is trying to attack the hardest targets first for each corps/army to potentially get the largest number of support units.



I'd like to learn/know more about the dismissal of the small flak companies and other units the axis would dismissed to add more supply for mud/blizzard.

Thanks

Sath

Should have covered most of it in the post above.

Concerning the flak companies, well, they are basically too small to offer any real benefit. So dismissing them to prevent them getting involved in a battle instead of a better support unit might be helpful.

Basically it comes down to streamlining your forces as much as possible, I think I could have dismissed a few additional HQs, but since I am not sure how many additional divisions the Romanians will be getting in the future I did not dismiss that many of them.

It is amazing that the Russian army recovered to such a degree, you beat the hell out of them. If I was going to take anything away from this excellent AAR it would be to kill as much of the enemy as you can, because it they had those extra 2-3 million men you would be crushed. You cannot be cautious early in the game as the German army from this example and I don't think most Russian players will allow those kinds of pockets it they can help it, especially after reading this AAR[X(]

ORIGINAL: CharonJr

ORIGINAL: sath


1. No, I leave those totally to the AI (basically the only thing I did was setting my mobile corps to refit mode for priority replacements - and I emulated ComradeP's dismissal of the small flak companies). The only thing I do is trying to attack the hardest targets first for each corps/army to potentially get the largest number of support units.



I'd like to learn/know more about the dismissal of the small flak companies and other units the axis would dismissed to add more supply for mud/blizzard.

Thanks

Sath

Should have covered most of it in the post above.

Concerning the flak companies, well, they are basically too small to offer any real benefit. So dismissing them to prevent them getting involved in a battle instead of a better support unit might be helpful.

Basically it comes down to streamlining your forces as much as possible, I think I could have dismissed a few additional HQs, but since I am not sure how many additional divisions the Romanians will be getting in the future I did not dismiss that many of them.

could these AA units be put directly in cities. oh but when disbanded they would go back into the force pool right.

sath

I am not sure if the Soviets are not getting any extra forces when they get heavily beaten, but if they dont then yes, the Axis main priority should be reducing the Red Army.

I dont even want to think about the strength of the Red Army if I had not taken Moscow and Leningrad in addition to the Stalino area and Rostov.


Yes, those AA units should go right to the forcepool, I never tried to assign them to cities.

And this is the situation of my rail network at turn 38 after some attacks and using the FBDs.

Opening up the northern part of the rail between Kursk and Voronezh will be fairly easy due to low strength Soviet troops.

T38:

To the east of Tula 2 mobile divisions have been isolated by the Soviets, but it is easy to open this small pocket agian and since the Soviets are stacked 3 high often the defeated units have no place to go and rout.

The railline between Kursk and Voronezh is partially reopened by pushing the Soviets back from the rails.

With the blizzards over I start to use my large AP pool (500) to assign new leaders to my units.

With the low Soviet CVs, lack of fortifications and MPs around 40 for most of my mobile units I try to create the pocket around Voronezh 1 turn earlier than originally planed.

III, XXXIX and XXXXVI Panzer rush in from the south after the initial frontline is pushed back by infantry. Due to the weakness of the Red Army I can sometimes even get away with just using hasty attacks to push them away.

LVI and LVII move in from the north and in the end I lack 1 MP to seal this pocket fairly securely. But with recon showing hardly any Soviet units in the rear and the units closest to the weak spot having been routed the pocket might hold anyway, especially with the Voronezh and Lipetsk rails having been cut. The only unit outside of the pocket is a cav division which has been forced to retreat 3 times and is likely in no condition to advance very much (2k men left of about 5k at the beginning).

XXIV and XXXXVII Panzer try to do their part by forming the second pocket to the south of Tula which has been planed for the next turn, early too. The pocket is formed, but it is not very secure, too.

Case "Königswasser" (aqua regia) is launched. Axis forces attack along the complete front (deliberate attacks) and manage to force about 2/3 of the Soviet frontline units out of their fortified positions. About 25 units are forced to rout.

Since the line in the north should be stable for now I start to rail XL and XXXXI Panzer to the south (much better territory for tanks down there). But since there is still a fair number of Soviet units in the north I will try to refocus some infantry to the north during the next turns. For now only 5 LW Jägerregimenter are railed to Moscow.

I am very much in doubt that STAVKA will like the turn the events have taken. 2 pockets were formed and while those might be opened up again the units in there will suffer and will not be able to get very far due to cut raillines. In addition all along the front the Red Army has been pushed out of roughly half of their fortified positions at the frontline (mostly lvl2 forts, but the 2nd and 3rd lines are about as well if not even better fortified in some places - in the end I will need/use encirclements to get rid of these).

The Red Army lost 125k soldiers, 2.6k guns and 300 tanks this turn while the Axis lost 25k soldiers, 0.4k guns and 43 tanks.

Pondering something here and am interested to hear your opinions:

My forces around Kuban have run into fairly heavy opposition (about 10 fairly well supplied rifle divisions).

Since I have started to assemble a part of my Kampfgruppe Baku (well, more an army than a Kampfgruppe) around Rostov anyway I have been thinking about using them on the next turn (T40) to try and isolate those Soviet divisions and maybe overrun some airfields in the process.

My rail is at Kerch and close to Rostov at the moment.

I am mainly worried about the mud and my trying to free up those forces around Kuban leading to a lot of badly supplied units once the mud is over since the railheads are fairly far away.

On the other hand without help those forces around Kuban would have to slowly fight their way out against those divisions and this should damage them to a certain extend, forcing me to rest them up before they can be send towards Baku.

What do you think is the less risky option?

a) let 1 armor corps and 1 infantry corps with heavy air support fight their way out against 10 divisions (who should participate in the run for Baku when the mud is gone)
b) send 3 armor and 1 infantry corps to cut those Soviets off and risk them getting stranded about 10-15 hexes from the closest railhead when the mud hits (at least some of them), those units are the other part of the force heading for Baku when the mud ends

I have a preference here, but would like to hear what you are thinking.

Thx,

CharonJr

Flank protection around Rostov seems thin, all Soviet needs to do is to get a "thin slice of your neck" there to disrupt your offensive in the south.

Proposal: Take some of that strength you have around Rostov and use it to secure that flank, either along the Manych or even bolder go for Stalingrad with that force. Do a HQ buildup before falling into Caucasus and wreak havoc on those rail lines to mess up Soviet rail reinforcements and acting as a screen to your FBDs units that need to get to work immediately towards the south.

Yes, 2 FBDs are being railed around currently and would be used if I push into the Kaukasus in addition to my complete southern front starting to push their way east. With infantry from the center giving some assistance/taking over defensive lines. In addition the divisions between Rostov and Voroshilovgrad have not taken actions yet and have enough strength to keep pushing the Soviets.

But with the mud coming soon I would only try to push for the Donets/Manych area for now (might not even get there before the mud hit, but my railheads would still be in a reasonable distance).

For me the main question remains if I SHOULD do it, I am fairly certain that I can do it if I want.

I also agree that attacking through Rostov without a supporting plan would be risky.  The rescue force, to reopen the supply line, might be as large as the attack force itself.

T39:

The pockets have held, but it has been a close call around Lipetsk. Clearing the pockets yielded huge losses for the Red Army. 68 units (7 cav corps, 14 rifle divisions, 17 tank brigades and 19 infantry brigades) were lost with 217k men, 2.9k guns and 386 tanks.

While my infantry tries to catch up to the new frontline for now some of my mobile divisions have to hold the line.

III Panzer heads back south, with the Red Army is disarray and my forces around Kuban blocked by heavy enemy units (9 divisions, 1 brigade) it is time to try to cut them off before the mud hits. XL Panzer is assigned from OKH to 1. Panzerarmee (Heeresgruppe A). LII Korps, having rested around Stalino during the blizzards will provide infantry support.

Between Rostov and Voroshilovgrad I keep pushing at the Soviets which will have the added benefit of keeping Rostov more secure. Once I am able to move some additional divisions towards the south which were busy at the pockets this turn I will try to keep pushing east here till the mud hits. I will have to watch out for not getting too far away from the rail network since the mud will hit soon.

In addition XXXXVII Panzer is moved to the rail line in order to head south next turn support operations around Rostov. XXIV Panzer will most likely follow next turn.

In the north I beginn to push sowly towards the east, this time the attacks are followed by units moving into the created gaps. I try to allow my rail network to be extended here while at the same time trying to disrupt the Soviet rails before the mud arrives.

290. Infantrie should have succeeded in disruption rail supply to the south of Vyshny Volochek.

And I see that I have forgotten 36th Mot in railing XXXXI Panzer south and now I lack the rail capacity, oh well, next turn.

Due to the pockets the Soviets took quite a hit while Germany regains some strength.



edit: Forgot the casualty info.

Hmm, the AI has surprised me here by the strength of its reaction.

It has basically stripped the center of most of its backup forces and send them south, leaving only just 1 line of defenders (mostly just 1 unit in each hex)around Lipetsk and Voronezh.

If I am able to pocket those units the door to Stalingrad would be wide open and the 2 FBDs should be enough to get enough repairs done on the rail network to prevent large supply problems when the mud hits.

The main problem I see here is that it is far from certain that this opportunity still exists on the next turn after I have moved the armor of Heeresgruppe Mitte into their positions during this turn.

The second option would be to stick with the original plan of a southern thrust by Heeresgruppe Süd now and move HGM's armor to Rostov to secure the flank.

Since I hate to have to rely on the enemy for not spoiling my plan I tend to stick to the original plan. I am very confident that Stalingrad will fall away during the summer and I dont need a headstart here.

Any other opinions?

T40:

Updated to 1.03 beta2

It seems like gathering Kampfgruppe Baku got the Soviets attention. The AI basically stripped the center of most units and send them towards Rostov/Voroshilovgrad. Unless my recon missed a lot of units there is essentially just 1 line around Lipetsk and Voronezh.

But I will stay with my original plan and push south with Heeresgruppe Süd's mobile units.

With the arriving infantry the armored units at the frontline in the center are able to withdraw. The big question is what to do with them. Rest them up behind the line right in the center and push hard once the mud ends or rail them south and use them to protect my southern thrust and maybe create a small pocket in the Donets area.

With the large number of Soviet forces in the south I will send most of my armor south as well. The mud turns should give me ample opportunities to reshift them towards the center.

South of Rostov LII and LIV Infantriekorps create a huge gap in the Soviet lines and Panzer start to pour through. The Soviet airfields are bombed before being overrun. The railline from Stalingrad to Krasnodar is cut and while it is still possible to rail in Soviet reinforcements they have to take the detour around Grozny now and/or lighten their positions around Kuban.

The railline is repaired up to Rostov this turn and XXXXVII Panzer ends its (rail)move NW of Rostov. XXXXVI Panzer is put on the rail as well and moves toward Rostov. Around Tula XXIV Panzer is moving up to the rail and should be railed south on the next turn.

35. Mot reaches the rest of its Korps between Kursk and Voronezh and with the remaining rail cap 2 Romanian MTN units are moved to Rostov with a thrid one moving by foot.

XXXIX and XXXXI Panzer gather to the west of Voronezh with LVI and LVII Panzer gathering to the west of Lipetsk for a drive towards Tambov and a small pocket around Lipetsk during the next turn.

With the southern airfields overrun air supply for the armored thrust is delivered without problems, but since a fair number of transports are damanged only about 150t of fuel get to the 2 southernmost divisions.

I have thought a bit about lowering the TOE for my northern units, but decided against it since I still want to apply some pressure there, but I will switch my southern forces to refit mode instead. I hope my attacks in the north will prevent the Soviets from shifting too many units to the south and center where this game hopefully will be decided during this season.

To the north of Tula I keep attacking the Soviet line and push them back. Vyshny Volochek is occupied and additionla troops are pushed into the gap, threatening to pocket the fairly strong defensive positions to the NNW.