1.04.11 Klydon (Axis) vs Hfarrish (Soviet) No Hfarrish please

[Klydon]

Turn 25 AGN start. (First blizzard turn). This is after recon is mostly completed. Just some minor recon on his part. 16th army really doesn't have much company up where it is. I am sort of surprised he didn't rail in some guys on his line there just for the expressed purpose of killing Germans. Just part of 2nd Army and all of 18th Army look like they are going to have to sweat here. 18th Army has almost all level 3 entrenchments and some more to fall back on. He is stacked up 3 deep and I have no doubt he wants to push here. The idea for me is to weather the storm for December and hope enough is left after that.

During this turn, the Finns launch their own winter offensive and if he doesn't want to hold Cherepovets very strongly, then who am I to argue and I succeed in taking it away from him. Other troops for AGN just make minor adjustments.

[Klydon]

Turn 25 AGC after most recon is done. 1st turn of blizzard. This is where I expect to take a battering. He is stacked 3 deep (with more behind in some sectors) against troops mostly in level 2 forts from Kursk north. This includes the entire army group. Only behind 4th army are there a good number of fall back positions and with Kaluga close by, a spot for the panzers to spring out from. You might see the two mountain divisions behind 9th Army. They look mighty tasty with their blizzard combat factors. It will be interesting to see how they work out, but they are 100% at strength with 3 support units and very low fatigue.

The turn consisted of getting LVII panzer corps into winter quarters around Bryansk and having 6th Army take one more hex of frontage.

[Klydon]

AGS Turn 25 start just after most recon is done. 1st turn of blizzard.

Not much going on here. 11th army takes over some frontage from 17th army. He has a fair number of troops back from the front and did not stage them up. 6th Army doesn't look threaten that much at all and 17th army and part of 11th army look to be under more of a threat, but its not like he is stacked up 3 high ready to roll like he is up by Moscow. I am really surprised by this.

Just some minor troop movements during the turn. The Rumanians are busy digging a line. Hopefully I either won't need it or it will be level 3 by the time I retreat back to it. [;)]

[Klydon]

Turn 25 start rail net.

This seems to be a lot better now and I don't have any troops that started the turn isolated atleast like i did for mud. I will be looking to get the rail lines improved around AGC, probably because I will need them.

In other news, OKH reserve now consists of 3 panzer divisions, Wiking, 2 motor divisions, GD Regiment, 1 SS motorized brigade, 5 infantry divisions. All these except the brigade are elite level moral. In addition, 2 more motor divisions are headed back. Both have elite moral. (elite moral = 86+). I also have a panzer division in Leningrad. I hope to wait until spring to use these units, but we will see.

Any new divisions coming in, i will hold for now until at least December is over with and then I will ship them to where the threats are.

[Klydon]

Turn 26 Start after most recon done.

No real surprises here as 18th, 4th, panzer infantry, 9th and 17th armies get smacked around. 9th army will have the biggest issues since they have no real fortifications to fall back on at all. 17th is probably right behind that with a huge bulge of Russians looking to push SW against them.

What did surprise me is a total of 34 attacks. He had 30 retreats and 4 holds, so almost a 90% success rate, but I just don't understand why more attacks were not launched. I also had no reserve units get into combat either. I don't know if he is waiting for the rivers to freeze, etc or what. To me, the Russians must get the ball rolling in December. It is when the Axis are at their weakest. At least this is what it seems to me anyway. Perhaps he has something else up his sleeve, but we shall see. The other shocking thing is I don't see hardly any armor and his cav is not up front either.

For 18th and 4th army, I basically fall back and rearrange the troops some. Fresh troops go up and the guys that got attacked will be a bit further back. I have to be careful about getting divisions pinched heavily or surrounded at this point. I bring down the Luftwaffe units that were up by the 2nd/16th army border since there looks to be absolutely nothing going on there. The panzer infantry between 9th army and 4th army pretty much do the same thing falling back on more entrenchments.

Generally, 9th army pulls back in most spots. He can probably get some hasty attacks with his lead troops on my guys in the open, so hopefully it won't be too bad. One of the mountain units comes up to deliver a riposte to a Russian spearhead, kicking him back across the river. The big thing I have to watch for here is not to get units surrounded, but with no apparent cav or tank brigades in the area, it probably will be ok this turn.

17th army holds a little more firm but does give some ground. Cav is right behind his lines here, so I do have to be careful. 17th forms up a linebacker type defense using available entrenchments (not much) and I will have to look to pull back from Stalino next turn. The Rumanian digging is starting to result in a nice row of level 3 entrenchments, but they probably need another 2 turns to get most of the line flipped over to level 3. If I can keep the Russians off of it until January, I think it could be a very tough nut for him to crack.

I am holding any re-enforcements for now at least until January. The panzers all sat in their respective cities this turn. Hopefully I don't have to start using them until January at the earliest.

[Klydon]

Here is the turn 26 commanders report with the Russian attacks. He took some heavy losses cracking the crust and is now over 3.3 million casualties.

[Fishbed]

Yes, kill ratios are especially pretty nasty wherever you coulf hold...

[Klydon]

The turn churn continues. [:D] 50% done with December and hoping to be in good shape come January.

AGN turn 27 start after most recon done.

Fairly quiet along the army group front although some Russian forces moved up to contact the 16th army, but not in any real strength. 16th army is pretty much understrength at this point and in level 2 forts. None of them are really close to level 3, but some are getting there. A secondary line of level 2 forts is pretty much ready if I need to fall back here.

18th Army got attacked 4 times with 1 hold. Most of their divisions are still in fairly good shape, showing a "2" CV. Plenty of level 2 and 3 entrenchments to fall back on and I can play games with the lake and impassible hex sides.

Overall, AGN is in good shape and no need to move panzers this turn or consider re-enforcements.

[Klydon]

Turn 27 AGC start after most recon done.

Much more energetic attacking. Approximately 22 attacks with no real holds.

4th Army is slowly being pushed back to Kaluga, but there is a level 3 fort line awaiting them there, so hopefully they can make a stand on that. I don't think I will be able to keep the Russians off that level 3 fort line before January and unfortunately there is not much behind it, but we shall see.

9th army and the panzer infantry took a beating this turn and are basically in the open. The two mountain divisions help do some shielding. I will be falling back some more here as I don't really care about giving ground. Still mostly infantry out front. I don't see infiltration units (cav and armor) and I may not with the mountain units to smack anything around like that.

Several divisions need to take a turn off as they are down to about 50% ToE. I will do what I can to get them out of combat and probably look to withdraw 1 totally as it is in the 40's.

Panzers in Bryansk are on standby as the front is steadily approaching. There isn't much I can do with them as they don't have very good combat values, but will see what happens. I also got a new infantry division this turn and it may be earmarked to come here, but not before January.

[Klydon]

Turn 27 AGS Turn start after most recon.

Russians launch approximately 20 something attacks here, but more holds down here. Most attacks are against 17th army, but both 11th and 6th army get some too. Overall, losses are not too bad. Both 6th and 11th army have fortifications to fall back to, but 17th army does not except for the Rumanian "ditch".

The Rumanian "ditch" is starting to flip over to level 3 forts, but not sure if it will be fast enough up by 17th army, not to mention I don't have another line behind that and he is making a determined push into 17th Army.

My northern flank is giving on 11th army, but I should be able to hold the front one more turn at least up by Stalino before I have to fall back out of those nice tasty level 3 forts in the area. I have ground to give here, but need to be careful on the timing.

Panzers probably remain parked this turn as well, but I do have a fresh division staged in Rumania to move out to help when it becomes January. I will also have to consider pulling the Rumanian mountain division in the Crimea in January as well and also another one to send them to help. I will likely pull the other one near Odessa since I can rail it up to the front rather quickly and I have a good sized OKH reserve in case the Russians decide to throw themselves at me in an amphibious invasion.

[Klydon]

Turn 27 start info screens.

Note: Russians launched 48 attacks with 8 holds, so tempo is still down a fair amount compared to what I expected. Only 10 attacks resulted in losses to the Germans of 1k or more, so he really isn't getting a lot of damage done at this point, but its still early in winter. Only the 9th army has several divisions that are under 9k manpower. (in comparison, only two of 17th army divisions are under 10k and both of those are 9K+). Still no infiltration units out front or close to the front except in the 6th army area with a tank brigade.

Fairly heavy losses on both sides, but he didn't crack 100k on me during the month the Germans are most vulnerable.

He has 2 more turns of heavy pushing left in December and then we will see what January brings as far as recovery for the Germans. I have not played a winter in version 1.04, so I don't really know what to expect in terms of recovery for the Germans, only that they are supposed to see some increase.

Someone want to buy any bombers? I seem to have a few laying around. [:D]

Good to see the Pz-III L-60 model start to ramp up production. They won't come into play until the panzer divisions switch ToE in April. With panzer production up to 52 a turn, that should help the tank force quite a bit if I can be careful with them during the winter here.

[Q-Ball]

I am surprised, with his low losses, that he is only able to launch 50-ish attacks. That seems low.

Though your fortifications are not amazing, I think tightening up your line really helped; you minimized the amount of hexes you need to defend, allowing you to have ready reserves available. This might be why the attacks are not amazingly high.

I also think January is actually the toughest month in many ways for the Germans, as your troops wore down during December, and you are usually out of the first line of forts.

[Klydon]

@ Q-Ball: I agree. I think he should be attacking more. Certainly its not like I ruined his army over the summer campaign. As a Russian, I like making as much hay as I can against the Germans during the winter. The more you chew up during the winter, the less to hurt you in the spring and you also benefit from getting your army experience and creation of guards units. So far, he has no guards units I have spotted and its mid December. He has to be getting some soon, just because of the actions around 17th army and 9th army in particular. The one thing that seems to be going on however is he is really massed up in those sectors, so his offensive won't be running out of steam anytime soon I think as he rotates units in to continue to attack.

I also agree on January. You are out of your best fortifications and your units are likely at their weakest IF the Russians have managed to kick them around really well. December sort of paves the way for January. No question I won't have fortifications to rely on in certain areas of the front, but the question is has he done enough damage to the army? I got two more turns in December to live through, so we shall see.

Turn 27 end:

No screen shots because not much happen. One thing I try to do as much as possible is to flip territory back from the Russian spearheads to limit their advance. Sometimes it means a unit can't quite get away as well, but it certainly slows down the advance, especially in this case since he isn't running much for infiltration/pursuit units (tank brigades and cav corps). Along the 6th/9th army border, XXXXVI comes up out of Sumy to launch a quick counter attack on a tank brigade in the front. The stack behind it was 3 high and I flipped the other two hexed the brigade could have retreated to, so when it retreated, it routed instead. The panzer corps returned to Sumy.

18th army makes a minor withdraw to its second line of forts (have more forts behind them). They are still in good shape and he has taken a lot of casualties trying to crack them. Their southern flank will likely have to pull back some since 4th army is having issues.

Both 4th and 9th army give ground. 4th Army basically retreats on the fortified rail line NW of Kaluga and 9th army just basically runs. I don't think he will get much in the way of deliberate attacks on 4th army in particular, who need a break. While they will get a break from deliberate attacks, being out in the open is not going to help and they will face some hasty attacks.

17th army pulls back a bit after flipping hexes. I don't think they will be as lucky on the deliberate attack, but the Rumanian ditch needs another turn. I hope to be on it in January, but I think its going to happen 1 turn too soon on the north side. 11th army prepares to pull back, but will hold one more turn. I fly in extra gas to the panzers in Stalino because I think they are going to be squeezed this turn, but not surrounded. He doesn't have any cav or tanks in the area and infantry won't have the reach.

I try to rotate as many troops as I can, putting stronger divisions in the weaker fortifications as I go and the divisions that have been attacked in the stronger fortifications/safer spots. I am going to work on withdrawing divisions that have taken a real beating (just a couple so far), so they are not totally worthless.

[Klydon]

Turn 28 start: 25 December 1941. Merry Christmas!!!

Hfarrish launched 46 attacks this turn and went 33-13. 32 of those were hasty attacks, which is not surprising considering how much I pulled back with 4th, 9th and to a lesser degree, 17th army. Casualties for both sides were about equal, but still under 100k, which makes me fairly happy for the most part. With only 14 deliberate attacks (some of which failed) he hasn't really landed any hard body shots.

[Klydon]

Turn 28 AGN start after most recon done.

Nothing much happening here except with 18th army. 16th army is not in very good shape as I have mentioned a couple of times. Most of their divisions are upper 8k/low 9k for manpower. Some more entrenchments will flip to level 3 soon. 2nd Army has 1 corps in action next to 18th army, but is otherwise quiet. Their divisions are in better shape than 16th army and they have some fortifications ready to flip over to level 3 as well. It just doesn't seem the Russians are interested in applying pressure up here, which is fine with me. The rail line to move troops up here is still knocked out, so the only way he is getting more troops in the area is by 16th army on the E/W rail line there. Things stay this way, I will likely look to send a couple of divisions down south to help out.

18th army remains in good shape and has been extracting heavy casualties while giving ground slowly. The lake hexside will help limit the amount of attackers the Russians can pile on in certain areas and they have some fortifications in depth here. Their southern flank is in some trouble as 4th army continues to be pushed back. PG4 has not had to do anything yet and does not look like it will be needed for now. I will sit out at least this turn before looking to send some help down south. The PG has had some divisions already transferred and currently has a strength of 8 divisions (4 panzer, 4 motorized).

[Klydon]

Turn 28 start after most recon. AGC:

As expected, most Russian attacks fell here with both 4th and 9th army under heavy pressure and giving ground. I don't mind giving ground with 9th army, but 4th army is causing issues with 18th Army.

Some cav corps have shown up next to 9th army, so I may have to see what I can do to introduce them to the mountain divisions. They are a concern because they help speed up his advance and are tough enough against my infantry to roll them in the open. Time to come up with some detailed plans on what to do to help 9th army in particular. They will likely spend another turn retreating at least. If nothing else, they are acting as the red cape for a matador to get the bull er bear to charge out into the open away from his fortifications and rail lines.

[Klydon]

Turn 28 Start after most recon, AGS.

17th army continues to get hammered back and 11th army shows some cracks as well. Time to give up Stalino and pull back. Hopefully the Rumanian ditch will be ready and will hold in the south. The northern flank is not north enough unfortunately and the Russians are bearing down hard on D Town. I spot the first guards unit on the front. There is also at least 1 cav corps here too. It will take some work to hopefully make sure I don't lose some troops to encirclement, but will see. Time to look at sending some help for 17th army as well.

[Q-Ball]

The stack 3 hexes West of Gorlovka is in serious trouble; he should be able to bag them if he wants to. Not next turn, but eventually, no problem. He would be doing you a favor by attacking them at this point, but he shouldn't, unless it's to push them EAST, which he can do.

I can't tell if there is an infantry unit under the Panzer Division in Stalino, but if there is, they are also toast, IMO.

Don't lose more troops trying to save them.

[Klydon]

There was a infantry division in Stalino last turn, but I moved it in anticipation of this. Just two panzer divisions now with plenty of gas to beat feet or potentially launch a counter attack against that tank brigade to help those guys. Besides that tank brigade, it just appears to be infantry there. Not to say he can't get more mobile units there next turn, but. I also have an extra mountain brigade there (the unit entrained) and the third one on the way to help out hopefully.
 
Definately a concern for sure, but hopefully will be able to get things clear.

[Klydon]

Turn 28 end

Not much going on as usual except 9th Army has their track shoes on. Most of the other armies do some rearranging although 11th army and the III panzer corps in Stalino pull back to attack the 52nd tank division along the river, routing it with heavy casualties. I have a screen shot of the area since Q-Ball correctly mentioned the danger the mountain unit and infantry division with it are in. Hopefully this line will hold long enough to retire in good order. Fortunately for me, there are quite a few brigades among the attackers, especially from Stalino to the south.

The situation in the 17th army area is the most critical as they are not only on top of the Rumanian ditch, but likely to breech the north part of it there. XXXXVIII panzer corps came out of D Town to launch a counter attack against a spearhead infantry division and then took up positions on the ditch. I was hoping to wait a turn until January, but that is the way it goes. I pull XIV panzer corps down from Kharkov (likely going to have to pull 6th army back soon) and stage them in D-Town to help out next turn.