FITE Chambers vs Fulkerson

[larryfulkerson]

And the next sector to the south:

[larryfulkerson]

And the next sector to the south:

[larryfulkerson]

And the next sector to the south:

[larryfulkerson]

And the next sector to the south:

[larryfulkerson]

And the next sector to the south:

[larryfulkerson]

And the next sector to the south:

[larryfulkerson]

And the next sector to the south:

[larryfulkerson]

I believe I destroyed 39 Soviet units in turn 21: 31 infantry types, 2 armoured divisions, and 6 guns. Here's the Axis losses so far:

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the north half of the front lines so far:

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the south half of the front lines [ sorry about the bad quality of the view ]:

[Raindem]

Trying to get my losses to display correctly but it's not working. Here is a link to the file:

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r147 ... Losses.jpg

Anyway, here's the Soviet situation as of Turn 21:

NORTHERN FRONT

Northern and Central Finland are fairly quiet. Some minor border sqirmishes going on but nothing to worry about.

Leningrad is not totally invested yet but it's getting there. The northern boundary has been pushed down to the existing earthen works. With Finish political restraints leaving the Germans on their own, that particular line has stabilized.

The northern segment of the Luga line has been breached, and German units are racing towards Leningrad's inner defense line. The southern part of the line is holding, but unless I get some troops up between Krasnogvardeseisk and Luga, the Germans can turn southeast and get behind the remainder of the line. As it stands, I've peeled away the 8th Army to form a new line northeast of Lake Il'men.

A temporary breakthrough just south of the lake threatened to split the northern and central fronts, but fortunately I had some entrained units in the area so it was easy to divert them to the threatened frontage.

CENTRAL FRONT

Larry has achieved a massive breakthrough between Kholm and Velizh. For reasons of operational security I'm not going to reveal exactly what I have there but it is, in my opinion, his most decisive success of the campaign so far. However, Larry's dilemna is that the flanks of the breakthrough (lakes region to the north and the Demidov gap to the south) still contain strong Soviet forces. Larry can push foward, but at his own peril. If he wheels either way to break these forces, or if he pauses while the rest of the line catches up, it gives me a chance to stabilize my defenses along the Smolensk-Moscow highway.

Moving south, my line is pretty solid from Smolensk to Roslav to Pochep. A few turns ago Larry had obtained a nice breakthrough in the land mass between the Iput and Desna rivers. I responded by overbuilding the Bryansk region defenses. With the line stabilized and his focus going seemingly somewhere else, I've thinned out the Bryansk defenses and used the troops in more deserving sectors.

Larry believes I'm getting one-for-one replacements against destroyed units, but that's not the case (at least not yet). A few turns ago Larry ceased Interdiction and the blowing of RR bridges so I've been able to shuttle units around quite easily. It makes it seem like I have more than I really do.

SOUTHERN FRONT

Larry has been unable (or actually I don't think he's tried) to take the Kiev crossing, but he conducted a brilliant fording for the Dnepr just south of there at Kanev. I thought I had it adequately guarded but his bridgehead quickly grew to several divisions. Unfortunately for Larry, there were a couple a mechanized corps passing through the area on their way to the central front. I countermanded their orders and sent them into fierce counterattacks against the bridgehead. I won't be able to snuff it out, but so far it has been contained. The issue is still in question.

Moving down the Dnepr, Larry forced 2 more crossings, at Kremenchug and Dneprpetrovsk. These were also positions I thought I had adequately covered but apparently not. When I started shifting troops to cover this latest breakthrough my position at Zaporozhe was overrun as well. So for all practical purposes the Dnepr has been breached along its length.

The rest of the line to the Black Sea coast is solid. But it won't stay that way since the whole position is now in danger of being encircled from the north. The whole Dnepr bend region is one area where I'll have to trade space for time.

CAUCUS FRONT

The initiative is slowly slipping away from Larry in this part of the front. At Odessa, the unexpected survival of the garrison will be a continuing thorn for him.

In the Crimea I have sufficient forces and supplies. I'm planning for a long drawn out campaign there.

Nothing is happening in Turkey which is good since I've stripped away 40% of their forces.

OVERALL

Except for the gaping hole west of Rzhev I'm not too unhappy with my position right now. I really have to keep my eye on that central front and be ready to respond to changes in direction. Until then, I'll continue to assume an easterly drive and plan accordingly.

[larryfulkerson]

I thought I'd try to post the Soviet losses file that Curt has given us above and see if it's visible.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the moves minimovie from turns 18 throu 22:

[larryfulkerson]

And now a series of close-ups starting at the north sector:

[larryfulkerson]

And the next sector to the south:

[larryfulkerson]

And the next sector to the south:

[larryfulkerson]

And the Smolensk area, the next sector to the south:

[larryfulkerson]

And the next sector to the south:

[larryfulkerson]

And in the Kiev area, the next sector to the south:

[larryfulkerson]

And the next sector to the south: