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why not push as far forward as possible & have a buffer to fall back on

That has always been my approach, but I am doing some "dig in" tests, including using fortified zones, that I have never used previously, but I feel that taking the pressure off gives the Sovs time to put together a better attack, whereas if you attack right through the mud and snow they might need a couple of turns to get organised.

Every approach has pluses and minuses.

Carnage I would seriously consider massing your armor in the central Ukraine area, setting yourself up for a large HQ buildup, and grabbing a ton of real estate in open terrain with the idea of increasing your blizzard buffer. I think you could possibly bag a lot of Soviet troops this way, too, given the Soviet linear tactics. And maybe grab Kharkov. I don't like your position in this area right now, you are too close to the Dnepr for comfort.

Don't let those snow turns go to waste.

Just a suggestion. Let the infantry dig in and mass the panzers and go do some damage and give yourself some breathing room. You might as well use the panzers while you have them. At the end of my blizzard turn against AI my panzers were decimated.

A nice snow advance followed by a slow and steady pull back (if it can be managed) of about 2-3 hexes per turn might mitigate at least the first month of blizzard, as the Soviets just can't advance that quickly through enemy controlled hexes and still get good attacks. If there is a prepared line of towns/cities to hit then, it might just frustrate a second month of winter. The Germans don't need space in the south, and wasting time could be profitable...

And I'm going to second Bob's suggestion of sending the mountain units to the Kuban. Yeah, you'll miss those for defending elsehwere, but it sure would be nice to grab Novorosysk and the nearby swamps in a blizzard offensive and be set up to advance into the clear terrain come next summer.

The idea of an Axis blizzard offensive also appeals to my sense of humor. Playing mind games is half the fun of PBEM, and this is the kind of oddball thing a Soviet player won't expect.

If you put the skeer (as Forrest said) in your opponant, that is half the battle. He already pulled back and made the Leningrad region more defensible, maybe some mountain troops in the Kuban would stop a major offensive in the blizzard elsewhere.

Carnage I would seriously consider massing your armor in the central Ukraine area, setting yourself up for a large HQ buildup, and grabbing a ton of real estate in open terrain with the idea of increasing your blizzard buffer. I think you could possibly bag a lot of Soviet troops this way, too, given the Soviet linear tactics. And maybe grab Kharkov. I don't like your position in this area right now, you are too close to the Dnepr for comfort.

Don't let those snow turns go to waste.

I got a bit carried away doing that on Turn 16 in my game versus the AI. Sent three Pz groups straight through the Russian Lines North of Orel and opposite Kharkov, and it looks like its going to cost me two motorized divisons.

Ok, I've completely unhinged his southern front, but I'm annoyed that I pushed it just a bit too far.

Saying that, as I'm facing practically nothing south of Kharkov, I'm very tempted to keep going

I can't believe I let you guys talk me into this...I'm predicting doom for my panzer forces.

Here is the operational map, tell me if you think this is realistic of me.

Looks good to me.

How accurate is your recon? Is Kharkov really empty? (This refusal to garrison cities just boggles me.)

First off, I've decided to with draw 2 out of the 3 corps in the Kuban region. I just don't care enough about the position to risk loosing 9 Corps there. 4 divisions to me is still to much for my liking. Yeah I might be thinking there are bogey men under the bed but I just won't risk it. As far as summer ops there...ehhh...I don't know if I want to invest in there yet or even ever. I got what I wanted and that is to take away some offensive power else where.

Yes Big A i'm suffering from Blizzard Fright. I just don't know what to expect for my first pbem experience.

I'm going to risk some of my panzers to nasty blizzard attacks, I do believe in having a better buffer zone for falling back to. As far as Kuban and mountain troops...no. Their to assist in fire brigade duties.

ORIGINAL: Flaviusx

Looks good to me.

How accurate is your recon? Is Kharkov really empty? (This refusal to garrison cities just boggles me.)

I've been very through in my reconing of his front, I've established a routine if he's paying attention. I haven't reconed the back yet, I don't want to tip my hand to where I might attack.

Taking away some of the infantry from the Kuban isn't a bad idea...provided you replace those with mountain units. That infantry won't be incredibly useful there during the blizzard period anyways. Leave one infantry corps there and bring down all the mountain units and make a grab for Novorosysk during the blizzard...

It does appear to be a massive chance down in the Kuban that you might be passing up on.

Saying that, the effects of the blizzard are going to really affect any decision that the German player makes in '41

I hope people are really paying attention the rulebook about the X Y coordinates of blizzard areas.  Last month someone thought certain areas didn't have it and Joel felt the need to clarify that the area does have blizzards.

Shouldn't it be possible to simply run a test game vs the AI - not doing anything - in order to get an accurate picture of blizzard/snow/mud conditions everywhere important?

It might be a bit "gamey", but it seems too important a factor to rely on guessing games, interpretations of the manual, etc.

Otherwise, keep up the good work.

ORIGINAL: randallw

I hope people are really paying attention the rulebook about the X Y coordinates of blizzard areas.  Last month someone thought certain areas didn't have it and Joel felt the need to clarify that the area does have blizzards.

As far as I can tell that area has 4 or possibly 5 turns of blizzard in January using non-random weather.22.2.1

ORIGINAL: CarnageINC

I can't believe I let you guys talk me into this...I'm predicting doom for my panzer forces.

Doom? You're doing incredibly well! [:)] I'd say your opponent is doomed though [8D]

One note on the panzer operation during your snow turns. There is no room for error on the pockets as another German found out in an AAR. The Soviets broke the pocket and it was a disaster for the Germans. I would still do it because wiping out entire sections like you have shown means those sections will likely get no significant pressure for at least a month during the winter (a most important month in December). Certainly gaining another urban hex won't suck either.

One if the interesting things also is will he sit and be passive on mud or will he be aggressive and be attacking?

Carnage, if I may suggest something: plan your snow attacks as if you have only 2 turns, not 3, so your main plan involves creating some pocket that's guaranteed to work on the turn you create it and can be cleaned up afterwards. If after the first snow turn, you think you can create a second guaranteed pocket that you can clean up on snow turn 3, do so. You do not want to have your mobile units hanging in the breeze when the blizzard hits, so if you can't make a guaranteed pocket on snow turn 2, don't try.