Tophat1812(REDS) vs Moses(Krauts and friends)

[Tophat1815]

A rather annoying collapse but we can absorb it for now. Just 4 turns more until "mud" moves into the equation.

[Tophat1815]

A wider perspective on the southern situation.

[Tophat1815]

And the southern Front after RED Army turn 10.

[Tophat1815]

This rounds out the various Front situations.

[Tophat1815]

For those interested in a clash of Armor in August 41'.

[Tophat1815]

And of course the comparative losses screen:

[Tophat1815]

ORIGINAL: Flaviusx

You really should have some kind of a fort line dug in from Rzhev to Kaluga by this point, you are relying too much on the checkerboard. The German has 7 more clear turns here and a checkerboard isn't going to stop him by itself.

Hmmn,7 turns of clear? I miscounted and thought there were 4 after this turn. There is no fort line between Rzhev and kaluga There is a partially dug-in screen he will or can keep eating through.

Remember the movie Pork Chop Hill with Gregory Peck?

There is a Red Chinese psychological warfare officer who plays music over a loudspeaker system. After the Americans retake the hill he tells them:

Congratulations,but i must point out. The more ground you take,the more you have to hold.

[Flaviusx]

First mud turn is 18.

[Tophat1815]

Yep,a whopping 7 turns to go..... I am reading the manual right now. I have already formed a Tank/Mech army of 4 armor divisions and 3 cavalry divisions. We shall see how those units have filled-out this turn. Time to start looking for an opening.

Or perhaps 2 Armies with 1 pure cavalry and another pure tank.

[Flaviusx]

To be honest...I like rifle units for counterattacks more than mech in 1941. Cavalry is great for raids and for isolating enemy units. These are actually your most mobile units until tank corps come along.

But the armor just kind of sucks from a mobility standpoint. It takes 16 mps to launch a deliberate attack with mech. 1941 Soviet mech divisions top off at 18 mps, which means they can move a hex or two at most if you plan on attacking with them deliberately. Hasty attacks with them are extremely chancy since their CVs aren't high by and large.

A half dozen rifle division can wreck an overextended, fatigued and isolated panzer division and have enough movement left over even after a deliberate attack to resume defensive positions. With good leaders, anyways. I'd be getting your 6 and 7 point infantry leaders near Moscow.

[Tophat1815]

 I didn't want to use Zhukov and company until winter,but you have a point. Also Moscow Military district and Reserve Front are going to expand. I'll put the 3 armies around Moscow under Reserve Front command and 8 rifle divisions under Moscow Military district.

 Its a wait and see how he approaches Moscow direct or slides to a side for encirclement.

 Where in the rules is using the citizens to dig entrenchments? I swore i saw it in the book,naturally now that its pertinent i see no such entry.

[Flaviusx]

I get all my first class guys into action ASAP in critical parts of the front line. All of them. If they die, so be it. I'm not prepared to play an utterly passive defense and much prefer to smack the Germans when and where possible as early as possible, and that takes good leaders. Your four and five point second raters won't get that job done.

But you might want to keep Zhukov in STAVKA until October or so. He's good there until STAVKA overloads. Afterwards, move him to a front command.

[Encircled]

He's banking it all on taking Moscow, isn't he?

If he doesn't manage that, then he isn't going to be in any sort of defensive position in the centre and that could cost him.

[Tophat1815]

FOUND IT!!!! It is 15.3.2.3 Civilian Population Labor assistance to fortification level construction.

[Tophat1815]

ORIGINAL: Encircled

He's banking it all on taking Moscow, isn't he?

If he doesn't manage that, then he isn't going to be in any sort of defensive position in the centre and that could cost him.

Possibly,but to what end? There is no national morale crash for occupying part of Moscow. The game does not end in an Axis victory. The Soviet player will invariably vow to burn Berlin. There is of course bragging rights for first human vs human capture of communist mecca.

Dislocation of significant Soviet industry? That is a possibility,but I'd move the industry..in fact this next turn trains will be hauling factories out of there.. "just in case."

[CharonJr]

Doesn't Leningrad look fairly vulnerable to an armored thrust to the east? Not many units around to stop them and light woods is not that bad for tanks.

He could reinforce this thrust with infantry and start cutting north to get the 3 ports.

CharonJr

[Klydon]

Yeah, Moscow is not the only thing in trouble. Leningrad's back door does not look very secure at all. Nothing really dug in and not much for troops there. With the thin line he is running between AGC and AGN, I would guess he has pulled a lot of those troops up into the Leningrad area.

I like the insight provided by BigA and Flav. Wise words there for the Russians.

One other thing I think is worth mentioning is by getting your good commanders in now, you give them a couple of turns to help improve the troops they have in terms of morale, etc. You want those guys ready to go and take advantage of anything you can when the mud hits since you may catch some German units overextended. Blizzard is not the only time to be beating on them. You can still keep "trash" units/commanders out front, but the good guys need to at least be on that Alamo line.

May want to mess with the Typhoon scenario a bit to give yourself a feel for what is coming up.

[kfmiller41]

Well top if he takes moscow and Leningrad he may be in a good position to hold you off in the winter, I don't really know how the blizzard will play out in a PBEM game (will find out soon enough I guess[:D]) but if your losses stay low you will have the force to move him back, at least in moscow IMHO.

[Tophat1815]

Interesting,he never moved masses of infantry behind the armor he moved up to Leningrad. Not that I saw at any rate and I have done air-recon in his backfield.

The backdoor to Leningrad is open,he just needs to use his tanks to punch a hole up there. Then get infantry to follow. Swamp hexes are hell for tanks to root infantry out of. We will see how this turn develops,as I have said I get 25 divisions and 3 brigades as reinforcements this turn. Some will form at/around Leningrad and be incorporated in that defense.

I'm not about to panic or loose morale due to the prophets of doom. Sure the Germans are damned intimidating in 41',they are supposed to be! I knew that when I signed-up,moses is no slouch opponent either,i have played in in WiTp and he is good.

There are divisions on the Finnish side of Leningrad I can move south to bolster defenses and yea,even though I'm concerned about a Moscow envelopment I'll divert at least 4 divisions to Leningrad.

Keep the comments coming,if I was a strategic genius everything would be perfect and this would be boring.

[kfmiller41]

My opponent in my other PBEM game (yes I have 2 going) is doing a similar run around Leningrad, if he gets to the fins I will have about 50 divisions cut off in the city area[X(]. Needless to say I have thrown alot of troops in his way and can only hope he can't make it before the mud (it is last week of September). He is one hex from cutting the railroad line east of the city...

As a matter of fact he has an AAR going (Haudrauf is my opponent) might want to check that one out, but please don't post his strategy[:-] that wouldn't be fair. But you might get some insight on how the german player may approach this.