T56 Axis AGC
I'm now resigned to battering my way up the Smolensk-Vyazma road, I just don't see any alternative and this will be very bloody. Moscow remains a pipe dream, all I can realistically expect is to put as much space as I can between Smolensk and the front line for when the Soviet offensive inevitably gets under way. With luck, I may be able to hold my own over 1943 (I've never played that far so have no idea what is in store for me

) but I'm sure that I'll be on the back foot by '44, if not before.
Currently I have 645 VPs, Rostov is on the menu for 10, Tula (16) and Voronezh are possibles but I know i won't get any time bonuses for the latter. In the last turn or two I have decided against a frontal assault on Voronezh, this might give me an extra VP or two but it is likely to be expensive in manpower and my supply routes are not really going to help. My thinking is that Tula will be easier and brings a guaranteed 6 extra VPs.
675-685 VPs is short of where I wanted to be his year, more worrying are the advances that Vet has made towards Leningrad and, indeed the Baltic states. I have given up a lot of decent defensive terrain. This will make any attempt to hold onto Smolensk doubly difficult. Shifting entrenched corps, never mind guard corps, is a real problem. It's possible but takes a lot of resources. I can still use my mobility in the open ground to the south, but any progress in the north and centre will be done at a crawl. OKH spirits have fallen in recent turns, despite the success the of clearing the Bryansk woods, there is still so much to do and already we are at high summer. In 2 months time, Stalin will be releasing a huge 450k of fresh reserves and while we have been keeping the Red Army under control, it will begin to surge thereafter.
Heyho, let's stop stewing in our own juices and press on

- T56 a AGC Perfect.png (2.78 MiB) Viewed 619 times
That's perfect, I just weighted that attack correctly - in fact I very nearly lost but this is what I was going for -

- T56 a AGC that's why it was perfect.png (2.61 MiB) Viewed 619 times
With all those triple stacked units behind them, 2 of those Soviet riftle divisions have been forced into retreating in the open close to my front lines. Just what we wanted and the follow up attack led by armour is deadly. That's a very nice bounty and 23k goes into the pot.
We press on

- T56 aAGC Just got through despite reserves.png (2.71 MiB) Viewed 619 times
That attack just got through despite the reserve activation, again it's nice to chew through 250 tanks. We didn't get far as expected, but at least we bled the Soviets nicely. Unfortunately, I think those Soviet guard corps won't be idle in their turn
