Looking for German opponent

[thackaray]

From the screenshots the situation on the ground is interesting for me.  I'll be intrigued to see how the Russians defend from this point in until the blizzards start.

[Morphy]

Heeresgruppe Nord: nothing much happened. Novgorod taken, Demyansk taken without fight.

Heeresgruppe Mitte: the 3 Soviet encircled armies were destroyed, huge losses for them. A few more units were pushed east. Soviets made an excellent job ambushing our railroad engineers... Velikye Luki recaptured again.

Heeresgruppe Sued: Gomel taken without fight, Soviets escaped, Poltava, Donbas (Zaporozhe, Dnepropetrovsk) taken. After a long raid also Stalino was captured! Crimea is cut off.

Because of Soviet weak performance in the north 3 German infantry divisions, 3 Stug batallions, 1 Jagdpanzer Batallion and 1 artillery division were sent to Africa to help Rommel. He couldn't counterattack Britons after smashing the Opperation Battleaxe because of weak forces. Now they should be much more aggressive and dangerous.

Enclosed are losses:

[Morphy]

One more thing: VVS was active this turn but instead of scattered units they amassed fighters near Smolensk. Both sides suffered heavy losses but it is Luftwaffe which is still in good shape. What would Soviets do the next turn? Do they have some more fighter units ready to intercept my bombers?

Also Luftwaffe bombed Voronezh, Saratov, Stalingrad and Tula.

[Morphy]

Germans organized a defilade in Leningrad. It was a huge demonstration of power - just look at all the tanks gathered there...

[Morphy]

Also center...

[Morphy]

and abandoned south...

[Morphy]

Also Donbas before capture.

[PaxMondo]

Wow, this is a great campaign. Very interesting to follow. TDV certainly has some ineresting tactics/strategies. The Axis do look strong though.

[private_g]

A very interesting game indeed, but I bet on Morphy. Russian losses are to high, Leningrad has fallen, south has fallen too, Moscow is so close...

[PaxMondo]

Well, except that SOV hasn't lost too many forces. If he can hold Moscow and with a strong blizzard winter ... I think it will depend on whether Axis can protect their forces in the blizzards. If SOV doesn't lose too many more 'factory' cities between now and blizzard, SOV will still have the factory advantage. Axis only has two more weeks of supply advantage and then it is on more equal footing.

[Morphy]

AT LEAST!!!

Last week of August. For 3 weeks I have been trying to encircle and destroy Soviet units. Every time I tried to do it something failed. This time 4 strong Soviet units have been encircled and...


Heeresgruppe Nord:
Primary objective has been taken - Leningrad. Our forces have reached secondary objective - Tikhvin and... there is no garrison... the city is expected to fall in first week of September.

Heeresgruppe Sued:
Virtually no resistance. 2 weak armies destroyed western to Kursk. The city itself easily taken without any fight. Eastern to Kharkov 1 Soviet division heading toward city smashed to smithereens and... primary objective for Heeresgruppe Sued has been seized!!! Rostov! Weak garrison was easily defeated. The panzerkorps which seized the city will be supplied by the sea, but the city is ours!!! The only target for Heeresgruppe Sued which has not been achieved is Voronezh.

[Morphy]

Have I forgotten about something?





No... I guess I haven't...

[Morphy]

I have!!!

[Morphy]

Heeresgruppe Mitte!

well...


2 pincers: one from the south, near Vyazma (forget screenshots: windows Vista...), one near Rzhev.

The northern: Rzhev garrison seemed strong while unit NW to it had strength 1 and unit NE to the city had factor 3. 2 Panzerkorps attacked there, break through and encircled Rzhev.

The southern: 3 armored corps attacked heavily bombed Vyazma and took it! Then it was a piece of cake: only weak Soviet units digging in. All were pushed back.

All in all: both pincers touched. 4 strong Soviet units, 3 shock armies among them, encircled, road to Moscow wide open! My furthermost units, although short of supply, are 3 hexes from the Soviet capital. And meteorologists say we have at least 4 weeks of good weather. There is a hope we can capture Moscow before fall. If it happens - even if Wehrmacht doesn't capture Gorki - they will be weak enough to loose the war in 1942.

For 3 weeks my mood was quite gloomy. This time OKW is very optimistic!!!

The only problem: high losses of Luftwaffe. VVS has shot down many bombers, especially Ju-87 are extremely vulnerable: unless accompanied by fighters they fall down like drops of rain... Some propose to replace them with BF-110. Some opt for completely new planes... Who will prevail?

Losses:
Axis:
inf. squads: 478/3519
AFVs: 138/1209
Guns: 36/316
Planes: 289/1562 (ouch!)

Soviets:
inf. squads: 1809/35328
AFVs: 196/8320
Guns: 760/13603
Planes: 534/11648

How many fighters do VVS have???

[Morphy]

ORIGINAL: private_g

A very interesting game indeed, but I bet on Morphy. Russian losses are to high, Leningrad has fallen, south has fallen too, Moscow is so close...

Thanks appreciate that

[Morphy]

ORIGINAL: TDV

Russians must have 4 groups of Armies in July-August’1941:

1. Leningrad
2. First line of defense in the center
3. Second line of defense in the center
4. Ukraine – along Dniepr, from Gomel to Dnepropetrovsk

Each Army must be have at least 6 good full-sized divisions. The problem is RKKA doesn’t have enough divisions for four groups of Armies. Russians have divisions for 3 groups of Armies only.



The player has choices:

1. Defend everything (Leningrad – Mogilev- Gomel – Kiev- Dnepropetrovsk line) and doesn’t have the second reserved line in the center. Usual result in this case: The Russian front is broken in the center, 5-6 best Armies surrounded in July and no chance to restore the central front line because of no good troops. The way to Moscow is open.

2. the second choice is to sacrify something: Leningrad or the South. Usually I sacrify the South: that flank is wide open, German tanks there are slow anyway because of their supply lines. In this game I didn’t want to defend the Dniepr line except Kiev for a couple of turns. I won two railway hexes conversions near Odessa in June’1941 (two good motorized divisions have been paid). After that I was sure Germans would not be able to take Moscow and Stalingrad using the Southern railway.

Unfortunately I made mistake near Pskov (I didn’t see that one of the Shock Armies attached to HQs with zero OPs). I lost three Armies there. It was no enough troops to defend Leningrad and I withdrawn the rest of divisions from the North to the Center.
On the other hand, I got good positions along the Dniepr line (Germans couldn’t break through “from the wheels”,my troops became even stronger after that because of obtained experience. I hold railroad conversion for 2-3 turns near Kiev and because of that my Central group of Armies got a secured flank .
I might hold the Dniepr line until September but it had no sense: no strategic goals there anymore. At the same moment I got a crisis in the center: three Soviet Armies was encircled, German tanks crossed Dniepr near Mogilev. I could get a strategic encirclement in 2 turns on the South (exactly like in the real history in September’41).
So I weakened the Dniepr line and transferred one third of divisions to enforce the Smolensk position. Of course next turn the Dniepr line has been broken near Kiev. However, no encirclement, my Armies are relocating in a good shape from that area.

In the center three encircled armies (plus two “phantom” armies from Velikie Luki) jumped on the west. One Panzer is cut of, most likely 3-4 of the other Panzer Corps have supply level 1-3 and would not be able to advance. Railroad conversion stopped again just east of Vitebsk. The German railworkers will resume the conversion of the main artery Vitebsk-Moscow in the end of August only.

Well, I disagree.

I think giving Leningrad away was the fatal mistake of yours.

After all I can paint such a scenario:
You had left a few infantry divisions plus some weak armored units in Leningrad and its supply hex. I wouldn't have attacked the city then and had gone for supply hex NW to Tikhvin as German tanks are too precious to waste them for storming the city. Had you fortified Volkhov river with a few tanks I would have lost at least 3-4 weeks. You would have had enough time to evacuate all factories and enormous manpower factor would give you a few infantry divisions (I've read somewhere 1 manpower point gives Soviets 12-15 infantry squads per turn, thus 32 factor means 380-480 inf. squads per week; 3 weeks means at least 1000 squads=4 full infantry divisions). You didn't defend Leningrad what means not only have you lost manpower and factories but also 3 strong (not much fight so far! Only battle for Pskov!) have been relieved and can be used to fight for Moscow. Also airplanes can be used against Moscow.

All in all: you lost second most important city and 3 strong armored corps more will go for Moscow.

[PaxMondo]

I don't know how bad SOV losses have been.
 
SOV starts with :
inf: 57717
AFV:13349
GUNS:18500
Planes: 18451
 
 
by this time he is building weekly:
well forget the inf, he has plenty
 AFV's : 138
Planes: 193

in planes he has added maybe 1000 new YAK's or LaGG's and 1000 new T-34's or KV's..  I do not trust the bear.  I think he is hiding somewhere.  We'll see.  I htink this is a good game.  Very interesting to watch it unfold.
 

[Morphy]

Well, for sure he has lost plenty of tank factories in Leningrad - they were either captured or evacuated (bug! a conqueror should get a detailed report what factories were captured) what means they don't produce anything. Similarly Kharkov with 2 T-34 factories is gone and TDV admitted at least 1 tank factory in Kharkov was lost. As far as planes are considered - Kharkov and Leningrad don't produce much but...

[PaxMondo]

Ahh, you're right. I forgot that he either had to move or lose those factories. So his production isn't that great. So he could be in bad shape. Still, interesting to watch....

[TDV]

Morphy

I think giving Leningrad away was the fatal mistake of yours.
After all I can paint such a scenario:
You had left a few infantry divisions plus some weak armored units in Leningrad and its supply hex. I wouldn't have attacked the city then and had gone for supply hex NW to Tikhvin as German tanks are too precious to waste them for storming the city.

Well, I must leave at least 3-4 full divisions in Leningrad, then at least 2-3 more good divisions at Leningrad's supply hex.
Then you will cut them off and I will lose 5-7 full divisions. For what?

Morphy

You would have had enough time to evacuate all factories

Russians can't evacuate as many factories as they want. Russians have a quota. Be sure,I used this quota in full.

Morphy

and enormous manpower factor would give you a few infantry divisions (I've read somewhere 1 manpower point gives Soviets 12-15 infantry squads per turn, thus 32 factor means 380-480 inf. squads per week; 3 weeks means at least 1000 squads=4 full infantry divisions).

I never heard it. Good info. Anyway, I must sacrify at least 5-7 full divisions in and around Leningrad to get 4 new divisions?
By the way I will not receive this manpower in 4 new divisions. I will receive 10-15 tiny divisions (50-80 squads each) in RVGK.I have enough divisions like that now. They are useless.

Morphy

I wouldn't have attacked the city then and had gone for supply hex NW to Tikhvin as German tanks are too precious to waste them for storming the city.

If I leave a good Army to protect a supply hex NW to Tikhvin you can just cut off the supply lines a bit south of Tikhvin and I lose one more good Army in the strategic encirclement.
If I leave a weak Army to protect a supply hex NW to Tikhvin you can force it to retreat without any problem (exactly like you destroyed my weak Army in Leningrad)

Morphy
You didn't defend Leningrad what means not only have you lost manpower and factories but also 3 strong (not much fight so far! Only battle for Pskov!) have been relieved and can be used to fight for Moscow. Also airplanes can be used against Moscow.

All in all: you lost second most important city and 3 strong armored corps more will go for Moscow.

A I said before I lost 3 good Armies near Pskov because of a mistake (one Army was connected to HQs with zero OPs and that's why you encircle it). I suppose I could get one more week without it and you Panzers from the North would be arrive to Rzhev in September only.

By the way I like your tactics: you usually break the defence by two PzCorps on flanks only. All other PzCorps follow them and form the encirclement.