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A quck probe pushes back the Hungarians and displaces the Korps HQ

I can't pass up the chance to send cavalry into the Chernigov gap and up the Gomel road, to see how the AI responds. It will probably be a massacre, but it will cost him move points.

How many turns are you playing every day?

About 2-3 yesterday - one in the morning and two last night after the guests all left and the kids were in bed.

If the wife and kids go shopping for a morning I can maybe get 4 turns in, otherwise 1-3. (So I gave her a new credit card for Xmas )

On the 23rd I was home alone all day and on vacation, so I got 12 turns in! I expect I will slow down once I've got it mastered and take on a human opponent.

I don't do the detailed air unit and leader management etc. every turn. I generally give the replacement pool a few turns to fill up before going through the air unit cycle again, and review leader stats after a series of major combat operations.

The AI's response to my cavalry penetration. The units are doomed, but will create a temporary distraction.

Mud again...

The AI opts not to defend Nikolaev...

VI Corps is back in the front line (it wasn't a Pz Corps, as I thought) along with its Security Division, but at least this time it's been joined by an infantry division.

The computer is desperate, if it has only security units to block a penetration.

I battered it pretty hard all winter - almost 1.5m additional casualties.

June '41, Turn 51. I spent 250 points forming Soviet Rifle Corps (see red dots) and Tank Divisions. I will now be able to stack 3 Corps per hex in selected sectors, well worth the admin cost!

Turn 51. Dry.

Well, the AI has again hammered me in the south and centre, inflicting almost 100k casualties (60k above the normal daily attrition rate).

In the centre, I don't wish to engage in such a battle on my current line, which is too exposed and lacks natural defensive positions, so I am pulling back behind the line of the Bolva R to the dotted red line shown.

I will also move in a couple of reserve armies, one from the north and one from the south, to create a solid second defensive line further east.

If the AI continues to press into this bulge, I will reinforce the wings with a view to attempting a pincer movement and creating a pocket.

However, it is my failure to create any large pockets over the winter that has allowed the AI to recover - his forces were bled dry, but only about 10 of his divisions were actually destroyed. The rest are clearly recovering.

In the south, the AI has hit my main spearheads head-on, blunting them. I lack the necessary reserves for a prolonged offensive here, so I am pulling back to my start lines behind the Ingulets R. and digging in.

I pulled back a bit further than planned in the south, in order to deepen the bulge. Let's see if I can entice the AI to shin out his line a bit and expose his flanks.

However, I notice a major concentration of enemy armour around Chernigov. I am not sure if this is the remains of the assault on my cavalry there, or a build up for a new attack.

Meanwhile, I have spotted a very weak sector in front of Smolensk where the Ai has thinned out his line to extreme proportions - a single LW Regt was holding 3 hexes.

A rapid attack, backed up by two nearby reserve armies, threatens Smolensk and may relieve the pressure down south.

The ebb and flow is quite interesting.

Yes. It feels very real.

Turn 55. No further attacks by the AI and my offensive toward Smolensk is progressing well, although the AI is throwing more powerful units into the line. My guess is that the AI is pulling troops away from its concentrations in the south and moving them north, which was my primary goal.

Once I feel the resistance in front of Smolensk becoming too strong, I will resume major combat operations in the south to keep the enemy off balance.

Fun read! Er, I assume you're in July 1942, not July 1941? Great to see an AAR that far along.

Yes July '42 LOL.

Turn 57 and my ad-hoc plan for the liberation of Smolensk and the encirclement of a nice chunk of AGC is ready to be fully executed.

Extensive recon confirms that Smolensk is undefended and that a clear path to the city along two separate axes still exists. I think the AI has been battered senseless.

Paratroopers (thanks to Joel for teaching me how to finally do this!) will now lay an airborne carpet to reduce enemy ZOC effects on two routes to Smolensk:

- DZ 01 for the North Pincer.
- DZ 02 for the South Pincer.

The airborne operation is a complete success. Enemy staff officers are reportedly burning secret files at sites all across the city.

As luck would have it, a partisan unit is active to the west of Smolensk and conducted extensive anti-rail operations this turn, which may be a useful factor later.

Now, if only the partisans had radios dropped to them, I could coordinate their strikes with my offensives!

The airborne plan has the desired effect. My units can move through the gap created in the previous turn with reduced ZOC costs, allowing the most mobile of them to reach the city.