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Ouch, well the mistake along the Svir with the Finns would be why he is doing a right hook. He doesn't have nearly as far to go since the Finns may be able to get to the rail line and cut it.

I see a lot of German broken down regiments in the center, especially on his flank. I know its tough, but if you can mass up some infantry and smack those around, it will cause him some losses and maybe cut down on his boldness a bit.

Comrade Scar! You must not let these Fascists bespoil our Motherland. You have the strength in that screenshot above (the one around Cherkassy), to easily counterattack some of these Fascists, especially those 2 Regts showing a defensive CV of 2. You can easily demolish that!

Anything with a defense under 10 can be hit. 1-1 attacks should be done. You have little to lose, so why not? Keep him off center.

Regain your revolutionary ardor, or you will be recalled to Moscow for consultations!

I would not worry to much about the south, you have alot of room to retreat there and he will run out of supply. Leningrad is another matter and if he takes that your winter offensive will not be near as good. I would put as many troops as I could in his way to keep that from happening, but as you say that mistake with the fins may be costly[:-] .

Turn 11

I seemed to have missed a turn, must have been subliminal, as things could not be going worse for the Russians.

Turn 12
I have read on the boards that the Soviets can't lose in 41, but I may just be able to accomplish that feat in this game.

North
Leningrad is lost, and all the troops that were defending the area. It amounts to a huge Front lost. I blame my failure to garrison the Finish border (no attack line is not the same as a no move line!), but my opponent believes he would have still isolated Leningrad with his units from the south. Without a rail head, I just don't see it, but we will never know.

Middle
Still not much going on here, a couple of drives, but nothing serious. Seems all the German focus and troops are in the north.

South
While the pull back continues, another large grouping is encircled, amounting to about five infantry divisions and four or five tank and cavalry divisions. Where is the mud, I need a break from the action, as Stalin's personal morale is ebbing. Oh well, the dark days of 1941....

Turn 14

North
The reduction of Leningrad continues, sad day for the motherland.

Middle
Mostly quiet along the front except for two areas, wherein the Germans are still pushing forward. Northwest of Moscow, and southwest of Kaluga.

South
The Germans are making a big push for Kharkov, and will probably take it, although the factories have already been removed, it will be another hard blow.

The Crimea may be able to hold till the mud turns, but will be hard pressed once the ground hardens.

Turn 25
For those following the trials and tribulations of the Russian side in this game, my apologies for the delay in posts, and for the fast forward. I tried to surrender the match in September, but my opponent wanted to keep going to see if Moscow could be taken, or just how far the Germans could reach after this successes in September. Thinking each turn the game would end, I was unmotivated to post more about the thrashing I was taking (I am sure the Germans did that well )

A quick Recap -
The Germans captured Leningrad. Not definitely not the end of the world for the Russians, and all of the factories had been removed, but a large part of the Russian army was eliminated.

It was a struggle to contain the north, and many of the new divisions were sent northward to contain the Finnish and Germans after the fall of Leningrad. Additionally, the small reserve I had worked so hard to put together for the winter offensive was also forced to commit in the north (so much for a theater reserve!). Moscow still seemed quiet, and the divisions in front of Moscow probably should have pulled back a bit, as German troops were around Torzhok. But, feeling like the Moscow MD troops were better off in their entrenchments, they stayed a bit too far forward. The hammer finally fell and three armies from Moscow MD were trapped as the Germans from the north towards Moscow, and from the southwest.

The loss of these troops were devastating to the Motherland. These troops would have led the way around Moscow during the winter offensive. They were all pretty much at full strength, and had been training since the dark days of June.

It looked as if Moscow was doomed. A few spent rifle divisions and a horde of tank bde's filled the gap, and dug in around the outskirts of Moscow and in the city proper. The Germans closed in. But, to take us south for a bit, the Orel front was occupying positions west of Orel and south of Kaluga. With German push towards Moscow, and in the far south, a large salient developed. I can only assume that the prospect of encircling these troops was too tempting for the Germans, and instead of pushing on into Moscow, they opted for a huge encircling maneuver. The Orel Front was lost, but Moscow was saved, as the blizzards finally hit in December.

Now, the Russians have lost Leningrad, Kursk and Kharkov and 4.5 million men. The only bright spots are that the Crimea is still in Russian hands, and they have a solid front from north to south. I can think of no other positives at this point. But the fight continues.

I assume it will be very challenging for the Soviets now, as the winter offensive will most likely be very weak due to the losses in man power sustained already. In the first winter offensive turn, I had mixed success, some attacks were won, but others were repulsed with huge losses for the Russians. However, the attack troops have moved into position now, and next turn should give what they have to the Germans in a few select spots. The real interest for this game is to see if the Germans can win in 42, or if the Russians can hold on, and force the game into 43.

Next turn, as the Soviets begin their own offensive, I will post some photos.

Turn 26

Very little to report. Mixed results again in the assaults on German positions. I have to be very careful and pick on the very low strength units, with lower entrenchment levels. The good news is that the German forces around Moscow are being pushed back enough were the city can breath, and troops can move into and out of the city freely.

Due to my numerous losses, I have decided to limit my attacks to a couple main areas.

1. Kalinin Front - 1SA, 32 Army and 33 Army (North of Moscow)

2. Volkhov Front - 55 Army (far north...just below the section of the line held by the Finnish)(this Army is still forming and moving into position).

40 Army - 2 Cav Corps and 6 Cav Corps (south of Bryansk Front).

4. Bryansk Front - 3 Army, 28 Army, 52 Army 2 SA and 42 Army (south of Moscow).

5. Southern Front - 9 Army and 5 Cav Corps (far south) (I really don't expect much here, the aim is merely to cause damage to the units west and south of Stalino).

6. Moving 4 BAK Air Command to the Crimea to try and bomb cities in Hungary. The have railed to the narrows, and will have to drive the rest of the way in.

Scar23

I think it is being a very interesting war: thank you for keeping it posted. I think many people is interested in what is going to happen here during blizzard. I know it has been difficult for you to fight after so many heavy blows, but I would like to encourage you to persevere.

Many thanks again.

I think you need to attack as much as possible-if it looks like 1-1 or even a bit under go for it...this is the only time you can get those bonus kills on the germans

Thanks for the encouragement, 1941 was a tough year!

Turn 27

December ends with little to say. The Russians continue to have some limited successes. Seems that each attack causes most of the attacking divisions to become unready, which really keeps the attacks from taking off.

Hoefully January will be a bit better for the Russian winter offensive.

Turn 28

Another rather uneventful blizzard turn. More atatcks were launch, most were won, but nothing serious is threatened from the German POV other than losses.

Turn 30

Well finally some good news for the Russians. Looks like the continual attacks along the German line are finally having an effect as several areas finally get some momentum. My divisions lost so much in manpower during the German offensive, and were made up of reconstituted shells for the most part has severely limited my offensive. But, Russian divisions are gaining in experiance now, and some are able to make an attack without going stright to "unready".

In the 40 Army area, which is the main thrust of the Soviet attacks for the blizzard turns, it looked like a breach might have finally been acheived. However, the Russian tank bde's just don't have the punch or the mp's to make that last effort needed.

And finally the other bright spot for the Soviets is out of the Crimea. I am facing mostly axis allies, and the units tasked with defending the choke points have surged out after several successful attacks. With no ability to rail in units, I can not support the breach, but it will hopefully draw Germans from other areas, and of course cause losses.

In addition, I have tried to bomb the oil fields in Rumania, as was suggested on the forums, but got mixed results. With massive attacks with Il-4s from four air bases, I only damaged the oil fields 1% for the loss of 12+ bombers.

Anyone know if this is viable, or worth the losses?

I started the blizzard season with the idea of taking back several of the large cities lost in 41. These included Kursk, Kalinin, Torzhok, Vyshny, Orel and Belgorod. The blizzard turns end with a disappointing failure to acheive any breakthroughs, and only one of the six odd major objectives captured. I was left with only one choice really, and that was to try and inflict as many losses as possible to the German army. To that end, the losses were as damamging to the Russian army as the Germans, with the losses even for battles won near 1 to 1.

The losses the Germans inflicted in the summer prevented the blizzard from being effective, and is ultimately what must be done from the German pov in an effort to win in 1942. That said, the Red Army will give it a good try in 42, and see where it goes.

don't lose faith scar.

remember every casualty he takes he cannot afford, you can!

Use your ace card,the paratroopers. They love rail junctions and a couple of well placed drops will bring a real supply collapse to a key area.