Disaster in the making. Oloren (axis) vs Terje (USSR)

[terje439]

I know, but the morale boost for me for denying them to the Axis - Pricelss [;)]

Terje

[terje439]

Turn 14

Overall
Another part of the line is fractured, so we redeploy, and somehow manage to reform a line. Fortunately we manage to rail no less than 10 divisions to the front this turn, and another 10-ish manage to walk up to the front. It is clear that the Axis is after our factories, but we still manage to stay that one vital turn ahead of him.

Industry
4 cities railed out factories this turn. From Tula we sent 6 armaments factories and 2 heavy industry far to the east, leaving Tula without any remaining factories. Kursk too was emptied when the last two armaments factories were railed out, and by moving 2 armaments factories and 2 heavy industry from Kolomna, that city too is empty. Kharkov is just getting started in moving their factories, and no more than one armament factory was moved this turn.

Units
Another turn where we record a net gain in number of units. We get 8 divisions and 5 brigades while we lose 2 divisions and 3 brigades, so I guess we will count this as one of the good turns.

Worries
It now seems certain that the Dnepr line will fall also in the south as the Axis seem to have realized that the Rumanians cannot control that sector on their own. More German units are seen down here now, so I guess it is a matter of time before a breakthrough is achieved. The question then will be where the line is shattered, as this will determine how large a portion of the army that will have to withdraw towards Sevastopol, and how large a portion will be withdrawn towards Stalingrad. I would prefer to withdraw more units towards Sevastopol as that area will be harder to reinforce than the Stalingrad area.

[Q-Ball]

A more current loss screen would be helpful, but absent that I don't think you are doing badly. Depends on how much you lost in that pocket, but at T-14 if you have lost less than 2.3-ish million or so, you should be fine.

Don't worry about Tank losses; you should lose 20,000+ this year. Most of them are trash. Once 1942 hits, you'll never run out. Soviet light tanks combust instantly in combat.

[terje439]

Guess I am pshycic or something Q-Ball, since a tally of losses is on the way [:)]
But the thing I think about regarding tank losses. It seems that the KV tanks dies like flies, while historically they were the mere definition of Steel Monsters as most of the German tanks had severe difficulty penetrating their armor. But I guess those might be lost when my armor divisions surrender or something. Anyway I can live with it [:)]

Terje

[terje439]

Turn 15

Overall
I think I like this turn.
True, we are still pushed backwards in some areas.
True, the Finnish are becoming a severe PITA.
BUT, the Germans are capable f routing some divisions, but they are not able to make a breakthrough for the moment. Nor did they manage to get any furter around Moscow. And we plugged the holes in the line, and withdrew from some areas that might have become new pockets.

I do find it somewhat pseudo-historically funny that we now have a salient close to Kursk, but a German one.

Industry
Operation Move Kharkov is undertaken this turn. 8 armaments factories, 8 vehicle factories and 7 Su-2 factories are moved this turn, this does however imply that we need one more turn to remove the remaining armaments and vehicle factories in the city, but that should not be an issue as Kharkov is in no immediate danger, but will propably fall in 2-3 turns.

Units
A net gain of 11 divisions and 5 brigades this turn as our losses were a single brigade. An even more positive effect that we see this turn, is that we now have a total of 6 Armor divisions with CVs from 4 to 6 as well as an Infantry division with a CV of 5. These guys will hopefully be able to cause some concern to the Axis during winter.

Our total losses so far (Axis:USSR);
Infantry 407k : 2348k (6 : 1)
Guns 3699 : 38106 (10.5 : 1)
AFVs 1636 : 14114 (8.5 : 1)
Aircraft 1751 : 8605 (5:1)

In divisions, our losses were 90 infantry divisions, 10 armored divisions and about 50 brigades and 50 regiments of various types. This is far less than what the Germans took out historically (about a total of 210 divisions by the end of the year, unless my memory is playing tricks on me).

Worries
Nothing big really. Just a realization that my fighter-bombers are obviously made of glass, as they account for alot of my aerial losses.
Also the Finnish units are somewhat troubling up north, but they should run into supply issues sooner rather than later.
My lone gunman rear area inf did cut the Axis rail this turn but found out that Minsk had a fort in it, and one more unit I could not spot. This means that my inf will now be spotted for sure.

[terje439]

And a question;
-I have somehow managed to turn of the colour of my various fronts and armies, so they are now all white (and no, they are not all directly under STAVKA). Any idea how I have managed to do this? It sort of makes it hard to figure ot where I should move what units...


Terje

[sillyflower]

I've just read your thread for the 1st time. Your english is so much better than my norwegian

I was just thinking you had too much in the front line and not enough depth then I saw the picture of Kiev encirclement. Unpleasant but not too bad if the were weak units. Overall your losses are light (500K fewer men lost than I would like to see as German player) which should enable a good blizzard offence provided you do not allow any more major pockets.

Good move at Minsk. If you have taken out his only supply line to Moscow area you may even hang onto Moscow before mud hits and then you should be able to hold it or most of it in the snow.

Oloren's failure to garrison cities may well cause him severe supply problems in the winter too.

You also seem to have lost few HI and arms factories which is good. Do you know how many? With a strong economy you look like being in good shape.

I can't answer your colour question but it's probably in one of the options screens that you turned colour off.

[Aurelian]

ORIGINAL: terje439

And a question;
-I have somehow managed to turn of the colour of my various fronts and armies, so they are now all white (and no, they are not all directly under STAVKA). Any idea how I have managed to do this? It sort of makes it hard to figure ot where I should move what units...


Terje

In your user/map preference is a box for Army/front color.

[terje439]

Thank you Aurelian [&o]
Well, quite a few Norwegian words in English you know Sillyflower, but atleast a basic understanding of English is needed if I am to keep visiting your marvellous city. [:)]

Hehe apart from a few armored divisions I have nothing but weak units [:'(]
As to my knowledge, the only factories lost to date is the ones in Minsk (since I cannot rail our factories on turn 1), and about 10 or so HI factories.
Yes, the front line was somewhat thin, but it is a trade off. I could have had more units at the front, but then I would lose more factories, so I decided that I would save my factories and give up space for the time being.

Terje

[terje439]

Turn 16

Overall
Hmm Oloren keep pulling rabbits out of his hat. I keep reinforcing the threathened areas only to find out that he pierced my line elsewhere. He is doing a superb job at keeping me guessing.
It seems Moscow might be kept after all, but this turn Kharkov seems to be his new target.
Once more a small pocket is formed, but it contains only 4x1CV Inf Divs, so it is not a major concern, espesially since we manage to shuffle our forces around and reform a frontline.
Alot of the Finnish troops are heading back into Finland, this frees up no less than 14 divisions for other areas of the front.

Industry
With the threat to Kharkov, we use all our rail capacity on moving 6 armaments and 12 vehicle factories, leaving only 4 Heavy Industry in the city. Hopefully we will manage to move even these next turn, but for the moment the front close to the city is somewhat thinner than I would wish for.

Units
8 divisions and 24 brigades arrive, and we lose 2 divisions, so I guess we cannot complain.
Also our net frontline strength increased, as we recieved 225k reinforcements to replace a loss of 114k troops.
It seems the adventures of the lone gunman infantry division might soon be over. The Axis managed to get a flieger division to the area, so for now we are trying to run away. But with our forces' ability to move in enemy controlled area, things look dire.

Worries
Nothing for the moment apart from the fate of our lone gunman division.

[terje439]

Turn 17

Overall
This is the turn I have waited for, for some time. With no new industrial areas under threat we are finally able to move alot of units by rail.
The Lonegunman Division are all declared Heroes of the Soviet Union, although all medals are awarded posthumously. They did manage to sever the Axis rail line before dying, so a hob well done!
It also seems that the zig-zag pattern of the front is causing some problems for the Germans as there are now the occasional gap in their front despite the fact that alot of German divisions have been broken down into fragments. It seems there is too much front for the Germans at the moment.
A gathering of German Armoured and Mechanized troops is a concern though.

Industry
Only 4 Heavy Industry was moved from Kharkov this turn.

Units
7 divisons and 13 brigades arrive as reinforcements, and 9 divisions are lost. Although of the 9, 5 of them will arrive as brigades later, so not too bad.
The good news is that we are able to move roughly 40 units by rail, meaning the front will be all the stronger next turn.

Worries
The buildup of fast moving Axis troops is the only current concern.

[terje439]

Turn 18

Overall
***We are back on track after a little "I thought that you thought"-interruption***

Ah, the Germans are not used to a little mud it seems. They only launched one attack this turn, and although our brigade retreated, they inflicted higher casualties to the Germans than they themselves took. This is what we like to see.
We went after German HQs this turn flying heavy airstrikes on 5 different HQs that we spotted in the open. About 1000 men and 50 guns were reported destroyed.
We decide to not let the Germans get any rest, and follow their retreating forces, but make sure we are still 3 units in depth. Just like in real life, the Germans got close enough to see Moscow through binoculars, but that was it. We might of course still lose it next year, but the end of -41 it seems Stalin can still celebrate in the Kremlin.

Industry
With no German offensive, we are able to be picky, and we use about half the rail capacity to move units. We end up moving 3 armaments and 4 heavy factories from Kalinin, making that city void of factories. That was all this turn

Units
9 divisions and 21 brigades arrive this turn, while no units are lost. It does not get much better than that

Worries
Still our fighters. 200 Soviet fighters escort 87 Soviet bombers, they encounter a total of 10 Bf109. Our losses are 23 fighters to no losses for the Axis. This is simply not good enough!

[lycortas]

Great AAR, your English is fine. Your opponent seems extremely skilled. He is managing his forces and deployment efficiently.
Sometimes you might want top put your second line 2 hexes back from the first line to 'tar baby' the Germans.

Damn, i feel like i am playing Third Reich.

Mike

[terje439]

Thank you Lycortas.
Hmm since my opponent has no pbem games under his belt, and only a few of the minor scenarios against the AI, I guess that means that either he is a natural, or some abysmal play by me is enabling him to do so. Not sure which I want it to be [:D]

Terje

[terje439]

Turn 19

Overall
Bring out the chaulk!
For the first time, Axis losses on the groun are heavier than the losses of our Glorious Union.
This turn also saw our airforce come out in force, and they were the ones that paid the price for the higher Axis losses.

In the end, the total losses for this turn are listed at (numbers are Axis/USSR);
Men: 37103 / 26629
Guns: 171 / 128
AFVs: 60 / 40
Of these losses, our airforce accounted for 7934 men and 39 guns.

The Axis retreat continues, and now there are cracks in the German line, so we press on.

Industry
Nothing was moved. Instead all rail capacity was used to sort out the front lines.

Units
No losses and a gain of 5 divisons and 16 brigades.

Planing Operation Annoyment
We are now getting alot of naval infantry brigades. 3 of these have been allotted to this plan. When winter sets in for real, these guys will attempt an amphibious assault behind the Rumanian line. Their only objectives are to a) break rail lines and b) to annoy the h**l out of the Axis.

Worries
Aerial losses and our inability to kill of transport planes. We also see alot of mechanized and armoured divisions behind the enemy frontline near Kursk. Is this a mobile reaction force for the upcoming winter, or are the Axis planning something sinister?

[Attack]

Your losses are not too high, IMHO.

I think that the Germans will attack Kursk and Kharkov, trying to encircle some of your units: in november, the destroyed units will not return for free. Be careful.

[BletchleyGeek]

Rather than retreating, I think your opponent is trying to get nearer of its railheads to stockpile more supply and reduce fatigue levels. I don't think he'll have much trouble recovering the ground he's ceded (how much, by the way?).

Following him in force I think it's not a sound decision, terje. He can hit you back in Turn 22 with a vengeance, and you won't be as well fortified as you could have been. I'd have followed him with a "screen" force, to generate attrition and use ZOCs to complicate a bit his movements.

[terje439]

Thank you for the heads up.
Yes, that is certainly one possibility, however I think it should be hard for him to achieve just that. But then again, that might very well be why he is gradually falling back. Will keep this at mind during my next turn. [&o]

Terje

[terje439]

That makes sense Bletchley_Geek.
Will have to reconsider on turn 21.
He has not fallen back alot, some 4-5 hexes around Moscow, about the same around Kursk/Kharkov, and the retreat in the North I think has to do with the withdrawal of alot of his Finnish units.
So you guys think I should send a one line fron out to force attrition and then make ZoC "traps" in the rear?

As the title says, mistakes are BOUND to happen [:D]

Terje

[terje439]

Turn 20

Overall
Another turn where the Axis makes small steps backwards. Since my turn was made prior to reading Bletchley_Geek's advice, we follow him [:)]
This turn too sees Axis losses rise above our own after some heavy bombing runs all along the fronts where we focus on 5 AF and HQ units.

Industry
Since we CAN, we move the MiG-3 factories out of Moscow proper.

Units
No losses, save a partisan unit that retreats. We gain 10 divisions and 11 brigades, and our existing units gain a net of 140k men.

Planning Operation Annoyment
3 naval brigades now in place. All we need now is the winter to set in.

Worries
Those units behind the front between Kharkov and Kursk. Also, how hard will he be able to hit/how much damage will he be able to inflict when the ground conditions improve and before the winter is here in earnest?