What?! Seriously?! You are back for more??? Now allowed for Oloren!

[terje439]

Turn 6 aka for the love of God, sacrifice some sheep, a bull or a virgin right now!!

Overall
The turn arrived, Oloren voiced concern about the southern flank. I openend the turn. More or less the entire AGS was stuck in MUD... So once more, our progress is way too slow...And was even unable to kill off those units trapped last turn.
30 attacks were made, the results were 3 helds, 21 retreats, 4 routs and 2 surrenders.

USSR units in pockets at start of turn
7

USSR units in pockets at end of turn
10

Losses
USSR : 31.000 troops, 592 guns, 201 AFVs, 164 AC.
Axis : 22.000 troops, 74 guns, 112 AFVs, 66 AC.

USSR units destroyed
1 rifle division and 1 NKVD border regiment

German pools
Manpower : 96
Vehicles : 180.515
Armaments : 97.943
Hiwi : 57.831

[randallw]

Whoops, guess I got confused with how disbanding a tank division means it does not return, either as a brigade or division.

So, don't let my mistakes confuse you, except when my mistakes are correct.

[randallw]

Walloc/Rasmus is correct when stating the manual; in my current game I lost one tank division to destruction and one disbanded ( by rout/rally ) on turn 1, with one brigade arriving as a reinforcement on turn 11 ( apparently not enough in the pool to create a 2nd one ), then 10 destroyed/disbanded on turn 2 with 11 brigades arriving on turn 12.

[terje439]

Hehe, well atleast we have it sorted now [:)]


Terje

[terje439]

Turn 7

Overall
The sacrifical lamb did what it should, and the weather is once more clear. Not really sure how "well" we are doing at this time. Still alot of USSR units on the map (although quite a few of them should be brigades), but it does not seem the USSR has any proper line apart from the Dnepr line, and that too is not too strongly held yet. We will attempt to force a crossing next turn...
This turn we take out some encircled USSR troops, and seal a few more pockets, so in that regard things are far better than last time around.
53 attacks result in 5 helds, 25 retreats, 12 routs and 11 surrenders this turn, and in the North we are preparing to force the Narva. Granted, I would have prefered to be atleast one river further, but alas such is the situation. West of Lake Ladoga the Fins are at the No-attack Line eagerly awaiting the Germans to arrive, while at the East side they are still advancing.

USSR units in pockets at start of turn
9, all combat troops.

USSR units in pockets at end of turn
10, all combat troops.

Losses
USSR : 112.000 troops, 1.875 guns, 205 AFVs, 439 AC.
Axis : 26.000 troops, 146 guns, 131 AFVs, 121 AC.

USSR units destroyed
6 rifle divisions, 1 AT artillery brigade, 1 PVO AA regiment, 3 NKVD border regiments, 4 fortified zones.

German pools
Manpower : 119
Vehicles : 172.292
Armaments : 105.742
Hiwi : 60.276

Concerns
There are two;
1. Some of our Mech/Panzer divisions are getting quite worn down
2. Railroads. We are starting to move quite a bit away from the railheads by now.

[terje439]

Turn 8 aka summary

Overall
We do not manage to cross the Dnepr this turn, however I feel this turns progress leaves some hard choices for Oloren as he needs to pull back in alot of positions or risk losing even more units. Still slow going towards Leningrad, and I now fear that I might once more fail to take it, but we will see. Progress seems far better in the south, even if AGS is the big looser in terms of lost battles.
HURRAY!!! The ITALIANS have entered the battle, that is gonna change things...Or...Waaaait!!!
Anyway, a total of 64 attacks gave us the following results; 4 helds, 41 retreats, 13 routs, 1 shatter and 5 surrenders.

USSR units in pockets at the start of the turn
10, all combat units

USSR units in pockets at the end of the turn
0

Losses
USSR : 144.000 troops, 2.360 guns, 839 AFVs, 287 AC.
Axis : 31.000 troops, 195 guns, 172 AFVs, 165 AC.

USSR units destroyed this turn
3 tank divisions, 2 motorized divisions, 5 rifle divisions, 2 fortified zones

USSR units destroyed in total
25 tank divisions, 10 motorized divisions, 51 infantry divisions, 3 cavalry divisions, 6 mountain divisions, 7 anti tank brigades, 3 motorized regiments, 7 artillery regiments, 9 anti air regiments, 17 security regiments, 4 anti air battalions, 1 engineer battalion and 42 fortified zones.
Would have liked to take out more cavalry before blizzard...

Axis pools
Manpower : 27.153
Vehicles : 168.463
Armaments : 113.065
Hiwi : 67.163

German pools
Manpower : 201
Vehicles : 168.247
Armaments : 107.927
Hiwi : 67.163

Dead Axis generals
The Fins report that General Erik Heinrichs has been killed in action.

[terje439]

Center

[terje439]

South

[hfarrish]

Hate to say it Terje, since I love your AARs, but you are in serious trouble here (and I sympathize, b/c I just don't have the organizational aptitude to play the German side). Turn 8 and no Pskov, no Dnepr crossing and no Smolensk...you might be recalling your defensive skills from the last game sooner than you'd like.

Others smarter than me might be able to point out some turnaround strategies but it will be an uphill climb.

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: hfarrish


Hate to say it Terje, since I love your AARs, but you are in serious trouble here (and I sympathize, b/c I just don't have the organizational aptitude to play the German side). Turn 8 and no Pskov, no Dnepr crossing and no Smolensk...you might be recalling your defensive skills from the last game sooner than you'd like.

Others smarter than me might be able to point out some turnaround strategies but it will be an uphill climb.

Yup, I am aware of it, the only bright side I can see is the rather light USSR defence in the south, but I fear the Blizzard will make or break me once more, and it is likely to break me tbh...

Terje

[smokindave34]

Its a bit too late for this particular summer; but in the future I'd recommend sending a security division (or two) to clear out the Pripyat marshes. You have what looks like the entire 2nd army in there. Have them bypass the swamps and support the drive on Moscow or Leningrad.

[randallw]

Your opponent did make the mistake way up north and declined a bottleneck defense against the Finns; now once you get Leningrad the Finns can bash through that fort line near the No Attack Line.

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: smokindave34

Its a bit too late for this particular summer; but in the future I'd recommend sending a security division (or two) to clear out the Pripyat marshes. You have what looks like the entire 2nd army in there. Have them bypass the swamps and support the drive on Moscow or Leningrad.

Yeah, too long since I pushed through the Pripjet in the previous game, so "forgot" just how long it takes to go through. The plan was to a) clear the marsh, b) attack out of it eastwards.


Terje

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: randallw

Your opponent did make the mistake way up north and declined a bottleneck defense against the Finns; now once you get Leningrad the Finns can bash through that fort line near the No Attack Line.

Only problem ofc is that I need to take Leningrad [:D]

Terje

[bigbaba]

he is already fortifying the novogrod line so i doubt if you can capture leningrad. and that means no finns in this very important first blizzard.

also no dnjepr crossing by turn 8 and a dangerous situation for PG 1 in the south.

i realy don't want to be in your shoes terje.[:)]

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: bigbaba

i realy don't want to be in your shoes terje.[:)]

What?! Have you seen them!?
I have.
And tbh I would not want to either [:D]

Nah, I am doing a vs the AI game now as well to test things out etc, and I find that I am still too slow on the advance.
Gotta improve that aspect of my game for sure.


Terje

[terje439]

Turn 9

Overall
Not a good turn really. Far too many held results across the front.
In the Leningrad - Pskov area the gowing is slow, we advance no more than one hex east on most of this area.
The area between Velikie Luki and Smolensk progress is better, with an advance of 2-5 hexes to the east.
At Gomel and Chernigov we force the Dnepr in a few places, but it will still be a turn or two before we are across in proper force.
In the south, most of the area west of Dnepr is under our control, and the USSR has fallen back across the river, but it is still in the south that the enemy is weakest.
A total of 39 attacks were made, scoring us 12 helds, 29 retreats, 7 routs and 1 shatter.

USSR units in pockets at the start of the turn
0

USSR units in pockets at the end of the turn
9, of which 1 will likely break free.

Losses
USSR : 52.000 troops, 1.200 guns, 223 AFVs, 230 AC.
Axis : 30.000 troops, 230 guns, 177 AFVs, 156.

USSR units destroyed
1 rifle division, 1 BM howitzer regiment and 1 fortified zone.

German pools
Manpower : 338
Vehicles : 165.942
Armaments : 102.606
Hiwi : 76.490

Wear and Tear
Most of the infantry is in good shape, but if the units/division/TOE is sorted, the panzers and mechanized units all show up as the most worn down, and that is seen at their CV as well. Some Panzer Divisions are now at 6 CV, so they are badly in need of a rest, yet I desperately need their movement on the map...

[Scook_99]

The bad: you look like you will be set up for a 2 part mud for your troops, pray the mud hits the north next turn before you get there.
The good: you won't have to worry about mud in the central the rest of summer. Make use of that and be aggressive in the central zone. This is where knowing the actual borders of the weather zones is important.

Yes, you are making mistakes, and getting mud at the soonest possible time it can hit is very frustrating. You are playing better than your previous AAR, so keep it up!

Audentes fortuna juvat.

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: Scook_99

The bad: you look like you will be set up for a 2 part mud for your troops, pray the mud hits the north next turn before you get there.
The good: you won't have to worry about mud in the central the rest of summer. Make use of that and be aggressive in the central zone. This is where knowing the actual borders of the weather zones is important.

Yes, you are making mistakes, and getting mud at the soonest possible time it can hit is very frustrating. You are playing better than your previous AAR, so keep it up!

Audentes fortuna juvat.

Mud in the north would not be too big a deal right now, since I am seriously contemplating abandoning the drive for Leningrad. With my "I'll have to attack 4 times with a 11:1 CV advantage to move that USSR unit"-ability, I do not see how I will manage to take the city unfortunately.
Would have been a real bummer if I did WORSE than my last game considering Berlin fell in -44 in that one [:D]


Terje

[terje439]

Turn 10

Overall
Actually quite happy this turn. Gee this game turns me into some bipolar dude it seems [:)]
Although going off Leningrad is slow, the right hook has started to pick up its pace, so things are even looking up in this area. They are still not good, but they are better.
Around Gomel the USSR defences are unhinged, and the city should fall soon, the threat around Velikie Luki is starting to be severe for the USSR, the same is true about Chernigov. At Dnepropetrovsk (now, I dare you to pronounce that name quickly 10 times in a row[:D]), and the entrance to the Crimea we now have panzers across the Dnepr, and there reallyt are not many USSR troops in the area, this offer some good prospects.
We manage 57 attacks for the score of 11 helds, 32 retreats, 6 routs, 1 shatter and 7 surrenders this turn.

USSR units in pockets at start of turn
8.

USSR units in pockets at end of turn
1.

Losses
USSR : 108.000 troops, 1.823 guns, 334 AFVs, 212 AC.
Axis : 36.000 troops, 265 guns, 104 AFVs, 137 AC.

USSR units destroyed
1 motorized division, 7 rifle divisions, 1 cavalry division, 1 airborne brigades.

German pools
Manpower : 258
Vehicle : 161.302
Armaments : 96.432
Hiwi : 79.566