DV vs Sillyflower/Belphagor (Game Over - Open Thread)

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 17 - CENTER FRONT[/center]

Here we dealt the heaviest damage. 3rd/4th Pz Groups hammer the Northern Flank of Moscow while 2ndPz attacks the Southern Flank. Luckily Tula is captured and a huge pocket is formed that should hold. Had I realized about half way through my turn that Moscow was feasible I might have tried to encircle it but it would have been a huge risk.

My truck fleet is dangerously low and mud will wreak havoc on me so I decided not to push my luck any more.

This turn I get about 6 holds and probably 50-60 victories while the Pro's usually mass their attacks and rarely lose a battle scoring about 6-8 victories a turn.

During winter I plan on attacking right up to Blizzard...

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 17 - SOUTHERN FRONT[/center]


The South has seen me make lackluster progress overall. This is mainly because the Pro's have evened out their strength while I have sent reinforcements to the North. I still have 3 Winter turns to attack but I'm skeptical that the tri-city region will fall nor will i reach the Don.

Sean has made a stand on Stalino and counterattacks every turn. While I know my pockets will hold I am worried what divisions will receive a thrashing. The South is where I will have to run to avoid being slaughtered during the Blizzard.

Overall we encircle about 22 rifle divisions, 1 cavalry divisions, 1 tank division, a few tank brigades and some small miscellaneous units. Not a bad haul to bring in before mud.

[Michael T]

Any data on OOB size, Loses in both IND and Men?

[Disgruntled Veteran]

ORIGINAL: Michael T

Any data on OOB size, Loses in both IND and Men?

Im at roughly 3.4 million while the Pro's are around 4.7, but that doesn't include the pockets. I'm trying my best to keep the pockets sealed throughout mud and destroy them after November to start the AP crunch. Kills are at around 2.52 million at the start of T18. While my casualties have been relatively low I did take a beating in the South as I thought I would. The romanians in particular. One stack suffered 6k losses while a lone Rumanian division is isolated in the mud. Rough turn in the South.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 22 - NORTHERN FRONT[/center]

The Northern Front goes well. We've pushed much further than I thought possible and have semi-encircled Moscow from the North. Of course the city is as safe as can be but it still looks good on a map. We managed to isolate 1 rifle division on the frontier.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 22 - CENTER FRONT[/center]

The center front has finally resumed.

The most interesting aspect has been the Tula salient. Before mud fell I managed to isolate some 20+ units inside a loose pocket East of Tula. When mud fell the next turn I was pleased to find that the pocket held but horrified that the entire east bend was isolated (due to 100+ mp from supply) and my defensive CV's all less than 1. Luckily SF didn't have anything but loose brigades to check me so a relief wasn't likely the first mud turn. I began moving as many reinforcements to the area as possible and started swatting his brigades away to opening up the supply corridor. I also flew a minimum of 1k tons of supplies and fuel a turn into the East bend*. Each turn the rail moved 2 hexes closer ([:)]) but SF moved more rifle divisions to choke the pockets' supply . Luckily I managed to keep the East end supplied and hold the pocket till snow but I did have to destroy about 7 divisions before November to keep the pocket manageable.

*- Just a heads up. Air supply to isolated units IS possible btw. My units on the East bend of the salient were in an ISOLATED state the whole mud season but after sufficient supply was flown in their CV jumped up by about 1000%. They remained isolated as far as their status was concerned but their CV's were significantly increased. I did this without an airfield. This may be common knowledge to some but it was a discovery to me.

Overall we destroyed 11 Rifle, 1 Cav, 1 Armor divisions come snow. Many other units were destroyed/displaced during mud but before November. We are now abandoning the Tula salient to take up Winter defensive positions.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 22 - SOUTHERN FRONT[/center]

Not much happening in the South. We attack where Sean is weakest but unfortunately the Tri-cities won't fall this year. We do manage to raid near Melitopol and isolate another rifle division.

[smokindave34]

Can you post OOB numbers. Seems like you had a pretty good '41 campaign and pocketed a lot of units. Good work!

[Disgruntled Veteran]

ORIGINAL: smokindave34

Can you post OOB numbers. Seems like you had a pretty good '41 campaign and pocketed a lot of units. Good work!

I know I ended the turn with the Pro's at 5.17m. They lost about 150k on the posted turn so it was a good round. My OOB is about average. I lose about 20-25k men a turn and occasionally a little more when my lead units are exposed. I have a good plan for Blizzard and I aim to come out relatively unscathed.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]END OF T24 - EVE OF BLIZZARD[/center]

Overall a fair snow series before Blizzard. The few divisions I managed to isolate were rescued by the Pro's so I spent my last 2 turns just hammering away at any target I could find except for AGC which deliberately attacked Eastward into lvl 3 forts to push the Reds back. I have about 12 hexes between the front and Smolensk. I abandoned the Tula salient and sent 2nd Pz to reinforce AGS's Northern Flank. As expected the Tri-Cities didn't fall but I smashed over a dozen of his rifle divisions the last turn. Finally, the 1st and 4th Mtn Divisions were sent behind AGC to reinforce the closest road to Moscow. I have a feeling the South is going to get hit hard. Here's the OOB.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

Kill/Death Ratio:

[smokindave34]

Wow - 1.7 million captured Bolsheviks. Those are really good numbers, the best I've seen against "The Pro's". That should lessen the impact of the blizzard a bit. Good luck!

[Disgruntled Veteran]

Finished first Blizzard turn. Sean tried dropping two para brigades (last November turn) behind a weak spot in AGS's lines but mech reserves and rumanian mtn infantry routed them and freed my infantry...so far so good.

I am going a little dark with my AAR but I will show pics after December has ended. I originally planned on running 3 hexes my first turn but my defensive CV's were so damn high I just had to stand and fight. I had a pre built line 1-2 hexes behind the November front so i withdrew to that position. In the North and Center I am well fortified with mtn regiments able to respond to any emergency.

In the south its going to be dicey. My front line defensive CV's hover between 2-4 but I did manage to put 2 hexes between us so hopefully Sean doesn't herd me into any nasty pockets.

The only units I have in Germany is the Gross Deutschland as its 99 morale and useless as a regiment. Especially in the Blizzard. I have about 6 infantry and 6 mech units in mid to deep reserve hunkering down in cities awaiting until at least January before joining the fight. I have high hopes for Blizzard defense so lets hope all goes according to plan. My heart kind of sinks every time I load up a save. The Pro's have a lot of blizzard experience.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

ORIGINAL: smokindave34

Wow - 1.7 million captured Bolsheviks. Those are really good numbers, the best I've seen against "The Pro's". That should lessen the impact of the blizzard a bit. Good luck!

The main weakness of the Pro's is that SF gives Sean a lot of units to play with. Sean ran the South. While its a bit gamey I largely ignored the South and thumped on SF as best I could. I used their division against them. SF took a colossal beating while Sean simply ran all the way to Stalino...I was happy to soak up the easy hexes.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

Summary on End of T27

So Ive just finished my 3rd December turn. Overall I'm quite happy with the way blizzard has went. I'm becoming more convinced that a defense against the USSR in Blizzard is very doable as the German player. I still think a withdraw during December is needed but I have every intention of fighting in Jan/Feb. The Pro's have utilized para drops now for the 2nd time and it appears they will bag 2 jaeger divisions and 1 panzer division. I freed them from isolation by swatting away the para's with my mtn units but that only buys me 1 turn. Still, not a huge loss. I have actually managed several holds on the defense and have counter attacked successfully 2-3 times a turn. A pictured update to come after December.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 28 - LAST TURN OF DECEMBER - THE PROS BRING THE HEAT[/center]

Well SF massed his Cavalry Corps South of Tula and struck out against AGC's Southern Flank. I saw this move coming and shifted my defensive depth further South to match the effort. All but 1 of my Mtn regiments is in range and I've shifted 2 of my elite infantry divisions and Totenkopf out of winter slumber to fight. End of T27 SF isolated 3 Rifle divisions while Sean and his cheesy para drops resealed the 2 Jeager divisions and the 11th Pz and bagged another ID and an Pz division with more drops. I broke open the latter pocket but it will likely be slammed shut next turn. The 1st SS motor brigade was destroyed last turn. So I'm going to lose 3 divisions on his turn, surely 2 more the next, and the entire Southern half of AGC is exposed against massed Cavalry Corps.

Your opinion? Bold defiant stand or foolish risk?

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center] JANUARY 8, 1942 - T30 - AFTER GERMAN MOVES[/center]

Well folks so far we have one hell of a battle. Encouraged by my high defensive CV's the German army has decided to stand and fight as best as it can during blizzard. Only 3 divisions and the GD remain in the rear and they are hunkered in cities close to the front. I have paid a high price so far and Blizzard is only now approaching the half way point. Losses to date:

4 Infantry Divisions
2 Panzer Divisions
2 Jaeger Divisions
1 SS Motor Brigade.

Thats quite a kill list but it is what it is. No sense crying over spilled milk...at least says Thomas Sowell. I also have another ID isolated this turn and another which will probably be isolated next turn. However, with January arrived and a fresh fortified line established, I aim to keep the line almost static for at least half the front. The Pro's have left the Crimea alone so the main focus of AGS is the Ukraine. Our backs are almost to the Dnepr.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]T30[/center]

The Center front has spared better than the South. 2nd Army lost 3 ID's in one turn but thats the sum of it. The front just East of Smolensk has reached its pre fortified line and is quite formidable. Here's a shot:

[Disgruntled Veteran]

For those who think fighting in Blizzard is suicide. This picture should boost your morale. Now SF will think 2x about threatening me with his horses again.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 37 - LAST TURN OF BLIZZARD[/center]

The Blizzard is just about spent. While its never a cakewalk the German Heer has survived with a few bumps and bruises and managed to maintain much of the strategic territory in the North. Losses were a bit higher than I wanted but still well within a reasonable limit. Not bad for a German army that stood its ground and fought through January and February. Losses include:

8 Infantry Divisions
1 Static Division
2 Panzer Divisions
1 Motorised Brigade

All German units.The Panzer arm was hit hard but our tank numbers should recover. Here is an elevated map of the Front. In the North we held the Valdai...in the Center we anchored onto Smolensk. In the South we held the Crimea and fell back to D-Z line to make a stand. We also made dozens of attacks throughout the blizzard with about a 90% success rate. Granted we mostly attacked starggler units tjust to help morale but a win is a win.