Grognard1812 (Soviet) vs Pitaman

[Grognard1812]

Start of turn in the Penza sector.

The German Army retreats from Penza.

[Grognard1812]

The first great victory for the Soviet Army during the Winter Counter-Offensive of 1942-43 occurs with the recapture of Penza.

The elite of the Soviet Army is located here - 4 Guard Armies are ready to continue their advance Westward.

[Grognard1812]

The Soviet Army advance continues West of Saratov against light Axis defenses. End of turn.

[Grognard1812]

The Winter Counter-Offensive begins in the Rostov to Stalingrad area, with successful attacks against the Italian and Rumanian defensive sectors. End of turn situation.

[Grognard1812]

ORIGINAL: chaos45

IDK to me looks like a panzer drive to nowhere, alot of wasted effort...as he needs a prong to hook up with. As well he has no rail line in the advance and its winter....its a doomed wasted effort I think.

As you noted, there is no rail line that can be extended from the Axis supply lines into the Panzer breakthrough area. A screenshot from Turn 80 of the rail lines shows this. There are two more months of blizzard turns.

[Grognard1812]

ORIGINAL: Dweomer

ORIGINAL: chaos45
IDK to me looks like a panzer drive to nowhere, alot of wasted effort...as he needs a prong to hook up with. As well he has no rail line in the advance and its winter....its a doomed wasted effort I think.

The Panzer Drive seems to have already stopped as the tip of the spear made little progress last turn. He is now sidetracking himself making small/medium encirclements in order to broaden the base of the penetration.
The Soviets also do not really believe in the seriousness of the offensive since the Soviet forces in the sector are mostly regulars (few Guards, almost no corps level units), as almost all elite units are in the Penza-Saratov-Stalingrad area.

Very soon the Penza-Saratov-Stalingrad broad front offensive will start breaking through unless Germany massively reinforces the sector, and that will further weaken or even halt the Panzer Drive.

Not sure yet how this will all end as I am currently completing Turn 80. I decided to take a risk and have the Soviet Army attack all along the front from Penza to Rostov at the same time that the German Army attacked in the Moscow to Ryazan sector. The Axis player has very strong German Infantry Armies attacking between Moscow and Ryazan which are slowly pushing back the Soviet units North towards Moscow, but the Panzer breakthrough North of Ryazan appears to be presently contained - I think mainly due to the supply situation for the Axis there. There is no certainty yet that Moscow won't fall this winter or next spring, but I think it is unlikely.

As you noted, if my opponent doesn't send significant reinforcements to the Penza - Rostov sector, I think the Soviet Army will be able to significantly weaken the Axis forces in the area and advance a significant distance before Spring 1943.

A screenshot at the start of Turn 80, the weather is Blizzard in all Soviet weather zones, with all zones at ice level 10.

[mmoaorrke]

Thank you....the numbers are very similar to my game though you are 3 months ahead of time and have about 850k more troops. Makes me feel better they are more typical than I thought. I am curious how the numbers will change once you hit 1943! (if you don't mind posting them again when you hit January)

[chaos45]

without a rail line his advance is going to eventually come to an end...His CVs are very low for panzer divisions in late 1942 already. Now the problem is the units you have in front of him are super weak, you need to be careful he doesnt open a hole and have one fueled panzer div raid all your rail lines into moscow.

[Grognard1812]

Start of turn. A general retreat by the Axis forces West of Penza and Saratov.

[Grognard1812]

End of turn in the Moscow to Ryazan sector.

[Grognard1812]

The Soviet Army follows the retreating Axis units West of Penza. End of turn.

[Grognard1812]

Similarly the Soviet Forces follow the retreating Axis forces West of Saratov. End of turn.

[Grognard1812]

Soviet forces West of Stalingrad advance towards a new German defensive line West of Stalingrad. End of turn.

[Grognard1812]

Attacking across the Don River between Rostov and Stalingrad. The Soviet Counter-Offensive of the winter of 1942-43 continues from Penza to Saratov to Stalingrad to Rostov.

[Grognard1812]

In the Crimea both sides are heavily dug in, and there has been no attacks by either side in this sector for many months.

[Grognard1812]

In the Far North, Finnish forces continue to slowly push back the Soviet Army in the area.

[Grognard1812]

The front North of Moscow has been quiet for many months. Stavka does not expect any major German offensive action to occur in this sector this winter, and over the previous month a large number of Soviet units have been redeployed from this sector to help contain the German Panzer breakthrough North of Ryazan.

[Grognard1812]

Blizzard in all Soviet Weather Zones

Start of turn

3 Soviet Divisions are isolated in Ryazan.

The German Panzer and Motorized units continue to try to extend and widen their breakthrough, with a lone Panzer division attempting to exploit a hole created in the Soviet Army's Northern defensive line.

[Grognard1812]

The Soviet Army counterattacks and routs the Panzer division.

[Grognard1812]

End of turn

The 3 Soviet divisions in Ryazan were unable to escape the encirclement.