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Just to mix things up, I'll show the "dirty" shot first here. This is in comparison to PDH's post #53. Since I had started withdrawing from the more exposed flanks of the PG1 bulge last turn, I left little to tempt PDH into striking out of it, left or right, and so he just plowed straight forward a bit. I fairly expected this, as he uses much the same line of advance in this area as I generally prefer, and with much the same intent. That is to either cause a forced displacement of his enemy's flanking forces, by threat of encirclement, or worse, for those who don't react in time, an actual pocketing of flanking forces by cutting north or south out of the bulge. I am trying to prevent this by keeping my mass in an inverted shield against the front of his schwerpunkt, with just enough mass toward the obliques to keep him from trying an end run around the shield.

As long as his forces are running low on fuel, and lacking replacements, and willing to keep going where you think you're guiding him (or figure he wants to go anyhow), then this tactic is a good means of force preservation. Since the Axis infantry will be spending a lot of its MPs in converting the lightly guarded, or abandoned, flanks this conversion will occur at a slower rate. So, you don't have to worry too much about a drastic change of direction since much of the Pz Group's still limited MPs would be spent in changing its axis, moving through freely given terrain. Of course, this equation all changes if the mobile forces get a chance to rest, refit, and do an HQ Buildup. In this case, all bets are off.

Anyhow, the point of the dirty shot here, was to show the results of the one attack I launched in this area, against the 11th Panzer Division. Notice that it lost about half of its artillery, as well as half of it its AFVs. If it keeps taking these kinds of losses, PDH may have to pull it off and send it somewhere safer...like Tunisia...[:D]

Now, the clean shot to show where my guys have run off to, after the attack. Notice that I've withdrawn most of the units that were north of Zhitomir, leaving only a light screen to slow down any encroaching Axis infantry divisions. They're off to strengthen the Dnepr River line, which will probably see some action within the next few turns. Just where, along that line, is the question.

PDH makes a good show of being a just push the counters about and let things happen kind of guy. Don't let the clownish demeanor fool you. This guy is always thinking ahead, and is in full control of his strategic direction. So, he really shouldn't be thought of as one of those loveable circus clowns that you might hire for your 7 year old kid's birthday party. No, this guy is more like one of those Evil Genius Killer Krazy Klowns.

I was going to post a screenshot of the Black Sea area to counter PDH's 11th Army shot in post #54, but there were two problems. The first was that the intel to be gained was too much at the time. The second, is that Soviet intelligence agents were able to photograph my adversary at one of his rare public appearances. I figured that this was more important to share with you all...

Finally, the losses for my part of the turn. These losses are only the combat losses for the turn. The loss report was refreshed at the beginning of my turn, so that I could discount any attritional losses, and only track the total losses due to combat. As you can see, they are relatively favorable for me.

Another thing to note is that this turn, I destroyed my first Axis unit! So, it was just a Support Unit, and it will rebuild, but it was a morale lifter, nonetheless.

ORIGINAL: timmyab

Interesting to see what happens when two strong players meet.
After your turn one I think I might have just panicked and bolted for the Urals.[:D]

If there is one piece of sage advice I can offer to any Soviet player, of any Barbarossa Campaign period, Eastern Front game, it is this..."Don't Panic!"

The converse to this, applies to all Axis players, and that is "Don't lose your nerve!". I've found that any good WWII EF game covering this period boils down to this competing battle of wills.

I don't panic (despair is another story) and PDH has plenty of nerve (I mean, just look at his picture) so I hope we'll continue to make this a close-fought and interesting read for any who take the time to visit.

261 lost panzers in one turn is pretty significant.

For the record, that picture was taken at a college party long ago, and no, I don't remember the details...

[:)]

Axis 6

Fresh off of my desires pretend that the mud never happened, I continued my drives. In the Pskov region, a small furball was happening, but I managed to extract my tanks and move on toward the Luga. Sure, I am behind pace, but at least I can look forward to the open steppes of the Leningrad Region to facilitate my breakthrough!

The armor is already wasted here, might as well drive them to hell...

Center 6

Countering my drive across the Dnepr Angle, JAM invitingly invites my two Panzer Groups to stick their heads further into the noose. I oblige, but again the tanks do not have the reserves of a normal build up, and they do not get far. One note, the farthest motorized is going to get smacked, but converting hexes was an imperative. Momentum needs to be conserved. Turns 7-11 can be times of exploitation and smack down against the Soviets as the initial rush of reserves cools off and the cumulative effect of routes takes it toll.

Remember, if banging your head against a wall doesn't work, bang harder!

Seriously, prying the Soviets off of a major river is always to the benefit of the Axis.

Kiev Region 6

Sure, things could be better. But I like the odds in my favor - JAM has had an extra turn to pull back/dig in, there are about 900 million soviets along the Lower Dnepr, and my tanks already are out of AFVs...wait, did I say I LIKED this?

This turn was a rest turn, with the units getting cover from the infantry and building up some stocks. My plan is to run along the Dnepr converting hexes and then picking where I wish to breach. Or not. I could be lying since JAM reads this. Really, I am trying to develop the situation and see if I get lucky and in one turn Konev, Zhukov, and Vatutin all die of the pox.

The astute reader will note that the elements of the 1st Panzer are inside of the western weather region. Certainly there could not be mud here next turn?

11th Army

My one on-time drive. The 11th Army grabs Odessa and presses on toward the Yuzhny Bug. A strong concentrated drive by a full army can always disrupt the Soviets here, and possibilities are endless. The only thing that will slow me down is mud...oh crap, did I say that aloud?

Tallinn turn 6

Here the city falls, but my eye notes that hexes to the west may not convert if there is a hidden unit there. It is best not to play around, and depending on conversion next turn it may well behoove me to send a division to the islands to clean up any mess there...

Overall, I am pushing, but even losing one turn of drives slows everything down now. I am greatful that level 3 forts do not happen as fast, or I would be seeing more of these. It seems to be sliding more to a 1942 style offensive, with strong infantry presence needed, as the tanks themselves just can't roam free now. I have said it before, staying on time is vital to the Axis.

The hexes to the west of Tallinn will not convert because there is still a port under Russian control. If you take Virtsu, all the hexes on the mainland will convert.

As always, a great read PDH. I like your AAR's a lot.

The Northern shot. PDH very nearly cuts off the 27th Army against the east coast of Lake Peipus and Pskov. The Panzers ran out of movement after the hasty attack against a Security Regiment near Gdov, and didn't convert the one hex corridor through which the army was still fed. Time to bug out. Berzarin's luck won't hold out if I tarry any longer.

At the bottom of the screenshot, Totenkopf and the 32nd German Infantry Division are cut off. They will doubtlessly be "rescued" but each turn that they don't draw supplies, and replacements makes them just that much weaker.

While playing this game, I often get into a "roleplaying" state of mind, and Berzarin's 27th Army is a good example of this. As Soviet Generals go, Berzarin is decent. Not great, but better than most. Since he's been at the forefront of the action since turn 2, and has done an admirable job of slowing the push on Leningrad, I've left him in charge of his army. No point in messing with success.

One of three screenshots for the action in the Center. Here, with the fewest forces possible, I am trying to maintain contact with PDH's exploiting units, to maximize attritional losses to him, minimize his supply flow, and thus restrict the number of damaged components returned to his mobile forces. I launched a few counterattacks, but need to husband some force to bolster the fall back lines.

With this in mind, some of the Soviet units here are clearly destined to be sacrificial units, so that the rest of the Soviet army is better prepared to meet the inevitable resumption of his offensive. It will be likely that these units will rout out of pocket if he attacks them during his turn, which I expect him to need to. After all, they are currently in supply and sitting astride his supply path. The costs to him of waiting another turn to cut off, and then eliminate by surrender are greater than the benefits of just bouncing them away and dealing with the nuisance.

This first screenshot shows the overall picture, relatively devoid of details.

Some details. These are the attacks I made against three German Motorized Infantry divisions. Although I took a little bit more in casualties, the losses to his morale, artillery, supplies, etc., will add up. The more I can keep his mobile units weakened, the less he will be able to roam about freely in my rear, when the breakthroughs do occur.

Each strike against his spearpoints, dulls them just a bit, and I am going for a cumulative, long-term effect here. Also, each battle won, puts my units that much closer to Guards eligiblity.

The "up close and personal shot" of the noose area. Sure, his noose is only made of tissue paper, at the moment, but again, it's the cumulative effects of being so far away from railheads, that I am shooting for. As you can see, the four Soviet units are creating a gauntlet of ZOCs for his supplies to pass through that are substantially increasing his supply range.

At hexes (84,57) and (84,55), two hexes SE, and ESE, respectively from Gorki, the MP ranges are 34 and 35 MPs. Just a few more hexes into the bulge, and the ZOCs have caused this amount to almost double. Extra Axis trucks burned moving supplies, lessened replacements, fewer repairs, lower supply/ammo/fuel on the mobile forces, all bit by bit, contribute to the slowing of the Axis momentum.

The big picture for the South. This turn was relatively quiet down here. Commentary texted into the screenshot.

Eek! Ugly screenshot. Oh well...it's an ugly war...[:D]

Some interesting titbits of info in your texts have caught my eye.
I like the idea of converting back the zoc to slow him down, just started to do that myself when get chance. You mention about Hq's getting bounced, does that mean any SU's directly attached to said hq are automatically lost?

ps. you bashed up on the 29th motorised,seems to be PDH's bogey unit[:)]