Scar attacks the Soviet Union (Scar v IdahoNYer)

[janh]

I'd grab the Leningrad port Osinovets next, with massive pioneer and 210mm support. Next turn all Soviets will be suffering isolation rules and be reduced to skeletons already. Bully your way thru to the NE Leningrad city hex so the Finns can get into action as well, and have them carry some of the load. They are excellent infantry, but their replacement rate is low (there are spare units you can disband to get them manpower later).

I think you already should have bullied your way to that hex earlier, basically after your brilliant raid that ruined the Soviet fort levels in that direction. With 0 level forts it might have been easier than getting to Osinovets now.

Long term you could plan to grab Tshikvin a little further East, but I wouldn't continue much more. The woods and swamps up there are poor terrain, and there is little of strategic value up there. The Murmansk railroad (and hence Lend and Lease) is not there to be cut, nor anything else worth the infantry casualties you will take in this terrain. Even thought the Finns would add nicely to 16th and 18th Army and allow you to push, I would only develop a buffer layer (there are some hills E of Nowgorod and Volkhov) and intrench there as well as behind the Volkhov. When Leningrad is sacked, you can even consider abandoning the area east of Lake Ladoga and pull the Finns to the map-boarder north (bottleneck). That leaves more forces to help digging south of Leningrad.

[Scarz]

Turn 15
This was a completely wasted turn. The Russians were able to push back a motorized division around the Orel pocket, again allowing supplies to flow in, and keeping my panzers stuck holding the north edge. The only good news, Leningrad has fallen, and it’s just mopping up time now.

[Scarz]

Turn 16

AGN
Mopping up around Leningrad was completed this turn, and Finnish Kannas army is moving through the city to take up positions along the Volkhov River. I hope to free 16 Army in the next turn or two for a much needed rest. 18 Army moved to open rail lines following its actions around Leningrad, and will entrain for AGC sector next turn. XXXXI PzK and XXXX PzK are in position just north of Smolensk, while the remainder of 4 Pz Army travels via train to their location.

AGC and AGS
The Orel pocket was finally reduced, freeing up the panzers for the next strike. Unfortunately, as I am running out of time, I had thought to head straight toward Moscow from the current positions around Orel. But the Russians have gained two turns before the Orel pocket could be reduced, so I elected to push further east before trying a swing north (if even possible). In addition, the Russians do not seem to be thinning the carpet of troops they have from east of Smolensk to Bryansk.

With Pz Group 1 attacking from the south, and Pz Groups 2 and 3 from the west, another large pocket of Russian troops were isolated. By my count it could be upward of 20 divisions.

AGA
The single mountain corps sent south the assist the Rumanians does not seem to have been enough to breach the defenses into the Crimean. I will have to decide if a Pz korps needs to rail in for a winter attack, as I hate to have Russian troops boiling out during the Winter offensive.

[Scarz]

AGC and AGS

[Scarz]

Turn 17

AGN
The Finnish army has started to arrive and take up positions held by 16 Army. 18 Army is completely off the line now and waiting to entrain. 4 Pz Group has completed its journey and is now resting and refitting east of Smolensk.

AGC
2 and 3 Pz Groups are taking up positions to the north of Orel in preparation for an attack towards Tula as 6 Army replaces them along the front east of Orel.

AGS
I had hoped to move most of Pz Group 1 to the north east of Kharkov, but the Russians were able to open a corridor in to the Voronezh pocket, which required III and XXXXVIII PzK to hold the east portion of the pocket. XIV PzK was able to relocate, and is now resting and refitting.

[Scarz]

Losses

[Scarz]

Plans for Winter Offensive

As it appears I have virtually no chance of taking Moscow following the muddy season, I have decided that the big winter offensive will be in two parts. AGC will make three separate panzer thrusts toward Moscow, with the idea to try and pocket as many Russians troops as possible, and at the same time, draw the Soviets attention to Moscow.
AGS will strike southeast towards Rostov. While to do not believe they can make it, I want the Russians to pull back from the Dnepr line. As it is, my lines are much too long, and will be too vulnerable come the Russian blizzard offensives.
I will then transition over to defense, and weather the winter.

[Scarz]

AGC Winter

[Scarz]

AGS Plans for Winter

[janh]

Scar, you really had some bad luck with your summer offensive. Next time you will surely do things differently already. Luck with the dice was probably also not exactly on your side so far. Some of the pockets having been reopened by your opponent were a real surprise to me, to be honest. Initially he pushed regiments around, which is hard enough for the Russian side in 41, but after you quit the habit of splitting divs he had pure luck to be able to push the Mot Div out of his way.

However, I hope you are already digging forts for blizzard. I fear he can mount one of the heavier blizzard offensives this time, and I would probably choose a slow withdrawal strategy in south and probably even center. North and center you should already be digging hard and picking some of your better divs for large city garrisoning ("moral upkeep") and perhaps even send a few divisions back to Poland for "rest & refit" until February (though probably not many, no entire panzer armies, to avoid abuse). Also think of putting Panzers and Mech to garrison duty rather than to use them in the defense. If at all, then by "reserve mode" from city hexes. Else, attrition and morale loss will render them a skeleton of their former self by spring, taking at least until June to recover somewhat (and for the 85+ ones never to their former levels).

The idea with the three pronged offensive seems sound, and may lead to some gains. Terrain that may be surrendered during the December turns to avoid direct combat. After that...

[Scarz]

Hey Janh, thanks for the advice! I have had a bad run of luck on my pockets, add in a lack of experiance with the Germans, and the two mud turns and it has been a hard begining. I do have some questions and worries for the upcoming blizzard.

First, most of my divisions have been digging for a while, and are in level 2+ forts now. However, they are spaced out, with a division every other hex. Am I supposed to face the blizzard with gaps in the lines, or break down the divisions?

Secondly, It appears to me I have to shorten the frontage in the south. Otherwise my guys will be too spread out down south, with the Rumanians holding large portions just north of the Sea of Azov. If I can grab a pocket or two more in the center during the winter, and force a pull back down south, I could leave most of the divisions where they are, and just screen the new territory gained. Once the blizzard offensive starts, just slowly withdraw back to the positions I am now, that would be more of a try and hold line. Then give ground grudingly.

Anyway, any advice would be appreciated.

[Scarz]

Turn 18
Mud hits and slows everything down to a crawl. I resealed the breach in the Vorz. Pocket, and railed some reinforcements forward, but otherwise, all was quiet.

Turn 19
More mud and the Soviets knock back another motorized division and open up the pocket. Some lucky attacks, as the mud usually make attacking pointless.

18 Army has entrained and is heading toward Smolensk. I am not sure where they will be the most help, but my assumption is in the south.

Turn 20
The mud has restricted my supply lines to the point that many of the units holding the eastern portion of the Vorz. pocket are isolated each turn, making them easy targets for Russian attacks. I have flown in as much air resupply as I could in the hopes of holding the pocket this next turn. Otherwise, everything is holding in place waiting on the ground to freeze. 18 Army reached the end of the rail line, and will now have to march the rest of the way to the front.

Turn 21
The poor weather continues as it’s still muddy across most of the front, except for the Crimea sector. XXXX PzK launches its attack into the Crimea and takes the two initial Russian positions, but is unable to break into the Russian rear areas. 49 Mnt Korps has moved south in support as well as two Rumanian corps. Also of note, the 4 strength motorized division is a reconstituted division from the one that was destroyed in the AGN sector before the fall of Leningrad.

Finally, the Russians are not able to break into the Voronezh pocket this turn, so most of the pocket is reduced even with the poor going. Looks like 13 odd divisions/brigades so far with three left to go.

[Scarz]

XXXX PzK attack

[Seminole]

Am I supposed to face the blizzard with gaps in the lines, or break down the divisions?

I can't speak from exp on the German side of this, but as the Soviet I would be happy to see gaps in the line because it would enable me to ZOC lock the German and surround him the following turn for capture.
Rgts are juicy targets too. I try to hit everyone of those in reach. Against a Soviet stack it is practically a guaranteed win.

In Dec. the German firepower is just decimated. It gets a little better in Jan. and much better in Feb. (by which time the Soviets are probably facing supply issues)

I'd like to see more from German AARs about how they handle blizzard, but it seems to get glossed over...

[Peltonx]

ORIGINAL: Seminole

Am I supposed to face the blizzard with gaps in the lines, or break down the divisions?

I can't speak from exp on the German side of this, but as the Soviet I would be happy to see gaps in the line because it would enable me to ZOC lock the German and surround him the following turn for capture.
Rgts are juicy targets too. I try to hit everyone of those in reach. Against a Soviet stack it is practically a guaranteed win.

In Dec. the German firepower is just decimated. It gets a little better in Jan. and much better in Feb. (by which time the Soviets are probably facing supply issues)

I'd like to see more from German AARs about how they handle blizzard, but it seems to get glossed over...

Not glossed over its old news really.

1. Tula north generally you can hold the line for a few turns using reserve mode and forts in good terrain, but by January you need to retreat 1 hex a turn. I will retreat 2 some times as by 42 SHC leave litte north of Moscow and it can be easly pushed back using 3 pz divisions and some regiments.

2. Tula south retreat 2 hexes a turn, in February you can stop as supplies an SHC units will be depleted.

3. Crimea I use the 2 German MT divisions to hold the west and center bridges. The east one hold with the Hun MT and 2 german divisions.

4. Near Stalino I build forts to sea and 6 hexes north. Stack up pz units in the city and retreat one hex or less a turn. build the FZ asap. I screw up myself some times not building them asap.

5. Winter your 9 highest morale infantry divisions and 12 panzer divisions. Generally in the south. At some point in late january or early February you can house as many units as possible.

6. Winter as much of the LW as possible.

[Seminole]

Not glossed over its old news really.

Funny, I don't remember seeing much of the TDV winter offensive in your AAR...

[Peltonx]

I'd like to see more from German AARs about how they handle blizzard, but it seems to get glossed over...

Not sure what TDV as SHC has to do with your question about GHC?

I am not the only one who handles GHC blizzard this way.

[Seminole]

I'd like to see more from German AARs about how they handle blizzard, but it seems to get glossed over...

Not sure what TDV as SHC has to do with your question about GHC?
I am not the only one who handles GHC blizzard this way.

U.S. Army training circular 25-20:
After-action reviews (AARs) help provide soldiers and units feedback on mission and task performances in training and in combat. After-action reviews identify how to correct deficiencies, sustain strengths, and focus on performance of specific mission essential tasks list (METL) training objectives.

ORIGINAL: Pelton

...TVD is by far the best Russian I have faced during winter, his use of units to pinch off units is very good far better then anyone else I have faced to date. Not the normal pound the line tactics.
...
The picture below is winter lines, by far the best winter lines I have ever had and still TVD is kicking my ass.
And no I am not telling you what hes doing hehehehe.

To my mind the AAR exists to learn what works and at least as importantly what doesn't. Not simply to show what you did well.

[janh]

ORIGINAL: Scar23
First, most of my divisions have been digging for a while, and are in level 2+ forts now. However, they are spaced out, with a division every other hex. Am I supposed to face the blizzard with gaps in the lines, or break down the divisions?

Secondly, It appears to me I have to shorten the frontage in the south. Otherwise my guys will be too spread out down south, with the Rumanians holding large portions just north of the Sea of Azov. If I can grab a pocket or two more in the center during the winter, and force a pull back down south, I could leave most of the divisions where they are, and just screen the new territory gained. Once the blizzard offensive starts, just slowly withdraw back to the positions I am now, that would be more of a try and hold line. Then give ground grudingly.

Anyway, any advice would be appreciated.

Sorry Scar, I totally missed your post. Pelton's advice covers it well. I wouldn't use regiments again before March, they will really be toothless in December to January. Your CVs will still be far from what you are now used to and will only slowly get better by February and March. Worst of all is the morale hit on all units outside level 4 cities or level 3 forts (or was it 4?).

In smaller cities you'll have dice rolls that can help to save your units a little pain, but outside in the open terrain you'll quickly accumulate damaged squads and you'll see the morale tumble. Best it to have large cities behind your lines (see Stalino, Kursk, Kharkov etc) manned with Panzers, Mot or the >75-80 morale infantry divisions, on reserve mode, while the majority of the front could be covered with <75-80 morale infantry and minors. Since national morale is 70, those of the infantry divisions that will get a blizzard battering and drop perhaps to something like 60 morale, can recover rather quickly to 70 in spring. With a spring offensive in March-April meant to correct the lines and recover some lost terrain, you can add those weakened divisions then to the attacks and have them clean up the small pockets created, which can get them back to 75 morale and, hence, better movement.

As Pelton said, put the rest of the high-morale German infantry in winter quarters to send them for refit and reorganization back to German until say late February. Then you'll need them as the hammer for the spring offensive before rasputiza. You could do so with as many Panzer and Mot divisions you can spare as well, especially those with 90+ morale, although I don't know whether you have some house rule regarding excessive blizzard withdrawals to Germany. It certainly was something the Germans were historically far from doing, aside from probably unable to have done. In December and January your CVs will be extremely weak, and your Panzers and Mots are anyways not ideal defensive formations. They can help in reserve mode, at best, but I wouldn't put them in the frontline to hold anything except major city hexes.

One annoying thing with this game is that for each lost battle, you'll likely loose plenty of morale: 3 pts. This will create a bad spiral in winter. So even if you occasionally spot a possibility to counterattack in blizzard and want to use your Panzers, it is wise to think twice since the weather and blizzard rules will often prevent a successful counterattack and you'll loose morale for that as well. It is just not worth counterattacking with these penalties. Ideally, morale loss and gain would be rarer in this game, because I feel it has too much effect -- particularly on infantry mobility.

Q-Ball (at least I think he was the first one) used stacks of 3 units, separated by 1 hex, to give the Germans a bit better chances to hold Soviet attacks off. He retreated them 1 or 2 hexes a turn to always keep a buffer layer of 1-2 hexes the Soviet must flip first, which prevented them from "deliberate attacks". That may be an option, but requires to keep pretty much all units at the front. Anyway, the key to blizzard in this game is retreating slowly and steadily at least until February, especially for AGC and AGS.

Also put the German and Romanian Mountain divisions/brigades to best use, they'll not be penalized. The German Mountain divisions are very powerful in attacking during blizzard and sometimes can be the only chance to save some cut-off units that couldn't retreat fast enough. The Soviets will definitely curse them. It may be a good strategy to keep them as "fire-brigades" somewhere well placed, maybe near rail lines.

Ah, and finally, yes - the Luftwaffe is not of much value during blizzard. Your fighters can put a dent in the Soviet air attacks, but for the rest of the air bases it is time walk West. The HQs, both Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht, pack a lot of squads and can accumulate large manpower losses, so they also should go to cities if possible.

[Scarz]

Thanks for the tips guys. I am not sure there are enough cities to house everything, but I will try and get as much there as possible. I am really worried about how thin my lines are, especially in the south, with the Rumanians holding large stretches... It will be a tough blizzard I guess.

Also, I have gotten two blizzards in a row in the east Soviet weather zone during the winter turns, which is killing my MPs, so the winter offensive is struggling to get off the ground.