Solitaire Barbarossa - A Beginner Stumbles East

[Chocolino]

Turn 1 / Impulse 10:

It is a close call, the turn almost ends (rolls 4, turn had ended if < 4). The Russians take a land action and further consolidate their front in the central sector. One more Russian tank leaves the Rumanian border and heads north. No air actions or attacks. This is the final position after the Russian impulse.

[Chocolino]

Turn 1 / Impulse 11:

The Germans get what they were hoping for, at least one more impulse in good weather.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

The 8-3 German unit that ran through Liepaja could have gone along the coast and ended up next to Riga. The hex due west of Riga connectss to Riga (a tiny bit of river indicates they are connected. This would have put the Russian unit out of supply. In the current position, the Russian 5-3 can draw supply from Riga (the capital of a conquered minor country - Latvia).

Assuming you could put a different German unit in the hex the 8-3 currently occupies, German unit(s) in the hex west of Riga could then trace supply 4 hexes back to von Leeb.

EDIT: Thanks for doing this AAR.

[Courtenay]

The Germans were lucky to get another impulse. 40% of the turn ending on their turn, 60% of it ending on the Russian turn, and an 80% chance of good weather combine to give the a 20% chance of this fair impulse.

Of course, the Germans were unlucky two have already had two bad weather impulses.

[Chocolino]

The 8-3 German unit that ran through Liepaja could have gone along the coast and ended up next to Riga. The hex due west of Riga connectss to Riga (a tiny bit of river indicates they are connected. This would have put the Russian unit out of supply. In the current position, the Russian 5-3 can draw supply from Riga (the capital of a conquered minor country - Latvia).

Assuming you could put a different German unit in the hex the 8-3 currently occupies, German unit(s) in the hex west of Riga could then trace supply 4 hexes back to von Leeb.

EDIT: Thanks for doing this AAR.

Thanks for pointing this out - I would have never noticed the land connection from Riga to the hex due West by myself.

A lot of details to take in (not thinking only about the map)....appreciate the help and input form all.

[Chocolino]

ORIGINAL: Courtenay

The Germans were lucky to get another impulse. 40% of the turn ending on their turn, 60% of it ending on the Russian turn, and an 80% chance of good weather combine to give the a 20% chance of this fair impulse.

Of course, the Germans were unlucky two have already had two bad weather impulses.

Agree - despite the weather I think the Germans got more lucky than unlucky with some of the rolls including some of the combat outcomes.

[Chocolino]

Given that this is likely the last German impulse of the turn, the Germans become more aggressive - disorganized results don't hurt as much at this stage of the turn.

The Germans select land action and conduct no port or naval air attack.

All Luftwaffe bombers that can take off conduct ground strikes. The hex attacked is just west of Vilna where the tough Siberians, however shrug off the air attack in good order.

[Chocolino]

Next, the Germans declare four land attacks. The Russians fly ground support to some of them and the Germans intercept.

The first hex is again the Siberians near Vilna. The Germans can drive away the fighters and the bomber alone thinks it too risky to continue alone against 2 German fighters and aborts as well.

[Chocolino]

The second combat takes place south-west of Riga and the Luftwaffe destroys an unescorted Russian bomber on ground support mission.

The third and fourth combat hex see no Russian ground support.

[Chocolino]

The first land combat against the Siberians sees and exchange of destroyed units and the Germans occupying the hex.

Given that the Russians at the moment still lack boots on the ground this is an acceptable outcome for the Germans in my opinion, especially since the Russian unit is an elite unit.

[Chocolino]

The battle near Riga does not turn out so well. The Russians retreat into Riga and the Germans loose another unit - this hurts.

[Chocolino]

The third battle is against a Russian unit south-east of Brest-L. The Russian army is destroyed and another Russian Mech. corps put out of supply by the advancing Germans.

[Chocolino]

I should have mentioned earlier that the Germans - when offered the choice - have so far always selected the Blitz combat table while the Russians did chose Assault.

The fourth battle is at the Romanian border. This section of the Russian front was weakened by Russians units being taken out of the line and rushed north. Still the attack is a bit desperate (3:2) coming entirely over a river.

But the combined German - Romanian attack comes off well, the defenders are destroyed and the Germans breach the line.

[Chocolino]

After the Germans finalize their impulse the turn comes finally to an end - not entirely unexpected.

[Chocolino]

This is the situation in the north at the end of the first turn:

[Chocolino]

And here is the southern portion of the map:

[Mayhemizer_slith]

Thank you for the AAR!

Can you please post picture of destroyed pool? I’m interested of total losses.

South looks interesting. Can Germany put all those units in east Poland OOS or can USSR kill that unit breaking the line?

[Courtenay]

ORIGINAL: Chocolino

Next, the Germans declare four land attacks. The Russians fly ground support to some of them and the Germans intercept.

The first hex is again the Siberians near Vilna. The Germans can drive away the fighters and the bomber alone thinks it too risky to continue alone against 2 German fighters and aborts as well.

Both sides made mistakes here. The point of this operation was to either get the Soviet bomber through, or for the Germans to stop it. The Germans got an AA. They got to choose which plane to abort. There is only one bomber, so if the Germans aborted it, the operation is over. The Russian fighter will not stick around. (P.S. I only count one German FTR in the battle.)

Then, when the Russian fighter was aborted, the bomber fled. Why? -2 is not great, but there is a decent chance of getting through. Uphold the honor of the Russian air force! Keep on!.

This is opposed to the situation in the next air action, where a Russian bomber with an air-to-air strength of one flew where it could be intercepted by a German 6 pt FTR. +5/-5 is, while not certain death, Russian roulette with a majority of the chambers holding bullets. Don't do this. It is all too likely to get the bomber killed for no gain.

[Chocolino]

ORIGINAL: Mayhemizer_slith

Thank you for the AAR!

Can you please post picture of destroyed pool? I’m interested of total losses.

South looks interesting. Can Germany put all those units in east Poland OOS or can USSR kill that unit breaking the line?

Thanks for reading.

Below is the destroyed pool. The Russians suffered more of course. But I am not sure if the difference is sufficient at this stage in the game to really help the Germans. Except for the one hex in the Ukraine they have not even entered Russia proper yet.

The Germans will certainly try to exploit their breakthroughs in the Ukraine. But there is a Russian tank nearby (was in the process of being transferred north) that may now turn around and counterattack. I assume much will depend upon who is getting the first impulse in turn 2.

[Chocolino]

ORIGINAL: Courtenay

ORIGINAL: Chocolino

Next, the Germans declare four land attacks. The Russians fly ground support to some of them and the Germans intercept.

The first hex is again the Siberians near Vilna. The Germans can drive away the fighters and the bomber alone thinks it too risky to continue alone against 2 German fighters and aborts as well.

Both sides made mistakes here. The point of this operation was to either get the Soviet bomber through, or for the Germans to stop it. The Germans got an AA. They got to choose which plane to abort. There is only one bomber, so if the Germans aborted it, the operation is over. The Russian fighter will not stick around. (P.S. I only count one German FTR in the battle.)

Then, when the Russian fighter was aborted, the bomber fled. Why? -2 is not great, but there is a decent chance of getting through. Uphold the honor of the Russian air force! Keep on!.

This is opposed to the situation in the next air action, where a Russian bomber with an air-to-air strength of one flew where it could be intercepted by a German 6 pt FTR. +5/-5 is, while not certain death, Russian roulette with a majority of the chambers holding bullets. Don't do this. It is all too likely to get the bomber killed for no gain.

Thanks as always for the good advice.

I thought (mistakenly) that if I abort the fighter the remaining Russian bomber would be easy prey (or they abort which is the same outcome as if I aborted them first). But similarly to the convoy battle in the Baltic I made this decision not based on the game mechanics but what I "felt" would be the likely outcome and underestimated the staying power of the "hunted" unit.

I think I am simply not familiar enough with the tables / game mechanics. It takes me often fairly long to figure out by the rule books what die rolls are made, what the modifiers are and hence I sometimes cut corners miss the likely outcome. Since I have now paid at least twice for this mistake/sloppiness I should really invest in digging a bit deeper.

And you are also correct about the second German fighter. It was the other air combat where there were 2 and I must have mixed this up when writing my report later.