Operation Shiny Chevy

[larryfulkerson]

It's the 2nd combat round of T18 and this is what's going on around the Kiev area right now. I've forced a river crossing just north of D-town and I've forced some troops over the crossing and I'm spreading out behind the Soviet lines and I've moved some troops toward Kharkov. The supply lines are being repaired toward the captured crossing so the levels will increase slowly, but they are way too low for operations so far. Single digits on the east side of the river.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on in front of Moscow. Supply levels are great because the rail reaches all the way to the front lines and the weather is cooperating so far and I've had a Soviet unit of some kind that has spawned near Riga, where I'm resting my tired aircraft. They are going to need a security guard at the very least.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on down south right now. Odessa is still a pain in the ass but at least I'm finally at the entrance to the Sevastopol peninsula. I don't have any sea cap. or else I might try an amphibious landing somewhere. And I no longer have any air cap. so dropping paratroops isn't possible either. It has to be overland fighting for every hex sometimes one at a time. We're getting to the exciting phase.

[larryfulkerson]

I just now opened T20 and haven't moved anybody yet. It's late August '41 and so far the weather is holding out.

Here's some of the losses accumulated so far and as you can see I'm losing HRS's a LOT faster than I'm building them but I still have some on hand and I'm not sure how to interpret that. If I'm losing them faster than I'm building you'd expect the on-hand number to be low so I'm guessing that there's some kind of distribution problem or other. I'll take a look at the supply net and see if there's a breakage somewhere. I doubt that it's a bottlenecking problem because I'm building about four separate rail lines and you'd expect that at least one of them would get through. Maybe that's not the problem.

All my aircraft are green except for two Finn squadrons.

[larryfulkerson]

This is a view of what's happening near Leningrad right now. The Finns have fought their way down to the stop line and I've got a broad front push going on that's slowly making progress toward the port and I'm estimating that it will take another 10 turns at least before I'll be able to capture it. The supply situation is good because the rails are repaired almost up to the front lines in this area. I finally have enough troops for what I'm trying to do here. I'm optimistic about this situation.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on around Moscow right now. I've surrounded a small group of Soviet uints near Spas-Demensk and I'm in the process of mopping them up which will take a couple of turns, meanwhile I'm pushing the Soviets slowly backward toward Moscow. The supply levels are great because the rails are repaired all the way up to the front lines.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on around Sevastopol right now. I'm forcing my way through the bottlenecks and soon I will be able to flood the peninsula with my troops. The rail is being repaired to this area and the railhead is near so the supply situation is great. This is still the first combat round of T20.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on around Kiev right now. I've gotten my units across the river and I'm pushing south and east and this area has become a target rich environment. I've trapped most of the Soviet units along the east bank of the river and I'm destroying them as fast as I can. The rails have been repaired all the way up to the front lines so the supply situation is great.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the front lines in T23.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on around Leningrad right now. I've gotten closer to the city but I'm not there yet. I'm pushing hard though and I expect to be there in a few turns. The supply situation is great since the rails are repaired all the way to the front lines.

I've started a campaign of bridge bombing and I've dropped several bridges so far. Most of the bombing missions are duds but I see at least one bridge dropped in about 5 missions. The point is to hamper the Soviets from bringing their reinforcements forward and to stiffle the supply flow.

All my aircraft are green except for a couple of bombers. The air war is heating up and several of my fighters go yellow after the first combat round every turn now. I've been resting my tired planes at Riga because that's where I parked OKH.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on around Kharkov right now. I'm hoping to have the city of Kharkov in a couple of turns and then I'll push toward Stalingrad to see if I can get there before winter sets in. The Soviet defenders are sparse in this AO so far so some progress is being made.

[larryfulkerson]

I was wondering what effect I was having on the Soviets from capturing the major cities so I looked it up and determined that there has been a 30% reduction in Soviet production so far. I'm assuming it will decrease further if I capture Leningrad and Kharkov and Tula, etc.

[larryfulkerson]

It's now T25 and I'm still hard at work clearing out the east side of the riverbank and I should be done with this in a couple of turns, 5 at the most I think. The supply levels are great since the rails are repaired all the way up to the front lines. The weather is about 5/10 cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. We're in mid-September already and the weather is starting to turn to the worst. All my aircraft are green except for 3 bombers. The Soviets have started counterattacking and I saw at least one Soviet unit evaporate so they are serious about it. There was at least one Soviet breakthrough in my lines but I think I can contain it.

[larryfulkerson]

It's now early in T26 and this is what Leningrad looks like right now. I'm getting closer to the city and I estimate that I'll own it in another 5 turns or so. The Finns have fought their way down to the stop line and have been bombarding any Soviet unit within range. All my aircraft are green except one bomber and one fighter. And one squadron is in reorg. I've busted a bridge last turn and one before that and I hope to drop at least one more bridge this turn. I'm doing it to stiffle the movement of Soviet reinforcements to the front and to stiffle the flow of Soviet supply. I have no idea whether or not my bombing is accomplishing that. During the next Soviet turn I'll take a look around and I'll let you know what I find. lgf

10/08/2021 EDIT: I stopped the Soviet side and took a look around to see what the Soviet supply levels are right now and I found out that all my effort to drop bridges has made no effect at all at the front lines. It seems that there's always a branch of the rails that can connect the supply source(s) to the front lines. I need to change my strategy obviously. I'm guessing that I'll get more success in dropping the bridges closest to the front lines when it's possible to starve my opponents by cutting his access to his supply. And I'd rather capture the bridge with my ground units if possible, that way I wouldn't have to repair it before I could use it. But dropping bridges using airstrikes can be used as the second option.

[larryfulkerson]

It's still early in T26 and this is what the Kiev area looks like right now. I'm using the Panzers to try to accellerate the take down of the Soviet remnants. I'm hoping to accomplish the mopping up either this turn or the next. The supply levels are great, finally. I have a short segment of the rail going through Kiev itself to repair and when that gets done I'll have express rail service from Berlin to Kiev. During the last Soviet attack phase I had a few units evaporate so I'll have to be a lot more careful how far ahead of the follow on forces my recon units go, etc.

[larryfulkerson]

This is what the Stalino area looks like right now. I'm using a lot of Romanians and Hungarians and Italians to give me enough units to form a hasty front line down south. I'm going to bring the Slavs to the party as well. The supply level goes from about 23 near the railhead and decreases smoothly down to 9 near the coast. The Soviets have gotten into the habit of doing airfield strikes so I have to be careful to include some fighters on those bases that have my bombers parked on them. I've also, twice now, gotten my fighters too far forward and the Soviets have taken the opportunity to bombard the same with their arty. D'oh.

[larryfulkerson]

I finally captured Kharkov and I repaired the rail all the way to the city so now I have express rail service from Berlin to Kharkov. But it's so far from Berlin it's probably going to take multiple turns to make the journey. The supply levels are from 34 to 29 which is great. From here I'm going to push for Stalingrad to see if I can get there before the severe winter weather hits.

[larryfulkerson]

This is the 4th combat round of T26 of the Sevastopol area right now. About half of my aircraft are green and I'm still pushing for the port and not making a lot of progress. I have moved the RR arty I have down to this area but so far they haven't had the effect I was hoping for. The supply levels are great because the rails are repaired all the way to the front lines. I feel like I need at least one more division added to those already present to push properly. I'm also doing strikes against the Soviet ships and have so far sunk only 2 DD's and I've lost 49 Stukas so far this turn. Part of the problem is the Soviet aircraft that are flying defensive missions and thwarting my efforts to sink them. If I had any ships to use in this area I would use them to bombard the Soviet aircraft near the port.

[larryfulkerson]

I edited post #74: I'll repeat the entry here below:
10/08/2021 EDIT: I stopped the Soviet side and took a look around to see what the Soviet supply levels are right now and I found out that all my effort to drop bridges has made no effect at all at the front lines. It seems that there's always a branch of the rails that can connect the supply source(s) to the front lines. I need to change my strategy obviously. I'm guessing that I'll get more success in dropping the bridges closest to the front lines when it's possible to starve my opponents by cutting his access to his supply. And I'd rather capture the bridge with my ground units if possible, that way I wouldn't have to repair it before I could use it. But dropping bridges using airstrikes can be used as the second option.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's an early in T27 view of down south near the Stalino area. I have repaired a rail line to near the city itself but I have plans to continue repairing down to Rostov and I'll see if it's possible to push through that city to advance to the south from there. There's mountainous terrain not all that far south of Rostov that the Soviets will no doubt move into in order to gain the advantage of terrain when they defend against my advance south. I'd like to avoid that this game, somehow. I have no idea about the best way to avoid that. Anybody have any good ideas?