Balancing Act

[popejohnpaul]

It's now Axis turn T17 round 1 and in their first combat round they forced the crossing NW of Odessa. That's a problem because I don't have a reserve to fix the situation. I'll have to scramble to find some warm bodies to construct a light screen of some kind. There are a couple of units still in Odessa that I can draw upon. A lot of my units are still yellow-banded and can't move.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T18 round 1 and I have the 272/123rd Rifle Regiment approaching Helsinki right now. I'm hoping to capture that port because it's my understanding that my capture of the Finn capital will end my war with the Finns and I can then rail all these units to somewhere else, say Smolensk perhaps so I can start a serious drive on Berlin. That would be sweet.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's still T18 round 1 and this is what it looks like near Daugavpils right now. I've captured enough crossings and used my engineers and pontoon units to get across the river in several places and I'm streaming units onto the west and south sides of the river right into the Axis backfield. Soon I shall own all the river crossings.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T18 round 4 and this is what it looks like near Riga right now. I've almost cleared out the NE side of the river and I've got troops streaming across into the Axis backfield. This could be a game changer. Elmer is going to have to wake up soon and do something about this or this will be a short game.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T19 round 1 and this is what it looks like near Minsk right now. I've gotten most of my troops across the river and I'm pushing west. I'm meeting Axis units just a few at a time so they are easy to surround and kill in just a few turns. If I can get my recon units disentangled from the Axis units they are helping to mop up I'm going to send them out to see where everybody is.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's still T19 round 1 and this is what it looks like near Daugavpils right now. I've gotten most of my troops across the river and I'm pushing west. The supply situation is good enough for operations being between 7 and 11, being higher closer to the river. I have 58.2K Rifle Squads assigned and 30.7K Rifle Squads on hand and I'm building 1.2K Rifle Squads per turn.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's still T19 round 1 and this is what it looks like near Gomel ( NE of Kiev ) right now. I'm still pressing west in this area. Still seeing only a few Axis units at a time instead of meeting a proper front line and that's a good thing. At least I'm across most of the major rivers in this area.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's still T19 round 1 and I've just moved the 272/123rd Rifle Regiment of the 23rd Army into Helsinki, the Finn capital. Now I'm wondering if the Finns will surrender next turn. It would be really cool if they will.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T19 round 4 and I've just had a combat round that finishes the cleanup of the area on the NE side of the river. Now my goal is Minsk. If the Axis units continue to come at me only a few at a time I might be able to keep the front pushing for the next several turns. I might have to put a halt on the push if the supply levels don't hold up adequately.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T20 round 1 and I'm going over the Axis attacks with a fine toothed comb looking for intel. Here's just one of the results of the Axis airstrike they performed during their fourth combat round. Despite no Soviet aircraft present the Axis force had a substantial number of their aircraft damaged with one confirmed loss and the Soviets suffered no losses at all. I'm taking this result to confirm my theory about putting pieces of the AA units in those hexes that Elmer tends to bomb with regularity to bring down the number of surviving Axis planes a little faster. I'll get right on it.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's still T20 round 1 and I thought I'd do some analysis on my aircraft losses and maybe take a look at a typical fighter unit to get some idea about how the air war is going. I've annotated my remarks at the spot(s) they are relevent.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's still T20 round 1 and I've been moving units so there's been changes to share with you. I've sneaked some recon units through a tiny gap in the northern end of my front lines. As well as some units to wrap around the end of the Axis front line. It will be gone this turn or early in the next. I landed some troops from the Leningrad area along the western coast to try to isolate the battlefield from Axis incursion(s). Also, it help trap any Axis units between my lines and those ports I've just now grabbed.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's still T20 round 1 and this is what it looks like south of Riga right now. I'm expanding into the Axis territory aiming at Minsk. I've got the area NW of Riga almost cleared out already. I'm getting closer to German territory every turn.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T20 round 3 and this is what it looks like near Minsk right now. I've gotten across most of the major rivers and into the flat terrain around Minsk and my fast movers can really zoom in that kind of terrain. The Axis units are so sparse it's relatively easy to surround them and kill them. The Axis units in this image will be gone in a couple of turns. I'm making good progress.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's still T20 round 3 and this is what it looks like north of Odessa and south of Kiev right now. I'm dealing with the gaps in my "front line" in this area. So far I've been able to make it work but I could still use another 20 divisions or so. I'll see if I can't find some warm bodies to rail down here. The supply situation is thusly: Near the river flowing south from Kiev the levels get down to about 18 or so. But north of Odessa there's no supply at all at the tip of the spear. So I'll have to develop a new policy about advancing into areas without supply. And then follow it.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's still T20 round 3 and this is what it looks like south of Daugavpils right now. I'm expanding into the Axis backfield and aiming for Minsk. I'm running into a smattering of Axis units and it's easy to surround them and kill them. His shock is 115% and mine is 98%.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T21 round 1 and this is what it looks like south of Kiev right now. I'm expanding into the Axis backfield and running into more and more Axis units. I'm hoping to be able to trap all the Axis units between my two front lines. I'm pushing south on the north flank and I'm pushing north on the south flank and I hope to be able to close the gap with something or other to trap the Axis units in a pocket and kill them.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T21 round 4 and this is what it looks like south of Kiev right now. I've eliminated several Soviet units and finally got a proper "front line" formed on the north and south flanks but there's still a gap in the middle. But just this turn I have railed about three dozen divisions to this AO and they will be available next turn after they get off the train(s). They are fully rested, have adequate supply, and the worst part is that some of them are still red. I'll rest those first before I fling them into the blender.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's still T21 round 4 and this is what is going on south of Riga right now. I have redeployed some more Soviet units via the sea and they are pushing east from the port they arrived in. That plus the push I've got going on from the Daugavpils side have almost linked up with the push coming from the sea. When I will have linked up all the Axis units still north of Daugavpils will be cut off from their supply source. I'm approaching the Nieman River ( at the south edge of this image ) and from there I'm almost inside German territory.

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[popejohnpaul]

It's now T22 round 4 and this is what is going on NE of Kongisburg right now. I have made an amphibious landing at Kongisburg with the support of my two Soviet BB units and captured the port without resistance. Now each turn I can sail units here from the Leningrad area. When I captured Helsinki the very next turn the Finns surrendered so all those Soviet units that were fighting up there can be used elsewhere. They are coming in handy and the advance has accellerated.

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