TopEverest vs Admiral Kamikaze - the rematch

[SparkleyTits]

If you are having trouble with RR it might help to put them in STAVKA
The range in RR goes up the higher up command you go and STAVKA seems limitless (Although I have never tested this so perhaps not) so there is no lose in the SU not being used
It lowers the micromanagement needed too

If you want to repair a specific area then armies, fronts are better of course as they can be directed more but if you want a blanket RR approach then STAVKA does just fine in my experience

[HardLuckYetAgain]

ORIGINAL: SparkleyTits

If you are having trouble with RR it might help to put them in STAVKA
The range in RR goes up the higher up command you go and STAVKA seems limitless (Although I have never tested this so perhaps not) so there is no lose in the SU not being used
It lowers the micromanagement needed too

If you want to repair a specific area then armies, fronts are better of course as they can be directed more but if you want a blanket RR approach then STAVKA does just fine in my experience

This is 100% correct that if you put the RR units in Stavka the range is limitless and a nice blanket. But having said that you will have to have enough RR construction units in that HQ to support the total repair of broken rail lines at a rate of 1 hex per turn. I know this is late game but in 41 I try and have 30ish RR construction workers to help repair during the blizzard.

[SparkleyTits]

With some tips on your offensive, I don't know if this is possible but you might have the opportunity to cause a nice panicked retreat and possibly catch some Axis in the south if you get a surprise off quickly by blocking/breaking rail retreats with your ZOC

If you could manage to put your ZOC on the black hexes or break the railheads with your own ZOC then the Axis would be forced to walk to the railheads pointing in the red arrow to try and get his units railed out Then in the next turn if you could move to the teal hex and do the same thing Axis would be forced to move to the purple in response to be able to rail them out

Without being railed out even if you did not catch the units and isolate them they would be wholly out of position with all those mountains behind them which would give you an advantage even if things did not go off without a hitch for you

[SparkleyTits]

Might be hard with all of those panzers nearby but thought it was worth mentioning as Chernovtsy and the rough in that area could be made as a hinge!

[xhoel]

This is an outstanding AAR. The amount of detail you have put into it makes for a great read. It is also nice to see how much you have learned and grown from the game. Keep up the good work!

[topeverest]

VP - 137
Trucks - 122 / (225) This is a major issue rooted in my mismanagement as a new player. More on this below.
AP Usage (93 points banked) Disbanded about 50 support units. mainly using APs to realign commands as they jumble

Key developments since the last update we have moved at a glacial pace because of my work schedule
1. In an unwise concentration of force, Stalin decided it was critical to conquer Finland. An entire front has been committed to this endeavor. Since the last update the infantry only steamroller without air support has continued to gain one hex per turn and now is only 3 hexes from Varna. Finland will fall before the end of February. It is a Pyric victory, but I am banking experience for my next attempt at this game and needed to understand what it will take.
2. The Russians pulse several armor armies down the Dvina river and force the evacuation of the ground north of Riga. Russians pulse another armored pulse west through Vilnius towards Koeinsburg. Germans begin the withdrawal towards the Nemati river, the logical defensive point for Koeinsbrg.
3. Russians drive west with infantry from Minsk towards Warsaw, still some 16-18 hexes away. It is quite unlikely that the reds will view the Vistula Bug junction this season, especially because of the trucks issue
4. South the Pripyet marshes where the main German defenses lie, the Russian steamroller is 3-4 hexes from the Polish frontier. Lvov will be the next city to fall. Here the bulk of the air and armor are poised for the spring offensive, though the armor is mostly idle. There has been nothing glamorous about the advance. Heavy use of artillery, shock infantry, ground support, and the occasional armored pulse. 17 hexes to Krakow from the MLR - again the Reds wont get that far in the remaining winter season
5. Germany pushed material reserves into Hungary and more or less stabilized the front to a slow walk short of breaking out onto the plains. Again, this can be tied to my poor trucks management and having to pull out mech and armor from the front.

[topeverest]

here is a view of the battlefield

[topeverest]

Obviously I screwed myself with trucks earlier in the game.

I am biding my time and looking for the right opportunity to do a large blitz or two to end the season. That said, I cannot let my trucks fall any further than they are

Other than that I will get as far as I can by the end of the season. I will be more specific as I ferret out the plans. For now there are 8 more turns in the season, and I want to make the most of them.

I will knock out Finland and move that body of troops to support the main assault.

[EwaldvonKleist]

How is the OOB of both sides?

I think at this point getting tge supply base west is the Nr 1 priority, so I would focus operations such that the rail head advances with Max speed each turn. Especially I would try to get ahead og m F the rail head right before the mud so repair continues into tge rasputiza.

[topeverest]

The news of our game's demise was greatly exaggerated. We took time off from the game but are now back to finish.

VP 119
Trucks 113 / (175) - this is my bad truck management coming back to haunt me.
AP usage - more than 100 support units disbanded, mostly AA, and a few dozen on map units, mostly brigades and a few army HQs no longer needed. More to come

With only 3 more turns left in the winter season, and the Ruskies behind my season goal, certainly I have not been as successful as I expected. That said there has been material success.

1. Finland was conquered turn 190, and the Russian units have just finished redeploying to the Koeinsburg offensive
2. I pulled about 2/3 of my armor and mech forces off the MLR to keep my trucks from blowing up. It has materially slowed the progress but at least preserved an opportunity to fight the summer season
3. Broad front doctrine was followed this winter, with 4 major action zones, each making material progress
4. I converted 4 Army HQs to only be rail engineer HQ's, and I have been able to keep up rail lines well with the advance
5. I have begun disbanding unneeded support and on-map units, and plan to continue this
6. Germany did a good job of minimizing units captured this season. On the pic below shows 18 enemy units surrounded east of Brest Litovisk because the enemy made an uncharacteristic gamble to maintain a salient because I had not committed armor in the sector all season. That was an opportunity too good to pass up. There is more opportunity in the area to bypass torn up German formations

[topeverest]

Here is the situation

[topeverest]

A view of the Red Army composition - and my observations about my first effort past 1942 - lots of learning from mistakes and misconceptions

[topeverest]

I have attempted many times to disband some of the Romanian units, but I am beginning to think the Reds cannot do this. HQ on rail in supply cannot disband support units. Romanian Divisions cannot disband in same situation, but a Soviet unit in the same army and same hex can.

IS that the way it works?

[EwaldvonKleist]

Good to see the game continuing.

2. I pulled about 2/3 of my armor and mech forces off the MLR to keep my trucks from blowing up. It has materially slowed the progress but at least preserved an opportunity to fight the summer season

Regarding lack of trucks in the pool, if the supplying HQ sits on the rail and the % of required trucks is not too low (I think 60% is the critical level), then there is no supply malus. The further you move away with the HQ from the rail line, the more the malus approaches the ratio available trucks/requested trucks.

It looks like your opponent decided to fight forward, which means that you a bit further east, but on the other hand his army is weaker compared to the few other games that got to 1945.

[Telemecus]

ORIGINAL: topeverest
The news of our game's demise was greatly exaggerated.

Wonderful news. I have followed this AAR long enough to know that any break is only a pause. The best bits come to those who wait ...

[topeverest]

Thanks for the kind words

Just got the next turn and will finish within a day or so for next update.

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

ORIGINAL: topeverest
The news of our game's demise was greatly exaggerated.

Wonderful news. I have followed this AAR long enough to know that any break is only a pause. The best bits come to those who wait ...

[xhoel]

Looking forward to your next update topeverest. Could you please post a screenshot of the destroyed unit for the while campaign so far?

Cheers!

[AlexSF]

Great AAr, thx for the work and thumb up to your Axis opponent who keeps playing that far. I know by experience that unfortunately it's rare!

[topeverest]

VP - 118 (-1 Brest-Litovisk captured by Reds)
Trucks - 120 (186) - two more armored armies thrown into action, so not bad staying -62 (113K vehicles in repair)
AP usage Disband numerous support units, some brigades and divisions. Reorganize armies around Koeinsburg
AFV Losses G - 494, R - 569
Airframe Losses G - 447, R - 677
Destroyed German Units - 15

Reds continue large front doctrine.

Key activities:
1. Red Test the Truck Waters by pushing 2 more armored armies into action in the push for Koeinsburg. They make short work of defenders and attack With the Nemanti river anchoring their right flank. In a bout of poor planning, I actually broke the back of the German defense in one turn and did not have enough local armor, mech, and cavalry to close the Memel pocket. Stalin, frustrated with himself, pulls the armored spearheads back to prevent counterattack.
2. The last vestiges of the German Brest-Litovisk salient collapse. 13 previously pocketed divisions (15 units)surrender about 50 miles east of BL. Russian armor pusing NW and N bypass three SS Panzer divisions and push 30 miles further, crossing the Bug in places. The Germans will have to be Houdini to get those units free.
3. Near Lublin, in SW Poland, Germany has placed its strongest Armored force. 26 enemy armor and mech divisions are operating in that local area. Progress was linear and pretty slow, though serious grinding on enemy occurred.
4. At the southernmost piece of the plains where the Carpathian Mountains sprout, Reds throw armor at the relatively weekly held sector and make good progress up to the San river and endanger a breakthrough in the area
5. In Hungary, Reds nearly make an unexpected breakthrough after crossing the Somesul Mic river but have no armor locally to exploit. Again bad planning on my part.
6. off the battlefield, the Reds make a long overdue overhaul of their air corps unit and mission mix

[topeverest]

here is a view of the turn combat progress