Disaster in the making. Oloren (axis) vs Terje (USSR)

[terje439]

Turn 27

Overall
We start to live up to the name of the AAR. Ok, so maybe not disasters, but mistakes for sure has been made. Q-Ball pointed out one of them in his last post. We started to move up to the front too late, so we effectively missed out one turn of winter. As a result we only managed to make 18 attacks this turn, of which 3 failed. The Axis on their side scored a 100% result on their 3 attacks, but the results were all retreats, and not routs.
The other mistake was to start up as I always do, by flying recon flights. Forgot that you cannot alter air mission settings after air missions are flown. As a result we still had about 3/4 of our bombers set to airfield attacks instead of ground attacks. This is something I MUST remember to alter next turn.

Industry
We empty Gorlovka by moving out the remaining three heavy industries there. At the same time we start moving factories from Taganrog. Due to alot of troop movement however, we only move out two armament factories this turn.

Units
No losses this turn either. We gain 12 divsions and 23 brigades, and 12 Cav Divs reform into 4 Cav Corps. Our total strengh increase by 134.000 men this turn.

Operation Annoyment
Allready this must be considered a minor success, as the railroad north-west of Odessa is captured this turn. Our three brigades fan out between Odessa and Nikolaev. I am however considering massing them together outside Odessa as there is a fortifed zone in the city, a tempting target.

Worries
Nothing really. Seing how many factories are still left behind the current front and Stalingrad, I wonder if I will be able to move them all before the renewed Axis push in the spring/summer.
Also, our factories are starting to report resource shortages, that does not sound good as coal and iron mines cannot be moved but will be captured as the enemy advances again.

[Aurelian]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

ORIGINAL: terje439

I thought airdrops to partisans was done automatically? But then again I am desperately low on transport planes as well

Will try to see how many I can supply next turn. Thx for the feedback Q-Ball


Terje

They are automatic, but you have to set it up by the following:

1. Only units in a VVS airbase can do it (not SAD, IAD, BAD, or DBAD, or anything else)

2. Units must be set to "fly night missions" -YES

3. Only Level Bombers and Transports will fly it

You might save your Li-2s for paras or something, and just use Level Bombers. TB-3 and DB-3 and other old types are good for this. So are U2 transports, but the range is short

Did this change then?

(8.2.1). If those night mission enabled air group units attached to VVS air base units are not sufficient to meet the partisan needs, then transport and level bomber air group units set to night missions and attached to DBAD, AD DD, GAD DD, and GDBAD air base units may be selected by the computer to also transport supplies to partisan units.

[terje439]

Turn 28

Overall
It seems my valiant opponent has placed out some key units on just the right spots, making it really hard for me to get by any of his units, but this turn his front starts to crumble, and I think he might have to fall back in some areas. This is a double edged sword. It forces him away from his forts, but it should fre up units for him as well.
The Axis make four attacks scoring 1 held, 2 retreats and 1 surrender. One of our understrength Inf Divs surrender to the Finnish. Not acceptable!
Our gallant troops launch 33 attacks scoring 10 held, 21 retreat, 1 rout and 1 surrender. Unfortunately the surrender was a mere Fortified Zone, so no need to bring out the Vodka and Kaviar just yet.
In the end losses are reported at 124.000 Axis and 101.000 Soviet troops. Sadly, alot of those Axis losses are inflicted on the Axis minors, espesially Hungary, Rumania and Italy.

Industry
We continue to move factories out of Tagenrog. This turn we move 1 heavy industry and 18 LaGG-3 '29 series' factories from the city. This leaves 1 heavy industry and 22 LaGG-3 factories there.

Units
As mentioned, we lose 1 Inf Div, but er gain 5 divisions and 16 brigades. Our forces show a net increase of 90.000 troops this turn.

Operation Annoyment
"Oh, and I hope at least some Ruskies died on that amphibious assault. We will deal with those swimmers!"

I would claim a success with this Operation [:D]
It seems they will soon be delt with though, but at the same time those 5 Hungarian and Rumanian troops are no longer available to the Axis at the front line.

Worries
We are back at the aerial losses. It seems that in Barbarossa the USSR airforce plays the part of Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain.
Example; 301 fighters of mixed types and 239 bombers go up against 9 Bf-109s. Losses are 12 fighters and 4 bombers. Axis losses - none.

[terje439]

Turn 29

Overall
Bah. Seems I am better at delaying the enemy than attacking him. I am able to cause quite a few retreats, but no routs. Combine this with poor mobility and morale of my units, and we do not really achieve much. The Axis launched 7 attacks for 2 held, 2 surrender and 3 retreat this turn. Our forces launched a total of 43 attacks with poor results. 21 held and 22 retreats is not good enough. Those 22 retreats did however destroy 4 Fortified Zones, guess that is something. My main problem is that the places where my forces are the strongest are the same places where the enemy has his best defence values.
In the end losses were 142.000 Soviet troops against 110.000 Axis losses, so once more we take higher casualties than the Axis.

Industry
We emptied Taganrog by moving 1 heavy industry and 22 LaGG-3 factories this turn.

Units
We lost two brigades and gained 3 divisions and 1 brigade.

Operation Annoyment
This is quickly running out as two out of three brigades have surrendered. The last brigade severed the rail line just outside Nikolaev. This unit will most likely surrender next turn.

Worries
I have the assets to be able to cause damage to the Axis, I am just not able to utilize it. Also the industrial output is a slight concern at the moment as more and more factories report that they are unable to produce anything due to lack of resources and supply.

[terje439]

Turn 30

Overall
Glue! The ground MUST be covered in glue. I have seen snails make better progress than what we are capable of right now. How do you tackle a 89CV stack? Another winter turn where we take higher casualties than the Axis. We end up losing 120.000 men to the Axis loss of 87.000. Again the Axis perform a few attacks, this time 4. The results come out as 3 retreats and 1 rout. We launch 29 attacks for the results 10 held and 19 retreats. We have however cracked a few bottleneck positions, so I guess I can live with the results this turn.

Industry
We start to move factories from Voronezh this turn. First to go are 23xIL-10 factories and 1 heavy industry.

Units
We lose 1 division and 1 brigade. At the same time 10 divisions and 1 brigade are formed or unlocked this turn. 237.000 reinforcements arrive, but since we also lost 120.000 men this turn, our net gain is 117.000 troops.

Operation Annoyment
This is now over as the last brigade is lost this turn. Was it worth it? Well, we lost three weak brigades, but forced some units away from the front lines, and we cut the rail line in two locations. It was acceptable in my oppinion, espesially since our opponent should now be somewhat concerned about his naval flanks.

Worries
We are actually showing a negative gain in numbers compared to the Axis, with the notable exception of guns.



Had to edit the image after looking in the wrong coloumn on one occasion.

[gingerbread]

About your worries: If you have 358 ARM factories tucked away safely, you need not worry if 6 of them are idle. Also, the T30 rate of exchange 2:3 is very good for you, keep attacking!

[terje439]

Turn 31

Overall
What I have to call a good turn. We make a total of 43 attacks, of which 16 held and the remaining 27 were retreats. The good thing is that we are now forcing the Axis to either form Hero-areas or to fall back from their best fortified areas. The only losses this turn was a German fortified Zone. Total losses were 91.000 for the Axis and 129.000 for the USSR.

Industry
We continue to move factories from Voronezh, 2 Heavy Industry and 32 IL-2 factories are relocated this turn.

Units
We gain 2 divisions and lose nothing. We also recieve a net gain of 157.000 men to our units.

Worries
The uselessness of our fighter-bombers. They are shot down in droves, and achieve little.

[lycortas]

This is an excellent AAR, i hope you have the chance and energy to write another.

You do need to attack more this winter; if you lose 2,000,000 men and the Germans lose 1,500,000 men you still have 4.3m while the Germans would be devastated.

Mike

[terje439]

Thank you for those kind words Lycortas.
Well, it is not that I do not WANT to attack [;)]
However I will not attack when the pre-battle CV values is 1:2 or worse.

Terje

[terje439]

Turn 32

Overall
After finishing this turn I felt I was writing the script for a slapstick comedy. The Axis stars as a locked door standing in the way of our trusty hero (the forces of the USSR). The Hero builds up speed, slams into the door, and is knocked back, ending up rubbing his shoulder.
We manage to find a total of 37 attackable (now that has got to be a new word) locations. We manage to get 1 rout (Rumanian Inf Div), 18 retreats and 18 held. The annoying part is that of those 18 battles where the defender held, 5 of them were heavily bombed before the attack, and we had a CV value of 3:1.
The Axis launched 5 attacks, scoring 1 retreat and 5 routs. All the routs where made by armored brigades that had advanced a little too far.
The casualties this turn was 154.000 USSR troops to the Axis 72.000. We are not killing enough Axis troops!
It does however seem that the Axis is hard pressed to hold the line as partisans are allowed to remain in his rear for a long time.

Industry
We emptied Voronezh as the remaining 35 IL-2 factories was relocated. We will now start to evacuate the factories in Rostov, and made a soft start this turn by moving 4 armaments factories this turn.

Units
4 divisions arrive, and we build 3 cavalry division as well as 1 infantry divisions (gotta use those CP on something).
Even with a loss of 154.000 troops this turn, we still have a net increase of 125.000 men in our divisions. No brigades are set to refit, as I prefer to keep these units available as speed bumbs for the upcoming summer.

Worries
The message to my opponent this turn: "I will give you all my fighter-bombers for 100 Bf109g's"...

[terje439]

Turn 33

Overall
Sadly enough, in terms of penetrating the enemy lines, today was the best day so far.
We attack in those places where we seem to have a possibility of achieving anything. We need to pick our fights as our losses in those battles where the defender holds easily reaches 3.000 men.
The Axis once more decide to launch only a few attacks, this time for a total of 5. The results were 1 held, 3 retreat and 1 rout. To counter this, we launched a total of 34 attacks, scoring 16 held and 18 retreats. Even though 18 retreats might sound ok, Axis losses this turn were no more than 75.000 men compared to our 145.000,

Industry
We empty Rostov of factories as we rail away 11 armaments and 4 heavy industry. One less city to worry about.

Units
An entire division reports for duty this turn. Due to our somewhat high losses this turn, we only gain a net increase of 70.000 men this turn. Not enough by far.

Worries
I need proper soldiers, not these cowards that do not dare to take advantage of our breakthroughs.
Also, Stalin sacked one general and one was killed this turn. This is bad since all our generals are the best ones available, meaning every general lost see us get a new one with lower skills.
All our tanks are located in tank brigades as we do not posess any tank divisions.

Intel
From : OKH
To : AH
Subj : Panzers
We are somewhat lacking in numbers of tanks, this is something that needs ammending.

Summary of the war so far
Industry - Here I feel we are atleast on par, if not ahead. Not alot of factories have been lost, and we are now creating a huge gap on the map where there are no factories for the Axis to capture.
Units lost - Well, compared to history we are doing well;
*33 armour divisions
*12 motorized divisions
*106 infantry divisions
*6 cavalry divisions
*6 mountain infantry divisions
*34 brigades of all types.

Question
Can I change tank types for tank brigades the way I can with aircraft squadrons?

[Q-Ball]

RE: Fighter Bomber losses, those are most of your losses, because almost all Soviet Fighters are classified as "Fighter-Bombers". Only the P-40 is a "fighter". Thus, any biplane, or Lagg-3, or whatever, will show in that column

RE: The Partisans, your opponent cannot "see" those partisans. They are doing nothing until they get adequate suppplies. This takes awhile, and there will be several airdrops needed. Until then, they will drink vodka and hang out in the woods until the time is right.

Check to see if airdrops are happening. If they are, then just wait----when they "activate" they will tear up rail, and your opponent will notice them

RE: Tanks, it's all AI. You cannot specifically request a tank. That's something EVERYONE has asked for, but I could also see that being abused if you could do that.

[terje439]

Once more [&o] Q-Ball!

About the tanks, ok, so I take it that one unit will automatically upgrade to make use of the Matilda IIs? Have 200 of them doing nothing in my pool, and I would like to use them before the Axis get the better Panzers.

Terje

[Q-Ball]

You probably won't draw Matildas unless you are out of T-34s. It's highly unlikely you are, unless you missed a factory move. At any rate, the T-34 is a better tank than the Matilda, so don't sweat it.

The Soviets get more tanks than you can effectively use. You can create lots of Tank Bn/Regt SUs, and attach them to Corps, that's a good way of getting tanks on the map. The only downside is that Tank SUs use VEHICLES, which you will be short of until mid-1943 when Lend Lease supplies make it up. Once you start having surplus Vehicles, I would go crazy building Tank and SU-85/100 SUs, because that's a cheap way of getting firepower to the front.

Unless you really go crazy, I can't see the Red Army running out of tanks past 3/42. You will have spot shortages, particularly of light tanks in early 1942, and mediums at a couple points, but for the most part, alot of tanks will sit in the pool and never get used. Soviet AFV production is nearly a bottomless pit.

In my Soviet AAR vs. Tarhunnas, I lost LOTS of tanks. More than anyone I have seen. I did draw a few Matildas, and they hung around, but after awhile T-34 production closed the gap. I had some Valentines too. By the time I started getting M3 Lees, didn't need them, and we NEVER used them. They sat in the pool unused. We did use some M3 Stuarts, but not many. We always had 100s of Valentines in the pool.

[terje439]

Turn 34

Overall
We have done it again. Set a new all-time low. As usual the Axis launch 5 attacks, and score 4 retreats and a rout. We launch no less than 35 attacks and get 19 held and 16 retreats. Despite this, opening the "losses"-report was a shock. 142.000 Soviet soldiers killed versus a meagre 24.000 Axis troops. It seems the main problem is that we keep pushing on the same Axis units turn after turn, and it seems they are running out of troops to kill. The other Axis forces are simply too well dug in for us to attack.

Industry
well, atleast the moving of factories went well. The cities of Voroshilovgrad, Lipetsk and Tambov are all emptied. All in all we relocated 5 armaments factories, 8 heavy industry and 2x3 GAZ-AA-37 factories this turn.

Units
We recieve 10 divisions and 1 brigade, and we create 3 cavalry divisions and 1 rifle brigade. 3 cavalry divisions are reformed into one cavalry corps. Due to a high number of casualties, our forces only grew by 89.000 men this turn. We are really messing up this winter it seems.

Worries
The lack of Axis losses is a concern and an annoyment.

[terje439]

Turn 35

Mistake made
I am sorry to say that I forgot to count number of attacks this turn [:(]

Overall
Well, the Axis losses are up and ours down a little bit, so that is something. It is frustrating however that I always end the turn having managed to advance one hex too short each turn, allowing the Axis to fall back and get all their divisions back to safety. I am now starting to wonder wether my bombers are best used to bomb an enemy stack before launching the attack, or set to assist the attack in higher numbers.
Speaking of bombers, for the second turn in a row the game has played with my mind. I do my turns in a fixed manner, checking units lost is among the last things I do. So, when I went over my airfields to place any new squadrons, I was very pleased this turn (and the previous one), as the list of available squadrons had some 15 units in it. Happy that my airforce had grown alot, I then checked units lost, and realized that the only reason for that increase was that three airfields were disbanded...
In the end, we suffer 121.000 casualties to the Axis 70.000. The really good thing is that almost every Axis casualty is German.

Industry
Lipesk sees its remaining 3 heavy industry moved. The same story goes for Tambov where we move the last heavy industry. From Rybinsk we move out two armament factories and two heavy industries leaving also this city empty. We also start to move factories from Ivanovo, managing to move three armaments factories and one heavy industry. This only leaves two heavy industry in the city.

Units
One infantry division arrive this turn. Our net gain of soldiers this turn is 108.000.
A special honour has been bestowed upon the 156th Rifle Division, they are renamed the 1st Guards Rifle Division

Worries
The lack of progress. When I read other AAR's, I often see the Axis driven back 10 hexes all along the front. Not so the case for me [:(]

[terje439]

Turn 36

Overall
The surprising event first. The Finnish troops all had fortified zones in their hexes. All those fortified zones are now gone. Why, I have no idea.
The good news second. Our partisans were extremely active this turn. This is a big plus.
Well, the rest of the turn is pretty much the same as every winter turn. We succeed with about 50% of our attacks, 14 retreats and 13 held this turn for a total of 27 attacks. This number is lower, and reflects the fact that the bulge outside Moscow is getting smaller, freeing up German units to form a better defensive line. The Axis attacked 4 partisan units this turn, and also launched one attack on two exposed tank brigades, forcing them to rout.
It seems that the Axis losses are sometimes shown with attrition losses, and sometimes without. This time, without. Total losses are shown as 18.000 Axis to 127.000 Soviet troops.

Industry
Ivanova sees its remaining two heavy industry shipped out, and we start to evacute factories from Yaroslavl. This turn we manage to move out 12 vehicle factories and 3 armaments factories. That leaves 3 heavy industry and 3 GAZ-AA-37 factories in the city.

Units
We create 3 cavalry divisions and 1 light gun brigade this turn. Furthermore we recieve 6 divisions and 1 brigade. 3 more airfields are closed down this turn, and the aircrafts from these are redistributed amongst the remaining. Finally the three cavalry divisions formed two turns ago are combined into a corps.
All our units saw an increase in troops of 94.000 this turn.

Worries
Generals. We have lost alot allready and Stalin keeps chopping off heads. And those are usually some of the brighter heads as well. Would not be surprised to see Zhukov beheaded soon...

[terje439]

Turn 37

Overall
We slowly push the Axis backwards, unfortunately the pace is too slow to be able to capture any Axis units. The downside is that we are unable to capture the German armour divisions in the open as I would really like to kill more than 20 AFVs per turn.
We launch 29 attacks, and manage 14 held and 15 retreats as a result. Would have loved to reduce the ammount of held attacks each turn, as these are costly in terms of troops. The Axis were surprisingly active this turn with a total of 11 attacks. 7 of them were however against partisan troops where they Axis scored 6 retreats and 1 surrender. Against our regular troops they launched 4 attacks and gained 4 routs. Again these routs are by low strength armor brigades that we push forward with in an attempt to seize ground and force the Axis even further back.
In the end the losses are reported at 140.000 Soviet troops to 76.000 Axis troops.

Industry
Yaroslavl is emptied as we move out 3xGAZ-AA-37 and 3 heavy industries. Murom too is emptied as 7 Vehicle factories are moved east. The city of Kulebaki is the third one to be emptied this turn as 10 BA-20 factories and 30 BA-64 factories moves to the east. We also start to move factories from Dzerzhinsk (13 La-5 factories) and Gorky (3 GAZ-AA-37 factories and 30 BA-64 factories).

Units
No units were recieved or created this turn. Three more airfields were shut down.
Our forces increased in size by 87.000 troops.

Worries
None.

[gingerbread]

You are moving factories from cities that are beyond the territory that the Axis need for an Auto Victory.Even if you can spare the rail cap, the damage done to the moved factories costs production. You might want to declare that this is it regarding evacuation. No more instant gratification from saving things

[terje439]

Hmm no actually I am not [:)]
I played against the AI to see what was needed for an Autovictory, and it is ALOT.

bottom of the list for screenies

That being said, I will soon stop moving factories, that is true. However the area around Gorky is in somewhat of a danger as the areas around Moscow is where the most of the Axis Panzer units are at the moment. Will also evacuate factories from Kerch eventually.


Terje