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4th October - Caucasus

Again there is no real movement in the Caucasus as Olivier's lines start to solidify again. I knew he wouldnt, but I had a vague hope he may leave me a mountain pass open, unfortunately it was not to be and I will have to take each hex deliberately and slowly. In the western mountains I dont attack this turn but start to move my forces forward to get ready to relaunch the assault form next turn. The main thing happening on this sector is the engineers getting the bridges fixed around Krasnodar, so supply should start to flow from next turn.

On that point I noticed that OKH had rather a surplus of Romanian engineers. I have therefore made a couple of engineer units to sit on the bridges in case the Russians try and interdict my supply with a bridge bombing campaign. Now if somebody can tell me what to do with the Italian aircraft and Wehrmacht 75mm anti tank guns I'd be grateful!

Further east, now my forces have gathered I start to attack towards Armavir. I move into the suburbs and I think my forces should be strong enough to now trying to flank Olivier in this region.

6th October - Stalingrad holds

I am beginning to think I wont take Stalingrad and if so things are beginning to look a little bit dicey.

Two bits of bad news this turn. Firstly I lose 7 prestige by not being able to take the two minor objectives in the Caucasus - I'm about to lose another one as well.

Secondly, as expected Olivier counter attacks, but his forces are getting far stronger than I thought. Another infantry and panzer regiment are completely wrecked and I have no choice but to suspend all offensive operations north of Stalingrad, the Soviets are now far stronger than me in this region, especially as I have no air cover left.

I make one more attempt at Stalingrad itself and the hex north. Both attacks fail miserably and the balance of losses is now running in the Soviet's favour. Next turn I wont be attacking and intend to rest all troops in the Stalingrad area. I wanted to see if one more push would do it but I was not even close.

Now, as I said things are getting dicey. The reason being that I am going to play an infantry replacement card for the troops around Stalingrad (either next turn or the turn after). But, I only have those two turns to take Stalingrad. So if I dont I will be down to zero prestige and probably unable to afford a card to get me back above zero. I think the gamble is worth it though as if I take Stalingrad I will immediately get an uplift of 10 prestige.

To the south of Stalingrad 1st panzer army continue their attack with speed cards played on the two attacking panzer divisions. They both breakthrough again and cause some more havoc to the Soviet defenders. I may even end up encircling a few troops, but if I do that will be the extent of the attack. From next turn they will be pulling back as their job is done and there are no further objectives in that direction.

Apart from that it is all quiet again in the Caucasus with only minor gains made. The German infantry south of Krasnodar try and push on, but dont manage to break the Soviet line and there are a couple of holds - this despite 17th army playing a freedom card. There is more success though for the Romanians pushing through the mountain pass to the west and they have almost broken through. I dont have enough recon though to know what is hiding next in line as I fully expect Olivier to have reserves in the area.

Around Armavir I go on the attack and push Olivier's forces back either side of the town, but I am not strong enough to actually push on and take the hexes, especially as I discover that Olivier has another two tank corps in the area.

Excellent AAR Bonners!

As i mentioned earlier these sort of AARs are excellent input for making further fine-tunings to the grand campaign.

I feel like things are quite balanced as they currently stand, but one thing that still might require some small changes or at least a scenario variant to play with more realistic settings is oil use. Could you maybe post an oil reserves statistic for me?

Ohh.. and some small advice: are you placing your flak units on your airfields to help defend your aircraft there against any enemy airfield strikes?

best,
Vic

ORIGINAL: Vic

Excellent AAR Bonners!

As i mentioned earlier these sort of AARs are excellent input for making further fine-tunings to the grand campaign.

I feel like things are quite balanced as they currently stand, but one thing that still might require some small changes or at least a scenario variant to play with more realistic settings is oil use. Could you maybe post an oil reserves statistic for me?

Ohh.. and some small advice: are you placing your flak units on your airfields to help defend your aircraft there against any enemy airfield strikes?

best,
Vic

Cheers Vic, will post up the oil reserves when I get home. I havent had a problem with oil though, the main problem advancing through the Caucasus is lack of supply, especially in mud turns where there is no rail network.

Ahh, flak units on airfields. That is a good idea, probably a bit late now having no Luftwaffe left, but will enable me to put a couple of fighters units back nearer the frontlines. I also have a load of flak units sitting idle in OKH, so could've built some more[8|] Excuse me while I go and bang my head against a brick wall for not thinking of that sooner!

That mountain pass you are going down has no road so there will be no supply going through there. If you push on any longer you will probably not have enough readiness to even be able to back out again. Sorry Oliver if this sabotage a deliberate trap you had set for Bonners

ORIGINAL: Isokron

That mountain pass you are going down has no road so there will be no supply going through there. If you push on any longer you will probably not have enough readiness to even be able to back out again. Sorry Oliver if this sabotage a deliberate trap you had set for Bonners

I've been using the Ju52s to get supply to them. All I have to do is get out the other side which should enable my forces further west to breakthrough, I hope!

ORIGINAL: Bonners

ORIGINAL: Isokron

That mountain pass you are going down has no road so there will be no supply going through there. If you push on any longer you will probably not have enough readiness to even be able to back out again. Sorry Oliver if this sabotage a deliberate trap you had set for Bonners

I've been using the Ju52s to get supply to them. All I have to do is get out the other side which should enable my forces further west to breakthrough, I hope!

lol. but novorossisk is a harbour. you might need to do a sevastopol/kerch approach here using artillery and air cover on the sealanes supplying it.

8th October -initiative passing to the Soviets

The stark truth is that the Soviets are now the force that can attack at will. All across the front Olivier is able to use his tank corps to attack with impunity and then retreat them behind his attacking infantry before I can get back at them. This is where having no bomber force is really hurting I cant get behind the lines to do any damage and they are staying relatively fresh.

No map update this turn as there has been no real movement. North of Stalingrad Olivier pummels my panzers and pushed them back, I move forward again and take the attack back to him, but dont really manage to do enough damage to be of worth.

Also this turn two more attacks are launched against Stalingrad, again both fail.

In the Caucasus there is no real movement, but Olivier repeats his trick against my panzer divisions around Armavir, pushing me back and then hiding his tanks behind the front lines as my counter attacks are wasted on his infantry.

Next turn is crunch time as it is the deadline for the fall of Stalingrad. If I dont take it then I have a choice of cards to play. Either the ambition card (25pp) or the more time card (33pp), both of which I can afford as I currently have 33pp which I wanted to use to get some infantry replacements.

If I was guaranteed not to have Stalingrad as an objective again then I would definitely play the ambition card, but after the original deadline for Stalingrad passed I immediately got it as a more expensive objective (10 prestige as opposed to 8). If that is going to happen then I guess I'm going to have to play the more time card and keep pushing on. The trouble is with that it only gives me two more turns to take it which is still not definite.

I certainly have a bit of dilemma and if I dont get it right the game could finish very early with a dismissal for me. The other factor to consider is that I probably only have about two more attacks left in my troops. I have just moved up my last fresh infantry units and darent take any more from elsewhere.

I also think that Olivier will be getting ready for a general offensive far sooner than the actual Uranus as his forces are getting very powerful in the Caucasus and around Stalingrad. I only hope that he has stripped the rest of his front.

Basically I really want to be going onto the defensive very soon, but could really do with Stalingrad to anchor the line and also due to the prestige dilemma as presented above.

Whatever happens, I think it is fair to say that the initiative has irrevocably passed to Olivier's Soviet forces and the sooner I can start preparing defensive lines the better.

As I said, no real movement so no map update, instead I've presented a few statistics showing the state of my forces.

10th October - Case Blue has failed

...and so this is the end of the great German offensive in the East for 1942. I make a couple of half hearted attacks in the Caucasus but dont really achieve anything. What is worse is that around Armavir Olivier has gone onto the offensive and his tank corps cause havoc to another one of my panzer divisions. His forces are getting too strong in this area and I decide to start falling back.

At Stalingrad I make one last attack against the city with no real expectation of success. Again it is a blood failure and with the OKH deadline for taking the city now having passed it is time to suspend offensive operations.

I really needed Stalingrad to act as a buffer for my prestige as it currently stands at five. The reality now is that I wont be able to play another replacement card this game, I am reliant on what OKH gives me each turn. The reason for this is that the only way for me to continue the game is to continue playing the ambition card. I will have to play it for the first time in the next couple of turns as my prestige goes to zero for failing to take Stalingrad, that will cost me 25pps. After that it will just go up and up. If you look at my objectives on the insert on the map, you will see that I have regular objectives coming up that will make me have to play the ambition card again each time to survive. Of course the ambition card also creates its own problems, as my strategic position is at 10, each time I play it I will get another objective that I will not be able to take. There will come a point where I just cant afford it and at that point I will be dismissed.

Anyway, that is the reality I have to live with now. So, bearing all that in mind, what do I do next to prepare for defence?

The first thing is to make a decision about Stalingrad. It is possible for me to assault it again and if I do get it as another objective next turn I will save up and then re-launch the attack. The reason for this is that it is the only objective I am near to and have a chance of grabbing some prestige and staving off dismissal. The other reason is, that it will help me solidify my defence line.

To the north of Stalingrad I am seriously thinking of gradually pulling back out of my northern Don bridgehead, the Soviet forces are just getting too strong to hold on, it will shorten my line and give me the possibility of using the Don for defence.

Next up is 1st panzer army area. I still have some strong panzer divisions in this area, and depending on how things go in the Stalingrad area, if I dont go for Stalingrad again I will withdraw some infantry to this area to enable the panzers to go into reserve.

As mentioned, in the Caucasus I have already begun to pull back around Armavir and depending on how strong Olivier's offensive is, I may pull all the way back to the Kuban line and defend from behind the river.

Of course the worse thing about the whole defensive strategy is the lack of air cover. I have 150 fighters including some Italians. They cannot make a dent in the overwhelming Russian numbers as things stand. So I withdraw all fighter units completely to the west and take them off intercept. They will be completely rested now until the main Soviet offensive starts. Then I will only use them on selected parts of the front to try and halt some of the Soviet air attacks.

So all in all it is a pretty dire situation, especially the lack of air cover and no prestige to play with.

However.....


...there are some bright sparks on the horizon. I still have 685k troops and I also have a greater number of tanks that the actual start of Uranus. Add in the fact that I'm fairly certain I'm not about to get surrounded - even if Olivier does well in the north he has no troops for a southern pincer - then those troops numbers should actually start to go up once the German reinforcements start hitting in November and December.

The other thing is that whilst having a strategic position of 10 is annoying, it does mean that I have quite a lot of withdrawing to do before I get anywhere near the dreaded no step back order.

So all in all, the game is not totally lost - I still currently have the victory points for a minor victory - and I think I have a chance of holding on.

I have lost the offensive game, but a new and very different game is about to start.

Bring on Uranus Mark II[:D]

12 October - I wonder what lovely new objective OKH will give me?

Stalingrad of course....for the third time![X(]

Anyway, no map to show this turn as I have launched no attacks as I carry on re-organising my defensive lines so the map hasnt changed from last turn. The only difference is that I pull all my troops back one hex to the north of Stalingrad to shorten the line.

As expected my prestige is now at zero so I will have to play the ambition card within the next three turns to avoid dismissal.

Whilst we are on the subject of prestige Olivier has informed me that his prestige will soon be at.............................................................




75!!

EEK!!! He was complaining that he is finding the cards a little bit expensive right now[:D]

Of course, the trouble is Olivier has a strategic position of one, therefore he keeps getting hold objectives and with my offensive grinding to a halt he will keep on getting the hold objectives as well.

All in all I am pleased that I have been given Stalingrad again, at least if I do take it I will be able to put a very small dent in his prestige[8D]

I'm interested to see how the game handles the swing from offensive to defensive in terms of the situation level (can't remember it's in game term).. the player may feel like they've gone from 10 to 0 but how quickly will the game acknowledge that before it stops handing out offensive objectives (and so getting you dismissed).

I am following this AAR with big interest and already made some notes to make improvements on the handling of the strategic position for v1.06. What I am thinking of implementing is a strategic position loss for failing to attain a major offensive target and a strategic position gain for succeeding in keeping a major defensive target.

ORIGINAL: Vic

I am following this AAR with big interest and already made some notes to make improvements on the handling of the strategic position for v1.06. What I am thinking of implementing is a strategic position loss for failing to attain a major offensive target and a strategic position gain for succeeding in keeping a major defensive target.

On a similar note, in the Uranus scenario, apart from the hold Stalingrad order at the start, the Germans dont actually get any more major objectives to hold. Obviously it can work both ways, but there is no chance for the Germans to get any large number of prestige points as there are only ever minor objectives with one or two prestige.

14th & 16th October

Again nothing to really update as the front is still quiet. I am not strong enough to advance and Olivier is not strong enough to launch a full scale offensive yet.

On 14th October there is really nothing to report as both Olivier and I rebuild defences and rest forces.

16th of October is interesting for the sole reason that I re-launch the attack on Stalingrad again. The artillery is rested up and if I have worked this out right I have enough units with stockpiles to launch a full attack for two turns on the trot. Before the artillery assault I play a freedom card from Manstein and attack cards on two of the divisions taking part in the assault. It may seem like overkill, but I need it for Stalingrad.

Once the dust has settled from the artillery the infantry move in for the assault. It is another bloody failure though - one unit manages to hold on whilst the rest all panic from the ferocity of the attack. It is not enough though. The entrenchment levels fall massively so now it is a case of seeing what damage I can cause next turn and whether it will be enough.

The map hasnt really changed from the last update, but thought it worthwhile putting an overview of the situation up, mainly because parts of the map appear to be covered in white stuff[:D]

18th October - game nearing its end?

Unfortunately it looks like I wont be able to hold on much longer. The trouble with the ambition card, as I suspected, when at this high a strategic level I am still getting more offensive objectives. A quick look at the current objectives show that I will have to play the ambition card again on the 26th October. My prestige will go down to zero on the 22nd so I will have to play the ambition card again on that turn by the latest. That will leave me with one prestige, which means that I will then have to take Stavropol by the 26th October or my prestige will go down to zero again on the 28th October. That means that I need enough prestige to play the ambition card again by the 4th November to avoid dismissal.

The dismissal card costs 37pp, which happens to be the current total I have. I think when you are on low levels of prestige you get 5pps per turn, so if that is right then I will only have 35pp by the 4th November; I dont know how much the ambition card is, but I do know that it will be more than 37, unless Christmas comes early in 1942[:D]

Therefore, providing I've worked that all out correctly, I have until 4th November to take Stalingrad by. There is nowhere else I am strong enough to take an objective and even if I transferred forces they wouldnt be there in time for me to avoid dismissal.

If anybody knows of any other strategy that I'm missing then feel free to let me know. I dont think playing the more time card will be of use, all it will do is move the dismissal date by a couple of turns.

So, providing I have worked that all out correctly, Stalingrad is my only chance to keep the game going a little longer, as providing I dont get too many bad objectives I should then be alright to hold out until December 5th when I have to try and take Poti - by that stage I should have enough pp to play the ambition card again, which I'm hopeful that by that stage I may have started to lose some of the strategic initiative and I will get defensive cards.

To that end, provided I do take Stalingrad, the only thing I can think to do would be to withdraw and deliberately lose some towns in the Caucasus which will change my strategic position which at the moment is still at 10.

It is tough working out how to survive at this stage....my head now hurts trying to work all that out[8D]

Anyway, with the vague plan in mind I make the decision to not attack again in Stalingrad this turn, I need to build the forces back up and have full artillery cover each turn, otherwise it will be pointless. No map as there is no movement this turn, apart from the snow building up a bit more.

Hi,

Sorry can´t give you any advice when it comes to prestigepoints. I have the game but haven´t played much unfortunately so don´t know enough to give you any advice. Too much work [:(]
Hope to put some time into it soon, though. Just wanted to thank you for the awesome AAR. I browse the forums every day and its really fun to read
and makes me want to play now! [&o]

Good Luck the coming winter!

Kind regards

Patrik

What I am doing in my game is playing the avoid cards as soon as possible. What it means is my army is not getting reinforced in the early-mid game, but I have already 'avoided' Krasnador...and Stalingrad is next up on the list.

I noticed in my last game that I was probably going to be running into a prestige problem with the germans for that reason. I had reached a sort of limit on my offensive, but was not losing objectives fast enough to drop to a defensive posture. (which may cost me the game in victory points anyways).

I really think that you have to avoid stuff...as much as possible. After I took Rostov/Millerowo/Sevastopol/Kerch etc. I am over 50 prestige. If I manage to play all the avoid cards, I will probably only lose for Stalingrad and Krasnador. Since I wont take Krasnador, I wont get Poti and Grozny. If I take Stalingrad, I will play avoid Astrakahn. All in all I am trying to minimize my prestige loss.

ORIGINAL: puttel

Hi,

Sorry can´t give you any advice when it comes to prestigepoints. I have the game but haven´t played much unfortunately so don´t know enough to give you any advice. Too much work [:(]
Hope to put some time into it soon, though. Just wanted to thank you for the awesome AAR. I browse the forums every day and its really fun to read
and makes me want to play now! [&o]

Good Luck the coming winter!

Kind regards

Patrik

Cheers for that, glad you're enjoying it, we're both having a blast playing it. We are both fairly desperate to make it to the winter offensive. Olivier slightly more so, he has even offered to give up a couple of objectives to help me survive - I think he is building up a formidable offensive force which he wants to use[:D]

ORIGINAL: LiquidSky



What I am doing in my game is playing the avoid cards as soon as possible. What it means is my army is not getting reinforced in the early-mid game, but I have already 'avoided' Krasnador...and Stalingrad is next up on the list.

I noticed in my last game that I was probably going to be running into a prestige problem with the germans for that reason. I had reached a sort of limit on my offensive, but was not losing objectives fast enough to drop to a defensive posture. (which may cost me the game in victory points anyways).

I really think that you have to avoid stuff...as much as possible. After I took Rostov/Millerowo/Sevastopol/Kerch etc. I am over 50 prestige. If I manage to play all the avoid cards, I will probably only lose for Stalingrad and Krasnador. Since I wont take Krasnador, I wont get Poti and Grozny. If I take Stalingrad, I will play avoid Astrakahn. All in all I am trying to minimize my prestige loss.

Obviously too late for this game, but something to consider in future games. It must really hurt in the early game being sat there with 200 prestige and knowing you are going to use it on an avoid card. I'm never quite sure with the avoid cards how to play them. If you already have Stalingrad as an objective you cant play the card can you?

20th October - Stalingrad -so near yet so far

This turn I again attack at Stalingrad. Manstein does not have enough points for the freedom card, so I play the attack card instead on one of the 11th army corps. Similarly I play an attack card on one of the other 11th army divisions from corps HQ.

I initially attack with all my fresh artillery and then launch an assault. It fails again but the defenders look battered. therefore I take a risk and go all out. I launch another artillery assault with some of the remaining artillery and then attack again with the remaining infantry units. It is so close, loads of Russian infantry units either panic or break, but at the end of the battle there are still five units standing. I dont know the exact casualties for either side, but the Russian stack was in the region of 260 points at the start of the turn and I reduced it down to 103. That is as close as I have come and I think that might be it. It all depends now on what troops Olivier manages to get back across the river this turn. In an ideal world I'd be using my level bombers to reduce the infantry units trying to cross. But unfortunately the planes arent up to it and 'Luftwaffe' is now a dirty word and not used at OKH.

Olivier's forces are again starting to build up to the immediate south of the Volga, so the panzers from 1st panzer again engage in a spoiling attack. Ideally I would like to try and take Sarepta which would give me a very precious 1 prestige, but there is an ominous looking tank corps sat behind it, so I'm not too sure I'm strong enough to take it.