Stand fast or manoeuvre? StB EvK (Axis) vs. Elma666(Soviets)

[EwaldvonKleist]

HI Crackaces,
you mean 9 offensive CV? Even then, it depends on so many factors, at some places 2 off CV can do what 10 off CV can't do elsewhere, so I am sceptical of a fixed number unless the surrounding conditions are fixed/specified. And the CV you need to invest always depend on the CV invested by the enemy.
Regards

[EwaldvonKleist]

T11, 28.01.1943 before Axis operations
Both pockets opened. Unexpected and annoying. Generally Soviets having very good RNG this turn, luck favours the bold. Losses higher than during the last 8 turns.

[EwaldvonKleist]

After looking on the map a bit I am not entirely sure on what to do next. Obviously I can simply react to Soviet attacks and redeployments but counterattacks and encirclements are like a drug, I need them. But there are no really good, obvious spots I can quickly reach (except of re-closing the Northern pocket&note that a rail hex at Vyazma is still blocked and will only be repaired next turn). Feel free to suggest any ideas you may have while I sleep over this.

[MattFL]

One thought is to keep him fighting around that encirclement, even allowing him to maybe push a little further sw from there, while you build up north of Vyazma and south of Ilmen and go for a large pocket. If you launched an attack NW from the Vyazma salient you really only have to cut that one rail line to keep most of those units there. Plus that area by Vyazma gives you all kinds of options - NW as suggested above or push directly east. How good in your recon in the game (i.e. are we seeing most of the units he has?)

Another area that looks interesting for an offensive operation is to strike directly north from Voronezh. Russians look vulnerable there.

Problem is it's January, not the best weather for German large sweeping operations....

[timmyab]

Interesting strategic position.

For me the Velyki Luki salient is the dominant feature of the map. I would keep pushing that salient back if the Soviets allow it, but it seems like they are strong there now so perhaps time to redeploy the armor.
I think I would be looking for targets of opportunity for the panzers and resting them if there are none to be found.
A quick strike aimed at making a pocket in the unfortified far South looks like a possibilty.

Another thing to consider is where you want your Summer 43 defense lines to be. Obviously fortified river lines are good.
The stronger your Summer 43 defense line the more units you can release for offensive actions, possibly even a major Summer 43 offensive.

Something I noticed. If I was the Soviet player I would be sending two or three tank armies to the Finnish border. The Finns look vulnerable to an infiltration attack, unless I'm missing something.

[EwaldvonKleist]

Thanks for writing down your ideas.

@mattfl: Recon is pretty good. I do not see all unit due to the bad weather, but most of them. And I do not even put effort into flying the recon missions effectively, just random clicking. In clear weather recon would be almost complete.
The Velikei area definitely is one of the most interesting parts of the map from the Axis perspective.

@timmyab: I agree about the importance of the Velikie Salient. The Soviet defence on the Southern edge of the Velikie Lukie salient is very strong now. I could not take more than one per turn and would struggle to keep the conquered hexagon. The problem with attacks in the South is that he can see my build ups on recon. Both by my guess and my opponent's comments, all attack in North came with 100% surprise, while the attack at Tula a few turns back was expected and met with Soviet reinforcements.
This being said, with good concealment and decoy techniques an attack in the South still can be an option.

Regarding the summer 1943 and river lines, they work both ways. River lines mean I can weaken the line but the same is true for the Soviets. I like to defend in front of rivers if I want an active position because you have a quick fallback line and relatively safe rear area (encirclement over a river is difficult), while being able to strike at the enemy.

Regarding the Finns, I have thinned out the frontline to get them closer to the rails/HQs to save trucks. 2-3 tank armies in the North would remove any chance of a deeper offensive elsewhere, and I would welcome a Soviet attack in the North. The Finns are inactive so far and if he wants to fight them, please. I am really interested in dead Russians but do not care at all about dead Finns. As far as I know the victory conditions can be met without ever attacking the Finns so why bother with them?

I usually recon the possible deployment area (the one rail line) and nothing has shown there so far.

[EwaldvonKleist]

T11, 28.01.1943 after Axis operations
After studying the situation a bit more, I noticed the dire supply situation. Have a look at the supply detail screen on the map. I have around 50% vehicles in the pool, but so far placing a HQ directly on the rail negated any negative effect from the vehicle shortage. But it seems my pool has dropped so low that it finally matters. The consequence is that major offensive activies will cease until the truck repair rates raise (when weather improves). Supply build up for new offensives would take too long and once you move away from the railheads you get hit by the full 50% vehicle modifier on top of the rail modifier which means the unit will get almost nothing. And I must be careful to not run the truck fleet into the ground, the less trucks you have the higher is the relative influence of any new % of drop. Fortunately, the situation is in no way better on the other side of the front. Both sides will starve until the weather clears.

This being said, frontline maintenance and morale building close to the rail line will still be done. I got three units over the important 80mrl/86mrl thresholds this turn, very nice. Having a few units with 2MP base cost per clear enemy hexagon can be very useful come summer. Maybe they can later be used for some timmyab style city raiding: https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... age=8&key=#
The attacks usually do not result in good loss ratios but are important for player morale.

[EwaldvonKleist]

Test

Want to upload a frontline animation here but youtube is not cooperating.

Really weird, the embedded link works but the link to the video on the youtube page not. I will give the youtube server some time.

[EwaldvonKleist]

Here is the frontline animation video:
https://streamable.com/s/8sr6a/ubebni

Sorry for the low quality, still trying to figure out how to upload it to youtube. I can upload but the generated link does not work.

[timmyab]

As far as I know the victory conditions can be met without ever attacking the Finns so why bother with them?

Finland is worth 11 points I think so could make the difference between victory levels I guess. It is true though that beating up the Finns is less important while Leningrad is in Soviet hands.

Good point about the river defense lines. All the while you hold the upper hand it's probably better to defend in front as you say.
It's often good technique anyway but the German side has difficulty building and maintaining forts behind the river, so slightly dangerous in the later game when the Soviets get on top.

[EwaldvonKleist]

My younger brother is more skilled with video editing than I am and made a much better video with background music and a smoother transition between the frames, it sometimes seems as if the unit are actually moving. He also stabilised the alignment of the frames because transition between different computers messed up the necessary standardisation of the screenshots. Thanks to him for this! The Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda is always looking for skilled personal.

Clicking on the picture will redirect you to the video.



Fast version of the video.

[joelmar]

Well done, cool and interesting video! It really shows the flow of the game.

[joelmar]

Interesting. After so much moving around and attacking in blizzard, I was wondering when the truck situation would hit and what would be the effects. Let's hope the recovery is not too long.

[Telemecus]

ORIGINAL: EwaldvonKleist
My younger brother is more skilled with video editing than I am and made a much better video with background music and a smoother transition between the frames, it sometimes seems as if the unit are actually moving. He also stabilised the alignment of the frames because transition between different computers messed up the necessary standardisation of the screenshots. Thanks to him for this! The Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda is always looking for skilled personal.

Make sure his skills ratings get a boost - his last entry in WitE forums I feel undervalued his abilities.

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: EwaldvonKleist

The Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda is always looking for skilled personal.

What a coincidence! So is Pravda.

[EwaldvonKleist]

If someone would be so kind to ask morvael for an "art" leader rating in the game I could do justice to my younger brother.

I will be away on a Seminar for the next two weeks and will not be able to continue game&AAR during this time. As a nasty cliffhanger, the Soviets were more active in T11 than on any other turn except for T1. Feel free to guess what happened in T11

Regards
EvK

[King_Solomon]

I love this AAR, it's like Operation Barbarossa in reverse (Assorabrab?). I've always wanted to do an AAR on a scenario other than the Grand Campaign. It's refreshing to see you do that. Wait, you're leaving us for two weeks after getting us hooked? May the tallest person at the Seminar sit directly in front of you!

[John B.]

That's a good one but, I think that a better seminar curse would be "may the crucial presentation be made by someone reading a 200 slide power point in a barely audible monotone."

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: John B.

That's a good one but, I think that a better seminar curse would be "may the crucial presentation be made by someone reading a 200 slide power point in a barely audible monotone."

Death by Powerpoint is cruel and unusual punishment.

[Telemecus]

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: John B.
That's a good one but, I think that a better seminar curse would be "may the crucial presentation be made by someone reading a 200 slide power point in a barely audible monotone."

Death by Powerpoint is cruel and unusual punishment.

I have made grown men cry with my power decks! [:D]