1.04 The Wolf and the Bear (no Gids)

[Q-Ball]

No help along the Volkhov, and you may as well leave them there to die.

The Finns are probably completely cooked at this point, but I wonder if you could have gotten more mileage out of them if you had pulled them back to Finland in 1942, and allowed them to recover morale and strength. An 80-morale, full-strength Finnish army dug-in on either side of Lake Ladoga (especially up north in all that heavy woods), would be a very tough customer. I suppose the Soviets can just leave it, but if you do, doesn't that mean you need to clear 100% of Germany in order to get a victory? Someone should check that.

If the Finns are dug-in in 1944 along the Neva, the Reds pretty much have to attack them to get Leningrad back for the Victory conditions

Also, couple minor questions:

1. What is the Elite SS Infantry Division I see in everyone's shots in late-war? What unit is that? I would have thought all the SS Grenadier Divisions were non-elite.

2. Seeing your shot, I just realized the Slovak Mobile Division never has a withdrawl date! It's still there in late 1944, and I suppose will be until Slovakia surrenders. Shouldn't that unit have a withdrawl date at some point? It's a minor issue, though that's probably the only unit on the map that you have plenty of replacements for!

[Tarhunnas]

The Finns are far better than they look in that shot, the mud makes them CV 1. The Finnish infantry divisions are actually 4 or 5 in strength, which makes them the best infantry I have. So they are far from a spent force, and if I pull back to well fortified Leningrad I expect to be able to hold the Russkies for a while.

[Baelfiin]

@qball the slovakians fight until lvov is recaptured

[Flaviusx]

I would consider doing just that Tarhunnas: pull back to Leningrad with the Finns and let them fend for themselves. It will take a lot of time and units for the Red Army to chew through that, and divert them from the action elsewhere.

[Tarhunnas]

Turn 181. November 30 1944. Snow.

Despite recent setbacks at the front, it is possible to build up a new line with the help of reinforcements coming in. Map after Axis moves.

[The SNAFU]

What happened to those cutoff divisions? Were they destroyed or were they able to get back to the Axis lines?

[Tarhunnas]

ORIGINAL: The SNAFU

What happened to those cutoff divisions? Were they destroyed or were they able to get back to the Axis lines?

Oh, sad to say, it was the old "Heldentod im Osten" (A heros death in the East).

[ComradeP]

Q-Ball, the elite SS Grenadier division is the Wallonian SS motorized brigades that turns into a SS Grenadier division. For some reason, it downgrades to the 43 variant which is already out of date by 1944.

Tarhunnas: The Soviets don't need Leningrad to win. Capturing all Finnish and German ports might also put it out of supply, making eventually capturing the place easier if the Soviets occupy Germany.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP

Q-Ball, the elite SS Grenadier division is the Wallonian SS motorized brigades that turns into a SS Grenadier division. For some reason, it downgrades to the 43 variant which is already out of date by 1944.

Tarhunnas: The Soviets don't need Leningrad to win. Capturing all Finnish and German ports might also put it out of supply, making eventually capturing the place easier if the Soviets occupy Germany.

I looked it up and counted after posting, but that's right, Finland/Leningrad can be completely bypassed. If Berlin falls, presumably all of Germany and Austira, etc, is probably falling apart, so the 39 VP condition probably doesn't matter that much.

I think Leningrad would stay supplied, though, if it was connected to Finland, since Helsinki is a supply source, even if Germany falls apart.

But there are only like 11 VPs in Finland, and another 10-ish around Leningrad, not enough to make a difference if Germany is done

[Tarhunnas]

Turn 182. December 7 1944. Red Army attention seems to be shifting north. Not many attacks down by Rumania.

[Tarhunnas]

And major withdrawals in the North...

[Q-Ball]

Tarhunnas, you may have this covered already, but just in case: Make sure you have a German unit in the Romanian City of Arad.

If this flips to Soviet control via Romanian surrender, it could also cause Hungarian surrender immediately. (which would be disastrous of course)

[M60A3TTS]

Well you've certainly blown past IdahoNYer and Scar in terms of the game timeline.  Maybe we finally get to see some fighting in '45!

[krupp_88mm]

doing really great in terms of terr it seems, i would say, roughly 8-9 months ahead of historical timeline



you can see his lines are roughly at the mar-apr 1944 mark

[Tarhunnas]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball

Tarhunnas, you may have this covered already, but just in case: Make sure you have a German unit in the Romanian City of Arad.

If this flips to Soviet control via Romanian surrender, it could also cause Hungarian surrender immediately. (which would be disastrous of course)

Thanks for the heads up! I do happen to have a unit there, though I didn't know about that.

[Tarhunnas]

Turn 183. December 14 1944. Nothing dramatic happening. A shot from the frount south of the marshes. An unlycky mountain division has been cut off and will be swallowed up by the Red tide, but such things are commonplace nowadays...

You can alse see the Eastern Rampart around Lvov, but I suspect it will just be a minor speedbump for Jolly Joes hordes when they reach it.

[Tarhunnas]

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS

Well you've certainly blown past IdahoNYer and Scar in terms of the game timeline.  Maybe we finally get to see some fighting in '45!

I can guarantee you will see some scenes from '45. Wether there will be any fight left in me, i can't say...[;)]

[karonagames]

2 panzer Armies and 600k men will arrive in February - this will be the 7th Cavalry, but whether it will be too little too late remains to be seen.

edit: Have you considered a regimental checker board defence? Sacrificing a few ants to protect core units while they build your last line of defence. I did this when testing the 1944 campaign, and it allowed me to build a reasonable line on the Vistula.

edited edit: I also experimented with a "reverse linebacker" defence in 1944 which basically has a screen of regiments in front of a divisional line, with panzer units in reserve in the 3rd line. If he uses hasty attacks on the regiments, the panzers can come from reserve to cause holds,and prevent deliberate attacks on the Divisional line. This worked well for me against the AI but has not been tested against humans. It also reduces attrition losses, but these are pretty meaningless for you at the moment.

[Tarhunnas]

ORIGINAL: BigAnorak

2 panzer Armies and 600k men will arrive in February - this will be the 7th Cavalry, but whether it will be too little too late remains to be seen.

edit: Have you considered a regimental checker board defence? Sacrificing a few ants to protect core units while they build your last line of defence. I did this when testing the 1944 campaign, and it allowed me to build a reasonable line on the Vistula.

edited edit: I also experimented with a "reverse linebacker" defence in 1944 which basically has a screen of regiments in front of a divisional line, with panzer units in reserve in the 3rd line. If he uses hasty attacks on the regiments, the panzers can come from reserve to cause holds,and prevent deliberate attacks on the Divisional line. This worked well for me against the AI but has not been tested against humans. It also reduces attrition losses, but these are pretty meaningless for you at the moment.

Regiments or divisions - it doesn't make much difference, they're all CV1. So I use the double or triple ant-line, with the occasional SS unit with 3 or 4 in CV as stiffener in the second line and occassionally in reserve. It seems to be holding up better than I expected the last few turns. I am steadily giving ground a hex or two per turn.

[Tarhunnas]

Turn 184. December 21 1944. Snow.

The Red Army is breaking into Romania, but not exactly with overwhelming forces. I don't contest them very strongly, I don't want German units cut off down near Braila or Galati. The Rumanians are still on the right side however. The few Rumanian units that are left are often found at the most dangerous parts of the front, just where the strongest Soviet units are. We appreciate this willingness to prove their valor!