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The germans started their attack on the unprepared Soviet forces.
Casualties have been appalling. The Soviet order of battle is shattered before i can make my first turn.

Below the Pripiat marches, in the south, the german drive seems to be going for Kiev and secondarily to the Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.

Above the Pripiat marches, in then north, the german drive seems to go mainly for the Dvina river bridgeheads and Kiev.

First of all i needed to rescue whats left of my initial airfleet and artillery. Due to limited readiness this was not a succes.
Then i needed to start preparing defensive positions further inland. I figured i will not be able to hold all initial german objectives so i chose which to defend.
I planned to defend the area behind Kiev in the Center, while falling back closer to Leningrad in the North.
In the South i must defend Kiev while giving up space in the plains of the Ukraine. Hopefully later a stand can be made at Sebastopol and Kharkov.

I have 200pp available and bought infantry level II research (80pp) and medium tank level I research (40pp).

I switched production to mainly infantry defences and medium tank counter attack armoured formations.
Though when setting production i found out i needed quite some production power to produce some extra trucks, engineers and fighters. Those are needed to get the respectivly get the reinforcements to the front, blow bridges and provide some aircover in key areas.
I also order production of cargoships at Leningrad and Sevastopol. Those will come in handy to harass the flanks/supply routes in the South and in Finland.

Tips for the German first turn.
 
The Germans do not have a lot of time so you have to play efficiently.  The Soviet army starts out about 50% larger than the Germans and has much greater production potential.  You have to hit hard and fast.  If you do not get at least 1000 rifle kills in your first turn, you will be in trouble soon.  Specifically:
 
- Ensure you get the key initial encirclements.  In the North, it is critical to cut off the large group of troops opposing AG Center near Bialystock.  If these troops are not cut off, they will recover quickly and threaten Warsaw.  In the South, you want to cut off the troops South and West of Lvov.  In the far South, Romania does not provide alot of firepower, but grabbing the Dneister bridgeheads will effectively cut off troops West of the river (large rivers block supply)
 
- Kill high value units, especially tanks, planes, and artillery.  These units cost 20x as much as infantry making them expensive to replace.  They will also delay the Red Army's ability to strike back.  Planes are particularly important because any air unit not cut off can retreat inland. 
 
- Strike HQ's.  Hitting headquarters is important because killing staff impacts the combat effectiveness of the entire front.  Also, staff supply the front.  Hitting the trucks in the HQ limits the ability of the HQ to evacuate units to the East.  Alway look for opportunities to attack HQ, and conversely, protect your own HQ's
 
- Build mobility quickly.  You do not need mobility in the first turn because the German army is in position and the Soviets are forward deployed.  However, mobility is critical in the subsequent turns.  You want to get to defensive lines in force before they are too strong.  Your tank units are fully mechanized.  Your infantry is not.  Focus on building trucks to mechanize your infantry.  Mechanize units that are further in the rear, so you can get more power to the front. The first part of 1941 is a race.
 
- Upgrade troops immediately.  Upgrades give troops more punch and more staying power.  You have enough political points for 2 upgrades.  I would upgrade infantry, tanks, or fighters first.  I typically chose infantry and tanks.
 
- Attack with units in the rear and from multiple sides.  Attack with units that are farther back and use your front line units for exploiting attacks.  This is the difference between get more than 1000 rifle kills in the first turn or less than 1000 rifle kills.  Also, try to attack from 2 sides if possible to get concentric attack bonuses. 
 
- Surround, then attack.  If you can surround a unit and cut off it's retreat, you can eliminate it completely on a successful attack.  This limits the ammount of strength the Soviet player can re-deploy to the East.
 
- Set up unit production to arrive directly at the front.  You have 4 production centers.  You will need 2 for supply and 2 can product units.  Set up the supply cities to deposit directly into the main HQ (e.g., OKW).  However, production should be directed to 1 of the 4 combat fronts (e.g., AG North, AG Center, AG South, Romania).  You will then need fewer trucks in the OKW HQ and the truck you have can be directly deposited into combat units increasing their mobility.

Outstanding Gentlemen....and Thanks![:)] These screenies are very interesting. Question, do reinforcements come from the cities into the individual units or from the Hq's that reside in the cities into the individual units? Also, is a truck presence important to moving reinforcements into individual units like the earlier PT game? Many thanks for the AAR.[:)]
Best Regards, Arditi

Oh, saw your last, Tweber, on trucks and supplying units.  Thanks.[:)]  Looks great!
        Arditi

This game looks excellent. Not flashy graphics but do have gameplay in centrum.