Stalin's in the gulag, I'm in charge! II - vs 2ndACR (Axis)

[TulliusDetritus]

Ok, new AAR then [8D]

Now I'm busy so I will start this new thing later. And needless to say, all the comments are the most welcome (yes, harsh criticism included). And YES, this time I want to get some! I should get some!! At least until blizzard!

[PeeDeeAitch]

Damn you! Damn you and all your plans! (was that harsh enough?)

[TulliusDetritus]

It was [:D] The problem is those plans are not even mine (but Soviet) [8D] Thanks god I must not improvise.

[Senno]

"Nyet! I am Comrade Senno of the NKVD. There shall be no improvisation. This battalion shall help reinforce that lesson, now. Oh, there they are, in the minefield. Comrades, how is the "improvisation" going? I imagine not so well. Now, Comrade TD, what were you saying about improvisation?"

[TulliusDetritus]

ORIGINAL: Senno
"Nyet! I am Comrade Senno of the NKVD. There shall be no improvisation. This battalion shall help reinforce that lesson, now. Oh, there they are, in the minefield. Comrades, how is the "improvisation" going? I imagine not so well. Now, Comrade TD, what were you saying about improvisation?"

The NKVD guys have little choice. I'm the BOSS [8D] And while we talk about them (the NKVD guys) I will mention something. On my other game I let them die in Riga. And that was perhaps a bad thing. I mean, I always let some troops in medium, big cities, that's normal. But the NKVD guys are good fighters (morale bonus or something like that). So now I want them to survive the first massacres. Let's see if it can be done [:)]

[Senno]

Wonder if he will launch the amphibious invasion after bombing the other port?
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"Accept my apologies Comrade TD, I was at the front, unaware of our recent change in leadership. Did I say Comrade Senno? I meant I am Comrade Khruschev, that right, c...h...e...v . What am I doing in Moscow? Umm, well, that's a good question... /Runs away.... =P

[TulliusDetritus]

I know people were talking about this thing on some thread. I didn't follow this issue though. All I know is I should be getting some... amphibious operation included or not [:)]

Well, I'm lying, I hope he does not pocket all my frontier districts troops (and in fact I suspect he will) [:(] If he does then my defensive strategy should be changed accordingly.

Oh, and this time I will not assassinate Vasilevski

[Senno]

We will know soon enough, I suppose.[:)]

ORIGINAL: TulliusDetritus

Oh, and this time I will not assassinate Vasilevski

Hehe.

[PeeDeeAitch]

In one AI game Smirnov died. I mourned the loss of his vodka.

[TulliusDetritus]

[center]Turn 1[/center]
[center]22 june 1941[/center]

Well... here we go! [:)] In the weird and great movie Deliverance there is an infamous scene which everyone knows, remembers. Involving Ned Beatty and hmm the other guy. The case is, when they hired this guy the director asked him about the scene he would be performing. The guy --a semi-professional actor-- apparently replied: "I've done worse" [:D]

Well, then I was rather scared when I was opening the turn sent by my opponent. BUT hey, I've seen worse!!!! [&o] In fact I was terrorised about ONE thing... the encirclement of my mega Southwestern Front! Then nope! My units in this Lvov salient won't be able to leave like gentlemen (as Oleg would say) because the rail line has been cut off... BUT I have CUT OFF 2 Panzer divisions, which (I hope! ) will allow my troops in this salient to leave towards safety on next turn!
[center][/center]

[TulliusDetritus]

Ok, turn done and sent [8D]

Sooooo... definitely I don't think I will need to improvise! My situation is not that bad so I am going to follow EXACTLY the strategy I used in my other game... I paste from my other AAR [:D]

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Now some 'strategic' considerations...

I don't think I will be inventing anything So I'm going to follow the Soviet strategy

a) most important enemy units are in the center (or Western District) [still true vs 2ndACR]
b) Moscow is the capital of the motherland [the Aliens haven't moved it yet]

ergo... most of the strategic reserves will go THERE

The STAVKA armies 19, 20, 21, 22 [and 24] will be sent to this important sector. The 16 (in Ukraine) will be sent to cover the Moscow approaches too.
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The 16th Army (not frozen) has already been sent west of Smolensk (by rail) [8D] I have sent quite many independent corps attached to STAVKA which were in the south to the center as well... There's going to be a BIG MASS here, as usual. The mission? Obviously contain the enemies, protect Moscow! [8D]

[TulliusDetritus]

And now the screenshots. This is what I've got, NOT moved yet. The Northwest [8D]

[TulliusDetritus]

The Western Front [8D]

[TulliusDetritus]

The Southwestern Front. Enemy Panzers NOT cut off yet

[TulliusDetritus]

The losses

[TulliusDetritus]

And the air losses

[TulliusDetritus]

So why am I optimistic? because the enemy advance in the Southwestern Front has been cut off in the middle! This might buy time to save my many hordes in the Lvov salient! [8D]

[TulliusDetritus]

In the Northwest, I am starting some sort of primitive defence [8D]

[cookie monster]

Are you gonna disband any corps hq's?

There's 80+ of them. Mine disbanded on mass at turn 5.

I was pissed at losing 4 mountain divs to shattering, you may want to save them for Odessa or the Crimea or 2nd/3rd line duty.

BTW construction troops attached to fortified regions dont help them to dig. My bug report was answered with 'This is a known issue, and should...be fixed'.

I disbanded about 17 SAD airbases (they contain 5000 men plus 300-700 vehicles) cos my manpower got tight. I was running out every turn.

I was usually placing 250,000 men in the refit segment into the front line.

After SAD disbands I got an extra 130,000 men allocated.

Are you gonna use the motorised divisions, or place them STATIC?

They can be made static, you will get lots of AP plus they upgrade to rifle divs around turn 10 and can be reactivated cheaply.

Get a unit digging at any city and any piece of rough ground you can find.

Never allow a unit to fortify an unimportant hex around Leningrad/Moscow. The civilians will help the occupied hexes.

[TulliusDetritus]

And finally the VITAL part of the map. The Western Front aka Moscow approaches