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GC 41-45 game FOW 1.04 no random weather. Manstein is a seasoned player and this should be fun.

Except for the bases around Smolensk the air campaign went very well. I tried to focus as much as possible on Recon and advanced fighters.

AGN opening - In a game I am playing as Soviets the Axis player blew everything off the line in order to advance as far as possible in the north/center. What I found as the Soviet was a dozen or more routed units that had rallied in the marsh and northeast of Riga. I have been able to use them to great effect slowing down AGC and AGN. Since these units were going to be "dead" I have thrown them away in delaying actions the end result being any momentum gained from blowing out the line was lost.

That having been said my approach this game is to pocket as many Soviets as possible while still pushing forward in a very aggressive fashion. Here is the AGN opening with the "typical" moves but carefull consideration given to pocketing as many units as possible. Also I did not attack Kaunaus but chose to surround it which is a bit different. I was still able to convert the rail hexes that are usually converted.

The end result in the northern pockets is Aprox 20 units surrounded instead of the usual dozen or so. Several Panzer divisions are across the river and each division was flown in around 50 tons of fuel. 1 Corp came over from 3Pz. The motorized unit that cleared the ports was flown in 100 tons of fuel.

AGC - Same strategy as AGN as far as trying to bag as many divisions as possible. A very large pocket was created and a smaller one near Brest Litovsk. The large pocket contains 40 or so units. 3rd Pz and 2nd Pz both converted a lot of hexes. Several divisions were flown in 50 tons of fuel.

The part of the pocket that concerns me. The hexes that make me nervous should flip.

Pripyat - I have decided to commit a Corp to clear out the marsh and help pocket some troops. Maybe its a waste but I will pocket a few more divisions and the units really would not have made a big difference in the middle where they will head next turn anyway. Another 6 divisions in the dead pile.

AGS - Kovel pocket formed and Lvov pocket. Both should hold and 1 Mot division slated for the south was sent into the
marsh. Hopefully that was not a mistake...

As far as how many units are in these pockets suffice it so say its a boatload if it holds. I made sure there were gaps in the line near the broken down PZ division so no deliberate attacks could be made. Also I kicked up interdiction very high and reconed the whole area so if he attempts to counter it should be problematic for him.

The big hammer in the Lvow pocket attack was 24th PZ. Commiting it in the South is a game changer for sure.

I looked up the area where the large scale tank battles took place on google earth. You can see why the area is light woods surrounded by clear terrain:

Well I guess we will see what happens when Manstein sends back the turn. He emailed me saying it was an interesting opening I am not sure what makes it interesting except maybe the Panzers in the Marsh.

5200+ planes destroyed
30 units destroyed
100+ units in pockets
Minsk industry trapped
Riga fallen

Banzai!

Heres a quick shot of what I was able to do in my Soviet game and what I am attempting to eliminate from happening in this game:

I really like this opening. Good luck Ketza.

ORIGINAL: Ketza
Banzai!

Wrong game for this battle cry.[:-]

Hartwig

ORIGINAL: hartwig.modrow

ORIGINAL: Ketza
Banzai!

Wrong game for this battle cry.[:-]

Hartwig

Old habits die hard [:)]

ORIGINAL: pompack
Old habits die hard [:)]

I wish you were right.

Hartwig

I think you will be ok in your worry spot in AGC. Too bad you could not get either of the trailing panzer divisions to go 1 more hex to capture the little towns there (especially Kopyl). I think you should be ok there from the standpoint that units inside the pocket would have to go through a friendly swamp followed by an enemy controlled swamp and then into a clear hex next to your panzer division and that is a lot of MP's. If he doesn't have a unit close by outside the pocket, then you are golden.

The only thing I do differently in the south is to get the 17th army going SE. Some units will rout, but they will all be inside the pocket and this way you shrink the size of the pocket by quite a bit and give the Russian less room to work with and in addition, this puts more of your units closer to him in order to start cleaning out the pocket on turn 2. In addition, I think it gets 17th army going where you want it to go faster which is usually between the Rumanian border and a bit to the north. I don't think its a game changer either way and can perhaps be chalked up to personal taste.

Although all but one pocket held (small one in the marsh) Manstein did a good job of "linking" the northern pockets. It was almost as if the resulting pocket in the north was too big. There is however a lot of units caught.

Lvov pocket also held.

Manstein did make an attempt to crack the Panzer line but it held:

i think you got the wrong sides.

ORIGINAL: Keunert

i think you got the wrong sides.

[&:]