Ketza (CCCP) vrs Astra (Axis)

[Ketza]

I have a game as Soviets that it looks like my Axis opponent may be around for awhile so I decided to start a AAR that begins turn 12.

[Klydon]

Excellent! Looking forward to reading about it. [:)]

[Ketza]

My opponent Astradordro (Sp) had accepted a server game that I had started to test out a strategy as the Soviets of "factories first" and give up territory quite freely to save troops.

My idea was to structure the whole Soviet defence around getting factories out. Cities and geography were not going to be goals whatsoever. Saving factories and troops were going to be. I chose these goals because in the end territory is mostly a non factor as long as the Soviet has a huge army and full tilt production to get the steamroller going.

His opening turn was very strong. Big Lvow pocket. Riga Gambit and most of my border forces crushed. He did however overdo it on the border attacks and I had a lot of routed units in the marsh. He also made a mistake not getting over the Dvina in strength. He sent a few divisions to the south and 3rd Pz went straight into the middle. 4th Pz was alone on the initial Moscow drive.

[Ketza]

Leningrad - With 4th PZ unreinforced it was quite easy to shut it down. 3 times I cut off his spearhead with crap divisions and he ran into a stonewall at Pskov around turn 4. He was keeping his Panzers of AGN very concentrated at it was rather easy to just put "stuff" in front of him and keep him mired down. Meanwhile I had a force of 15 or so divisions on refit digging near the city and in a line down to Novgorod.

He brought a Pz army from the center eventually and finally cleared the Baltic around turn 7ish as I recall. He ran up against the Luga line and made progress along the coast where I had a weak line of brigades to just slow him down but then ran right into a line of level 3 and 4 forts with defensive values of 60+. Here he got a bloody nose with his Panzers so he shuffled them towards the lake and tried for the hook approach.

As his hook made progress into the forests he started banging at the main Leningrad line with stacks of infantry and although he has taken out 3 or 4 hexes it has been a bloody affair for him. Turns 11 and 12 have also seen his hook drive starting to stall as I shuffle some reserves in and started some counters against his much weakened Panzer divisions.

So as of turn 12 Leningrad looks somewhat secure but I have to keep an eye on it and be prepared to send in some more divisions.

[Ketza]

Leningrad/Valdai area- More or less using a combination of checkerboarding and setting up occasional strong lines to keep him at bay. Whenever he concentrates I just move a blob in front of him.

[Peltonx]

Wow thats a major def line for 1941, GJ.

What are the losses for each side and current army strengths?
Were you able to evac all the troops from the marsh?
Were you able to evac all or most of the production units from the cities?

Thanks

Pelton

[Ketza]

Quick point - Making Soviet tank divisions "static" is a great way to improve the lot of the Soviet army. The trucks and APs are a have a huge immpact on what you can do as a Soviet player. Most of my units are at there max MP every turn and I have a lot of trucks in the pool for Blizzard HQ build ups.

[Ketza]

In the center he had me very concerned the first 5 or 6 turns. I did get out Mogilev and Smolensk factories by sacrificing some troops but he made a lot of ground quickly. He did however sacrifice his flanks in order to keep pushing ahead and neglected to clear out the swamps where all those routed units cam back to life. From turn 3-6 I had divisions running around in his rear causing utter chaos. For some reason he continued pushing forward and I guess was waiting for them to surrender.

His Panzers first attempted to cross the Dnepr south of Mogilev. Because they were so concentrated it was easy to bottle them up and I stacked the river high and he was held twice trying to get across. He then switched his Panzer blob and headed towards the landbridge. I then switched the Soviet Western Front "blob" north and threw them in front of him again. It slowed him down but eventually I had to start falling back as he began to spread out his Panzers and the possibility of a pocket began looming.

Sometime in this phase of the game he had switched a panzer army or a few Corps north to the Leningrad front as he must have realized he wasnt getting anywhere there. In the center I continued to fall back slowly and then around turn 9 0r 10 he turned his Panzers south towards Kiev where he was also having some major issues.

[Ketza]

Turn 12 Moscow north

[Ketza]

Turn 12 Moscow south. Yiu can see the edge of one of his larger pockets of about 8 divisions fanned out to make it harder to kill them off. He has had very few pockets executed that I didnt "give" him. In certain cases it was prudent to give him a small pocket knowing that it would slow him down a turn. This is how I got out Gomel, Bryansk and that other little towns factories when he made his sudden turn o the south from his Moscow Axis of approach.

Just north of Bryansk I had also launched a sucessful attack on a Panzer division this past turn. Across the front this turn there were 4 such attacks that knocked some of PZ Cvs down into the 3-4 value area.

[Ketza]

In the South he made a mistake with his Lvow pocket and it was reopened. I then noticed turn 2 the Panzer presence seemed a little light so I assumed he sent the reserve Panzer corp in the south to the center.

I then made a line 2 hexes deep about 5 hexes away from his main advance and then moved all of the Lvow pocket east except for a few divisions that took back as many hexes as possible. His lack of Panzers showed as his progress was very slow. I actually maintained a very strong line in the south until turn 5 or so where he made a breakthrough and he seemed to get a little desperate and left a few panzer divisions and a SS division out to dry almost near Kiev from what appeared to be a HQ buildup.

My reaction was to leave behind a carpet of Static weak armor divisons and head east with everyone else. I also headed west with the Dnepr river line divisions which had been on refit for 4 turns. The result was some very banged up German Panzers and a surrendered SS division.

Turn 6 however I noticed a very bizzare development. Swarms of Hungarians and Italians were heading east. Somehow they had been released. Most likley it was from a retreating mountain division near Hungary as I had never moved a unit into Hungary on my own. My initial reaction was surprise but after looking at what my position was overall I figured he could probably use the troops and I also wanted to see what impact they would have on the situation.

With this swarm heading east I used the next few turns to withdraw across the river in an orderly fashion as his Panzers were in no condition to stop me.

Around turn 10 his panzers came back with a vengeance in the far south as well as just North of Kiev. The Kiev group looked like they are going to make an attempt to meet up with AGC Panzers and form a Kiev pocket.

Turn 12 I countered some of his Panzers that had formed a small bridgehead north of Kiev and tossed them back over the river. I also rebuffed several of his infantry division assaults further south with some nasty holds that gave him a lot of casualties. On the surface it looked like I may be able to hold the river line into mud but the presence of a huge Italian and Hungarian force freeing up the German troops to be more concentrated made me think twice and the beginings of a wholesale retreat from the river started this turn.

[Ketza]

Kiev 2 turn 12. All the river hexes Soviet side are level 3 forts. I dont think the Italians or Hungarians can break through but so far in the Suuth there have been no disaster pockets so rather then risk it its time to vamoose!

[Ketza]

In the far south the tactic of delay and get the factories out worked well. When the Italian and Axis armored divisions showed up turn 10 or so the Dnepr line crumbled and the Coastal army went packing for the Crimea. The rst of the front bowed backwards and I sent my strategic reserve in to stabilize things. A series of interesting battles ensued.

Here is a battle between an Italian armored division and a Soviet calvary division near the sea of Azov. I cropped it to much but the Italian tank division lost 78 tanks in this attack and another 40+ the next attack. I plan on putting a hurting on the Italinas and Hungarians that are "uninvited guests"

[Ketza]

Close to D and Z town the fighting has been fierce with the Rumanians stopped cold by line of Soviets behind a river in level and 3 forts. Astra crossed the Dnepr to flank and potentially pocket a huge force when the reserve arrived compromised of some very large tank divisions and infantry with some hefty CVs that ploughed into his Panzer spearhead with a result of 2 weakened surround Panzer divisions. They will most likely get away but I am sure it put a bit of a scare into him.

I dont think he will be strong enough to clear out the Don basin as his spearheads are pretty beat up but we will see.

[Ketza]

Production wise I have not lost a single factory. Its been pretty easy balancing moving factories with moving troops as long as you pay attention to where the Axis spearheads are and realize that you need to stick your initial plan and goals. I typically move factories first that are remotely in danger before I move troops. Next comes throwing down a few blockers in areas that may be in danger that cannot be moved so it can be moved next turn.

[Ketza]

Unit killed wise its not too high. He had a few pockets and a turn where he finally corraled my rear area raiders but overall acceptable losses given that all of the goals have been met for the first 12 turns. Turn 5 is of course the HQ disband turn. I also disbanded 90% of the fortified areas.

[Ketza]

His ground losses seem a bit high to me. He has also been running his Panzers very hard. As of turn 12 most of his Panzers have Cvs in the 4-7 range with a few 9s and 10s running around.

As far as my own losses I am inclined to think that they could be lower but the divisions that were lost served their purpose well. He was slowed down enough to save all factories in danger and both Leningrad and Moscow seem to be fairly safe barring some exceptional moves by him in the next 6 turns before mud.

[Ketza]

And the OOB. Somewhat typical for this time of the game except I may have maybe 250k less strength then some AARs.

Over the fall and winter and as the factories come back online I should start to really grow. Tank strength will be exceptional as well.

As far as my airforce I really did not do anything with it until turn 12. This turn I reorganized it and moved it around to try and start showing an impact in the land battles. Interception is way up now as well as ground support.

[Ketza]

My last few Axis opponents all quit right around turn 18. Astra has more skill then the majority of them but I to have developed a better understanding of playing the Soviets over the course of several games so that in turn is making it hard for him.

A key thing for me to learn was when and where to refit Soviet divisions. Very early its quite easy to funnel your strength into key areas like Leningrad by using refit. Other parts of the front can be starved until something happens. Another key is proper use of your SUs for when its time to counterattack and when its time to make a stand.

Having played so much initially as the Axis I was hoping to be able to supplement my Axis game by knowing how to play the Soviets. What I have found is the Soviets are much more powerful then most Axis players realize. Its also quite easy as the Soviets once you understand how things work to utterly shut down an Axis player well short of an auto victory.

In my opinion Axis players need to totally throw out the notion of an auto victory unless you want to play someone who has zero clue of what to do.