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On the surface when I first opened the turn on this new game my initial feeling was DAK might not be that experienced as Axis. Upon further examination it seems his opening might just have a different approach so I thought I would do an AAR for as long as the game may last.

The two main "different" approaches are:

1) No large pockets in the north and center. He pretty much blew everything off the line. This could lead to a very serious leap forward for his infantry turn 2.

2) He did not create a Lvow pocket which leads to some potential interesting play in the south.

So this may be an AAR with a bit of a twist early on which is why started it.

He did a pretty good job of hitting the Soviet air force with the new patches. This was a hint to me that he actually has a good grasp of the game mechanics.

His AGN north moves. He did not attack Riga. He did make good progress getting over the river and flipping hexes in front of 16th and 18th army leaving no pockets.

AGC - the usual huge pocket is missing! He did not send any Panzers south and has a rather large bulge of armor near Minsk. Im actually looking forward to seeing what may become of this rather interesting situation. There are however a lot of Soviet units that are now able to be saved for turn 2 operations which is the typical reason for pocketing everyone....

And finally AGS without a Lvow pocket. This is a bit of a head scratcher for sure. Lots of interesting scenarios might develop.

With all that attacking his losses were relatively light. Soviet losses were 400k with almost 200k captured. This is much more then a typical turn one but the long term impact of no early pockets will be interesting to see.

Curious. He stopped his panzers at Tarnopol. Is he sticking to a historical move (maybe he thinks this [:@] Lvov pocket thing [:@] is unfair)?

You know far better than me what can be done with the German armored forces in the south, so be careful. Maybe he has a cunning plan: a mega-pocket à la Kiev, so watch your back [:D]

Good luck and above all have fun.

Intersting game.

My old moves in north, but AGC and AGS totally different.

Seeing your and old hand and hes new I hope he kicks your butt [:'(]

ORIGINAL: TulliusDetritus

Curious. He stopped his panzers at Tarnopol. Is he sticking to a historical move (maybe he thinks this [:@] Lvov pocket thing [:@] is unfair)?

You know far better than me what can be done with the German armored forces in the south, so be careful. Maybe he has a cunning plan: a mega-pocket à la Kiev, so watch your back [:D]

Good luck and above all have fun.

I am going with the "cunning plan" theory.

Back from dinner!

Air doctrine settings:

i dont buy it. he cant have a smart masterplan when he allows you to bring around 70 units into safety which would be doomed at turn 2. this extra units will cause a lot of trouble for him in mid term. plus you are not a newbie who can not find a way to get a advantage of his "mysterious" beginning turn.

I don't buy it either. The Southwestern Front should be annihilated. These extra units change everything. It means Ketza can freely use the Stavka Reserve Armies to reinforce any threatened area of his choice. He's got Strategic Reserves! And that`s a luxury you CANNOT afford when you face a Lvov mega-pocket. Reserves are gone, poof...

Ketza, could you ask him why he didn't go for the big pocket? Just curious. Maybe it's all about Fair Play... for a change [8D]

ORIGINAL: bigbaba

i dont buy it. he cant have a smart masterplan when he allows you to bring around 70 units into safety which would be doomed at turn 2. this extra units will cause a lot of trouble for him in mid term. plus you are not a newbie who can not find a way to get a advantage of his "mysterious" beginning turn.

Well maybe I am looking at a glass half full. He is trying some stuff that has been bantered about and this AAR is being done just to see how things transpire. Most of my Soviet games end before blizzard so we will see how this one goes.

I used naval transport to get the great NKVD unit out of Riga. I also disbanded the fort at the little port and saved 2k manpower. The NKVD unit will be part of the inner Leningrad defense.

Riga moves. Delaying forces put in front and maybe a few routed guys will flip. Used the pocketed divisions to free up a corridor as well as flip as many hexes as possible to slow down his infantry.

Every time I have seen this bulldozing tactic used in lieu of pocketing it has always come back to haunt the German. With pockets, the Soviet has times during 1941 when reinforcements are very very scarce and the lines get extremely thin. If the formations are saved, OTOH, the Soviet can bounce back that much more quickly.

There is one minor advantage of not pocketing these guys, though. Outside of SW front most of these units have abysmal morale. You are actually better off with shells taking in replacements than most of the units in NW and W fronts from a morale standpoint.

He really should have routed that one division. In my Axis move I make it a point to get rid of it. He still has a wide corridor to move his infantry through. We will see if he does it well.

The PSKOV line. Spent some prized APS here to set it up. Its backed by all of Northwestern air forces as well as some Leningrad front air forces.

11th army Sinyaya river line.

This game is so over already![:D]
It will be interesting to see just how quickly the Soviet position becomes overwhelming.

ORIGINAL: Flaviusx
There is one minor advantage of not pocketing these guys, though. Outside of SW front most of these units have abysmal morale. You are actually better off with shells taking in replacements than most of the units in NW and W fronts from a morale standpoint.

I guess one option would be to move them way back and let them gain morale and dig for a few weeks, or months even.