The Vet vs A-Game - Round 3 (No A-Game for now)

[Disgruntled Veteran]

As the title says A-Game and I decided to have another round and finish a game to completion. A-Game is a hell of a sport and a good guy to chit chat with back and forth. Our first game we stopped to restart it with random weather and redo some of our mistakes. We made it to about T23. Our 2nd game made it to mid-late 44 where the unit upgrade bug just murdered our game. None of my mech units would upgrade their squads so I had about 25-30 mech divisions with 1 CV...anyway we called it a game as I quickly became helpless against A-Game's battering ram.

Well were going to go at it again. This time we are going to try out the new blizzard rules and see how we fare. Otherwise we don't really have HR's. Neither one of us have tried to pull anything gamey. I was probably the worst offender by waiting till November to destroy Leningrad but that's not that bad.

Were doing random weather (Each region has landed its mud turn for the Summer so no more surprises) I lucked out in that the North region mud hit early before my arrival thus hammering the reds but sparing me. Random weather should really work for me this time.

The AAR starts on T9. In the North..A-Game is going for his identical all for Leningrad strategy that he pulled last game. This time he is super committed. I'm convinced that he is flat out ignoring all fronts except Leningrad. I'm trying to make this his undoing. I don't think he refits anything south of the Luga river. All his divisions are near 15-17k men in the North and all his tanks are in the North. I'm advancing with wins but very slowly. I'm hitting one fort belt after another and just now found a bridghead across the Luga. Last turn I diverted XXXXI Pz Corps South..I'll show that in the next picture. Here's the North:

[Disgruntled Veteran]

Here is a good shot. Last turn I anxiously withheld the XXXXI PZ Corps from combat and railed them down to VL. Luckily A-Game was pretty sloppy on his recon and didn't pick them up. After the 9th Army smashed and herded the VL front into a semi circle 3rd and 4th Pz GRoups wrapped it up. There is nothing around strong enough to break the pocket. I counted 17 formations but at least 2 are HQ's. This will help undo both his Leningrad and Moscow fronts.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

This is the bigger picture of AGC. I've left the Pripyat front empty except for a few sec units to screen. If he wants to get behind me I'll cut them off. Next turn my rails will be across the Dnepr so I might have some fuel for exploitation. Vyazma has a pz group on each flank with nothing but weak infantry in front of it. If I turn 3rd pz back East I might get another good haul!

[Disgruntled Veteran]

And here is the boring ole South. Its too easy to run and without massive flying fuel birds I can't keep up. I'm trying not to run my tanks too hard each turn so I usually bring them over the next river and pause. A-Game has nothing in the South. I'm thinking of diverting all of 1st Panzer to the flanks..one to the Crimea the other to assist AGC. XXIV Pz Corps (borrowed from 2nd Pz Army) is now driving back to its parent HQ. I'm not catching much industry!

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 18 - NORTHERN FRONT[/center]

This is the culmination of Barbarossa. Ultimately I think I actually had a chance at a 41 win had A-Game kept with his previous strategy. He was literally starving all his fronts in order to protect Leningrad. Honestly, with as much strength as he had, Leningrad probably would have held. IT was extremely daunting. However, this caused his Moscow front and Southern Front to be near non-existent. I transferred the mech away from 4th Panzer on T9 and was willing to let him keep Leningrad in order to take Moscow and turn due North afterwards to isolate the entire northern half of the map.

Instead, A-Game saw the danger and began rapidly redeploying whole armies SE to defend Moscow. This of course let me rapidly accelerate towards Leningrad but stumble in front of Moscow...oh well!. A-Game has done such a great job at switching gears he literally made a brick wall in front of the capitol. I probably could have rached Moscow, but not isolated and destroyed it before blizzard...and at too great a cost. Instead i simply resorted to trapping units. However, I've had little luck with this as well. A-Game has been wily at getting away.

There are two main advantages however to A-Game's earlier strategy.

1- I've managed to capture plenty of defensible terrain and cities. We've taken Kalinin, Vyazma, Kaluga, and ultimately Leningrad in the North. In the South we've taken Voronez, Stalino and possibly Rostov if the random weather is good to us.

2- Because of the rapid redeployment's we've captured appx 50 armaments factories. This is by far more than I've ever bagged. A-Game didn't have the rails to redeploy and move factories out. I also managed to bag some vehicle and aircraft factories but not as many. So with this in mind: Is 50 armanets enough to make a noticeable difference in the game...especially 42? Any feedback would be great.

Here's the north and my failed attempt to make a huge pocket out of the Valdai:

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]T18[/center]

Here is the Center Front.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]T18 SOUTH[/center]

In the South were making a grab at Rostov and Army Group A. It will be daunting to do and not get hammered in the Blizzard but its worth the risk to me.

In the Crimea: Sevastapol is sieged and Kerch is about to fall. The 4th Rumanian and the LIV Corps are expected to hold the Peninsula during the Blizzard.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

Kills

A mediocre kill list. I still have 11 Divisions and 4 brigades in LEningrad awaiting death and I hope to bag another dozen or so units in the snow, but still far sort of my expectations. Let's hope the new Blizzard rules are kind to me and harsh on A-Game.

[Peltonx]

ORIGINAL: Disgruntled Veteran

[center]TURN 18 - NORTHERN FRONT[/center]

2- Because of the rapid redeployment's we've captured appx 50 armaments factories. This is by far more than I've ever bagged. A-Game didn't have the rails to redeploy and move factories out. I also managed to bag some vehicle and aircraft factories but not as many. So with this in mind: Is 50 armanets enough to make a noticeable difference in the game...especially 42? Any feedback would be great.

Here's the north and my failed attempt to make a huge pocket out of the Valdai:

It will make a difference, it will depend on what he builds and how many units your able to pocket in 1942.

50 from my exp is the edge and 80 the tipping point to victory. It use to be 100 back in the day, but with the lowering of SHC output its 80.

The manpower crunch and AP crunch are something you can control even vs the better players.

You did get 50 and looks like you over ran allot of manpower also. Moscow would have been the knock out blow even if you lost it during blizzard, because of the manpower crunch.

Great game so far and hopefully your army will not magically disappear in 44.

I would say your headed for a Draw if I had to guess, based on your past games.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 28 - NORTHERN FRONT[/center]

A long overdue update for the 3rd game between the Vet and A-Game. This turn is the last turn of December..my moves completed. I think the main reason I wanted to update was to comment on the new blizzard rules. I am very impressed!

Basically, the Blizzard is as it should be. I the North, where my forces are in dug in positions and good terrain, the line gets inched back 1 hex at a time, but only with a tremendous cost in Russian blood. In places where its clear with low troop density, the Russians are pushing hard and I am retreating. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the new rules is that the blizzard can be equally treacherous to the Russians as it is to me. In 4 turns I have completed about 12 of 13 successful attacks. I have routed many rifle divisions and Cavalry Corps in the process...sometimes inflicting 10 to 1 kill ratio. Its all about terrain. If the Reds step out of protection and advance I can inflict stinging defeats on them. When the reds are in woods I usually let them be. I can't launch offensives or anything but localized counterattacks are very possible which adds an element of caution to the Russian advance.

The casualties are about the same though except I haven't lost any divisions (this may change in the next turn..I have a couple units very exposed). So far the turns are

1st- 60k losses
2nd- 80k losses
3rd-120k losses.

The last was largely due to a lot of movement and A-Game is outrunning my fort building process in some areas. However, once January arrives with its lower CV penalties the North should solidify and I can send all reinforcements South of Kaluga.

The Finns are only keeping some brigades and withdrawing units on the Volkhov. The best units are staying in Finland to preserve morale.

Here's the North: Shouldn't change too much from here.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 28 - CENTER FRONT[/center]

While this map isn't very clear the only thing of note is that the 2nd Pz front hasn't moved an inch. My mech units in high forts are sporting between 35-55 CV's..the Russians won't attack it. This is very helpful in stabilizing the front a bit. The 4th army has gave a little ground while further South an independent Corps and the 6th Army have gave up around 10 hexes along with Voronez. All future reinforcements are heading here.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 28 - CRIMEAN OPERATION[/center]

The picture says it all. I've kept the port of Sevastopol under siege but A-Game is hammering the Rumanians guarding it. I find it cool how the Rumanians can repel an assault, in December, while at 35 morale and 50% TOE. My rails are almost caught up to Sevatopol which should help in getting these divisions replacement troops. The Rumanians down here are in horrible shape.

[Flaviusx]

This is very encouraging. I take it you like it better than the vanilla blizzard?

[Enigma6584]

Excellent AAR! Most engrossing.

[Kel]

Great AAR. Keep posting, please.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

ORIGINAL: Flaviusx

This is very encouraging. I take it you like it better than the vanilla blizzard?

Absolutely! This is far more realistic. Like I said..I'm still getting hammered but you can hold your ground in certain spots and get holds in December. A-Game is probably winning 65% of battles right now as I am retreating 2 hexes a turn where I am really weak. The Blizzard is no longer something to be terrified of...respected yes, but not terrified.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

ORIGINAL: Kelblau

Great AAR. Keep posting, please.

Thanks a lot! Its really hard for me to post a lot, especially with 2 games running. (Not a lot for some people but it is for me) I'll try to make my posts more detailed too.

[Peltonx]

A-game has gotten better ( 2.5 million KIA standard summer now), only thing he has left to figure out is the 10-20 SHC wins per turn in summer 41 exploiting 1v1=2v1. You not have gotten as far in north or center, he a quick learner so I would expect if you have a 4th game things will be different.


The key as always to 42 is GHC infantry moral, how does that look?

[swkuh]

As said by others, very useful & interesting AAR. Says a lot about the blizzard option & current state of the game.

Thanks for your excellent commentary.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

ORIGINAL: Pelton

A-game has gotten better ( 2.5 million KIA standard summer now), only thing he has left to figure out is the 10-20 SHC wins per turn in summer 41 exploiting 1v1=2v1. You not have gotten as far in north or center, he a quick learner so I would expect if you have a 4th game things will be different.


The key as always to 42 is GHC infantry moral, how does that look?

Yah..A-Game is not an aggressive player...somewhat to his detriment. He did launch some minor counterattacks but seemed too cautious yo do anything major. However..A-game is very good at eluding major traps. He isn't one of the elite Soviet players but he is pretty good. That's about how I would describe myself so we make a good game.

only thing he has left to figure out is the 10-20 SHC wins per turn in summer 41 exploiting 1v1=2v1.

Even against the Pro's ( Sillyflower, Belphagor) I wasn't getting that many attacks in 41. I think it matters how vulnerable you leave yourself in 41. 15 hex advances are nice but they leave your tanks exposed. Just my opinion.

My infantry are good. The average Landser will be in the 60's come spring which will quickly rebound to 70ish range once they counterattack. I have kept 4 infantry and 4 mech units with 90+ morale in cities close to the front and in addition, the entire 1st panzer army is huddling in the Tri-City region..most of the mech there are at 100% TOE and camped in cities. In about 2 more turns the front line will catch up. All in all I'm in great shape. The biggest factor however is that A-Game is getting a lot of holds and I am winning a lot of battles which is helping to keep my morale higher than earlier blizzards.