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Full Fog of War
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Sudden Death
VC 290

Constructive criticism and advice is welcome. No trolls please!

This is a game with VC290 and Sudden Death so it should be very interesting and it will hopefully go all the way to 1945.

T1 - North

Pretty standard opening in the North I believe. I divert one Panzer Corps from AGC. Riga is taken on the first try but the combat was very close. I moved an airbase close to the city and the bomber support probably made the difference.

T1 - Center

Not very aggressive in the Center. I stop my advance well ahead of Minsk.

T1 - South

The title of this AAR is very cheesy and so is the first turn in the south. This is the first time I am doing this opening. I know many people dislike it.

The Kovel pocket looks bad but the main pocket is pretty tight I believe. I split up a couple of Panzer divisions and try to be careful to put them in light woods.

T1 - Air War

Good numbers I believe but of course mostly obsolete fighters and bombers. I am happy about the recon planes.

Nice opening.

Your north and south open was good. Only the center was risky. Giving enough space to rethreat, the Bryansk fron can delay half of your infantry for one or two turn, sloving the time whan you can cross the Dnyepr and moving Moscow.
Or capturing Moscow is just the third war goal (after Leningrad, and south)?
What kind of weather you play?

I grabbed his game and he chose Non-Random Weather. Personally, I like random weather because the uncertainty adds to the excitement.

Yes, the center is weak and slow in this setup. Leningrad is goal #1, destruction of south goal #2. Moscow would be nice as I have never taken it in 41 against human.

Appreciate your clear explanation of the opening; look forward to succeeding moves.

as with others above - interesting opening moves. Good to see someone prepared to set clear priorities and stick to them, but do wonder if you are risking being badly stalled in the centre?

but do wonder if you are risking being badly stalled in the centre?

Agree, this setup is totally unhistorical and has risks. I hope I can overwhelm him early to keep the whole front moving.

T2 - North

The Velikaya is only defended lightly and resistance is pushed aside without any problems. Interesting mechanized division in Pskov. Most likely fog of war. Riga is a supply source now and I make every effort to place my HQs at the right spot. Looks like the Baltic is pretty much abandoned. All I see is one security regiment.

T2 - Center

Norther and Center pockets were no breached which is good. He puts up an interesting defense. Every swamp hex has a unit in it which is a major pain for my mechanized units. I bypass Minsk and surround the swamp defense.

T2 - South

He is very aggressive in the south. He uses tanks from 16th army and units from within the pocket to push one of my Panzer regiments aside. It takes 5 hasty attacks. On the 5th try my brave soldiers finally succumb (forgot to take a screenshot). The Lvov pocket is opened and all of his troops are back in supply for one more turn. Instead of going for speed I pocket as many troops as possible and try to form a bullet proof encirclement. Exciting stuff!

The Kovel pocket held much to my surprise. I guess the routed units in the vicinity didn't rally.

T2 - OOB

I forgot to mention that Halder got sacked on T1. He was arguing with Hitler regarding the rerouting of two Panzer Corps to AGS. [:D] Kluge is in charge now. I have no idea if this will make the slightest difference but it's worth a try.

interesting responses by your opponent. His approach in Bielorussia should give him time to build up on the landbridge.

less sure its worth using 16A to attack with so much commitment into the pocket - but then the knock on consequences will cost you some time, so I guess its worth it from that perspective?

less sure its worth using 16A to attack with so much commitment into the pocket - but then the knock on consequences will cost you some time, so I guess its worth it from that perspective?

17th tank division can be very strong. I once had it at 12 CV on T1. In the long run those tank and mech divisions are useless so it might not be such a bad idea to engage them right away. He certainly railed the infantry divisions of 16th army north towards Leningrad.

Contrary to the others, I think your opening is fundamentally flawed.

By neglecting the centre you take a huge amount of pressure off the Soviets. I would love, as a Soviet player, to see this as my T1 and T2 from an Axis opponent. I can put minimal protection in the centre and pile in the troops in to the best defensive terrain on the map (Leningrad Front) and simply stay away from all your Panzers in the south. Pretty soon in the south you will be punching thin air with all your tanks and have little to show for the commitment down there.

The short story is you need to inflict serious losses on the Soviets in the summer of 41 and to do that you need to engage him where he must defend. Which is the centre. Sure you can allocate an extra Pz Corp here and there to keep them guessing but whatever you do you must maintain pressure in the centre.

Pressure in the centre forces Ivan to place his best units between you and Moscow. Which by default will then give you the south and Leningrad. Plus you get a shot at killing his Armies in the centre even if you don’t get Moscow. I have never had to add extra Mech units to the drive on Leningrad (usually I subtract them!). I have never failed to get Leningrad. Players will always sacrifice Leningrad to save Moscow.

IMO, if your opponent is any good at all, you have already lost this game.

Just my thoughts.

Michael, thanks for your viewpoint. You make very good points. The ultimate price in this game is Moscow. But hammering through the south has a certain attraction.

The problem is he can withdraw and just stay out of range. Soon you will reach the end of your supply tether. Then you will have a bunch of Panzers sitting around with no gas and no enemy anywhere close to them.

There is always the hope that he will play in to yours hands and try to fight you in the south. But a quality Soviet is not going to do that.

Good luck [:)]