Pavlov's House - NOSB (Sov) vs. Pitaman (Axis)

[NotOneStepBack]

The rematch AAR! Previous game is here: tm.asp?m=4053469&mpage=1&key=

Game settings:

Server game, latest official patches
Bitter End
Locked HQ Support
Full FOW

House Rules:

No Para drops
No bombing of HQ's unless stacked with a ground unit
No naval invasions before November 1941, none outside the 1939 Soviet borders before January 1943
In addition if Sevastopol is either isolated, or in German hands, none west of the Crimea,
which reflects the scope for air/naval interdiction not really reflected in the game.
30 day rule = no turns in 30 days by one player the other wins by default.

Additional Auto VC:
If the Axis player holds
Leningrad, Moscow, Voronezh and Rostov concurrently at any time in 1941 he wins
an Auto Victory.

Mild Blizzard Rules
Random Weather
No 1:1 = 2:1

Pitaman can post here.

[NotOneStepBack]

Pitaman opens and pulls no punches. He takes Riga and is over the Daugava in the north. Gates of Minsk in the Center, and goes for the gold in the South. I will respond by railing in crap units (airborne, NKVD, SEC units) for speed bumps to eat some MPs of his panzers and will conserve my strength by railing out anything with decent CV. The Red airforce mostly goes to reserve if an airgroup is under 50 morale or is under 50% strength. I also start disbanding rifle and mech corps for the manpower. I'm contemplating also switching all the I-series planes to bomber over fighter since they are crap anyway and might help slow down his units on the ground since I can't compete much with his fighters yet.

These pictures are before any moves. North and Center are locked up, unbreakable.

North:



Center:



South:




However I noticed that the southern mega pocket was a bit sloppy and we break it open comrades!



Perhaps this is a good sign of things to come this game?

[NotOneStepBack]

I received turn 2 and was surprised. Pita totally ignored Pskov and concentrated his armor towards the center.

Interesting...

I haven't responded to this yet, thinking about how best to go on this. Censored pics below.

North:



Center:



South:

[NotOneStepBack]

Turn 3, July 1941

Pitaman's panzers have to catch up with fuel and minimal progress is made by the Axis. I still hold Pskov due to his choice to go hard in the center. Next turn I get a ton of reinforcements so holding Leningrad this game could be a real possibility.

North:



Center:



South:

[sillyflower]

Full marks for being coy, but IMHO that is not an ideal attribute for an AAR.

[NotOneStepBack]

I can post them without the white blocks, but we'll have to have a turn delay then.

[sillyflower]

I normally use 2 turn delay, as well as banning my opponent from the AAR. I personally think the most interesting parts of an AAR is to know what the author is thinking and seeing the implimention of that thinking.

[RKhan]

I would not mind the delay. Seeing both sides is better for me.

And thank you for doing another AAR. I do enjoy them.

[NotOneStepBack]

Now with turn delay and no censorship! War in the East gone wild!

Turn 4 North:

Pita is a bit jammed up but finally encircles Pskov.



Turn 4 Center:

Stiff resistance in the center. This is where the war is won or lost.



Turn 4 South:

Pita (P.I.T.A? ) makes his way towards the Dnepr. It takes a considerable amount of CV to cross, so hopefully I can bleed a few more turns out of this.



I'm keeping stats this game on OOB and industry, will update with full excel tables once we reach Mud.

[NotOneStepBack]

Turn 5

North:

Pita switches it up and gets a PZ Corps headed north, looks like I have to shift with him. Seems the key is to always track and hug his panzers, but not too tightly otherwise you are pocketed. So far this game I have avoided major pockets. It seems like he is hell-bent on industry.




Center:

The brick wall holds. He switches it up again and aims center-south. That's fine with me, away from Moscow.




South:

I'm just buying time here, going to milk the Dnepr as long as possible. He is going straight for the ARM in D and Z town. I can still lose about 55 ARM and still have 300ish, moving HI, vehicles and tanks now is more of a priority. I'm doing what I can to keep mobile forces in reserve to save vehicles too. Eventually they all turn into tank brigades or get disbanded anyway.

[NotOneStepBack]

Turn 6

North

Panzers have crossed the Luga, was a little unexpected.




Center

Looks like he has directed his panzers more center-south, could be targeting Bryansk.




South:

More industry is threatened. I pull what I can out of Z-town and D-town before the Dnepr is crossed.

[NotOneStepBack]

Turn 7

North:

Leningrad Defenses are barely holding on, I rail out what heavy industry I can (and tank factories), but write the city off mostly. Only will hold as long as possible.




Center:

Center still holds. Pita pushes center south again.




South:

He crosses the Dnepr, I consider this a minor strategic victory, 7 turns before he crossed and the breakthrough it manageable.



The odd thing is that up until this point, no major pockets, so my reinforcements have only trickled in. This left the north a bit weak as I didn't think he prioritized it. Leningrad almost always falls, but I didn't expect it to be hammered so fast after his initial push center. I use my rail cap mostly to push out industry, so it is difficult to move units between theatres once you decide where to stand.

Pita is a trickster...especially for what is about to happen.

[Peltonx]

Your doing good so far

[NotOneStepBack]

I agree, but anything can happen in '41, and Pita is not to be underestimated.

We're at turn 10 in real time, and he nearly did pull off something major last turn, I'll update when it is settled.

To date, I've lost 17 HI and 27 ARM, 0 VEH.

[NotOneStepBack]

Turn 8

Remember that all these pics are at very beginning when I receive the turn.

North:

Leningrad is cut off.




Center:

Center mostly holds, he is still pushing center-south. Southwest front is in a bit of trouble.




South:

His spearhead pushes again and I backed off the Dnepr.

[NotOneStepBack]

Turn 9:

North:
Leningrad pocket is in trouble.



Center:

Not much happening here.




South:

Pita unleashes the mega pocket, but it's not closed, the southwestern front's struggle begins!

[sillyflower]

Good game and good AAR

[NotOneStepBack]

End of Turn 10:

I pulled what I could from the pocket, but it's fate is sealed. I opened the pocket and pocketed his panzers, but it will be resealed. I'm at least going to give him a hard time liquidating it to cost another turn (or two), so I can rush in some reinforcements to the area to stem the bleeding.

1941 is a very tough balancing act for the Soviet. You don't want to lose industry, but you can't afford to lose that many units. You have to delay, but to delay you have to put units in harm's way. If you miscalculate, it can start a big pocket, which can lead to a collapse of your lines which leads to loss of industry. If you don't retreat you are pocketed. If you retreat too fast you lose too much industry.

I just received turn 12 and I am currently down to 140 VEH, 217 HI, and 316 ARM. If I take into considerations what can't be evacuated on Turn 12 (not pictured here yet) I will have 205 HI and 305ish ARM. It's gonna be close to what I need to survive. Last game I saved enough industry but my army collapsed from manpower losses. Here if I'm not careful I might have enough manpower but can't supply them!

[NotOneStepBack]

Pita if you're reading I might be a little slower on the next turn, really want to think about this (T12).

[NotOneStepBack]

Turn 12

North

This front is going static mostly, Finns are pushing south. I start an orderly retreat and try to track where his panzers are going.




Center:

Center is mostly holding again this turn.




South:

Pita pushes through and cuts off some industry and HI in the south. I think here he bags about 10 ARM and 11 HI in total. I'll isolate his panzers and pull back to hold Rostov.