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I am playing DC Barbarossa via PBEM for the very first time and I am enjoying it a lot!
I really believe that these games are the best computer wargames available.
It is however pretty quiet on this forum and I have not much reference on how me and my opponent are doing.
So I thought I would give a small situation report on our current game and ask you guys how you think we are doing.

It’s 17th of August 1941.

The Northern Front is relatively stable now. Talinn is surrounded and will fall shortly. Narva and the river are well defended by dug-in Soviets.
The main frontline however is in the forests about 6-9 hexes south of Leningrad.

The central front has been interesting. We (I play the Soviets) have held on to the Smolensk are quite well.
Only when the German second army outflanked us to the North were we forced to pull back south over the Dnepr.
We still hold Orsha and Smolensk but expect to lose both soon. We are now entrenched behind the Dnepr in force.
Mogilev fell but we still hold the East-Bank of the river there.

The southern front is the most troublesome from our perspective. We lost Kiev on the first of August .
Soon after the Germans created bridgeheads over the Dnepr and forced us to retreat across the steppes of Ukraine.
We are still in that process and are retreating towards Kharkov. We still hold the riverline from Dnepropretovsk all the way to the black sea.
Problem is that after the Dnepr there is hardly any defensible terrain left.

Losses have been huge for us. We lost almost 1 million men by the 17th of August!
The positive thing is that the Axis are starting to pay as well. They have lost 263k men.
All three of their panzer types are about 50% of what they were at the start of the campaign and about 25% of the halftracks are gone.
German artillery losses are very light.

I am very curious to see if somebody can reflect on our situation and give us any impression on how we are doing.
I haven’t played the game much against the AI and pretty much have no reference whatsoever!

Thanks in advance!

Russia has won. 1:4 loss ratio is not sustainable for the Axis, they really need to be aiming for around 1:6 at a minimum. And in terms of terrain, looks like Soviets are where they need to be. If Germans don't take Leningrad early, it's extremely to do so later against numerous and entrenched defenders in forest hexes. In the centre, you still have plenty of space to trade for time if you need to.

The south is usually hard for Soviets, for the reasons you say, and also because the Axis are stronger in the south in this game than they were historically. Spread the Axis as thin as you can, the geometry of the front helps a bit. Build plenty of fortifications around Rostov and save as many troops as you can (esp. regulars on defensive posture) for a final stand there.

1 million men lost is nothing unusual for Russia by this point in the game, if anything it's on the light side, I'd say. 50% panzer losses for the Germans is about par for the course against a decent human player.

Well done! Soviets have the tougher job in this game, I reckon.

C