Bish Bash Boche - A 41 GC JB (A) & Veterin (S)

[jasonbroomer]

T62 Axis AGN

To my delight, I seem to have a full force mini offensive in the north with the Soviets fleeing backwards. I am relishing picking up all this defensive ground. It should ensure that any Soviet offensive in '43/'44 will be difficult. If I can take out significant lengths of the rail network, it should make this sector relatively secure.

Anyway, I press on with some attacks and attempt some herding. By moving my unit marked with blue up and moving others away, the red unit is retreated into the desired hex

T62 AGN Herding 1.png (2.18 MiB) Viewed 1575 times

Though as usual, I can't help myself from being heavy handed with the enemy when I attempt to push in a second Soviet division

T62 AGN Herding 2, blast it routed.png (2.18 MiB) Viewed 1575 times

and rout away IDs that would have looked so good in a pocket.

As always, we make follow up attacks on troops that have already lost battles this turn

T62 AGN disappointing follow up attack to rout.png (2.21 MiB) Viewed 1572 times

But on this occasion, the rewards were modest. If I'd known how flaky the Soviets had become in this sector, I would have brought up a second motorised to fully capitalise on opportunities like this. The 20th MD is currently having a rest.

[jasonbroomer]

T62 Axis AGC

Our expectations of capturing Rzhev are diminishing. However, we would still like to push on here to try up the Soviet defenders. This is a disappointing first attack in a huge battle

T62 AGC Bugger.png (1.67 MiB) Viewed 1571 times

we only wish to retreat these three units. Two will go back to Rzhev, the other will be hopefully left in the open as vulnerable as a 16 year old innocent at a Gary Glitter concert afterparty.

We put in a second attack

T62 AGC second time goes better.png (1.66 MiB) Viewed 1566 times

and the groupie is flushed out. Sadly, it's not one of those pretty red tiles. Nevertheless it is brutally manhandled

T62 AGC thats what we were after.png (1.64 MiB) Viewed 1566 times

[jasonbroomer]

T62 Axis AGC cont

Meanwhile, Manstein's corps continues to sow up units in the Kalinin forests

T62 AGC LVI Corps continues to pocket troops in forest.png (1.64 MiB) Viewed 1545 times

I planned expect to do some pocketing here and this is where one of my interdiction patterns fell. Sadly, I placed the interdiction a little too low (shown in blue) and ending up flipping many of the hexes where the interdiction fell. Nevertheless, Vet will be forced zoom troops around if he wants to free that corps and division.


Shifting the action reporting to the front outside Voronezh, we continue to herd the Soviets

T62 AGCS herding attempt 1.png (1.78 MiB) Viewed 1563 times

T62 AGCS herding attempt 2.png (1.77 MiB) Viewed 1563 times

T62 AGCS herding attempt 3.png (1.36 MiB) Viewed 1563 times

[jasonbroomer]

T62 Axis AGCS

The sheepdog trials continue:

T62 AGCS herding attempt 4 end.png (1.34 MiB) Viewed 1555 times

after all that effort, I'm not sure that when we lock up the position that it will hold, but we do what we can

T62 AGCS not sure that this will hold.png (1.13 MiB) Viewed 1555 times

In the south, we move to outflank the Rostov defences

T62 AGS outflanking Rostov defencses.png (1.19 MiB) Viewed 1555 times

Apologies, the screenshot has been trimmed short like a ... (okay I won't descend that far)


Surprisingly given the action, we miss our 100k target

T62 Losses not great but 5 div and a corps surrounded.png (520.98 KiB) Viewed 1555 times

But we have 5 divisions and a corps hopefully locked up.

[Veterin]

T62 - Soviet Perspective


A very active turn from JB. The direction of some attacks has changed as I thought they would however I do have ~70k units pocketed in a number of smaller pockets this turn. I don’t think I’ll be able to open any of them up but I will have a closer look at it during my ground phase.

1

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The slow grind up around the Leningrad front continues. I assume JB will hold at the river line but we’ll see how much further he wants to push. I’m outnumbered in this sector which is never a good place to be as the Soviets.

2

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I ended my turn falling back to avoid any further encirclement. I am weak in this sector and with Axis mobile units in the area it would be very easy to pocket units as I only have single stacks and no second line of units.

3

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A lot of indirection in this area. I don’t think JB expected to push so far on his ground attack as he ended up capturing the indirected terrain anyway. 1 rifle division and 1 corps were encircled in this sector last turn totalling ~40k units. It’s a shame that the corps division was encircled but at least it only had 3 ski battalions attached (~500 manpower each).

4

4.png (2.16 MiB) Viewed 1416 times

I fall back from the Velikie Luki salient as it was no longer feasible to defend. Hopefully shortening the defensive line and the favourable terrain can put a hold on the Axis offensive in the area. I’ve had to double/triple stack some units in the area to strengthen the line but I do run the risk of further encirclements. Without stacking though, my divisions would get picked apart 1 by 1 and the manpower losses would probably be higher.

[Veterin]

T62 - Soviet Perspective Cont...

5

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6

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There was one bright spot this turn as JB has already covered in his AAR. I wanted to maintain a presence on the southern side of the river so I had 2 guard rifle corps and a cavalry corps stacked in a light forest right near Rzhev. The first screenshot shows the initial hold with the second being a follow up attack to clear me out of the hex. The loss ratio is relatively favourable as far as Soviet standards go and it was nice to see a lot of damaged Axis ground elements in addition to what as destroyed in the battle.

[Veterin]

T62 - Soviet Perspective Cont...

7

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The direction of the attack has changed away from Ryazan towards Tambov and Voronezh. By attacking from the north JB can bypass all the strong defensive terrain/river near Voronezh. The yellow and grey armies are new to the area as they were near Ryazan last turn but I’ll need to send a few more units this way to make some sort of defence. Voronezh will fall but hopefully I can hold Tambov.

8

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It’s an interesting situation down in the far south. I have a reasonable amount of strength around Rostov but I am being flanked by Axis forces. I want to contest the flanking manoeuvre but there are a lot of Axis forces in the area still relatively close to supply and I don’t have much CPP on a lot of these units. If I get it wrong my entire front will be encircled which means game over. I have some units near Stalingrad but I need to be careful not to overcommit with these as JB could very easily switch his attack and push north from here.

9

9.png (1.45 MiB) Viewed 1413 times

A familiar theme here but I’ve made the decision to pull back to lower the risk of encirclement. If I had a few more troops and better supply around Rostov I might have tried holding out for longer but it’s just too risky. I’ve built a few forts along the major river but if JB sees it with his panzer/motorised scouting next turn he could easily kill it. I will lose AP that’s about it until the next Soviet logistics phase which is after his turn.

[ToxicThug11]

Very similar Soviet / Axis losses in my current game against KB

[jasonbroomer]

Very similar Soviet / Axis losses in my current game against KB

You have more VPs though, I'm only on c.664 plus Rostov 10 VP which is now in certain.

[jasonbroomer]

T63 Axis

Air con confirms that the Soviets have pulled back across many areas, excepting of course the approaches to Moscow.

In the north, I continue to press my attacks, I don't see any great opportunities here other than to run down the enemy formations, especially before they can dig in. A few useful attacks go in

T63 AGN Some useful little victories but nothing I can build upon.png (1.67 MiB) Viewed 1383 times

T63 AGN This corps had been retreated in each of the last 2 turns, I reckoned correctly that it would rout.png (1.65 MiB) Viewed 1383 times

In the last battle, I felt confident that this corps would likely rout, it had been retreated in the two previous turns. Thus I committed my only motorised unit in the area to rack up the retreat losses. Tracking such like this is one of the benefits of taking the trouble to record an AAR.

My make some decent gains and reach the river line. I intend to press on if I can to take advantage of the weak forces opposing me. Supply is an issue as I leave my rail heads behind, there is no FBD in the area but I have 6 or 7 RADs slowly restoring the network. Thankfully, I have captured a couple of airports captured this turn in supply black spots. So I transfer across a flight of M323s. These huge planes transport great slugs of supply and will help keep the offensive rolling.

T63 AGN EoT.png (2.34 MiB) Viewed 1383 times

[jasonbroomer]

T63 Axis AGC

I have finally obliged Vet to withdraw from some of the woods outside of VL. He still holds a long stretch of the double line rails heading NE from there but I have now built up my strategic buffer of good defensive terrain. I don't have quite as much as I would like but ploughing on would be very supply intensive. My trucking is good but I have major forces in the area and it will be a headache to supply them all. Rzhev is too strongly defended to really push for, I would have to attack into terrain across open ground. Vet has displayed great ability in defending such ground such as on the Smolensk road. There are more favourable targets to be had. The strategic imperative to capture Kalinin has been reduced now that I have that defensive buffer of terrain.

So I plan to extract my troops to right and focus closer at Ryzan and Tambov. It will take time to redeploy my forces from the woods, so I continue to attack towards Rzhev to indicate to Vet that I still have aspirations in that area.

T63 AGC Getting across this open ground will be tough.png (1.59 MiB) Viewed 1373 times

I the AGCS sector, Vet has pulled back

T63 AGCS Red Army pulls back.png (1.07 MiB) Viewed 1373 times

Voronezh is harder to defend from the north and Vet looks as if he will conceded it. I only have one Panzer Army in the sector with the bulk of my defensive power centred on NE Moscow. That is about to change, so I am happy to grab land and prepare for reinforcements. I use my main force to exert pressure on the northern flank of Voronezh.

Further south, I use my allies more aggressively than normal to harry the Soviet pull back and position myself for a possible envelopment of Voronezh. I attack along the major river of the Don(?) as it loops SE of Voronezh

Sadly, a hasty follow up attack on a battered Russian division walks into an activation and stalls

T63 AGCS Pesky reserve stops a rout, the main unit had already been hit twice.png (1.29 MiB) Viewed 1373 times

That Slovakian MD is bound to cop it next turn as a consequence. I hate leaving units in this sort of predicament and it was careless (or greedy) of me to stretch them this far. But then I have a little think.

Firstly, do I care about the fate of my allies? Not one iota. Secondly I have learnt much about my opponent over these last few months of play. I am confident that he will withdraw from Voronezh and that Vet will hit the Slovaks with whatever he can. I now plan to make them a poisoned chalice .

[jasonbroomer]

T63 Axis AGS


Rostov has been conceded and the Soviets appear to be reorganising themselves south of the city, out of range of my troops. I have a Panzer army (the 1st in red) prepared with no immediate target.

I make a show of force and attack heading east towards Stalingrad

T63 AGS Target selected and hit hard.png (1.24 MiB) Viewed 1364 times

We purposely use the Das Reich division to lead this attack. Not only do we want to hit hard but their dandy Hugo Boss uniforms always makes a show and should lead Vet to infer that we are turning to Stalingrad. They also make a nice mess of that forward Soviet division

Actually, this is misdirection; my armour is heading due north

T63 AGS EoT.png (2.14 MiB) Viewed 1364 times

Our constant probing by our allies along the banks of the Don loop indicates that defences are scanty in this area (and why would they be otherwise in such a quiet sector?). I intend to cross my armour around the tip of the blue arrow next turn. I am tempted to leave my infantry divisions closer to the river as this will improve my movement range next turn. However, this has not been my tactics these last few turns. We have been continually playing cat and mouse with my allies along this river for months. I don't want to alert Vet that he is now playing with a leopard.

Vet will attack the Slovak MD highlighted in beige and then pull back eastwards 40 or 50 miles. I have reassigned a couple of motorised divisions to the 17th Army (green) from 3rd Panzer, which is making the push to the north of Voronezh. The approximate location of these are highlighted in blue. These will be used to encircle Voronezh in the unlikely event that it is defended. More likely, they will be used to encircle the small Soviet army on the northern part of the Don loop from the top.

I am looking forward to next turn.

[Veterin]

T63 - Soviet Perspective

1

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2

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3

3.png (328.95 KiB) Viewed 1274 times

OOB and losses check in. Overall I feel like I’m falling behind on the OOB. 1942 has been pretty brutal to the soviets and other than the opening offensive and ~70k last turn, the majority of losses have been from battles rather than encirclements.

[Veterin]

T63 - Soviet Perspective Cont...

4

4.png (755.16 KiB) Viewed 1272 times

5

5.png (750.02 KiB) Viewed 1272 times

6

6.png (767.34 KiB) Viewed 1272 times

7

7.png (768.91 KiB) Viewed 1272 times

These are all on-map views. Axis on-map manpower, guns and AFVs have declined over the last 10 or so turns but that’s more a function of TB requirements increasing rather than sustaining heavy losses. Interestingly Axis on-map aircraft has continued to grow whilst the TB has been decreasing over time. Throughout 1942 Axis air requirements keep going up so JB must have enough to cover TB and also deploy to the map.

[Veterin]

T63 - Soviet Perspective Cont..

8

8.png (784.81 KiB) Viewed 1271 times

I find this chart interesting. This is showing Soviet losses by ground phase. I’ve had some heavy losses on attack as well and whilst it did do some damage to Axis forces, JB is in good supply across the front and he has the manpower reserves to refill it.

9

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10

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Relatively quiet turn across most sectors as far as battles go other than eliminating the pockets from last turn. Axis forces continue advancing to Voronezh from the north and they have just crossed the major river in the south too. It is no longer feasible leaving units at Voronezh especially when it’s only a single army group. Tambov has been reinforced with some units and 1 of the retreating army groups is on the defensive terrain holding the only double rails in the area. I definitely need more strength around Tambov but then again, that applies to most sectors at the moment!

[jasonbroomer]

T64 Axis

T64 This changes things.png (172.11 KiB) Viewed 1260 times

My strategy through this campaign season has been to keep my foot on the throat of the Red Army by seeking to know out at least 100k Soviets each turn. This has been difficult, and at times costly and unpleasant to do, but I need to make sure that I keep Vet's army under wraps. The arrival of these reserves (his last I believe) changes things, they are a huge slug of troops though. I can no longer pressure his reserves, so my tactics will change. I no longer shall aim for that 100k per turn, instead I shall look for efficient attacks and allow me to recover as much manpower in my front line troops as I can, before my NM sinks again at the year end.

I don't seem to have many screenshots for this turn. Voronezh was abandoned and the excitement of a large encirclement on the northern loop of the Don was getting to me. I do have the shot of my recon though, which I detail the plan

T64 AGS can this army be isolated.png (1.92 MiB) Viewed 1249 times

My plan worked, a pocket was set, but no army and only 4-5 divisions were in it. Oh well!

In the north I continued to press forward.

AGC postured outside of Rzhev, trying to keep as many Soviet defenders there as possible.

T64 AGC This wall of guard corps needs to be kept busy.png (2.8 MiB) Viewed 1260 times

Vet has is key formations here, I don't want to trouble him to move them.

I bring up weakened reserve formations to the front, to indicate a massing of troops for a further assault. The SS division remains, to 'lead' as the vanguard

T64 AGC Hopefully enough threat to keep defences in place.png (4.3 MiB) Viewed 1260 times

Meanwhile my best troops are gradually shifting to the right of the map, towards Ryzan and Tambov. It is taking time to extract my motorised forces from the Kalinin woods.

I am alert to a possible counter offensive to the south (the right of) of Vyazma. At the moment, I would have the troops in the vicinity to counter it, but I need to be mindful of my position once the reshifting of troops is complete. Vet's aggressive play is making me paranoid.

[jasonbroomer]

T63 Axis AGCS

Previous recon suggested that there are few Soviet troops to the right of Ryazan.

T64 Rayazan was prepped as target, note interdiction.png (2.68 MiB) Viewed 1252 times

Current recon suggests that nothing has changed.

I decide to attempt to encircle Ryazan, I would really like to do this next turn, but I am worried about Vet reinforcing this position. I throw down some interdiction behind the city, designed to slow down any force coming to relieve it. My reinforcements are already appearing (bright pink and green). More will be appearing over the next turn or two. 3 Panzer armies are converging on this sector.

Supplying this area is not easy, but I have concentrated my FBDs here to ensure that supply is brought up to a level where a major offensive can take place.

T64 AGCS Plan coming together.png (2.66 MiB) Viewed 1252 times

The above details the key attack to isolate the city and we then go on to lock up the position

T64 AGCS it may hold.png (2.7 MiB) Viewed 1252 times

While I look to have this city sown up with a defensive perimeter CV of 50, these formations are highly fatigued and could be repelled if a couple of guard corps attack them. I know that I have reserves coming that would lock up the city again if needs be, so I am fairly relaxed about this.

In fact, I send a couple of panzer divisions further east of the city (i.e. above it) to give Vet kittens about the southern flank of Moscow. This should dissuade him from countering against Ryazan.

Not much happens in the south as most of 1st Panzer is tied up locking up those 5 divisions on the banks of the Don.

[jasonbroomer]

T63 - Soviet Perspective Cont...

Throughout 1942 Axis air requirements keep going up so JB must have enough to cover TB and also deploy to the map.

I make a point not to game the TB requirements. I have been shifting TB assets around a lot over recent turns but all my air commitments are currently more or less met. The exception is Italy, where the air is 93%. This gets corrected in a few turns time, when I finally juggle some Italian fighters back there. I had been working to belatedly get the North African exposure back into positive territory, recent losses there sent it into significant deficit. It touched 79% a couple of turns ago and over (gu)estimating what I required has sent it soaring to 140%

TBs are very inefficiently set if you follow the scripted programme. With work, this can be greatly enhanced. A lot of fighters can be rooted out from the roster. The main WE TB air is currently 112%, a lot of Axis air assets get tied up here.

[Veterin]

T64 - Soviet Perspective

1

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Glorious manpower. This was very much needed however it may be a case of too little too late this game.

2

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As there were a large number of Axis mobilised units that moved north east of Stalingrad to encircle one of my armies, I decided to push from the Caucasus. Whilst I am still relatively understrength in this sector, in the absence of axis motorised units I can counter with a lot more safety. When I saw single stacked infantry divisions in every second hex, I knew this wasn’t an area JB planned to advance further in. Before attacking I used my tank corps to cut off retreat paths leading to routes. Whilst not as many trucks in Infantry divisions I was still able to kill ~200 across the 3 attacks.

3

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A pocket of ~50k as formed last turn and I don’t think I’ll be able to break it open. I’ve only got 1 of the units with SU’s attached as I removed them last turn in case this happened. I wasn’t sure if they would be surrounded as I thought there would be a push towards Stalingrad which didn’t eventuate this turn. I made one attack on a low CV motorised division before falling back towards Stalingrad.

4

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Axis forces have crossed the major river to encircle a guard rifle corps in Ryazan. There is 40 defensive CV hex where there are 3 panzer divisions holding which I would love to attack but due to indirection in the area and the terrain, I can at most bring ~45 CV to attack so its not worth the risk. Given the significant concentration of mobile forces in a small area I probed the flanks hoping to find a gap. I made one attack pushing the axis infantry division south and that created enough of a gap for me to get some broken down tank corps through the line to isolate the Axis units. Unfortunately, I will lose ~800 trucks from this manoeuvre as they’ll be isolated/captured turn but I think it is worth it. Cutting of supply to an entire army, lowing their capabilities next turn and removing the isolation status of my guard rifle division in Ryazan.


I spent some time this turn going through my requirements vs production. With the additional bump of manpower, I was able to start building new units but they will take a while to gain exp and become useful. Not sure if this is the best approach or not but when I create new units, I immediately send them to Northern/Transcaucus TB where they will fill up and train there. Next turn once they have filled out their TOE I’ll pull experienced units onto the map from those TBs.

[jasonbroomer]

T65 Axis

We have enjoyed glorious weather since the last blizzard finished at the end of March. We've not had so much of a shower through summer, even AGN has had good weather. This has been extremely helpful to me, the 25% in CV caused by light mud makes a significant difference and has allowed a great campaigning season. However, the rains are beginning to appear

T65 tough to campaign in.png (628.75 KiB) Viewed 1140 times

Fortunately, I have achieved my strategic aims for this year so this weather front has really arrived too late to help Vet. While I moaned about the horrendous blizzard during winter which went on for pretty much for 3 months solid, this summer has helped to really even things out. I have another few weeks to cause more damage to the Red Army before the real mud sinks in and it will take a little time for Vet to deploy his new reserves, so I shall continue to apply pressure.

In the north, we continue to press forwards, hitting weakened units

T66 AGN Picking up favourable wins.png (4.93 MiB) Viewed 1140 times

This is fun,so to press our local superiority we bring around one of the SS motorised divisions (highlighted). If we can get through the current defensive line, there is some open terrain which when broken into will trash the Soviet defensive line and oblige Vet to pull back even further.