Sabre1 vs JudgeDredd AAR (German Thread)

[sabre1]

JD and I are starting a game and posting some AAR's. This is my first time EVER, and I haven't played an email game in YEARS. [:)]

So be gentle and any assistance is appreciated.

We have both promised not to read each others reports.

The setup is normal, except for the mystery AO and random weather.

[sabre1]

I should say assistance in terms of AAR posting, and not tactics. [;)]
 
I'm sure I will bury myself quite handily.  I'm still working through the tutorials.[8|]

[sabre1]

This is the first Axis turn. It is my intention to strip units from the Northern sector and pull them down towards Liptsy. The Russians have broke through my strong points and are making a straight thrust towards Kharkov.
My plan in this area of operation is to blow all the major bridges and form an entrenched front on the east side of the river near the city.
My opponent has left some artillery open to counter battery fire and I will attempt to take out as many units as possible. You can see in this picture that I have already moved an artillery unit that performed counter battery fire.
I blew the bridge in Liptsy and pulled my formations out to attempt a front along that river. I will also blow the bridges further south.
I am unsure as to whether I should place my panzer units that are presently in Kharkov with the infantry units or to hold them back as reserves.
I will post a picture of my unit dispositions in my next post.
I'm still figuring out how to draw arrows and stuff into my pictures.

[sabre1]

This is the situation after making my moves in the north and center. I am blowing the bridges across the rivers toward Kharkov and trying to pull my units back to a defensive line hoping to hold for the initial Soviet onslaught.
My thoughts were to try and build up a line tough enough to withstand the strong attack until it ebbs and then counterattack.
I got lousy results on my counter-battery fire from my artillery and destroyed none of the soviet artillery from what I could tell. I even used my air assets to no avail.
I haven't decided whether I should keep my armor assets in the front or pull them back. I think I have one turn to decide my disposition. At least I think I do.
I am pulling my artillery behind the line and trying to remember to shoot and scoot each turn.
I am planning to give up Krasnograd and other objectives in order to defend Kharkov, and then eventually retake objectives when I counter-attack in the South and eventually launch attacks from the North and center.

[sabre1]

This is the current situation in the south. My sense of this is to attempt a breakthrough towards Izyum and relieve the pressure directed at Kharkov. The current area of operations will not allow me to move my units north at this time.
The units in front of Krasnograd I will attempt to pull them back towards Kharkov to defend the south flank of the city trying to hold the Soviets from crossing the river.

[sabre1]

This is my situation south of Kharkov after I have moved my units. All I can think of is to pull my horns in and wait for the storm to blow over, trying to preserve my combat strength to fight another day.
This is my first operational game, so if it looks like I don't know what I'm doing, I don't.
We shall just call this a learning experience.
Many of the units did not have enough movement to make it across the river. I hope I can finish my defensive line on the next turn and not get to badly overrun. I'm trying to get my artillery out of harms way, but I don't think I was to successful.

[sabre1]

This is the situation in the south after I moved. Not a lot going on at this time, but I did pull some units back to start and form a defensive line. I did shell some fortifications with some success and then moved my artillery.

[sabre1]

At this point I will end my turn and send it back to JD.

[sabre1]

Oh yeah, any comments are welcome.

[Fred98]

In the south, you're German arty could start to attack the Russian strong points.

This gets them out of the way for when you're counter attack begins.

Note it is possible for the arty to run out of attack supply. You need the arty to be in full attack supply around turns 8, 9 and 10 when you will be advancing. He will be falling back and his non-entrenched units become great targets for your arty.

-

[sabre1]

Yes, I started to do that in the south, but was not aware that I will run out of attack supply. [&:]  Note the destroyed strong points in a couple of areas.

[sabre1]

In the north, I'm not sure if this is a diversionary move to draw off some of my forces or the Soviets are getting ready to launch another breakthrough.
My opinion is whether it is a feint or not, I don't feel I have the capacity to stop the Soviets at the moment, and should keep giving ground, attacking where possible until the Soviet advance stalls, and then counterattack.
I don't know the game well enough to know how to maximize damage on the Soviets. Should I be holding or giving ground? Should I be attacking at every opportunity in spite of losses, and can those losses be replaced down the road? I find the game very difficult to understand, but it is highly interesting, and fun. The UI is pretty simple moving things around. That good be a good thing or bad.
I have 2 infantry regiments, artillery, and recon coming from the west. I haven't decided what to do with these yet. They do not show on this map.

[sabre1]

In this map, I will continue to consolidate around Kharkov, and trying to form a defensive line south of Kharkov, and to the east of the city. I have no idea what the heck I'm doing, just trying to hold on at the moment hoping for a stall in the Soviet advance.
I have units stuck SE of Kharkov who cannot move out of their area of operation for the moment, and probably will be destroyed.

[sabre1]

In the south, the Soviets have moved some units which appear to be trying to block any German advance. I keep contemplating an attack here to draw off Soviet assets. Sounds good don't it...
I can't move for the moment due to AO restrictions, other than shift units around. That could be a good idea, just to keep the Soviets guessing as to my intentions.
Primary focus for the moment is to just hang onto Kharkov, and I'm really not sure if that is a sound strategy. Sorry for being vague, but that's what you get with a new player.

[sabre1]

Next shots will be my moves, and hopefully will be posted by Sunday evening. 

[oldspec4]

Picked the game up last night.  I have played all other SSG games except BII so spent 3+ hours w/ tutorial and manual to get back up to speed with the game mechanics, particularly some of the newer changes.   I'm following the AAR from both sides with interest to hopefully learn some strategy hints from other players.   I pretty much suck at developing sound strategies myself so I can't offer any suggestions at this point.  Keep the reports coming in [8D].

[emcgman]

Sabre 1,

The strength of the Germans is they have powerful units that can wipe out Russian units, even stacks. You need to use the `combat advisor' to identify where to attack, while minimizing your vulnerbility to counter attack.

The Germans can easily eliminate more Russian units than the Russians can eliminate German units.

Also, identify the victory locations you need to capture to get your reinforcemnts.

The Germans need to:

1) Eliminate as many Russian units as possible.

2) Hang on to your victory locations as long as possible.

Even though the German game is slanted more toward defense, you definitely need to be more aggressive.

The Fuhrer does not joke about such matters as retreat!

[sabre1]

Thanks emcgman, I will try and attack SOMETHING!  I keep forgetting that reinforcements are based on victory locations held.  Lots to learn still.
 
I also found out you lose supply when you move your HQ.  Oh well.

[sabre1]

Emcgman,

Ok, I attacked some units. I'm not sure if I did it the "right" way, but I did attack. I took my panzers from Kharkov with some assault guns, and infantry regiments, and attacked a 3 Soviet tank regiments, two light T60/T70, and one medium T34, with one sapper unit, and eliminated them with 12-1 odds. This was slightly SE of Kharkov. I hope I did not leave these units to exposed.[:)]

NE of Kharkov I launched an attack with 5-1 odds and eliminated a rifle regiment and drove back some other rifle regiments. I then pulled my units back across the river except for two units that did not have enough OP's.

I destroyed 3 122mm artillery regiments with my air support.

I have no idea if this is good bad, or just plain stupid. [8|] It's just all part of the learning process, and figuring out the game mechanics.

I did weaken my Kharkov front to launch my attacks, and hope I don't pay the price. In my mind my panzer units are sitting on his flank that extends N., and this can't be a good situation for the Soviets. Of course let's not forget that somewhere there are a bunch of KV-1's just waiting to turn my Pz III's into scrap metal.

In the N. I'm not sure yet as to how much trouble I'm really in for stripping units from that sector.

In the S., I feel comfortable, from a false sense of not knowing what the heck is behind the Soviet line. For all I know, God is about to descend on me.

If the situation holds I will lanuch more attacks on his flank trying to roll him up, and keep him out of my N. sector.

In the middle, I'm not sure if I can hold the river line. My guess is probably not, and I will have to use my armor to shore up things in that direction.

I will lanuch attacks in the S. as soon as the AO allows me. (area of operation).

I did get "a little bit" better with the UI, and did learn to use a few more options, such as making sure all my units were entrenched at the end of the turn. I did use the combat advisor to help me launch the attack against his armor. I don't know if the advisor is gamey, or a legitimate tool. Doesn't really matter, it is what it is.

My turn goes back to JD.

[sabre1]

Ok, here's the middle map after Axis turn 2.