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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/29/2011 11:58:45 AM

CharonJr

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T45:

In the south I try to short my front by pushing into the mountains, but mud prevents me from getting very far.

Except for the southern push 1. Panzerarmee is moved a bit to the east for the upcoming offensive.

The last corps of 2. Panzerarmee should arrive in the south during the next turn.

In the north I start to get units into position for the planed Ryazan pocket, just some infantry for now, but the armor should get into position during the next turn.

With partisans starting to be a problem I send some units (mainly Hungarian infantry and Romanian cav) to important points of my rail network.

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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/29/2011 1:48:26 PM

molchomor

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Thanks again for the excellent reporting ! Myself I just started playing and got a victory in the Leningrad scenario :)

Some things I started thinking about that, if and when you feel like it, perhaps could comment on ?

- As we all know production cannot be controlled (yep I am guilty for having whined about this for a long time :). Have you noticed that e.g. you only have one Panzerj�ger 1 and *nine units* seem to be competing for this one vehicle if I read your prod. screens right ? Is there something that you can do about this kraziness ?

- The airwar is hardly mentioned by you, is this because it is better to forget about trying to harass the Red army (by bombing airfields and strong units as in SF/WiR) and keep a (historical) air superiority due to the losses you get when you try to do something ? Soviet air really seems to be unchecked and getting stronger and stronger...

- Suppressing partisans, could you please describe the process how you go about this ? I.e. do you need to first move a fighting unit to the "corrupted" hex, and then during the next turns when it is converted back to axis control, you leave it to the automated RR repair units to automatically fix the rail ?

- You seem to have a very large amount of automated RR repair units (don't really think you need them all at this stage?). Do you think some of them can be disbanded and would that get you more troops to the frontline or have some other benefit?

- When you garrison, do you set those units (mainly allies of course) to static and/or assign them to say OKH ?

- Do you have your PzCorps units all set to "refit" all the time, or is only their closest HQ set to refit ? I.e. I guess you do something to have them prioritized for supply, right ?

< Message edited by molchomor -- 1/29/2011 1:50:52 PM >

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Post #: 242

RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/29/2011 2:50:46 PM

CharonJr

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Thank you, and IMO the Leningrad scenario is very good to essentially teach you everything you need for a GC game, including taking Leningrad in '41 as the Germans ;)

Concerning production I have not found anything I can do about rare units being hunted for by lots of different units. I wish there was some feature to allow me to manually change TOEs, but if there is one I have not found it.

I rarely mention the air war since after turn 1 I actually never waged any active air war. Ground support seems to have some positiv effect, but when I tried to directly bomb units a few times the results were very underwhelming, so I stopped doing it. The only active part I take in the air war now is perfroming air supply missions and recon. Sometimes I bomb a few airfields I will overrun at the same turn, but even this seems to be hardly worth it considering the large number of replaecments the Soviets get, but keeping their XP a bit lower this way might help.

Concerning the partisans it seems to be most important to have garrisons where they are needed so that as few partisans as possible will become active. Once they are active move a combat unit (its strength does not seem to matter, so split up units) next to it and it will vanish (for now).

And yes, since I have had no major line broken yet I leave the repairs to the automated repair units, and together with the increase in partisan activity this is one of the reasons why I have not even thought about disbanding those automated RR (construction) units.

Due to my motor pool shortages I usually set garrison units to static and try to keep some mobile combat units on important rail lines to deal with partisans.

Yes, I have all my Panzerkorps on refit all the time. My infantry wins the battles, but my Panzer take territory and establish pockets, so I want them is as good condition as possible. In addition I drop fuel to them essentially every turn (had some regular supply drop to units at the front during the blizzards).

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Post #: 243

RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/29/2011 4:26:48 PM

CharonJr

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T46:

This should be the 2 main areas of interest for the next turns:

In the north I will try to form a pocket around Ryazan with 3. Panzerarmee (3 corps: V Korps - 3 infantry divisions / XXXIX Panzer - 2 panzer, 2 mot / LVII Panzer - 1 panzer, 2 mot) pushing from the west, with the armored corps still to the SE of Tula except for 2 Panzerdivisionen.

4. Panzerarmee (2 corps: XXXXI Panzer - 2 panzer, 2 mot / LVI Panzer - 1 panzer, 1 cav, 2 mot, 1 mot brigade) will push from the south.

Luftflotte 1 and 2 will support the attacks with about 1750 planes.

Overall the 2 armies consist of about 370k men, 4.1k guns and 960 AFVs.

In the south I will try to push for Voroshilovsk while forming a small pocket between 1. and 2. Panzerarmee.

OOB for 1. Panzerarmee: 4 corps: III Panzer - 3 panzer / XIV Panzer - 1 panzer, 2 mot / XL Panzer - 2 panzer, 1 mot brigade / XXXXVIII Panzer - 2 panzer, 2 mot).

2. Panzerarmee: 4 corps: XII Korps - 3 infantry / XXIV Panzer - 2 panzer, 1 mot / XXXXVI Panzer - 2 panzer, 1 mot, 1 mot regiment / XXXXVII Panzer - 2 panzer, 1 mot).

10. Panzerdivision (XXXXVI Panzer) is about to be withdrawn and XXIV is just arriving by rail.

At the moment those 2 armies consist of about 480k men, 5.3k guns and 1980 AFVs.

Luftflotte 4 will support this attack with about 800 planes. Since the campaign in the south is more about mobility and less about battles less planes will be needed here.

The strength of the armies shows quite clearly where my priorites are for '42 - Baku and Stalingrad. The industries at the Ural are important, too, but I speculate on them running out of fuel if Baku and the Caucasus are conquered.

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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/29/2011 4:55:58 PM

molchomor

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Thanks for the answers above! (Poor Italians. Down to one single plane on the entire eastern front from 106 in the previous turn, guess that the not-so-flexible TOE is at play again).

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Post #: 245

RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/29/2011 5:15:06 PM

CharonJr

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You are welcome :) The Italian's problem is more due to the AI not switching in the planes that are available it seems (the Flacos are FB, too) - bug?

And I failed at reading the manual carefully enough again, I thought that the Soviet zones will get no clear weather till June, well, this should make my pocket larger than I thought, but since I didnt move the bulk of 3. Panzerarmee north it will be a bit harder.

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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/29/2011 5:40:40 PM

CharonJr

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Due to you mentioning air war I made a little experiment here (will not use this attack in the game):

There are 23k men and 250 guns in the stack I attacked (followed the bombing by a ground attack to see their numbers) - very disappointing bombing result IMO.

edit: Just took a look at the aircraft specs, each of those carries between 1-2 tons of bombs, in the end we are talking about around 400t of bombs dropped into 1 hex. So it takes 1 ton of bombs to cause 1 casualty ? ;) And I took a closer look at XP, morale and FAT, too, XP is around 70-80, morale varries widely, from 20-90 (average about 60 I think), FAT is below 10.

Roughly 1 casulty for each plane used or 2 for each bomber, seems quite low to me, but maybe it actually is realistic, any ideas?

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< Message edited by CharonJr -- 1/29/2011 5:54:08 PM >

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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/29/2011 7:36:57 PM

molchomor

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Seems a tad low but in any case I believe it would be unrealistic for the Luftwaffe to focus on (entrenched) infantry units, the value of those targets is in most cases just too low.
More realistic targets would be areas occupied by threatening or attacking tank forces (using tankhunters/Stukas) or airfields (using level bombers). Luftwaffe successfully kept air superiority for a long time in the east and it had good reasons to do so. To paraphrase the old Greek guy Mr T. : "Air superiority is not maintained with timidity".

Wonder how feasible it would be to try and repeat history here though as the axis air losses (when attacking these kinds of targets) just seem too high for it to be viable in 1.02 ?

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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/29/2011 8:58:45 PM

randallw

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In my campaign vs the computer I perform a lot of nighttime ground attacks, with results similar to above; tac bombers with moderate load capability causing 1 manpower casualty per bomber.

Someone else said that casualty stats on the battles is a little misleading; some casualties aren't counted unless the unit is fully destroyed, so there's damage being done that doesn't show.

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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/29/2011 10:54:57 PM

CharonJr

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Any idea by what factor those numbers might be too low?

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Post #: 250

RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/30/2011 2:03:30 PM

CharonJr

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T47:

With the mud gone the Wehrmacht has become a completly different animal again, even with fairly low CVs. All over the front the formerly invincible Soviet brigades in their forts are being pushed back now that the mud is gone.

In the north the salient is finally able to expand due to vastly lowered defensive strengths for the Soviets now that the mud is gone. The rail line leading into the western salient is cut and with the terrain around here the Soviets might be getting some supply problems soon (at least the drain on their motor pool will be quite high.

Around Ryazan as usual the infantry starts to create gaps in the Soviet line and armor exploits the gap. With the bulk of 3. Panzerarmee still in the south getting them there in time presents a little problem, but with the troops fairly well rested and MPs between 40-50 the distance is easily bridged.

With 4. Panzerarmee being well rested and supplied and having MPs between 40-50, too, I decide to create a gap right to the north of Tambov. Once the pocket is esatblished with a good number of converted hexes to prevent the Soviets from penetrating the pocket from the outside too easily I still have 2 divisons with 50 MPs left and decide to try to pocket Tambov itself.

While it is highly unlikely that this pocket will hold I have at least managed to cut the 2 rail lines leading into Tambov and damaged a 3rd one in the south. Actually I was thinking about going after Penza and Saransk for a moment, but 1 panzer and 1 mot division this far behind the enemy lines and out of range for fighter cover for transport planes is not worth it in the end IMO.

In the south I have decided that there will be no pocket since I need to starting converting the rail line leading to Baku as soon as possible.

Again infantry breaks the line and armor starts to pour through.

While I have 2 rail repair units in the area it will still take some time before I am able to get a railhead close to my units, so air supply is the name of the game for now and my advance will be slowed down a lot during the next turns.

After running some tests here it seems (at least in my situation here in the south) that moving the airbase a little bit closer to the targets for air supply before flying the missions is better than flying the missions first. I try to keep the airbases HQ close to the railhead for now since the wear and tear on my transports was quite high (% to fly set to 30% in the south).

With the rail lines cut and mountains between most of the Soviet units and the only working rail line being to the south of the mountains the supply situation for them should not be pretty.

Between Voroshilovsk and Rostov another rail line is cut.

Apart from the montain corps in the south (have to take a look at a mpa and find Mount Erebus for them ;) ) 11. Armee will try to secure the rail leading to Stalingrad.

The Hungarian corps (2 panzer, 1 MTN) will try to move SE along the rail line leading to Sukhumi.

Combat losses were fairly high this turn due to the large number of attacks (made about 160+ attacks here - but both sides are still fielding many understrength units, so the losses are actually fairly low for such a large number of battles).

The higher number of German troops is purely based on 4 new infantry divisions arriving (about 65k men, 0.6k guns), one of those is send south, the other 3 towards the potential pocket slowly taking shape.

The Red Army stays at its T46 force levels, except in tanks where they have surpassed the Wehrmacht again (gained 155).

But the Ryazan pocket will hopefully change this again since I have counted about 8 tank corps in addition to 5 cav corps in there together with about 13 infantry divisions + some brigades.

Overall I am fairly satisfied with the current situation.

Map without forts this time to get a better look at the supply levels (soft factor used).

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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/30/2011 10:16:00 PM

CharonJr

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T48:

Hmm, why am I having clear weather again in the Soviet zones? I thought now should be a mud turns after having been clear last turn...

Oh well, I will not complain here ;)

I continue to press along most of the front, with the number of units already lost or pocketed the Red Army should be on the brink of collapse. The large number of units bound in the salient to the SE of Leningrad does nothing to improve this situation - about 60 units in there, I cant understand why the AI is not trying to break into my salient slowly nibbeling away at them...

The salient is further expanded with the Red Army to the east of it essentially crumbling away, opening very large gaps in the line. A combined attack by 6 divisions got rid of a lvl 3 fort being held by 3 Soviet divisions, allowing to progress another hex to the north. In the meantime the Fins manage to dislodge the defenders from a lvl3 fort across the Chagodoscha and 1 divisions crosses the river. This leaves only an entrance into the salient of 2 hexes.

My own front to the north of Moscow is pretty much in shambles, too, due to the attacks, but I should be able to restablish order during the next turn and I doubt that there are enough combat worthy units left in the Red Army (that are not otherwise occupied) to give me much trouble.

4. Panzerarmee moves back towards the supply network, taking away hexes to reatreat into inside the pocket and doing most of the fighting (working on getting their morale back up), this frees up infantry to head east to establish a new defensive perimeter.

3. Panzerarmee does the same moving while moving to the SW.

In the end only the 3 divisions in Tambov are still holding out (CV of 27 + a lvl3 fort are a bit to high, so I will let them stew for another turn). Most of my mobile forces got their morale up in the 80-90 range now. And the Red Army is short of 8 tank corps, 3 cav corps, 14 infantry divisions, 2 cav divisions, 21 infantry brigades, 4 airborne brigades and 1 sec regiment - in total 274k men, 3.5k guns and 620 AFVs.

In the south the supply situation for the Red Army units trapped by the mountains is fairly bleak as well, but since I have no way to get into their back they are pushed back hex after hex (which is again helpfull for morale - the German MTN units are at 85/99/99).

My armored spearheads reach Grozny and the rail leading along at Caspian Sea is cut to the east of it, as is the rail leading from Baku to the west. The only remaining line of supply in the south is the Baku-Tiblisi-Batumi/Sukhumi railway and due to the mountains this will be largely no help further to the north.

But on the other hand I dont even want to think what this large push will do to my panzer, about 350km in 2 weeks, losses to damage will be high.

XIV Panzer stays around Voroshilovsk to get some rest while staying relatively close to the railhead. The rail to the south of Voroshilovsk is secured to allow faster repairs on the next turn.

Due to the current situation I begin to doubt that I will need 2. Panzerarmee at all. I will use them as a mobile rescue force for now. They stay at their positions and rest up. If a large danger faces 1. Panzerarmee they can be there in 1-2 turns and if there are no problems they will be well rested for their drive on Stalingrad.

In hindsight I should have moved more transport planes to the south, I dont really need them at the moment in the north. On the other hand this can change fairly soon once I start my drive towards the Urals.

The first leg of the rail to the east of Rostov is secured, but actually this is mostly the part I dont need, since I will repair the line coming directly from Rostov.

A bad turn for the Soviets, but with the manpower and equipment they gain each turn it will not be long before those losses are made up. But with the morale and XP of my troops on the rise again those fresh troops should be no match for the Wehrmachts veterans. But the Panzer losses due to driving them hard are starting to mount, around 300 lost this turn. The Red Army lost about 273k men, 3.4k guns and 700 AFVs despite their replacements.

I think I can hear a little song in my head made by the Doors ;) But maybe the AI is able to still surprise me, but with less than 4 million troops left to the Red Army this is highly doubtfull.

Despite using a smaller scale I still had to cut the map around Ryazan.

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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/31/2011 3:20:04 AM

wac29

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Nice job

How many points do you have?

What is your plan to get to 290? There are many 3 point cities in the north and you will have to get several of them, even with the entire deep south (Baku, etc.) and Stalingrad.

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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/31/2011 9:31:00 AM

CharonJr

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Thank you, 260 at the moment, 3. and 4. Panzerarmee will soon start a drive to the east.

I have not really cared about the VPs yet and will have to take a closer look at them. Are there different VPs for each city size?

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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/31/2011 2:08:10 PM

wac29

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Cities 1
Light Urban 3
Heavy Urban 5

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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/31/2011 6:20:41 PM

CharonJr

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Thank you, so still some work to do if I want to finish this one before the next mud season.

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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/31/2011 9:01:06 PM

wac29

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Exactly

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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 1/31/2011 10:03:46 PM

randallw

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You may have discovered the secret I Win button vs the computer.

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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 2/1/2011 12:31:03 AM

CharonJr

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T49:

In the north the Soviets finally realised that their salient is about to turn into a pocket and start to abandon their positions and try to get their troops out. Trying to directly form a link up will most likely be too difficult with CV 23 + a lvl 2 fort in the swamp hex and CV 30/33 and lvl3 forts in the hexes to the west of it. Due to this I will try to break through to the east of it and close the pocket there.

XX Korps starts to dig into the Soviet lines to free up XLIIs units. I try to time my attacks so that after a deliberate attack against a strong position the same units can attack a weaker position with a hasty attack with (hopefully) overwhelming force. In additon I only try to go for attcks with units from the same corps or at least armies to keep the command penalties as low as possible - in such a situation very little advantage counts, normally I don't stick too much to unit cohesion rules.

After XLII Korps did its job X Korps takes over and continues the push to the NE along the river. The attacks a fairly successfull since there are barely any serious fortifications to the east of the river and about 50% of the Soviet units are brigades and the overall supply situation is not good around here for all Soviet units. Deliberate attacks by a single CV 4 division are often enough to dislodge Soviet CV 2-3 divisions from their positions.

In the end I manage to push 2 divisions into a weakly defended swamp hex (no fort, 2 defensing divisions with a CV of about 4) and link up with the Finns, the pocket is closed and while it might be forced open again (though not very likely) I am confident that I would be able to reseal it if I had to (low supplied Soviets with no forts). Those units will be sorely missed at other parts of the front.

Around Ryazan a small bridgehead is created across the Oka into the rear of the Soviet troops after having pushed back most of their units there back across the Oka.

The units of 3. and 4. Panzerarmee are back below 10 FAT mostly and I am only waiting for another turn in order to top off their supplies and fuel in addition to driving the railhead further to the east before starting to push east with them. In the meantime the infantry to the east of Tambov start to push the Soviet line which should prevent them from getting any serious fortifications.

I will have to remember to move the airbases further to the east, too, before the end of the turn (I often forget about them and sometimes I catch the oversight after making the screenshots, but sometimes I dont till the next turn).

In the south a fair number of units have shown up threatening 1. Panzerarmee's rush to Baku. But there is no real depth to those attacks anymore. XXIV Panzer surrounds 9 units - including 4 tank corps - to the north of its positions.

I am pondering if I should start a push towards Stalingrad with 2. Panzerarmee and leave 1. Panzerarmee to fend on its own (it should have the power to do so) while the Soviets are concentrating on keeping Baku safe and the surprise factor has been lost. In addition slowing down 1. Panzerarmee's mad dash might help with getting the railhead closer to them and losing less panzer.

To the east of Voroshilovsk I throw a infantry screen at the advancing Red Army.

50 additional Ju-52s arrive from the north, hopefully being able to help with the lousy fuel situation of my Baku spearhead and I am still at a loss how to proceed with 2. Panzerarmee.

In the end I decided to use 1. Panzerarmee's reserves - XIV Panzer - to form a small pocket and contain part of the Soviet thrust with parts of 2. Panzerarmee giving a hand while the others keep resting.

Around Grozny XXXXVIII Panzer throws up another screen and I decided to stop my advance for now after having crossed the Terek.

Due to the fairly intensive fighting all along the front casualties remain high for both sides, but the Soviets managed to regain close to 50k men, 1.5k guns and 100 AFVs. German forcelevels remained the same, but some more planes are operational again now.

I will need to keep pressing my advantage without getting to reckless, but at the moment I am still fairly confident that this game will not see another winter. But since I still need 30 VPs it will not be too easy, too - while the Red Army seems to lack the strength to stop me they should have enough strength left to delay me.

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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 2/1/2011 12:35:40 AM

CharonJr

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quote:

ORIGINAL: randallw

You may have discovered the secret I Win button vs the computer.

Yes, it can be found directly in the main window, it is labeled "Difficulty: NORMAL" ;)

The AI seems to be very forgiving of small mistakes (and badly formed pockets), that's why I take a shot at a small PBEM game now (Road to Leningrad) as the Soviets, my main problem is that I have not played a single turn as the Soviets yet, but at least I habe a pretty good idea of the German capabilites.

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Post #: 260

RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 2/1/2011 12:39:07 AM

randallw

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Big mistake by the computer to not group rifle brigades together for divisions.

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Post #: 261

RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 2/1/2011 12:46:13 AM

CharonJr

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I tend to agree, but on the other hand, how many divisions can be build with 4 million men?

I think about 200-250 and the AI might feel this is not enough. Or does the same happen when is has more men?

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Post #: 262

RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 2/1/2011 7:05:06 PM

CharonJr

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T50:

After clearing up the 2 small pockets and reducing the large one by about 50% (25 units left in there) the Red Army lost 348k men, 4.6k guns and 598 AFVs with 56 lost units (42 divisions or corps, 14 brigades).

Only 2 corps and the Finns are left to deal with the northern pocket while the other units start to push east. I try to avoid the big swamp area and shift my units to the south. The 2 corps left for clean up duty will support the Finns in their eastward drive in the north once the pocket is cleared.

Another small pocket is created and the infantry make 60km towards Yaroslavl, but the major river remains uncrossed. And with my reinforcement priorities (refit) being in the south my troops are starting to get worn out here.

Around Tambov 3. Panzerarmee pushes towards Saransk after a hole in the front has been created by infantry. 4. Panzerarmee does the same further south and drives towards Penza.

In opening up the southern gap the Slovankian mot and Romanian armor proved to be quite usefull, both are at around 80 morale now.

The link up between the 2 Panzerarmeen is made between Saransk and Penza and 3. Panzerarmee even pulls back from Saransk after taking control of some hexes around it to link up further to the south. This allows 3 divisions of 4. Panzerarmee's LVI Panzer (its HQ actually) to remain closer to their own frontlines potentially being able to rush to Saratov on the next turn.

The resulting pocket contains about a dozen units (including 3 tank corps) in addition to 2 Soviet FBD units (any idea if you can capture/destroy the "real" - non automated - RR units or will they jump like HQs and airbases if attacked?), but those might be the automated kind.

Along the whole front some additional small pockets have been formed or are threatening to be formed, they are not very secure, but some should last and even the ones that are reopened will leave the Red Army weaker than before.

Parts of 11. Armee continue heading to the NE along the rail towards Stalingrad, they are just 80km away from it now and depending on the number of forces the Soviets manage to muster here or to the SE of LVI Panzer there might be an opion to for a very large (and very insecure) pocket here.

In order to add some range to the southern thrust of this possible operation XXIV and XXXXVI Panzer of 2. Panzerarmee are moved to the railhead to the east of Rostov.

XXXXVII Panzer helps with protecting 1. Panzerarmee's northern flank.

With a deep penetration to the east 9. Panzerdivision manages to cut the railline along the Caspian Sea to the south of the river Kuma, reinforcements (which will most likely be needed around Stalingrad soon anyway) are stopped even earlier now.

XL Panzer gets to within 30km of Makhachkala, adding to the Red Army's supply problems down here in the south. III Panzer is resting in the rear in the meantime and should be in a position to exploit the converted hexes towards Makhachkala on the next turn.

Huge losses from the pockets to the Red Army this turn, despite strong production 359k men, 6.6k guns, 692 tanks were lost overall (64 units, just 19 of them brigades, the others were larger formations). Depending on how many of the small pockets will last and together with the 25 units remaining in the northern pocket we could see similar (but still lower - about 60 units in there in total) numbers during the next turn.

I am really keen to give the large pocket based on Stalingrad a shot, but the Soviets will have to help me here, if one of the Panzerarmeen gets too many intervening units I will not be able to make it.

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RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 2/1/2011 8:14:40 PM

kfmiller41

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From: Saint Marys, Ga
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Remind me not to challenge you to a PBEM cause you roll right through the Russians

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(in reply to CharonJr)

Post #: 264

RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 2/1/2011 9:50:01 PM

CharonJr

Posts: 559
Joined: 4/27/2005
Status: offline

Hehe, vs. a human my army would already be smoking ruins I dare to say.

The AI is OK for a game like this, but I would be surprised if any old wargamer (once he remembers the rules and got used to the interface) will be beaten on "normal".

I am afraid that since the AI will not really punish minor mistakes most of the time that once you got the basic concept down you might actually start to play worse since the AI will let you get away with it.

My main issues with the AI at the moment are:
- staying in pockets when there are ways out
- not being decisive enough when it has the advantage (first blizzard)
- no strategic retreats (Stalin would have been proud ;) ) thus wasting its troops instead of exhausting mine before making a stand/counterattacking

I am looking forward to playing a human here (being the Soviets in Road to Leningard) and hope that I have not become too spoiled by the AI ;)

But I have read your AAR and dare to say that I most likely would have been steamrolled by you during the blizzards - I was already feeling uncomfortable vs. the AI there ;)

(in reply to kfmiller41)

Post #: 265

RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 2/1/2011 10:39:34 PM

kfmiller41

Posts: 1063
Joined: 3/25/2003
From: Saint Marys, Ga
Status: offline

I have to agree with that, in both my games my forces number almost 7 million for the blizzard and I dare say that with the pumped up army you get you can attack like mad and know you still have forces to put in reserve to dig in for the Germans rebound, and they will. I have been unable to really knock out the enemy. Soviet forces are just not good enough for that but they can liberate territory and make it harder on the German later on. In my next PBEM I do intend to play Russia much more historically, fighting more forward and counterattacking whenever I have a chance even if taking bad losses, just to see how things go. I will be semi randomly reckless

, kind of pretending my job and life

are on the line if I fail.

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(in reply to CharonJr)

Post #: 266

RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 2/1/2011 10:49:48 PM

CharonJr

Posts: 559
Joined: 4/27/2005
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Yes, I think retreat-counterattack-retreat... might be a viable tactic for the Soviets, you might lose another million men, but the delays and the XP/morale some of the units have gained could be worth it in the long run.

That's why I actually like playing the RtL scenario as my first Soviet game, you simply have no room to run really far ;)

(in reply to kfmiller41)

Post #: 267

RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 2/2/2011 12:50:46 AM

CharonJr

Posts: 559
Joined: 4/27/2005
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Just took a look at the result for T50 and since I bashed the AI before I just have to show this one.

That's what you get for disregaring the AI and having forgotten that you moved the combat unit away from the southernmost HQ.

Nice catch by the AI, especially since I flew some fuel to those HQs, this will set me back by about 2 turns.

edit: "had" and "a brave", oh well, it's late here ;)

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by CharonJr -- 2/2/2011 12:51:41 AM >

(in reply to CharonJr)

Post #: 268

RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 2/2/2011 4:03:52 PM

wac29

Posts: 215
Joined: 1/13/2011
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Your game is ending a lot like mine did. The defense disintegrates everywhere after a few pockets in early 1942...

(in reply to CharonJr)

Post #: 269

RE: German 1941 GC - normal - 2/2/2011 11:08:22 PM

CharonJr

Posts: 559
Joined: 4/27/2005
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T51:

Ok, all the pockets held which is a big surprise and has to be blamed on the AIs capabilities again, some would have been fairly easy to open.

61 units (just 17 brigades again) with 380k men, 4.7k guns and 246 AFVs were destroyed in the pockets, most likely the Red Army will below the Wehrmacht's strength in everything but planes by the end of the turn.

With the northern pocket cleared 18. Armee moves north to encircle the swamp from the northern side while 16. Armee will surround it from the south, the Finns and parts of 16. Armee hold the western side.

Around Boguchar the Red Army has retreated in a large scale (it was not even under threat of getting pocketed here), I wonder where those units were send (Stalingrad and the Urals are 2 possibilities that come to my mind).

To the west of Yaroslavl a bridgehead has been established across the Volga.

Due to my HQ blunder in the south I feel that I have to make up for it somehow and will go for the large pocket around Stalingrad (well, actually I wanted to do this anyway ;) ), to the east of Saratov I seem to be facing only 1 cav corps and around 30! airbases and 10! HQs.

For the first phase XXXXI Panzer heads south from Penza and forces the cav corps to retreat in addition to cutting a swath through the airbases. I did some airfield bombing (only TACs and LBs who have already flown missions - will need the other ones for supply flights)before since I am curious how much damage I can do with some overruns here, but with all this Soviet airpower around my planes got pretty much mauled - about 40 losses for 20 destroyed planes in the air).

LVI follows and manages to get up to the river Ilovlya, displacing more units while getting a large number of controlled hexes as a buffer vs. potential counterattacks - which can happen anyway with the MPs of those guards cav.

From the south 11. Armee pushes forward and gets within 20km of Stalingrad. XXIV and XXXXVI Panzer follow in their wake. They manage to occupy undefended S Stalingrad, but Stalingrad itself is defended by a lvl2 fort and 3 rifle divisions.

The overruns destoyed about 390 additional planes - essentially not even putting a dent in the Soviet air masses. With the pocket closed about 40 units are sitting in there, but with half of them either HQs or airbases I doubt there will be that many fish left in the net on the next turn if the pocket holds.

Along the coast of the Black Sea Sukhumi is taken by Hungarian armor.

Around Baku I am forced to wait till my units have recovered from the HQ blunder.

And it seems like the Italians will not get their planes back anytime soon, I disband the remaining airbase and the HQ.

Close call here, the Red Army still has more troops than the Wehrmacht. Without the 5 fresh infantry divisions I got this turn basically nothing would have changed. The Red Army lost around 310k men (so still getting about +100k each turn), 4.3k guns (+ 0.8k/turn) and 210 AFVs (only +36/turn? - seems very low).

The war is over, now it is just the question of when the surrender will take place.