RE: Tihkvin falls!

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RE: Tihkvin falls! - 2/25/2011 1:40:20 AM

Ketza

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Overall I am fairly pleased with the progress and am almost ready to start full time blizzard prep. Will most likely continue to pocket and attrit him as opportunities allow but for now I have essentially reached most of my main objectives. He is still hugging my lines so I am sure I can get his casualties to 4 million by the blizzard.

I plan on keeping 18th army and 3rd PZ in reserve as my main hole pluggers for his offensive.

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Post #: 61

RE: Tihkvin falls! - 3/9/2011 5:28:50 AM

Ketza

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Turn 17 update coming soon.

Leningrad, Kharkov and Stalino fallen.

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Post #: 62

RE: Tihkvin falls! - 3/9/2011 5:35:54 AM

Ketza

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Turn 17 AGN -

It was a long hard slog but the last of Leningrads defenders were cleared out turn 16. Some 40 divisions were killed off. Turn 14 3rd PZ was pulled out of the line and is resting. Turn 15 and 16 4th PZ was pulled out of the line. 18th Army is resting around Leningrad until I decide where they will winter. I am not really sure where the best place on the map for them to hole up is any suggestions? I plan on using 18th army as a spearhead in 42.

When the last hex of Leningrad fell the Finns went wild. I have started preparing for the Blizzard.

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Post #: 63

Turn 17 update! - 3/9/2011 5:41:49 AM

Ketza

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AGN/AGC boundry -

The front is the follwing -

AGN - finns - 16th army - 18th reserve - 4th PZ reserve

AGC - 9th army - 2nd army - 4th army - 2nd PZ - 3rd PZ reserve

9th, 2nd and 4th have been grinding forward killing and routing Soviet units. 4th army was also used to crush the northern half of the great bulge pocket that netted some 50 Soviet units when 2nd PZ drove south and linked up with 1st PZ.

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Post #: 64

RE: Turn 17 update! - 3/9/2011 5:46:48 AM

Ketza

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AGS - turn 17 saw a huge breakout of 1st PZ that overran Stalino and the other cities nearby. Zaporzhe and Dneprpetrovsk are close to falling. In the south its been one jailbreak after another that will come grinding to a halt very soon.

6th army was resting and is on its way to the front to support 17ths army rather thin lines. I will most likely place it between 17th and 11th armies.

< Message edited by Ketza -- 3/9/2011 5:48:54 AM >

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Post #: 65

RE: Turn 17 update! - 3/9/2011 5:51:09 AM

Ketza

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Losses:

I have landed some amazing pockets but dead Soviets are only aroun 3.6 million. I have started to run into some very weak Soviet divisions that actually show up as zero CV along the front so I am hoping he is getting very short of replacements.

You can see where turn 14 and 15 2 major Soviet pockets were being reduced at Leningrad and along the central front.

< Message edited by Ketza -- 3/9/2011 5:52:44 AM >

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Post #: 66

RE: Turn 17 update! - 3/9/2011 2:29:18 PM

Klydon

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Since you have Leningrad (and it is far behind the front line) you will have to come up with a garrison plan in order to keep the partisans from popping up like crazy. Something else is to check on your Finns on which units will withdraw or you may be surprised when a pile of them disappear. Certainly Leningrad can be used to winter mobile units if you can afford to have them that far behind the lines.

18th army as a spearhead unit for 1942. Well, I suppose it depends on where you decide to launch your 1942 offensive. The two obvious choices are going to be Moscow and in the south. If it is Moscow, I would look to have 18th army come in from the NW while AGC pushes from the west. You should have the rail lines in good shape by then and have a solid axis of advance. There are some pop centers on the way to add to the booty as well. In this case, 18th army can winter in Leningrad if you are going to leave it off line. The other option for a Moscow offensive is to park a mass of units in the Orel area (provided you hold it during the Russian winter offensive) This gives you the most flexibility in that you can swing north with a upper cut towards Moscow or head south. It may be a case of leaving them in Leningrad to meet the garrison requirements, replacing them with the Luftwaffe troops and other security troops that you get over the winter and railing them up in stages when mud and snow hit in the spring.

I will be interested to see how both the Russian winter counter offensive rolls out and also how the Germans look in the spring of 42. He has taken a beating so far, but really the only place where he "lost it" was Leningrad and he can somewhat compensate by just pulling out of this area where the Finns can't follow and concentrating his forces elsewhere. No way any winter offensive he launches retakes Leningrad anyway.

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Post #: 67

RE: Turn 6 - 3/9/2011 3:34:58 PM

Tarhunnas

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quote:

The pocket is under the grey info box lol.

Haha, you are not tricking me! You are making it up

Seriously, great AAR!

< Message edited by Tarhunnas -- 3/9/2011 3:36:06 PM >

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Post #: 68

RE: Turn 6 - 3/15/2011 4:42:38 AM

Ketza

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AGN

Not much happened during the mud turns so I waited to update. Here is AGN after 1st snow turn. 18th army is in winter quarters and the front is stabilized except for local good odds attacks that wear him down. The Finns pulled back a little to save on thier morale. Other then that not much happening here.

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< Message edited by Ketza -- 3/15/2011 4:46:24 AM >

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Post #: 69

RE: Turn 6 - 3/15/2011 4:50:49 AM

Ketza

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AGC - Unleashed 2pZ that had been inactive for quite some time and carved out a pocket. Local attacks on his tank brigades and calvary had been the order of the day up until now. Every mud turn saw 15 - 20 of his units rout away from the front. Snow attacks actually caused 6 shatters. next few turns will just see much of the same. Still not sure what I am going to do when the blizzard hits. I will be pulling 2 PZ back out of the line before then.

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Post #: 70

RE: Turn 6 - 3/15/2011 4:54:29 AM

Ketza

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AGS - Short but steady advance thru the mud period. WHen snow hit unleashed 6th army and 4th PZ for a spoiling attack where he had been massing troops. Lots of routs and heavy casualties. Im bringing the mountain troops in and getting ready for a big fight here come the blizzard. My goal is to maintain a force on his side of the Dneiper by the time all is said and done and spring arrives.

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Post #: 71

RE: Turn 6 - 3/15/2011 4:57:59 AM

Ketza

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I was hoping to hit 4 million Soviet casualties before the blizzard. I will probably come in around 3.8 million. This seems better then most AARs but it does not seem to be enough. I have destroyed 1300+ T-34s and have severly mauled 20+ tank brigades and another 20 or Calvary divisions. Now we try and inflict as much casualties for 2 turns and then see what the blizzard has in store for us.

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Post #: 72

RE: Turn 6 - 3/15/2011 10:56:36 AM

Aussiematto

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Wow - you have had a great game so far in terms of casualties but not terrain. I suspect blizzard will not be quite so bad because he won't ahve the combat power to exploit your weaknesses. I am worried about the lower Dnepr... not having him locked up in the Crimea might cause some dramas down there. Would consider sending 18th army south for a holiday.. 2-3 regiments of inf and 2-3 regts of security should hold Leningrad vs partisans.

He won't get through the Finns, so you don't need to garrison the line in the north....

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Post #: 73

RE: Turn 6 - 3/15/2011 2:10:50 PM

Klydon

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Overall looks good in the center and especially the north, but the south is going to be hurting. Seems like he has massed up quite a few troops and the spoiling attacks are a great move to disrupt him and buy some time during the December onslaught that is going to come. AGS is really stretched and it does not look like it will be possible to withdraw PG1 out of the line. It is a shame that a drive to the Sea of Azov won't really put any Russians out of supply since he has control of the Crimea, although those guys way up on the line will likely be hurting in terms of logistics, it still won't take much to knock the Rumanians around in the winter.

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Post #: 74

RE: Turn 6 - 3/15/2011 2:20:31 PM

Ketza

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I have a little trick up my sleeve for 1st PZ.

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RE: Turn 6 - 3/15/2011 10:30:37 PM

Q-Ball

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First off, very nice AAR.

I, like Klydon, see trouble in the South. That line of Romanians along the Dnepr....remember, the Dnepr basically disappears after the first Blizzard turn, so they will just be Romanians defending in the open. I.E., Dead Meat. That is problem area #1. If they fall apart, that's pretty far in your rear. Major problems. The line down there is crazy-long, but in the Blizzard, this favors the Russians.

Up North, I would stretch the Finns as far as you can toward the South; they can take care of however much line you can give them. That will free-up about 6 divisions or so in 16th Army; I think you need them in front of the Valdai Hills, where you also look thin.

Maybe you planned these changes before Blizzard, but just saying.

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Post #: 76

RE: Turn 6 - 3/17/2011 3:14:18 AM

Ketza

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Turn 23 -

AGN - Nothing to really report. Some reorg with the finns and a slow slide southward as 16th army is slowly replaced.

AGC - Small pocket of 5 divisions crushed. A new pocket of 9 units is formed that will be easily crushed before the blizzard and lines are adjusted. Once again a lot of his units routed. Anything with a CV of 2 or more was deliberate attacked that could be hit.

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< Message edited by Ketza -- 3/17/2011 3:16:35 AM >

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Post #: 77

RE: Turn 6 - 3/17/2011 3:21:26 AM

Ketza

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AGS - 1st PZ used a HQ buildup to adjust its position and clear out a path to the sea. It also took one small port along the coast. 4th PZ took over its positions near Stalino.

11th army with an SS division also drove to the coast and took another port. The resulting pocket is around 20 soviet divisions.

During thje snow it looks like I will be able to pocket all told 35 or so Soviet divisions. Countless other shatters were caused and many tank brigades and cav were mauled. I may get to 4 million casualties. Fingers crossed!

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Post #: 78

Brrrrrrrrrrr - 3/18/2011 11:32:06 PM

Ketza

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Well the last turn of snow and the blizzard beast will be upon the Axis armies soon.

The snow offensives killed another 32 units this turn. Total units killed the 3 turns was 49. Although I like this number total soviet ground losses barely reached over 3.8 million. Aircraft losses on his part were 16k to my 1.6k. I adjusted artillery toes downward and set most active divisions to refit. 3rd PZ with 9 divisions is snuggled up in Germany except for one motorised division and is at 100% toe. 18th army is warm in Leningrad at 100% toe.

1st and 4th PZ are engaged for the moment but that will change as the Soviet winter beast is unleashed. 2nd PZ although recently engaged is in very good shape and is going to be withdrew slowly. Reinforcements were sent to bolster the Rumanians.

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< Message edited by Ketza -- 3/18/2011 11:38:52 PM >

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RE: Brrrrrrrrrrr - 3/18/2011 11:41:14 PM

Ketza

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AGS

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RE: Brrrrrrrrrrr - 3/18/2011 11:42:04 PM

Ketza

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AGC

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Post #: 81

RE: Brrrrrrrrrrr - 3/18/2011 11:43:18 PM

Ketza

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AGN

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RE: Brrrrrrrrrrr - 3/19/2011 12:08:07 AM

karonagames

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I have my fingers crossed, because you have followed my survival guide suggestion to push through the snow to disrupt the sovs attack plans for the blizzard. With luck you may reduce his attack capacity to below 30 attacks per turn for the first 3-4 turns, which means you are "winning". If you can get your mountain troops down south you may be able to ring fence the units at the mouth of the Crimea.

You should also note that the 32 units you have destroyed in November will cost him APs, as anything lost after 1st november is not automatically replaced for free. It looks like you can build a stable N-S line apart from the Crimea area which could get messy.

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RE: Brrrrrrrrrrr - 3/19/2011 5:29:05 AM

Klydon

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Yes, it will be interesting to see what happens in the Crimea area. That is a lot of area still under his control and a high mix of Rumanians vs Germans in the area there. Surprised you have not bought the Finns down a bit more from the north, but that could be moral issues too.

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Post #: 84

RE: Brrrrrrrrrrr - 3/20/2011 9:44:23 PM

Ketza

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Quick update...

Well I just sent my opponent the 1st week of January turn and my baptism of blizzard has been underway for some time. (I had never even played the AI in blizzard) We have been exchanging turns at a rather rapid pace so I have not have time to do any updates. I have seen this tendency in other games of my opponents churning out turns (especially WITPAE) as things begin to look up for their situation and I am quite happy for the activity.

I believe the blizzard ends around turn 37 and we are on turn 29. Although things are bad they are not as bad as I had thought they would be. My losses just topped 1.1 million but I have around 700k disabled so I am assuming thats not too bad. I have 6k rifle squads in reserve and even with everyone on refit that number continues to rise. I so far have only had one division collapse (7th Para) but I have no idea why. The combat report showed the result was a retreat yet it showed up in Germany being rebuilt. I have no divisions show as unready across the entire front. So far the army is holding and I owe much of that success to the "surviving the blizzard" sticky which showed the importance of managing the behind the scenes aspect of your army.

This last turn showed 7 divisions of 17th army become surrounded by tank brigades but I was able to reconnect for at least a turn. There is a large force enroute to help their situation. So far I have only commited 2 divisions from strategic reserve to throw in his path. (Both of them mountain divisions). My initial plan for 17th army was to just retreat every turn but I had some early "held" results and got a bit cocky.

I had expected and hoped he would come across the Dnepr where I had the Rumanians. Its one of the reasons I manned the line the way I did to try and lure him. He instead has pushed other areas but in the end I am pretty much where I expected to be at this juncture. I actually held the Stalino line 2 turns longer then I thought I would.

All in all its been an interesting learning experience. My next long term game and the 4.0 blizzard fixes will no doubt play out better for the Axis cause.

One thing is fort levels dont seem to make a difference thats for sure!

< Message edited by Ketza -- 3/20/2011 9:59:46 PM >

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RE: Brrrrrrrrrrr - 3/20/2011 10:56:46 PM

karonagames

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Just seen the screen shots from the other side - I have to say that your defence looked like it had no depth - stacking units is a bad for the Axis as it is for the sovs - even a 2 deep "carpet" of 1-1 ants is better than a 2 high stack.

7 para is being withdrawn - it will stay until it's TOE reaches 80% then it will vanish.

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RE: Brrrrrrrrrrr - 3/20/2011 11:34:27 PM

Ketza

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Well I was trying to really cover too much with too few in the center. Like I said my original plan was to just run but I have held a lot of his attacks and it gave me a bit of false security. The issue has been his own tank brigade ants leaking along the creases. They are moving a little faster then I thought they would.

I am sure this upcoming turn will be nasty in the middle but the rest of the front is holding pretty well. Even so its nasty where I want it to be, albeit a bit nastier then my overconfidence has allowed it to be.

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Post #: 87

RE: Brrrrrrrrrrr - 3/20/2011 11:36:10 PM

PeeDeeAitch

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Tank brigades that had a month or so to build up can be dangerous, especially if they are in a Shock Army.

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Post #: 88

RE: Brrrrrrrrrrr - 3/22/2011 6:39:47 AM

Ketza

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I am on a business trip to Sacremento this week and my connection is to slow to play a server game so no turn until Saturday.

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Post #: 89

17th Army needs rescue! - 3/28/2011 3:43:50 AM

Ketza

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Upon opening the game the perilous situation of the 17th army had become dire. Some 12 divisions have been cut off. 17th army had started the winter weak and it had not covered its front well. Was it time to run or be bold? If you dont stand for something you will fall for anything....

Operation Mercury was ordered to be launched. The rescue of 17th army.