Dinglir
Posts: 620
Joined: 3/10/2016 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: HardLuckYetAgain Curious, What are you going to do when/if Pelton breaks one of the River lines in the south and surrounds those units up front? I see you have multiple layers here. Are the units on the other river lines going to stay put or ?.... Just trying to understand what you are doing. Well HardLuck, you invited me to post a wall of text, and I will not fail The "traditional" way of defending is to create a defensive line multiple hexes deep with as high a defensive CV in each hex as possible. What I have seen again and again however, is that Pelton attacks with a "Panzer ball" of some 15 Panzer divisions, 10 Motorized Divisions and plenty of infantry divisions to do the initial attacks. The effects of this is that the infantry beats the first line of defense and takes control of the hexrow. That means that the first few Panzers can move up to the second hexrow of the defensive line for a minimu of MP, attack and beat that line as well. The next group of Panzers can then move up to the third hexrow, make a series of hasty attacks, beating back the defenders on hex at a time. In the end, when all defenders are gone, the Motorized Divisions can charge through at a minimum of MP (due to Axis control of all the fromer defense hexes) and then create a deep penetration. I actually suffered this in turn 51 at the German breakthrough in the north. Looking at the reports, the Germans fought for virtually all hexes in the first four hexrows they took, and none other. I had hoped that the terrain modifer would have prevented this from happening here, but it did not. Look at my lines and you will see that a number of Northwestern Front divisions are already hopelessly outmaneuvered and effecticley encircled. What would have happened here, if I had kept fewer of those divisions on the line and more in a strategic reserve? In effect, I do not believe it is possible for the Soviets to prevent a German Panzer breakthrough in 1942. The mission for the Soviets must be to contain such a breakthrough, not to prevent it. Consequently, I have tried to design my defense with that task in mind. In the prime Panzer country south of Moscow, I have tried to only place enough at the very front to ensure that the German infantry can not force a breakthrough on their own. If the Germans wish for a breakthrough, they will need to commit their Panzers. This is where my strategic reserve comes in. As soon as the Panzer's attack (or I see them gathering), I will start relocating my strategic reserve to that location. They should hopefully be able to pick up the fight somewhere around my second river line (which is built up mainly by divisions attached to STAVKA Armies). This is also the reason why I try to have such a large reserve as I do - I need it to fight the German Panzers. At turn 51, I considered the entire Volkhov Front (four armies) and about five other armies as part of that reserve - to be rushed to wherever the German Panzers attack. Of course, if I spot the German Panzers mustering for a coming attack, I might very well decide to simply evacuate the first line of defense, drawing my front divisions back to the second line at the same time as I move up my strategic reserve. The third line is made up entirely by STAVKA units and thus haveneither leadership or support units available. If caught in a fight, they will suffer a 20% CV reduction for being assigned to STAVKA. In effect, they should be kept wl clear of all fighting as they are a liability in such an event. They serve simply as diggers. One final thing that is (realtively) to my advantage with this line of thinking: I read somewhere that Pelton has now begun his 50th game as Germany. In other words, he has had plenty of experience in overcoming a "traditional" defense, while I have had none in conducting one. As a reader of "Achtung Panzer" you will know the value of obtaining and keeping "surprise".
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