Slitherine

quote:

Soviet South Commander
we gain about 119 000 manpower per turn for now and a average a 20K to 40K return wounded.

in turn 15 the reinforcements of skeleton units are as fallows:
11 Rifle divisions, 10000 men per division: 10000*11 = 110 000
5 tank Brigades, 1800 men per unit: 1800*5 = 9000
3 cavalry divisions, 4000 per division: 4000*3 = 12000

a total of 131000 men are needed to fully equipped out the reinforcements.

in turn 16 the reinforcements of skeleton units are as fallows:
13 Rifle divisions, 10000 men per division: 10000*13 = 130 000
14 tank Brigades, 1800 men per unit: 1800*14 = 25 200
12 Rifle Brigades, 4000 men per brigade: 4000*12 = 48 000

a total of 203 200 manpower is needed to equip all reinforcements for turn 16 alone! and a might have miss a couple of units.

and I not even counting the units that are still at low TOE, commanders report shows we have at least 30 rifle divisions at 20% ToE.

and of course, there is still the tons of reinforcements for the fallowing turns until, during and beyond winter.
I encourage my comrades to calculate the manpower needs for future reinforcements, it helps to know the situation for the future red army.

Let's not forget that we need manpower reserves to fill out casualties on the front lines.

If we look at Army Status it will show under balance: -720 000, we still lack 720 000 manpower to have TOE at 100% and reinforcements are still coming.

in my opinion. we should try to have the good divisions, the +40 morale +40 experience have 100% or at least 90% TOE. those units, under great leaders are the ones that make the real difference,
not only do they have higher CV, they take less loses in combat. have high construction value because of the experience. the good rifle division can build a level 2 fort in 3 to 4 turns. while a below average division (25 exp. 35 morale)
can take 3 turns just to build a level 1 fort!!

Speaking of experience. I think its important long term. to try and have as many combat units on training as possible. right now, experience raises like this:
fresh formations start at 10 to 15 experience, normally the experience goes up by 1, if the units is 10 hexes away from an enemy unit, the experience can raise by 3 per turn until it reaches half of national morale. For us right now, its about 22/23 experience.
a decent division should have at least 30 exp. but as you can see, it can take many turns to reach it.
that is why its important to fill up those skeleton formations to at least 70% TOE. so they can train up and have a decent amount of these trained units ready for Blizzard....

I'm thinking of settings like:
average rifle division: 70% ToE
average rifle brigade: 70% ToE
average Cavalry division: 80% ToE
average tank Brigades: 70% ToE

only the really good units can keep full ToE, the naval brigades for exe, can have 90%

quote:

South Axis Commander
wasted BU

quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

Most of turn 15 saw our south commander give battle with their BIOS. There may be innocent explanations. But personally I have no doubt it was a Russian hack attack

quote:

ORIGINAL: Zorch

quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

quote:

ORIGINAL: Zorch

But are you shellproof?

quote:

Axis North Commander
The OOB is at 3.4M with a manpower to gun ratio of 1151
8.6% There is not a whole lot of units and what units there are .. do not have stuff to fight

quote:

ORIGINAL: Fetterkrolle
How are the soviets still fighting, considering the Axis is making pocket after pocket?

quote:

South Axis Commander
shattered the western most cav, nice, that is out of the way then

quote:

South Axis Commander
transports with fighter cover nearly 100 JU52s, nice!

quote:

South Axis Commander
...to refuel an important PzD [the other side of the Voronezh river!

quote:

South Axis Commander
We made a new pocket

quote:

Supreme Axis Commander
there may be pockets where you need one more hex to close them
paras can be used for that too

quote:

Crackaces
I am turning my armor bronze :wink:

quote:

Crackaces:
I am headed to Yaroslavl!

quote:

Crackaces
This turn staging ..next turn .. D-day operation Bronze Charge
I have to make the river in one turn

quote:

Crackaces
I Corps can rail to Vzamya next turn
L Corps after that
Just have 18th Army reduce Moscow

quote:

Axis North Commander
Ok my stuff is on rails ready to rail
Except for the Finns

quote:

South Axis Commander
I'll sweep the crap out of his fighters

quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

T015 Axis Factory Bombing
Not going well...

quote:

ORIGINAL: Zorch
Stop me if you've heard me say this before...but it is totally unrealistic for the Germans to know the exact damage % of factories being bombed. Especially given Soviet excellence in Maskirovka. The Soviets would have used the same techniques the Germans used to deceive Allied bombing (both day and night).

quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus
And Soviet factories were huge integrated operations, more the size of a city than a big building. So aerial reconnaissance could certainly find them and get better overall visual intelligence on them than they could on the equivalent german supply chain.

quote:

Soviet Centre Commander
Sir, I hate to argue, but a depth defense such as that is not going to last a turn. Our units per individual basis are quite weak and the defensive CV of the units being spread out in that manner means the fascist panzer corps will be able to smash through them all in one turn alone, with little effort. For example in the north part of Center Front alone there are 5 panzer divisions in close proximity ready to strike.

At least like this we are giving our men one more week to build fortifications, while also allowing them to build strength. Perhaps next week there will be enough CV to make a 2nd defensive line behind the Volga.

quote:

Soviet South Commander
while the defense in depth is the better way to stop German mobility. the situation in the north is different, if our units at the Volga are to weak, its possible an hasty attack from a panzer could break it! (unlikely because of high disruption for mechanize units, but it is possible!) if that is the case, the German panzers and Motorize would only need 15 MP for an hasty attack instead of the 28 MP needed for an full on attack.
and if the Germans can get just one Mot or panzer north of the Volga, we are NOT pushing it back.
and this way, troops can build level 1 forts in time for the Volga! further securing the river line.

quote:

Soviet Centre Commander
Having an all-round-weak in-depth defense with CV between 1-6 would MAYBE buy us another week, if we are lucky. However, I think you are underestimating the enemy if you think a 3 unit deep wall of very low resistance will do much. It will be one hasty attack victory after another for them, no difficulties.

Regardless, ponder we did that, at what cost? It would draw away manpower from and considerably weaken the Volga defensive line, which would now increase its fortification level slower towards level 1. We would also permanently lose a lot of men and units, not only because of casualties from battles (all losses for sure), but also because many more of our units would likely be encircled, isolated and destroyed, something we were told must not happen!

Let's be frank and realistic here gentlemen. There is no way to stop the enemy from crossing at any point along the Volga considering our current manpower and the strength of the enemy, regardless of what strategy we use, it would be folly to believe otherwise. Our concerns on the frontline at this stage are to stall the enemy while not losing more men and units to encirclements, while surviving until the Rasputitsa. This is what I've strived for.