"I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet)

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"I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet)

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Gary Grigsby's War in the East 2 >> After Action Reports >> "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet)

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"I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) ... - 9/28/2021 8:39:38 AM

RedJohn

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41 start game, just gave back turn 41 to fracas. I start this AAR because I haven't really seen a 42 offensive in a H2H yet on the forums.

Pictured is turn 38 start. He moved units across the gulf of finland, to Osel and that other island, and cheekily occupied a bunch of territory. No major damage, all units were captured. It did however force my reserve panzers in Konigsberg to leave their cushy seats and brave the horrid snow. One particularly sad moment was when a panzer regiment went from 100% TOE to 0% TOE, as literally every single tank got damaged in the logistics step despite them being on rails.

Winter as a whole has been a mixed bag. The south held extremely well, with us holding rostov, but we were pushed back to Pskov in the north. Our Moscow thrust held for the most part, as did our gains around Tula. Level 3 forts helped with this, but we were forced to put panzers on the front.

Crimea was not taken. We advanced close to Sevastapol, but mud was hitting and I decided to retreat to the entrances for an easier defence.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 9/28/2021 8:47:51 AM

RedJohn

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OOB/Losses/air losses.

Probably my best barbarossa ever. I had 2 other games reach 42 offensive season, but in both I sent my panzers/motorised back to the reserves for winter which drained them of trucks and subsequently I was unable to get anything more than a corps to get more than 20 MP, which sort of killed the game.

He had about 500k+ men in transfer, the actual OOB at around turn 41 is 5.3m~ give or take 200k.

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< Message edited by RedJohn -- 9/28/2021 9:35:16 AM >

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 9/28/2021 9:00:39 AM

RedJohn

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These particular pockets I think saved winter for me. It was a gamble for both of us, and had I been unable to close the pockets I would've had to retreat en masse in north and centre.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 9/28/2021 11:30:36 AM

loki100

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should be interesting - clearing out that pocket in the rough terrain will take some time but you are well placed (at the worst) to push the HWM to a level that will be a challenge for the Soviets to match

looked like an entertaining gambit using the Estonian islands, I tend to make sure I hold the port on the southern one but never bother to clear out the smaller one

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 9/28/2021 12:40:37 PM

Beethoven1

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Here's a pretty great screenshot Bread sent me a while back of that pocket (at least I think it is the same one).

You really have to love, on the one hand, the stubbornness of the Soviets in refusing to evacuate or retreat in any way from the obvious massive salient. And, you have to respect, on the other hand, the grim determination of the Germans to keep plowing around the edges to seal off the salient just before winter hits, knowing that if mud/winter hits without it being closed, they will be in big trouble.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 9/29/2021 2:43:15 AM

RedJohn

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The pocket was closed many moons ago Loki, though it did take a very significant amount of time yeah.

Posting turn 40, just handed turn 42 back to Fracas. I will probably be delaying it a bit more as weather turns to clear to hide my intentions, just in case he's viewing.

No attacks across the front. The incursion from Osel was crushed, but annoyingly a naval invasion just north east of Odessa went ahead last turn. I had to pull the Italian mountaineers, a security division I was going to send elsewhere, and the Africa mot div that just so happened to be on rails in the area, to address the issue.

We are also getting desperately needed reinforcements, and the Soviets are hunkering down in preparation for the campaign season.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 9/29/2021 2:45:42 AM

RedJohn

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As a sneak peak, just look at those reinforcement numbers!

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/12/2021 12:19:44 AM

fracas

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Hi All, Bread has kindly allowed me to take a peek, and I thought I would share some of my thoughts on how this campaign is going and how we got here.

This is my second campaign that has reached summer 42, and definitely the more dire for me of the two, however as of turn 46 I just cracked the 6 million troops in the field mark and so I'm feeling good about turning this one around.

I lost fairly heavily in the south early in 1941 and decided to focus on the frankly terrific drive that bread was throwing towards Moscow (reinforced by parts of PG4 I believe) leaving a screen in the south, fortunately for me bread got to Rostov and decided that was enough for him, however he then dug into a very strong line that I failed to budge all winter, but in the centre the elephant in the room was the massive pocket that bread completed just before winter, I have had two campaigns previously where the axis had tried for a similar move but had failed, and so I was feeling confident that it would be my opponents mistake once again, and so I left the troops in the salient and then realised too late my folly.

Winter was a disappointment, the only decent chuck of land I retook was the centre pocket, as bread's panzers fled for warmer lodgings.

Bread is only 4 hexes from Moscow and poised to charge into the Caucasus or across the steppe to Stalingrad, this should be an interesting 42 and beyond.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/12/2021 12:38:01 AM

HardLuckYetAgain

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quote:

ORIGINAL: RedJohn

The pocket was closed many moons ago Loki, though it did take a very significant amount of time yeah.

Big pockets take forever to clear. That is why I keep my small and to the point of clearing the next turn. I use SS Divisions where I think a counterattack will come from. But yeah, that is one HUGE pocket :-)

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/12/2021 6:59:58 PM

YorStein

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How many Men is/was that ? 650-900k ?

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/12/2021 10:40:19 PM

fracas

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I just quickly looked at the graphs - over the 3 turns that pocket was dissolved I lost 350k, alot of the units in the pocket were battered after fighting so most were definitely not full strength

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/17/2021 8:21:56 PM

RedJohn

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We started our summer offensive around turn 49-50, pushing East from Tula and pocketting a number of brigades that were occupying forward positions.

We also pushed up from Rzhev to Kalinin with the 3rd PzG. I really don't know what I was thinking, and after the appearance of the 1st Guards Rifle Corps, packing a whopping 47 CV offensively, I abandoned the salient with the 3rd PzG and moved up 5 (somewhat battered) IDs to occupy defensive positions. They were encircled and wiped out.

Not a great start to the campaign season, truthfully.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/17/2021 8:26:32 PM

RedJohn

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The original pocket at Tula was broken in one place, and after plugging that up the turn after that we crushed it. I think it was turn 52 or 51. After resting, we broke through the soviet river line and seized the woods north of Tambov, as well as cutting the rail leading to it.

That was turn 52. In response, the Soviets broke through our rather thin holding lines at Voronezh with their tank corps, all the flipped hexes in Centre are the result.

This turn, in 53, I routed all of the tank corps that had broken through with a panzer from the 3rd PzG. I also relinked up the units past the river (which had been isolated thanks to annoying cavalry corps cutting 2 hexes) and then enveloped all soviet forces south of Ryazan, and completed another pocket of some units north of Lipetsk.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/17/2021 8:28:25 PM

RedJohn

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All in all I think there are 400k+ encircled.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/17/2021 8:29:23 PM

RedJohn

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He merged a lot of units at the front to form the corps, hence why there's so many.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/17/2021 8:29:56 PM

RedJohn

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Losses for the turn, very brutal AFV wise.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/17/2021 8:30:41 PM

RedJohn

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Elsewhere, Sevastapol fell.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/17/2021 8:32:24 PM

RedJohn

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And our breakthrough at the Peninsula is blunted with the arrival of reinforcements. The 11th will probably rest and refit, take over positions from the motorized corps, and begin a slow push outwards.

The motorized corps will be withdrawn to either the Centre, or push north-east of Kharkov.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/17/2021 8:33:57 PM

RedJohn

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OOBs.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/18/2021 12:07:31 AM

RedJohn

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T54 Start - oopsie. Apparently my pockets weren't a challenge, remotely, to break.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/18/2021 12:08:20 AM

RedJohn

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So I decide to grind it down further. None of them will hold, I imagine.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/18/2021 12:09:04 AM

RedJohn

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It looks like the solution really is grinding.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/18/2021 6:48:28 AM

Gunnulf

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I think it's spelt 'grindr' actually...

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/18/2021 6:21:32 PM

RedJohn

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Once again, Soviet armor and cavalry just plugwalk through my exposed lines.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/18/2021 6:24:01 PM

RedJohn

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And once again, we beat them back and encircle units. Still, the only thing I've achieved here is capturing Ryazan - it's already July!

I rout most of the units in pockets, which of course means they take 95% less casualties than they would if I could surrender them. I absolutely hate how big a difference there is between routing a unit mired in fighting/being pocketted weak after week, vs isolating them and forcing a surrender.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/18/2021 6:25:31 PM

RedJohn

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This one particularly pissed me off - a mere 316 men were killed! Sure, more will be lost I believe due to routing, but not nearly comparable to surrendering.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/18/2021 6:27:02 PM

RedJohn

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The Soviet tank corps are incredibly weak, but can still exert ZOC and flip hexes as if they were full strength. Still, I surround a few of them in hopes of getting SOME surrenders. No doubt however they will be broken out as the soviets can concentrate on a singular hex pretty easily.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/18/2021 6:28:01 PM

RedJohn

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Casualties this turn favor us still.

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/18/2021 6:29:36 PM

Jango32

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What's von Reichenau doing there? Retaining command of 6th Army from the dead?

(he died of a heart attack in early 1942)

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RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Ax... - 10/18/2021 6:29:53 PM

RedJohn

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But it's not enough!

Were I to redo from turn 47-48, I would've shifted the 3rd PzG much sooner and focused my efforts on dismantling the original soviet fortline of lvl 3 forts with just my infantry, not bothering to encircle them.

The Soviets, with corps, just have too much power in striking hexes to attempt large scale encirclement like I did.

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