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USXpat -> RE: Third Reich 42 - 45: Mark (Axis) vs Mike (Allies) (5/11/2012 1:30:19 AM)
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T006 - May 29, 1942
Overall dispositions...
Finland:
The Karelia and Finnish fronts are likely stalemated at this point, however, the rail from Kandalaksha to Murmansk is tenuously severed. 25th Panzer Division is en route, but will require several turns of rest before it will be ready for combat. Likely to be a lengthy wait.
Army Group North - Leningrad to Velikye Luki:
Probably the quietest area, overall. Forces are digging in and will remain in static for a few months yet.
Army Group Center:
The Rhzev Salient is in a far less tenuous position than it was. Both the Axis and Soviet forces benefit from a shortened defensive line. The decision to shorten the line further -- to a line parallel to Rhzev and Kholm -- has been postponed pending the outcome at Sevastopol and 11th Armee's follow-on objectives, concurrent with the progress of 17th Armee.
Army Group South:
As historically was the case, AGS is being divided into two operational groups. The first is led, in the main, by Sixth Armee. The second falls to the Seventeenth Armee. First and Fourth Panzer Armees, along with the Romanian 3rd Army, and Italian 8th Army will be supporting these two missions, but in different stages. The first stage is for Sixth Armee to secure a perimeter along the entire Don River, the Seventeeth has as its goal the Kuban Region and the Caucasus. Ultimately, the majority of the First and Fourth Panzer Armees will be dedicated to supporting the 17th Armee along with "other such assets that may be required."
Both groups have seen the majority of the fighting thus far and have fared well.
11th Army - Sevastopol:
At this point, two of the three outer perimeter defenses have been severely punished. They are still likely to hold for a few turns. Cnce the first collapses (likely the center), the others can be expected to give way much faster.
The Balkans:
A few partisan groups have been eliminated in their entirety, but there are a lot more to go. This area requires very careful attention to cooperation levels -- as there is no cooperation between Croatian, Italian, Bulgarian or Hungarian units. Combining a German infantry division with one of these allows for limited cooperation, but is still subject to some penalty. The Hungarian units are only contending with the two partisan groups closest to their borders. The Hungarian divisions are really about the best in the area aside from a handful of German divisions - which are pretty much 2nd rate units themselves. Reasonable progress is being made though.
North Africa:
The maps pretty show the situation for what it is - not much to add here except that I'm not optimistic about taking Tobruk.
The Luftwaffe and Allied Air:
Presently, the Luftwaffe is managing to hold onto about + 5 to +20 edge vs the Allied Air Forces (from 95 - 90 to 110 - 90, give or take). Supply and readiness are the key factors I'm watching, followed by aircraft type. I'll need to start withdrawing certain types of aircraft from combat exposure to let them reach full strength. Some aircraft types also go out of production - impacting their long-term usefulness. Casualties have exceeded replacement rates especially on bombers and non-German fighters. Allied attacks evaporated one air group, though it is expected to be reconstituted very soon.
Allied of non-military targets has been constrained to the Hamburg Oil Facilities - pushing the EEV to 5, but no further.
Numerous bridges, however, have been blown - in France and in Russia, which has constrained some troop movements and in some cases, supplies. All engineers, numerous headquarters and just about anything else not engaged but in a position to lend a helping hand are repairing the bridges. As yet, I've not launched any bridge blowing operations of my own - as the Soviet-held side of the rail net is better, has fewer bridges and the ones I need to hit are out of range. For now...
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