Towards the edge of destruction with hooooper and Blubel (Full Version)

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hooooper_slith -> Towards the edge of destruction with hooooper and Blubel (10/28/2012 2:12:07 PM)

Turn 1

The disaster on the frontiers. Here's the situation in the north.



[image]local://upfiles/43294/65FE1968F15F4C6EB15B35B29ED252E1.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (10/28/2012 2:40:30 PM)

Riga, which contains the whole of NW Front's high command, ground and air, has been cut off, the Baltic States' ports have been taken and Sobennikov's 8th Army has been trapped in the Tuckums pocket. On a more positive note, the panzers have not made it across the Daugava.

The centre, before Soviet moves. Not much chance of breaking this pocket.



[image]local://upfiles/43294/8150AEF9D6DC4A5E9598CC7853186D48.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (10/28/2012 2:48:37 PM)

The situation in the south.

It's the Lvov pocket, of course, but without the Zhitomir encirclement.



[image]local://upfiles/43294/FF630A5F871D445182C01B330E8A376B.jpg[/image]



Blubel -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (10/28/2012 2:56:27 PM)

Just wanted to say "HI" and good luck with the AAR!



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (10/28/2012 3:08:43 PM)

Soviet responses ...

In the north

Riga is evacuated of its many generals and commissars, the Stalin line is manned,and the Tuckum pocket is opened. In the rear, three divisions are sent to the Valdai hills under 41st Rifle Corp, which is given a couple of sapper regiments an RR battalion to help it dig what will probably become the main line of resistance. On the Northern Front, I'm planning to fight the Finn when they activate, so a couple of SAD airbases are railed to Salmi and put under the Norther Fleets headquarters. Everyone who doesn't look busy is sent to the Luga line to prepare the outermost defences of Leningrad.



[image]local://upfiles/43294/B4850868DEBA4F4EA500F7671E75482C.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (10/28/2012 3:11:51 PM)

In the centre, I couldn't break the pocket, so a line of cooks and bottlewashers is thrown across the landbridge and Western Front's western forces start trudging east.

[image]local://upfiles/43294/D9F2899540EC437FA35D4D3B868003CB.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (10/28/2012 3:25:30 PM)

In the south

The pocket is opened and almost the whole of the southern forces are reprieved for a turn, and a couple of weak lines are thrown up behind rivers. A precarious position, and possibly not the right decision. There's one school of thought that says its better to leave the pocket pocketed in the hope of a quick death and an early resurrection, around turns 12 and 13 when the Soviet position is usually critical. This may well be right, but it just feels wrong, so I've gone for the psychologically plausible option of trying to rescue the armies; if nothing else they'll be a nuisance for the Axis infantry for one more turn.

Meanwhile, in the deep south the 9th Army is activated and begins the long walk east.

[image]local://upfiles/43294/FF679841E9104F618AD91ED1297AB035.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (10/28/2012 3:34:35 PM)

The main command decisions are to put Vatutin in charge of the 11th Army, which is in charge of defending the Stalin line and will be the key army in defending Leningrad. Tolbukhin takes over 20th Army, which is going to be the main first echelon defender of the landbridge. A further decision is taken to postpone the assignment of Zhukov until it's clearer which theatre is in the greatest danger. The same goes for the strategic reserve, which is the Orel Military District's forces.

As for the airwar, I've gone for the following doctrine in the hope of fighting a war of attrition with the Luftwaffe fighters, which seem to be very keen on interdiction.



[image]local://upfiles/43294/73919BF69C0E4133A8E10BFCE1968C02.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/5/2012 12:03:36 PM)

Turn 2

North



[image]local://upfiles/43294/9B2A6BE39811415F98E58B10CADB5810.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/5/2012 12:04:31 PM)

Centre, before Soviet moves



[image]local://upfiles/43294/2E72EAAA6B5645E2AF61DFA5BDEFECA3.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/5/2012 12:06:55 PM)

And after

[image]local://upfiles/43294/0600AFE7A12346BCBB4C43DDCC7977BE.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/5/2012 12:07:42 PM)

South

[image]local://upfiles/43294/310FDFE1BAD74C4B8D9DAA4B6347B139.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/5/2012 12:19:56 PM)

The situation in the north and centre are fairly standard, as far as I can see. My opponent is playing fairly conservatively - no t2 assault on Vitebsk - and has yet to show his hand. In the south, the Axis have punished my rather uncertain last move, and pocketed the line of troops that was rushed up to the Front. If it's any consolation, and it isn't, I did tell myself so. However, because running for the river now would allow the Germans conveniently to eliminate the whole of my forces in the western Ukraine, I open the pockets with a couple of sharp attacks, isolte a group of mechanised divisions and move the Southern Front in a north easterly direction to cover the immediate approaches to the Dneiper. This might be another wrong move, but at least I'm being consistently wrong.

The likely result is that the Germans will keep a strong initiative here and will probably be across the Dneiper by t6, or will be able to launch themselves south towards D and Z and the Black Sea, another strong option. I'm tempted to commit the strategic reserve (the Orel MD's 21st Army) to the Kiev axis, but decide I can wait for a turn or two.

[image]local://upfiles/43294/9D718C3FE93148FA801DBDEECA1A8F63.jpg[/image]



gingerbread -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/5/2012 3:05:22 PM)

Be careful with the mountain unit in Rumania so that you do not you unfreeze a lot of Axis minors.



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/5/2012 4:24:12 PM)

Good point. And btw I forgot to thank my opponent for his encouragement with this, my first AAR. I also forgot to mention that I managed to get Vasily Kuznetzov killed by displacing 3rd Army while it was in the Pripet. This is a heavy blow. His successor, General Klyavinsh, is a most depressing character, and I doubt that his men would follow him into a bar on payday.

[image]local://upfiles/43294/D87893AAA15445A3A3BB1958F0E74D00.jpg[/image]



Peltonx -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/5/2012 10:04:36 PM)

Weak opening by GHC in North and center. South is ok.

Thiis will be a short game, once you commit to south I think the attack will competely stall out.



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/5/2012 10:43:48 PM)

Well this might sound odd, but I would rather the German player had a good 1941, for the reason that it leads to a much more tense, enjoyable and historically accurate game. As long as they don't do too well, of course: that would just be depressing [:D]



Baelfiin -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/5/2012 11:09:20 PM)

Good to see you doing an AAR hooper, your occupation of my berlin is still one of my fondest memories 8)



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/6/2012 12:04:45 AM)

Ah, you were just a Matrix trooper in them days ...



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/14/2012 1:14:15 PM)

Turn 3

Leningrad: a lightning lunge by one of PG4's panzer korp has brought it to within a few miles of Leningrad. I always used to get 27th Army organised and order it to mount a proper defence against the left hook, but in game after game nobody ever went up that way, and 27th had to sheepishly retreat anyway in order to man the west of the Luga line against the attack that had broken through Pskov. So the very first time I don't bother organising the 27th, here are the Germans.

[image]local://upfiles/43294/521141BEB52B4A7F980ED20A324DD603.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/14/2012 1:17:11 PM)

In the centre, it is a tense wait for the enemy to show up, apart from at Gomel, where an entire panzer korp has appeared. Eek.

[image]local://upfiles/43294/4D9302672E224F94B323B309B07C5F8E.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/14/2012 1:23:00 PM)

In the south, a third encirclement has taken place: the troops rushed in to man the Southern Sluch have been pocketed. This is getting ridiculous.

[image]local://upfiles/43294/5FE62D5CA8F9440CB932EADFB4B2E6BA.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/14/2012 1:31:47 PM)

Soviet responses: in the north it's simply a case of rushing troops into blocking positions. The defence is inconvenienced by the fact that 27th Army HQ has been cut off, but no doubt that will sort itself out.

[image]local://upfiles/43294/5DB8EB10EEA34CF1BC9CC1AD23918284.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/14/2012 1:36:37 PM)

In the centre, Stavka releases two divisions from reserve to defend the Gomel axis.

[image]local://upfiles/43294/C9B07A48CD4E4B92B451C8F0002588FF.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/14/2012 1:39:44 PM)

In the south, it's a simple matter to open the entire pocket and carry out one of those counter-encirclements that never seem to have much effect (although this is the second turn that some of these mech divisions have been cut off ...). All the same, this is a dangerous game I'm playing, and it could end badly for the Ukraine.

[image]local://upfiles/43294/DB7048B9CEB3483F895F8B8DEE41B4E6.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/25/2012 11:31:41 PM)

Turn 4

The German's keep their momentum in the North with a dangerous breakthrough south of Pskov. The whole of Vatutin's 11th Army is trapped in Pskov, and a lunge puts a mechanised division in the rear of the southern wing of North Western Front... but has it gone too far?

[image]local://upfiles/43294/4E4F90C244B64DBAA72FC891D638A884.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/25/2012 11:35:23 PM)

In the centre we have an operational pause while the panzers, very sensibly, wait for the Landser to arrive.

[image]local://upfiles/43294/003A19D163924B98A6F9EAD9E76B8130.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/25/2012 11:36:16 PM)

In the south the pockets are closed for good and all.

[image]local://upfiles/43294/31C1C5594F194E8EAA67F5C9056EB541.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/25/2012 11:45:08 PM)

So, in the north it's a question of trying to open the Pskov pocket and trapping the adventurous Panzer division.

[image]local://upfiles/43294/79D8D768CBC44B47AD0854520E4FDD19.jpg[/image]



hooooper_slith -> RE: The Great Patriotic AAR: hooooper v Blubel (11/25/2012 11:46:26 PM)

I can't really bring a lot of force to bear, but can the German's rescue it?

[image]local://upfiles/43294/B035A0F3050042F8BFF7A599FC9B5C22.jpg[/image]



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