RE: Turn 8 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (Full Version)

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Shalkai -> RE: Turn 8 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/1/2020 9:01:01 PM)

Axis Turn 8 part J:

What I do instead is stage all the AGS panzers into the concealment of woods just west of the Cherkassy-Kremenchug stretch of the Dnepr. The circled area contains 3 Panzer and 1 Infantry Corps, all in trees so less likely to be seen by any Soviet recon flights. After I do some air attacks all airbases will then be moved out of the area so they won’t attract any auto recon to this neighborhood.



[image]local://upfiles/60274/D47399E2434A4C6BB465A58202C17C81.jpg[/image]

There are limits on sneakiness in this game. Soviet recon flights will probably spot a couple of these units, but without the massive recon resources of the Germans, Red pilots aren’t likely to spot even half of them, or be able to tell that most are panzers. You do what you can.

In a similar vein, assorted Slovak and Hun units are stationed behind the front line west of Kiev, trying to look like a Panzer Corps or two ready to outflank those nasty defenses. Final movements also done in AGC and AGN.

That should do it for movement. Let’s check the outcomes of Soviet Interdiction attacks this turn…
16 Red Air Force interdictions - wow - only 8 Wehrmacht soldiers wounded, and none KIA. There were elements disrupted in most attacks but only one bombing caused any actual ground casualties. Soviet air losses were 3 ftr and 23 bmr, while Axis lost...zero fighters. Well. That’s waaaay better than I expected. To be honest, it sounds a bit too one-sided when compared to the memoirs I’ve read from Germans who served on the Eastern Front. Still, this is early days, less than two months after the surprise invasions. Red pilots will get better.

Now that I’ve seen that, I’ll check Luftwaffe units and do some judicious airfield or ground attacks with high-readiness geschwaders.
1 FlK in AGN gets a pass - fighters and stukas there are already over 25% flown miles and 50% fatigue. Ju52s do fly some fuel to the motorized divisions in Volkhov and Tikhvin (Note to new players - motorized need half the fuel compared to panzers, so air supply missions give more MP next turn to motorized or panzergrenadier units)
8 FlK in AGC near VeliLuki is mostly unused. No airfields in reach of Stukas, so I do six ground attacks and cause decent casualties. Attacks stop before units are weary - mostly in the 10-15% flown range.
2 FlK near Smolensk is within stuka range of Soviet airfields north of Kaluga. Five major attacks destroy over a hundred planes, mostly MiGs and SB-2 Rcn models. German losses are less than ten planes. Again, I stop after units have used about 15% miles flown.

A glance at the clock says it’s after midnight. Dern! OK, will finish tomorrow evening...




Shalkai -> RE: Turn 8 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/1/2020 9:29:24 PM)

Turn 8 epilogue:

We left off giving the air forces some exercise. AGS has most of Luftflotte 4, along with the Slovak and Hungarian contingents, in the Kiev area. Soviet airbases are within range. I’ll first pick on choice airfield targets to reduce enemy fighters, then use the allied bombers for ground attacks on Red Army divisions sitting in open terrain. One attack takes heavy Luftwaffe bomber losses - there were 45 Bf109 fighters that made it to the battle but I guess they were out of position (failed a leadership check?). This happens a second time, so overall I lose over 20 bombers, but Soviet losses are near 200 destroyed. Rumanian bombers fly a few bombing runs, and that should do it for combat. Only one AGS panzer is under 50% fuel, so the transport staffeln drop some jerry cans for them.

The two AGC FBDs can both only convert 3 rail hexes, despite having plenty of RRV left and 3 MP to do a fourth hex. Another minor bug I think; rules clearly state that rail conversions on Russian gauge can be done at up to 4 hexes. Heck, two other FBDs did just that this turn.

It takes about 20 minutes to tidy things (check DtHQ, move airbases to better spots, set refit status on a few units, doublecheck garrisons and FBDs, etc.). A couple bomber units are ready to come back from Reserve, as noted at the beginning of the turn. St/II/III/KG1 have 84 bombers (100%) and good exp. Also III/StG1 is ready for action.
The rest of StG1 is in AGN, so the refitted unit transfers in. Next turn one of the tired Stukas currently there can head to refit since they are down to 50% plane strength right now.

KG1 doesn’t have any Gruppen at the front right now. I check who needs level bombers. I end up putting them in 2 FlK (near Smolensk) who will be losing some tac bombers in the next few turns. AGN air is fine, though I do notice St/KG3 in reserve is back to full ToE so it gets sent back to action as well. Turn saved and sent off to GamerDad.

13 hexes to Moscow, 6 to Osinovets (or 4 to Sviritsa).

Total losses at end of Axis Turn 8: Axis 108812 men, 1291 gun, 842 afv, 86 spac. Soviet 1699105 men, 24416 gun, 9740 afv, 3018 spac
Net loss of about 500 vehicles this turn: 2500 lost, 2000 captured.
Air losses: Axis 119 (this turn), 510 Total. Soviet 621 (this turn), 7616 Total. Bomber losses were heavier this week - 20 Ju87, 22 Ju88, 7 He and Do. Important Soviet type losses: 55 MiG-3, 26 Yak, 28 LaGG, 34 SB-2 Rcn, 13 IL-2. I’m definitely shooting down more recon than are being produced.
Destroyed units: 38 this turn; 1 ArmyHQ, 2 AirBase, 3 TankDiv, 16 RifleDiv, 3 Fort, 1 AT Brigade, and 1 SecRgt were the on-map losses.
OOB shows Germany still at 3.39M manpower, Soviet is down a tick at 3.79M

No notable unforced errors this turn that I can recall. Not much in the way of risks at the moment, either. Leningrad is isolated (though still has limited supply over the lake for another turn or two), with 750 planes and probably 500k ground troops trapped. The entire front is blown open north of Moscow. I only see 16 units, perhaps 125k troops, between Rzhev and Lake Ladoga, roughly a 350 mile stretch. The strong lines build along the Luga river up north, and the Dnepr around Kiev, means the cupboard is very bare around Moscow.

One risk is my Leningrad FBD is pushing very near the front line to get to Novgorod. I could have gone east instead of northeast from Pskov, but the end result would be a two-hex longer path to reach Novgorod. I have to push the Leningrad defenders two hexes north over the next two turns to make unimpeded rail repairs. I’m pretty sure that will not be a problem.

T9 to-do: lower ToeM on units soon to withdraw. Push down more SU and lock HQs.

I took a look at my artillery losses to see how much of a drain it has been so far on armaments, and it isn’t bad. German guns and howitzer losses (excluding mortars) are less than 500 right now. Replacement gun tubes cost around 15 arma points on average, or around the cost of two rifle squads. GamerDad’s withdrawals have really minimized my casualties to this point. Some judicious lowering of SU ToeM levels should help build up a bit of surplus equipment to cushion me through the climactic early fall battles, and then the dreaded blizzard.

Progress towards my goals and strategic plans seems to be going fine. Leningrad should be completely isolated either next turn or the one after that. Getting a total isolation (not just cutting off rail) on Leningrad by Turn 10 is a major accomplishment for the Axis. Reducing and starving the pocket will take a number of turns, but I should be able to free up 41st and 56th PanzerKorps and move them south somewhere between turn 12 and 15. My chance of being able to encircle Moscow before the mud turns is now probably 75% or higher.

Even an outright capture of Moscow won’t be enough to secure a decisive win in 1941. We’re playing a 290 VP game, so an automatic Axis win can’t happen until late in Summer ‘42 after taking multiple VP cities on the Volga. There’s still a lot of game left to play, and a win of any type is not guaranteed no matter how well things have gone in the first eight turns. I may be pleased with progress to this point but my experience dealing with Blizzard and conquering all the way to the Volga is very limited; just a couple games vs. AI and one against myself.

The next couple of turns will see some very important action in Ukraine. How quickly and effectively I can cross the Dnepr and outflank the heavy Kiev defenses will determine how far east I can get in the ‘41 campaign season. I’d like to take Voronezh and Rostov but they won’t be in reach until the snow turns.



Telemecus -> RE: Turn 8 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/2/2020 11:08:19 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Shalkai
quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus
quote:

ORIGINAL: Shalkai
I still have RailCap left, so AGC HQ is moved from Vilnius to Polotsk. AGN HQ is already in Pskov less than 100 miles from the front, so they’re fine. I don’t have enough trains left to move AGS HQ up to Vinnitsa so they just drive forward.

Did you use, or consider, assigning down the SUs to a next level unlocked HQ first? It costs zero points but the SUs will be back in the army group if unlocked the next turn anyway. And this drastically reduces the rail costs for HQs.

I never considered that at all - great tip! That is now added to my turn sequence notes. I could easily have done that with most/all of the SUs and saved me some trucks and trains. Most of my corps are locked at this point, but the infantry armies and all army groups are still unlocked.

If you want to be really micro prioritise the army HQs that are on a railine or near to one. In my case I leave the RHG HQs empty of on map units except for contruction to repair the rail line. As the RHGs are always on the rail line at the rail head, I know assigning SUs to them is the same (logistically) as an army group on rails. So my RHGs, as well as being rail repair HQs, also double up as a cache for all the army group SUs when I want to move their HQs.



Shalkai -> Turn 9 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/3/2020 11:40:01 PM)

Axis Turn 9 part A

First glance finds Leningrad still isolated, though still in partial supply thanks to Lake Ladoga ports. Line mostly unchanged from Leningrad area down to Vyazma, but it looks like the Soviets have withdrawn again, and are now behind the Desna river between Vyazma-Bryansk-Chernigov. Line from there south is along the Dnepr, and very strongly held between Kiev and Cherkassy. What I can see so far shows the line is weaker south of Cherkassy. No partisans and no rail cuts this turn. Axis attrition losses were 13k, once again low since so few units are adjacent to the enemy.

Battle reports show about 60 Soviet recon flights. Red Air Force has recon escort turned on, which led to the loss of four German fighters. It looks like some of the recon flights were manual and he was keeping an eye on my mobile units. There was no ground combat during Soviet turn, and only a few other air battles - six Axis interdictions in the Moscow area, and two ineffectual Soviet ground attacks near Volkhov.

Event log notes the arrival of two German divisions (one static infantry, and one security) and about a dozen SUs, mostly Flak. Industry and replacement details show no issues.

Vehicle pool 191k, with 64k used. Rail capacity is 179k on-hand - 6k reserved for units, so 173k ready for supplies, of which 164k was used. No changes needed in Rail allotments.

Operational goals for the turn should be unchanged unless my air recon finds some massive reserve army approaching the front - which I doubt the Soviets can collect at this point. AGN will tighten the screws on Leningrad, though I don’t think I can take the Sviritsa port on Lake Ladoga this turn. AGC will advance as supply allows and take whatever it can get. AGS will make a Dnepr crossing attempt around Kremenchug, while Romanians advance further and get reorganized for pushes on Crimea and the Donbass.

Commander reports are reviewed. German ground units are fine - only one PzDiv and one ID are under 85% Toe strength. Morale is still good with only three InfDiv under 75 morale. Axis Minors are all doing fine, ground-wise.

Air Group checks show some tired units, mostly in I Fliegerkorps near Leningrad. Four German fighter units have less than 30 planes ready, two of those with high damaged counts.

Looking in National Reserve, I have fighter units I.JG54, I.JG52, St.JG27, III.JG51, and II.ZG 26 rested enough to return to combat.
Rested bombers are St.KG54, St.KG27 and St.StG77. This gives me an idea of how many units I ought to swap out.

Finn air is fine; one Italian recon is sent to reserve. Two Rumanian fighters and two bombers are sent to Reserve and will be replaced by rested units at the end of my turn. Hungarian and Slovakian squadrons are GTG. With the minors checked, I go back to German air.

Five bomber and one Stuka group are sent to reserve to rest and recover. There are three beatup Bf109 units near Leningrad, but I can’t rest them without getting replacements here. Some checking finds two fighter units I can air transfer up from AGC so I do. That works; AGC won’t be doing a whole lot of air battles this turn, and I’ll spread the other fighter units returning from reserve among AGN and AGC later.

Two units need rail forward. Both are sent towards AGC, as they are going to be occupying several cities in the next couple turns.

That takes care of the prep work, so orders for Recon flights are sent out. They spot about ten new arrivals east of my salient to cut off Leningrad, and more new arrivals between the Valdai hills and Torzhok. A reserve defense line is getting dug in about 60 miles west of Moscow; the clear hexes I can see are already Fort3 but it is only about 8 hexes long at this point. South of Moscow, all the way to the Black Sea, the Soviet line is very linear with very few units behind the line to stop panzer exploitations. Now I just have to get across the Dnepr and Desna rivers to exploit. :p

It’s pretty late, but I get started on the ground unit moves and work on the easy stuff on the north and south edges of the map. One Finn brigade makes it to 90,11 at the NoAttack line, adjacent to Sviritsa. I may be able to get a panzer unit up from the south and attack the fort zone there. If I can, then Leningrad will be fully isolated. 3rd Panzer Group may be able to pocket about 5 divisions in the Valdai Hills. Supply reach will prevent me from doing much south of the Y=40 row, basically Rzhev or south.

Here's how far the Finnish forces get this turn.


[image]local://upfiles/60274/DD9ECAB9102B49EF90B60A11D158403A.jpg[/image]



Shalkai -> RE: Turn 9 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/3/2020 11:55:33 PM)

Axis Turn 9 part B

Play continues my next free evening. In the north, I *almost* cut off Leningrad, but not quite. I was one hex short of having the Finns and AGN meet. On the bright side, Leningrad isn’t going to get much - Osinovets is 87MP from railhead (the nearest Soviet rail hex they can use is 4 hexes east of Tikhvin). If I hadn’t moved the Finns first I could have achieved an actual cutoff, so error on my part but an honest one.

On the plus side, the eight or ten new Red Army divisions railed north to try and save things are probably too little, too late. I also managed to pocket six divisions in the Valdai Hills, and shatter several other units. North of Moscow is still going to be very underpopulated the next few turns. If I count the pocketed units as lost, defenses north of Moscow have only a small net gain in strength. I can see perhaps 24 combat units, but six of those are routed, and nothing on the front line has a base CV of more than 2 - most of them are only CV 1. Leningrad isn’t going to be able to break out and rescue itself, either. I pushed several defenders back from the Luga and Volkhov rivers. Only one rifle division is still on the west bank of the Volkhov.



[image]local://upfiles/60274/833E5F1C65FD4A6EA1D8EF3282F3119A.jpg[/image]



Shalkai -> RE: Turn 9 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/4/2020 12:06:39 AM)

Axis Turn 9 part C:

Here's the pocket made by 16th Army and 39th PzK. 57PzK can be seen about five hexes west of Rzhev where it is doing an HQBU this turn. Rail repair is marked on the western edges of this pic - repair will reach Novgorod in two turns, and Velikie Luki in one.



[image]local://upfiles/60274/133C4AF5E6904055AD1A342FA76D4D8D.jpg[/image]



Shalkai -> RE: Turn 9 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/4/2020 12:16:44 AM)

Turn 9 part E:

Supply reach means there isn’t much I can do along the Rzhev/Vyazma/Bryansk line other than move up slightly and claim territory. Infantry does that, moving up another 20-40 miles in most areas, while panzers rest farther back in areas not too far from rail. You can see most of Guderian's 2nd PzG refitting south of Smolensk, and with pretty good MP numbers. Once supply catches up a bit more, they will be ready to blitz. Front-line infantry is 21-23 hexes away from railhead this turn.

[image]local://upfiles/60274/72CCDBB131F947B9B26B3F690FCEFC41.jpg[/image]



Shalkai -> RE: Turn 9 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/4/2020 12:28:08 AM)

Turn 9 part F:

The next evening, I start by noting down pre-isolation supply info for Leningrad and Moscow, so I can see how much their supply levels drop over the coming turns.
Leningrad: supply 35144, fuel 135279; pop 40, oil 5000, resource 2450.
Leningrad factories: Arm 13, Vehicle 5, Port 26, Rail 20, Manpower 40, HvInd 5, KV-1 30, T-50 7.
Moscow: supply 13095, fuel 257729; pop 50, oil 5000, resource 4410.
Moscow fact: Arm 9, Vehicle 30, Rail 32, ManP 50, HvInd 9, MiG-3 36+36, U-2VS 11, T-40 18, IL-4 5, Pe-2R 3, Pe-3 5, *Yak-7 9, *IL-10 1.
Kharkov: supply 6860, fuel 915, pop 20, resource 1960 (I might as well add this one too for tracking purposes).
Kharkov factories: Arm 15, Vehicle 10, Rail 9, Manpower 20, HvInd 4, T-34 58, Su-2 12.
Some clicking around other cities shows something interesting - GamerDad isn’t railing all factories off to the Urals, like I try to do. Ryazan has 5 damaged Armaments and 7 damaged Heavy Industry, for example. That’s within my possible reach in 1941; he might have to evac those again.

Time to get back to work. Here is a shot of AGS turn start, from Kiev to Dnepro. I’ve marked the Axis railhead and the site I have chosen for river crossing attempt near Kremenchug. I would have preferred to cross at Cherkassy, but the defenses around there are almost three times as strong. Better to do my Axis thang of going around, not through. Kremenchug is 19 hexes from my railhead which is a bit far. A successful crossing should provoke a massive Soviet withdrawal to the Kharkov-Kursk-Orel line. If he doesn’t pull back, I have the option to try a massive AGS/AGC double envelopment similar to the historical Kiev pocket.


[image]local://upfiles/60274/3A7F1CDF32B147C8A91CC041C67FB7C5.jpg[/image]



Shalkai -> RE: Turn 9 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/4/2020 12:33:13 AM)

Turn 9 part G:

I do some airbase moves and air transfers to get the Luftwaffe bases west of Cherkassy and within 10-12 hexes of Kremenchug, then do strong double ground attacks on all three hexes. This will also be conveniently within range for possible attacks on Soviet airfields if I have a chance later on. Doing the air transfers and moves of empty airbases has another benefit - a Soviet interdiction attempt causes no losses or disruptions but suffers 7 of 22 planes shot down. Lets see if i can provoke some more of these [evil grin]. I don’t, but I do fly some more recon missions to distract the Soviets, plus I also want to make as good a count as I can on the number of divisions/brigades are on the Dnepr line right now.

Chernigov -> N of Kiev: 17
Kiev -> N of Cherkassy: 31
Cherkassy-> N of Kremenchug: 17
Kremenchug -> N of Dnepropetrovsk: 15
Dnepropetrovsk -> Black Sea: 52 (plus probably a couple I can’t see hiding in swamps.
That’s over 140 combat units I can see. I think the Soviets have too much strength in the south - compare that number to perhaps 40 units between Rzhev and Lake Ladoga (and six of those are trapped in that Valdai pocket). The strongest concentrations here in the south are too far west for safety from the Russian viewpoint as well.

Enough strategizing - I’m easily distracted. Squirrel !!! Back to our river crossing. Air attacks first - big ones, 100+fighters and 250+ bombers assigned. Here is the battle result of the first one - note the large ‘Disrupted’ numbers.


[image]local://upfiles/60274/B0B6E34721E14E5F8AA8C1329380D5AD.jpg[/image]



Shalkai -> RE: Turn 9 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/4/2020 12:35:03 AM)

Next go the infantry in their assault boats.

[image]local://upfiles/60274/E93327A162FD45FBA1A85B6CE16E5260.jpg[/image]



Shalkai -> RE: Turn 9 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/4/2020 12:43:55 AM)

Turn 9 part H:

Kremenchug is taken with the attack shown above; hex 91,90 is next (defenders hold against infantry trying to cross the river, but their forts are destroyed). Panzers crossing at Kremenchug use hasty attacks to seize 91,90 and 92, 90. Then two Motorized units cross, and take 90,89 and 91,89. That makes a 20 mile deep bridgehead, and now Panzers can cross the Dnepr without using 19 MP.

11th PzD and the Slovakian Mobile Brigade cross the river next, along with 48th PzK HQ, to expand the bridgehead. Panzer attacks continue moving northeast, up the line of the Psel river. This gives me a salient that is 30 miles wide and 50 deep. This may turn into more than just taking a bridgehead. Can I reach Kharkov this turn? Is it garrisoned? I know the T-34 factory is still there, and if I can take it…

Full court massive recon attempts ensue. Answer - yes, there’s a unit there in Kharkov. But I only see one, and if it is an HQ...I have to make the attempt. 13th and 14th PzD just had an HQBU last turn, and have over 100% fuel stocks, so even if I use all their MP they won’t be completely drained. 14th PzD rushes forward, taking control of Poltava along the way.

Bad news - there is a second unit in Kharkov, and it is a combat unit. But 0 CV so probably unready. Good news - I can get 13th Panzer adjacent with 3 MP left for a hasty attack. Attack: Success - and now there’ll be a lot less T-34s for me to deal with for the rest of the war. Very, very satisfying result.

[image]local://upfiles/60274/261905C361CF44D0868584F051DF75EA.jpg[/image]



Shalkai -> RE: Turn 9 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/4/2020 12:50:53 AM)

Turn 9 Part J:

Poltava is 26 hexes from my railhead, and Kharkov is 35. Luckily both cities have some captured supplies and fuel so my poor panzers should be all right even with the 12.02 beta supply isolation rules.

I use the remaining units around Kremenchug to widen and secure the neck of the breakout, then look to adjacent areas. I check briefly to see if a double-envelopment is possible by having Guderian’s PzG in AGC drive southeast on Sumy. The Desna river is too strongly held, and too far from German railhead to make this feasible. Here are final positions in northern Ukraine.


[image]local://upfiles/60274/1B7B792583C345E796FC66BCEC6BA5BE.jpg[/image]



Shalkai -> RE: Turn 9 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/4/2020 12:57:32 AM)

Turn 9 Part L:

The rest of AGS is then moved. There is no combat along the lower Dnepr, just my various armies untangling themselves and moving up to the river. I’m in no particular hurry to assault down by the river mouth. If I can keep the Soviets tied down on the river for a couple of turns, 1st PanzerGruppe can rest and recover after this Kharkov assault, then blitzkrieg south and take Mariupol or another Black Sea target and cut off all these units from retreating to the Don. They’d have to go the long way round through the Crimea and Caucasus which would tie them up for four or five turns, possibly even til mud arrives..

Finishing this turn will have to wait one more night; I don’t have much left to do but I need to consider where to concentrate my AGC mobile forces. I’ve created chaos and havoc in both the north and south this turn; next turn I need to strike the center hard to try and keep the Soviets off balance along the entire front. It could be in the north around Rzhev, or Vyazma on the main road to Moscow, or I can do a Hitler and send panzers off south to Kursk or Sumy and possibly cut off 50 or 60 divisions.

[image]local://upfiles/60274/107D13A3158A47FCA50D617EFF0D6F42.jpg[/image]



Shalkai -> RE: Turn 9 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/4/2020 1:07:36 AM)

Turn 9 Epilogue:

Pondering at work has made me decide that a rush south to Kursk or Sumy would not be very effective. I’d run panzers far out of supply, and this huge hole I made south of Kiev is going to provoke a massive pullback anyway and they’d mostly escape even if I made a pocket in say two turns. I’m better off concentrating my AGC mobile units to punch another 3-5 hexes east next turn rather than chase chimeras. 24PzK moves up SW of Vyazma, while 47PzK prepares a little NW of there. That’ll give me units to push anywhere from Rzhev to Bryansk next turn. We'll see where the weak spots are. West of Rzhev, 57PzK does an HQBU.

11 hexes to Moscow, 6 to Osinovets (or 1 to Sviritsa).

Total losses at end of Axis Turn 9: Axis 124590 men, 1520 gun, 903 afv, 96 spac. Soviet 1810306 men, 26260 gun, 10184 afv, 3129 spac
Net loss of about 1600 vehicles this turn: 2100 lost, 500 captured.
Air losses: Axis 59 (this turn), 570 Total. Soviet 433 (this turn), 8049 Total. Stuka losses were the worst - 18 Ju87B.
Important Soviet type losses: 34 MiG-3, 6 Yak, 23 LaGG, 30 SB-2 Rcn, 27 IL-2. Ratio is very good.

Destroyed units: 18 this turn: 3 RifleDiv, 3 Fort, 2 Cav, 1 Airborne Brigade were the on-map losses. 9 PVO AA SUs lost from city captures.
OOB shows Germany ticks up to 3.41M manpower, Soviet also up a bit at 3.85M

One notable unforced error was mentioned above - If I’d done the AGN panzer exploitation to Sviritsa and the Karelian border first, then the Finn cavalry could have coordinated and sealed the pocket by moving to a different hex. I’m not that upset since I didn’t expect to be able to attack even one fort.region up there this turn. Turn 10 will see the door slammed and locked.

Casualties weren’t high on either side, but that’s going to change for the worse next turn for the Red Army. The big news items are the massive isolations in the north, and the outflanked Dnepr line in Ukraine. I count about 40 div/brigade cut off in Leningrad, another 6 in the Valdai. That’s 15% of the entire Soviet OOB I’ll be able to wipe out in the next 4-5 turns. Meanwhile, 60 divisions north of Kharkov and another 10+ west of Dnepropetrovsk are going to have to run for their lives to the east. Strategically the Axis are in good shape; I just need to keep the pressure on and make hay while the sun shines.

In other welcome news, there will be less of those gawdawful KV-1 and T-34 tanks being produced. Soviets are going to have to evacuate Moscow soon, which is going to crimp their aircraft and light tank production for a couple months as well.



Telemecus -> RE: Turn 9 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/4/2020 12:02:36 PM)

Home run on Kharkhov! The Su-2 factory if it was still there closes soon anyway. But if you got the vehicles and other factories there that is a big hit. I would say enough to sacrifice a motorised unit to do it although you are far from that even.

I would certainly go for the Donbass ahead of central Russian cities - you can always pinch out the Russian salient later. Call it something like the Battle for Kursk .....



Shalkai -> RE: Turn 9 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/4/2020 6:14:32 PM)

The Blitz of Kharkov was a grand slam, not just a home run. Not a single point of factory had been evacuated, so the Soviets lost it all.

After receiving this turn, GamerDad took a couple days to see how well he could patch things up, and then decided to resign. My getting to Leningrad and Kharkov before factories could be moved took out the majority of both his current KV-1 and his T-34 production, plus other major dents like 15 points of vehicle production.

GamerDad wrote me that he couldn't even make a cohesive line, and preferred to concede. So we have started a new game, switching sides, and I'll start that AAR in a few weeks.

To finish this AAR, any feedback would be appreciated, and if anyone wants to see further reports/maps/whatever, I'll be happy to oblige.



Telemecus -> RE: Turn 9 - 1st PvP+1st AAR, Shalkai (Axis) vs GamerDad (Soviet), v1.12.0x (1/5/2020 12:05:03 PM)

I would say it is a bit too early to concede. In the old patches losing a T34 factory was a big thing - the Soviet Union only had two. Now the Soviet Union will have four - and for a long time in the game you will have 1000s of them piled up in the pools. I think the consensus is by 1944-45 with the colosus moving into Berlin you will exhaust the supply. So really this only means a slightly slower advance into Germany rather than anything catastrophic soon. Also the KV-1, although a powerful vehicle, also becomes largely redundant by mid-war. The vehicle factory loss is a big one, but alone not that much. it would depend of course on how many other vehicle factories and arms/heavy factories they lost. Do you know what the totals to that point were.

That said I do understand if you have lost heart and it is not fun, then no point playing an unfun game. And a lot of credit to gamerdad to offer a restart game. I will be following avidly.



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