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

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RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (12/15/2021 8:32:17 AM)

The OOB. The Soviet army (on map) peaked at 6.162 million men, before the ****show that was the 42 offensive, and has stayed at roughly 5.3 million give or take since then.

[image]local://upfiles/68404/94ED3AFA48F84C698DCEEB5DEDCEB35C.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (12/15/2021 8:34:21 AM)

Our Panzers are extremely beaten up. AFVs on both sides are looking very low. I currently have 60 more AFVs than the Soviets, them sitting at 5,763 AFVs to my 5,827.

Of course, one side produces hundreds of tanks a turn. And it's not me. [:(]

[image]local://upfiles/68404/22B50483175A442EABAE383A8F745EE4.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (12/15/2021 8:39:34 AM)

I have have a high water mark of 676. I can't be bothered doing the math, but solely by VP I believe I have pretty much won unless he gets the +6 VP everywhere.

Or not, I don't really know. VPs are boring anyway, I am excited to see the 43/44/45 red army!



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (12/26/2021 9:50:35 AM)

Turn 85, the northern front. Consolidation of Leningrad continues, slowly. If I can secure the leningrad area, I can free up an entire army for redeployment elsewhere and feel very confident in defending things.

[image]local://upfiles/68404/B6D5D2A35E1F469AAA2248AB9C7731EE.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (12/26/2021 9:52:20 AM)

Rzhev was unfortunately taken in a surprise attack with a few rifle corps. Since that was the only VP in the area, I elected to move back a number of hexes and straighten the line a bit.

[image]local://upfiles/68404/AF76A4FF3BF847D5B7A6757F816657CF.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (12/26/2021 9:53:44 AM)

Moscow/Tula front. Occasional attacks, still no major developments here.

[image]local://upfiles/68404/5CCFAEC38D35472B92AA5603868A656F.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (12/26/2021 9:54:45 AM)

No movements here either.

[image]local://upfiles/68404/D9C63DE34B2043A98E315A5DE7F77940.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (12/26/2021 9:55:45 AM)

The battle for kursk rages on.

[image]local://upfiles/68404/F557AB49801D4112A0C845B74C8354F0.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (12/26/2021 9:56:44 AM)

The slow push also continues here.

[image]local://upfiles/68404/FEA59E53392D425EB21C2701EE0B7DF7.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (12/26/2021 9:58:32 AM)

As does the worrying advance at Rostov.

I lack reinforcements, and desperately need manpower - but it is nowhere to be found!

[image]local://upfiles/68404/6EF41D033D344927B95899860180F6C8.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (12/26/2021 10:00:22 AM)

I abandon my foothold at Kerch. I only kept it up so far due to port supply, but I'd rather free up the infantry division here and hold the Peninsula itself, and I'm slowly but surely losing ports to supply in East ukraine anyway.

[image]local://upfiles/68404/963F89B31E8141E49A5B388E6CBCE46A.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (12/26/2021 10:01:12 AM)

And Yalta.

[image]local://upfiles/68404/C9C9F884044248C0890868D56AF5474D.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (12/26/2021 10:05:57 AM)

I am incredibly fed up with the commitment to Yalta here, so I've decided to deploy my entire airforce to Crimea and will bomb them into submission.

They broke the hex with the battle on it last turn, with a mere 2 rifle corps. Very frustrating.

If anyone has any tips to help with the air stuff here, please do post. Right now the plan is to bomb the port and naval interdict.

[image]local://upfiles/68404/77E818E139D043A9B87CE8E9F98CF718.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (12/27/2021 12:52:35 AM)

Mein Gott, we have a new army!!! After the 11th was so cruelly taken away from us for no reason (we didn't even approach Stalingrad, smh) I have had my command capacity problems worsen extensively. Many of our corps are attached to axis allied armies, and I even had to resort to attaching them to frozen armies 70+ hexes away so as to not overload things.

With the arrival of this army however, I feel much more confident in defending the south.

[image]local://upfiles/68404/015E0935295947B792B54769B83715CA.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (1/2/2022 10:45:58 AM)

As the months tick on, I find myself increasingly being distraught at the idea of playing to 43 as the Axis. It seems utterly, thoroughly, miserable. I had a very good 41, a pretty poor 42, and the result of that poor 42 seems to be that 43 is relentless. Even with a 5-5.5m OOB, it seems the Soviets are having an easy time of it with their offensives. I am contemplating abandoning everything east of Smolensk - perhaps establishing a line from Vyazma to Bryansk, then Bryansk to Kharkov.

I dread to think of facing the Soviets in a game where I don't have a good 41 - it seems quite literally impossible. It seems unless you manage to keep up your momentum, the following year you'll be reduced to having no counterplay.



Jango32 -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (1/2/2022 10:49:42 AM)

Soviet logistics go brrrr?



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (1/2/2022 10:57:51 AM)

I do find it ridiculous that my enemy only had to deal with the logistics system only after losing Moscow, yes. It's partly why I'm considering just abandoning vast amounts of land also.



AlbertN -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (1/2/2022 12:44:42 PM)

I do share your sentiment here RedJohn about how frustrating can be to play Axis.



Beethoven1 -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (1/2/2022 6:10:20 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: RedJohn

I am contemplating abandoning everything east of Smolensk - perhaps establishing a line from Vyazma to Bryansk, then Bryansk to Kharkov.


From the perspective of playing Soviets in StB, I would advise against that. One thing to realize is that Soviets gain a lot less manpower per turn in 1943 than in '41 or '42. Also, in the current patch Soviets can take pretty big casualties doing attacks (at least up until the point I have played in early '43). So you might be able to do fairly well in terms of the war of attrition, the more so that you can hold on to Soviet manpower centers, especially since you have a large OOB. While Soviets can certainly attack, it can be difficult to keep it up without causing the size of the Red Army to start going down, so some of those victories may have a somewhat pyrrhic character. If you let them take back manpower centers, then that won't be as big of an issue. You can probably judge if that is the case in your game or not by looking at the graph of Red Army size (not just map men, but total men).

That is, unless the situation in StB is sufficiently different, which it might be I suppose for various reasons.



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (1/18/2022 11:55:41 PM)

Before I do an overview of things when I get the next turn back - turn 100 - I must say, naval invasions are one of the stupidest things I've encountered in this game. I fortified every Black Sea port I held, but apparently it is viable to just ignore that small detail, as a temporary port has generated. This initial port is also large enough to accommodate the ferrying over of additional divisions.




RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (1/20/2022 2:20:45 AM)

Turn 100 OOB. Winter has been rough, very rough, but mud offered a reprieve for us both - thank god.

[image]local://upfiles/68404/B58A3F669AE44A51869A6181BAC4986C.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (1/20/2022 2:26:40 AM)

Front as of turn 100. Our African forces have also just surrendered, unfortunately.

[image]local://upfiles/68404/70B0E6FAFC4C4EFCA997AEB030BBA16E.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (1/20/2022 2:36:51 AM)

As we approach campaign season of 43, I personally see no way I win this. From what Fracas has told me and calculated - in his words - "I did the maths on what Ill need to take to not lose at the end of 1944, I need 263 more VPs, of which I can get 230 for taking the historically captured cities + I need 33 more through early capture/ pushing further, It feels like this could really come down to the wire, I'm think my chances are better than I thought at the start of winter, but its still pretty big hill, last time I was here I had another million men"

Given the state of the front, I don't see how he doesn't reach the early capture bonuses for most of Russia at this point. My only hope is that supply inevitably catches up to him as a result of losing Moscow, but that's it. Counterattacking is rarely worth it after the morale shifts, and I trade half my units CPP (as well as damage a massive amount of elements/whatnot as all units are rifle corps for the most part) to maybe force a retreat. The Soviets can concentrate 300,000 men to attack a hex very easily meaning no hex is safe. Throughout all of the escapades of 42/early 43, he has not once made use of mechanized corps. Part of this is trucks, no doubt, especially with his wanton use of tank corps during mid 42, but I can only assume uncle Sam and the boys are continuing truck deliveries and he can no doubt form at least a handful of mech corps. These are, as far as I am aware, the most effective Soviet mobile unit.

So all in all, I must pray supply becomes a significant factor in limiting the Soivet advance. Given that the Soviets don't need to interact with the logistics system however, I am not hopeful. 43 seems brutal for the Axis unless you've kept the Soviets on the backfoot.

A large part of this of course is down to my own silly pushes in 42. It was my first ever 42 offensive as the Germans and it showed.

Overall I think it's been a good game, but it's definitely soured my opinion on the Axis. I believe the game is way too Soviet favored at the moment, and given optimal plays by both sides I think the Soviets comes out on top 8/10 times.



loki100 -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (1/20/2022 6:43:46 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: RedJohn

Before I do an overview of things when I get the next turn back - turn 100 - I must say, naval invasions are one of the stupidest things I've encountered in this game. I fortified every Black Sea port I held, but apparently it is viable to just ignore that small detail, as a temporary port has generated. This initial port is also large enough to accommodate the ferrying over of additional divisions.




realise this is not the answer you want - but that makes it perfectly historical. Nobody directly invaded ports (and the Allies proved exactly why at Dieppe), the Soviets always landed over open beaches in their naval invasions and supplied the forces that way. But at some stage that temp port needs to be replaced by a proper one.

since the Soviets need to keep their only task force next to the beach head, then naval interdiction will seriously damage it - feasibly to the point of making them withdraw

quote:

ORIGINAL: RedJohn

Front as of turn 100. Our African forces have also just surrendered, unfortunately.

...


never seen it go that early, if anything usually a few turns delayed as long as your on map losses are not out of control (here I'm assuming you are not using TB control?). In that case the only variable is whether or not you can absorb the attrition losses to your forces there



Joel Billings -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (1/20/2022 2:50:42 PM)

The Axis player appears to be in a strong position. You have 1/2 million or so more troops than historical and Soviets at least 1/2 million less: The Soviets can have supply issues going west and if they lost Moscow that will likely make it worse. I’m interested to see how this plays out.



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (1/21/2022 4:38:26 PM)



We are using TB control actually. I just got unlucky with events, I think.



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (1/21/2022 4:38:59 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Joel Billings

The Axis player appears to be in a strong position. You have 1/2 million or so more troops than historical and Soviets at least 1/2 million less: The Soviets can have supply issues going west and if they lost Moscow that will likely make it worse. I’m interested to see how this plays out.


On paper yes, I am in a strong position, but I don't think it'll hold. But of course we'll see!



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (1/24/2022 1:17:23 PM)

June kicks off with the first of the Soviet assaults. My lines are thoroughly broken in these places, with multiple tank corps in the south, and multiple guards airborne divisions north of Kharkov.

[image]local://upfiles/68404/51FC7706F82B4D438C7E8B90361C8D96.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (1/24/2022 1:31:30 PM)

We hit back where we can. Forced them back across the river, at least.

[image]local://upfiles/68404/891035C1DA984D0EA83761A1B8FB4F01.jpg[/image]



RedJohn -> RE: "I have no idea what I'm doing" Bread (Axis) v Fracas (Soviet) (1/24/2022 1:31:48 PM)

A drop in the bucket.

[image]local://upfiles/68404/E187FBD340D24F24B83E33C04126926C.jpg[/image]



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