Q-Ball
Posts: 7336
Joined: 6/25/2002
From: Chicago, Illinois
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Good feedback on the Blizzard.
PLANS AND RESERVES:
In general, I have sent most of my reserves to the area between Kharkov and Tula, particularly the center around Kursk. My plan was for this to be my main effort. I have sent 3 Shock Army HQs here, and I put Zhukov in command of the Bryansk front, all for maximum effect. I will post a tactical shot of this area, but it looks ugly for the Germans: Few forts, all units are very low visible CV, and are pushed multiple times in the open. I am only advancing a couple hexes a turn because I have to smash the Germans, but the poor units in this front are just speedbumps now. And that includes several Panzer Divisions, most of which are below 30 tanks. 7th Panzer is down to 4 tanks; I suspect it's morale is way below 90 at this point. Last turn I hasty-attacked it with a single Cav division, and it retreated.
Elsewhere, I also accumulated reserves before the offensive around the DONBAS cities, in particular an entire army of Cavalry. I have converted this army to 5 Cav Corps, and they have added to Tarhunnas's misery in that area. Some of these reserves were sent just a bit north to Southwest front driving on Kharkov and south of Kharkov.
I really did not reinforce Moscow much; I sent a few units, but mostly I am using what I ended the summer with, they just got a little stronger from taking replacements. I didn't really plan a big Moscow push this winter, but if you have available troops, and the Germans are weak enough to push, why not?
At this point, I have committed almost all my reserves; the last units are the Transcaucausus units that will be unfrozen next turn. After that, I have no ready reserves. I do have alot of UNREADY units that I could REFIT pretty quickly, but I am keeping my front-line units on REFIT to extend their life, and that of the offensive.
From north to south, here is the front conditions: (NOTE: My front locations are not historical/geographical, I wish I could re-name them!):
NORTH: Just took Vishny Volochek, but almost time to halt
NORTHWEST: Moving on Torzhok and Kalinin, but almost out of gas here
VOLKHOV: Within 2 hexes of Moscow, and still has combat power.
WESTERN FRONT: Just took TULA, and has alot of gas left; I dispatched some fresh units here, and activated 4th Shock Army
BRYANSK: They are getting first priority. Plenty of gas left in the tank!
SOUTHWEST: So-so; just sent them some, as they were in danger of halting past Kharkov, which just fell
KALININ: Pretty fresh, because Tarhunnas has mostly been running in front of them
SOUTHERN: Ditto w Kalinin
CRIMEAN: Totally spent; I have to halt down here, and let the push on Dnepropetrovsk take over
GERMAN PLANS:
I hear you on the Germans, and I am wary of a backhand blow. I still want to play out January before making definitive plans, but part of the reason I am targeting Panzers is to prevent a backhand blow. If he finishes winter with less than 1,000 tanks, he probably can't counterattack in the snow, and will probably not start much of an offensive before June, to give him time to take Panzer replacements. If that's the case, I'll have plenty of breathing room.
I am pretty sure right now that his #1 priority will be a drive toward the Sea of Azov to create space, and pockets, as well as drive me back into the Crimea. Depending on what kind of bulge I end up with around Kursk, that may be a target as well. Too early to tell, though.
FEEDBACK FROM OKH:
Tarhunnas admits this winter has been very tough, and much much tougher than his game with gids. I think this is one reason he was unprepared, because apparently gids winter offensive was much weaker, maybe because he lost more.
I lost a little over 3 mil before winter, but I didn't run out of Armaments in 1941. Maybe that was because I didn't build ANY support units other than diggers, and I even disbanded a few armament-hogging units to cannibalize them for replacements (AT Bdes, Motorcycle Regts, Heavy Artillery). I think I will do this in future games, it really sets-up the Red Army well in December IMO. You need as many Rifles at the front as you can muster.
I think Tarhunnas made a couple mistakes entering the winter.
1. Failed to clear the Crimean Front: This was his biggest error, IMO. At one point, 2 German Corps could have done it.
2. I think he should have cancelled any SNOW attacks, or just done one in the Crimea bridgehead. I am a big fan of SNOW attacks, but he was very spent from Summer, and had impressive gains already in the bag.
3. His lines are WAY too long. This forced him to keep Panzers on the front all winter, which is bad. Crimean front is the main culprit here, but he could have fallen back from a few salients to shorten-up right before winter.
< Message edited by Q-Ball -- 6/23/2011 4:13:18 PM >
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RE: Defender of the Revolution: Q-Ball v Tarhunnas - 
In other words, I am not sure concentrating the forces is the best option during the Blizzard Massacres. You only have 12 turns, you have to trash the Germans.
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