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Now onto the Axis last report. To start with logistics, the raillines finally have caught up sufficiently to give ammunition deliveries a big spike. On turn seven 1.183 tons arrived at the frontlines. Resting on turn six moreover has restored the operationability of the mobile units of Army Group Centre. But aside from XXXXVII. and XXIV. Panzer Corps the fuel level looks hardly enough for a multi-turn drive.
Beginning this turn I was unsure how to proceed further. One thing, however, was clear. The flanks were starting to get long. After some reconnaissance I discovered that the gap to the Northeast of Smolensk was just in the range of my infantry forces, so I decided to strike there to separate Northwest Front from the rest of the Soviet forces. Infantry of 9th Army and Panzer Group 3 drove the Soviets out of the forest and XXXIX., LVII. and Panzer Group 2's XXIV. Panzer Corps struck north, successfully pushing to the edge of the map. In the South Panzer Group 2, working together with 4th Army, managed to trap some 6-7 divisions between Oster and Besed. Fighting, however, proved to be very tough. On turn seven Army Group Center had more KIA to report than in any previous turn with 3.834. The Red Army likewise reported a new high for KIAs with 6.632.
In the air war the Luftwaffe once again shot down a good number of Soviet planes. But the Stuka losses are ridiculously high. Even not factoring my bad positioning the previous turn I lost 140 Stukas in seven turns. If somebody has a method of reducing Stuka losses other than not using them, please tell me.
When I opened the next turn I completed my moves, but realized the game had stalled and playing out the next two turns wouldn't have changed the game anymore. The move up north produced a disadvantage I had foreseen, but chose to ignore. As the Soviet units there are not fully encircled (I was in no position to convert the hexes along the map borders), they were still operational and I needed infantry and motorized units to hold both sides of the corridor, while beginning the push to eliminate that bulge. This move practically eliminated a serious drive towards Rzhev. In the South my forces took advantage of loki's retreat and took Gomel while infantry pushed towards Bryansk, spearheaded by the cavalry division. I would have reached the city the next turn, but a successful attack seemed unlikely. So therefore we decided to call it a day.
Summarizing my experiences I'd say that despite my operational mistakes that completely botched up turn two, the logistics had a profound impact upon the game. Even after the critical turns three and four it was not possible to sustain a drive for more than one turn (two if one is ready to leave the units with below 10 MPs on the third turn) without a prior HQ buildup. Despite struggling with fuel supply I enjoyed the dilemma posed by it, namely the balancing between pushing and preventing Soviet defenses from building up and resting to get a more impactful drive the next turns. Of course better players could have done far better than me, but as a lesson I would say that if one plays 1941 exclusive scenarios a logistics setting of around 75 to perhaps 80 would succeed in creating an interesting game. For longer scenarios, however, the influence upon the Soviet blizzard offensives remains to be seen (though the combat penalties for the Axis are way over the top).
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RE: Testing the Road to Smolensk - 
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