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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Gary Grigsby's War in the East Series >> After Action Reports >> RE: On to 1943!

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RE: On to 1943! - 4/30/2020 9:14:56 PM

thedoctorking

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In the Steppe sector, we pushed towards Kursk and have managed to develop a potential pocket in Bryansk Front�s sector. There are powerful German armored forces between us and Orel and to the south of Kursk, I don�t expect to actually get too many of those guys. There might well be some German counter-attacks south of Kursk to distract me.

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RE: On to 1943! - 4/30/2020 9:15:53 PM

thedoctorking

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Farther north, the Moscow sector has begun to quiet down. SW Front withdrew to behind Moscow, on the rail line, to refit. Some corps were down to 70% strength. Infantry units can be refilled easily using the merge unit function. Tank corps can similarly be refilled if they are short of tanks by merging in tank brigades, but if they are short of infantry, you can�t merge different types of unit. Mech corps could presumably be pumped back up by merging in mech brigades, but I don�t have any mech brigades � ditto for cavalry corps and cavalry divisions. So, we have to sit back on the railroad for a couple of turns. Mud is coming soon, so there you go. SW is done for now.

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Post #: 32

RE: On to 1943! - 4/30/2020 9:17:21 PM

thedoctorking

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In the air, the winter was marked by the absence of Axis air power. The Luftwaffe was mostly back in National Reserve (shooting at American bombers, perhaps?). The few remaining Axis squadrons were mostly empty or nearly so. I continued to build the Red Air Force with regular live-fire exercises over the front. I�m up against the hard limit of 600 Soviet air groups. I�m aiming for about 150 fighter or fighter-bomber groups, 100 level bombers, 50 transports, and 300 ground attack squadrons. I�ve been disbanding the lower-experience fighter-bombers and building IL-2 squadrons. Some U2VS squadrons can now convert to IL-2�s (if their designation is changed from GNBAP to GLBAP). I�ve still got 93 U2VS groups, though � and they are among the best units in my air force. There was a long period there when I had almost no IL-2�s because of the chaotic evacuation of factories back in 1941. Some of my U2 squadrons have over 600 kills, though, so I�ve gotten good value out of them.

My air force skill level is improving � I now have 53 air groups with experience 80+. Over the blizzard turns, I couldn�t fly too many missions, so experience gain was slower than during the summer months.

Starting with the snow turns in March, 1943, the Luftwaffe returned to the air, with their fighter squadrons now equipped with FW-190�s. Air losses over the last couple of turns have been closer to equal � turn 91 was 289 Soviet to 236 Axis. The Axis has mostly stopped interdiction now � an invitation to get bombers blown up. The FW-190 is a superior fighter to anything the Soviets are flying right now, but there aren�t very many of them.

Production remains below optimum levels, with 22,125 supplies not produced on turn 91 because of resource shortages. We captured several resource production centers during the winter, but they have not yet returned to full production. I think we will be back to full supply production, such as it is, by the end of mud and we will then be facing an armaments shortage.

Deployed forces are 7,232,800 Soviet manpower to 3,735,719 German and the usual 1.5m or so Axis minors. AFV are 13,903 Soviet to 7,077 German and about 300 Axis minor. In the air, 14,117 Soviet aircraft face 2,358 German and 525 Axis minors. From the beginning of winter, we are up about 300,000 men and they are down about 250,000. We gained almost 4,000 aircraft and they went down about 300.

Destroyed Axis units since turn 72:

8th Rumanian Cavalry Division
268th Infantry Division
7th Infantry Division
17th Infantry Division
170th Infantry Division
72nd Infantry Division
198th Infantry Division
295th Infantry Division
Mountain Rumanian Corps HQ
1st Rumanian Infantry Division
7th Rumanian Infantry Division
5th Rumanian Infantry Division
1st Rumanian Cavalry Division
4th Rumanian Mountain Division
2nd Rumanian Mountain Division (all the preceding came while wrapping up the Stalino region � they were nearly cut off as of the last report)
24th Infantry Division
50th Infantry Division
20th Panzer Division
7th Panzer Division
8th Panzer Division (the preceding to the south of Moscow, caught between the two assault fronts)
87th Infantry Division
102nd Infantry Division
292nd Infantry Division
5th Jager Division
8th Jager Division (from the line to the east of Moscow)
162nd Infantry Division
2/3 of 30th Infantry Division (in the city itself)
XXXXII Corps HQ
XXXXIX Mountain Corps HQ (surrendered for unknown reasons in a normal battle)

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Post #: 33

RE: On to 1943! - 8/22/2020 8:46:25 PM

thedoctorking

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2by3+ Redux AAR, turn 111

Continuing our version of the 2by3+ game, Weinsoldner and I have now arrived in mid-summer of 1943. Things have continued to go well for the Soviets, with the Axis fighting a stubborn delaying action in the south and center, while the major Soviet offensive in the north met with unexpected resistance but did achieve its objectives in the end.

My summer offensive objective was to drive the Finns out of the war and re-capture Leningrad. To this end, I spent the mud turns moving my two shock fronts north. North Caucasus Front (formerly Crimean), consisting of 1st, 3rd, and 4th Shock Armies, 6th Guards Army, and 21st Army, and mostly composed of Rifle Corps with a couple of Tank and Mech corps and a liberal allocation of artillery, was tasked with breaking the Finnish defenses between Lakes Onega and Ladoga and driving around the north end of Ladoga. Southwest Front, consisting of 7th Airborne Corps, 1st and 2nd Tank Armies, 34th Army, and 3rd Guards Army, was tasked with breaking across the Volkhov and sweeping through the clear terrain to the south of Leningrad, aiming for Pskov and Narva. Leningrad Front would hold Southwestern�s right flank and attack the city of Leningrad, driving north to capture Vyborg. Volkhov Front would hold Southwestern�s left and clear the area south and west of Lake Ilmen.

As you can see from the picture, on turn 99, the first clear turn, we were not yet in position. Southwestern (the pink units) was mostly in the area, since they were withdrawn from the Moscow region at the end of snow and refit in the Vishny Volochek region. North Caucasus (lime green) had to come all the way from the Orel-Tula region. Rail capacity has been sharply cut in v 12.0 and we were only able to move at most one army a turn.

As you can see, we were caught in a big traffic jam. I had plans to clear everything up in a couple of turns, and I assumed that not much would happen during the period when mud and clear turns were alternating. I thought I had until June to get ready to kick things off.

I had been as energetic as possible in destroying Axis recon planes so that they wouldn�t realize what was going to happen to them, but Weinsolder figured it out anyway. On his turn 100, he began to withdraw the Finns back towards the narrow gap at the north end of Lake Ladoga and pull the troops south of Leningrad back to the Volkhov River, where he had prepared some fortified defenses. Ready or not, I started my offensive.

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RE: On to 1943! - 8/22/2020 8:47:07 PM

thedoctorking

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By turn 103, I had achieved a breakthrough north of Ladoga and had captured the space to the south of Leningrad. Narva, Pskov, and Vyborg (required for Finnish surrender) were in sight and would be achieved in a few turns. The cost was a continuation of the gargantuan traffic jam, as North Caucasus and some elements of Leningrad Front crowded together in Karelia while Southwestern pushed on towards Pskov with the tiny driblets of fuel that we could deliver with our limited transport capacity. The armored forces from North Caucasus were deployed south of Lake Ladoga, with the goal of bypassing Leningrad once the Narva crossings were forces and trying to cut in behind the retreating Finns from the south.

I didn�t realize how fast the Finns would surrender once the three key cities were captured. Uncertain if I could take Pskov quickly, as German armored reinforcements poured into the region, I aimed at capturing a city in the post 1939 borders of Finland, said to spark immediate surrender. In the event, I got caught with several good units (two Guards Cav Corps and a regular Cavalry Corps along with some good SU) inside Finland when they surrendered, which (in what appears to be a bug) resulted in their destruction, not just relocation.

I reorganized my air forces, putting the level bombers and transport planes in their own air forces with long-range fighters (P-40B�s for the most part) for escort. These air forces fly bombing missions when they can, but mostly they are dedicated to air transport missions, getting fuel and supplies to the spearheads.
Here is the situation on turn 111. In the north, we have cleared the Leningrad region and are deploying for future moves into the Baltic region.

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RE: On to 1943! - 8/22/2020 8:50:55 PM

thedoctorking

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The rest of the front was pretty static during May and June. I launched local attacks to keep the Axis occupied and keep them from drawing troops off to reinforce the northern sector. In the south, we continued to work our way across the Dnepr into Ukraine. In July, I launched a major push with Central and Voronezh Fronts, aiming to push along both banks of the Dnepr towards Kiev, while Transcaucasus Front pushed southwest along the Desna from in front of Kursk towards Chernigov.

There are powerful Axis armored forces in this area, so I�m not expecting a big breakthrough like I got in the north. I�d be happy with just keeping them occupied, though it would be good to recapture the major population center of Kiev and break the major defensive line of the Dnepr.

As you can see in the picture, as in the north before the big offensive there, the Axis have begun to withdraw. They want to avoid casualties and are trading space for time. As the front narrows, their defenses will no doubt stiffen.

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RE: On to 1943! - 8/22/2020 8:51:42 PM

thedoctorking

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A big development that I�ve been pursuing in the last several months has been transferring my armor as much as possible to tank armies. Though the tank armies are smaller (15 versus 18 CP), they give a bonus to armored units. I�m going to leave a couple of tank brigades in each army, plus armored support units at the corps or army level, but most of my armored strength will be deployed in about six tank armies. I have four right now. They are expensive in AP, though, and I can only build one new one every two turns. I�m naturally planning to put my tank armies under the command of my tank aces, Rotmistrov, Rokossovsky, Rodin, Katukov, etc.

I�ve got Koniev, Purkaev, Kozlov, Meretskov, and Zhukov in charge of Fronts, a legacy of the early turns in the game and my unwillingness to spend the 20-odd AP each to replace them. I�m debating whether it is a better idea to have a good general in charge of a front if that front is going to be fighting a lot. The front commander only has 1/3 the chance to affect any given battle than if he was an army commander. However, if all the armies in a front are going to be fighting, there are usually four or five armies, and this should mean that the leader will have more impact on battle results at the front level. This is contrary to general received wisdom in the game, however. Mostly, people try to keep Zhukov and the other big generals at the army level. We made these choices back when we knew nothing about the game but it seems to be working out OK.

As of turn 111, our deployed manpower is up to 8.05 million, with 17,521 AFV�s and 13,826 aircraft. German deployed manpower is 3.35 million, with 7,872 AFV�s and 2,088 aircraft. Axis allies are at 0.98 million men, only 130 AFV�s, and 520 aircraft (the Italians still have 57 aircraft in the fray despite having joined the Allies a few months back, what�s up with that?)

On the logistics front, our vehicle total has climbed to 55% of requirements, thank you Detroit! We are also no longer resource short. Those resource production centers that we recaptured in the winter are not back to 100% production (they only heal at 1% a turn) but some of them are back above the 50% level, meaning that we are getting something out of them. Railyards recaptured during the winter, including especially the big prize of Moscow, are back online, meaning that we have much better results moving supplies. And I have two NKPS rail repair HQ�s now. Things are still not ideal � my spearhead guys are starting in the 30-40% range for supplies, but nobody appears to be in danger of starving.

The air war has been relatively quiet. Some German fighter squadrons, equipped with Fw190�s, have been present but, based far behind their lines, they are not able to interfere with our operations over the front. We have some fighters that can reach their bases � P-40B�s � but not sufficient numbers or aircraft quality to confront massed Fw190s. My level bombers have been mostly delivering supplies to spearheads, while the IL-2�s bomb front-line positions, and fighters go along as escort and hope to find the occasional daring Axis fighter out for a spin.

Axis units destroyed since turn 91:

293rd Infantry Division
384th Infantry Division
251st Infantry Division
206th Infantry Division
76th Infantry Division
336th Infantry Division
320th Infantry Division
82nd Infantry Division
2/221st Security Division
8th Rumanian Infantry Division
6th Rumanian Infantry Division
2nd Rumanian Infantry Division
14th Rumanian Infantry Division
35th Reserve Rumanian Infantry Division
1st Guard Rumanian Infantry Division
6th Rumanian Cavalry Division
15th Rumanian Infantry Division
And all the Finns

In exchange, the Finnish bug got

1st Cavalry Corps
17th Guards Cavalry Corps
3rd Guards Cavalry Corps
2nd Guards Separate Tank Regiment
10th Guards Separate Tank Regiment
108th Separate Tank Battalion
109th Separate Tank Battalion
122nd Ski Battalion
124th Ski Battalion
122nd MG-Artillery Battalion
129th MG-Artillery Battalion
110th Flamethrower Company

Grumble, grumble!

Another thing: It is pretty silly to have Southwestern and North Caucasus Fronts fighting in the Baltic States. I really wish we could rename front HQ�s. It would be a nice thing to add to WitE2 if it isn�t possible in this version without a lot of re-coding.

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Post #: 37

RE: On to 1943! - 8/23/2020 9:13:40 AM

SparkleyTits

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Damn man, you got some grit to see this one through.
Gratz on dragging the Soviets through to their current course

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Post #: 38

RE: On to 1943! - 8/23/2020 12:07:35 PM

Zorch

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quote:

ORIGINAL: thedoctorking

Axis units destroyed since turn 91:

293rd Infantry Division
384th Infantry Division
251st Infantry Division
206th Infantry Division
76th Infantry Division
336th Infantry Division
320th Infantry Division
82nd Infantry Division
2/221st Security Division
8th Rumanian Infantry Division
6th Rumanian Infantry Division
2nd Rumanian Infantry Division
14th Rumanian Infantry Division
35th Reserve Rumanian Infantry Division
1st Guard Rumanian Infantry Division
6th Rumanian Cavalry Division
15th Rumanian Infantry Division
And all the Finns

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RE: On to 1943! - 8/24/2020 12:35:58 AM

thedoctorking

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I just want to see what happens. Weinsoldner did some stuff that I wouldn't have done but he's sure hung on better than I did in my game with you, Sparkley. Taking out the Finns is a big advantage in terms of narrowing my front. I think the Axis are narrowing theirs now, too. They have a real reluctance to get units killed now.

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RE: On to 1943! - 8/24/2020 12:47:02 AM

CapAndGown

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Just saw this AAR for the first time yesterday. Nice job. I will have more questions later, but my first question is: how do you "guard farm?" (Keep in mind I am new to this game, so some of the well known tactics are unknown to me.)

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Post #: 41

RE: On to 1943! - 8/24/2020 1:26:13 AM

thedoctorking

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Guard farming is where you check on the Commander's Report for units that have a reasonable number of victories and you arrange for them to be in attacks you are going to win so they get enough victories to convert to guards. Depending on your options, that can be anywhere from 5 to 9 victories for infantry or cavalry units, like 12 for armor, 15 for corps, 50 for armies - it's in rule section 7.6 in the manual. You can send guys to sectors where the enemy's defenses are weak and pick on Rumanians and such to pick up cheap victories. Guards units have better TOE's than non-guards and also get a morale boost.

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RE: On to 1943! - 8/24/2020 1:28:30 AM

thedoctorking

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One thing - if you are making an attack against a strong enemy defense, you want to have all the attackers under the same HQ if possible to reduce the penalty for cooperating HQ's. But if you are guard farming, one attack can get you a victory for a bunch of HQ's if you can handle the penalty and still win. Also, pile it on. Each participating unit gets a victory even if the odds were a million to one.

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Post #: 43