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RE: Turn 13: Moscow - 10/15/2020 4:29:19 PM   
CapAndGown


Posts: 3206
Joined: 3/6/2001
From: Virginia, USA
Status: offline 		My login in keeps getting changed around. Let's see if the new user name works and I still have my profile pic.

[Edit] Success!

(in reply to CapAndGown)
Post #: 61
Turn 14: that's gonna sting - 10/18/2020 1:30:42 PM   
CapAndGown


Posts: 3206
Joined: 3/6/2001
From: Virginia, USA
Status: offline 		I am still in the middle of this turn, but here are a few noteworthy developments so far.

Results of the HQBU

HQ 339 supply dump, 276 fuel dump (Herman Balck)
SS Wiking 49 MP, fuel have/need 396/380
9 Pz 40 MP, 479/416 (failed leader check?)
16 Pz 50 MP, 706/581
10 Pz 50 MP, 844/596

This corps then participated in an encirclement between Orel, Kursk and Voronezh. Two divisions from the corps advanced to Voronezh and captured the city with all of its starting factories including HI, armaments, and 84 IL-2 factories!!! Contrary to our expectations, none of the factories had been evacuated. Inside the pocket are 13 divisions: 6 cavlary, 1 tank, and 6 rifle. Unfortunately, there is a corridor through which the pocket can be broken during the Soviet turn. This would allow the 2 HQ inside the cauldron to escape. My only solution (there are no other units in range that could close the gap) is to recon the area to increase detection levels, and then hope that interdiction slows down the relief divisions.





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< Message edited by CapAndGown -- 10/18/2020 1:44:06 PM >

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Post #: 62
RE: Turn 14: that's gonna sting - 10/19/2020 5:47:29 PM   
Seminole


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Joined: 7/28/2011
Status: offline 		Corridor looks very secure to me as it would require a move away from ZOC and then a move from ZOC to ZOC for the isolated cavalry.
Any relief will need to make a river crossing against ZOC and a ZOC to ZOC move.
Not likely on turn 12 given what you can see.

Nice move razing the IL-2 factories.
It’s a sin to leave Russian cities undefended within 25 hexes of the front lines.

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Post #: 63
RE: Turn 14: that's gonna sting - 10/19/2020 6:33:29 PM   
CapAndGown


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Seminole

Corridor looks very secure to me as it would require a move away from ZOC and then a move from ZOC to ZOC for the isolated cavalry.
Any relief will need to make a river crossing against ZOC and a ZOC to ZOC move.
Not likely on turn 12 given what you can see.

Nice move razing the IL-2 factories.
It’s a sin to leave Russian cities undefended within 25 hexes of the front lines.


They were garrisoned with two tank brigades, obviously some of the new, extremely weak arrivals and not active tank divisions that had undergone conversion of their TOE. You can see the two brigades east of Voronezh.

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Post #: 64
RE: Turn 14: that's gonna sting - 10/19/2020 7:30:40 PM   
Seminole


Posts: 2105
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Status: offline 		That has to be at a minimum to prevent ZOC swipes (which is what I assumed from the map picture).
Congrats regardless of the fact they were shells. Getting back there with MP to make the attack is a victory in its own rights.

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Post #: 65
Turn 15: biggening the pocket - 10/21/2020 11:37:51 PM   
CapAndGown


Posts: 3206
Joined: 3/6/2001
From: Virginia, USA
Status: offline 		Yes, biggening, the verb form of "to make bigger" (pronounced big-ga-ning)

First up, another HQBU to record:
HQ 22 MP to rail, 147 supply dump, 83 fuel dump (von Anim)
14 motor, fuel/need 87/296
20 motor, 131/317
20 pz, 197/399
7 pz, 156/386

Now onto business:
The soviets did try to break the pocket along the northern corridor that I pointed out in my last update. They failed at that, but they did manage to break the pocket from the south. As a result, the two HQs in the cauldron were able to escape. On the bright side, however, we had available a newly arrived corps (2 panzer divisions and one motorized brigade) that had just arrived on the eastern front. With this new corps we then actually made the pocket bigger, bringing in another 5 divisions within the encirclement. In toto, there are now 18 divisions within the new and improved pocket. This new pocket looks to be less likely to be broken.

(turn still in progress. I will update other fronts later.)





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Post #: 66
Turn 15: Leningrad - 10/23/2020 10:37:58 PM   
CapAndGown


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Status: offline 		Time to report on other fronts.

Leningrad is a slog. We are obviously not going to capture it. The Russian commitment here is enormous, though that has meant the neglect of other fronts, possibly contributing to the disaster at Kiev.





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Post #: 67
Turn 15: Moscow - 10/23/2020 10:42:06 PM   
CapAndGown


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Status: offline 		Moscow may be out of reach as well. If I can get close enough to force a factory evacuation I will have accomplished enough. My over plan for this campaign has been to focus on the resource centers of Ukraine and the Donbas. I have done well around Tula and Voronezh. Hopefully we can capture the Donbas before the Russian counter offensive.





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Post #: 68
Turn 15: the Donbas - 10/23/2020 10:45:33 PM   
CapAndGown


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Status: offline 		One more clear turn, then the mud sets in. The Stalino-Gorlovka complex will no doubt not fall easily, but I still hope to capture them and Voroshilovgrad by December.





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< Message edited by CapAndGown -- 10/23/2020 11:03:29 PM >

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Post #: 69
Turn 15: the Crimea - 10/23/2020 10:49:32 PM   
CapAndGown


Posts: 3206
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Status: offline 		I am not aiming to accomplish much in Crimea. I just wish to buy space and time to fortify the choke points into the southern Ukraine.




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Post #: 70
Turn 16: HQBU results - 10/26/2020 3:19:10 AM   
CapAndGown


Posts: 3206
Joined: 3/6/2001
From: Virginia, USA
Status: offline 		Results of the last HQBU

HQ 237 supply dump, 186 fuel dump
14 motor, 48 MP, fuel/need 305/297
20 motor, 48 MP, 343/312
20 pz, 40 MP, 453/395
7 pz, 31 MP, 421/382

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Post #: 71
Turn 16: one last hoorah - 10/29/2020 11:18:36 PM   
CapAndGown


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Status: offline 		The Panzers pulled off two final encirclements before the rain sets in.

North of Stalino we encircled 8 divisions, severely compromising the Soviet MLR. Unfortunately, the pocket is somewhat vulnerable to being opened by a counter attack against the motorized division closest to Gorlovka.





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Post #: 72
RE: Turn 16: one last hoorah - 10/29/2020 11:22:37 PM   
CapAndGown


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Status: offline 		The other encirclement occurred around Tula netting 5 divisions and an HQ. Tula is a valuable target because of its manpower, rail yards and, importantly for me, its resources. This encirclement also threatens Moscow from the south. This pocket might possible be opened by some counter attacks, but I doubt it.





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Post #: 73
RE: Turn 16: one last hoorah - 10/29/2020 11:25:05 PM   
CapAndGown


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Status: offline 		The situation in front of Moscow. Rzhev and Vyazma were both abandoned, so we moved in.





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Post #: 74
RE: Turn 16: one last hoorah - 10/29/2020 11:30:54 PM   
CapAndGown


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Status: offline 		In front of Leningrad we actually made a fair amount of progress this turn. The Soviets counter attacked our furthest advanced units, causing them to retreat. They then move an AT brigade into the hex they just captured. Obviously meant to absorb movement points, I still disagree with this tactic since it did not materially change anything except inflict a lot of needless casualties on the Red Army. At any rate, we captured 6 hexes from the Soviets, though we did not push forward into all of them. Let the Red Army come to us if that is their desire. We can move into those hexes next turn quite easily and then launch attacks from there. We did isolate Novgorod which should help in capturing it next turn.




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Post #: 75
Turn 17: anti-partisan measures - 11/7/2020 11:58:28 AM   
CapAndGown


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Status: offline 		When I hit the "next turn" button this time I heard Soviet aircraft for the first time delivering supplies/men to partisan units. I didn't know that you would have any indication that partisan support operations were on-going. Now I know. So for 16 turns the Soviets have done nothing in the realm of partisan warfare. In some ways, though, it is too late for them to have much impact.

I have been diligently working to "partisan proof" my lines of communication. In the center, my two main rail conversion lines, one going through Minsk, the other passing south of it have now been connected so that if one line is hit, there is still a path back to Germany from the other line. This connection was established by assigning construction battalions to an RHG command and then positioning it so it would focus on repairing those lines connecting the northern and southern Byeloruss lines. That RHG command is now positioned to connect those lines using the western Dnepr rail line going through Gomel. Likewise, in the south I assigned construction battalions to the RHG command there and had it work on building redundancy into our main Ukrainian rail net.





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Post #: 76
Turn 17: the accidental pocket - 11/9/2020 9:16:05 PM   
CapAndGown


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From: Virginia, USA
Status: offline 		Last clear turn. (I had thought turn 16 was the last clear turn. I was happy I got one more turn.)

I wanted to use this turn around Leningrad to get closer to cutting of the rail connection to Leningrad. (There are no factories there, but I still wanted to marginally worsen the supply situation there.) To do that I needed to clear a few units out of the way. The plan was to isolate one unit in our path, then route it out of the hex it was in. Instead, two divisions that needed to move in order to isolate that hex decided to retreat into that hex rather than back towards the Volkhov. So now we have a pocket of 3 rifle divisions we had not planned on. Although we did not make the forward progress we had hoped for, we have consigned another 3 Russian divisions to prisoner of war status.





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Post #: 77
Turn 17: Moscow/Tula - 11/9/2020 9:20:18 PM   
CapAndGown


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From: Virginia, USA
Status: offline 		In the Moscow sector most of the action involved cleaning up the pocket around Tula. We made some probing attacks around Rzhev and Vyazma, but decided to pull back since we were not going to make much progress.






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< Message edited by CapAndGown -- 11/9/2020 9:23:30 PM >

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Post #: 78
Turn 17: Stalino - 11/9/2020 9:22:55 PM   
CapAndGown


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From: Virginia, USA
Status: offline 		The story was much the same around Stalino, where most of the action involved cleaning up the pocket created last turn.





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Post #: 79
Turn 17: Crimea - 11/9/2020 9:25:57 PM   
CapAndGown


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From: Virginia, USA
Status: offline 		In the Crimea, our focus had been to get out of the Soviet weather zone and set up our defenses in the European zone, thus avoiding the blizzard that will start in December.





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Post #: 80
Barbarrosa by the numbers - 11/9/2020 10:11:50 PM   
CapAndGown


Posts: 3206
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From: Virginia, USA
Status: offline 		Now that the campaigning season has come to an end, these are the stats at the beginning of turn 18.





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Post #: 81
RE: Barbarrosa by the numbers - 11/10/2020 8:17:07 PM   
CapAndGown


Posts: 3206
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From: Virginia, USA
Status: offline 		I just noticed my opponent has moved all his Lagg-3 factories; moving just 1 point each. Why do you suppose that is? Trying to save on supply? Is the plane really that bad? I haven't been super impressed with it, but neither have I been super disappointed. At any rate, it gave me an idea about moving my U-2VS factory to Voroshilovgrad in my Soviet game.

[update] My opponent confirmed that he moved these factories to save on supply.

< Message edited by CapAndGown -- 11/11/2020 6:18:51 PM >

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Post #: 82
Turn 20 - 11/20/2020 11:17:49 PM   
CapAndGown


Posts: 3206
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Status: offline 		Been a while since I reported on anything in this game. That's because of mud; nothing is happening. I thought I would share a picture of the overall map.

One thing of note is that our vehicle pool has now fallen below our required number of vehicles. An artifact, no doubt, of our over stretched supply lines.





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Post #: 83
Turn 22: the Donbas - 11/25/2020 2:09:08 AM   
CapAndGown


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From: Virginia, USA
Status: offline 		Winter has arrived in Russia. The ground is frozen, restoring movement to our forces. We used this opportunity to eliminate the two small pockets around Leningrad and Tula. We also captured the Stalino-Gorlovka complex in order to deprive the Russians of manpower, resources, and rail capacity, while allowing our forces to establish strong defensive positions in these built up centers. Finally, we advanced on the choke point in the Crimea to further solidify our winter defenses.





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Post #: 84
Turn 25: brrrrr! - 12/9/2020 12:18:18 AM   
CapAndGown


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From: Virginia, USA
Status: offline 		I have not reported on this game in a while because nothing has been happening. I have mostly been preparing my winter defenses, though there has been a push in the Crimea to secure the choke point west of Kerch. (I may decide to push all the way to Kerch itself.)

I figure there are two way one could arrange the defense.
1) create some corps size fire brigades of mobile units that can rush in to fortify threatened sectors.
2) have tactical reserves of mobile units divided up among your various corps.

For this winter I went with option 2: each corps was given a mobile division to act as the corps reserve. My thinking here was that I wanted the divisions to avoid the worst effect of winter by having them in positions that would mitigate weather related attrition. That meant garrisoning cities and towns, or simply digging in. Either way, I did not want them wandering about the steppes and forests of winter time Russia taking damage simply by being out in the cold.

I am fairly sure this will not work out, but its my first time playing, so I will get to find out just how wrong I was.

I am particularly worried about the area around Velikiye Luki and Rzhev. I need more infantry in that sector. I could get some by thinning out the forces in front of Leningrad and straightening the front there, but I am loathe to give up that ground. I may try to take Leningrad next summer and I don't want to have to fight for that territory again.

Below is a map showing the entire front.





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Post #: 85
Turn 26: from theory to practice - 12/15/2020 5:11:46 AM   
CapAndGown


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From: Virginia, USA
Status: offline 		I got my first test of my defensive ideas this turn. The results were mixed. Panzer divisions seemed to activate just fine, while motorized divisions did not. I went through my corps leaders who had failed to activate their reserves and changed two with new commanders. In both cases I chose an up-and-comer as a replacement even though this cost quite a bit of AP points (generally 21-23 AP points vs 1-3 AP points for rank-qualified commanders).

In the Stalino sector the Russians only launched two attacks, one of which failed due to panzer activation. We, on the other hand, launched a number of successful counter attacks.





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Post #: 86
Turn 26: Tula - 12/15/2020 5:15:00 AM   
CapAndGown


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From: Virginia, USA
Status: offline 		Only two Soviet attacks were launched in the Tula sector, both of which failed due to reserve activation.





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Post #: 87
Turn 26: Rzhev - 12/15/2020 5:25:32 AM   
CapAndGown


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Status: offline 		Things did not go as well in the Rzhev-Velikiye Luki sector. That was to be expected considering our weakness here. I brought in a motorized division from the Leningrad sector to help stiffen the defenses. We did achieve a shatter result on a Soviet tank brigade in one of our counter attacks. Perhaps the Soviets did not expect to us to counter attack weak units? Whatever the case, I hope that our counter attacks discourage the Soviets from pressing home their advances. Further retreats in this sector are likely.

On a side note: I noticed that my troops are suffering supply issues due to the reduced rail modifier. Although this is bad for me, I am happy to see this included since the German logistical situation historically disintegrated due to their locomotives not being equipped for such cold weather.





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Post #: 88
Turn 27 - 12/17/2020 12:52:28 AM   
CapAndGown


Posts: 3206
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From: Virginia, USA
Status: offline 		1) Around Leningrad the Soviets were able to achieve a small victory. I am not pulling back the divisions in the far northeast corner of the salient because I believe we can hold on. I am also not sending anyone in to occupy the hex we were forced out of because they would just be slaughtered. OTOH, any Soviets that move into the hex will themselves be slaughtered.

2) The Soviets launch a number of successful attacks around Rzhev. The Germans were unable to launch any counter attacks in this area, though we did reoccupy a couple of hexes we were forced out of. We are pulling back towards Velikiye Luki, though slowly. This is a deliberate withdrawal, not a route!

3) Around Tula the Soviets launched 5 attacks, 2 of which fail due to reserve activation. Meanwhile, we launch two counter attacks of our own.

Two more leaders were changed out this turn in favor of up and coming General Majors.




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< Message edited by CapAndGown -- 12/17/2020 12:56:25 AM >

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Post #: 89
Turn 27: Stalino - 12/17/2020 1:06:18 AM   
CapAndGown


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Status: offline 		The main Soviet thrust seems to be aimed at recapturing Stalino. All the Cavalry Corps we have spotted have been in this area.

The Soviets closed the gap separating our front lines west and north of Kharkov. In those places where light/mountain divisions were manning the line they launched counter attacks against the lone Soviet divisions. No reason not to stress the Soviet manpower/armament situation as much as possible right now, plus make it harder for those divisions to reach guard status by adding to their number of defeats.

Just north of Gorlovka the Soviets punched a 10 mile hole in our line and moved in with three cavalry corps. These corps were repelled with heavy casualties: the Soviets lost 209 cavalry squads this week, an entire week's worth of production.

The Soviets also continued to make progress south of Stalino.





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< Message edited by CapAndGown -- 12/17/2020 1:07:37 AM >

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Post #: 90
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