A Grey Steppe Eagle (loki100 vs Vigabrand)

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: Gabriel B.

Wrt 76mm zis
I had used this gun as a training gun during national service , ( as a mountain unit, we had pack howitzers similar to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OTO_Melara_Mod_56 ).

I guess it could be uselfull against exposed infantry , but against dug in infantry it does not pack a lot of punch.

that makes sense.

somewhere I have a Soviet infantry training instruction manual thats shows the impact zone of the main artillery calibres (76/122/152) and the amount of cover they provide.

I'd like to find it back as it is quite instructive, but if I recall the 76mm impact zone was under waist height (so say 70-90cm) which clearly wouldn't do much damage to dug in positions but would be deadly to troops moving across open ground.

[Matnjord]

The largest tank battle of the war was about to take place on the frozen steppe to the south of the Oka.

Ooh, exciting stuff. Show those panzers what your T34 can do Loki!

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: Matnjord

The largest tank battle of the war was about to take place on the frozen steppe to the south of the Oka.

Ooh, exciting stuff. Show those panzers what your T34 can do Loki!

well the weather helps more than my tactics to be honest ... but I think vigabrand makes a rare mistake in splitting up his armour, 5 Pzr Corps struggle against an elite shock army and all 5 of my tank armies

[loki100]

Turn 74: 12 – 18 November 1942

Mid November saw full winter conditions around Moscow but rain along the Black Sea coast.



Despite expecting a renewal of the German offensive, Stavka was surprised when the opening blow was on the northern edge of Lake Ladoga. As a result, 7 Army pulled back to a shorter defensive line. With only a single armoured division, the Finns could drive the Soviet units back but lacked the capacity to unhinge the overall defensive line.



At Ryazan, the blizzard conditions and the Soviet pull back at the end of the previous week had the effect of reducing the initial impact of the German offensive. Their opening blow hit empty space and their armour faced the frustration of moving across demolished bridges and mined roads. Every small town had been turned into a death trap with booby traps.


(Soviet village in flames near Ryazan)

In particular their infantry lagged behind and took little part in the attacks to the west of Ryazan.



By the 14th, the German armour hit the Soviet main defensive line. Their northern arm was led by 46 Panzer Corps which drove elements of both 20 and 60 Army back but were unable to complete the planned encirclement. In the centre 41 and 47 Panzer Corps made progress directly towards Ryazan but their main attack was on the southern route.

Here 56 and 57 Panzer Corps wrecked the defensive positions of 16 Army allowing them to threaten the railway south of Ryazan at Birkino.

In response, Soviet armour struck at the southern flank of the German spearhead.

4 Tank Army drove back 56 Panzer Corp's 20 Motorised Division and overran the corps HQ.


(artillery moving up from Stavka reserve)

On the outskirts of Ryazan, 4 Shock Army drove back 6 and 7 Panzer Divisions



As a result, briefly 8 and 24 Panzer Divisions were isolated and were forced to hastily retreat by 2 Tank Army.



In turn, to increase the pressure on the Germans, 40 Army drove back 57 Panzer Corps





It became clear that the equivalent of 2 Panzer Armies were in action at Ryazan as substantial German armoured and motorised forces were detected to the north of Borodino. Here, it was not clear if the Germans wanted to push North Western Front east of the Volga or push over the Larna to threaten Moscow from the north.

Stavka ordered 22 Army to disengage and move back into reserve while fresh formations were allocated to Volkhov Front's 29 Army to shore up the defensive line on the Larna.



However, despite the Soviet counter-attacks restoring the front line, the reality was the Soviet defensive line was weak. The equivalent of 4 Armies, drawn from 2 separate fronts were inter-mingled west of Ryazan and the Soviet reserves mostly committed. Only the 2 Tank Armies of Southwestern Front were left to be committed.

Losses were predictably heavy for both sides. The Germans lost 23,000 men (7,000 killed), 170 tanks and 200 planes while the Soviets lost 110,000 men (19,000 killed and 60,000 prisoners), 300 tanks and 150 planes.

As both armies prepared for the inevitable renewal of the German offensive, the weather again intervened.

[loki100]

In the next post I've put far more individual battle reports than normal. Mainly as it is noticeable that combat losses have become very even - almost regardless of the actual outcome.

When I'm attacking, one reason may well be I am starting to use artillery divisions and rocket brigades on a regular basis (with my excess of arms pts I am building a lot). But it is also happening when vigabrand attacks.

I think this is down to the late 42 rifle corps/division ToE with more elements (even if less men) and more heavy weapons. May also be the return to 45 NM.

Reason I'm asking is in a way this feeds into the debate about overall game balance and flow for WiTE2 on the main forum.

any views?

[loki100]

Turns 75-76: 19 November – 2 December 1942

As so often in the final months of 1942, the weather proved to be more important than the decisions of either army. The temperatures rose again leading to a sudden thaw and torrential rainfall bringing both sides to a standstill.


[1]

The Soviets took the chance to reorganise their Ryazan defences for the expected onslaught.

On 25 November the temperatures again fell and the ground froze. The light snowfall favoured the renewed German operations.



On a narrow front the Germans drove to the Oka and almost surrounded Ryazan. In addition, another Panzer army struck towards Kalinin but failed to achieve a major breakthroughs.



Among the casualties were Nikolai Bezarin, commander of North-West Front's 27 Army. The circumstances of his death remain shrouded in mystery but it would appear he was being driven in a car that had only recently been repaired in the specialist NKVD workshops.



The result of the German offensive and Soviet response was fierce fighting on four separate sectors of the front.

Rostov

Here Crimean and Trans-Caucasus Fronts continued their limited offensive within the Don-Donets bend.

Near Rostov, a timely German intervention allowed the Italian mountain divisions to fend off a Soviet attack.


[2]

However, the mobile formations of Crimean Front made more progress against the Romanians and Hungarians defending the northern flank of the Axis forces in this region.





Kalinin

In response to the German offensive, Stavka ordered the re-equipped 2nd Shock Army to hit the flank of 39 Panzer Corps while 22 Army drove the Germans back from the outskirts of Kalinin.




(Elements of 2 Shock Army in action)



Moscow

Here Stavka ordered the reinforced Kalinin Front to launch a limited offensive towards the historic battlefield of Borodino. It was clear that there were no armoured reserves behind the German lines and a steady series of attacks were supported by the freshly arrived artillery and rocket formations.


(Katyusha salvo in support of 24 Army)

Ryazan

However the main focus for both sides was on the massive armoured clash at Ryazan.

The northern wing of their offensive was opened by the infantry of 35 Corps which disrupted the defensive line of 60 Army and allowed 46 Panzer Corps to reach the Oka and swing south. Badly battered, 60 Army was steadily driven east of the Oka but inflicted heavy losses on the attacking Panzers.



In the centre, their 27 Corps, with massive artillery support, routed elements of 16 Army. In turn elements of 24 and 57 Panzer tangled with the stronger defences of 4 Shock Army that had been screened by 16 Army.



In a day of sustained combat, 24 Panzer finally broke through to the north but 57 Panzer was held due to a timely counter-attack by elements of 5 Tank Army.

A renewal of their attack on 30 November forced back 1 Guards Rifle Corps and 41 and 56 Panzer pushed past the destruction of the earlier fighting inching their way slowly to the south of Ryazan against fierce resistance by 40 Army.

In the meantime 24 Panzer swung north, again being caught up in the defensive lines of 4 Shock



By 1 December, 24 Panzer and 46 Panzer met just north of Ryazan trapping 5 divisions from 16 and 60 Armies in a small pocket.

In turn, the Soviet defenders were exhausted by the sustained fighting. 40 Army and 3 Tank Army managed a small counter-attack to the south of Ryazan driving back 56 Panzer and giving the Soviet defenders the space to reorganise.



In the meantime Stavka allowed the armoured formations of Voronezh Front to rest while their infantry fell back to the rail junction at Ryazhsk.

However, the need for the Germans to concentrate to make any gains against the strenthening Soviet resistance meant their flanks were increasingly exposed. In particular their defensive line on the southern bank of the Oka was weakly held by infantry only formations. Stavka ordered the Western Front to redeploy from defending the Nara to prepare for a counter stroke against the German flank if the Oka was to freeze in the coming days.





Losses matched the intensity of the fighting.

The Germans lost 57,000 men (18,000 killed), 240 tanks and 280 planes for Soviet losses of 108,000 men (34,000 killed), 640 tanks and 440 planes.

[1] This was lucky, for me. It allowed me to pull back some good formations to where they couldn't be surrounded. Equally it has cost vigabrand one of the relatively few weeks before the 1943 NM shift takes effect.
[2] Frustratingly that is the second time those Italians have won a battle ...

[loki100]

Turn 77: 3 – 9 December 1942

The German offensive seemed to slacken in the first week of December. At Ryazan they tried for another encirclement south of the city but their other major operations were a series of limited probes into the lines held by North-Western Front and a localised counter-attack on Crimean Front's spearheads.

To Stavka it appeared as if Moscow had been saved despite the Bryansk disaster in September. Tolbukhin's 24 Army had been instrumental in turning a panicked rout into a controlled retreat, as well as launching a steady series of heavy counterattacks.

In reward he was promoted to General-Polkhovnik and urgent discussions began as to which of the main Fronts he should take command.



Ryazan

Here it appeared as if the determination of the Soviet resistance in the previous week had badly weakened the Germans. They had swung south in an attempt to encircle 21 and 34 Armies but had failed to secure their encirclement. In response Stavka identified the opportunity not just to disrupt their lines of communication but to cut off the two Panzer Corps that were to the east of 21 Army.

The opening blow was struck by 4 Shock Army on elements of 56 Panzer Corps. However, the Germans managed to respond to the threat and the exhausted formations of 4 Shock were forced to fall back to their starting positions.


[1]

The failure of 4 Shock disrupted the Soviet plans, but the opportunity still existed and the elite mobile formations of 40 Army again hit 56 Panzer. In desperate fighting again the Germans held. This time both sides heavily committed their air support and in the fierce air battles the new Yak-9s proved their value.


[2]

With the failure of the northern wing, a full encirclement was no longer possible. Still early on 5 December, 3 Tank Army struck the overextended formations of 57 Panzer. The result was a day of brutal fighting that only ended with over 300 tanks burning in the snowy fields. However, the Panzers had been decisively beaten and took further losses as they fell back in panic.


[3]


(Soviet tanks moving past a knocked out German Marder SP gun)

At the same time, 1 and 2 Tank Armies struck and again losses on both sides were high but this time 48 Panzer Corps was forced to fall back to escape encirclement.



Here the Soviet offensive had commenced with a massive salvo from the freshly deployed Katyusha brigades. The capacity to bring massive amounts of firepower to bear in a small sector had proved critical to the Soviet victory.

However, all three tank armies were shattered in the fighting and Soviet formations were intermixed across the 40 km long battlefront. Stavka opted to keep its limited reserve out of action and not try to follow up the hard won victories.

By 7 December, the Ryazan battles died away and Stavka estimated that all the German reserves were fully committed. Stavka ordered Kalinin Front to launch a limited offensive designed to confuse the Germans as to the real focus of the Soviet counter-stroke.

This fell on the northern flank of the Germans pressing at Ryazan. Taking advantage of the frozen Oka, Western Front quickly forced the river and, taken by surprise, the exposed German infantry fell back as Soviet formations pushed 20 km over the Oka and threatened the German rear.




(Infantry from Western Front attacking over the Oka)



Rostov

Here the Germans started by launching a series of counter-attacks that drove back some of the over-extended formations from the previous Soviet attacks. However, the Soviet offensive continued and 57 Army finally drove back the Italian formations that had been blocking communications into and out of Rostov


[4]

The main effort was on the south bank of the Donets and here the mobile formations of the Crimean Front carried on pushing back the various non-German formations. By the 8 December, they had outflanked the German infantry and a massive attack was launched in an effort to over-run this German strongpoint.



Despite this failure, the Axis lines had been forced back some 30 miles as Crimean Front pressed towards Voroshilovgrad..

The North

Here the Germans had continued the probing attacks of the previous week. They seemed to lack the force to turn localised victories into a major encirclement but were making steady progress towards the rail junctions around Vyshny Volochek.

One concern was that Soviet reconnaissance had indicated the Germans may have pulled some Panzer forces from their Ryazan offensive. If so, it was possible that the Germans still intended to attack Moscow from the north or force the Soviet formations in this sector to pull back eastwards.

Stavka was sufficiently worried to allocate some of the freshly raised divisions to fill out the gaps in Volkhov and North-Western Fronts' formations. If Ryazan had been saved, it might be possible to allocate additional forces in case the Germans made a major effort on this sector.



OOB



Losses were again heavy. The Germans lost 33,000 men (8,000 killed), 185 tanks and 170 planes for Soviet losses of 93,000 men (20,000 killed and 20,000 prisoners), almost 600 tanks and 215 planes. The Germans also lost 8,000 trucks and the Soviets 3,000.

[1] Damn, if this had worked I could have put 2 tank armies to completing an encirclement.
[2] Double Damn, at this stage I was really not liking this turn one little bit.
[3] Maybe not such a bad turn after all?
[4] At the third attempt ...

[obssesednuker]

Maybe if that opportunity had still been there in January, you would have been able to succeed in achieving an encirclement.

By what time do you think you'll be able to get Red Army 2.0 fully in gear? Mid-'43?

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: obssesednuker

Maybe if that opportunity had still been there in January, you would have been able to succeed in achieving an encirclement.

By what time do you think you'll be able to get Red Army 2.0 fully in gear? Mid-'43?

I think unless vigabrand makes a mistake I doubt I'll pull of any encirclements till late 1943. At the moment I simply can't put down a high enough set of CVs to make it impossible for him to break a pocket. That was a good chance as I could have used the woods to double up my defensive scores.

My hope of an early pocket is where I can use the map edge (Baltic, Black or Azov Seas) or very poor terrain to protect my encircling formations.

My heavy losses in September have set me back in the search for Red Army 2.0.

I want to get the on-map army back up to around 7.5m (ie about 300,000 over now). At its crudest that is 30 divisions (300 admin pts to raise). I've a mound of notes as to what to convert and how to reorganise so my Gds Rifle Corps form coherent blocks in my best armies.

I have enough to raise another 20 Gds Corps (over the 10 I have in action at the moment). I suspect I'll get more gds divisions with the 1943 multipliers but not many (this is actually another reason to build up the cadre of rifle divisions).

I have the arms pts to fuel a massive build up of artillery, so the constraint time and again is admin pts for me as of now.

I'm not feeling under too much time pressure, I'm to the west of the Don where it matters (my long centre is behind the Don for safety but I've made enough gains at Rostov and around Tula that I don't think the Germans can risk defending the west bank of the Don, never mind pushing over to the east. That matters as I think it gives me a good chance to reach and cross the Dneipr in the Ukraine over winter 43/44 and I think I can grind west on the Smolensk-Minsk axis at my leisure. My army here has the bulk of the Gds, it doesn't need many mobile assets and the terrain favours being able to attack with say 6 rifle corps, plus artillery, plus specialist engineers and then advance and hold the hex (due to woods etc).

My instinct is that vigabrand has switched targets. He's trying to either cull more divisions in small pockets or make localised geographical gains in order to make me pull back east. Since I am very averse to losing more formations, I'm yielding ground where he attacks and I am weak and shifting my reserves around otherwise. Its an interesting phase to the game, rather cat and mouse and a feeling that the initiative will swap soon.

[loki100]

Turn 78: 10-16 December 1942

By mid-December, winter conditions prevailed across all of the battle front.



After deliberations, Tolbukhin was promoted to take command of the Voronezh Front. Since this had more armour than any other Soviet formation it would inevitably play a major role in any Soviet offensive [1].



North

Here the Germans pushed over the Pola near Lake Ilmen as well as making steady gains around Ostashkov. It was not clear if their objective was the rail junction at Bologov. If this fell, communications between Soviet forces at Moscow and those in the north would be badly disrupted.

However, Stavka still feared the Germans would swing east towards Kalinin and try to disrupt the northern part of the Moscow defensive lines. Accordingly, some reserve formations were allocated to reinforce North-Western Front but for the moment Stavka held them back near Bezhetsk where they could react depending on the next moves of the Axis forces.



Moscow

Here the German offensive at Ryazan seemed to be over as their armour pulled back. Stavka was content to allow the Soviet armour to rest and reorganise. However, pressure was maintained on their defences by elements of Kalinin Front pushing west and Western Front probing their lines along the Oka.


(infantry and armour of Kalinin Front in action)

On the Oka, the Soviets shifted tactics and dropped paratroops behind the German lines to disrupt their communications.



In the chaos that followed, 13 Army overran elements of 8 Infantry Corps and 4 Army's cavalry disrupted the defensive lines of 9 Corps.



However, given the presence of at least 4, possibly 5, Panzer Corps around Tula, Soviet units did not press their temporary advantage and mostly fell back to their starting positions.


(German retreat from their Oka defensive positions)

Rostov

Here, despite the set backs caused by German counter-attacks, Soviet forces kept up the pressure around Rostov.

An attempt by 57 Army to make progress towards the Mius was held by Romanian units.



But this time Stavka ordered the Stalingrad Front to support the offensive. 9 and 19 Armies hit the German defences to the north of the Donets creating a new threat to their defences at Voroshilovgrad.



In turn the mobile formations of the Crimean Front hit their defences south of the Donets. Soviet armour drove back Romanian units inflicting heavy losses. This left the German infantry exposed and a major Soviet attack forced them to fall back with almost 5,000 losses after two days of fighting.



In the meantime the relentless German bombing of Sevastopol continued as did the VVS' counter-attacks on the Romanian airforce in the Crimea.



OOB



Losses reflect the drop in intensity of combat operations [2]. The Germans lost 30,000 men (9,000 killed), 60 tanks and 70 places for Soviet losses of 45.000 men (16,000 killed), 300 tanks and 270 planes [3]


[1] Kirponos was actually one of my better Front commanders at the moment. But Tolbukhin's armour score makes him the best fit for this formation. At least both fronts with the bulk of my Tank Armies now have good commanders. Timoshenko is the next one to be sacked.

[2] I'm happy enough to not push too hard at the moment. 1943 will bring a 10% shift in combat values due to the new morale levels and will help make my weaker sectors much less vulnerable. I also need to build up my army and am trying to avoid any more encirclements.

[3] Had a major disaster in my attempts to hit the German recon assets around Tula.

[loki100]

Turn 79: 17 – 23 December 1942

The Soviet offensives on the Oka and west of Rostov predictably provoked localised German counter-attacks.



However, their major effort was their offensive around Lake Ilmen and the Valdai Hills. This had three major prongs - a significant armoured force pushing towards the Msta and the rail line to Bologoe, infantry attacking towards the Shlina and a limited attempt to gain control of the east bank of the Volkhov near Novgorod.



Around Rostov, the Soviets quickly regained lost ground but made minimal new gains. In particular on the Voroshilovgrad sector the Germans had switched tactics and were using 14 Panzer Corps as a mobile reserve.

At Moscow, Stavka tried to regain the initiative to follow up the defensive victory at Ryazan.

In an attempt to force the Germans over to the defence, Stavka ordered Kalinin Front to exploit its limited gains in the previous week. The main obstacle on this sector was the well dug in German positions anchored on the small town of Mozhaysk.

After the success with limited paratroop operation on the Oka, this time a more ambitious operation was planned. The remaining formations of 4 Airborne Corps dropped astride the German line of communications cutting the defenders off from resupply.


Soviet paratroops preparing for action


[1]

In turn, backed by a massive artillery barrage and heavily supported by the VVS, 24 and 32 Armies stormed the German positions producing a major gap in the middle of their defensive lines.


[2]

To add to the disruption Western Front attacked to the south pushing back the German 6 Infantry Corps and expanding the Soviet bridgehead on the west bank of the Nara



However, Kalinin Front lacked the mobile assets to exploit their victory. Tank Brigades from the Moscow reserve were hurriedly pushed into the gap in the German front, cutting rail lines and joining up with partisan bands near Medyn. However, an opportunity to make significant gains was lost due to a lack of mobile formatio.

In turn Stavka decided to stop any further German gains around Lake Ilmen. Significant reserve formations were released and used to strengthen the Soviet defences.

Critically 2 Shock Army was well placed to go over to the offensive. Near Lychkovo the German lines were weakly held and 5 Corps (2 Tank and 3 Cavalry) moved into position. If successful, this would threaten to trap the German formations that had driven towards the Msta.



However, over 2 days of fighting in the snowy woods, the Germans managed to hold off the Soviet offensive, protecting the supply and communication lines to 48 Panzer Corps.
[3]


Ski troops attached to 2 Shock Army






Losses remained fairly heavy, given the limited nature of the fighting. The Germans lost 32,000 men (11,000 killed), 80 tanks and 90 planes and the Soviets 46,000 men (18,000 killed), 450 tanks and 280 planes.



[1] This is why I don't like the now common house rule banning all Soviet paradrops for the complete game. It is too pro-German. Here vigabrand has clearly stripped away his reserves in order to attack and its one way to make that a choice (with potential consequences) rather than a completely safe option. If he'd had units in reserve mode that drop would have been a disaster. The real life Soviet operation at Kanev failed precisely as they dropped onto German reserve formations.
[2] So every element of luck went my way. My hope was with that level of artillery and engineers I'd be able to drop the fortifications, and probably be able to do two attacks. With them then cut off in the logistics phase, their position would have been very weak next turn, forcing the Germans to redeploy. Just to even things up, later in the turn I lost an attack I was sure I was going to win.
[3] The first attack in particular would work probably about 90% of the time. In many ways I would have rather won this and lost at Mozhaysk. I think that vigabrand would have got his armour out, but they would have suffered for lack of supply and I might have been able to trap one division.

Last turn run under 1.08.04.

[loki100]

Turn 80: 24-30 December 1942

The limited Soviet gains around Mozhaysk and west of Rostov triggered the predictable German response. Almost all the gains were wiped out in a series of localised counter-attacks.



On both sectors, Soviet formations continued to probe for weak spots making very limited gains in an attempt to maintain pressure and try and draw off German units from their new offensive.

However, their main efforts were in the Valdai-Ilmen sectors and a renewal of the Finnish offensive on the nothern edge of Lake Ladoga.



Here, Stavka mostly opted to give ground in an attempt to limit losses due to encirclements. Very localised counter-attacks regained some ground and created a line of communication to some units cut off.

German losses were 38,000 men (16,000 killed), 47 tanks and 42 planes. The Soviets lost 74,000 men (22,000 killed and 23,000 prisoners), 400 tanks and 227 planes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So this was the first turn using the .05 etc patches. The impact is to wreck the air war (raised in a different thread), quite simply if this is the intended effect then scrap all the detail and reduce it to a minor combat modifier according to which side has an advantage.

Simple example, Soviet AA is still pointless. The Germans can still bomb a port as many times as they want (with no losses). In 08.04 at least I could retaliate by bombing the air bases they were using. Not any more. 1 raid is all I get.

Soviet truck pool is suddenly emptying. Under .04, I was keeping it steady, some turns I gained a little, others I lost a little. Both turns under .05 (this and T81) I lost a net 4,000 per turn. This in turn makes the air game (I guess my truck losses are because I have LB deployed) even more pointless.

[loki100]

3 September 1942 – 6 January 1943

{I'll do a usual weekly report for T81 later}

The 4 months from early September 1942 to the end of the year had seen a massive reversal of fortune in the war. Perhaps the simplest measure of the scale of Soviet defeats was the loss of over 1 million prisoners in this period alone.

The German offensive had started with the victory at Bryansk and then swept through Vyazma, Kaluga and Tula before being stalled 30 km west of Moscow. After the autumn muds, they had launched a major offensive aimed at Ryazan. The commitment of almost all the newly formed armoured formations, plus elite armies drawn out of the Stavka reserve had led to a hard fought Soviet defensive victory which did much to restore morale.

However, they had then swung north and, again, Soviet forces were unable to prevent significant losses. The Soviet hold on the east bank of the Volkhov was threatened as were the key northern cities of Vyshny Volochek, Torzhok and Kalinin.

It was clear that the Red Army strategically was still firmly on the defensive.



The 4 months had seen the German army expand by 102,000 men (to 4.35m) while their artillery, tank and air numbers remained static. In addition, their allies put 1.75 million men, 17,000 guns, 380 tanks and 1,100 planes in the field. In turn the Red Army had shrunk by 600,000 men.

The only source of optimism for the Soviets was the strength of their industrial base and the massive reserves of manpower. In addition, most units had adequate ammunition and supplies even if movement was being hampered by a growing truck shortage.

The Germans had paid a high price for their victories. In the fighting they had suffered 150,000 killed and 340,000 wounded. 2,200 AFVs had been knocked out of action. In the air the axis forces had lost 1,800 planes and the Soviets 4,000 as the VVS had provided critical support to the battered Red Army formations in front of Moscow and at Ryazan.

One major problem for the Red Army was that one-third of their 9,000 tanks were under-armoured and under-gunned light, DD or cavalry tanks (and many of these were obsolete).



The T-34 now formed the backbone of the newly re-equipped tank corps and the small numbers of lend-lease medium tanks were mostly assigned to the independent tank battalions. The KV had proved a liability in the armoured formations as its additional armour was not enough to compensate for relying on the 76mm gun. Instead these were increasingly being allocated to the rifle corps in the main shock armies to help breaking through well dug in German infantry positions.


(KV-1 knocked out in the aftermath of tank engagement near Ryazan)

Again, the number of artillery pieces masked the reality that one-third were mortars of various calibres.



However, the new artillery and rocket formations had already proved their value both in Kalinin Front's limited offensive and in the defensive battles at Ryazan.


(Katyushas in action near Mozhaysk)



In the air, the VVS had re-organised to larger squadrons and most of the 1941 fighters had been replaced in front line formations. The new Yak-7, Yak-9 and La-5 had proved their worth and the US supplied P-40s were valued for their relatively long range. The bulk of the sturmovik squadrons now deployed the new 2 man version which gave them some protection from enemy fighters. Till recently the lend-lease US bombers had proved invaluable in the air war in the Crimea but evidence from recent weeks suggested that the Romanian forces now had a better defence against that tactic.

Despite ongoing losses, slowly the Red Army was recovering from its losses in September. The equivalent of 24 fresh rifle divisions had been deployed since mid-October.



Equally, the rifle corps had proved its value both defensively and as the core of an attacking force. Backed by the new artillery divisions, these had managed to regain some ground near Moscow even if the Germans were too strong to allow a major offensive.

In addition, the recent inability to exploit the Mozhaysk victory meant that Stavka was determined to raise more tank and mechanized corps as soon as sufficient motorised assets were available.

[loki100]

Turn 81: 31 December 1942 – 6 January 1943

Moscow

At Moscow, a limited German counter-attack eliminated some of the gains in the previous week, although some Soviet gains were retained.

The main response was an attempt to drive a group of German panzer and motorised divisions back as they were threatening the rail junction at Naro-Fominsk.

The result was two days of bloody fighting with no gains [1]



Rostov

Here the Axis forces attacked across the front, driving back the Soviet units to their start lines.



Again, the Soviet counter-attacks foundered on strong defensive lines and suffered for a lack of air support [1]




(T-34 knocked out in the Rostov-Voroshilovgrad fighting)

North

Again, the main German offensive took place north and east of the Valdai Hills and by the Finns in the north.



Stavka was unwilling to release too much of its reserves, so the Soviet response was to fall back to better defensive positions and launch a few localised attacks designed to inflict losses on exposed German formations.




(Soviet reconnaissance patrol near Lake Ilmen)



Despite the relatively limited range of the fighting, losses were heavy for both sides. The Germans lost 41,000 men (19,000 killed), 85 tanks and 44 planes, Soviet losses were 101,000 men (25,000 killed, 28,000 prisoners), 650 tanks and 227 planes [2]



[1] I know this has been said elsewhere, but the patch has wrecked the effectiveness of the VVS. You can't muster a decent pre-attack bombing raid, and if those attacks had been under the old patch I think both would have been victories as I could have disrupted more German elements before combat.

In the Crimea, I managed one single air attack, while Sevastopol is bombed as often as the Romanians have air miles.

[2] In the turns before the patch air losses were around 80 axis-270 Soviet, last two turns 45 axis – 230 Soviet.

Clearly the well defined 'Pelton-shield' is working to protect the Luftwaffe as intended.

[Bozo_the_Clown]

Clearly the well defined 'Pelton-shield' is working to protect the Luftwaffe as intended.

Agree on the "Pelton-shield" but could you clarify regarding port bombing. Are port bombings exempt from the 1 mission per turn rule?

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: Bozo_the_Clown

Clearly the well defined 'Pelton-shield' is working to protect the Luftwaffe as intended.

Agree on the "Pelton-shield" but could you clarify regarding port bombing. Are port bombings exempt from the 1 mission per turn rule?

yep, you can bomb cities till you have used up your distance capacity. So the one mission that neither side persisted with during the Soviet-German war (ie city bombing) is the one that you can do as much as you like of.

totally off the topic (ahem), I found out what a 'Pelton-wheel' is today (it actually really exists) [8D]

[charlie0311]

Pelton shield, now Pelton wheel, is there more?

What is this stuff? The people demand to know, Charlie anyway!!

[STEF78]

A new year... the worst monthes are behind you!

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: charlie0311

Pelton shield, now Pelton wheel, is there more?

What is this stuff? The people demand to know, Charlie anyway!!

email from a colleague of mine who lives in Applecross (a very remote place on Scotland's west coast):

ORIGINAL: STEF78

A new year... the worst monthes are behind you!

I hope so, but the new patch changes are going to be a pain to be honest. Crudely I have an army of 7.1m facing 6.1m axis troops and the Germans are still much higher quality than almost any Soviet formation. The loss of air power as an effective tool really hurts.

I'm expecting to have to remain on the defensive till the summer and then just hope to win an attritional exchange.

[loki100]

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