City Upon the Volga - NOSB (Sov) vs. Pitaman (Axis)

[NotOneStepBack]

I am back, friends!

Probably gonna be a bit rusty, but this should be fun.

Game settings:

Server game (I'm playing on Steam so latest official patches, I think I have 1.08.07)
Bitter End
Locked HQ Support
Full FOW

House Rules:

No Para drops
No bombing of air bases more than 3 times a turn (after turn 1)
No bombing of HQ's unless stacked with a ground unit
No naval invasions before November 1941, none outside the 1939 Soviet borders before January 1943
In addition if Sevastopol is either isolated, or in German hands, none west of the Crimea,
which reflects the scope for air/naval interdiction not really reflected in the game.
30 day rule = no turns in 30 days by one player the other wins by default.
New official Patches will be used as soon as possible.

Additional Auto VC:
If the Axis player holds
Leningrad, Moscow, Voronezh and Rostov concurrently at any time in 1941 he wins
an Auto Victory.

Mild Blizzard Rules
Random Weather
No 1:1 = 2:1

[NotOneStepBack]

It wouldn't be a NOSB AAR without the lighthearted spirit and memes

[STEF78]

ORIGINAL: NotOneStepBack

(I'm playing on Steam so latest official patches, I think I have 1.08.07)

Last patch is 1.08.08 [;)]

[NotOneStepBack]

ORIGINAL: STEF78

ORIGINAL: NotOneStepBack

(I'm playing on Steam so latest official patches, I think I have 1.08.07)

Last patch is 1.08.08 [;)]

Official or beta? Steam is saying I'm still 07...strange.

[NotOneStepBack]

Update: I have found the steam option and am now running the latest: 1.08.08.

Thanks for telling me before we got started!

[NotOneStepBack]

June 22, 1941

Commissar NOSB is awoken to the thunder of planes, tanks and infantry invading the motherland!

Fairly standard opening by Pitaman, nothing out of the ordinary for the largest invasion in history...

North:



Center:



South:




But then...


One of Commissar NOSB's most trusted advisors, Comrade Countryball DARED to speak up:



"Commissar, your eternal greatness forever eludes us, however I have a suggestion..."

Comrade Countryball had the Commissar's brief attention...



"Commissar, I applaud the sacrifice of the many great comrades on the field. I think I spot a weakness in the enemy lines. We may be able to save some revolutionaries from the evil fascist war prisons!"



Commissar NOSB took this suggestion to heart and decided to act upon it. The SEC regiment was then lauded by Soviet propaganda for their great sacrifice to the Motherland, and they were posthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal!

Until next time comrades...

[RKhan]

ORIGINAL: NotOneStepBack

June 22, 1941

Commissar NOSB is awoken to the thunder of planes, tanks and infantry invading the motherland!

Fairly standard opening by Pitaman, nothing out of the ordinary for the largest invasion in history...

North:



Center:



South:



But then...


One of Commissar NOSB's most trusted advisors, Comrade Countryball DARED to speak up:



"Commissar, your eternal greatness forever eludes us, however I have a suggestion..."

Comrade Countryball had the Commissar's brief attention...



"Commissar, I applaud the sacrifice of the many great comrades on the field. I think I spot a weakness in the enemy lines. We may be able to save some revolutionaries from the evil fascist war prisons!"


Commissar NOSB took this suggestion to heart and decided to act upon it. The SEC regiment was then lauded by Soviet propaganda for their great sacrifice to the Motherland, and they were posthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal!

Until next time comrades...

Молодец!

[NotOneStepBack]

Turn 2:

Nothing much to note here, but I clean up some major issues with the Red Army. Pitaman hasn't reached the Dnepr yet, and I didn't screen shot this turn since it was clean up.

Part of my clean up included:

Disband motorcycle regiments for trucks
Disband Rifle and Motorized Corps
Disband some SAD airbases
(I know they will auto disband but T3 has a HUGE amount of shell's coming)

Re-deploy all the I-Series aircraft to the front, I send MIG's, Yak's, LAGG's, and all tactical and strat bombers to reserve.
I start to clean up the command and control at some key points.

[NotOneStepBack]

Turn 3, before any Soviet moves (in order to keep our evil commie plans secret from the enemy)

North:



It appears the German has reached Pskov, but not fully broken through.

Center



In the center the German has not made it yet to the Dnepr, and it appears he is headed towards the land bridge.

South



In the south there is a MAJOR push. It appears my opponent is targeting industry. There really isn't much I can do about it as the terrain in the south is not favorable for our cause.

As Commissar NOSB takes note of the situation, once again, Comrade Countryball insists:



"Commissar, it appears that the German is getting very aggressive in the south, however we are receiving reports that he is temporarily low on fuel. Other sectors are beginning to stabilize. We should consolidate our lines and rail out factories as soon as possible! I don't think we can hold all fronts at once, so you will have to decide what is most important, dear Commissar"

Perhaps this little guy isn't so stupid...The commissar is taking notice.

[NotOneStepBack]

Start of turn pics before any orders by me:

T4 North:

Not much progress up here.



Center:

The river has been crossed, he bypassed the landbridge, I will probably have to pull back or face encirclement.




South:

He also crosses down here.



Overall, a less nasty turn than I expected. Casualties have been low, no major encirclements yet beyond T1. I will probably lose some industry though in the South, he was just too fast for me to stop to evacuate D & Z town.

[NotOneStepBack]

Turn 5 before any moves

North:



The North holds. A minor break in the middle, however nothing major. I'm pleased with it.

Center:



Center seems to be bogged down a little bit. He is pressing south of the landbridge, however I have ample reserve lines waiting to fall back to.

South:



I was a bit surprised when I opened the turn. I had thought for sure he was going to take the industry in D and Z town, but he did not to my delight. I will make it a priority this turn to rail them out.

Also I get a lucky strike with bombing a panzer unit stack:




And Comrade Countryball:



"We must attack where we can! Hit the Romanians! They are weak!"

[sillyflower]

ORIGINAL: NotOneStepBack

Turn 5 before any moves

North:



The North holds. A minor break in the middle, however nothing major. I'm pleased with it.

Center:

South:


I was a bit surprised when I opened the turn. I had thought for sure he was going to take the industry in D and Z town, but he did not to my delight. I will make it a priority this turn to rail them out.

His right hook around Lake Ilmen is dangerous,especially as you made the bad mistake of not holding the heavy wood hex adjacent to the lake on the east side. That hex can be a real hold up if he wants to go directly north. Same goes for the rough terrain east of his thrust - you should have occupied all of it if possible. I don't know how much petrol his panzers have, but there's a big gap at the south end of your line, and that's never good.

Re D + Z towns, planting a unit next to a city no longer stops the factories from railing out.

[NotOneStepBack]

ORIGINAL: sillyflower

ORIGINAL: NotOneStepBack

Turn 5 before any moves

North:



The North holds. A minor break in the middle, however nothing major. I'm pleased with it.

Center:

South:


I was a bit surprised when I opened the turn. I had thought for sure he was going to take the industry in D and Z town, but he did not to my delight. I will make it a priority this turn to rail them out.

His right hook around Lake Ilmen is dangerous,especially as you made the bad mistake of not holding the heavy wood hex adjacent to the lake on the east side. That hex can be a real hold up if he wants to go directly north. Same goes for the rough terrain east of his thrust - you should have occupied all of it if possible. I don't know how much petrol his panzers have, but there's a big gap at the south end of your line, and that's never good.

Re D + Z towns, planting a unit next to a city no longer stops the factories from railing out.

I will take into note as I just got the turn back and I'm still alive up there.

It's been amazing to me how much the game has changed in a year, I like it much more now than when I last played. I have a game going as Axis too now and not having played Axis is a very long time....well the game is just totally different. I can't wait for WITE 2!

[NotOneStepBack]

Turn 7 North:



The line holds another turn. Going to prep this area so I don't get outflanked.

Turn 7 Center:



Little activity here, he must be refueling his panzers and letting the infantry catch up.

Turn 7 South:



A breakthrough down here. I managed to cut off his spearhead and at least deprive his panzers of fuel for the next turn. You can't rely on those Romanians for anything important.

[NotOneStepBack]

T8 North:



He finally breaks through. I am going to go have to pull back from the western side to straighten up the line. Leningrad has been evacuated of most important stuff so I am not too concerned if it falls.

T8 Center:



Problem here. I think he is gunning for Tula. I plan a major retreat to stem the damage.

T8 South:



The fight continues in the bulge. However my stalling tactics and encirclement bought me a turn, and I don't fear the units in the south at all. Should be manageable.

[NotOneStepBack]

T9 North:



He breaks through and cuts the rail line, however the situation is a bit tenuous.

T9 Center:



Not much activity here, giving me a chance to reinforce the area around his panzers.

T9 South:



Pitaman breaks through and advances towards Stalino.


However.....


Wait....



"Attack!!!!!!"



Will Pitaman be able to save his stranded units?

[NotOneStepBack]

Turn 10

In what may go down as the luckiest turn in the history of WITE

Mud hits! Two German Motorized divisions are isolated Comrades!! Leningrad holds! They will be marched to the ...ahem...appropriate...processing places.....once they surrender. However due to the mud, they could still be rescued

Totenkopf SS Mot
3rd Motorized Division

[NotOneStepBack]

T11 North:



The isolated German units are freed, and it looks like Leningrad is on its last legs. It was a heck of a fight though, going to try to hold out until Mud. We will have to pull back to escape further encirclement.

T11 Center:



All quiet here again, I'm anticipating a push towards Moscow, just have to guess where the spearhead will come from.

T11 South:



Kharkov is taken and the SW front is collapsing. We will have to pull back. Pitaman destroyed some Arm and Vehicle factories here, I'm down a total of 27 ARM from when the game started. I've lost 21 HI and 20 Vehicle factories total.

[Pitaman]

NOSB,

You need to check your HI and ARM losses again. I believe your estimate is low. You can get a precise loss number by comparing the campaign start number of 370 ARM and 236 HI with your current capacity in the resource screen to get your actual loss number. I could give you my estimate of your losses but thought you should determine that number yourself. I just know it is too low.

Pitaman

[NotOneStepBack]

ORIGINAL: Pitaman

NOSB,

You need to check your HI and ARM losses again. I believe your estimate is low. You can get a precise loss number by comparing the campaign start number of 370 ARM and 236 HI with your current capacity in the resource screen to get your actual loss number. I could give you my estimate of your losses but thought you should determine that number yourself. I just know it is too low.

Pitaman

I think you might be right, I started with a lower number because I started tracking on turn 3. If the starting values are 370 ARM and 236 HI then I will adjust.

With those starting values I've lost 40 ARM and 34 HI. Not sure if those include those factories that are repairing after transfer, will look into it when I have the turn back.

Been a decent game so far, I think we're fairly matched.