STAVKA - 8 player multiplayer Soviet thread

[M60A3TTS]

Lictuel, you are up for Turn 24.

[SparkleyTits]

Your inbox is full Lictuel you are up buddy!

[SparkleyTits]

I'll resend you the orders let me know once you have freed up some space

[Lictuel]

everything take care of, turn is in the dropbox

[M60A3TTS]

Week 20

In the midst of mud, Soviet numbers have improved across the board since week 15

Manpower: 4,074,094 to 4,403,310
Artillery: 36,231 to 38,916
AFV: 6,230 to 7,444
Aircraft: 3,776 to 4,213

[M60A3TTS]

Week 22

Snow is falling. Germans are active in two locations, near Vyshny Volochek and southeast of Moscow. The Red Army remains 30 miles from Moscow.









Soviet manpower up to 4.66 million.

[M60A3TTS]

Week 23

German attacks continue east of Vyshny Volochek.




In the center, not quite as much activity




Same in the south. Some bombing runs in the vicinity of Voronezh. Many air recon missions behind our lines. The Axis control the skies for the moment.

[M60A3TTS]

In early December, Comrade Stalin signed the latest execution order, bringing the total to five. Other Soviet generals will hopefully take note.

[Sardaukar]

Anyone ever managed to keep Pavlov alive? [:D]

[beender]

Someone told me he did. It appears you can't just sack him, but have to get him enough wins to make him safe.

[Telemecus]

The real question is do you want to keep them alive? With low ratings you will be thanking Beria for getting a better replacement points free. I wonder if Kulik will get the chop?

[M60A3TTS]

Here is some additional information on the state of the Red Air Force during the first seventeen weeks of war.

Air losses from weeks 2-9 varied from nearly 500 to 850 per week.

On Week 10, about 1,500 aircraft were sent to the reserves where they either suffered from morale issues or had an insufficient number of aircraft to remain combat capable.

From weeks 8-11, the VVS suffered its worst weekly losses with over one thousand aircraft lost each week. Losses subsequently declined to average about half that from weeks 12-16.

In comparing the fighter arm on weeks 6 and 17, the ratio of older I-type aircraft to next-generation airframes remained consistent, at about 2-1. By week 17, the reserves of I-type airframes had largely been exhausted. Using a standard of six fighter regiments making up one fighter division of 120 aircraft, the VVS was unable to field four full modern fighter divisions. It was therefore decided to withdraw the force for a significant rebuild.

[ericv]

It's januari 1942 in my game as the Soviets. Lost both Leningrad and Moscow. Mild blizzard, so not really much ground taken back. But Pavlov is alive and kicking and still in command of western front.

[M60A3TTS]

Week 24

The Red Army moves into position for the opening of the winter counter-offensive, code named Operation Polar Star.

The front organizations have all been brought into line with a standard of four armies in each. The VVS will be largely unavailable as it continues the rebuilding effort. All ground commanders have been advised they will still need to push on with the operational objectives regardless. As part of Polar Star, the first real effort will be made to build a core professional army of strong combat units. There are three guards rifle divisions at the start of the winter campaign. The intent is to have considerably more by January.

The Northwest Direction focuses its effort on a move in the direction of Staraya Russa, south of Lake Ilmen. The Western Direction must make an attempt to re-take Moscow, but there is an understanding due to the relative strength of the opposing forces, that this plan may need to be altered. A simultaneous move in the general direction of Tula-Orel-Kursk is also intended. Finally, the Southwestern Direction that has no mobile formations initially, will make a general advance westwards where possible.

There will be a number of cavalry corps forming in the following week to assist the advance, while a limited number of tank brigades are also committed to the offensive. The majority remain training in rear area military districts. This will reduce truck losses as we advance into areas that do not have functional rail lines.

OOB




North of the River Oka




South Center




South

[M60A3TTS]

Week 25

Operation Polar Star is under way. Attacks are taking place across much of the front.






The city of Rostov greets their liberators of Marshal Budyonny's Caucasus Front.



Marshal Budyonny, Hero of the Soviet Union, leader and fighter during the great civil war against the "Whites" and true friend of Comrade Stalin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52GHOOKKKVU

I prefer the second instrumental version. Be honest, after watching the send part of the video, who wouldn't like this guy as your uncle or something?

[TheLysander]

I'm a bit surprised to see no guards divisions, although the OOB of the Soviet army is healthy enough i believe for an effective winter offensive, although the red airforce seems to be suffering. Hopefully operation Polar Star meets its objectives.

[M60A3TTS]

ORIGINAL: TheLysander

I'm a bit surprised to see no guards divisions, although the OOB of the Soviet army is healthy enough i believe for an effective winter offensive, although the red airforce seems to be suffering. Hopefully operation Polar Star meets its objectives.

We have started with three guards divisions. One is in the fortress city of Sevastopol and the other two in the north.

[Zorch]

Not a very auspicious name. From Wikipedia:

Operation Polyarnaya Zvezda (Russian: Операция Полярная звезда, Operatsia Polyarnaya Zvezda; English translation: Operation Polar Star) was an operation conducted by the Soviet Leningrad, Volkhov and Northwestern Fronts in February and March 1943. The operation was planned by Georgy Zhukov in the wake of the successful Operation Iskra and envisaged two separate encirclements. One was to be carried out in the north by the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts near Mga and one was planned to be carried out further to the south, by the Northwestern Front, near Demyansk.

The operation succeeded in recapturing the Demyansk salient but failed to encircle the German forces. The northern part of the operation failed, without gaining much ground. With the battles in the south near Kharkov and, later, Kursk using reinforcements for both sides, the frontline near Leningrad stabilised until July 1943.

The German's successful evacuation of the Demyansk salient before the battle shortened the frontline enough to build several new defensive lines, bringing the eventual Soviet offensive to a halt. Although Zhukov made several attempts to reinvigorate the offensive throughout March, it was clear the his fronts were too exhausted to advance further. The spring thaw marked the end major battles on the Eastern Front until July. The defences of Army Group North was later broken in January 1944, during the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive.

The relative failure of the operation compared to successes at the Battle of Stalingrad or Operation Bagration resulted in silence on the topic after the war. Neither Zhukov's or Meretskov's memoirs make any mention of the operation or even of any specific fighting in the area after 18 January, the day the blockade of Leningrad finally ended. Zhukov's memoirs include only a short mention of the recapture of the Demyansk salient without any word on his role on the operation and then quickly focuses upon the Battle of Kursk.

Army Group North, despite holding the line, was not in a good position. With other endangered fronts a priority for the Heer and with the Continuation War ending hostilities north of Leningrad, Group North was increasingly isolated and stretched thin. The end of the blockade of Leningrad moreover, increased the armament strength of previously isolated Soviet forces. The army group's strength would continue to drop throughout 1943, while the opposing Soviet forces would grow in strength. The growing disparity in strength eventually allowed new offenses to break the German line in 1944.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation ... aya_Zvezda

[M60A3TTS]

Week 26

Soviet ground attacks intensify across the front in this second week of blizzard conditions.









The high casualty count attests to the dreadful price the Red Army must pay for success. In looking closely at the combat losses, we see many elements destroyed outright by the innocuous German 5cm mortar. It was thought to be primarily a weapon of suppression, but in these conditions at least it appears far more dangerous than imagined.



Six new rifle divisions were awarded guards status this week, bringing our total to nine.

[EwaldvonKleist]

Superb AAR quality as always M60 [&o]

Roleplaying is one of the things that makes team games so interesting, and since november 1941, this has greatly increased. Since this aspect hasn't been mentioned much so far, I would like to expoud how it looks like.

Usually, the STAVKA issues orders once per game turn, but sometimes there are also special wishes from Stalin himself, and you better fulfill them if you want to keep your head.

When the front commanders have played their turn, they write a short report updating all other commanders and the STAVKA what has happened and requesting additional resources or minor changes in organisation.

For changes in doctrine and overall strategy, front commanders distribute memorandums, which are then discussed by PM or on discord. It is a great way to learn from each other, so we can improve the way we wage war against the fascist invaders.

I am not authorized to share some examples of this with the public, but it will surely be a rich source of information for historians one day, and maybe the STAVKA can declassify some examples even now.