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RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 821 past first page.

 
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RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/22/2012 6:46:52 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		Well, since we have reached the end of 1941, let us reflect:

Its been quite a game so far. I made a lot of mistakes early on, a large part of this due to my rust and lack of familiarity with the game after a two year break. I lost Leningrad by my own mistake (not that the city can really be held in 41, at least no in any AAR I've seen so far) and gave a crossing along the Dnepr in the Smolensk area in turn 2 because of bad Soviet dispositions. I also wasted a lot AP points in stupid things and took too long to get leaders where they should have been.

On the other hand, though it cost me a lot of troops, my aggressive tarbaby, cavalry raids and pocket breaking gradually wore down the Wehrmacht, prolonging the battle of Smolensk to the point that the German advance (as the pocket was continuously opened) ended up matching roughly historical levels. This allowed me to build up the defense of Moscow and reorganize Western Front into the wrecking ball its become.

Ultimately the frontlines by mud were in a very good situation, but there ended up being no mud. The Germans gained 2 or even 3 more offensive turns in some areas. This ultimately led to the loss of Rostov and Moscow (still sore about those two) by frontal assault as Western Front and Transcaucassus Front ground the German advance around the flanks into a standstill.

This has been an AAR depicting a clash between two very aggressive minded players, as me and 821 have continuously slugged at each other with reckless abandon attempting to contest initiative. Much praise should be given to 821 for his play, despite the disagreements with some of this decisions. For the first 6 or so turns of the game he consistently outplayed and out maneuvered me. Yes, he got lucky with the weather in October, but he also took full advantage of it whereas a lot of German players would have played it safe.

Ultimately 821 achieved all of Barbarossa's territorial objectives (Leningrad, Moscow and Rostov, respectfully)- no mean feat. My achievements, on the other hand, have been to greatly wound the Wehrmacht (something a lot of Soviet players consider of secondary importance after force preservation) whilst not suffering any reverses that could cripple the Soviet war effort over the long term (a grand encirclement or large scale loss of industry). I have been able to replace my losses, 42 will decide whether the Wehrmacht will be able to do the same.

(in reply to Flaviusx)
Post #: 331
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/22/2012 9:47:28 PM   
Pelton


Posts: 4355
Joined: 4/9/2006
Status: offline 		Nice game so far.

The lose of Moscow will hurt you in 42.

I would have to say so far this is one of the very few games that is a draw so far.

_____________________________

GHC
15 - 3 - 7

10 games ended in 41 (10-0-0)
4 games ended in 42 (4-0-2)
3 games ended in 43 (1-2-3)
1 game ended in 44 (0-1-2)

(in reply to Flaviusx)
Post #: 332
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/23/2012 1:01:18 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		January 1st, 1942

Moscow is evacuated. We are now accepting suggestions for the first Soviet division to enter the capital. Without their shelters, Axis mobile divisions see a rather large upswing in AFV losses. Elsewhere a few counterattacks are made but nothing special. Our upswing in readiness continues, with 200 divisions now ready (it was 140 two turns ago). Lastly, a new guards division forms, though there are many other contenders. 21st Rifle Division, with a record of 11-0, must be wondering what else they have to do to get promoted.




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(in reply to Pelton)
Post #: 333
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/23/2012 1:42:59 PM   
Pelton


Posts: 4355
Joined: 4/9/2006
Status: offline 		Hes basicly pulling back to keep loses low. your retaking of Moscow is good and bad. If he retakes it next summer you will take another manpower hit.

Have you pocketed any units yet?

< Message edited by Pelton -- 6/23/2012 1:45:17 PM >

_____________________________

GHC
15 - 3 - 7

10 games ended in 41 (10-0-0)
4 games ended in 42 (4-0-2)
3 games ended in 43 (1-2-3)
1 game ended in 44 (0-1-2)

(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 334
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/23/2012 2:36:14 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		With the Axis evacuation, the battle for Moscow is now over. Special mention goes to Rokossovky's 13th Army, who held Moscow's right flank for 3 months and then went on the offensive, smashing the Germans back.

Yet there is a price to pay and 13th Army is exhausted. Rokossovky lost his first battle in a month and the prospect of encircling the Germans seems dim. Yet the primary goal was achieved, and Moscow liberated on the first of January.

A look at two of the Red Army's most victorious divisions, with a combined record of 27-1, the utterly exhausted 21st Rifle Division and 3rd Guards Rifle Division. If you combine both their TOEs it would not yield one full strength division.

They badly need a break, but I can't exactly pull the Soviet Union's best Army from the line if we are to ensure Moscow's security come summer.




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(in reply to Flaviusx)
Post #: 335
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/23/2012 2:37:11 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		Pelton- We pocketed one division on turn 25 and last turn pocketed 2 more.

< Message edited by notenome -- 6/23/2012 2:57:58 PM >

(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 336
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/23/2012 2:56:49 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		Operation Europa:

In order to ensure Moscow's safety there is a ring of cities which must be held. These are Torzhok, Kalinin, Rzhev, Vyazma and Kaluga. This creates a 10 hex buffer in front of Moscow that I hope will be sufficient to dissuade or stop an Axis attack. Operational doctrine is to surround the cities through the fields (comrade Mao Tsetong's plan during the Chinese civil war). Timetable is for a 100-120 mile advance during January and February, consolidating the line in March. Main assault will fall to Western Front (Rokossovky's 13th, Malinovsky's 10th and Vasilevky's 4th armies) and Volkhov Front (Maslenikov's 49th, Kurochkin's 43rd, Khozin's 52nd) with support on the flanks from NW and Bryansk Front. Kalinin Front will... try not fail so much.




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(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 337
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/23/2012 3:04:27 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		Two more Axis divisions surrender, bringing the total up to 3 for the Blizzard.




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(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 338
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/23/2012 4:08:55 PM   
glvaca

 

Posts: 1109
Joined: 6/13/2006
Status: offline 		You have time to take an army of the line and get it back up to strength, provided you can make some headway without them, they'll catch up and might just be the edge you need to get your final objectives.
If the RR aren't too far behind, I'd definitely rotate your prime divs to keep them in top fighting condition.

(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 339
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/23/2012 5:13:25 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		Operation Titan:

1st Shock Army in cooperation with Bryansk Front's 26th Army blows through two more lvl 2 forts, thus paving the way for operation Titan:

-1st, 2nd and 3rd Shock Armies (containing all of our cavalry corps except one, and all our remaining motorized and armor divisions along with a smattering of brigades) are to drive deep into enemy lines and destabilize the front. We'd call this deep penetration but since Mikhail Tukhachevsky was executed this has been regarded as a bourgeoisie term, so instead we're calling it the 'far-reaching-front-destabilization-doctrine' (quite a ring to it, eh?).

-26th Army (Bryansk Front's best army) will hold the neck of the advance and prevent the Axis from isolating the advancing mobile elements

-Bryansk Front's 20th Army along with Volkhov Front's 52nd Army will launch supporting attacks aimed at drawing off Axis reserves, and if successful, bypassing Kaluga southern flank.

Timetable is a 100-120 mile advance within the month of January, destabilizing all of AGC. 32nd (Bryansk), 21st (Bryansk), 37th Armies (STAVKA) in reserve as they recover their strength.




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(in reply to glvaca)
Post #: 340
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/23/2012 7:08:03 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		Railnet screenshot. The blue emphasis is for the most important trunk line in the entire Soviet union. Without it communications with the south have to be rerouted through Stalingrad (!)




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(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 341
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/23/2012 7:51:31 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		End of turn screenshot for the South:

We crack the line in three different places, and a lot of shifting of armies is going on alongside the rotation of exhausted units. 821 is slowly shifting his mountain divisions north, now they block Kharkov. A lot of Axis holds this turn, some in situations (CV wise).

The problem with freak results (in 41) is that they cost the Axis mps and some men, whilst for the Soviets they wreck entire armies which sends units into unreadiness. Unreadiness is the real problem/differential here. With distance to railhead being what it is, that means those units will stay unready for 1 or 2 turns, which can cause havoc to entire offensives.




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< Message edited by notenome -- 6/23/2012 7:52:54 PM >

(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 342
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/23/2012 9:53:22 PM   
gingerbread


Posts: 1167
Joined: 1/4/2007
From: Lund, Sweden
Status: offline 		How much manpower did you generate in Turn 29 (first turn with '42 multiplier)?

(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 343
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/23/2012 10:26:31 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		Gingerbread- gah, didn't take a screenshot of that, but the manpower pool grew nonetheless. Iirc we have something on the order of 2400-2500 manpower with about 86 damaged.

(in reply to gingerbread)
Post #: 344
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/23/2012 10:31:36 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		Forgot to take a frontwide screenshot. We brokethrough the forts in many places, took far higher casualties than I would have liked, surrendered 2 Axis divisions, rotated a lot of divisions out to gain strength. The Red Army got ridden pretty hard in December but readiness is improving, which is good. Losses and OOB.

EDIT: Ah, forgot to take the losses screenshot, well then just OOB. Axis are closing on under 2.5 mil men operational, which is great. If I can force them out of the fort line fast enough, February could be the bloodiest month for the Wehrmacht.




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(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 345
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/23/2012 11:38:26 PM   
glvaca

 

Posts: 1109
Joined: 6/13/2006
Status: offline 		Beware of March!
They tuned it down but it isn't out of the cards completely. His forces will rise significantly in strength come Feb. also.
Just keep it in mind when you do your planning...

(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 346
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/24/2012 1:45:40 AM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		I am rather curious about March simply because of the casualties. The Wehrmacht seems a lot more beat up then in other AARs I have seen whilst Soviet strength is rising (slowly). What roundabouts are the benchmarks for March?

(in reply to glvaca)
Post #: 347
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/24/2012 3:04:05 AM   
Flaviusx


Posts: 5752
Joined: 9/9/2009
Status: online 		He could be right back up to 3 million in March. He'll start getting his blizzard disableds back in February, at the rate of hundreds of thousands per turn. It's fairly breathtaking how quickly the Wehrmacht can recover from blizzard now, it's been vastly accelerated from previous versions.

The numbers you are seeing in the OB are to some extent an illusion, a blizzard mirage if you will. Take them with a grain of salt and an asterisk.



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(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 348
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/24/2012 3:11:14 AM   
hfarrish

 

Posts: 522
Joined: 1/3/2011
Status: offline
Is it no longer 1% of the disabled pool back per turn (that's my recollection of what it was for the longest time). That does make a big difference if it's been significantly expanded.


(in reply to Flaviusx)
Post #: 349
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/24/2012 6:08:45 AM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		o'really? What's the disabeld return rate up to now? I campaigned for a long time for it to be raised

(in reply to hfarrish)
Post #: 350
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/25/2012 7:13:41 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		January 8th, 1942.

Readiness surges in the Red Army! 10,000 new rifle squads leads to 2/3 of rifle divisions being ready. Hopefully the new year pause will have been the necessary nudge the Red Army needed to break the Wehrmacht in January.

A slew of Guards promotions also helps including a cavalry division inside of a cavalry corps. If the other divisions get promoted, thus the corps switch over to guards status? Not sure how this works.

Incredibly, despite a 100k boost in strength, the Soviet manpower pool grows slightly to 569k.

In the North Vyshny Volocheck is evacuated. This is very important as that city was the last level 2 fort and urban hex in front of Operation Pyotr's ultimate goal (the Valdai Hills).

Worryingly, Axis strength has increased slightly during the pause. We battered Axis divisions in December, in the hopes that the next 6-8 turns will make encirclements and breakthroughs easily. Early signs appear encouraging, as 821 has slapped a regimental and depleted division tarbaby on the breakthrough north of Orel. With Axis armored strength either tied up in the Moscow area, in the south or garrisoned far from the front, there may simply not be any reserves for this area. STAVKA certainty hopes so.




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(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 351
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/25/2012 11:04:49 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		EDIT: for dignity's safe, no more whining. I promise.

< Message edited by notenome -- 6/26/2012 12:43:21 AM >

(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 352
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/26/2012 12:42:51 AM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		Goodbye Maximillian-Pico, we hardly knew ye. 1st, 2nd, 3rd Shock Armies advance 30 miles into the enemy rear and overrun a Fascist HQ, killing a German general. Hope he was a good one.

Also, I'm no expert logistician but it seems partisans attacks combined with our advance have put Orel and a large part of the Axis Front out of supply.




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(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 353
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/26/2012 5:37:18 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		End of turn screenshot, January 8th.

The slog continues. 29 retreats and 8 holds this turn. The only real breakthrough is where we've concentrated the shock armies. This is a real test of Tukhachevsky's, err comrade Stalin's, doctrine as it applies to WITE. Theoretically every mile penetrated vertically destabilizes 10 miles horizontally, so the 40 mile penetrations of First/Second/Third Shock would lead to a 400 mile destabilization (40 hexes). In black we have what I hope to destabilize and red what should theoretically be destabilized. The problem is that we need stronger complimentary thrusts to threaten the flanks of Kaluga, Orel and Kursk (blue arrows) and we don't have a lot of time to do so.

The more I think of it the more I believe that random weather has really had a major impact on this campaign. The Red Army has now been fighting for 29 of 30 turns, which is very hard to take. The upside of this (and our aggressive defense) has been that Axis have lost roughly 350,000 permanent losses (around 330,000 KIA and 20,000 captured), which is about 120-150k more than I've seen in most AARs. So we have two exhausted armies slugging at each other mercilessly. Axis tank numbers, though slowly rising, are also very low in comparison with other AARs I have seen.

One other thing of note is that I did a trick I had been saving up for. My level bombers where all doing daylight ground attacks thoughout the war, and this turn I switched them all to night missions. 821 had no planes flying night intercept after close to 30 turns with no reason to do so, which meant no fighter intercepts. As a result we caused some 2000 Axis casualties from bombings alone, which is fairly impressive.

That said I'm not satisfied with out progress during the blizzard. Part of this is my avoidance of simply slamming against every Axis division I see, instead opting to circumvent strongpoints and force the Axis to dislocate from their strongpoints. If this was the right move or not remains to be seen. Its difficult to gauge what is a good performance for the Blizzard with all the changes have been made (it used to be like 50-60 retreats per turn, that certaintly isn't the case anymore) Comments on my performance so far would be appreciated.




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< Message edited by notenome -- 6/26/2012 5:39:35 PM >

(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 354
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/26/2012 5:55:00 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		Oooh, just got around to looking at ol' Max. looks like he was a good one, so that's nice. Better than 95% of our Generals, that's for sure.




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(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 355
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/26/2012 6:00:17 PM   
M60A3TTS

 

Posts: 786
Joined: 5/13/2011
Status: online 		From the looks of things, the Axis may start the summer campaign in a good position to unhinge your defense line at the southernmost point around Rostov. Something to think about as you redeploy troops in the Spring.

(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 356
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/26/2012 6:10:30 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		I still have some hope for that area as Caucassus Front's heavy hitting infantry just got released. Really strong troops there which can hopefully unhinge the far southern flank, but yes, the south may very well be a mess come summer, which can be both good and bad.

(in reply to M60A3TTS)
Post #: 357
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/26/2012 6:30:01 PM   
Fishbed


Posts: 1620
Joined: 11/21/2005
From: Beijing, China - Paris, France
Status: offline 		If you've got a couple squad to spare here and there and do not plan on using the Caucasus front for offensive ops, why not start to build a defense line on the eastern shore of the Donetz? You know quite well that whatever happens, if he plans to strike the southern area with a big mechanized force, you won't stop him inside the bend (and you'll be pretty lucky to stop him before the Don bend anyway...). Same thing for the Don between Azov and the Donetz arm. Better be safe than sorry!

< Message edited by Fishbed -- 6/26/2012 6:31:55 PM >

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(in reply to notenome)
Post #: 358
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/26/2012 6:43:21 PM   
notenome

 

Posts: 598
Joined: 12/28/2009
Status: offline 		Fishbed, right now I have diggers on the Volga, Don and Tsynula. I plan to eventually have diggers on the the Donets as well.




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(in reply to Fishbed)
Post #: 359
RE: 41-45 GC AAR notenome (sov) vs 821Bobo (axis) no 82... - 6/26/2012 9:10:15 PM   
Flaviusx


Posts: 5752
Joined: 9/9/2009
Status: online 		These diggers are a waste of time. Get these guys on a rail head, prep them for reinforcements and refits, and shuttle them off to the front when the snows hit. You'll need them.

Digging in inclement weather, especially with brigades, is pointless.

It's more important to feed the front now. Your guys will be hurting come March. You'll need to pull out the beaten up divisions to the rear to refit and replace them with fresh guys from the rear. As a matter of fact this shuffling will be more or less SOP for all of 1942. I call it the attrition shuffle. He will also no doubt launch a counteroffensive come March (if not sooner, snow can hit in February) and swat aside your worn out units up front.

Exception: if you have forts that are already dug, then it's a good idea to station a unit on them to prevent decay. But actually increasing fortification is for clear weather by and large now, getting forts dug in during snow and mud requires massive engineering assets for minimal results.

< Message edited by Flaviusx -- 6/26/2012 9:38:55 PM >

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