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Trippen the Trappen Two

 
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Trippen the Trappen Two - 12/8/2012 9:14:59 PM   
LiquidSky


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And so it begins, 1.05 Case Blue, scenario Trappenjagd.
I will be playing the part of the kind, benevolent invader,
while Wallas plays the part of the ruthless dictator, who needs to be brought to justice for his many crimes of bad facial hair.

Changes to scenario: None.

Settings: Free Setup, Fleiger Divisions, FOW on stats, Dismissal, PBEM protection

With Free setup, I can move my scattered reserves up to danger points on the front, put a larger airforce in the Crimea, and set my panzers up for a sharp offensive. Only time will tell.

The Russians will probably put less units in the Crimea and more in the salient, although he has been making noises about 'taking Kursk' or pushing from Rostov along the coast. Probably he will cower behind the Volga and beg for mercy.



_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great
Post #: 1
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 12/9/2012 1:27:25 AM   
LiquidSky


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General Manstein looked up incredulously. "What do you mean, they are gone? Gone where? How can 200,000 Russians disappear?" He looked at the map again, "Ahhhhhh, it appears they are trying one last offensive to widen the Kharkov salient. It will fail! Order a screen to drive into Kerch and Sevastopol, and send the rest of the army north! I will have to save that fool Paulus!"








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_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

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Post #: 2
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 12/9/2012 3:34:25 PM   
Reconvet

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: LiquidSky

General Manstein looked up incredulously. "What do you mean, they are gone? Gone where? How can 200,000 Russians disappear?"


Such are the joys and headscratch moments only utterly limitless free setup may deliver to you. Clear case of Captain Kirk abusing all directives dealing with timeline interference and beaming half the soviet forces across the sea of Azov deep into the Ukraine, just to get a glimpse of Mansteins face after realizing what happened. Must have been a helluva snowstorm that axis pickets didn't notice all those russians disappear into the night...

Now all together: Three huzzays for free setup fantasy.



_____________________________

The biggest threat for mankind is ignorance.


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Post #: 3
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 12/9/2012 11:37:05 PM   
LiquidSky


Posts: 2189
Joined: 6/24/2008
Status: offline 		Turn 4: May 18th, 1942.

Manstein looked at the reports in front of him. Despite early Russian successes in their offensive, the german army has managed to stop the communist hordes. In some places, it wasn't easy. The timely arrival of 11th army units managed to plug the most dangerous spots. Plus it probably didn't help them that it rained two days after they started their offensive.

And 2nd Army in the north....quite clever of General Weichs to notice how disorganized the Russian 51st army in front of him is. Using the 9th Panzer division to spearhead an attack, he managed to rip a 20km whole in the line, north of Schigry. I am going to have to make it mandatory to recon front line Russian armies to see if they are suffering from out of depth penalties.

Von Kleist's 1st Panzer Army also managed to push the Russians back before Rostov, but it will take the arrival of the 11th army artillery to take the city itself.

Over all, the Russians have lost 63k infantry to the Germans 29.5k. But more importantly, the Luftwaffe has managed to clear the sky of Russians at the lost of 80 fighters to the Russian 265.






A note about free setup:

While I agree that the idea of the entire Crimea being evacuated so fast to be well..fantasy, I think that the best thing any wargame can have is choice. And this choice of my opponent was to save the Russian army as much as possible, and give me 12 easy pp's. At the same time, he also gives me the ability to use my 11th army wherever I need to. On the first four turns of the game, I have purchased the 'train' card, and have doubled my strategic lift capability. In fact, I can now rail an entire corp where I want on the map.

While initially very successful, his offensive has stopped. Most likely he is suffering horrible command and control problems. On my free setup, I barely moved any units, as I wanted to keep their entrenchment level. That made his first attacks expensive (where he didn't use artillery).
The second turn was rain. Very limited attacks. And bloody...losing as much as 2200 men in one of them.
Third turn he did not attack.

So, I am not convinced that clearing the crimea was the best choice, given that I will be able to launch my offensive for Rostov that much sooner.

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by LiquidSky -- 12/9/2012 11:49:51 PM >

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

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Post #: 4
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 12/10/2012 9:52:49 AM   
Reconvet

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: LiquidSky
While initially very successful, his offensive has stopped. Most likely he is suffering horrible command and control problems. On my free setup, I barely moved any units, as I wanted to keep their entrenchment level. That made his first attacks expensive (where he didn't use artillery).
The second turn was rain. Very limited attacks. And bloody...losing as much as 2200 men in one of them.
Third turn he did not attack.

So, I am not convinced that clearing the crimea was the best choice, given that I will be able to launch my offensive for Rostov that much sooner.


What I can get out of this map - without detailed view - it seems that he has significantly strenghtened his front lines between Rostow and Voroshilowgrad with a nice portion of his crimean armies. I'd bet his primary goal is to prevent an early loss of Rostow and Millerowo.

As for Kharkow: I don't think he'll seriously pursue capturing it. 2 rain turns out of the first 4 plus command penalties simply are too much to overcome, his window of opportunity has probably closed already. Plus: I don't see how only 1 attack vector on Kharkow can be enough. If he had been willing to really try to capture it then he would/should have attacked north of the city too to force Axis to split up his reserves. His clearing the east river bank of the Donets does not really build up pressure on Kharkow itself, he won't be able to cross this major river from this direction.



_____________________________

The biggest threat for mankind is ignorance.


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Post #: 5
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 12/10/2012 4:47:50 PM   
wallas

 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: LiquidSky

Turn 4: May 18th, 1942.

So, I am not convinced that clearing the crimea was the best choice, given that I will be able to launch my offensive for Rostov that much sooner.



Yeah but I figured what the heck lets really stretch the play test. Not to mention I have an issue with losing units without attritioning my opponent due to there horrible supply situation.

< Message edited by wallas -- 12/10/2012 5:31:42 PM >

(in reply to LiquidSky)
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RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 12/13/2012 11:44:43 PM   
wallas

 

Posts: 112
Joined: 2/4/2005
Status: offline 		Sorry guys we are going to reload with the latest patch update and use Vanilla, and not free setup. Figured that way are aar follows the rest of the community. It is only turn 5 so both liquid and I figured best pull plug now rather then wait. stay stuned for trippen the trappen three, and maybe I will add some soviet colour.

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RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 12/15/2012 11:42:43 PM   
LiquidSky


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General Manstein awoke with a start. "No more Russians? What a dream! Alas, there must be half the Russian army on this crummy peninsula." Looking at the map, he went over plan 1.05b. XXX corp is to push north with the 22nd Panzer division in the lead. XXXXII will push east and drive the Russians into a narrowing corridor. There is no way they can all escape, as Russian units will run into each other.

Turn 1: May 12, 1942. Weather: Clear.

Manstein plays Freedom on the XXX corp, and XXX corp plays speed on the 22nd Panzer. But to no avail, I am unable to take the northern most hex to trap some of his divisions. But with three hexsides on his western most group (with about 220 stacking points), I attack and retreat them. Since some of them cannot stack, they die for failure to retreat. Casualties at the end of my turn: 3200 men lost to kill 14,300 Russian infantry. Not too shabby.



_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

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RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 12/15/2012 11:52:47 PM   
LiquidSky


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Turn 2: May 14, 1942. Weather: Rain.

Manstein looked up at the sky and grimaced. Not much chance of a breakthrough today with this crappy weather. Not only that, only half the bombers will be able to rebase down to the Crimea to interdict supply flowing to Kerch and Sevastopol. As well, it appears that a lot of the Russians have retreated from the main German front, but with the horrible ground conditions, no point in chasing them.

Ah well..to orders: I want XXXXII corp to relieve the Romanians on the Sevastopol front. The Romanians can transfer the southern front to help in screening Rostov. XXX corp will rest and resupply before pushing onwards for Kerch.



_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

(in reply to LiquidSky)
Post #: 9
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 12/15/2012 11:59:20 PM   
LiquidSky


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Turn 3: May 16, 1942. Weather: Clear.

The map doesn't lie General! The Russians are pulling out of the Kharkov salient. But they seem to be holding on everywhere else! We should attack! Manstein said "No...I have them where I want them, they are not getting stronger in the Crimea. Let their supplies run down some more before we attack. Continue with the movements of XXXXII towards Sevastopol."

Another quiet turn, no real attacks anywhere by both sides.

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

(in reply to LiquidSky)
Post #: 10
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 12/16/2012 12:13:30 AM   
LiquidSky


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Status: offline 		Turn 4: May 18, 1942. Weather Clear.

General Manstein! The Russians have retreated towards Kerch, pulling back at least 20 km from our lines! Shall we follow?

"Yes, push the XXX corp forwards, but do not engage. The Luftwaffe promises me to destroy the ports of Kerch and Taman. With the rest of the Luftwaffe interdicting logistics at sea, the Ruskies must be nearing the end of their supply. In a couple of days we will mop them up with ease."

I notice that the 9th Panzer Division took Schigry in the north. And the LAH pushed forwards 10km causing massive Russian casualties.

"But what about those Italians?"

Well....they had outflanked (outflunk? ) a single regiment dug in on a hill. After a 2 day assault, with some Germans assisting, they managed to lose 1900 Italians, 800 Germans to kill 300 Russians....but at least they took the hill. Unfortunately, Mussolini is not going to like the loss of 15% of his force in Russia.

"Yes, they should have softened up the defenders with an air bombardment, followed by artillery. They should not have gone in cold like that. They didn't even have an attack plan"

Perhaps the survivors will remember that lesson.



< Message edited by LiquidSky -- 12/16/2012 12:16:06 AM >

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

(in reply to LiquidSky)
Post #: 11
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 12/16/2012 2:22:16 AM   
LiquidSky


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Status: offline 		Turn 5: May 20, 1942. Weather: Clear.

General Fretter-Pico (XXX Korp commander) left the 11th army command trailer feeling pretty good. "Manstein has given me Freedom to push hard for Kerch. The divisions are to proceed on their own heading east. The Russians are scattered and are low on ammo. 22nd Panzer...you are to push east then north to cut off the 320th Rifle division. 50th division..you attack and squeeze the pocket tight. Take it out if you can. 28th Mtn Div...you are to take Marfowka. 132nd Div, follow the coast."

Two days later.....

Manstein: "It appears that the operation was mostly a success. 50th div was unable to force the 320th Rifle div to surrender, but XXX Korp did push 30km forwards to be within 40km of Kerch" Manstein looked at the map in front of him....."It also appears that the LAH and 13th Panzer div won a great victory with a double envelopment of a rifle division in front of Rostov. The entire division surrendered. German losses over the last 2 days: 3000 men to the Russians 18,000 men. And the Luftwaffe reports total air superiority over the entire front."

His Aide: "The only bad note is the loss of most of the black sea shipping. It seems that the Russian Black Sea fleet came across the ships as they were heading for Turkish waters to hide, and scattered the transports while sinking the warships. It is doubtful that the survivors will make it to port."

< Message edited by LiquidSky -- 12/16/2012 2:25:46 AM >

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

(in reply to LiquidSky)
Post #: 12
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 12/16/2012 4:08:06 AM   
LiquidSky


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Turn 6: May 22, 1942. Weather: Clear.

"I tell you, Sevastopol is ripe for the taking! Desertions have increased, and the prisoners say there is no more food to be had. They are down to eating rats. Kerch is in no better shape, the port and all the other ports in range have been bombed into rubble."

"I want XXXXII and LIV Korp to immediately push for Sevastopol. XXX Korp can continue to push for Kerch."

Looking down at the map, Manstein noticed that the Russians are retreating before the 1st Panzer Army towards Rostov. "They will be needing my divisions and artillery soon for the attack on Rostov"


Two days later....

NEWS FLASH May 23rd, 1942....in a lightning offensive, elements of the 11th army hoisted the German flag in Downtown Sevastopol. Many of the Russians have dropped their weapons and have fled for the coast with the rumor that the Russian fleet will save them. With its capture, the fall of Kerch cannot be far behind. Losses for the germans number around 5000 infantry, while the Russians have lost 40,000 killed or captured.




Attachment (1)

< Message edited by LiquidSky -- 12/16/2012 4:12:45 AM >

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

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Post #: 13
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 12/16/2012 5:14:09 AM   
LiquidSky


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Turn 7: May 24, 1942. Weather: Rain.

General Raus (1st Pz Army) hung up the phone and let out a whoop..."Manstein has cleaned out the Crimea, the first two divisions are railing towards us right now, and all the artillery is in a convoy on its way. With the Russians falling back to Rostov, they will be most welcome indeed! Ring up Richtoffen, and ask him when he will transfer his Luftwaffe up to bombard Rostov?"

The General says that the first planes are on the way, and the rest of the bombers should be here over the next 2 days....

"Das is good! With this god awful rain, we can delay a couple days before pushing adjacent to the city. By the way, Manstein reports taking over 16,000 prisoners, and only losing 200 men. Overall we have lost 15,700 men to the Russians 93,100. The Luftwaffe reports losing 65 divebombers, 30 levelbombers and only 15 fighters. The loss of other materials is insignificant (85 medium tanks, 160 guns). The kriegsmarine has managed to hide some of the transport ships, but has lost all the warships and subs....but I doubt a navy will be of any use in this campaign...."







Attachment (1)

< Message edited by LiquidSky -- 12/16/2012 5:15:56 AM >

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

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Post #: 14
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 3/4/2013 9:06:01 PM   
LiquidSky


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Okay..I left this dormant for too long....the game has been continuing, although we did take a month off from playing.

Currently I just finished turn 37: July 23, 1942. I have 62 Prestige, my army is still in fairly good shape, and I have played Avoid Krasnador.

But how did I get here you ask? No? I'm going to tell you anyways!

My opponent retreated cautiously towards Rostov in the south and held in the bad terrain in the middle. He also pulled back to the Don and Voronezh. I was certain to take Millerowo in time, but thought that I could only take either Voronezh or Rostov.

My plan was to push the SS divisions either into Rostov before he could entrench too far, or pull around the city and immediately cross the river before he could fortify it.

As it turned out, the city was too hard to take immediately, so I played a speed card and caught a Russian Rifle division before it could entrench on the Don. He immediately pushed my SS Div back over the river, but now I had the other one and a panzer division as well to cross with. This time he couldn't push me back.

With the arrival of 11th army (and artillery), and my expanding bridgehead over the Don, he pulled out of the city and held a line south of the city. Unknown to me, I had panicked him, and he had started to rail every a good sized tank army to the Caucuas. So Rostov was the first of the three to fall.

My push for Millerowo went as expected, with the city falling easily. However, the crafty Russians accumulated most of his tank brigades under one army leader, and hit my Italians/Rumanians. I was rather hard put until I railed up a couple divisions from new reinforcemnts. The spirit level for the Italians is about 15-20 points lower then for the other axis minors.

With Rostov/Millerowo fallen, I sent all the artillery and most of the new reinforcing german divisions to the Voronezh front. I had no expectations of being able to take it, as he was fortifying the hexes around the city and had a couple tank corps as well in reserve. In fact, I did manage to cross the river, but he would boot me back over (with big losses to me, 2000 men in one retreat).

So I changed tactics, and when I won a combat over the river, I would not take the hex. If he took the hex, he would not be entrenched, and I would just push him away again, with more losses to him. And I waited...and waited....until RAIN! Then I advanced into the hexes, and played entrenchment cards. It worked to get me over the river, as he couldn't/wouldn't attack me on his rain turn, and on my clear turn after, I was able to start expanding my bridgehead.

My panzer divisions I left somewhat idle, with the leader at 20 command points...then I struck above the city, and pushed over the far river...threatening to isolate Voronezh. He then, miraculously, pulled out of the city, the turn BEFORE I had to take it! He said that he had just fulfilled a hold mission, and didn't want to get it again. But it meant I got the points for the city as well.

So things were looking good....Rostov on Turn 14. Millerowo on turn 24. Voronezh turn 32. Nothing could stop me, right? Well...remember the large Tank army I mentioned in the Caucaus?





_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

(in reply to LiquidSky)
Post #: 15
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 3/4/2013 9:53:42 PM   
LiquidSky


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On Turn 21, I was blissfully pushing south with a two corps from the 1st Panzer Army, with the Rumanians on the right flank. The Hungarians I was going to sit inbetween the third (powerful) panzer korp and the rest of the 1st Panzer Army.

By Turn 24, there seemed to be more and more Russians...and I got my first glimpse of Russian Armour. On his turn 24, and turn 25, he swatted my panzer division, and german infantry divisions back towards the river. And on Turn 26 I had been forced to play defensive cards, and consolidate my Germans two divisions per hex.

On the left of the Hungarians, I started to push hard with the two SS divisions with two panzer divisions, and by turn 28, the Russians stopped their (so far successful) offensive. I suspect he was going to swing them over to hit the Hungarians.

At this point I was engaged in a heavy fight for Voronezh and was starting to push forward for Stalingrad (having taken Millerowo). All spare divisions were sent to Millerowo, and I pulled the Rumanians out of that front and sent them to the caucaus with the rest of them. A new plan occurred to me.

I would back the axis minors to Rostov and the Don, and guard the River. Lots of Swamps, anchored by Rostov itself. This would free up the entire 1st Panzer Army, and 1 infantry korp from the 11th army to pull over the river to attack towards Stalingrad.

Over the next 9 turns saw the Russians dogging my Hungarians, doing some damage to my retreating units. I did do one counterattack when two Russian tank corps were stacked in the same hex adjacent to both my SS divisions. I brought a third panzer division in, and with the now available Luftwaffe from Voronezh, broke many of the regiments and mauled the rest. After that, the retreat went fairly smoothly with almost all the Axis minors over the river, and the Germans about to be pulled out.






Attachment (1)

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

(in reply to LiquidSky)
Post #: 16
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 3/4/2013 11:14:21 PM   
wallas

 

Posts: 112
Joined: 2/4/2005
Status: offline 		Liquid you should post some of the attrition reports to bring the community up to speed on our game. From the soviet perspective I am sitting at 25 prestige and hold at all costs is not a threat yet. One thing that is really sucking is I have received only four leaders since the beginning of trappenjad and two of them are total rubbish. One major change this game with my Front HQ is I have played nothing but personnel on my army HQ. I have never done anything else and most of my HQ are 70-80% which seems to help alot.

< Message edited by wallas -- 3/4/2013 11:16:54 PM >

(in reply to LiquidSky)
Post #: 17
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 3/5/2013 2:19:36 AM   
LiquidSky


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I would do it I need *somebody* to do their turn and email it to me, so I can open it and take shots of how many Russians I have sent to their non-existent god. *prod* *prod*

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

(in reply to wallas)
Post #: 18
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 3/5/2013 7:24:20 AM   
LiquidSky


Posts: 2189
Joined: 6/24/2008
Status: offline 		Two more turns played, one of which was rain and we have this for Turn 39: July 29th, 1942.






I was doing very well for losses keeping them fairly low and under control, until June 27th when he attacked me in the Caucaus.

In 4 turns I lost as much as I did the entire 22 turns before it.

As it is, I have about a 4:1 kill ratio over losses. Which is better then last game when it was 3:1

The rest of the front is spread rather thin, but I do have about 3 panzer divisions on reserve to hit any hot spots.

Oh, and my prestige is down to 52 as I lost the mission Krasnador and some minor city in the Caucaus. I already played the Avoid card, so the Caucaus is officially off the table until I take Stalingrad. Only 8 hexes away from my line.

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by LiquidSky -- 3/5/2013 7:31:26 AM >

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

(in reply to LiquidSky)
Post #: 19
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 3/5/2013 12:42:09 PM   
Bismarck2761

 

Posts: 40
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Status: offline 		What is value of playing Ambition cards? A short-term benefit has been mentioned, beyond the value if new objective easily swiped.

(in reply to LiquidSky)
Post #: 20
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 3/5/2013 5:12:53 PM   
LiquidSky


Posts: 2189
Joined: 6/24/2008
Status: offline 		I play the ambition cards early, when the Russians are more interested in retreat then losing their army.

You get 1 prestige for playing the card. It gives you a minor objective. For me, it was usually in the path of my attack, so it was an extra 1, 2 or 3 prestige when I took it. Occasionally it will give you one you cant get, like Azov in the Caucaus before the fall of Rostov.

I guess I would rather rack up the prestige in the early game as a sort of battery. It will be drained when my offensive peters out, and I am no longer able to move forward, but will still be getting minor objectives.




Attachment (1)

< Message edited by LiquidSky -- 3/5/2013 5:13:23 PM >

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

(in reply to Bismarck2761)
Post #: 21
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 3/6/2013 9:33:52 AM   
LiquidSky


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Turn 41: August 2, 1942.

My goal over the next few turns is to cross the Don towards Stalingrad, and build up a southern/northern perimeter.

With the arrival of the panzer korp from the 1st PzA....I immediately threw it across the river against a weakly held bank. He reacted by bringing in a few tank corps, but my bridgehead has expanded too far for him to push me back. When my infantry get there, I will be able to push further east until I reach the Volga.

The air war has so far favoured me in fighters, but my Stuka force is a shambles. Down to around 200 planes. Flak will attrit your divebombers faster then you can recover it. The level bombers seem to grow faster then Flak can shoot down. My levelbombers do most of the bombing.

I had a 1 pt objective, and a 2 point one right near each other, which I took...bringing my prestige up to 54. It will drop back to 52, though in a couple of turns.






Attachment (1)

< Message edited by LiquidSky -- 3/6/2013 9:34:12 AM >

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

(in reply to LiquidSky)
Post #: 22
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 3/8/2013 7:58:50 PM   
LiquidSky


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Status: offline 		Turn 45: August 8,1942.

After another turn of rain. The Russians are starting to 'litter' the front lines with single units. While a single unit is not a defense (it is easy to take out), if the unit is dug in, you do lose some troops taking it out. I probably average 1-2 strength points of infantry per attack. (but only get 3 strength points of replacement infantry a turn) I play the Infantry card for the third time of the game and get 4500 replacements.

I decided that I will take a bit of short term pain to reach Stalingrad, so both the 11th army and the 18th army play Freedom on the two corps side by side in front of Stalingrad. As a result, I am able to bulldoze 3 hexes closer to the city, and I am only 2 hexes away now.






Attachment (1)

< Message edited by LiquidSky -- 3/9/2013 5:37:46 AM >

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

(in reply to LiquidSky)
Post #: 23
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 3/9/2013 5:40:07 AM   
LiquidSky


Posts: 2189
Joined: 6/24/2008
Status: offline 		Turn 46: August 10, 1942.

I have been thinking about the difference between the Case Blue scenario, and the Trappenjagd one. The big advantage in Case Blue for the Germans is that the Russians start in a rather precarious position in the North...and are thinly spread throughout the front. The Germans are also at peak strength...

Trappenjagd starts the Germans off weaker. But it does give them much more time to push east....and without too much trouble, you can be farther east then the Case Blue starting line.....come July.

But the Russians have a much larger force. So you will take more casualties, and have to be careful of suffering a disaster at the hands of the Russian Tank force.

I think, over all..I prefer the Trappenjagd start for the germans.

Ah well..back to the game. My forces push the remaining couple of hexes and are now adjacent to the city of Stalingrad. Last turn was very bloody for me, as I launched an awful lot of assaults, and this turn wasn't too pretty either. But I have secured the line I want to hold along the Don, and I am pushing SE with the 1st Panzer Army in the Caucaus to cut off Stalingrad from the south.

So far I have played Avoid Krasnador, and Avoid Astrakahn, so there is no reason to move down the Caucaus (yet). Not sure if I want to try for an auto victory and take Baku....I will see what shape my infantry is in after assaulting Stalingrad.



EDIT: I am having difficulty uploading a picture, so I will come back later and add it.

< Message edited by LiquidSky -- 3/9/2013 5:50:05 AM >

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

(in reply to LiquidSky)
Post #: 24
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 3/9/2013 8:54:47 AM   
LiquidSky


Posts: 2189
Joined: 6/24/2008
Status: offline 		Okay...it all seems to be working now..here is the picture:




EDIT: apparently not..maybe I have exceeded some posting memory limit.




EDIT EDIT: Yay! Picture Posting is back!

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by LiquidSky -- 3/9/2013 5:48:41 PM >

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

(in reply to LiquidSky)
Post #: 25
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 3/10/2013 8:53:59 AM   
LiquidSky


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Well..the last 5 turns have been rather painful. I am determined to take the Stalingrad VP hex in the middle directly. My plan is to use 100 stacking points of artillery every turn and rotate with three other stacks of artillery so that they are at/near full supply.

I have 2 divisions from 3 different corps in the two hexes adjacent to the hex. I assault every turn (except the last one) with 2 divisions from 2 hexes...usually around 150-160 stacking points (out of 100).

Turn 47: Artillery doesn't make much of a dent. Freedom and Initiative cards are played. Losses are none to air/artillery and 2400 german infantry to 1000 Russian infantry.

Turn 48: Artillery suppresses a lot of the units, and does around 200 infantry damage. Air does nothing. I play Freedom and attack cards. Losses 3000 german infantry to 2600 Russian infantry.

Turn 49: Weather is Rain. I attack anyways, as I don't want the entrenchment level to climb. Artillery kills 800 Russian infantry, Air is non-existant. Losses are 2300 german infantry to 2500 Russian infantry. (half is militia). Some of the Russians broke.

Turn 50: I am starting over with the original two divisions that attacked 3 turns ago. The Russians evacuate the southern light urban hex and moves the division into the center of Stalingrad to beef it up. My artillery kills 400 Russian infantry, and losses are favouring me at 2200 German infantry loss to 3900 Russian infantry lost.

I use my Luftwaffe to bomb the bridge (and destroy it) behind Stalingrad...leading to the Ferry. No Russian engineer in sight.

Turn 51: North of Stalingrad I have 5 panzer divisions and 4 infantry divisions sitting somewhat idle. The Russians attack one of my panzer divisions stacked with the paratroop division and cause it to retreat, causing around 1000 casualties.

My counterattack with 5 panzer divisions kills around 10k Russians and takes the northern road hex, thus cutting Stalingrad off from easy supply. Since I continually bomb the city behind Stalingrad, and the bridge is cut, he will be on low supply. In my excitement, I forget to attack the city..thus only causing 500 casualties from artillery.

I do attack the other Stalingrad hexes to make them use up supply, probably doing around 4000 german infantry losses to myself for little gain.





Attachment (1)

< Message edited by LiquidSky -- 3/10/2013 8:54:15 AM >

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

(in reply to LiquidSky)
Post #: 26
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 3/10/2013 2:50:41 PM   
olivier34

 

Posts: 1059
Joined: 5/10/2010
From: montpellier
Status: offline 		Great to follow your attempt to take Stalingrad. Seems that you have very well organise your waves of attacks and the city should fall.
Some questions :
Before attacking the main Stalingrad hexe from two hexes, maybe you could have fight to gain the control of the south or north hexe and then attack from three hexes the center of Stalingrad...no?
Have you tried the artillery cards to improve the result ?
Have you think to use a gamble card ? (Manstein's one ?)
The soviet can't do much to stop you. In my last game with Bonners, I had to defend Stalingrad for the first time...what I could do is playing cards to boost the morale or the defense of my troops and reinforce Stalingrad with fresh divisions...
Good luck and thanks for the reports

(in reply to LiquidSky)
Post #: 27
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 3/10/2013 11:40:49 PM   
LiquidSky


Posts: 2189
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Two more turns and Stalingrad falls...

Turn 52: With the city cut off I expect it to fall, but because I *forgot* to attack it last turn, the entrenchment level is too high...but I lose 2200 infantry to kill 2500, with another 600 losses to aircraft/artillery.

Turn 53: With Freedom and attack played by Manstein/Corp Guy, the center of Stalingrad falls. Losses: only 1000 germans to 4800 Russians with another 1000 Russians to artillery. He had moved up a bunch of rifle divisions behind Stalingrad, so if it didn't fall now, it was probably going to be another few turns.

To answer your question....Wallas fortified the hex above and below the center of Stalingrad. Which means I would have lost a lot of infantry to take them....for no real purpose other then allowing more stacking points to attack the center of the city. Since I was hitting it with 150ish stacking points anyways...it would have only saved me some pain later, for greater pain now.

Now that I have the center, I can work on the hex north and south. I am hoping that I own the Ferry, so his supply for those hexes is crossing the Volga.

I don't use the gamble card. Freedom gives another 2-3 attacks which I think is much better then a higher percentage.

My independent artillery is attached directly to 11th Army so I can't play the artillery card to increase it. And if it was attached to a corp, then the corp can only increase one of the units.

What finally did Stalingrad in was lack of supply. I cut the road off to the north, and the rail line in the south. Not sure if it had an effect, but the Ferry port hex behind Stalingrad was continually bombarded. And I blew the bridge, and when he repaired it, blew it again....that crosses the major river behind Stalingrad.

That meant that supply has to cross a major river, then cross the Volga to get into Stalingrad. (if the Ferry is out) or at least cross a major river if the ferry still works.

And with the bridge out, the units that could reinforce the city would also be low supply..and I would bomb/bombard them as well...so they would have low readiness when they enter the city.

I think the best card to play would be Entrenchment on your best defensive division in the city. It is hard for artillery to reduce entrenchment...it gets reduced from attacking it.

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

(in reply to olivier34)
Post #: 28
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 3/11/2013 1:25:13 AM   
LiquidSky


Posts: 2189
Joined: 6/24/2008
Status: offline 		Just finished the August 30th turn which was rain. Last turn I cleaned out Stalingrad. The rest of the city fell fairly easily (although still at cost) due to his lack of supply and my artillery blasting the fortifications away.

I got a mission to hold Stalingrad until the end of the game for 20 prestige. No doubt, if I lose it, I will be ordered to retake it....so I may have to play the avoid Stalingrad card afterall for late game. Since I already played the Avoid Astrakahn card, there will be no more Major offensive missions for me...unless I take Krasnador.

I am now at a cross roads. I can push an army north along the Volga to force the Russians to retreat back, or be cut off....and hold the Volga line for end game Major Victory.

I can push south for Baku. Take it and win. And try and hold the Don river in the North while doing so.

I can stay right where I am...spread my armour out as a reserve behind my lines to punish any Russian aggression. Try and hold until the end...for a minor Victory.

My prestige is at 63. I have played the infantry card so many times that the last time it was 86 points. So I am pretty much at the peak of my strength. My fighter force has taken a beating around Stalingrad, but I can still bomb where I want to. My Stuka's are almost non-existant...it takes all of them to equal 100 stacking points. My tanks are in pretty good shape...the SS are at full strength. My Axis minors are in the 90's for spirit level except the Italians who are at 85.

Not sure yet which direction to take...going to have to spend a bit of time thinking of a plan.


To Recap losses for August: I lost around 70,000 infantry to kill 100,000 Russians. Not a very good ratio. I played the Infantry card about 6 times. For around 40-50k infantry which helps mitigate the losses somewhat. I did kill an awful lot of Russian armour though...

< Message edited by LiquidSky -- 3/11/2013 1:31:22 AM >

_____________________________

“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.” – Alexander the Great

(in reply to LiquidSky)
Post #: 29
RE: Trippen the Trappen Two - 3/11/2013 4:31:21 PM   
wallas

 

Posts: 112
Joined: 2/4/2005
Status: offline 		You forgot to mention your fighter losses I know I mauled them.

< Message edited by wallas -- 3/11/2013 4:35:22 PM >

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