Summer 42: Fall Blau - GC41 Rosencrantus (A) vs Tyronec, jubjub (S)

[EwaldvonKleist]

How did you transfer the game? Isn't this anserver game?

[HardLuckYetAgain]

I am glad to see this very interesting game continuing, and I am sure that if anyone can breathe life into the Soviets, it is jubjub.

I second that Beethoven.

[Rosencrantus]

How did you transfer the game? Isn't this anserver game?

Joel sent us a normal save to continue on.

[HardLuckYetAgain]

How did you transfer the game? Isn't this anserver game?

Joel sent us a normal save to continue on.

Thank you Mr. Billings!!!! I for one will be following for sure if Jubjub can do the comeback. Good luck to both of you.

[jubjub]

I am glad to see this very interesting game continuing, and I am sure that if anyone can breathe life into the Soviets, it is jubjub. My guess is the reason his manpower went up > 250k in one turn may be from disbanding a lot of unused support units sucking up manpower, perhaps combined with deploying units in the reserve to the map? How big was the reserve beforehand?

- edit -

ah, I see this screenshot from turn 21, so I guess the 374k in reserve has probably dropped way down:

It was about 400k. Since getting the save, I've disbanded about 200k worth of manpower, but Turn 22 saw 200k replacements sucked into TB's and SR There was also another 100k that went into airbases, but I think that might count towards the 'on map' number. The big bump was some reserves finally hitting the map and not as much getting sucked into TB/SR.

Hoping to have a successful winter, thanks for the support.

You can see what I disbanded below. The detailed breakdown is from turn 21.

[Rosencrantus]

T21 - November 9, 1941

The ground finally freezes and operations can resume again.

AGC:

closestToMoscow.PNG (2.86 MiB) Viewed 1775 times

Almost all attacks were strong deliberate attacks.

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Vyazma - Moscow axis:

Panzergruppe 3 pushes north, with some of the most intense fighting of the war being seen. They help secure the flanks of the units driving on Kalinin. 4 divisions have been encircled. A panzer division is a hex away from Kalinin itself and preparations to take the city are underway.

Tula - Moscow axis:

With a bridgehead being formed over the Oka river the previous turn, PG2 furiously attacks towards Moscow. At this point I wasn't really expecting to capture Moscow or encircle it to remove the NSS, but I still attacked to force the Soviet units to defend in the clear terrain and inflict as many losses as I could to them before having to dig in for the winter.

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Also the first time I've seen this event in a HvH where Axis are actually just a few hexes from Moscow

[Rosencrantus]

AGN:

AGN.PNG (1.21 MiB) Viewed 1769 times

PG4 also launches the attacks it's been preparing for since the heavy mud turns. Their goal is to seize Posadnikovo and Chudovo, the important rail junctions leading towards Leningrad. They are to also attempt to widen the Leningrad land bridge and push the Soviets to the other side of the Volkhov. Ideally I would want to cut off the rail/take the lake Ladoga ports but that is just not possible right now.

The attacks are successful and inflict huge losses. AGN's infantry creeps toward it's objectives.

holysmokes.PNG (1.54 MiB) Viewed 1769 times

chudovo.PNG (1.79 MiB) Viewed 1769 times

agnbattle.PNG (1.13 MiB) Viewed 1769 times

[Rosencrantus]

AGS:

AGS.PNG (1.78 MiB) Viewed 1765 times

AGS doesn't have anything else to do except attempt a drive on Rostov. It is too early to start digging in and giving the Soviets a break.

11th Armee:

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A naval patrol isolated Sevastopol and the first attack in the area is done. a few divisions surrender have been secured and preparations are being made along with all super heavy/siege artillery being sent to the 11th to take Sevastopol, the main Black Sea port.

[Rosencrantus]

Losses & Summary:

g.PNG (226.08 KiB) Viewed 1753 times

As reflected by the intensity of the fighting this turn, losses are very high. Soviet's lost 158,579 men. of which 117,731 are irrecoverable. 44,000 men being captured without a single encirclement is a testament to just how bloody the combat was. while the Axis lost 21,825 men of which 12,971 are irrecoverable. I've also lost 2,226 AFVs while the Soviet's lost 16,817 which are historicalish numbers.

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TOEpanzer.PNG (390.99 KiB) Viewed 1753 times

As a result some of my panzer divisions are in an absolutely terrible state and the blizzard's soon to come won't help.

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Walter Model was also assigned to 9th Armee (Also historical ) as the infantry divisions in this army command is in the brunt of the fighting around Moscow along with PG3.

Overall Luftwaffe and VVS losses will be posted later.

[Jango32]

How come you assigned Model to an army command rather than a corps?

[Rosencrantus]

I think he is more valuable in an Army than a corp where he'll only have 4 - 5 units under his command. I know that his leader rolls have less an effect as you go up the chain but I think at army command it's still influential and with the upcoming counter-offensive I wanted that 9 infantry rating to reach as many divisions as possible without being too diluted.

I also already have Heinrici and Rendulic in charge of some strong infantry corps and don't think I really need another one right now.

[HardLuckYetAgain]

T21 - November 9, 1941

before having to dig in for the winter.



Also the first time I've seen this event in a HvH where Axis are actually just a few hexes from Moscow

@ #1 above

Do you really think you have enough time to dig in? Do you have the supply to dig in?

@ #2

Yes, one of the few, congrats so far. I do bid you caution, being a fellow German enthusiast myself, because on the Soviet side Vatutin just got replaced with Zhukov.

I bid you good luck going into Winter in a few turns. As you know I always root for Germany. Do us proud Rosencrantus!

[HardLuckYetAgain]

T21 - November 9, 1941

before having to dig in for the winter.



Also the first time I've seen this event in a HvH where Axis are actually just a few hexes from Moscow

@ #1 above

Do you really think you have enough time to dig in? Do you have the supply to dig in?

@ #2

Yes, one of the few, congrats so far. I do bid you caution, being a fellow German enthusiast myself, because on the Soviet side Vatutin just got replaced with Zhukov.

I bid you good luck going into Winter in a few turns. As you know I always root for Germany. Do us proud Rosencrantus!

Of course there could be a delay on the posts and you already know the answers

[Rosencrantus]

T21 - November 9, 1941

before having to dig in for the winter.



Also the first time I've seen this event in a HvH where Axis are actually just a few hexes from Moscow

@ #1 above

Do you really think you have enough time to dig in? Do you have the supply to dig in?

@ #2

Yes, one of the few, congrats so far. I do bid you caution, being a fellow German enthusiast myself, because on the Soviet side Vatutin just got replaced with Zhukov.

I bid you good luck going into Winter in a few turns. As you know I always root for Germany. Do us proud Rosencrantus!

I had time and supply to dig lvl 1 forts . better than nothing. I'm trying to keep around a 4 turn delay.

[Jango32]

My understanding is that only if the corps leader fails his checks/rolls will the next HQs intervene. So for example if you have a poor leader with an initiative and infantry rating of 5 and morale 6, as long as the poor leader's checks/rolls succeed then Model's stats won't be called in. Which means that the game will use the poor infantry rating of 5 to determine effectiveness assuming that the check is successful.

Is this wrong?

[EwaldvonKleist]

Yes, it is wrong. For calculations it matters if any level in the chain of coand passes the check. If a lower level HQ fails, a higher level hq rolls with with doubled roll range.

[Rosencrantus]

T22 - November 16, 1941

Note this is the first turn that we played since jubjub took over.

AGC:

Moscow.PNG (2.69 MiB) Viewed 1528 times

PG2 attacks have led the division to be a hex away from Moscow itself. Well, Western Moscow. Kalinin was also taken after dislodging three rifle divisions in the city. Attacks continue in this sector to attrition the Soviet forces.

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Losses:

g.PNG (221.52 KiB) Viewed 1528 times

Soviet losses once again are above 100k. This'll be the last turn I see a loss ratio as favourable as this...

[Rosencrantus]

T23 - November 23, 1941

AGC:

Moscow.PNG (2.63 MiB) Viewed 1420 times

Army group centre's advance has stalled. The 19th Panzer Division, which has reached the gates of Moscow did not even bother launching an attack in the face of extremely staunch resistance.

Reports of the Soviets amassing massive reserves for a grand winter-offensive is dismissed. High command only expects small local offensives to be launched and are already planning their victory during the Summer of 1942 (this is just me memeing btw )

AGS:

AGS.PNG (2.21 MiB) Viewed 1420 times

jubjub previously abandoned some territory in this area to redeploy divisions to Moscow. AGS infantry have moved up to secure more of the Donets Basin.

AGN:

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Majority of AGN's offensive objectives have been captured. Save for the last attack in an attempt to widen the Leningrad corridor.

(I'll update the rest of the turn in a bit)

[Rosencrantus]

Losses:
With this sentence, I can state that Operation Barbarossa, the attempt to defeat the Soviet union in a single campaign has failed.

g.PNG (238.52 KiB) Viewed 1379 times

Let's take a look at the total losses.

The Wehrmacht has taken a total of 377,714 casualties. Of which 135,656 are KIA, 1,980 MIA, and 240,078 WIA.

The Red Army has taken a total of 3,535,590 casualties. Of which 889,390 are KIA, 1,660,805 MIA, 985,395 WIA.

This is a loss ratio of 9.36:1 in favour for the Axis.

a.PNG (326.1 KiB) Viewed 1379 times

The Luftwaffe has lost 4,265 aircraft while the VVS lost 11,902 aircraft. This is a loss ratio of 2.79 in favour of the Axis.

State of the Front:

HWM.PNG (2.73 MiB) Viewed 1379 times

The German advance across the entire front has stalled. This has resulted in the Germans cutting off Leningrad by land but the is still supplied by sea; a historical outcome. AGC has made a final thrust towards Moscow and stalled right at it's doorstep with extremely overstretched flanks (all the unit counters from Tula to Kharkov are single regiments ). AGS has captured the Donet's basin and it's attempt at capturing Rostov has failed due to strong Soviet positions at the city.

State of the Wehrmacht:

weakdivs.PNG (620.21 KiB) Viewed 1379 times

Majority of infantry divisions right now are hovering around the 60-80% toe range, but that'll soon change once the blizzard kicks in and they begin suffering losses due to the weather.

My panzer and motorised divisions on the other hand, are not doing well at all. Their great success has cost them a lot. Majority of them are less than 65% TOE with many in the 50s and most have less than 100 AFVs. They will have a lot of refitting to do to be strong again in 1942 and they still have to have some presence on the map to help against the Soviet winter attacks.

[ncc1701e]

Glad to see the sequel of this game. I see that I have still a long way to go to be at this level.