Moses(axis) vs. Tophat1812.

[moses]

Yeah it's pretty weak. I also was afraid he would cut off my armor at the bottom of the screen but I had that security unit to bring over which I think secures my supply line.

Every one of my units was completrly out of movement so I didn't have much ability to fix things at the end.

[randallw]

Where are all the 1/3 rd size rifle divisions?

[moses]

ORIGINAL: randallw

Where are all the 1/3 rd size rifle divisions?

?????

[moses]

On week 9 my troops crossed the Dnepr against weak opposition. I was really surprised that Tophat did not try to defend the riverline in greater strength. The three crossing hexes were each defended by single weak divisions, and this right in the vicinity of Kiev.

It will probably take me another week to expand the bridgehead and then things should start to open up in the country beyond Kiev.

[moses]

And in the center Vyazma will fall next turn as my troops close on Moscow.

[moses]

For a couple weeks now Tophat has been falling back 30 miles each week and adopting the checkerboard type defence. Thus it's hard to get big encirclements. Still I consistantly gain ground and get enough small encirclements each turn to keep his losses in the 130,000-150,000 range which is what I consider the minimum acceptable.

In the area of Moscow he is running out of space and at some point must stand and fight. I'm 100 miles away and will be in Moscow in 3 or 4 weeks at the present rate of advance. I still see nothing solid between my troops and the city. Surely he must make a stand soon and casualties will soar. The red army will be destroyed in front of Moscow.

[krupp_88mm]

whats the hex measurement?, using a map it looks like each hex is 20KM or 12.4 miles, it also looks like your 10 hexs form moscow so that would be 124 miles? , lol just nit picking, but what does the game say hex distance is anyone?

here's a map of germans advance form 26 August to 5 december, (so the map is about 2 weeks ahead of you)

its amazing your southern front looks very similar even the river crossing, but maybe ahead of schedule a week

in the north again looks like your right on schedule maybe a week ahead of time,
however for the drive on moscow your nearly a month ahead of time, nice work, i hope an extra month will give you enough time to encircle it, i suppose as long as you have it encircled by the time mud strikes you can reduce it and then shelter some units their through winter i woudl set up defense lines ahead of moscow on the flanks and fall back hopefully using moscow a s a rock to pivot around, hopefully you can hold it through winter, i think if you can hold it through winter 1942 should go very well for you,

if you take moscow that will probably be the main thrust of his winter counter attack so if you have any alpine units you may want to prepare to transfer them their with winter bonus, you can give ground elsewhere, have you thought about sending some armor south of the oka river the terrain down their is much more suited for tanks, moscow has lots of woods around it

remember you may not have to actually take Moscow to win if you make him think you'll take it and transfer out the factories that is a small victory in itself

[moses]

Nice maps!!! It's 10 miles/hex per manual.

Yes, even if I fail to take Moscow there are advantages to making the main effort there.

Tophat was badly hurt I think during the initial battles when he defended fairly far forward.I don't think his forces have recovered as I'm running into a lot of understrength divisions and in general weak defensive lines. The only thing saving his army is that by pulling back every turn I have to spend a good portion of my combat power just catching up.

This will end soon. Last week I advanced 40 miles. I'm either going to reach Moscow in 3 weeks or he is going to stand and fight. When he does so, hopefully I will be able to do some serious damage to his army.

As far as the winter I think it depends on how badly the Russians get hurt. If he falls back in good order or even if he lets me take it without much fight then I have to worry a lot. Best case is I surround and capture Moscow with about 30 divisions!!!!---well maybe the winter offensive won't be so bad.

[Klydon]

Interesting going for the Germans. You are not going to have to send PG2 south to help with the advance down south. While he still has troops down there, it appears to be weakening and he may be considering trading space for time. He certainly appears to be making a big stand at Leningrad and may not realize how much danger Moscow appears to be in. Historically, the Germans stopped advancing east of Smolensk at the end of July. They spent close to a month trying to fix the supply situation, rehabbing their panzer forces and then sent troops south and north, giving the Soviets a month in front of Moscow to dig in and bring troops in. He isn't going to get that month.

A lot will depend on your ability to get the rail lines switched over, but I think you mentioned you had doubled up on the line in the middle, which is a good move and may be enough to keep the drive against Moscow going. An issue you might run into is if you don't kick him out of the Valdi hills, then AGC's northern flank and communications are going to be threaten from there or your drive will be weaken quite a bit as you drop off screening forces on your flank.

[Avenger]

Nice AAR. As for the Soviet units: the longer it takes to reach Moscow the more troops you will face. In my games Moscow is empty on turn 10, but by the time the Mud comes the place is no longer even take able.

[moses]

Thats why I'm moving as fast as I can. I've killed 121 complete divisions so far in 9 weeks. I've got 8 weeks of clear weather and 10 hexes to reach it.

[moses]

Week 10 is complete. I've reached the 2 million casualty milestone--129 divisions gone.

My initial attacks in the center went poorly. Russians units wern't that strong but I just seemed to get a few bad rolls so I decided to take the 30 miles he gave me and consolidate a bit. As it happened, while I moved my troops up I found a few weak stacks and got some good results. Anyway I'm 70 miles from Moscow.

While I grind away near Moscow and Lenningrade opportunities have arisen in 3 secondary fronts. (Velikie Luki-RZhev area------Gomel-Bryansk---and the far south) in all three the Russians have become decisively engaged.

For example here is the Velkie Luki area. Only one group is truly isolated but two more are going to have trouble falling back in good order. If he pulls back he will be leaving units behind to be mopped up. If he tries to hold I think he will be in worse shape a week later.

I suspect it will take week 11 and 12 to clean this area up. Then all 3 armies head east for the decisive battle of Moscow.

[moses]

Here's the south where I have broken out nicely.

[invernomuto]

AAR subscribed!

[Avenger]

You are doing much better than I did in my first game versus the AI. In week 17 I backed off of Moscow and dug in for the winter. I just had gotten there too late. The Soviet Army just grows too fast. Good going.

[moses]

I'm just now seeing what looks like troops digging in before Moscow. So maybe he has seen the danger and is sending everything he has. It will be interesting to see whatn happens in this final stretch. He no longer has any space to trade for time and will have to fight me head-to-head. I expect I will be able to inflict many losses.

I've recieved the turn from Tophat and he has not fallen back at all anywhere except around Kiev. The days of chasing Russians are over. Now we fight.

[jwilkerson]

Looks like the Russians might be getting a wee bit stronger also, I see a few "2s" and "3s" out there amongst the sea of "1s" [:)] ... BTW I finally downloaded the game and can clearly see that the NODL defense will not work. The German armor does have way too much movement, not to mention combat strength.

[moses]

Week 12 and another brutal week for the Russians. Look at the operation down South where about 20 divisions are encircled.

My panzers cut a swath through the Russians but then the SS gets excited and goes too far!! If it stops 2 hexes earlier then there would have been no escape. Now all those Russians will flee.

Russians probably will get 8 to 10 MP's each and they have to cross a major river. I expect a whole lot of tired, unsupplied, unfortified Russians to be sitting in the blue circle at the start of next turn. Maybe I will attack them directly or.......

[moses]

This would be nice[:D]

There is nothing in the area West and SW of Kursk. If he defends the short encirclement I just might be able to do it. I only really have to cut the rails from Kursk next turn. My infantry from the North is really unstoppable. It will advance a hex or so each week. About 30 or 40 divisions could get trapped.

In any event Tophat is going to have to move some units fast into the area west of Kursk. Everywhere you look will be tired unfortified Russians. Could be fun.

[moses]

Moscow Front.

A key decision is when or if to pull the 9th Army (in green) out of the northern line and head to Moscow. The 2nd Army (Blue) would spread out and fill the gap to it's right.

It would seem an easy decision as 11 added divisions gives me a huge edge in Moscow. On the other hand those guys are doing well where they are. Note the 3 divisions encircled. They do this every week now. 30/40K per week for 6 more weeks adds up to a lot of troops I won't be facing over the winter.

BTW at start of next turn my rail wll be repaired up to Vyazma. This attack is fully supplied!!