Turn 71 – July 2, 1943
The climactic battle of this game has arrived. Morris does not advance exactly as I’d hoped, keeping his tanks in reserve and not leaving an opportunity for encirclement, but I still have a chance to kill many units, especially mechs. Because this is such a pivotal turn, I decided to give a detailed analysis of how I played it. Here we go…
USSR South (pre-turn)
Preparation:
1. Define a realistic goal. Given the range of my forces, and the strength of my air and heavy units, I decided to try to eliminate all the Russian units west of the Donbass hex row.
2. Planning. I don’t plot out every move beforehand (I don’t have the mental capacity for that). But I do consider which units will be more difficult to kill. Factors include terrain, river protection, other nearby units, ZoC, etc. I conclude that the Russian mechs across the river in the rear will be the hardest to kill because of ZoC and the screening infantry in front. The Soviet units on my side of the river in the south will be relatively easy because they are closer (less of a ZoC problem) and there is less screening infantry. Therefore, I will focus my air units north of the river, and allow my powerful ground forces to handle the south side of the river by themselves.
During execution of moves, always plan several moves ahead. Consider how many attacks I can afford to spend on each enemy unit. Each attack uses up a hex, so use air and tank support to conserve hexes by killing units faster. Maximize range by attacking with rear-most units; save closer units for overcoming enemy ZoC. Never advance into a captured hex without careful consideration of how that will affect future moves. Most of all, always keep the overall goal in mind.
Execution:
1. Start in the far north, eliminate 2 corps west of Voronezh using units north of Kursk.
2. Eliminate 3 corps and 2 mechs north and northeast of Kharkov. 3 tanks and some air support used. Plan moves carefully so every unit can be destroyed without lucky results, especially the hard-to-reach units in the rear. Leave hex directly northeast of Kharkov German-occupied, but open for further attack. To improve chances of success, stop here before tackling the remaining 3 mechs east of Kharkov, and start southern offensive.
3. Start in far south and work my way back northwards, capturing Stalino with 2 SS mechs (no entrenchment). 4 tanks and some tactical air support used, primarily for units close to river where ZoC was becoming a factor. Be very careful not to occupy all hexes on my side of the river; leave a Russian-controlled hex on my side for the Soviet mechs to retreat into.
4. Eliminate 3 mechs east of Kharkov, using 5 tactical air and 3 tanks. Mainstein makes first attack from Kharkov after 2 Tac strikes and leading Russian mech retreats south toward me. Do not occupy the empty hex with Mainstein. Now attack the northern of the 2 remaining mechs with 2 Tacs and an SS panzer from the empty hex I left northeast of Kharkov. Mech is eliminated easily, incredibly low chance of failure because I knew I needed this attack to work and I used my best units. I probably could have worked something else out if it failed. Finally, kill the other mech with 1 Tac and final German tank, plus follow-up units. The last unit turned out to be easy (no ZoC problem).
USSR South (post-turn)
Reaction and Analysis:
A huge victory for me, obviously. The Russians lose 10 mechs and 7 corps (worth 795 PPs), and their power is broken. They will not trouble me until 1944 at the earliest. Morris’s only choice is to retreat and keep his tank reserve intact. Any other course of action will result in the utter destruction of the Red Army as an effective fighting force.
Looking at Axis losses, my air units suffered worse than my ground units by far. Fighter losses were high but Russian losses were higher, which is correct I feel given my tech and effectiveness advantage. Bomber casualties were fairly high as well, but within the average range. Ground losses are where I feel luck swung slightly in my favor. I’m not talking about the number of enemy units killed—I take credit for that with my planning and execution—but I do feel some good fortune in the losses I suffered. I believe that I could play this turn several more times and achieve the same results, but that my ground casualties would be slightly higher on average. Not much, but a few steps here and there, especially in the south where my tanks and mechs had to attack without much air support. You can see one mech lost 3 steps, but that was really the only bloody nose. Not that Morris’s effectiveness or mech tech were very impressive, and I had great projection for the most part, but I also didn’t get unlucky very much.
On to the Med now, Morris prepares a small landing force in Northern Italy. I send some reserve units in response and put some German corps into production. Germany also takes over the defense of Rome, though this means losing the entrenchment. But I feel much safer now. Morris only has 2 Italian surrender cities (Cagliari and Tripoli), but I would like to prevent him from making too much headway here. It would be nice to crush this invasion without spending too much oil. I used close to half my stockpile in Russia this turn! But it was well spent, and now that the Russians are no longer a major threat for the time being, I can cut back on movement and build up my stockpile again.
Italy (post-turn)
