Slitherine

January 3, 1943. RAF fighters Suffer Defeat and Withdraw to Scotland. German U-boats Control Atlantic. No Convoys Getting Through. Allied Bombers in Iceland and Greenland Fight Back. USA Bombers Headed to Southern Russia Via North Africa. US Continues War Research. Russian Winter Halts Axis.

It'll be another three turns before the other three US/UK fighters make it to the Caucasus. Also, I'm diverting two USA tactical bombers and a strategic bomber to the Caucasus via North Africa. They'll be able to fly to Dakar and then hit the transport loop to Kuwait.

Joe easily has this game won if stops and holds what he has now. Ironically, my only chance (as slim as it is) to win is if Joe continues his push to knock Russia out of the war. Even if he tries this the odds are in his favor that he'll succeed. However; if he ties and doesn't this give me a chance. So I'm hoping he continues his push.

The conquest of North Africa is going slower than I like. I do need to sortie the Allied navy to counter the German u-boat threat. This will allow for the much needed flow of convoys (and PP's) and transport of troops from the USA to the UK for Overlord. In that vein and in a somewhat optimistic move, which some may call denial, I bought labs 12 and 13 for the USA, which were their 3rd Infantry and Armor labs.

jjdenver wrote:Hi,

After looking at your Urals defenses, and after defending the Urals a few times myself. .....I think you are giving him the area north of your capitol too easily. Those forests and mountains he should fight through I think. The farther you let him move forward w/o fighting for those hexes the easier it will be to constrain your pocket and make it tough for your air to operate and he'll have a clear shot at you from the north. I'd recommend placing garrison units in the mountains and forests north and west of the capitol.

Also I think you are giving up too many mountain hexes in the caucasus which will really dampen the power of your attack as you try to slog out of them and if he is attacked in those mountains he'll be a lot tougher. Either way either your counterattack is too slow or his defensive terrain is too strong. I'd seize those mountain hexes immediately.

Just a thought.

cheers
jj

Good advice. I'm doing what I can to beef up those areas. It's slow. I'm getting enough Russian PP's to build two corps per turn and make two or three upgrades and / or repairs.

January 23, 1943. Allied Forces Continue Assault on Tobruk. USAF and RAF Build Up in England. Renewed Bombing Attack on Germany 40 to 60 Days Away. USAF and RAF Fighter Units Continue Redeployment to Caucasus. Combined Allied Caucasus Offensive Also 40 to 60 Days Away.

February 12, 1943. Tobruk Falls! RAF and US Army Air Corps Build Up in England. Allies Build Up in the Caucasus.

March 4, 1943. US and UK Commanders Arrive in the Caucasus. RAF Fighters Upgraded. Benghazi Near Conquest. North Africa Near Liberation. RAF and US Army Air Corps in England Reinforced and Upgraded. UK Max's Out ASW Technology. Refocuses Naval Research to Surface Ships.

I think this game is not over yet, especially if Joe doesn't retreat to a good defense line and use the time of quiet to make a strong line he can hold for most of the game.

Joe is going to be beaten in Caucasus and he needs a swift victory in eastern Russia or you can regain a lot of territory in southern Russia. I always feel uneasy having the bulk of the German army in supply level 3 areas, out of rail range. It means it's much harder to respond to enemy offensives.

Since Africa is now liberated you can prepare for an invasion of southern France or western France already in 1943. That would ensure all Joe's reinforcements will got to the west and that means Russia can survive the 1943 offensive.

If Joe engages in heavy combat in eastern Russia and also southern Russia then can only use the newly built units to defend France. That might be too little. Your primary objective in the west now is to make sure you can escort convoys home so you get better production and damage the subs. With tech 6 ASW your DD's should devastate the German subs if contact is made. Using bombers and CV's to follow up attacks you can make the subs flee the area.

But you have no time to rest and relax in Africa now that the Axis are destroyed here. You need to open the second front before Russia collapses in the east.

I would launch the Caucasus offensive asap and then drive to take Astrakhan so you regain rail supply for your southern units. It means they can be railed to the east and help stopping the Germans from taking Omsk.

If Joe instead had NOT attacked in eastern Russian and withdrawn to an area from Leningrad to Moscow to Rostov then you would use most of 1943 to get to his line and he would defend far to the east in 1944. Then it's no time to get to Berlin by May 1945 unless the western Allies make a breakthrough. With such a strategy Joe could send all new units to France and Italy making sure the Allies can't land successfully in 1943. So if Joe is not greedy then he should win this game. You chance lies in a major German offensive locking his units with your and then he won't have the reserves to stop a western Allies invasion in France. Russia will not reach Berlin in time, but the US might.

March 24, 1943. Benghazi Falls! All of North Africa in Allied Hands. Joint Allied Offensive Launched in the Caucasus. RAF and USA Army Air Corps Bomb Targets in France and Germany. Allied Fleet Headed to the Atlantic. Russia Braces for Axis Spring Offensive. Will Russia Survive?

oooo - such an interesting AAR. I can't wait to see how '43 goes.

I'm waiting for v2.0 to start another pbem game - when's it coming?

Ronnie, why don´t you move a fighter unit to Gorki´s front line to make an axis land forces reconnaissance? The information you will get doing this surely will be useful... This way you won´t be kicked the first as it happens in 1942 by leaving a "security 5 hexes margin" . Since the Axis units are "hidden" you don´t know where they are going to attack. These corps russian units around Kazan and Ufa are in a high risk to be destroyed as it happens in 1942 if you don´t get any information about axis forces.

leridano wrote:Ronnie, why don´t you move a fighter unit to Gorki´s front line to make an axis land forces reconnaissance? The information you will get doing this surely will be useful... This way you won´t be kicked the first as it happens in 1942 by leaving a "security 5 hexes margin" . Since the Axis units are "hidden" you don´t know where they are going to attack. These corps russian units around Kazan and Ufa are in a high risk to be destroyed as it happens in 1942 if you don´t get any information about axis forces.

I think that's a good suggestion Leridano. I wouldn't sacrifice a FTR by moving it in front of the line, but I do think your comment about Ronnie being very exposed is right on. I cringe when I look at the finger of units Ronnie has extending through Ufa and Kazan. That is going to be completely munched up in clear terrain by Joe. The loss of those units will probably mean a much quicker conquest of Russia. I can't imagine anything Joe would rather see than an exposed finger of Soviets in clear terrain there. It will be a repeat of the beginning of his summer '42 offensive.

I would definitely favor seeing Ronnie pull back out of that clear terrain, leaving only a garrison unit in Kazan and Ufa, and defend in the mountains/woods west of Chelyabinks and at Chelyabinsk on the more compressed front offered there. I'd also love to see a garrison unit in Kirov entrenched to 5. I think there would be an advantage to minimizing the clear hexes that Ronnie has to defend and not giving up any rough/forest/mtn hexes for free. This is the last stand but I hate to see Ronnie take a beating in the open as I think he's about to and the last stand is a gasp rather than a strong defense packed full of units.

April 13, 1943. Top Russian Generals Urge Pull Back in the Urals. Also, More Aggressive Recon Requested. Stalin Heeds Their Advice. Stalin Sends Poorly Trained Conscripts to Defend Forward Cities. Allied Offensive in Caucasus Continue. One Axis Infantry Corps Destroyed and Three Other Corps Serious Depleted. RAF and US Army Air Corps Continue Bombing Campaign. RN and USN Med Fleets Head to Atlantic.

The combined RN and USN fleets include the elements show below, plus 4 DDs exiting or forming at the West Africa Transport Loop, 2 DDs and 1 BB in the UK and 2 US DDs under construction (with 4 or 5 turns to go). I will keep 2 BBs and 1 CV back to meet my minimum naval requirement in the Med and to counter the 2 Italian BBs and 1 German DD (that I know about) in the Med. The rest of this fleet will clear the convoy lanes and transport lanes to the UK. I will start build my invasion force for western France. The majority of the ground troops will come from the US. I'm using the UK PPs not needed for repairs and upgrades to build fighters. USA PPs will be used to build the ground troops and additional tactical bombers.

The Malta fighter and a US tactical bomber are making their way to the Caucasus. The bomber should arrive next turn and the fighter in two turns.

In addition to the air units that you can see in the UK I have two US strategic bombers based in Greenland providing CAP for an 80 PP Russian convoy which I'm sure Joe will devastate next turn.

The Russians built 5 garrisons last turn. I will use these to defend the forward cities and as speed bumps for the approaching Axis army. I rebased the Russian strategic bomber at the behest of leridano to get a better look at what is coming. Also, I pulled back all the frontline Russian corps (except two) in order to defend in more favorable terrain based on leridano's and jjdenver's advice. I wasn't planning to stay exposed and was going to swing the finger; however, the urgency in both their posts got my attention causing me to act sooner and pull back further. Also, based on their post I decide to switch from build infantry corps to garrisons. I plan to build a lot of garrisons now to deploy them as far forward as I can to force Joe to burn oil and to slow him down. The Russians got 75 PP's last turn which allowed me to build 5 garrison versus 2 infantry corps. I also upgraded the front line infantry corps defending the Baku 2 oil facility.

Regardless of outcome I'd like to thank my top military advisers (generals): Borger, leridano & jjdenver. If Russia survives it will be due to your advice. If the Allies win then I'm going out and buy a lottery ticket the next day!!

Really cool AAR, this is gonna be really interesting. I think your defense of the caucuses is quite impecible. What are the casualties so far? and good lord the casualties are gonna be ridiculous by the time Russia is concluded.

Honestly, I think at this point it's a toss up, you still have a chance, but only one chance to still win this. It looks like it's gonna turn into one big mother of all battles in Russia, its gonna be pretty even for that battle. i'd honestly say this is 50/50 win chance for both sides

Both sides will lose so much and itll be siberia or the caucuses, so I don't think it will lead to swift counter-advance by the side that wins, but whoever wins will doom the enemy to the defensive from which they will never recover.

panzer_hugger wrote:Really cool AAR, this is gonna be really interesting. I think your defense of the caucuses is quite impecible. What are the casualties so far? and good lord the casualties are gonna be ridiculous by the time Russia is concluded.

Honestly, I think at this point it's a toss up, you still have a chance, but only one chance to still win this. It looks like it's gonna turn into one big mother of all battles in Russia, its gonna be pretty even for that battle. i'd honestly say this is 50/50 win chance for both sides

Both sides will lose so much and itll be siberia or the caucuses, so I don't think it will lead to swift counter-advance by the side that wins, but whoever wins will doom the enemy to the defensive from which they will never recover.

Thanks. I'm glad you're enjoying it. I take 50/50 right now and roll the dice. I'm not that optimistic about my chances but we'll soon find out.

May 3, 1943. Massive Axis Army Pushes Closer to the Urals. Heavy Fighting Continues in the Caucasus But Lines Remain Static. RAF and US Army Air Corps Continue Bombing of France and Germany. RN and USN Fleets Continue Continue on the Their Way to the Atlantic. Have a Long Way to Go.

I don't see how I can stop the Axis in Russia; but if I'm going down I'm going down swinging. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and connect. My only hope is that he's low on oil and that my offensive in the Caucasus and my bombing campaign of France and German is driven his stockpiles even lower and that he'll run out of oil before reaching Russia's second capital.

Oh well ... I can hope at least ...

I do know that there's no reason to leave anything on the table so I'm throwing everything that I reasonably can at him short of being reckless.

Yeah I don't think it's 100% over, but man he has the advantage for sure.

I agree with jj, that's a huge German Army your facing. Any chance you can open up another front? Southern France, Italy possibly if not cross channel. I think that'd be the only way to get some of those German units diverted from the Russian front. Just my 2cents. Either way its been an awesome AAR!

Remember that you haven't lost even if you lose Omsk. The German units so far east will need some time to get to the west because they're outside rail supply range.

But this requires that you land in force in western Europe (from Denmark to France) and try to dash towards Hamburg and Berlin before the newly built German units can fend off your forces until the eastern German units arrive.

If Joe is clever then he should have started building only for the west now so he can have a healthy reserve there before you land. He has enough forces to take Omsk already due to better tech etc. unless you make a miracle and link up the southern units with the rest.

You have a trick up your sleeve there to speed up the link up. It's possible to put units on transports near Baku and land behind the German lines, but you won't have naval supply so you better use these units to help breaking the German line or move into empty hexes behind the line almost like partisans.

A little bit of a crazy suggestion, but you might try sending a couple corps on an amphibious invasion in the Caspian sea to the area north of Grozny and south of Astrakhan. You won't be able to supply them after landing, but - if timed right - it could speed an advance to Astrakhan by a few turns about the time that you are close to taking Grozny (and I think you are pretty close right now).

Again, a little crazy - but I thought I'd mention it.

I'm not so sure that I'm a huge fan of the amphibs due to the 8 PP it costs to load up.

May 23, 1943. What is Presidential Directive 43-3? And what is Operation Left Hook?

Operation Left Hook is the code name for the operation that Eisenhower and his staff are planning to meet Presidential Directive 43-3. Eisenhower was heard saying, "Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures".

June 12, 1943. The Noose Tightens in Russia. Stalemate in the Caucasus. Allied Bombing Campaign Continues. Losses Are Heavy. Need for Rest, Replacements and Upgrades.

My invasion of France will cut it close with respect to the on start of winter; but I should have no problem there. My problems will come from the 11 known German u-boat flotillas and 1 Italian submarine flotilla operating in the the Atlantic. Allied air in the UK is really beat up. I need to repair, upgrade and rest.

Joe sure has a lot of firepower tied up in Urals and in the Caucasus. He's definitely going for the knockout. Ironically, this gives me the only chance to win that I have as small as that is. Most likely though Joe will knock Russia out and my landing in France will either be contained or driven back into the sea.