Slitherine

yes , I really did not realize about it . I thought I can only own the port when I conquer Baku ! If I knew this ,hehehe .........

This is a very strange game! Interesting, though!

Turn 72. July 22, 1943
Starting with the bad news on the Russian Front

Caucasus
Baku Falls!


The German Corp and Hungarian Corp kill the Russian Guard Corp and capture Baku! Badly damage German Mech comes ashore. German Mech from the main body kills a garrison and moves one hex forward. Still one hex separates German land forces and the amphibious forces.




Stalingrad Front:


Moscow Front:
Germans Kill, one Guard Corp, one regular Corp and one garrison. Russian fighters take a beating.


Germans repair their three Corps before the move on Petrozavodsk.


West
Germans move to defend Paris.


Italy


Russian Move
Two Russian TACs from the double bomb the Hungarian Corp in Baku and Russian Guard Mech disembarks and attacks Baku and two Russian Corps also attack Baku and Baku is recaptured! I was so happy that I sent my move and forgot to take the screen shots before I sent it.
The German Corp on the oil wells was double bomb by long range SACs. The German Mech at one step was bombed and attacked and killed.

On the Moscow front, Moscow is in trouble! Stalingrad in abandoned, everything from Stalingrad is railed to Moscow. The Russians have to build more garrisons to save Moscow, always a sign of desperation, I hate it, I'm back to making garrisons and it's late summer of 43! hence I can not repair my fighters, all fighters are grounded on the Moscow front.

Turn 73. August 11, 1943

Germans all out attack on the Moscow Front and it is punishing! The Germans try to out flank the Russians east of Ryazan. If you want to defend Moscow, you can never let the Germans out flank you!


Attack towards Petrozavodsk.


Caucasus
Germans Mech link up with the amphibious forces, but there is only one German Corp alive on the oil well of the three units that landed.




Italians move towards an abandon Stalingrad.


Russian Move:

Caucasus
The Germans have reach to far in the Caucasus. Russians double bomb the German Corp on the oil wells and Russian Guard Mech and infantry kill it and recapture the two oil wells. Now that the German main body has linked up, there is nothing left of the amphibious forces. In my own mind I always had a gentleman's rule of not bring the Allies air force to the Caucasus, I consider it a bit of a cheat, Allies air force helping out the Russians. But it is late 43 and Moscow is on the ropes so I violated my own rule a little bit; It's a bit late but the UK brings in one fighter and one SAC to the Caucasus.


I rail a paratrooper from Moscow back to Stalingrad, a change of mind.


Moscow, Eastern Flak defended by Oka river line. Garrisons defend Moscow west flank. A pile of grounded Russian Fighter at 6 and 7 steps, I can not afford to repair, I make more garrisons.




Italy


West

Turn 74. August 31, 1943

Germans reinforce Paris.


Germans called off the attack on Petrozavodsk and Finn's make a move for Belomorsk.


Two Hexes south off Moscow the Germans kill four Russian units; two Russian Corps, one garrison and one Guard Mech ouch! The Germans give up on the flanking maneuver east of Ryazan. I certainly didn't think the Summer of 1943 would be so hard on the Russians, The Germans basically just smashed the Russians in the Center.


Stalingrad is encircled by the Italians and a German Corp and Romania Corp are also brought in to help finish off the entrenched Russian para.


The only good news is in the Caucasus, it looks like the Baku campaign is over and the German Mech's are trying to get out alive.


Russian move:
Moscow Front: Russian Fighters stay grounded, no PP for repair.






Delaying moves around Stalingrad.


I don't think the Moscow front will have enough strength to launch a counter attack so Guard Armor is railed to Saratov, to reconquer Stalingrad.


In the Caucasus Russian double bomb and attack and kill the German Mech that could not retreat.


bigger view of the wide open space


Italy


West

Turn 75. September 20, 1943

German Move:

Germans defense of Paris


Not wanting to get caught in the open in the approaching winter the Germans retreat across the Russian front.


Russian para dies and Stalingrad falls, Bryansk falls, but Russian para hold Kiev at 3 steps.


German Mech retreat.



Russian move: Russians chase the retreating German Mech but no attacks.


not much


I would like to be aggressive and chase the retreating Germans but the Moscow front has be shattered, it was a terrible Summer for the Moscow front. The Garrisons are to weak and to slow to attack the retreating Germans and the Mech can not catch the retreating units through the forest so the best I can do is Rail Guard Mech from Moscow to Novogrod.




The West:


Southern France and Vichy


Med: The Allies will hopefully declare war on Vichy next turn.


Amps get ready, next to open Italy cities?

Excuse me ! What is "Amps" ?

Excuse my poor English, it should be:
Amphibious units get ready, next to open Italian cities? (Well they really are transports)

Turn 76. October 10, 1943

end of summer of 43 Casualties


End of Winter 42/43


Math
German Casualties: Infantry 177 (7) Mech 102 (5) Air 170 (0)
Infantry 344 (11) Mech 165 (7) Air 245 (0)
Germans lost 4 Infantry units, 2 Mech, and lost 75 air points, in the Summer of 43 Campaign.

Russian Casualties: Infantry 987 (69) Mech 136 (4) Air 110 (0)
Infantry 1684 (124) Mech 148 (5) Air 193 (0)
Russians lost 55 Infantry units and 1 Guard Mech no Armor and 83 air points.
So the air battle was Russian lost 83 and the Germans lost 75 air points, remember a lot of Russian land units shot up German planes with AA.
Russian lost 55 infantry units and were smashed as the Germans approached Moscow, though a lot were garrisons, it was a very painful Summer for the Russians, worse than the Summer of 41 or the Summer of 42.

German Move:
Germans retreat across the Russian front. Back to the Dnepr again?


Caucasus, Germans kill a Russian Corp in the Mountains with Mech and TAC attacks but do not move into the mountian hex, because the German Mechs are interested in retreating.


Germans capture Kiev.


Germans counter attack in France and kill a English Mech.


Axis fill the open Italian cities with garrisons.


Allies move:
Allies declared war on Vichy and capture Algiers and Tunis in North Africa.




In southern France; Nice and Marseilles are captured, also American paratroopers capture the Italian city of Turin.


Slowly bring in more material into France.


Greece is static.


Russian Move:
Russian Guards go on the offense out of Novgorod and badly damage two German Corps.


Russian garrisons reclaim some territory in front of Moscow.


Russian Guard Armor takes an empty Voronezh.


Russian Corp moves into the mountain hex and replaces the dead Russian Corp to prevent the German Mechs from railing away.

Turn 77. October 30, 1943
Fair Weather across the board

German move:
Luftwaffe clears out of the Caucasus, Germans rail out as much as they can and retreat with the units who can not rail out.


Russian Infantry tries to follow the retreating Germans


German Corp at Stalingrad, can not rail out, decides to walk back.


One Guard Armor attacks Stalingrad.


Germans counter attack in the North, killing a Russian Guard Corp and damaging a second Russian Guard Corp. Three Russian Fighters engage Axis Fighters.


Afraid of the Luftwaffe coming in from the Caucasus the Russians call off the Northern offense.


Finland


Finland,Russian move


France


Italy, Germans bring in a Mech and Corp to defend Northern Italy


Allied Tacs heavily bomb the new German forces in Northern Italy, and bring in a second Paratrooper unit. Two CVs and a sub sink the Italian transport in the port of Genoa.

Turn 78. November 19, 1943
Mud across the board.

German Move:
Caucasus, Germans can not rail out, winter is coming and they are trapped, it's not called Stalingrad it's call the Battle of Baku and it is a year later. Looks like two German Mech and two German Corps trapped.


Russian move in the Caucasus,


North


Russians move




Center


Russians recapture Stalingrad


West


Med

failure of the Baku campaign was the U turn point of this WAR

Turn 79. December 9, 1943
Severe Winter in Russia, Winter in the West.

Germans retreat across Russia.
North


Center


South




The Luftwaffe arrives in the West!



Russian Moves

North


Center, across the Dneper! Germans appear to retreat further back.


South


and the German Sixth Army, from the Battle of Baku


Stalemate on the Western Front continues.


Italian garrisons defend Milan.


American amphibious invade Corsica and Sardinia


Greece is also static


The West


Free French heading to Sicily by transports

Turn 80. December 29, 1943
Severe Winter in Russia, Winter in the West

Italy


Cut off Sicily from Italy with landing two garrisons in the toe of the Italy boot. A Corp lands in Sicily.


Stalemate in the West


Russia Front, Having trouble finding Germans to attack in the Russian Severe Winter
North




Center


South, German Sixth Army cut off.

Turn 81. January 18, 1944
Severe Winter in Russia, Winter in the West

Germans in the East are retreating as fast as they can.


Germans in the West attack (winter), mainly with Italians, and injure two English Mech and rail two German Armour in a flanking maneuver!


Med, Vichy BB strikes an American transport. Reinforce Messina with a transport.


Allies in the West
Swap out the two injured Mech


Double bomb the two German Armor.


Land another Mech and Corp in Sicily. March south down the island in Sardinia.




Russians advance as fast as they can in severe winter.


Continue to bomb the Sixth Army

The Red Army seems very weak. It may be tough to make much progress in 1944.

Cybvep wrote:The Red Army seems very weak. It may be tough to make much progress in 1944.

I know what your talking about, I look at the AARs by Plaid and Volk and then I look at my Red Army in this game and it does look weak. Why, maybe so may Russians have been killed? I didn't really think so but maybe. I've held Moscow Leningrad all game, I lost Stalingrad for probably no more than 3 turns in each Summer 41, 42 and 43, I actually held Kiev for almost all of 43. I lost two oil wells next to Baku for two or three turns, and Baku for just one turn. So the production points should not be that low.

The German have hit the Russians hard but the Russian have held out well, only some poor Russian decisions in the Summer of 43 got the Russians in trouble. On turn 73 August 11, 1943 I thought the Russians on the Moscow front were on the ropes. I thought if the Germans continued to all out attack on the Moscow front and brought in some of the German TACs from the Caucus it would be over for the Russians. But similarly the Germans have played very defensively by retreating many turns before the end of the summer and true to form the Germans started retreating on turn 74 and have been retreating ever sense. This has given the Russian a breather, but it looks like there will be no fighting on the Russian front this winter, just German retreating. So the Red Army is weak, but there is no need for them to be strong, because the Germans are retreating faster than the Russians can advance and the Russians are gaining in strength every turn.

Turn 82. February 7, 1944

Severe Winter in Russia, Mud in the West

Poland / Belarus


South


Sixth Army


West
The Italians are not long for this world and start an all out Italian attack. Germans rail in more heavy flanking forces, trouble is brewing on the Western Front!


In France we can not retreat it is mud! Allies must hold the line! Double bomb both German Tanks to 0 effectiveness.




Med
Capture Cagliari on Sardinia.


Capture Palermo on Sicily. That's it for the Italians, they surrender! Hopefully that will re-leave some pressure in France.


West


Russian Front

Turn 83. February 27, 1944

Regular Winter in Russia, Fair in the West

The first Fair Weather turn on the Western Front in 1944 and the stalemate on the Western Front in front of Pairs is broken! Both the Germans and Allies have lots of TACs, so it is a nice bonus to move first and the Germans have the initiative and they crush the Allies. The Italians have just surrendered but it does not save the Western Front.

Germans have 15 Fighters
Allies only have 7 Fighters in the UK and have 4 Fighters out of range in the Med. The 4 Allies Fighters in the Med were heading to France, now that Italy has surrendered, but they are to late and do not have the range to fly directly to England.
Germans have 8 TACs and one SAC
So the Germans are able to escort all the TACs missions and double strike the damaged Allied Fighters with Fresh German Fighters, leaving most of the Allied Fighters at 1,2 or 3 Strength!
The German Army with the aid of the Luftwaffe attacks from all sides, it is a Complete disaster for the Allies! Two English Mech are pocketed. It is a brilliant attack!







Allies move:
The Allies have the TACs for a counter attack, but the Allies Fighters were double attacked and must be repaired and placed on sentry because I do not believe the Allies Fighters can withstand a double strike next turn and I don't want to loose them. Sadly the Allies have lost air superiority! Allied TACs are grounded! and pull back out of German Fighter range.
Allied ground forces retreat towards Cherbourg.



Northern Italy
Allied Med Fighters; one Fighter can make it to England, the other three Fighters can not and move to northern Italy and are placed on sentry to try and help in future air superiority missions over France.


Italy


Greece


Russian Front:
The Russian front has been emptied of Germans. With no resistance the Russians advance at top speed, but it is still Winter. It is a very good Strategy, the main problem for the Germans is the two front war, but here you see the Germans fighting them one at a time. In 41, 42, 43 Germans just fight the Russians and in fall 43 abandon the Russian Front and move everything to the West for a Spring 44 offensive, the Russian can not advance that fast it's Winter! (of 44)

Turn 84. March 18, 1944
Regular Winter in Russia, Fair in the West

West, Fair Weather
German Move.
The Luftwaffe has total control of the sky with the Allied Fighters on sentry and drive the Allies into the Sea! A major Defeat for the Allies! With just one German Mech attack Cherbourg is captured killing a full strength English Corp! It appears that the Luftwaffe also attacked five out of the eight Allied Fighters on sentry in England.





Three German units left from the Sixth Army out of supply and about to surrender.


No German defense of Poland


Allied Move.
Five Damage Allied Fighters are repaired, while a total of six Allied Fighters (three from Northern Italy), 9 and 10 strength Allied Fighters attack German TACs and first have to fight their way through German Fighters.


Northern Italy look precarious with the Luftwaffe in control of the sky! The reason the Luftwaffe controls the sky is simply because the Luftwaffe has 15 Fighters, while the Allies only have 11 Fighters. But I do not think the Germans can afford the air force repair bill much longer. A lot of the German TACs and Fighters are at 5, 6 or 7 strength.


Italy




Riga is Liberated.


Caucasus