Limited advance paying dividends

Weasel · 03-15-2017, 01:20 PM,

So after my first attempt at the grand campaign, and losing 6 panzer divisions to blizzard, I decided to try a new strategy, one of limited advance. In the north AGN advanced to Leningrad, I failed to take the main city due to messing around trying to capture too many Russian units. In the center AGC advanced to the Dneper and began to dig in around the last week of September. In the south AGS capture Kiev and Odessa and also dug in along that line around the same time. The results?, come the blizzard 90% of my units were dug in to level 2 or 3 and the others at level 1. All Russian attacks have failed to the game date of 15 January, with a total of 4 divisions being pushed back a single hex in that time frame but no breakthroughs have occurred. Infantry losses to cold are minimal, I am losing about 20K per turn but getting back 40K. Come spring I should be in a great position to capture Leningrad and continue the attack. Of course there are going to be far more Red units to fight but I will once again conduct an encirclement battle. To date I have destroyed about 169 divisions and I have about 40 more cut off north of Riga, I have not lost a unit yet. Even in the blizzard I am able to attack and force them to surrender.

I guess I am sort of conducting a "bite and hold" battle.

AGN

[Image: AGN.jpg]

AGC

AGS

Aces8 · 03-17-2017, 05:03 PM,

Good Luck taking Leningrad!

Gris · (This post was last modified: 03-18-2017, 12:21 AM by Gris.)

Well done! With each game more and more start coming together.

Leningrad ; Use HQ buildup and attached Pioneers to Infantry units. Take the 4th Panzer to do an flank around the lakes to isolate the city by taking the ports Kobona (85,15), Navaya Ladoga (87,15), and Sviritsa (90,12). Look at rule 20.4.1.2. Even if you have to take him hex by hex he will fall. The fighting will be heavy, as Aces8 said, Good luck!

Weasel · 03-19-2017, 09:04 AM,

I will do my best to take L once the mud clears, isolating it from supply.

Weasel · 03-27-2017, 07:32 AM,

Well the blizzard is over and my units are basically the exact same as when it started. However, the Soviets lost 59 divisions in that time frame and they have a huge amount still cut off as you can see from the below diagram, my estimation is another 70 units. I read online in v1.3 that the Dneper dig in doesn't work but obviously enough has changed to allow it too. I also encountered my first Soviet amphibious landing near Odessa, but they were easily routed.

[Image: cut%20off%20reds.jpg]

Gris · 03-27-2017, 11:53 AM,

Hi Weasel,

Nice pocket! Well done surviving the Blizzard. I have ran in the same thing with some of the online strategy. With the number of patches, things change frequently.

So with the Dneper Dig in, was it a second line formed behind the first, or where you able to hold one line? Is it in the previous pictures?

Also from your picture I see many construction units. Do you have these attached to Army Group levels and above? Or are these units deploying from Army-Corps level? In my current game, the Soviets construction units were deploying from Fronts (Army Group), but at Army, they just sit. I moved them back up to Front level and now the rail repair is moving forward in the Blizzard. Are you seeing the same thing for the Axis? Curious since I have not tried Axis with the 1.09 patch yet.

Weasel · 03-27-2017, 12:05 PM,

Hi; The Dneper line was my only line which I began to dig around end September, but it was in depth of 2-3 hexes. I had some forward units across the river but they were pulled back once the blizzard hit. My line was as the first pictures. Panzer and mechanized units were all pulled out of the line in October and refitted and then spread across the front to counter attack any holes, which never happened. The construction units are all attached to army groups or OKH and the entire map is 100% Axis railroad now.

I think I am going to have to disband some Romanian divisions so I can put more German units into the south, my CP is at a negative right now and I have 12 German divisions just sitting around Berlin.

My Luftwaffe has suffered though, I believe I am at about 1800 aircraft lost to Feb 42, and the Soviets at 11K. The blizzard causes lots of crashes I guess.

I noticed that even though the Soviets have been isolated for 10 turns they are still able to move around freely, my isolated Germans can't do that.

Gris · 03-27-2017, 12:16 PM,

(03-27-2017, 12:05 PM)Weasel Wrote: Hi; The Dneper line was my only line which I began to dig around end September, but it was in depth of 2-3 hexes. I had some forward units across the river but they were pulled back once the blizzard hit. My line was as the first pictures. Panzer and mechanized units were all pulled out of the line in October and refitted and then spread across the front to counter attack any holes, which never happened. The construction units are all attached to army groups or OKH and the entire map is 100% Axis railroad now.

I think I am going to have to disband some Romanian divisions so I can put more German units into the south, my CP is at a negative right now and I have 12 German divisions just sitting around Berlin.

My Luftwaffe has suffered though, I believe I am at about 1800 aircraft lost to Feb 42, and the Soviets at 11K. The blizzard causes lots of crashes I guess.

I noticed that even though the Soviets have been isolated for 10 turns they are still able to move around freely, my isolated Germans can't do that.

Good info, thanks for the feedback. I am guessing the Soviets are all foot units trying to breakout? One strategy is to send the Luftwaffe to the Reserve to sit out the winter.