GC Barbarossa to Berlin

[RVallant]

Looking good. I handled Korsun in a different way, it just goes to show how different tactics work in this game.

I agree that Korsun Breakout looks... tricky to say the least. Good luck!

[Cerberus51]

Korsun Breakout


Quite interesting. Break through the dug in Russian units nearby,, then blast through the hordes of tanks on the plains beyond. No real problems as it turned out. I had thought of several cunning plans but in the event, by the time I had eliminated the units defending the initial ground to be taken the Russian hordes had overrun the centre of the map and were heading for me. So the smart strategies went out the window and it became the usual killing ground slugging match. I took a lot of armour which made the first step harder but the rest easier. For infantry I took all 6 Pioniere, Oleh Dir (still a 43 Gebirgs) and my 2 SE Grenadiers. It was just enough.

Unlike RVallant's experience in his AAR, I was fortunate with the weather as it cleared to bright skies and no snow towards the last few turns. So much can turn on what weather you get on a couple of critical turns. I gained a DV on turn 15 fairly easily. When I peeked at the map from the exit screen the last group of armour (centre bottom of map) had not moved, presumably waiting for a time trigger (I had been careful to keep away from the objective nearest them to avoid triggering anything in that area prematurely. What I really took notice of was that, whilst most of the Russian armour had been the usual American mediocrity, T-34-43's, KV-1's and smaller stuff there had been an IS-1 and a KV-85 and now an IS-2. That is getting pretty serious!

Having had enough of snow and ice I chose to help the Romanian's, so it's off southwards to Jassy Kishinev. This is all new to me so I have no idea whether that is a good or a bad choice. I do still have the expensive habit of taking reinforcements during scenarios and at the start of the next scenario, after post battle repairs and various other expenses, this one left me down over 1500 prestige. Against that I now have 6 shiny new Panther G models to play with and my new fighter hero has traded his rather outdated Me109G in for a nice new K model (higher initiative and air attack - looks good).

I have had a quick look at the deployment map for Kishinev but not deployed any units (so I don't know where the Russians are) and I imagine phase 1 will be the Romanians being slaughtered while I in turn slaughter the Russians in front of me.

[RVallant]

Korsun Breakout


Unlike RVallant's experience in his AAR, I was fortunate with the weather as it cleared to bright skies and no snow towards the last few turns.

I went Narva, so I'll be interested to see how you get on in Romania and how different it is.

[Cerberus51]

Jassy Kishinev

Well that was a surprise. I had thought the Romanians would at least slow the Russians down in the west whilst I destroyed them to the north of my deployment areas and in the centre. How wrong can you be?

The Romanians were simply overrun. I made good progress in the centre but north of my units there was almost nothing. So by turn 5 the Romanians were clearly going to be wiped out within 2 or 3 turns, leaving a huge number of Russian units to pour southwards and I had 1/3 of my ground units heading away from the action.

It was much too late to get the easternmost units to where it mattered so I have reluctantly had to restart. Taking the centre is clearly essential but it will require everything I can put on the map to deal with the Russians I can see, let alone any friends who are late to the party. I suspect there are Russian reserves along the top of the map but they should not be an issue for the first half of the scenario.

The clue to all this is that there are no objectives east of the major river - so you can abandon that area. Well, at least I have learned something new to look out for. Let's see how the restart goes.

[RVallant]

Ouch. Yeah, the Romanians are still using 1939 infantry attributes aren't they? Just a wet paper at that point.

[Cerberus51]

Jassy Kishinev

Got it at the second attempt. Getting the deployment wrong here really hurts. Until turn 10 the Soviets mainly attack in the Romanian sector on the Western half of the map. I committed 2 of my kampfgruppe to that sector whilst the third mopped up the few Russian units north of the deployment area and then deployed to meet the expected Russian second wave. In the West all went fairly well initially. To keep damage to a minimum I was fairly cautious but the initial Russian units were all older stuff, too much for the Romanians but easy kills for my units.

On turn 10 I spotted movement across the major river on the Eastern side of the map. A Russian force with a KV-85 and several T-34/85's plus infantry in half tracks was bypassing my Easternmost units and looked dangerous. At the same time another group of Russian units was advancing in the centre. I had not quite eliminated the initial Russian units but had to shift units to deal with these new threats. My plans for minimising damage went seriously awry at this point. The newer Russian tanks were quite tough and they had several of those annoying SPAAG's which continually picked away at my air units taking a couple of points off each time. The centre was held without too much trouble but in the East I had to rapidly move southwards, securing the river crossing points. Eventually all the Russians were eliminated and I occupied the last objective on the last turn for a DV.

Prestige wise this was a good scenario for me. I started with 28758 pp and at the start of Poltava, after repairing all units back to strength I have 33321 pp. A very good thing as it turns out as there are a host of upgrade units now available.

Upgrades


I have taken FW190G's for Lent and Rudel. Expensive but I always intended to do that and, as the Me410's are starting to look vulnerable, necessary. I am not convinced by the FW190A to D-9 upgrade. An improvement in air attack at the expense of several other stats does not look attractive.

I may upgrade my 2 Sdkfz 7/2's to Mobelwagens but will think about that one. The Jagdpanther at full cost does not seem worthwhile to replace the Elefants that are still serving me well (and they have higher defence which is increasingly important).

The big decision is Tiger 2's. I am going to replace 3 of my Tiger 1's, the question is whether to upgrade the 3 core units, all of which have awarded heroes, or the 3 SE units, which as I understand it will avoid these very expensive units hitting the soft cap.

Once I have done the upgrades it is Poltava next, which looks very interesting.

[goose_2]

The big decision is Tiger 2's. I am going to replace 3 of my Tiger 1's, the question is whether to upgrade the 3 core units, all of which have awarded heroes, or the 3 SE units, which as I understand it will avoid these very expensive units hitting the soft cap.

Once I have done the upgrades it is Poltava next, which looks very interesting.

Yes upgrade the SE Units as they are not effected by the Soft Cap

[Cerberus51]

[quote=goose_2 post_id=802675 time=1566909211 user_id=80537

Yes upgrade the SE Units as they are not effected by the Soft Cap
[/quote]

Thanks for that. I have done so.

I have taken the Mobelwagen upgrade for the tracked movement and higher defence. I expect to be making more use of these from now on. I have decided to stick with all 4 Elefants (I have no other AT to upgrade) so I will not be getting Jagdpanthers (and probably not any Jagdtigers either).

Initial deployment done for Poltava. I have not brought any bridging units with me as I hope the two provided will be sufficient. Likewise no recon as four are present. So I have 4 Panthers and a +1 move Elefant, a mix of Gebirgs and Grenadiers for infantry, both Mobelwagens and 6 SP Art. I also have all my SE units - 2 Grenadiers, 2 Panthers and now 3 King Tigers. There seem to be 5 armouries to capture to get the necessary AA and plenty of time. We shall see.

[RVallant]

Poltava was fun, enjoy it. No need to bring extra bridging units.

[Cerberus51]

Poltava

Poltava was indeed fun. I was quite aggressive and it is pretty straightforward. I had a look at the map after getting a DV on turn 17 and the hordes of Russian units around 3 edges of the map look scary but most enemy units never move.

I could have finished a couple of turns earlier but with no attacks coming in I held back on occupying the last objective until I captured the fifth armoury. Very nice haul. Five armouries, each yielding 2 AA units, one for your core and one auxiliary. So I gained 2 x 8.8's, 1 x 12.8, a wirbelwind and a mobelwagen.

Heading into Mogilev, after replacements, I gained just over 1300 pp, giving me 29058. I now have 82 core units plus 7 SE. Ridiculous but I expect to begin disbanding for prestige soon.

[Cerberus51]

Mogilev

I disbanded some units, mostly older air and 3 PzIII's, bringing me up to 33549 pp with 70 core units plus 7 SE. There are still a few more I expect to drop but I am now fairly happy I will have enough prestige.

Held Mogilev and the northern and southern crossings, the Russians obligingly piled onto the bridges and were duly massacred. Broke across north and south around turn 6 and squeezed the centre down then headed for the two objectives deeper in enemy territory, leaving the Mogilev force to mop up. A bit hairy for a couple of turns as the last enemy units counterattacked my northern group but King Tiger's are top dog right now. In the south it was easier as the Russian armour headed for the crossing and were stopped dead by the 88 I had left in AT mode on the western bank of the river. A couple of panzers were enough to wipe them out.

Plenty of Russians in the air but 3 88's and a 12.8 knocked their fighters down to easy kills for my fighters and that left their bombers as target practice.

A fairly routine DV and a gain of another 2558 pp at deployment for Babruysk.

[Elkarlo]

Jassay is definitely interesting. I had a flying column rush to the Romanian area. They were folding basically after one solid turn of contact. Even entrenched on Hills T34s would hit for 5-7 damage, even with artillery support.
Def a fun scenario. Makes you respect the Soviets, as they now always have a massive counter attack in the making

[Cerberus51]

Babruysk

Had to restart this one. Initially I set up to be aggressive as I thought I could roll over the Soviets. However I was wrong. They are starting to get the good stuff (T34/85's and IS's) in numbers now and all +3 str so Panthers are starting to struggle. Restarting in a deeper defensive position allowed me to stop the first attacks. The second wave in the north nearly caught me but I managed to fall back and they fragmented and I was able to eliminate that group and begin to squeeze the huge number of Russians piled up in front of Babruysk. The south is a little more difficult as, if you want a decisive, you need to take an airfield deep in Soviet territory so timing when to break off and which units to send for this objective is critical, particularly as I needed to leave some units to press the Russians facing Babruysk from the south. I did manage a DV on the last turn, notwithstanding the IS-2 that came out of the shadows.

Despite the DV I actually lost prestige here. After OS I started with 34360 and restoring the same level of OS going into Minsk 44 I have 33727. It could have been worse. The hits to my armour I expected but I really, really hate those damned SPAAG's that keep knocking a couple of points at a time off my air units. I had to use the air units and winding them back up to the desired OS was expensive.

Still hanging in but this is starting to get hard.

[RVallant]

I remember Babruysk and it was a glorious day for AA units. Was better to consider using fighters in a more defensive role from that point on, keeping them behind/over friendly territory and trying to mop up anything that comes over your own units whilst staying out of Soviet AA range. They just bleed your prestige otherwise, something I was very aware of in my own campaign.

Not too long until you can get your hands on the Schwalbe! A superb plane if I do say so, but they too, suffer from the issue of ground AA.

Keep going! I want to see if you dislike Budapest as much as I did!

[goose_2]

Keep going! I want to see if you dislike Budapest as much as I did!

Budapest 44 or Budapest 45?

I am still trying to slog through Budapest 45 on Manstein and man are my arms tired.

[Cerberus51]

I remember Babruysk and it was a glorious day for AA units. Was better to consider using fighters in a more defensive role from that point on, keeping them behind/over friendly territory and trying to mop up anything that comes over your own units whilst staying out of Soviet AA range. They just bleed your prestige otherwise, something I was very aware of in my own campaign.

Not too long until you can get your hands on the Schwalbe! A superb plane if I do say so, but they too, suffer from the issue of ground AA.

Keep going! I want to see if you dislike Budapest as much as I did!

Yes, I definitely need to keep all my air units away from those damned SPAAG's. I almost get more satisfaction out of killing one than taking down an IS-2.

I am planning to buy 2 Schwalbe. One for Otto Kittel (currently in a FW190A) and one for Gerhard Barkhorn (currently in a Bf109K).

I will give you my considered opinion on Budapest as soon as I have played it.

[RVallant]

Keep going! I want to see if you dislike Budapest as much as I did!

Budapest 44 or Budapest 45?

I am still trying to slog through Budapest 45 on Manstein and man are my arms tired.

I disliked '44. Didn't find '45 too bad.

[goose_2]

Keep going! I want to see if you dislike Budapest as much as I did!

Budapest 44 or Budapest 45?

I am still trying to slog through Budapest 45 on Manstein and man are my arms tired.

I disliked '44. Didn't find '45 too bad.

Interesting...It has been so long since I played 44 Budapest on Manstein...I am on the last 3 days of Budapest 45...super pleased with most of what happened in this battle. Hard to believe I am almost done with the Manstein playthrough as 4 more Scenarios left.

[Cerberus51]

Minsk 44

Took me a while to finish this one. Real life has been taking over for the last few days.

This was the inevitable point where my run of unbroken DV's stretching back to Poland in 39 came to an end. I was not able to take the most distant objective in the NE of the map in the time so only got the win.

The scenario was fairy straightforward. A line of Grenadiers and Pioniere on a N-S axis through the middle of Minsk, backed by artillery and AA proved to be a killing ground for the Russian units, air, infantry and armoured. I split the majority of my mobile forces into 2 equal groups, one to the N and one to the S. Dealt with the initial attacks and gradually wore the Russians down. Just past the halfway point I began to move over to offensive operations rather than just local counterattacks. I cleared Minsk and took everything in the SE quadrant of the map. I also started to move NE then what turned out to be the last group of enemy units came from that direction. Dealing with them took just a little too long and, although there were very few Russian units left, I just ran out of time to take the last objective.

Effectively I lost prestige again on this one. Starting with 33727, I have 34068 going into Vilna. However I have not overstrengthed quite as much as I had starting Minsk 44 and if I were to do so I would have less prestige. I did pick up a KV-85 for taking a city in the SE of the map and got some prestige back for disbanding it (I can't even deploy all my own panzers so carrying a captured unit with no experience is of no use).

The deployment map for Vilna is huge. It is not going to be possible to defend it all so I am planning to use mobile groups to hunt down the enemy units.

[RVallant]

Good luck. Vilna was one of my favourite scenarios, it's just all round fun.