abukede

Mud is pretty terrible in this game. It hampers everything and I mean supply... readiness... movement... in the north it is very difficult to move at the moment. Winter is much worse. Turn 22. Lots of fighting. I was shocked to discover I got good conditions in the south for air and ground. I immediately took advantage of this good weather. I was able to successfully take Stalino this turn with a combined air/ground assault. I also moved up a number of reinforcements in preparation for a Russian winter offensive. I will try to push the Russians back a bit to give me some breathing room before that winter offensive begins… but I am running out of time. We will enter December shortly… and then everything goes downhill. In the center I was able to take Roslalv and further reduce that pocket. In the process I was able to nail 2 HQs, one level 6 and another 7. After I destroy these two corps I will reorganize my line to prepare for defensive positions. In the North the Finns moved forward surrounding and cutting off a Russian division. The Germans heavily reinforced, brought up additional artillery in preparation for a final push on Leningrad. Should the weather deteriorate further it may prove impossible to take Leningrad this winter. That said I intend to give it a serious effort. I am hoping for no rain or snow next turn… to allow my air to fly. Here is the overall strategic position. I estimate I have at least 3 turns left for effective offensive operations before the weather and conditions really turn sour on me… then the Germans struggle and I mean struggle to hold what they have. We are into the last few turns of this walkthrough. Any questions on gameplay I can answer? As a side note: In a few days I will be conducting a multiplayer AAR/Walkthrough for the massive AoD 1939 World map campaign. I think everyone will be pretty excited about that one!

Turn 21 – Poor weather is the word of the day and a slow slog through the mud. In the South I am struggling to take Stalino mainly because of the weather. The Russians are beginning to push a bit and launched a number of attacks which forced me to repair key units. They even forced back an armor! If I can get the weather to clear I should be able to take Stalino and destabilize the entire Russian position as they will lose their key source of supply in the area. In the center… I am still working to close that pocket which I feel I have pretty much done. The weather is severely impairing operations. I only have a few more turns before operations will pretty much become impossible. I need to wrap up the center and prepare for that. In the North, the Finns were able to take Viipuri… granted using my HQ… but that critical city is mine… and as you can see there is only a corps nearby to try to force me out. I would assume that it is unlikely with no nearby supply source. I used the German navy to bombard Viipuri over the last few turns to reduce the town’s effective supply so that I could overcome the defenders. Take note of that strategy. Fighting in the north is difficult during the best conditions and you need every advantage you can get. You can see the soviet navy is not willing to come out and face the Kriegsmarine. The Finns should be able to exploit this success and begin advancing on Leningrad from the north. You can also see that my forces are now on the gates of Leningrad. Notice the two arty units. Those will be key in knocking down any entrenchments. Should I get good weather the Luftwaffe will add their contribution as well. Just a quick heads-up. With the impending release of AoC, I intend to end this walkthrough in just a few turns… around the time that the weather really gets bad and things turn ugly for the Germans. Why? I’ve shown you a peek at the early part of the game… provided you with a few strategies in how to proceed… really tackle the game… but the rest is up to you! I want everyone reading this epic thread to discover the game in their own way… experiment…… make mistakes… try something different… and succeed on your own. Believe me there are a number of strategies to use with the Germans… mine isn’t the only one.

Turn 20 We are now into the beginning of November and the weather is really starting to hamper my operations. Already I have seen a marked decrease in German combat effectiveness as supply begins to be affected by the deteriorating weather. The time of major offensive drives capturing large tracts of territory is now over. Major offensives are now measured in miles and close at hand objectives. In the south you can see I almost succeeded in capturing Stalino… almost. Soviet defenses have strengthened. Note the Red army tanks in view. These are heavy armor and Siberians. Gulp! You can see the artificial intelligence is preparing an offensive. It likely will not be as effective as those I can expect in the coming turns. Note the Soviet infantry with tech for the first time!!! I also saw a Russian armor this turn with tech! In the center I continue to work to close this pocket… trapping the HQ and infantry. Note the poor weather… what would have taken me a short time to reduce this pocket a couple of months back is now a much more involved process. So here are the Russian losses represented in MPP. 21786 in actual losses. You can also see where Russian income is. This income level will grow over the winter as Soviet Industry rebuilds. Check out the German losses. 9674. Against a player my losses would likely be around 12k at this point in the game. It may not seem like a lot of losses but for the German army these are horrendous losses. Much of my army is understrength and I barely have the capability to maintain my forces where offensive operations are ongoing. Pretty soon I am going to have to cease offensive operations and focus on rebuilding my battered army. The problem will be that the Russians will likely not let me take that break. Check out the unit disparity chart. The Germans have 138 units deployed… but a good chunk of these are on anti-partisan duties. The soviets do not have to worry about partisans… which means a good chunk of their army is on the front lines or hidden just out of view. Increasing numbers of enemy forces, Siberians, Russian units with tech… and deteriorating German supply, morale and readiness translates into a difficult time for the Germans in the coming turns… probably an understatement.

Druken, Yes... the fog of war is on... so those huge empty spaces you see... likely lots of enemy forces hiding and waiting for a chance to spring a surprise offensive on me. As to Amadeus' question... I have not specifically lost any units yet... but I have taken some pretty serious casualties... which I will post some screen shots on when I do my next turn. I have been playing a very conservative game... likely I will shortly begin to lose entire units as the soviets are getting more organized. I almost lost a couple last turn.

Okay... turn 19... I was pretty socked in with mud this turn. I was able to conduct a few attacks, bagging an HQ and several armies. I was also able to take Stalino. The Finns also conducted major attacks in the north nearly taking Virpurrii. I took heavy casualties with my assaults this turn... primarily due to the mud. I am also on the gates of Moscow. There was not much movement this turn... so only one image. I noted where Moscow is located. You can see my units in the south are not that far from it. That said... Moscow is an objective for the Spring. We are almost into November... and I have to race to capture Leningrad and Stalino. Soviet numbers jumped this turn reaching 92units.... more Siberians arrived too. Things are about to get very difficult for me.

I have been doing a lot of traveling for work this week. I hope to be able to get a turn in tonight and several this weekend.

Turn 18 and it is the middle of October. I feel I am making good progress now. Again… surprise surprise… there was a lot of fighting… however it was mostly one sided as the Soviets are in complete disarray. Soviet numbers broke 80 for the first time in a while… which is does not bode well for me. I need to keep destroying Soviet units faster than they can be replaced. In the South I took a brief strategic pause… next turn my offensive will strike southward toward Stalino. Once Stalino is secured, I will push eastward toward Rostov and then Stalingrad… though likely I will stop my advance well before Stalingrad sometime in winter. In the center you can see a real interesting situation has developed. I have effectively trapped 2 HQs and a number of other units are in a serious position, all with low supply. Reducing this pocket will hold up my advance on Moscow by a couple turns. I feel it is well worth it… especially since I have already made the decision to make Leningrad my main objective and then shoot for Moscow in 42. In the North, my two offensives are close to coming together for the assault on Leningrad. Note the 2 arties in the picture. These will be critical to reducing the enemy defenses around Leningrad. I may also shortly concentrate my air force in the north to support this key objective. Also note the Finnish preparations. The Finns will begin assaulting Soviet positions next turn. If I can take Leningrad it will free the Finnish army, which when fully built is quite large. Losing Leningrad can be potentially a catastrophic loss for Soviet defenses. More on this later. A look at the strategic map… note all of the units in the very rear… these are new builds which have begun arriving in large numbers. The Germans and minors now have 134 units deployed to the Soviet 84. I estimate the soviets are deploying at least 12 units a turn now… so to keep the current disparity I need to destroy at least 12 each turn. The problem I am facing is that with the coming winter the Germans get hit hard… and I mean hard… supply, losses, etc. And that does not even take into effect the Soviet winter offensive!!! It is very easy for the Soviets to rapidly outpace the Germans with units on the field. Likely by spring the Soviets will have more units deployed than the Germans. I am doing everything I can to keep that from happening. Taking Leningrad will help with that effort. Still no Siberians sighted.

Turn 17 Heavy fighting this turn… though the Soviets are in near complete disorder across much of the map. I do not expect this condition to last long. In the South you can see I was able to take three my objectives this turn… the three cities marked. Kursk was a bonus… I was expecting to take it next turn… but Kharkov fell so easily that I decided to take a risk and shoot for it. You can see there was heavy fighting for the city of Kursk. I may pause a turn before going for Stalino, but it really depends on the tactical situation. Regardless this was a huge blow to Russian production and will prove to be a nice boost to the Germans. In the center, Smolensk fell. As you can see mud arrived this turn… the weather is beginning to turn and it slowed both supply and movement. That said the Soviet forces around Smolensk are in trouble. In the north… the mud slowed me down a bit there too. Hopefully conditions will improve so I can continue my advance on Leningrad. The Finns have been slowly preparing an offensive. I hope to time it to begin as the Germans begin their final assault. Tech wise… I was rewarded with Armor 1 and Anti-Air 1. Both critical techs and they arrived early!!! I may push ahead with some of my armor this turn, without stopping to upgrade them… opting to upgrade later when conditions are poor and there is little fighting. I will have to see what develops on the Russian turn. Still worrying are the missing Siberians and the Soviets received another shipment of them this turn. The war is clearly going into 42... and an assault on Moscow is unlikely. I am opting for Leningrad instead. Shortly things will get desperate for the Germans and I need to prepare for that... more later.

Strat, Forgot to answer you on the diplomacy. Yes the Italian and the German diplomatic efforts weigh the same. Compared to other SC games it is a much smaller chance of success. Each Chit represents just a 1% chance. A diplomatic approach is a long haul effort and seemingly takes forever. abu

Strat, Yeah... the Russians are in trouble around Smolensk. I am hoping there is very little waiting in front of Moscow... however experience has taught me different. I am confident there is a good sized force waiting there... and more concerning are the missing Siberians... I have yet to see them in the field. The Russians have gotten two shipments of them with more coming. I think I will either find them in front of Moscow or near Leningrad. These are very dangerous units... to make matters worse last turn saw the beginning of a rebuilding of Soviet morale. The allies opened up a southern lend lease route... winter is coming and when it arrives German supply vanishes nearly overnight. I need to take those production cities in the South quick... and create a buffer to hold off the Soviet winter offensive... (more on this later) I hope you are enjoying the walkthrough. Best regards, abu

Turn 16. The Soviets are beginning to get loads of reinforcements now and are managing to keep up with the number of units I am killing per turn. Once their patriotic funding runs out… it will be harder for them to do that, but it will also be much more difficult for me as winter will be arriving around that same time. In the south I am making fantastic progress with my offensive. Later when you look at the strategic map you will get a better sense for that. I was able to nail another Russian bomber this turn as well. It is getting more difficult for the soviet player to maintain lines. The front is very large. In the center I have isolated the units around Smolensk by capturing the railhead at Bryansk. The only way out is to walk. The Soviets have put up one heck of a defense around Smolensk but after several turns of fighting it is beginning to crumble and will soon become untenable. In the North I am beginning to make good progress and expect to be on Leningrad’s doorstep by the middle of October. It is the middle of September currently. The Italians are purchasing a diplomatic chit for Turkey. Over the next few turns the Germans will begin buying too. I waited until now for a very specific reason. Once soviet patriotic funding runs out it becomes much more difficult for the Soviets to find extra cash to invest in diplomatic adventures… which means that between the Italians and Germans, with any luck, Turkey may swing to my side and join the war in 43 or 44. The Turks arrive with a good sized army… so if you are playing against a player… it creates a lot of additional anxiety when the Axis begin pressuring Turkey and may also bring about a preemptive Soviet invasion of Turkey, opening up all kinds of possibilities depending upon the state of the game… more on this later. As a side note last turn the Soviets invaded and conquered Persia. It is more of an occupation. The strategic position to give you a better picture of what is developing.

Back home… exhausted from the road trip with 4 girls… wife included. Thought I would get in a quick turn. Turn wise there was a lot of fighting in the North and South. I was able to break into the backfield and over-run a Red Air Force tac air. In the south my offensive continued to roll onward. There were a lot of enemy units to kill around Poltava. The Soviets are throwing everything they have in my way to slow me down. Poltava should fall this coming turn… and then its forward to the rich resources just beyond that city. In the North I was able to roll up that line blocking my way and now it appears the road to Leningrad is mostly open or should be next turn. FYI… I have no idea what is just beyond my vision. German reinforcements began arriving this turn. (builds that I made at the beginning of the game.) The Partisan war is also ramping up… more on this later. I will try to get another more detailed turn in later today.

Amadeus, You can't really approach this game unit counting. I know... I did it for the walkthrough because it was a simple way to show the type of units I wanted destroyed. Once we begin approaching winter, German supply begins to suffer the soviets really become dangerous... wait until they start getting tech! Speed wise... I am going very slowly... however my pace is picking up... the Red army is in pieces but is rapidly rebuilding herself... she will be much more dangerous. I am playing 1 level below the most difficult... experience and difficulty wise. Off shortly to drive.

Turn 14 … Beginning of September. My offensive in the south continues onward east! The soviets threw large numbers of cannon fodder in front of me this turn. It looked as if a number of units were fresh from production and had been operated in as speed bumps. I was able to push them aside as I continued my surge forward. I am now north of the defensive positions around Dnepropetrovsk. Shortly any defense of that city will prove untenable. I wanted to show you the economic prizes just within reach. 4 cities and a mine! That translates into 70 MPP of soviet production. I am taking a lot of ground now. I wanted to give you an idea of what is going on in the center. Gomel fell a couple of turns back. My units look a bit scattered but they are shortly about to form up and push eastward. Notice the 2 panzers in the bottom of the picture. These were the two north of Gomel several turns back. They will form up with the panzer to the north and head east. The HQ in the picture is Guderian, one of my best HQs. Take a look at the north. I split the enemy line and should be able to rapidly roll it up. The soviets are suffering horrendous losses. That said significant soviet reinforcements began to deploy this turn, including a batch of transferred Siberians. These Siberian forces continue to arrive in batches through December if I recall. They come with experience and are very dangerous units. Siberian reserves include regular armored units. No more easy light tanks! This is likely to be my last turn for a couple of days. We are driving back to Pennsylvania on Sunday… just as soon as I can I will post another turn. I hope you are enjoying this walkthrough!

For a better view of what the North looks like with the top of the center, here is a better shot. I will need to take a strategic pause next turn to reorganize the center/north forces before beginning my final push on Leningrad. I’ve kicked off my main offensive in the south… so the resources for reorganizing the north are now available. Further to the north in Finland there has been little movement or action. My offensive slammed into Russian defenses hard. I used my medium bombers to de-entrench and demoralize the defensive line east of Kiev and then obliterated it by ground assault. Only the HQ’s stand before me as I have destroyed most of the units they commanded. I expect significant strategic withdrawals. Just to the south, I was able to reach the outskirts of Dnepropetrovsk and captured the first Russian mine. A better view of the overall strategic position. I have marked general directions for my coming offensive drives. I have a long way to go and we just moved into September. I am now on borrowed time.

Soviet forces launched major counter attacks this turn in the center. I was hammered pretty hard by massive airstrikes followed up by ground assaults. Check out what combined air and ground did to this German armor. He held on by the skin of his teeth. When the soviets really get their act together such attacks can easily be devastating. The soviets have begun the rebuilding of their air force and it was felt this turn. Partisans appeared for the first time. I have to move to contain them before they become an epidemic. My garrisons will come in very handy for this. More on this later. The Blue division decision event popped… I said, “yes.” This is how the situation in the center looked at the end of the turn. I brought that wounded panzer up to 10 and lost nearly all of it's experience. I will have to be careful with it to regain that experience.

Turn 13 – The soviets counter attacked in the center and there was some desperate fighting. A couple of German units were forced to retreat and brought to 2 or 3 steps. On my turn, the Germans hammered back. Heavy losses for the Russians, while the Germans suffered moderate losses. The Russians are becoming more effective. Southern prep is continuing. I am about built up, reinforced and most units are up to strength. I took another turn to edge up to the Russian positions, and allow supply to get better along with morale and readiness. Next turn should see the kickoff of a powerful push in the south. You can see that there was very heavy fighting in the center. You can also see the center begin to split… with some German forces angling toward Leningrad. I reinforced several German units up to step 7. You may wonder… why not 10? German resources are limited and I’ve found that German units are very effective at step 7. Just try to not let them fall beneath that level. Also… most of my focus and resources are going into my coming offensive in the south. Here is another theater I have not really focused on much. As you can see I am approaching Leningrad from two directions. There has not been much in the way of enemy blocking forces and what was there was quickly brushed aside. I managed to destroy a soviet sub in the Baltic this turn too. You just can see the German DD where I got him. I got my first tech breakthrough at the end of this turn… Industrial!!! I will see if I can get another turn in later today. On Sunday we begin our drive home to Pennsylvania.

Another thing to consider... should the current trend continue for the Germans... and should I prove not able to increase my income... it will become impossible for me to replace my battle losses at an effective rate.

Amadeus, I was wondering when someone was going to ask that question. Just because I have not lost any units does not mean that I have not taken any losses. The fighting has been pretty desperate and at points intense… and soviet forces have come very close to destroying a couple units of mine. I have been very careful to keep this from happening too early. Slip up and Germany can lose a lot of units quick… especially during the first winter. Against a player, I probably would have already lost 5 or 6 by this point. Late game, as the Russians become more capable, the wastage factor increases significantly, which is why I am being sooo careful. This is a look at Germany’s income, production and loss in MPP value for the current turn. You can see Germany has lost more than she has made, by 1,654. Also note the losses turn by turn and you can clearly see the increasing level of effectiveness on the Russian side by the increased casualties they are inflicting upon me. (on their turns when they have counter-attacked!) Please note that the bigger spike are the German turns... remember the German army is much more capable and effective than the Russian side at this point in the war. Here is the Russian income, production and loss in MPP value. Note the huge difference… A 6,133 differential. During the game Russia is virtually forced to rebuild her army! Also note Russia’s income is much higher than Germany’s. This is due to the patriotic income boost which will be running out soon. Against a player I think the wastage rate would be about 1,500 lower. But still, it is pretty huge… and playing the Russian side is a real challenge, especially during the first summer and fall of the war. Survive that and you have a pretty good chance to make it into 43 and even winning. Once you get into winter, the unit disparity and lost value in MPP in lost units begins to narrow. As I have said this game is very different than previous releases. It plays very differently and it is anything but boring! Against a player… on either side, the game is very nerve wracking because the combat area is just sooo huge you do not know what you opponent is going to do, usually until he does it. I hope this explanation helps.

Back from a nice evening in Miami with family. Thought I would get in a quick turn before I turn in. Turn 11… middle of August 1941. Limited attacks from the Russians… Instead Soviet forces conducted a number of strategic withdrawals in the far North and far South, while holding position elsewhere. I found a couple cities empty with no garrison… that is a very encouraging sign that the Russian player is beginning to struggle. There were very heavy German assaults on Russian defensive positions. You can see by this picture of the south that I have begun consolidating the Luftwaffe in the south. Remember I mentioned a coming refocus? This is the beginning of that change of focus. I have stripped much of the north of aircraft to support my coming push in the south. The medium bombers will be critical to speeding up my drive in the south by de-entrenching fortified enemy positions… essentially softening up hard point. I need to gain ground and fast before winter. More on this later. You can see the near entire collapse of the Russian defensive position in the center/north. There are still a number of units to be mopped up before my force splits, with one part going for Leningrad and the other pushing for Moscow. I expect a significant strategic withdrawal by the Russians in this area. You can see Russian numbers have dropped to 74 units, with the Germans at 116. That is a 42 unit differential! In my opinion, whenever the differential swings +30 units in favor of the Germans… that translates into trouble for the Russians. To win, I need to rapidly increase this differential before significant numbers of Russian reinforcements begin to arrive making it more difficult for the Russians to pull together a strong defense. Those Russian reinforcements should begin arriving within the next few turns… I was able to nail one of those dreaded paras… and another light armor this turn… also a number of armies. I am very pleased with the number of armies I have destroyed. Does anyone have questions? Anything specific unit wise you would like to see? Please feel free to ask.

Strat, Thanks... I feel I am moving a bit more slowly than I normally do... though I expect the pace of conquest to speed up shorty. I view the railgun as more of a luxury... I know several other betas who love it and purchase it sooner rather than later. That said, I will likely get the gun after all of my corps are purchased.

Turn 10 Lots of fighting on both sides… though I am sensing Soviet weakness in several areas… simply put there are just not enough units to go around to defend everything. I have exploited forward just a bit past Kiev, dividing the Russian forces. Notice the air units I brought up. The fighter alone gives me a great picture as to what is waiting for me. I wanted supply to build up before I move forward and attack soviet positions next turn. Note how I am going around Gomel. A couple turns back it looked like I would immediately assault and take Gomel once I had good supply. Instead, I side stepped northeast… took Mogilev and Karma. I am now working at coming down and behind Mogilev, trapping the forces located there. In the center I broke the enemy line north Polostk and am now driving deep into the back field. I am now threatening to carve out and encircle several enemy units. You can see I tried to break the line in 2 places but the soviets held… this is partly due to low supply. From the German perspective it is almost like you are cutting up a large steak. It is too big for the fork by itself, but if you cut it up one slice at a time the streak is easier to manage. Soviet losses continue to mount. I have now destroyed 112 units. As a side note… when you play the soviet side… it takes some getting used to… for the first 20 turns or so you find yourself taking horrific casualties. In fact, a good portion of the first year of the war can be quite discouraging. A bit more on this later. I prefer the Soviet side because I think it is more of a challenge.

Take a look at the strategic map. I have a long way to go get to reach Moscow.

Turn 9 for the Germans and it is the beginning of August. Lots of fighting as the Germans work to destroy the soviet army. I am making pretty good progress. As you can see Odessa is firmly in Axis hands. There was a lot of fighting around Odessa. The soviet navy even made an appearance. I was able to also secure Kiev after very heavy fighting. The soviets struck me hard on their turn. My counter attack pushed the soviets back with serious losses. Soviet defenses in the south are beginning to show weakness. I have a sense that with a little more push they will collapse and I should be able to surge forward. In the center, an interesting situation has developed. The artificial intelligence pulled a couple of units out of the pocket that was forming. I was still able to destroy the rest. I marked where the pocket had been. Take a look at the defensive position that is in the process of developing. I need to press this new position in the coming turns before the soviet forces can dig in. Note my pair of damaged panzers. These two panzers will need to be pulled back and refitted. It is a terrible time to take them out of the fight, but I need to keep their strength and experience edge up. Remember… this is a long haul game. Thought you might find the disparity chart interesting. Even with soviet reinforcements the soviet army is weakening. I managed to finally build all of my divisions. My next focus will be filling out my fighters and medium bombers, followed finally by corps. I will also finish out the garrisons, which I will need to counter partisans. My divisions should begin arriving at the beginning of september. When I begin building corps... my goal will be to have them all arrive before spring.

Here you can see me clearly working on a large encirclement movement designed to trap large numbers of Soviet defenders. I expect some of the soviet units to pull back out of the bag that is forming. Thank you improved artificial intelligence! Let’s see how many I can catch. You can see Soviet numbers are steadily dropping. Notice the number of soviet armies destroyed, along with the number of light tanks. There are only 2 or 3 still running around. The soviets losses are beginning to become extreme. A look at the strategic map for you.