Dog Fight - Ostkreig Tournament Round 2

[Panzer VI]

Awesome battle so far!

[Ricky B]

Thanks much! Dog Soldier does a great job.

More to come tonight, I hope - been busy as all get out but should be quieter now.

Rick

[von Nev]

Good stuff. Another great AAR.

Now that the Germans have abandoned the 75 VP point city hex and it is therefore a moot point can you share some more insight into why it was was abandoned? I read that you were worried about them being cut off but that VP hex also has a German supply hex so those units can not be isolated.

In my battle as the Russians in this scenario my opponent simply retreated back towards and eventually into that hex and I was not able to take it since there is limited Russian strength and the Germans were dug in the city and not isolated despite the fact that I held the southern crossing and the Germans were all in 1 hex. Those 75 VP points were part of the reason the Russians did not get a victory.

Just curious . . .

[Ricky B]

Soviet Turn 6.

There is some good news, and bad news, this turn. In the east, I have 3 cavalry regiments across the river, and after one of them recovers from disruption all 3 are in good order. I finally have flanking units across the river ready to lay down supporting fire, so I will be able to begin a breakout attempt this turn.

Also, my T34s that broke through the enemy lines are 5 km from the exit hex, but I will be waiting to see if I want to exit the unit, or send it to support the cavalry - at this point I will not exit it but more toward the center of the map instead.



On the other hand, Brian has committed 3 strong (XX sized) and 1 under 10 tank elite tank units from the 11. Panzer Division against my western forces, facing off against 2 of my T34 units trying to break through to the enemy rear. This will be tough to deal with. And finally, Brian has pushed along the river to the west of the central bridgehead, threatening to isolate the western village anchoring that flank. I will have to give up that village, compressing my bridgehead to a minimal space. There are no further good defensive positions along the river, forcing me to fight desperately to stop the enemy attacks there, or give up the bridgehead if any further ground is lost.

My plan is to wear down the tank units in the west, and try to break out with my cavalry in the east. In addition, facing the central bridgehead the enemy has a weak spot - right in the middle of the line facing me is a single infantry unit, while I have a couple of tank units ready to strike if I can disrupt it, opening a third hole in the dyke. First, however, to buy time I want to open up the retreat route from the western village, which will leave my defensive position in better shape and buy time to rebuild my damaged units on that flank of the central bridgehead.

Ultimately, the results of the turn are that my western forces pull back the T34 units in the face of the panzers, while the infantry and supporting T34 move up and keep the pressure on the German infantry, the central bridgehead opens up the retreat route as planned from the western town, and I don't have any success at all in the east with the cavarly. This was basically a setup turn, that didn't accomplish anything significant on its own but I hope kept enough pressure on Brian to prevent any positive action by him.



Rick

[Dog Soldier]

von Nev,

A good question.
The reason I abandoned the 75 point VP hex was to get those two good B morale regiments of infantry out of there. My idea at the time was to use them to help bolster the Axis left flank which is really weak in infantry.
In that way I was hoping to no have to use the 11th PD on that flank for maybe four more turns. With the full weight of the 11 PD on the Sulatskiy bridgehead, those four turns could have caused a complete rout of the Russians, capture of the 250 VP hex and many prisoners.

One thing I did not count on was how hard it is to actually get those troops up the slope on the south side and into position. I neglected to attempt to blow the bridge. I should have used the 11 PD engineers to do just that. I forgot to check that there are no wired bridges in this scenario. Surprise! That can happen when you are playing multiple scenarios in different titles at the same time. The nuances can be missed. That mistake hurt.

Thus the Russians were able to mount a pursuit too quickly in that sector.

Dog Soldier

[Ricky B]

At least prior to playing Dog Soldier in this battle, I had decided his move was the best, and mirrored the historical reaction of the Germans who gave up the bridgehead north of the Chir in the face of this attack. I worked with Foul in testing his changes to this scenario, always playing as German, and was always scrambling to form a defensive line south of the river. I thought the move south would be a good one, buying time as Dog Soldier thought to crush the central bridgehead.

In our case, although the Germans moved south of the river, they either didn't or weren't able to shift forces to the left from that point, which allowed my tanks and mobile troops to put a lot of pressure on the Luftwaffe division, forcing Dog Soldier to commit his panzers to plugging that hole in the dyke instead of crushing my forces.

Rick

[Dog Soldier]

In my battle as the Russians in this scenario my opponent simply retreated back towards and eventually into that hex and I was not able to take it since there is limited Russian strength and the Germans were dug in the city and not isolated despite the fact that I held the southern crossing and the Germans were all in 1 hex. Those 75 VP points were part of the reason the Russians did not get a victory.

Just curious . . .

I would have to guess that you used far too many resources to take that one 75 point objective. The Russians can easily contain the Axis forces north of the Chir river if the Axis troops stay.
To commit the additional Russian forces to take that objective instead of the more valuable State Farm to the south would be a strategic mistake, IMHO.
The Axis are hard pressed with only their at start forces south of Chir to meet the Russian attack. The Russian is in command in this scenario. It is his battle to win or lose. As long as the Russians maintain a constant pressure on the Axis left flank and with the cavalry in the south, they have a good chance ot taking the State farm.


Review the objectives in the scenario.
The scenario starts with a VP total for the Axis of 625. This is a draw. An Axis minor loss is achieved when the VP total falls below 600. So, keeping the attrition even, the Russians only have to seize the 25 VP location on the Axis left flank that is only four km beyond the Russian starting positions.
A Russian major victory is achieved by driving the Axis VP total below 400 VP. This can be achieved by taking the 250 VP hex at the State Farm.
Both of these objectives are on the the weakest Axis sector guarded by the LW division. The 75 VP objective at Surovikino, does not matter. The key on the Chir is to blow the bridge. This will forestall any Russian redeployment south of the Chir for the 119th RD and free 1,420 first line Axis infantry to bolster the defenses to the south.

A straight attrition battle could be fought by the Russians. I think that has less chances of success. The reason is because it throws away the best Russian advantage, the mobility of the 5th Mech corps. The cavalry can be bottled up with small Axis forces for the majority of the game. The Sulatskiy bridgehead can be hard pressed or at least battered and contained. Victory or defeat for the Russians lies with the handling of the 5th Mech Corps.

Dog Soldier

[Dog Soldier]

IIRC von Nev, you also had some really bad luck with a bridge in the cavalry sector in the south. Without the Cavalry putting pressure there, the Axis 11th PD has less choices to make where it is employed. I would add that keeping the Axis player choosing between bad and worse situations to determine where to use the 11th PD keeps the initiative in the Russian hands.

Dog Soldier

[Dog Soldier]

German turn 7.
16:00 PM December 12, 1942
Snow Conditions
Visibility 2km.

Victory points after the German
turn seven.


This was an interesting turn. Victory points are dead even with last turn. Since RickyB has more troops this is not good for me.

I am not sure I can hold the State Farm VP location. I need to collapse the Sulatskiy bridgehead and take the VP hex there to stay even. What a tough nutcracker this game is; and the Axis are the nut at this point.

On the plus side I hurt one of those T-34 battalions by destroying four tanks and inflicting a lot of fatigue. That should take the offensive punch out of two T-34 units in the west. I took the village of Gelovsky this turn. That puts me in a position to take the next village or push down the river bank. The Russians won an assault against my pz gr battalion there in their half of the turn. I made them pay for coming out into the open. A hundred Soviet infantry are dead in the snow between the northern two villages of the Sulatskiy bridgehead. I will concentrate next turn on the any units of the Russian 333rd ID next turn. They are lower morale than the 1st Tank corps troops and will not be able to stand their ground. RickyB is trying to stiffen these units by stacking them with the other better morale units to prevent easy assaults.

I will need to switch my artillery barrages to hit the western flank Russian infantry. Next turn the Russians will close with my infantry in the northern tip of my “bulge”. By morning I hope to smash that Russian attack to protect the rear of the 11 PD infantry as they drill into the Sulatskiy bridgehead.
I could not get my 11th PD Pz Gr unit into the ruined village of Kulpinskiy. The Russian cavalry have rallied. My defending unit is low ammo and could be over run next turn. That would be a bad thing.

The virtual spotters in the exit hexes report no VP. That implies there is still alone T-34 unit running around in the Axis backfield. RickyB has been very careful to not let it show on the game turn replays.

Dog Soldier

[Panzer VI]

Hmmm.....:chin:

It's not looking good for the axis.I would withdraw those units in the far west to help give the west front some mass and help protect your artillery batteries.

I would just forget about that 250 pt victory hex in the Northeast.Then again, I don't know the morale or fatigue of those units.

Panzer VI