Moscow 41

[Grrr]

I'm playing the German Max Effort scenario with the No Crete option as the Germans (Against Smedley) and we have managed to complete 77 turns.
Originally, my thoughts were similar to Krak's. But I have found that this scenario, at least in our case, has been pretty balanced. At the moment, I hold a minor victory, but the battle has been back and forth and it can easily swing against me as the Russian strength increases as we head into December.
Because I expected things to be particularily tough for the Germans, I planned on conducting a very conservative campaign. Playing for a victory on attrition points more than one on capturing objectives, like Moscow. This strategy worked well during the first 30 turns, as my tired troops got a chance to rest. Also this allowed me to bring up reinforcements in the south. Instead of dropping the 7th Flieger on turn One near Moscow, I held them back for more than 20 turns and dropped them behind Tula. This worked well, as it caught Smedley by surprise and facilitated the relatively easy capture of Tula. With his left flank turned, Smedley began a retreat north to the Oka river with elements of AOK 2 and PzAOK 2 in pursuit. At this time, seeing an opprotunity, I became more aggressive and realized that Moscow might be reachable. Because of the weather, terrain and pockets of enemy units, the pursuit was slow going, allowing Smedley to create a line along the Northern side of the Oka river. While PzAOK 2 chased the Russians along the Eastern edge of the Map, elements of PzAOK 4 moved through dense terrain in the West, assaulted and captured the town of Serpukhov, which sits along the Oka at the bend where it turns northward. The fighting was intense and brutal, but my forces managed to capture the town and a bridgehead over the Oka. At this point (turn 77), elements of three German Army's are poised to push across the Oka at several points.
But like I said, this game has been back and forth, and the bad news for my forces has been the situation at Kalinin. It was a mistake for me to stubbornly try to hold it. Elements of PzAOK 3 were pummeled and forced to retreat. At the moment, the Russians continue to advance and my forces continue to give ground. A sort of tit for tat has developed with the Russians advancing in the direction of Rzhev in the North and the Germans racing towards Moscow in the South. In between, both sides have both gained and lost ground with no particular advantage to either side.

Here's our current score;

Russian Loses; Men: 102,924. Guns: 700. Vehicles: 1422. Air: 37

German Loses; Men: 86,848. Guns: 644. Vehicles: 653. Air: 41


Total points first side (Axis); objective points; 7700. Net points; 7260, German minor victory.


Of course we have only finished 77 turns of 421. Plenty of time left to see the situation change.