Moscow '42 balance opinions thus far?

[ComradeP]

'41-'42 in this case. My example of 150km was just that: an example. However, all things considered you wouldn't be all that far off the historical withdrawal distance measured from 2,3,4 Panzergruppe's starting positions. Pushing the Soviets back after a withdrawal is also not an automatic event, the Soviets still have about 98 Rifle division equivalents, and ski battalions worth several additional divisions. The Germans can counter that with, I believe, about 53 infantry divisions.

The problem I see isn't that the Germans can somehow automatically be victorious after pulling back, it's that they can theoretically perform an ahistorical backhand blow at one (or more) location(s) of their choosing with their mobile units. The Soviets have enough problems with keeping their advance coordinated as is, which is historical, so they can't use German mobile unit backhand blows. The Soviets presumably won't normally be in a position to counter the backhand blow (as they would be in an offensive posture) and even if they were, the Germans would still inevitably destroy numerous frontline battalions by pinning them with ZOC.

So, to summarize:

1) German mobile units are currently too good.
2) Some way needs to be found to keep the initiative with the Soviets until at least mid January, instead of the Germans being able to withdraw and the Soviets reacting to them.