Dog Fight - Ostkreig Tournament Round 1

[von Nev]

Here is turn 12.

Some forward progress this turn as I attacked on the two axis. The southern attack pushed enough units east that it exposed the flanks of a Russian stack that was in the woods. Using a motorized infantry battalion from the 10th motorized I attacked behind it and therefore isolated the stack. They will be eliminated next turn. The northern attack on the main road moved forward a couple of km's and was able to keep pinned two Russian infantry battalions. They are taking a beating but I need to eliminate them. I am hoping that the continual pressure along the road will eventually start to break some of these Russian units so I can by-pass them. I expect that the Russians have a lot of units dug in along the road so I am pounding them with arty as I uncover them.

Also, the first few units from the Das Reich regiment are now arriving. Unfortunately there are still a lot of Russian minefields west of Mogilev and a couple of the SS recon units ran into them.

Red circles are assaults. Yellow lines are German attack routes.

[Dog Soldier]

Russian turn 12.
08:00 AM July 10, 1941
Normal
Visibility 3km.

Victory points after the Russian turn twelve.


Not a bad turn. Victory points were a small gain for the Germans. Losses were 259 Russian and 141 German infantry. Equal in S41 terms. The German advance ground forward only a couple of hexes. The Russian lines are intact. The Russian artillery will be ready for more action soon.
The down side, is 900 Russian troops in three units were surrounded by strong German forces. No chance to get them out. These were the ones in the best condition. So a lesson in what not to do. Spread out those good order units to protect the flanks of any concentration of forces. Unfortunately, with the German firepower, there are no safe places to try and create a good order stack with some hitting power. It is typical to have problems with disrupted and broken units in the front lines. Russian foot units move slow. When fatigued and disrupted it is hard to get them out of the front lines. Those guys are gone. Just have to tighten my belt and pass out more ammunition.

Dog Soldier

[von Nev]

German turn 13.

Both divisions are battering their way forward. That surrounded Russian stack yielded several hundred Russians which helps the VP totals. On the southern attack in two quick assaults I pushed between Russian units to take a hill that can see far into the Russian rear areas. This will be important for seeing what the Russians are up to and see if there are any opportunities I should take advantage of. Additionally the assaulting recon unit ended up next to a Russian arty battery. This battery was quickly attacked by a Stuka strike. Hopefully the fact that I am starting to see artillery units means that the Russian lines are bending enough that a breakthrough may be possible soon. Even if that does not happen, at least seeing the Russian arty means that they can be neutralized or eliminated. The less Russian arty the better.

Motorized infantry and artillery from the Das Reich regiment is now entering the battlefield. They are welcomed reinforcements and there addition will continue to allow me to rest a lot of the German armor and some of motorized infantry from both the 10th PzD and the 10th Motorized divisions.

Overall, progress gaining victory points is quite slow. It entered my thoughts for the first time that the density of Russian troops will seriously threaten the ability to exit the map. I look over the map to make sure I am not needing any big changes. Because this is a tournament I would like to get at least a Draw. To do that will probably mean that I need to take the 300 VP hex that is 10 km's to the northeast along the main road. That seems feasible since I still have 12 turns left. Advancing a km a turn seems doable. So, after a quick assessment, this 300 VP hex lies within the original attack plan so I just need to keep pressing forward without any major changes to the plan.

[Dog Soldier]

Russian turn 13.
10:00 AM July 10, 1941
Normal
Visibility 3km.

Victory points after the Russian turn thriteen.


We have reached the halfway point. The Germans have 899 VP. If I can hold him to this rate per turn I can still get a draw. I would like to slow his VP/turn rate to make sure that is still possible.
Von Nev is making a strong effort to drive down the main road cutting across the board. He pushed back the remnants of the 187th Rifle Division’s recon Bn to reach the only high ground in the area. Guess he wanted a peek behind the Russian lines. I made several artillery attacks and one infantry assault, but could not dislodge the German A/C. I brought over some more units to tighten my grip on his flanking units so he will not have a freedom of movement to exploit this move.
I have tried to position the Soviet troops as best I can to avoid another large stack of “herded” troops here. I hope they can hold or at least not retreat into a pocket. S41 Russians have a very annoying habit of retreating into pockets when assaulted.

Dog Soldier

[von Nev]

German Turn 14.

As with the last turn both divisions pound their way forward. The northern thrust gained 2 km's and penetrated between Russian units when, after a first assault, the Russian stack retreated north into the path of the attack along the main road. It was quickly assaulted again and it again retreated north. I was hoping it would retreat northeast which would have allowed me to isolate a Russian stack against the river but I was not that lucky. The good news is that the Russian stack has numerous broken units in them meaning they will retreat very slowly and therefore will provide future opportunities to easily assault to gain ground.

The southern attack stalled this turn as I had to bring up reinforcements and my opponent reinforced the village that the arty battery only held last turn.

Also, this turn I noticed that my opponent has slowed/stopped his retreat south along my right flank. I am hoping to take advantage of this by having motorized elements of Das Reich cross the river south of his units and therefore flank them. Unfortunately, my bridging engineer unit ran into a minefield which prevented them from deploying this turn. Additionally, because they hit a minefield, my opponent, if he watches the replay will see/hear this. It could alert him to my plan. :hissy:

I am still resting numerous panzer and motorized infantry units.

[Dog Soldier]

Russian turn 14.
12:00 PM July 10, 1941
Normal
Visibility 3km.


Victory points after the Russian turn fourteen.



Things went well this turn by S41 standards. The Russians lost 175 troops. The Germans lost 195 troops and three vehicles. Since the German units are worth more VP, the VP total actually decreased for the first time. The Germans did manage to capture one hex by assault. This gain was negated by my troops from the 110th RD that are being fed into the line.
There is a big German “?” along the river south of Mogilev. It appears von Nev has decided to out flank me after all by attempting to cross there with the SS rgt. I moved my right flank as planned to swing back and prevent the Axis from engaging them. I will need two turns of hustle to get into position. Since the SS appeared by hitting a minefield, I can assume the bridge engineers may not be in place. It will take them two turns minimum to bridge and if I am lucky it will take three. A/C and PzIV units have deployed on the German right flank to try and keep up with my retreating troops. This will make the retreat tough. I have sent my last mobile unit, the 148th recon Bn, toward the southern board edge to block any quick Axis move once my infantry leave the main road and head east. It will be a race.
Russian stack B along the river is vulnerable. If the last infantry unit is disrupted, this stack can be assaulted and will lose half its strength. The stacks behind it, D&E are too large. If stack B is forced to retreat from a lost assault result, over stacking will cause half of the stack to surrender. This is always a problem for the Russians in S41. Smart German play will try to cause such situations as the slow moving Russian units will have few options. It is very hard for the Russian units to disengage in S41 once disrupted unless they rally. I got bad results on the Russian retreat from the German assault this turn which has bunched up my forces near the river.
Russian stack C is also vulnerable, but less so. Only one German unit can reach it to assault. Any other German out of sight will have too far to move and all the 10th Pz large tank formations are south of the stream which will bleed off enough MP so they can not assault Russian stack C. I will be in for a rough time the next two turns here as I try to pull back my artillery. I hope I can put some good direct fire attacks in addition to all my artillery fire the next two turns on any German stacks coming after Russian stack C and the village behind it.
Other Russian troops are digging in to form another line to the rear.
Two Russian units are given secret orders from the commissar to plan a nasty surprise for the Germans. It is a long shot. Russian players in S41 must take risks to win.

Dog Soldier

[von Nev]

German Turn 15.

Not much progress this turn overall. I was able to advance toward the 300 VP hex by 1 km this turn. Both divisions are basically slugging it out with hordes of Russians. They are inflicting a lot of damage but assaults are becoming costly. In several assault I lost over 50 men. The primary reason is that the Russian stacks are now approaching 1000 men. Dog Soldier has done a good job in keep his lines more of less intact. It is going to be hard to get a draw at this pace.

I have also moved the units that were resting into the fight. They rested for 5 turns or 20% of the game. That will have to be enough.

The bridging units to the southwest had to move a hex and then deploy so that he does not set off the mines again. I moved an engineer unit down there to clear the minefield.

Red circles are assaults.

[Dog Soldier]

Russian turn 15.
14:00 PM July 10, 1941
Normal
Visibility 3km.

Victory points after the Russian turn fifteen.



The Russians rallied more units than were disrupted this turn. That really helps. I continue my retreat on the left flank. I am trying to block the southern road for as long as possible and keep my one disrupted unit from getting surrounded by small German units. The Germans are not pressing me here. The majority of the SS rgt has come into view this turn. That is a relief to see they are not trying to cross the Dnepr south of my lines. I pulled a good order motor cycle unit out of the front lines to go to the far southern end of the board with the recon bn there as a fast blocking unit. The German A/C came forward to harass my retreating troops. German troops set off mines on the main road entering Mogilev from the southwest. Maybe they have abandoned any attempt to get around behind my left.
The German main effort gained three hexes. I was able to conduct multiple assaults the SS armored car unit that rashly pushed forward and destroyed it. Von Nev had been using that tactic of pushing the armored cars forward to assault my second line units all game. This time I was ready for it.
Russian artillery and well dug in troops combined to deal destruction on the Axis infantry.
The Russians lost 318 troops. The Axis lost 359 men and 10 vehicles. Victory points have decreased again this turn by 26, the largest so far.
Not time to celebrate yet. I must still withstand ten more turns without a breakout. My chances do improve every turn as long as the attrition is relatively equal. 10th mot is wearing down. 10th Pz is now fully committed. The SS rgt will be the key. I expect von Nev to send the SS rgt to the front during the night turns. This will allow him to withdraw the 10th mot units for rest during the night while keeping pressure on the Russians. I will attempt to get as many units out of the front lines before dark as I can. I will need some rested units for the final turns.
Up north I am sending the reinforcements to cover the exits and the one VP hex there. My worry is I am running out of units in good order east of the Dnepr River bend where the Axis pressure is the most. I may be forced to gamble and send four of the six units in the 137th RD south.
I will have to hope, in that case, there are no stray German bridges in the north. Even a handful of his most battered units would cause me trouble if they were to be loose up there.

Dog Soldier

[von Nev]

German Turn 16.

Little progress this turn. In fact, the last two turns have not only had little progress on the map but I have actually gone backwards on the VP's totals. This is disappointing, but not overwelming. I still have a lot of firepower and units and a Draw is still very doable.

In order to help with assaults and to inflict maximum damage against the Russians I spent most of the turn realigning my units and getting very large stacks adjacent to the Russians. These stacks can inflict 25 to 50 infantry casualties per shot. These stacks will stay close to the Russians and force them to either stand fast and get pummeled or retreat. Both options will help me. In fact, down south along the southern highway I moved three stacks against the Russians in the village. Although I could have assaulted the village I instead blasted away at the Russian there inflicting over 100 infantry casualties in just that hex. Also, with such big stacks it will make Russian infantry attacks against them very painful. The only major concern therefore continues to be the artillery.

I only assaulted two hexes this turn. Up north I assaulted the broken and disrupted stack that has been pummeled the last three turns. With this assault I can now start to turn the corner on the Dnepr bend. Down south I assaulted to straighten the line and then inserted a fresh 750 man A morale Das Reich battalion into the line.

Far to the south that darn engineer unit did not build the bridge. To make this more comically, the Russians are pulling back their left flank which will lessen the opportunity to flank the Russians. I stopped advancing my Germans hoping to entice my opponent to stop retreating.

[Dog Soldier]

Russian turn 16.
16:00 PM July 10, 1941
Normal

Victory points after the Russian turn sixteen.



Things could be a lot worse. I hit an engineer in transport mode pretty hard with most of my artillery shots this turn. I only had three artillery units able to fire. 13th Army HQ went out of command, cascading to all but four of my HQ’s. With the command structure shot this turn I will have to avoid combat and hope to survive the next turn. Axis losses this turn were 265 to my 471 in infantry. Axis direct fire is very strong. My retreating guns were clobbered by artillery and the Axis air attacks. Scratch 28 guns. Russian players have to get used to such things in S41.

As darkness will come with dusk next turn, I can welcome the end of the second day of fighting. I still have some units that have not been engaged and others that will make it to good resting places for the night. Along the main highway running SW of Mogilev, I have a crisis as my units in the rubbled village were both disrupted by withering German direct fire. They failed to rally, thus being only able to move one hex out into the open. I wish they had maintained good order despite losses, so they would have linked up with the troops in the hillside village. This would make a strong pivot point for my forces south of the highway.

Those Russians south of the highway are running as fast as they can and staying under cover where possible. The door is not swinging as fast as I would want. Those troops will have to move during the night or they could be cut off.

The Germans made little progress in their attack to the west along the Dnepr bend. I am sending further reinforcements there to block this advance. So far the Germans have remained concentrated on their left flank. During the night I will take up my final artillery positions to hammer the hexes just west of Dnepr bend to slow the Axis there. My southern flank will refuse combat as much as possible and continue to swing away from the Axis forces to deny the enemy as many shots as possible. The Axis gained 51 victory points this turn. Victory points are still in my favor.

Dog Soldier