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Late arrival to this latest update, but still happy to see you are holding the advantage and the initiative.

That June 12 overview is certainly enlightening. You have a long way to go to reach a suitable defensive line, on the SU-Rom border, but as you found out earlier, you may not have the forces to hold it and a line at Turkey. Time perhaps to decide whether you have a worthwhile chance to encircle any more SU units, or if you need to start planning for a controlled withdrawal, although your units are probably much better supplied, manned and organized than the Red Army.
Pull back to your former line, or perhaps a slightly advanced front, between Hungary and the Adriatic. Place some more infantry in Greece (if I remember you built some fortresses there that you probably would not want to have to fight through later if you gave them up). Pull your 'mobile' units out to employ later.
But I've been wrong before.
 
I highly recommend setting a line on the Marmara-Konstantinople and one in Dniester-Danube.
And build then a lot of forts there.
After that I am clueless. :D
 
oh crap, I see I made exactly that mistake which I intended to prevent, regarding clausewitz.
also, thanks Loki to clear that up about Gramsci. I didn't actually knew he used the concept of hegemony also in describing war, as I only knew it being used describing movement within society (yay sociology classes)
 
I thought the Russians were still shoving troops from Greece towards Illyria, where did these go to? Are they still hidden in the fog? Your southern punch might run straight into that juggernaut.

On the other hand, the Russians seem to pour in troops near the Hungarian border, something which will inevitably put your nothern wing in danger. Just hope that the second army which you sent there will help to steady the line enough for your remaining forces to knock out the hopefully soon encircled Russians in Greece.

But again, what's the goal here? The Regio Escrito can not hope to defeat the Russian hordes in a head on fight, not for long that is. And Mussolini would certainly not want to see the cream of Italian youth being wiped out in Illyria or anywhere else for that matter. He has to come up with quite a plan to unhinge the Russian hold on the former south eastern Romanian Border, so he can form a relatively short line where any Russian attack could be dealt with from multiple angles.
The only alternative would be to retreat to the pre-offensive positions, something which would damage morale at home quite a lot, no matter how wise the decision might turn out to be.
 
Well played. You have been able to take your offense much further than I expected without loosing any divisions yourself.

What happened in Greece? Were the Russian forces there just too strong or did you withdraw intentionally in order to surround them all with your push from Illyria?
 
Just let the Army of Greece sweep up north toward Moscow. Then victory is practically yours! :p

Maybe Mussolini and Stalin could come to terms and then you could divide Germany between you since they have proved complete pansies. ;)

On a more serious note, very well done! You've got the Red Army on the run. I hope you can destroy a large number of divisions before the enemy effectively reinforces.
 
Maj. von Mauser: Possibly. I honestly don't remember what happened to it and all the screenshots I took managed to obscure it in some way or another. :p

loki100: Sounds fairly interesting actually. He probably never read Clausewitz (On War was only translated into Italian in 1943 IIRC) but his basic distinction between offense and defense follows Clausewitzian lines, complete with culminating point of victory and attack being the weaker form of warfare. I may have to see if I can get my hands on any English translations of his work, just to read through them. Even if I end up disagreeing with a lot of what he says, it's always worth it. :p

Gladiator: :D

FrodoB: Yeah, for all my success so far, I need to cover as much ground again to reach defensible lines. I don't have any fortresses though, no. :p

Enewald: Ideals are idealism. We'll see what happens. ;)

Juan_de_Marco: Eww sociology. :D

Baltasar: Those troops from Greece to Illyria were consumed by the front a long time ago and are just part of the general mass of defeated Soviet divisions. And my goal it to put the fear of god into them! And by god I mean me. :D

Morrell8: Some ships and some infantry. ;)

rasmus40: The Soviets counterattacked at Lamia and managed to drive me back. At that point I figured oh hell, those Soviets are screwed anyway so I may as well wait a bit longer. ;)

cthulhu: Onward, to Moscow! Once there I'll dictate the terms of an alliance that leaves me the dominant power and then we'll partition Germany. The Soviets will get Poland and I'll get everything else! :cool: But yeah, this offensive has been going pretty well. ;)

Update tomorrow evening, boys!
 
Strategy?

Given the fact that Italy can't defeat the SU on its own, it seems like your strategic goal is to tie up as much of the Soviet military as you can. Tactically, this means that maneuver is more important than lethality. If I were in charge of Italy in this position, I'd continue to use the navy's superior mobility to raid, hold, and then evacuate large parts of the SU on the Black Sea, while continuing to hold the chokepoint in Illyria. Eventually, this would take enough pressure off of Germany that they could advance a bit, and then a well-timed breakout in the Balkans would push the Soviets back, and maybe you could link up with the Germans in Belarus.
 
I am amazed the Soviets are doing so poorly. Or, maybe not! :D
As always, an interesting discourse on strategy.
 
What sort of condition are your fighting divisions in at this stage of the offense in terms of ORG and strenght? Are you able to reinforce your losses fast enough to keep up strenght?

How about the Russians? Are they not able reinforce between battles or are they just slowly withering away until surrounded?

This is getting really exciting:cool:
 
Swalbe said:
Given the fact that Italy can't defeat the SU on its own, it seems like your strategic goal is to tie up as much of the Soviet military as you can. Tactically, this means that maneuver is more important than lethality. If I were in charge of Italy in this position, I'd continue to use the navy's superior mobility to raid, hold, and then evacuate large parts of the SU on the Black Sea, while continuing to hold the chokepoint in Illyria. Eventually, this would take enough pressure off of Germany that they could advance a bit, and then a well-timed breakout in the Balkans would push the Soviets back, and maybe you could link up with the Germans in Belarus.
Click to expand...

Who says he can't win on his own?? Defeaitist! :rolleyes:

..At his current succesrate, I think he would only need double or triple the amount of troops on the front than he has now, to take it all the way to Moscow! -And he has the manpower for it!

He cannot raid from the black sea, without taking and holding the Bosporus strait...

..but yes, kill Soviet divisions faster than they are being built, and eventually there won't be enough to hold back him (or the Germans.)....
 
Myth said:
rasmus40: The Soviets counterattacked at Lamia and managed to drive me back. At that point I figured oh hell, those Soviets are screwed anyway so I may as well wait a bit longer. ;)
Click to expand...

Those troops can be quite beneficial to your strategy, at least in the south of the Illyrian front. By eliminating the Soviet divisions in Greece, your troops could push towards Albania and create two or three pockets. Then you can push your southern front quicker so that you can gain momentum and reach the 1942 front at the same time as the northern front (since the northern front has more Soviet divisions, it will be slower to advance through the North than through the South).

I just have one (possibly two) question(s): When you reach Istanbul, will you advance towards Anatolia? If not, I am assuming that you will have to put several divisions Istanbul, but will that be beneficial or pejorative to your strategy, and, if succeeded, to your future plans like the invasion of Crimea?
 
I believe Army which currently is in Greece can raid Turkey, after Soviets in Illyria/Dacia are made prisoners. If there'll be a Soviet superiority again, an elastic defense tactics can be repeated.
 
Swalbe: Maneuver is important, yes, but so is lethality. The more lethal I am, the more Soviet formations I destroy and the more dangerous I appear--and the more divisions the Soviets have to replace. Assuming that the Soviets are throwing all their manpower into new formations, which they probably are, their army is still growing, so being able to actually destroy formations is pretty important, even if on a relatively limited scale like this. I think, at least. :p

Forster: Strategy is my thing! ;)

rasmus40: For my divisions it varies. They're all generally invariably at full strength, but some are getting fairly low on organization now due to some heavy fighting. As for the Soviets, I dunno really. :p

BlitzMartinDK: I'm not sure if I can kill Soviet divisions faster than they're replaced, unfortunately. :p

The Messenger: Assuming I'll reach Istanbul is pretty optimistic. ;)

Jemisi: Well I could always just hold Istanbul. Nice easy bottleneck. ;)

Gladiator: But why would I want to raid Turkey? What would I gain? :p

Update tonight, boys!
 
Myth said:
Gladiator: But why would I want to raid Turkey? What would I gain? :p
Click to expand...

You'd gain some IC, some MP, some resourses, the control of Black Sea, and the exact perception of how strong (or weak) Soviets are there. :p :p
 
Brad1 said:
The last thing on that list is by far the most important
Click to expand...
Amd could be more efficiently gained by a few TAC missions set to ground attack over a region. You'll find brigade numbers and statuses that way.

It is still possible for Italy to defeat the Russians and take the laurels from the Germans. Whether it's practicable with an all infantry force is another matter, since it devolves into a race for land once the Red Army is shattered fragments fleeing before the R.E. and Wehrmacht.
 
Gladiator: I'm not particularly convinced. :p

Brad1: Yeah, intelligence is useful, when correct. :p

womble: Well, it shouldn't be too hard to take laurels from the Germans, given how inert they are. It'd be a bit harder to defeat the Soviets though. :p

Update coming up!
 
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