Looks promising.
Does it say <something> 'Suvorov' on the side of that plane?
Alexander Suvorov, I think.
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Alexander Suvorov, I think.
Looks promising.
Does it say <something> 'Suvorov' on the side of that plane?
Aleksandr Suvorov? What is that picture showing?
Why Smolensk before Leningrad? There would have been a huge Arctic Kesselschlacht!
Can you show us how are things going on northen front (Including Finland + baltics) : )
Wouldn't want to be on the end of that lot!
Good luck with this offensive, and let's hope your Tank Army structure can successfully implement the strategic deep battle concept they appear to be designed for! On to Berlin!
I have really enjoyed this AAR: good structure, interesting illustrative materials, and excellent writing. Looking forward to more!
Good luck with this offensive, and let's hope your Tank Army structure can successfully implement the strategic deep battle concept they appear to be designed for! On to Berlin!
I have really enjoyed this AAR: good structure, interesting illustrative materials, and excellent writing. Looking forward to more!
It will be interesting to see how your offensive goes. I must admit I was puzzled at first as to why you had not aimed at Leningrad in order to shorten your front, but having read of the difficulty of the terrain up there, I now see what your thinking is. I haven't played the USSR, but you are inspiring me to perhaps have a go next.
Is this the point where you wrest the initiative from the Germans? Its hard to see anything standing in the way of this, but in my limited experience of the game, the Germans certainly are tough opponents. The AI comes in for lots of criticism, but IMO its not as bad as many say. It will be interesting to see what counter strokes the AI uses to this.
Again, fantastic writing, wonderfully illustrated and thoroughly absorbing. Almost certainly the best AAR currently on the forum.
Is this the point where you wrest the initiative from the Germans? Its hard to see anything standing in the way of this, but in my limited experience of the game, the Germans certainly are tough opponents. The AI comes in for lots of criticism, but IMO its not as bad as many say. It will be interesting to see what counter strokes the AI uses to this.
Again, fantastic writing, wonderfully illustrated and thoroughly absorbing. Almost certainly the best AAR currently on the forum.
Hello everybody!
I'm reading the paradox's forum for a while now, but I use my very first post on this forum to say this: Thank you, for this amazing AAR. As other guys said: wonderfully written and illustrated. I really enjoy this deep and interesting AAR. Certainly one of the best and immersive AAR I've seen so far (and I've seen a lot of them... ) for a paradox game.
Greetings from France!!
I'm reading the paradox's forum for a while now, but I use my very first post on this forum to say this: Thank you, for this amazing AAR. As other guys said: wonderfully written and illustrated. I really enjoy this deep and interesting AAR. Certainly one of the best and immersive AAR I've seen so far (and I've seen a lot of them... ) for a paradox game.
Greetings from France!!
Looks promising.
Does it say <something> 'Suvorov' on the side of that plane?
I've been waiting to use that photograph for a while. As a measure of rather scary cause and effect, I found the image (its actually an Il-10) after I'd named the offensive in my database - it was just too apt to pass up. But yes, for some reason that sturmovik squadron was called 'suvorov'.
If you are wondering, it is an actual reward.
thanks, really very much appreciated.
Here's 2 in game screenshots for 1 July 42. Finland is still neutral (luckily for me - don't know why as my threat exceeds their neutrality and they are fully aligned to the axis).
My forces at Murmansk will collapse as soon as the Germans get any supply at all (0 org)
at this stage, I'm just choking off supply by bombing the narrow area south of Kandelaska - but I need those bombers doing something more important
this shows Leningrad. Supply is poor (most units have a malus for lack of supply) but I have some - enough to avoid org dipping to 0. Shows the offensive moving down the east side of Ladoga - its a bit fragile but then so are the axis units (who also have supply problems).
Baltics are just under German control at this stage, Norway and Sweden are neutral.
It must have been utterly terrifying to face, even if the things were inaccurate and not that lethal, the impact of having that load drop on must have unhinged the defender's moral.
this proves to be very successful but not that decisive. It did convince me to operate the tank armies in pairs (at least for the main attacks) from now on, it makes it easier to pull a few divisions to the rear for refit and not lose momentum.
My opening attacks were an attempt to stop the German AI doing its favourite trick of shifting laterally, I reckoned to hit it on a 10-12 province front, with the focus between Smolensk and Bryansk, and then shove the tanks in once the front had been broken - it works well but the German AI manages first to blunt my offensive and then, for the last time, regain the strategic initiative. So by late Aug to about mid-Oct the Germans are on the strategic offensive, but that is the last time. Thereafter the best they do is a series of localised/sector specific offensives, but as late as early July 44 it launches quite a nasty counter-offensive, so it is pretty robust.
Playing the USSR is very different to the UK (which I think is why both are such fun). I find you really need to get the OOB sorted and put time into fitting it to your activities. What I do is about every game 4-5 days just check that each army is still in command range of all its units and shift stuff around that is at the limit and then every month do a pretty major sort out at corps level. But the UK is about finesse and getting the most out of every formation, this is less elegant, and much more about manufacturing brute force (which of course can come from lots of different actions).
As to going straight North West, I did think about it for a while. Against is that there are a lot of Germans there (all those units they pull out the arctic are sitting around Novgorod), also one of the strategic issues I keep on grappling with is sometimes I want to shorten the front (so I can concentrate) and at others I want to stretch the front (so as to disturb the axis concentrations). Here I thought that I'd pull them away from the NW to guard Minsk (which does happen) and that would allow me to make some progress.
In reality, I end up having to tilt the whole offensive to a NW axis in any case and just bull my way through to establish a solid line to L Ladoga. What I'm not sure is if it would have been better to have started that in July or to do it in September as I did. Its the issue I have a lot throughout 42 and 43 - go for their areas of strength and try to defeat their main forces, or hit the weak spots and look for opportunities to manouver.
Hello everybody!
I'm reading the paradox's forum for a while now, but I use my very first post on this forum to say this: Thank you, for this amazing AAR. As other guys said: wonderfully written and illustrated. I really enjoy this deep and interesting AAR. Certainly one of the best and immersive AAR I've seen so far (and I've seen a lot of them... ) for a paradox game.
Greetings from France!!
Welcome, and your very first post too. Glad you've enjoyed it so much, will try to keep the rest up to standard
"When the East is Red?" - Suvorov 8-17 July 1942
The opening week of Suvorov saw mixed fortunes for the attacking Soviet armies. In places, the offensive made no real gains but on the main front from Smolensk southwards the German line was badly ruptured, especially in the Smolensk sector. The exception was at the small town of Krychav, on the hinge between 3 and 10 Armies where a sustained German defense, by an already battered infantry division, came close to unhinging the entire offensive.
As had happened before, 13 Army had attacked, not with the expectation of sucess but to pin the axis forces on the front running from Rzev to Smolensk. After a week of attacks, Tolbukhin's 28 Corp and 2 Corp from 8 Army had broken the German lines around Selizvhoro and Vysokoye
(Tolbukhin's riflemen attacking on the Rzev sector)
but 16 Corps at Izdeshkovo and 21 Corps at Vasilevka had been beaten back to their starting lines leaving over 4,600 dead on the battlefield. However, again 13 Army had achieved far more than was immediately apparent. The attacks both relieved the mounting pressure on 8 Army and stopped the Germans pulling forces from this sector to reinforce their defense at Smolensk.
3 Army at Smolensk was notionally the smallest assault formation involved in Suvorov. It was also the key to STAVKA's plan. Heavily reinforced with KV1s
(KV1s in action to the south of Smolensk)
and the new KV2s, together with front level artillery assets, Antonov's 14 Corp hit the German front at Roslavl and Sumjaci while 44 Corp probed the defenses at Smolensk and drove through the German lines at Elnja.
(some Soviet rifle divisions were allocated captured German BMWs. Stripped of all needless elements, these hardy 'Cossacks' gave the Rifle Divisions a degree of motorisation and served all the way to Berlin and beyond)
14 Corp, now reinforced by 2 Tank Corp seized Mstsislaw from the demoralised Italians by 16 July,
a gain of some 100 kilometers and threatening to seperate Army Group North from Army Group Centre. In turn 4 Tank Corp was released from reserve and moved to add its weight to the spearhead.
(4 Tank Corp moving up to the front)
The position of AGC was worsened to the south of Krychav where 10 Army and elements of 5 Army made steady progress.
Perhaps the clearest sign that Suvorov had either taken the Germans by surprise, or had utterly disrupted their command system, was the lack of counterattacks. The Germans fell back, in places in disorder (especially around Smolensk) and in places retaining defensive discipline. The exception was the attack launched by 35 and 98 Infantry towards Desna.
This threatened the rear of 3 Army as well as interdicting the roads being used by 1 Tank Army as it moved to the front.
Although the offensive was beaten off by 12 July, Krychav then became a bulwark in the Soviet front even though it was only held by the already battered 68 Infantry.
Together with Starodub, the German defenders badly delayed 10 and 5 Armies,
(10 Army had become overconfident and assumed that Krychaw would fall with little effort, instead 40 Corp was embroilled in 15 days of brutal fighting)
and in turn meant 1 Tank and 3 Army moving towards Minsk were forced to allocate some units to shield their southern flank.
By 17 July, despite the opportunities opening up in the Ukraine, STAVKA realised that if the potential gains were to be exploited, 2 Tank Army needed to operate on the Minsk-Vityebsk axis and started to redeploy northwards. Till it arrived, 1 Tank and 3 Army would have to sustain the offensive.
The losses in the first week were deceptive. 32,000 Soviet and 26,000 Axis (mostly German) soldiers lost their lives, but this time the centre of the German line was buckling under the Soviet onslaught and the German troops on the flanks were pinned down fighting their own desparate defensive battles. The fruit of regaining vital cities from Homyel to Minsk and Vityebsk appeared to be ripe for the picking.
The opening week of Suvorov saw mixed fortunes for the attacking Soviet armies. In places, the offensive made no real gains but on the main front from Smolensk southwards the German line was badly ruptured, especially in the Smolensk sector. The exception was at the small town of Krychav, on the hinge between 3 and 10 Armies where a sustained German defense, by an already battered infantry division, came close to unhinging the entire offensive.
As had happened before, 13 Army had attacked, not with the expectation of sucess but to pin the axis forces on the front running from Rzev to Smolensk. After a week of attacks, Tolbukhin's 28 Corp and 2 Corp from 8 Army had broken the German lines around Selizvhoro and Vysokoye
(Tolbukhin's riflemen attacking on the Rzev sector)
but 16 Corps at Izdeshkovo and 21 Corps at Vasilevka had been beaten back to their starting lines leaving over 4,600 dead on the battlefield. However, again 13 Army had achieved far more than was immediately apparent. The attacks both relieved the mounting pressure on 8 Army and stopped the Germans pulling forces from this sector to reinforce their defense at Smolensk.
3 Army at Smolensk was notionally the smallest assault formation involved in Suvorov. It was also the key to STAVKA's plan. Heavily reinforced with KV1s
(KV1s in action to the south of Smolensk)
and the new KV2s, together with front level artillery assets, Antonov's 14 Corp hit the German front at Roslavl and Sumjaci while 44 Corp probed the defenses at Smolensk and drove through the German lines at Elnja.
(some Soviet rifle divisions were allocated captured German BMWs. Stripped of all needless elements, these hardy 'Cossacks' gave the Rifle Divisions a degree of motorisation and served all the way to Berlin and beyond)
14 Corp, now reinforced by 2 Tank Corp seized Mstsislaw from the demoralised Italians by 16 July,
a gain of some 100 kilometers and threatening to seperate Army Group North from Army Group Centre. In turn 4 Tank Corp was released from reserve and moved to add its weight to the spearhead.
(4 Tank Corp moving up to the front)
The position of AGC was worsened to the south of Krychav where 10 Army and elements of 5 Army made steady progress.
Perhaps the clearest sign that Suvorov had either taken the Germans by surprise, or had utterly disrupted their command system, was the lack of counterattacks. The Germans fell back, in places in disorder (especially around Smolensk) and in places retaining defensive discipline. The exception was the attack launched by 35 and 98 Infantry towards Desna.
This threatened the rear of 3 Army as well as interdicting the roads being used by 1 Tank Army as it moved to the front.
Although the offensive was beaten off by 12 July, Krychav then became a bulwark in the Soviet front even though it was only held by the already battered 68 Infantry.
Together with Starodub, the German defenders badly delayed 10 and 5 Armies,
(10 Army had become overconfident and assumed that Krychaw would fall with little effort, instead 40 Corp was embroilled in 15 days of brutal fighting)
and in turn meant 1 Tank and 3 Army moving towards Minsk were forced to allocate some units to shield their southern flank.
By 17 July, despite the opportunities opening up in the Ukraine, STAVKA realised that if the potential gains were to be exploited, 2 Tank Army needed to operate on the Minsk-Vityebsk axis and started to redeploy northwards. Till it arrived, 1 Tank and 3 Army would have to sustain the offensive.
The losses in the first week were deceptive. 32,000 Soviet and 26,000 Axis (mostly German) soldiers lost their lives, but this time the centre of the German line was buckling under the Soviet onslaught and the German troops on the flanks were pinned down fighting their own desparate defensive battles. The fruit of regaining vital cities from Homyel to Minsk and Vityebsk appeared to be ripe for the picking.
That was good, very good. That salient around Mstislav looks really appealing. If only you could fortify it and let the Germans go all Kursk on it - but I guess that's not in the cards.
And then there's Krychaw: maybe a good place to have an encirclement (netting you that heroic German division, perhaps? Quite the prize...)?
That salient around Mstislav looks really appealing. If only you could fortify it and let the Germans go all Kursk on it - but I guess that's not in the cards.And then there's Krychaw: maybe a good place to have an encirclement (netting you that heroic German division, perhaps? Quite the prize...)?
The tide really does appear to be turning at last.
I still struggle to get my head round the epic scale of the fighting on the eastern front. It scares me to death game-wise. I think as a British person it is easier to comprehend a "lets send a small landing party and blockade the enemy a bit" kind of conflict.
I still struggle to get my head round the epic scale of the fighting on the eastern front. It scares me to death game-wise. I think as a British person it is easier to comprehend a "lets send a small landing party and blockade the enemy a bit" kind of conflict.
That's an interesting point - particularly in the context that Britain has only ever decisively contributed in Europe when we've put a field army into service in the long term - Dutch revolt, Marlborough and WW1. Strange how we romantise the essentially minor North African campaign of WW2 over the epic scale and achievement of Flanders in WW1.
How long did Krychaw hold?
I think he said 15 days - quite impressive! That would have been one for the books no doubt.
Nicely done. Hopefully the attack can continue and does not get bogged down anywhere.