First Russian Winter

[Pasha]

Ugh, i posed a similar question in the forum a few weeks ago about taking Moscow in Winter...I failed

I couldn't even take Smolensk. So it's Nov 1st, the front stretches from Balta/Riga (I'm on the Western side of the river), to the west of Smolensk, then along the Dniepr River line. Plus it started snowing early.

Anyway, what do you guys usually do during the first winter? My TC is in the red in a bad way.

Please note, I'm playing with WiF Gold, but I like to post in this forum so I can see more diverse responses.

thanks for any suggestions....

 

[Red Jacket]

Well, you will have better success getting a response in the WiF thread in the Mods forum or the HOI2 Doomsday forum. Fewer big fish with the answers in this pond.

 

[unmerged(37531)]

"Anyway, what do you guys usually do during the first winter?"

I usually attack until late November/early December then hunker down until late February/early March in the south (when I resume my advance), and by late March/early April resume attacking on the center and to the north of the front.

 

[unmerged(41649)]

I usually crush them and get bitter peace by September :rofl:, but then I've played as Germany a few times too many.

Good land doctrines, and infantry techs a year or two into the future + TC techs let you steamroll the Russians. Use stacks of armour to drive paths deep into Soviet territory, with mot and inf filling in behind, then split the panzers off into single divisions and link them together far behind the enemy. Only leave a few divisions behind at the original borders to mop up the swamps and the last pockets, take any free infantry towards Leningrad and Moscow or south to Baku and use the panzers to drive deep towards Sverdlosk or encircle more pockets.

 

[Olaus Petrus]

I usually crush them and get bitter peace by September :rofl:, but then I've played as Germany a few times too many.

Good land doctrines, and infantry techs a year or two into the future + TC techs let you steamroll the Russians. Use stacks of armour to drive paths deep into Soviet territory, with mot and inf filling in behind, then split the panzers off into single divisions and link them together far behind the enemy. Only leave a few divisions behind at the original borders to mop up the swamps and the last pockets, take any free infantry towards Leningrad and Moscow or south to Baku and use the panzers to drive deep towards Sverdlosk or encircle more pockets.

Yep, Blitzkrieg means that, just like in the original Nazi plans, war should be over before the winter, which is usually what I do. But if for some reason winter comes earlier, then it's better to dig into defensive positions and continue advance after it's over. Because succesful advance in those conditions means that you have to have huge stacks in the front line which all suffer from atrition. Manpower losses are enormous and supply is hard to keep.