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Turn 12:Ride the Lightning:Late June, 1921

bob2.png

Apparently, that Red Army:rolleyes: was larger than I thought. I'll have to use a larger army to dislodge them from the last town on the Dneiper.

CentralOverview.png

The current siutation in the center. Trotsky continues to sit menacingly at the border, whilst having nothing behind him. With the arrival of the XI Army, I should be able to make for a lightning assault on Vibetsk, forcing Trotsky into either retreating or attacking into trenches. Things will develop.

1stPskov1921EarlyJune.png

To the North, the attack on Pskov goes as expected. During the assault, I could see a large enemy army just north of Pskov. With that in play, it would be safer to hide behind the river. It's obvisous that I need reinforcement in this theater, but I won't get it for a while.

Estoniaoverview.png

With the situation in Estonia unchanged, the rest of Army Gruppe B falls back on Riga, whilst the Armee Gruppe B actual holds the crossing.

1stPristen1921EarlyJune.png

Budyenny once more falls afoul of Army Gruppe Sd. Now that his army is utterly destroyed, I get his wagons and his aircraft that he was hauling around. The situation thus:

NorthUkraineOverview.png

Yippy, destroyed two armies, and oh...wait. With yet another army appearing literally out of thin air (or chilling out somewhere for the last couple of turns), the opportunity to destroy two more armies presents itself. Through inaction, Matsiletsky willingness to sun himself in the fields of Central Russia has led him to be cutoff from supply. The two nearest places where he could conceivably get this supply are both defended by corp sized components. We'll see how the situation develops there. In the east, Armee Gruppe Sd will both secure the railway from Kharkov to Voronezh, capture Voronezh, and cut rail service from Moscow to Tzaritsyn. Things will soon get a lot harder for the Red army in the Kuban. In the west, the Don Front has dug itself a fortress in it's little hole, but with Armee Gruppe Ungarn recovering, and Von Below's moving on him from the north, he'll either be forced to battle or starve.

1stDesnaConfluent1921EarlyJune.png

This battle means the end of the Red control of the Dnieper. In and of itself, it doesn't mean much other than a continued supply network and easy transfer of units, but it also means the end of Red control in the Ukraine, towards that end, the beginnings of the Rostov Campaign:

Rostovcampaign.png

The Reds control two of the three crossings of the Don. With a definitve capture of Lugansk and Donetsk, I can attack Rostov over a river, and force my enemy to retreat in a disorganized mess into the Kuban, which is currently a mess of fairly large Green armies and White stacks. With the capture of Rostov, I can also bring the Transcaucus into the war, completely NM loss free (and Turkey possibly, since the Reds outright rejected my ultimatum. )

Decisions this turn:

DecisionsLateJune1921.png

Manpower is now working (yay!), so I mobilize to bring in some much-needed fresh meat. I also run a propaganda campaign, as the constant defeats make my poor civvies all revolutionary.
 
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coming nicely to the boil ... you are making some progress but not across the front so its a case of whether the piecemeal chomping of Red Army formations will be enough to win before ...

? - two threats ... revolution in Germany or the Soviets manage to bring their potential manpower to bear?
 
Some good news, but my word the Ukraine is looking messy: Austrians, Germans, Ukranian Nationalists, Anarchists, Greens, Reds... And I spot a White unit just across the Don.

With so many targets, I hope you can maintain enough mass to meet your goals and not end up overstretched. Good thing the mobilization event is now working: you need a whole lot of fresh blood to make up for all those bloody clashes.
 
Good to see this back - looking messy :)
 
coming nicely to the boil ... you are making some progress but not across the front so its a case of whether the piecemeal chomping of Red Army formations will be enough to win before ...

? - two threats ... revolution in Germany or the Soviets manage to bring their potential manpower to bear?

Revolution in Germany is unlikely - NM is still above 110 and the loyalty in the central provinces is all above 90%. In terms of Soviet manpower, I have a while yet - The entirety of the Red army equals roughly a half of my total combat power, and in order to increase it, the Reds need to build new armies, since they've called in the Turkmenistan army, and while I think they can call in at least one more army, the NM cost to do so would be too much for the AI to bear.

I wouldn't call the match just yet - we're not even a third of the way through the game.

Some good news, but my word the Ukraine is looking messy: Austrians, Germans, Ukranian Nationalists, Anarchists, Greens, Reds... And I spot a White unit just across the Don.

With so many targets, I hope you can maintain enough mass to meet your goals and not end up overstretched. Good thing the mobilization event is now working: you need a whole lot of fresh blood to make up for all those bloody clashes.

I briefly considered leaving the Kuban to it's own devices - you'll see why in the two or so turns, but it's two VP cities and the unlimited strategic opportunities presented by it means Rostov must fall and the Green uprisings must be suppressed, brutally (and the Whites,possibly). In the ensuing campaign in the Kuban, Rostov is also a strategic depot and a springboard into the Kuban. Therefore, Rostov or bust.

Good to see this back - looking messy :)

Thanks :)
 
Turn 13:This is a creative title: Early July, 1921

This turn was relatively quiet. The AI decided to make some suicidal moves, but also to let me catch it entirely with its pants down for once.

To start, the blasted remnants of Oveesenko's army attempt to escape from Chernigov

ThirdChernigov1921LateJune.png

With over 4,000 prisoners taken, Oveesenko's army is now definitively gone for good. The German populace rejoices at the news of the destruction of a another communist army. Red partisans continue to run about the countryside, cuckolding husbands and rustling cattle, but the majority of the threat now lies in front of the German and Austrian armies.

Germany continues to dominate the naval arena:

FirstMediterraneanSea1921LateJune.png

After this, Meurer's fleet (which if I remember correctly, was responsible for the utter destruction of the Red Baltic Sea fleet) redeploys to the Atlantic shipping box. Without continued maintenance, the blockade is worthless.

In Central Russia,

FirstVoronezhLateJune1921.png

Voronezh falls without much fanfare, and the boats escape burning on the Don, giving me some ships for use in interdicting Red movement on the River. I believe they still have the lions share of hthe fleet at Rostov, at least a turn down river.

FirstZadonsk1921LateJune.png

Directly to the east, the railway to Kursk is secured at Zadonsk and the long-suffering Budyenny loses his 5th(?) battle with Army Gruppe Sud.


With those skirmishes to the east out of the way, the situation in southern-central Russia remains thus.

KurskOverviewLateJune1921.png

The Don Front, backed up by Makhin's Red Army continues to sun itself, while Matsiletsky's desperate dash for Voronezh this last turn reveals the true intent. The recovering Army Group Ungarn (which won't receive infantry or cavarly chits this turn(they will recieve armor chits though) but will within two turns, continues to guard Chernigorv. Army Gruppe Sud shall move to deal with Matsiletsky at Staryy Oskol.

In the center, the Austrian rampage through the countryside kicks the Red army hiding there in the balls:

ThirdBorisov1921LateJune.png

The situation, thusly:

MinskFrontLateJune1921.png

The army that previously malled the Austrian de Kolosvar and his 4th army last turn, dashes into Poland. What he expects to do there, with the 6th Army coming up towards Minsk, is a good guess. He could attack towards Vilnius, but with the 2nd Army moving into position to defend it, it's likely that he will either continue on into Lithuania to harry the small garrisons present there or fall back into Russia, to defend Smolensk. Considering he's been moving or fighting for the last three consecutive turns, it's likely that his organisation may have suffered. In the center, and until the arrival of 6th army, Stacks continue to sit in front of Minsk, defending it against a possible incursion by Trotsky.

In the north, virtually nothing has happened around Pskov.

PskovFrontLateJune1921.png

Since it's likely that Armee Gruppe B will be unable to mount an effective attack upon Pskov, a depot is ordered set up at Daugavpils in order to supply them from Riga. A German cavalry corp is expected to arrival in Riga at the end of the turn and bring with it a German-Balto commander to coordinate the battered and scattered elements of the Baltic armies.

In the south however, the situation has changed rapidly on the ground.

FirstLugansk1921LateJune.png

At Lugansk, the long suffering Don Cossacks force a crossing into their home region, imperiling the Red line of retreat at Rostov.

FirstTaganrog1921LateJune.png

In the center, Army Gruppe Centrum captures Taganrog, effectively encircling Donetsk and putting the Red's at Rostov on notice.

And in the west at Berdjiansk, Makhno's main force gets a taste of German strength

FirstBerdjiansk1921LateJune.png

The situation with the pieces falling into place:

RostovCampaignLateJune1921.png

The Reds cannot retreat into the Kuban, so they're going to try to keep their line of retreat( or reinforcement) open at Novocherkassk. This cannot happen, so the Don Cossacks and the reinforcing Ukranian Corp (Wolf's Corp) is ordered to bypass the Kamenskaya Line and and capture Novocherkassk.With those corps in place and digging in, the armies to the west will eliminate Anarchist and Green dissidents.

Oh, and Stalin has been released from the Sovnarkom command to operate in the field. His high defense stat will be needed, as the Reds are currently on the back foot in the south.

Decisions this turn:

DecisionsLateJune1921-1.png

Another mobilization, another army redeployment and more arms to Transcaucasia and the Ukraine. The extra manpower is most definitely needed as you can see:

Manpowerissue.png

This is the German reinforcement queue. As you can see, almost 1200 hits are missing from German infantry formations. I've sunk almost 30 chits into the morass, but it's likely that another mobilization still won't cover the manpower deficit. The Austrians, Balts, Finns, Transcaucasians, Ukranians (especially) and Austrians are in only slightly better shape.

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well that is probably your most optimistic update, you are pushing the Soviets back all across the Ukraine and seem to have created some degree of a war of manouver. As such that scary replacement situation is more a latent problem than an immediate one? In that it will only really hurt you if you need to go back into direct attacks on a well structured defense line.
 
FirstZadonsk1921LateJune.png

Directly to the east, the railway to Kursk is secured at Zadonsk and the long-suffering Budyenny loses his 5th(?) battle with Army Gruppe Sud.

Not quite 2,000 Reds versus 76,000 slavering Germans? Now those are odds I like! ;)

Quite a few victories and importantly, you captured a lot of ground. While the situation in the North is static, the Ukraine seems to be falling right into your lap. Very good, very good.
 
well that is probably your most optimistic update, you are pushing the Soviets back all across the Ukraine and seem to have created some degree of a war of manouver. As such that scary replacement situation is more a latent problem than an immediate one? In that it will only really hurt you if you need to go back into direct attacks on a well structured defense line.

Funningly enough, that's exactly what I'm going to do in the next few turns - the Reds are dug in at a number of areas, and I can't just seige them out.

Great to see this back.
You seem to have a plan and are driving the Reds back.
Good luck.
Your losses look scary....

No kidding.

Not quite 2,000 Reds versus 76,000 slavering Germans? Now those are odds I like! ;)

Quite a few victories and importantly, you captured a lot of ground. While the situation in the North is static, the Ukraine seems to be falling right into your lap. Very good, very good.

Things in the Ukraine proper are more or less settled, in the Kursk - Orel - Chernigov - Voronezh triangle, there is more of an opportunity to wipe out Red stacks and less in around the Rostov area. Once those battles are over, the road to Moscow is more or less open, and I can cut the belly right out of the Red giant.
 
Iron Skies:Turn 14: Late July,1921

As things remain relatively static in the north and center, we begin this turn with an overview:

CentraloverviewLateJuly1921.png

Sollogub continues to move in a westerly direction through the forests of Northern Poland/Southern Lithuania, and appearing across the river from Villinus. With Balts entrenched in Vilinus, I move to cut of Sollogub's escape route, who for the past three turns has been moving and is properly starting to hurt for cohesion. If he keeps moving west, he may capture some of the minor Polish towns/villages, but ultimately the nearest VP city, Memel and Konigsberg are defended by entrenched fortress units. Unless he gets fantastically lucky, he won't be able to capture either in one turn before the doomstacks descend upon him.

Further south, at Bobruisk, as you may guess:

FourthBobruisk1921LateJuly.png

The last Soviet town on the Dneiper is captured, leaving the Red river boats with no safe port(and yes, those boats unfortunately escape). As it will take several turns to clear them out for good, a naval officer, dispatched form Kiel moves to take command of the Dneiper river fleet.

Even further south,

KurskChernigorvOverviewLateJuly1921.png

Army Group Ungarn, recovered from the last stand of Ovseenko's army begins offensive operations. Leaving the Eastern Prussia Reserve (and the Polish legion) to gain some Polish chits, we move to encircle Makhin's sunbathers. I'm not worried about him fleeing into the Ukraine, as this only buys more time for his destruction. While one conclusive battle would be nice, it will probably take several to put a definitive end to his army.

To the west, Army Group Sud encounters Matsiletsky's army at Starry Oskol:

FirstStaryyOskolLateJuly1921.png

Matsiletsky's, knowing he cannot fight an army 20,000 men larger than his, wisely beats it, but his hot headed young subordinate, Sapozhkov, decides to stand and fight. In three rounds of combat with an enemy force almost quadruple his size, his division is utterly wiped out, and almost 3,100 men are captured. Sapozhkov himself is killed whilst attempting rally the troops with a pistol, apparently clubbed to death with the butt of a rifle.

KharkovVoronezhoverviewLateJuly1921.png

With Matsiletsky now at Kupiansk, Mackensen is ordered to finish the job next turn. A new Landswehr army (composed of troops gathered from Austrian garrisons) is ordered to Kharkov, to hold it in case Matsiletsky tries to do anything crazy.

In the south, the Rostov campaign proceeds mostly as planned:

FirstHuilaipole1921EarlyJuly.png

At Huliapole, Mahkno's dream of an anarchist utopia is finished, his army effectively defeated. Whilst Makhno himself escapes with his life, he can at best look forward to a life of being an indistinguishable Ukranian peasant for the rest of his days.

Operations against the Green brigands proceeds roughly as expected:

FirstMariupol1921EarlyJuly.png

SecondBerdjiansk1921LateJuly.png

While this takes back some Ukrainian real estate, this does not at all mean the end of green resistance in the Ukraine, but simply the end of some Green thieves.

At Kamenskaya,

FirstKamenskayaLine1921EarlyJuly.png

The Ukrainians and Cossacks combine to force the Red stack to retreat inside the fortifications. Because of the absurdly low penetration score of the Ukrainian stack, they did not accomplish their objective of capturing Novocherkassk.

At Donetsk,

SecondDonetsk1921LateJuly.png

The Reds make excellent use of trench systems and inflict grievous casualties on the Romanian stack. Because the Romanians were not expected to assist in the main battle for Rostov, this loss is deemed acceptable to GHQ, but it's obvious that this war has not been kind to Romania.

RostovcampaignLateJuly1921.png

With the initial objectives mostly achieved, the Austrian and German stacks re-position for their attack on Rostov. The Romanians move to hold Taganorg, and Donetsk is left undefended. I don't expect the Reds to take a sudden offensive action, but mainly to keep digging trenches in Rostov. Sixt Von Armin, who has led the Ukranians in the absence of an active leader for the last five months is ordered to Ekaterinoslav, both to reinforce the depleted Ukrainians, but also to hand off the army to the command Skoropadsky, the nominal supreme commander of the Ukrainian forces in the Ukraine theater. In the east, the Don Cossacks are ordered to take Novocherkask this turn. Hopefully, the Reds at Rostov do not reinforce during the battle.

Decisions this turn:

DecisionsLateJuly1921.png

With the continuing success of the battles in Russia, enough public support has been built for another redeployment. While this armies will not be used exclusively within the Ukraine, these stacks only boost my combat power. And of course, more crap to the Caucus and the Ukraine. Free chits is free chits man.

Also,

InsurrectionontheVolgaLateJuly1921.png


Another feather on the camels back. Because I'm going to be in Dallas for Thanksgiving with my brother, I won't be updating till Saturday night or Sunday. Stay Tuned.
 
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You seem to make great progress in the South. Although, shouldn't you concentrate on the two other fronts? Because you want to get Moscow (and Leningrad?) before winter.
 
Well, that's the Ukraine pacified. I'm sure those second-line Romanians will come in handy to deal with the occasional anarchist or green uprising, freeing your valuable Germans and Austrians for actions elsewhere.

Whither next? The Caucasus? Moscow? It's still July, you have at least two months to really put a dagger to Moscow's throat, if you're thusly inclined.
 
well that does look like you have finished off organised Soviet resistance in the Ukraine, without too many losses for yourself.

looking good for you overall.

There are still partisans stacks running about, but for the most part the game is up in the Ukraine. Now it's time to start focusing on the underbelly of the Russia defense.

You seem to make great progress in the South. Although, shouldn't you concentrate on the two other fronts? Because you want to get Moscow (and Leningrad?) before winter.

This I noticed. My focus on the Ukraine has created stagnation on the other fronts. In this next turn, we'll start to see the beginnings of the move on Moscow.

Well, that's the Ukraine pacified. I'm sure those second-line Romanians will come in handy to deal with the occasional anarchist or green uprising, freeing your valuable Germans and Austrians for actions elsewhere.

Whither next? The Caucasus? Moscow? It's still July, you have at least two months to really put a dagger to Moscow's throat, if you're thusly inclined.

Next? Rostov, and then the Caucasus. As for Moscow, that will likely be a 1922. Much remains to be done in Eastern Russia, in the Kuban, and in the Causcus.

But I'll defintely shave Moscow's throat before the snow starts to fall.
 
Turn 15: Easy Company, Early August 1921

We start with the fate of Army Group Sud

FirstKupiansk1921LateJuly.png

Budyenny, possibly wounded in his last battle with Army Group Sud, retreats into Kupiansk, leading to the utter destruction of his army inside of the town. Roughly two months after its sudden appearance in the Ukraine, there is now nothing between Kursk and Orel.

Voronezh.png

Ultimately, this temporary tactical advantage amounts to nothing. I don't have any stacks not currently engaged in combat operations elsewhere, and Army Group Sud is overextended and exhausted after a solid two months of campaigning in Southern Russia proper. Army Group Sud retreats to Voronezh to sit on a depot for a turn or two. Well deserved RR after the six straight defeats of a rare good Soviet general.

In the south, the monstrous forces concentrated in near Rostov begin to flex their muscles,

FirstNovorcherkassk1921LateJuly.png

The Cossacks enter the Don region that they left three years ago and recapture the Don Cossacks spiritual capital. The stack at Rostov is now isolated there, but unfortunately, issues remain:

RostovOverviewEarlyAugust1921.png

The Red Don fleet is absurdly strong. Any Red defeat at Rostov allows them to retreat unmolested into the Kuban. Beaten though they may be, broken they will not. I'm considering allying with the Whites, and bringing the Caucus into the war, but this is premature. The Armies marshalling around Rostov are all put under the command of Army Gruppe A. In two turns, this massive amount of men (over 200,000) will attack Rostov.

In the west, egos get in the way.

KurskOverviewEarlyAugust1921.png

Beginners Corner:

Generals hate each other. In fact, they hate each other so much it's a little shocking that any nation chooses to prosecute war at all. What this means is that any Army stack will never, ever, not in a million years will reinforce another army that is fighting. All these corps and armies are not strong enough by themselves to beat Makhin's sunbathers, who have had roughly four months to dig a trench fortress. The way to get around this is too organize every corp sized stack into one army, meaning all the armies will reinforce at once (or at least, have a much better chance of reinforcing) and overwhelm Makhin's army. Unfortunately, I can redeploy Mr.Austria out of there, so I need to move him away. The plan is concentrate every corp and at least one army underneath the command of Army Group Ungarn (5 seniority). This will cost me 1 nm and 49 VPs, due to having to disband at least one army. This will take at least one turn, meaning we won't see battle for another two.

That's ok. Makhin's not going anywhere.

CentralOverviewEarlyAugust1921.png

In the center, I decide to stop chasing Reds and start fighting a war, damn it. Three stacks make offensive moves toward Vitebsk and Smolensk. A win at Vitebsk would leave the road to Moscow (and inner Pskov) exposed to German stacks. As for the Reds running around in Lithinua, well. So long as they don't capture depot or a major route of supply, they're out of supply and organization. The plan is to sit on top of my depots in the region and prevent the Reds from reinforcing on one. Since Grozny is one, I move a stack there. I also move down the Baltic Expeditionary Force from Riga to force the Reds into the swamp or to battle.

DecisionsEarlyAugust1921.png

Decisions. I don't think the sell Arms decisions are firing correctly, but it's probably some exterior factor I haven't thought of. I also toss some arms to the Whites, considering an alliance with them may be in the future.

This update was a little short. Because of this, you'll see an update tomorrow (11/28).
 
I note your problems about armies not supporting each other.
Why do you disband an army.
In other AGEOD games you just leave an army skeleton with just a few troops to avoid the NM hit. Then you transfer out the active corps.
 
that did read as a sort of interlude, but you did a devastating job on Buddeny. Interesting to see you command problems in the north but it seems that a radical reorder of your command structure will sort that out for you?

Another thing that I noticed in testing, is that Corp moving from the same province immediately support one another in battle, even if they're a day behind. Hint hint,cough cough

I note your problems about armies not supporting each other.
Why do you disband an army.
In other AGEOD games you just leave an army skeleton with just a few troops to avoid the NM hit. Then you transfer out the active corps.

Mostly because it's annoying to move around generals whatnot, and when I have NM to do these things, it's easier. Aside from that, a lot of these generals in command are absolute garbage, and their subordinates are significantly better than they are at the art of making war.
 
Turn 15: The Rock of Gibraltar: Late August, 1921


At Pskov, months of inactivity have made the Reds bored. So, they do exactly what you should never do: Attack across a river into a superior force of entrenched Germans.

PskovLateAugust1921.png

This changes the ground game in the North. With a win there, forces are marshalled from the interior of Latvia- it's time to go on the offensive:

FirstKaunas1921EarlyAugust.png

In Lithuania, I catch the Reds I've been chasing around for the last three or four turns at Kaunas. While I suffer more causalities, they suffer a ton of elements destroyed and the cohesion hit from it. Now, it's just a game of keeping them off my depots. So long as I can do that, lack of supply will whittle away at them.

And not to mention,Winter is coming.

CentralLateAugust1921.png

Further west, the beginnings of my offensive moves toward Smolensk and Vitebsk begin to bear fruits,

FirstHaradok1921EarlyAugust.png

While this may appear to be a phyrric victory, the Reds took 46 hits upon retreating. Weakened and inside the structure, the arrival of Sixt Von Armin's Armee Gruppe C near Smolensk next turn may lead to a massive victory in the center before the snow starts to fall.

CentralLateAugust1921.png

By concentrating their forces at Vibetsk, they've left Smolensk open, which the Austrians move to capitalize on. What I intend to do is try to force the Reds into Vitebsk and either starve them into submission or outright destroy them.

Elsewhere in the world, virtually nothing has happened.

KurskLateAugust1921.png

With his forces concentrated, Von Bojna and Armee Ungarn is ordered to attack Mahkin's sunbathers and hopefully force them deeper into the Ukraine. Their destruction is completely possible before the snow starts to fall, and would open up the road to Orel and possibly Tula by the end of October.

RostovLateAugust1921.png

In the south, the marshaled forces of Armee Gruppe A are no match for Von Einem's decision to go on vacation for two weeks. The stacks continue to assemble in Roveniki, with the hope that enough corp commanders and Von Einem will be active next turn to initiate the assault on Rostov.

With no decisions this turn, and very little action, you should see another update in a few days, stay tuned.