GD ’42 Update.

After looking at the board several times, counting the losses for the Soviets, and examining the scenarios I think I have a plan.

There are two paths available right now.

1. Simply setup the Late Campaign.

2. Or add 50% of the forces back to the Soviet army and leave the Germans as is. Then continue on for about 26 turns.  Which would be about where the late campaign finishes (well where the two discrete scenarios combined end). I would take the rest of the 30th of November and allow the Soviets to move ‘replacements’ in. No combat, no air no arty.  All Soviet units would need to retreat back at least 5 hexes from German units if they are going to be reconstituted or receive factors.

The Germans would be given an opportunity to free move units around Travino and re organize Vasil ‘stova’s defense.

All op sheets would reset as well and the game would kick off at 0700 1dec.

Why do this?

Why not just pack it all up and re start some day?

I dont know when that some day will be. Nor do I know if I will make time again with the level of face to face playing I’m doing right now. Its really interesting, and certainly worth another play thru, but I have this nagging desire to see what the other end of the map looks like!

If and when I decide what to do I’ll post up as soon as every thing is reset.

 

GD ’42 Morale Sheets 1300 on the 30th

These images are net of recovered morale and do not show consolidation.

The Soviet Tank:  We had an error for the 14th TK so I need to do a roll for step losses for the 2 dice sitting there.  Which will impact morale a lot.  Ignore the random German gun! He was trying to escape:)

German Losses:

The Germans rolled well for replacements earlier on in the game. But losses slowly start to mount.

GD 42 1300 Arty. Ouch…But I’ve seen worse.

Germans and Russians set to work on each other. Commentary and Text edits.

GD’42 What Really Happened @ Luchessa Valley? 2100- Into the Light (part5)

2100 onwards

It was dark. Inky black. Icy cold.  The stars shone weakly in the night sky, a myriad of pinpricks of light, blurred by clouds threatening snow.

0200-452 hunkers down

Balierev’s men of the 454^th picked their way carefully towards the second ford. Last thing he wanted was to be splattered by one of his own tanks. Up ahead in the darkness the 14^th Tank Regiment had crossed the ford and were holed up in the trees nearby. He needed to support them in the defense of the ford and secure the flanks. Already troops for the GD had attempted to thrust at them with a Marder. He piled men across the western ford as fast as he could and had two platoons helping recently arrived AT guns get into place.

Behind him he heard the familiar sound of mortar illumination rounds going off into the dark sky. He turned to see the slow descent of the illum round.  It looked so peaceful as it drifted gracefully to the ground.

OpSheet Summary 0700 30th Nov GD’42

This is a bit messy. But the sheet summarizes action to date. I’ve caught some errors and had to write additional opsheets and go back and re roll some things.

GD-42_all Opsheets_summary (for the virus phobic, this is an XLS spreadsheet. I can make it a pdf upon request.)

This will show you just how FUBAR’d the Soviet C&C is tho.

Right now I have 5 Opsheets for the Soviet side. Only one has implemented. The flip side of the fun we had attacking for an extended period of time at night is that the men had no rest and no chance to organize. So we are now paying for that with failed implementations.

Which is ok for the Germans as they have had some failed rolls also. The challenge we see for both sides is getting everything done under the auspices of one sheet is hard, so multiple sheets are need. These take time to brew. Creates a bit of a headache, but really reflects some hard realities.
Imagine no op sheet!?! Right now the Soviet offensive machine would pick up where it left off, right on time. 0700 – boom, after fighting all night and working the hasty D intended use from the rules and guidelines more than a bit!

Well now instead,  we are paying the price. My barrages are coming 0700. But no one is ready to move. In fact with the retreats of the Germans, many orders will be wasted! So- life is not perfect! We dont have perfect ability to react to ANY situation.

NICE.

As the Soviet player I dont mind the delay really. The ground gained and the forced retreat/re-org of the Germans is more than compensation for delay. In fact – The Soviets may want to reconsider their previous objectives and write NEW sheets and wait for those to brew.

In a video about to be released, the Map overview, highlights some weakness for the Germans. Vasil’tsova is now well undermanned.

It presents a tempting target for the Soviets. Especially if the Soviet 1319, can finally secure Travino. Then we have a real ‘two front’ battle. The Axis has gone over board on its response to the push towards Smolkovo. As the Soviet overall strategy was to go basically “all-in south of the Luchessa”, this represents an interesting temptation. With several Battalions Arriving hte Soviets could choose to put extra pressure on the Northern part of the battle zone.  The ar eno meaningful replacements, or troops

The Axis player is hoping to maintain Vasil t’sova and indeed Travino – by sending 8-II-GD as support for the beleaguered JAgd 110. The 8-II is desperately trying to dig in. The Germans want to hold tough here so they can push reinforcements forward and potentially counterattack and cause delays for the Soviet southern offensive.