Expert Front 1941: Mud and snow

 

It is August 31st, and one month of summer remains before the muddy rasputitsa and biting Russian winter. One month to make German superiority count. Let's do this.

 

Riga to Rzhev:

Axis	Current strength	Current strength	USSR
10 Infantry Corps	55	74	41 Infantry Army
41 Panzer Corps	148
46 Panzer Corps	79	88	32 Infantry Army
		80	30 Infantry Army
38 Infantry Corps	47	100	34 Infantry Army
40 Panzer Corps	188	42	4 Guards Infantry Army
1 Infantry Corps	74	60	1 Guards Cavalry Army
56 Panzer Corps	119	56	56 Infantry Army
28 Infantry Corps	85
2 Infantry Corps	107

 

The strength advantage here is decisively mine, but after my inevitable victory I will have a difficult choice to make - do I go after Leningrad, or not? Leningrad would be worth a few victory points and two Finnish infantry, but Smolensk needs help.

Minsk to Smolensk:

Axis	Current strength	Current strength	USSR
7 Infantry Corps	145
26 Infantry Corps	93
4 Flieger Corps	231	108	31 Infantry Army
47 Panzer Corps	45	95	22 Infantry Army
6 Infantry Corps	102	11	29 Infantry Army
1 Flieger Corps	218
		112	28 Infantry Army
24 Panzer Corps	65	52	2 Tank Army
8 Infantry Corps	59	137	40 Infantry Army
2 Flieger Corps	182
		50	3 Cavalry Army
		56	14 Infantry Army
		57	21 Infantry Army

 

This looks bad. Three units near Smolensk are cut off from supplies and can do little but entrench while waiting for help, and only the 6th infantry is close enough to provide any immediate relief. I will have the 7th and 26th infantries detach from the northern group to help here.

 

Kiev:

Axis	Current strength	Current strength	USSR
5 Infantry Corps	99	43	5 Tank Army
		72	10 Infantry Army
		59	18 Infantry Army
		80	19 Infantry Army
3 Panzer Corps	141	77	23 Infantry Army
49 Infantry Corps	91
9 Infantry Corps	118
11 Infantry Corps	96
27 Infantry Corps	75
12 Infantry Corps	79
23 Infantry Corps	83
57 Panzer Corps	145
5 Flieger Corps	190
14 Panzer Corps	156	134	18 Tank Army
4 Infantry Corps	96
48 Panzer Corps	121	50	1 Cavalry Army
29 Infantry Corps	39
3 Flieger Corps	179

The 5th infantry is deep in the swamp, bravely holding off three Soviet units. There's little to impede the rest of my army here.

 

Odessa:

Axis	Current strength	Current strength	USSR
17 Infantry Corps	45
30 Infantry Corps	95	8	4 Cavalry Army
1 Hungarian Panzer	29	24	5 Cavalry Army
54 Infantry Corps	53	70	2 Infantry Army
1 Rumanian Infantry	74
5 Rumanian Infantry	48	36	7 Infantry Army
2 Rumanian Infantry	62
4 Rumanian Infantry	28

My army here isn't in the best shape, but nonetheless I expect Odessa to fall soon, after which I can send them to other fronts.

 

September is a long, bloody month, and apart from Odessa, no additional cities are conquered. I even lose Kiev, though just for one turn, to the mud units behind me!

 

August 31 - October 4

Riga to Rzhev:

"Inevitable victory"

Axis	Old strength	Current strength x2	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
10 Infantry Corps	55	30		74	41 Infantry Army
41 Panzer Corps	148	74	71		9 Militia Army
			86		42 Infantry Army
46 Panzer Corps	79	104		88	32 Infantry Army
			136	80	30 Infantry Army
38 Infantry Corps	47	22		100	34 Infantry Army
40 Panzer Corps	188	74		42	4 Guards Infantry Army
			94		11 Militia Army
1 Infantry Corps	74	62		60	1 Guards Cavalry Army
56 Panzer Corps	119	104	66	56	56 Infantry Army
28 Infantry Corps	85	84	96		7 Militia Army
2 Infantry Corps	107	106	43		43 Infantry Army
35 Infantry Corps		94	104		43 Infantry Army

We destroyed the September squad pretty thoroughly, but this took longer and cost more muster than expected, and by October's mud, whatever we destroyed are more than replaced with reinforcements and militia. Leningrad must wait. Yes, there are two different 43 infantries; Russian numbering systems are very complicated.

 

Minsk to Smolensk:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength x2	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
7 Infantry Corps	145	58
26 Infantry Corps	93	82
13 Infantry Corps		108
4 Flieger Corps	231	118		108	31 Infantry Army
47 Panzer Corps	45	102	69	95	22 Infantry Army
6 Infantry Corps	102	107		11	29 Infantry Army
34 Infantry Corps		96
1 Flieger Corps	218	218
				112	28 Infantry Army
24 Panzer Corps	65	78	41	52	2 Tank Army
8 Infantry Corps	59	109	89	137	40 Infantry Army
2 Flieger Corps	182	183
				50	3 Cavalry Army
			21	56	14 Infantry Army
			79	57	21 Infantry Army

The initial goal was to rescue the panzers and 8th infantry from the north Dnieper river, and very soon the goal also became to rescue an eager 7th infantry who pushed themselves into a kitty corner at the month's start. Overall the goal was a success, and the 8th infantry managed to escape their muddy deathtrap with a bit of air support, but nobody in this group is in great shape except the Fliegerkorps and the reinforcements.

 

Kiev to Kharkov:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength x2	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
5 Infantry Corps	99	92	13	43	5 Tank Army
				72	10 Infantry Army
			42	59	18 Infantry Army
				80	19 Infantry Army
3 Panzer Corps	141	52		77	23 Infantry Army
			56		15 Infantry Army
49 Infantry Corps	91	80
9 Infantry Corps	118	108
11 Infantry Corps	96	91
27 Infantry Corps	75	77	94		60 Infantry Army
12 Infantry Corps	79	97
23 Infantry Corps	83	80	103		33 Infantry Army
57 Panzer Corps	145	145
5 Flieger Corps	190	132	114		66 Infantry Army
14 Panzer Corps	156	62		134	18 Tank Army
4 Infantry Corps	96	20	113		19 Tank Army
48 Panzer Corps	121	148	41	50	1 Cavalry Army
29 Infantry Corps	39	42
3 Flieger Corps	179	142

Impediment happened, as we're met by reinforcements near Kharkov. 5th infantry couldn't hold off three units alone for long, so I joined it with the 49th while the airplanes moved forward - now they've all moved east some and are holding onto Kiev.

The 14th Panzers tried to encircle a Russia tank army mid-September, but wound up walking right into a pincer trap, where it must remain all October now. This wouldn't have happened if we could play out the action day-by-day instead of week-by-week!

 

Odessa:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength x2	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
17 Infantry Corps	45	88
30 Infantry Corps	95	98		8	4 Cavalry Army
1 Hungarian Panzer	29	36		24	5 Cavalry Army
54 Infantry Corps	53	45		70	2 Infantry Army
1 Rumanian Infantry	74	47
5 Rumanian Infantry	48	17		36	7 Infantry Army
2 Rumanian Infantry	62	35
4 Rumanian Infantry	28
4 Italian Infantry		54

It took all month, but the Romanian Suicide Squad took Odessa, killed everyone around it, and what's left of them are slowly walking away.

 

Fighting over the next month is futile - every Axis unit is working at half strength during the muddy season! As before, I keep some distance as I try to reform my lines on favorable terrain, but this is trickier than it was.

As winter starts, all of my Fliegerkorps are down a massive amount of combat strength, though none have suffered any permanent muster damage.

October 5 - November 8

Northmost cluster:

Axis	Old strength x2	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
10 Infantry Corps	30	31	80	71	9 Militia Army
28 Infantry Corps	84	20	36	96	7 Militia Army
			82	86	42 Infantry Army
40 Panzer Corps	74	95	123	94	11 Militia Army
2 Infantry Corps	106	95	50	43	43 Infantry Army
41 Panzer Corps	74	83

 

These guys have mostly held it together throughout the mud season, and skirmished a bit with the Soviets nearby during the first week of winter, but aren't fully recovered yet. Strength advantage is overall mine, especially as the militia cannot attack.

 

Rzhev:

Axis	Old strength x2	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
46 Panzer Corps	104	103
38 Infantry Corps	22	35	177	136	30 Infantry Army
1 Flieger Corps	218	60
56 Panzer Corps	104	92	135	66	56 Infantry Army
35 Infantry Corps	94	88	134	104	43 Infantry Army

Also not much of a line change, but the strength difference is serious. I'm going to need to push my numbers advantage here to encircle and cut them off from supplies.

 

Smolensk:

Axis	Old strength x2	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
7 Infantry Corps	58	33
1 Infantry Corps	62	29
26 Infantry Corps	82	62
13 Infantry Corps	108	91
4 Flieger Corps	118	88
47 Panzer Corps	102	118	34	69	22 Infantry Army
6 Infantry Corps	107	36
34 Infantry Corps	96	80

We took an unguarded Smolensk during the start of October, cutting off the lone infantry there from supplies. The Russians are trying to take it back, and the severely weakened infantry they sent are joined by a severely weakened tank unit from the south and a strong infantry from the north. But it won't be enough.

 

Minsk:

Axis	Old strength x2	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
24 Panzer Corps	78	111	20	41	2 Tank Army
8 Infantry Corps	109	46	41	89	40 Infantry Army
2 Flieger Corps	183	106	45	79	21 Infantry Army
			22	21	14 Infantry Army

 

Pathetic. Minsk will hold, but going after the Soviets in the river will be annoying.

Orel:

Axis	Old strength x2	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
9 Infantry Corps	108	45
11 Infantry Corps	91	30	138		54 Infantry Army
27 Infantry Corps	77	11	186	94	60 Infantry Army
12 Infantry Corps	97	30	47		50 Infantry Army
			202		61 Infantry Army

My guys mostly marched here in the mud and snow unimpeded from northern Ukraine but are too exhausted to fight despite being positioned for multiple pincer attacks. I can only hope supplies reach them before the Soviets break out.

 

Kiev:

 

Axis	Old strength x2	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
5 Infantry Corps	92	46	35	42	18 Infantry Army
5 Flieger Corps	132	41
49 Infantry Corps	80	35		13	5 Tank Army
3 Flieger Corps	142	116

Most of these units have left Kiev by now and are moving up to Orel. Two of the units currently there came from Odessa, moving north. The Soviet 5th tank army perished trying to take Kiev back, and the 18th infantry army is about to.

 

Kharkov:

Axis	Old strength x2	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
			209		39 Infantry Army
3 Panzer Corps	52	44	96	56	15 Infantry Army
4 Infantry Corps	20	21	126	113	19 Tank Army
48 Panzer Corps	148	42
14 Panzer Corps	62	58	107	114	66 Infantry Army
57 Panzer Corps	145	74
23 Infantry Corps	80	40	149	103	33 Infantry Army
29 Infantry Corps	42	21	1	41	1 Cavalry Army
			174		2 Guards Infantry

Oh. Oh no.

My units here are in no fighting condition, and a battering ram of Soviets are coming in, and more are right behind them. Try not to let anyone get encircled as we withdraw west for more reliable supplies. Try not to let anyone get bashed in.

 

 Odessa:

Axis	Old strength x2	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
30 Infantry Corps	98	46
17 Infantry Corps	88	86
1 Hungarian Panzer	36	37
54 Infantry Corps	45	44
1 Rumanian Infantry	47	46
5 Rumanian Infantry	17	16
2 Rumanian Infantry	35	33
4 Italian Infantry	54	54

Odessa is now far behind all of these companies, who have regrouped and formed up with others. Russia doesn't seem all that interested in taking it back.

 

November 9 -  December 6

Northmost cluster:

Yep, the Finnish armies are still stuck there.

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
10 Infantry Corps	31	24	48	80	9 Militia Army
28 Infantry Corps	20	38	24	36	7 Militia Army
41 Panzer Corps	83	15	40	123	11 Militia Army
40 Panzer Corps	95	95	61	82	42 Infantry Army
				50	43 Infantry Army

Despite a strength advantage and a little help from the south, these minor tussles are slow. Weak, poorly supplied units can still encircle, but fighting is hard.

 

Rzhev:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
46 Panzer Corps	103	53
2 Infantry Corps	95	31
38 Infantry Corps	35			177	30 Infantry Army
1 Flieger Corps	60	223
56 Panzer Corps	92	85		135	56 Infantry Army
35 Infantry Corps	88	91
7 Infantry Corps	33	49

Total Soviet destruction, but not without losses on my end. Rzhev will be taken by Monday.

 

Smolensk:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
11 Infantry Corps	30	38		134	43 Infantry Army
26 Infantry Corps	62	9
4 Flieger Corps	88	180
1 Infantry Corps	29	56		34	22 Infantry Army
13 Infantry Corps	91	104	208		1 Guards Tank Army
47 Panzer Corps	118	58
6 Infantry Corps	36	89		20	2 Tank Army

The feeble and isolated Russian attempts to liberate Smolensk were all encircled and crushed by December. A single powerful tank army is closing in, but I've learned not to fear single armies.

 

Minsk to Orel:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
34 Infantry Corps	80	93
2 Flieger Corps	106	163
24 Panzer Corps	111	102		41	40 Infantry Army
8 Infantry Corps	46	101	16	22	14 Infantry Army

Minsk held, one Soviet was destroyed as we chased it across the frozen river, another is caught in a pincer on the other side of the river.

 

Orel:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
27 Infantry Corps	11		177	138	54 Infantry Army
12 Infantry Corps	30	51		47	50 Infantry Army
5 Infantry Corps	46	39		45	21 Infantry Army
4 Infantry Corps	21	35	236		2 Guards Cavalry
9 Infantry Corps	45	70
5 Flieger Corps	41	129	192	202	61 Infantry Army
			128		45 Infantry Army

The sawtooth formation did not hold. I got two of theirs, they got one of mine. Unfortunately, they get two powerful reinforcements. At least I can count on a bit of help coming from Minsk.

 

Kiev to Kharkov:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
49 Infantry Corps	35	35
4 Italian Infantry	54	24
2 Rumanian Infantry	33	33
54 Infantry Corps	44	44		35	18 Infantry Army

As expected, these ragtag survivors from all over the front destroyed the sole enemy here and are marching to Kharkov.

 

Kharkov:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
			129		47 Infantry Army
48 Panzer Corps	42	40		186	60 Infantry Army
3 Flieger Corps	116	88
17 Infantry Corps	86	65	195		9 Tank Army
3 Panzer Corps	44	62		209	39 Infantry Army
57 Panzer Corps	74	52
30 Infantry Corps	46	85
1 Hungarian Panzer	37	21	94		7 Cavalry Army
23 Infantry Corps	40		92	96	15 Infantry Army
29 Infantry Corps	21	42	130	126	19 Tank Army
5 Rumanian Infantry	16	8
1 Rumanian Infantry	46	46
14 Panzer Corps	58	22	76	107	66 Infantry Army
			202		28 Tank Army
			89	149	33 Infantry Army
			54		95 Infantry Army
			170	174	2 Guards Infantry
			106		52 Infantry Army
				1	1 Cavalry Army

Never forget that well-supplied Germans can punch above their weight. By withdrawing in a measured manner, I allowed multiple Soviets to spearhead and isolate themselves, letting me cut them off and destroy them piecemeal.

This still costs significant muster strength, though, which can never be recovered. And with these quickly-dwindling combat strength numbers, I'm doubting that I can outlast Soviet reinforcements!

I do, however, have an opportunity to snatch Dnepropetrovsk to the south, which is completely unguarded.

 

Overall combat strength, not counting the Finns or Fliegerkorps, comes to 1,905 now, out of 2,728 points of muster strength. Winter supply problems account for most of the difference.

Don't know if I'm going to be able to win this time!

Eastern Front 1941: Expert mode

The second edition of Eastern Front 1941 does waste your time with an intro/options screen.

Operation Barbarossa was a massive success, achieving Lebensraum by the end of winter. The red army scattered and useless, every major population center from Warsaw to the Urals fell under German occupation.

Not so fast! With Eastern Front 1941 far surpassing their modest sales expectations for a mail-order wargame, Atari would re-release it as a professionally published retail product. For this new edition, designer Chris Crawford would make some improvements, including a rebalanced difficulty setting to ensure that nobody wins too easily. The Wargaming Scribe attempted this years ago - now it's my turn.

This new edition includes a much nicer looking manual, decorated with vintage photos and war anecdotes, and a folding game area map with geographic annotations. There is a now a provision for saving an in-progress game to disk or cassette, something sorely lacking from the original. But most importantly, and the whole reason that I'm revisiting this version, are five new scenarios. Three of them (learner, beginner, and intermediate) are designed to gradually show you the ropes, and are followed by "advanced" which corresponds to the original 1981 version's scenario. The next, "expert 1941," is designed to kick your butt.

Negative 128 points and we haven't started yet!

Two gameplay features are introduced here. First, your army is complemented with five Fliegerkorps units who do not attack directly, but may support ground units within a radius of home base, enhancing their combat strength. The home bases may also be moved like regular units, but provide no air support during movement, and will be weaker the following turn.

Second is the introduction of unit tactics. We can march, which trades defense and attack power for mobility, entrench, which trades total mobility for defense, and assault, which trades defense and mobility for attack power.

Uses for march and entrench seem straightforward enough. If a unit is far from the front (e.g. reinforcements) and needs to cross a lot of terrain to get there, we march. Otherwise, we don't. As for entrenchment, this seems more useful to the Soviets than to myself, as they need to delay and wear me down in order to win, but I need to move and gain ground in order to win. But it could still be useful to me in situations where isolated units need to hold ground until help arrives, especially if they can't retreat.

But assault is ambivalent. I'm certainly going to be using a lot of attack power, and the option to enhance it is nice, but at what cost? We need our units to last, and damage done to German units is permanent.

I did some tests, and the results are surprising and difficult to quantify. Overall, my units inflicted about triple the muster damage and double the combat damage when in assault, and suffered only 12% more muster damage in return, but much of this is because the Soviets broke faster and more easily, and therefore took additional damage and only fought back passively. When one factors out the assaults that outright destroyed Soviet units, the numbers are all over the place, and overall we did not inflict significantly more damage to the well-entrenched divisions, but also suffered a bit less damage in return; it seems that the Soviet divisions on the receiving end of a heavy assault had less of an opportunity to "break" ours in retaliation.

Furthermore, infantry in assault mode can move a maximum of three spaces per week, down from five. Armor in assault moves up to five spaces, down from eight.

So it seems assault is worth using, but I'll need to be mindful of attrition losses, especially as this is what defeated Scribe. Standard attacks, it seems, are better to use against weakened units who will fall either way.

 

I play out the first three turns with my usual methods - simulate day-by-day play using GIMP, assume the Soviets will not move, assume every push will be successful. Assault is to be used only by armor, only when the unit begins its turn adjacent to a weaker unit, never against enemies entrenched in defensive terrain, and never against enemies that are already at the breaking point. Fliegerkorps will support the nearest armor unit in assault mode - by the end of the month I need to start moving them closer.

June 22 - July 12

 

A decent push, and I think I did a better job of avoiding gridlock than I did last time, but I'm about a week behind my progress on original difficulty. An over-aggressive push on the north perimeter left two units stranded for a turn, and this cost them some muster strength. The Romanian troops in particular are struggling; their morale breaks much more easily than Germans do, and they're also placed in unfavorable river terrain with no easy way around the Soviet cavalry guarding the banks.

Time for some numbers.

• Pink - New divisions
• Green - Minor muster damage
• Yellow - Major, irrecoverable muster damage
• Orange - Supplies blocked, combat strength halved
• Red - Destroyed
  

 

Poland/Slovakia:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
			55	115	7 Tank Army
38 Infantry Corps	120	75	73	128	8 Infantry Army
41 Panzer Corps	198	88		140	11 Infantry Army
			77		10 Tank Army
28 Infantry Corps	112	82	46	54	1 Tank Army
56 Panzer Corps	194	155	98	108	4 Infantry Army
10 Infantry Corps	101	101	91		6 Tank Army
26 Infantry Corps	104	100	169		13 Infantry Army
1 Infantry Corps	129	113		65	8 Tank Army
2 Infantry Corps	123	123
24 Panzer Corps	223	198		157	3 Infantry Army
5 Infantry Corps	136	120	55	92	3 Cavalry Army
1 Flieger Corps	219	154
40 Panzer Corps		143
6 Infantry Corps	127	122		115	6 Cavalry Army
46 Panzer Corps	192	175	118	116	10 Infantry Army
7 Infantry Corps	150	143
2 Flieger Corps	183	132
47 Panzer Corps	199	184	58	46	5 Tank Army
8 Infantry Corps	129	129
3 Flieger Corps	206	206
57 Panzer Corps	184	167		105	5 Infantry Army
9 Infantry Corps	136	136
4 Flieger Corps	237	162	118		18 Infantry Army
3 Panzer Corps	202	187	96	134	6 Infantry Army
29 Infantry Corps	111	102	52		1 Cavalry Army
14 Panzer Corps	195	158		178	12 Infantry Army
49 Infantry Corps	140	140
5 Flieger Corps	191	137
48 Panzer Corps	191	161		138	26 Infantry Army
17 Infantry Corps	119	119
4 Infantry Corps	142	97		99	3 Tank Army
				31	4 Tank Army

 

And here we can see the sobering reality of expert mode. Damage is much more severe this time around! The numbers here are combat strength, which does recover on its own, but never exceeds muster strength, which only recovers for the Soviets, not for us!

Note that four of the Fliegerkorps lost considerable combat strength, but no muster strength. Moving the airbase costs a lot of combat strength, but is not damaging.

Like before, a little over half of this army is going north around the swamp, and the rest south to meet up with the Hungarian group.

 

Hungary:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
54 Infantry Corps	106	78		40	11 Tank Army
			46	158	12 Tank Army
30 Infantry Corps	131	116	46	52	5 Cavalry Army
11 Infantry Corps	125	93	111	127	9 Infantry Army
1 Hungarian Panzer		98

This group began as three fairly strong infantry corps fighting against a strong infantry, a strong tank unit, and two feeble tank and cavalry units. That initial defense force is shattered now, though, and support is coming from around the swamps.

 

Romania:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
			75		2 Infantry Army
4 Rumanian Infantry	92	80	64	101	4 Cavalry Army
2 Rumanian Infantry	96	86
1 Rumanian Infantry	97	83	78	53	2 Cavalry Army

These guys aren't doing amazingly. Their attacks faltered, and the 4th infantry in particular got pushed around a lot. I wound up moving them away from Odessa and am trying to pincer-attack any Soviets foolish enough to try to fight in the river.

 

July 13 - August 2

The main group continues to push around the swamp, but more slowly than before. Assault mode slows us down some, and I take every opportunity I can to surround Soviet units before attacking. This creates some traffic jams, but a four-way pincer isn't often slipped out of!

North of the swamp:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
41 Panzer Corps	88	127		73	8 Infantry Army
38 Infantry Corps	75	47		55	7 Tank Army
			63	77	10 Tank Army
56 Panzer Corps	155	47	31		35 Infantry Army
26 Infantry Corps	100	93	96		27 Infantry Army
28 Infantry Corps	82	89	118		20 Infantry Army
10 Infantry Corps	101	32	92	98	4 Infantry Army
				46	1 Tank Army
1 Infantry Corps	113	85		91	6 Tank Army
2 Infantry Corps	123	110		169	13 Infantry Army
24 Panzer Corps	198	84	77		24 Infantry Army
40 Panzer Corps	143	198	81		14 Infantry Army
1 Flieger Corps	154	218	103		28 Infantry Army
5 Infantry Corps	120	115	70	55	3 Cavalry Army
46 Panzer Corps	175	164	129		40 Infantry Army
6 Infantry Corps	122	122
7 Infantry Corps	143	147	109	118	10 Infantry Army
2 Flieger Corps	132	132
4 Flieger Corps	162	187	73		22 Infantry Army
47 Panzer Corps	184	180	25	58	5 Tank Army
8 Infantry Corps	129	129
3 Flieger Corps	206	115

The fighting is heavy, the terrain difficult, air support has to spend much of this month catching up, and for each Soviet unit I destroy or cripple, another comes along! For now the advantage remains mine, and the Soviets can't really maintain a stable defense line, but my dwindling numbers do concern me.

 

South of the swamp:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
23 Infantry Corps		84	81	118	18 Infantry Army
3 Panzer Corps	187	188		96	6 Infantry Army
57 Panzer Corps	167	167	107		2 Militia Army
5 Flieger Corps	137	138
27 Infantry Corps		77
14 Panzer Corps	158	154	51	52	1 Cavalry Army
29 Infantry Corps	102	94	97		16 Infantry Army
49 Infantry Corps	140	140
9 Infantry Corps	136	127
48 Panzer Corps	161	161
17 Infantry Corps	119	119
4 Infantry Corps	97	97
11 Infantry Corps	93	117		46	12 Tank Army
30 Infantry Corps	116	116
54 Infantry Corps	78	78
1 Hungarian Panzer	98	90

The fighting here is comparably lighter, but Ukraine's rivers slow our march to relieve the Romanians to the southeast.

 

Moldova:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
			55	46	5 Cavalry Army
			93	75	2 Infantry Army
2 Rumanian Infantry	86	86	105	111	9 Infantry Army
1 Rumanian Infantry	83	29	69		4 Cavalry Army
4 Rumanian Infantry	80	52	57		7 Infantry Army
5 Rumanian Infantry		52	34	78	2 Cavalry Army

The foolish ones are us. Romanian infantry panic and break so much more easily on expert than they did in the original difficulty, to the point where I'd say they are now considerably worse than the Russians! Three units could barely injure a cavalry army from advantageous terrain, and are now reduced to taking defensive positions in their foxholes as they wait for relief from the north.

 

August begins with a few tricky situations. Up north, I have a strength advantage, but a lot of my units aren't in places where they can easily reach the action. Moving them without causing a logjam is going to be hard! We also have a few units including Panzers stuck in pincer traps, but if they hold long enough I can free them with pincer attacks of my own. South of the swamp, a few Soviet units are stuck in the mud, and while it's tempting to leave them there, they will dig their way out, and when they do, my Fliegerkorps will be sitting birds unless I pull a few of my own back from the front line. And Moldova is just a quagmire, but at least no Soviet support is coming any time soon.

 

August 3 - August 30

Riga to Rzhev:

QOL improvement - cities are now color-coded to show ownership.

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
10 Infantry Corps	32	55		63	10 Tank Army
41 Panzer Corps	127	148	74		41 Infantry Army
56 Panzer Corps	47	119		31	35 Infantry Army
28 Infantry Corps	89	85		92	4 Infantry Army
26 Infantry Corps	93	93		96	27 Infantry Army
38 Infantry Corps	47	47		118	20 Infantry Army
2 Infantry Corps	110	107		77	24 Infantry Army
1 Infantry Corps	85	74	100		34 Infantry Army
40 Panzer Corps	198	188	88		32 Infantry Army
			60		1 Guards Cavalry Army
			42		4 Guards Infantry Army

Excellent performance all-around here, with barely an ounce of strength wasted. The mediocre armies at Riga at the month's start were completely encircled and destroyed, at little cost to us. But more units are quick to replace them, and more still are on the way.

 

Minsk to Smolensk:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
47 Panzer Corps	180	45	95	73	22 Infantry Army
24 Panzer Corps	84	65	56	81	14 Infantry Army
46 Panzer Corps	164	79	108		31 Infantry Army
6 Infantry Corps	122	102	11		29 Infantry Army
7 Infantry Corps	147	145	112	103	28 Infantry Army
4 Flieger Corps	187	231	52		2 Tank Army
8 Infantry Corps	129	59	50	70	3 Cavalry Army
2 Flieger Corps	132	182	137	129	40 Infantry Army
1 Flieger Corps	218	218	57		21 Infantry Army
5 Infantry Corps	115	99	72	109	10 Infantry Army

Yikes, this is a situation. Just about everyone is either stuck in the swamp and cut off from supplies or far away from it. The only bright side - we have plenty of air support. But if we can't hold the lines here, we might not for long!

Kiev:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
			43	25	5 Tank Army
			59	81	18 Infantry Army
			80		19 Infantry Army
3 Panzer Corps	188	141		107	2 Militia Army
57 Panzer Corps	167	145	77		23 Infantry Army
23 Infantry Corps	84	83	134		18 Tank Army
49 Infantry Corps	140	91
29 Infantry Corps	94	39		97	16 Infantry Army
9 Infantry Corps	127	118
5 Flieger Corps	138	190
27 Infantry Corps	77	75
14 Panzer Corps	154	156	50	51	1 Cavalry Army
4 Infantry Corps	97	96
11 Infantry Corps	117	96
48 Panzer Corps	161	121
3 Flieger Corps	115	179
12 Infantry Corps		79

Kiev is taken, but the fighting around it has taken a toll on its besiegers. I have a few units staying behind to guard the fliegerkorps from any muddy surprises that might crawl out of the swamps.

 

Moldova:

Axis	Old strength	Current strength	Current strength	Old strength	USSR
17 Infantry Corps	119	45
30 Infantry Corps	116	95
1 Hungarian Panzer	90	29	24	55	5 Cavalry Army
54 Infantry Corps	78	53
			70	93	2 Infantry Army
			8	69	4 Cavalry Army
1 Rumanian Infantry	29	74	36	57	7 Infantry Army
2 Rumanian Infantry	86	62		105	9 Infantry Army
4 Rumanian Infantry	52	28		34	2 Cavalry Army
5 Rumanian Infantry	52	48

 

I am, at last, in control of the situation here. The Romanians aren't great, and neither are the Hungarians, but they're trying, and with a bit of help from German infantry, the encircled Russians are breaking and will have to concede Odessa by the end of summer.

I thought that at this point, it might be interesting to compare my progress to the previous game's state at the same time, so I made a combination overlay. Transparent tokens represent my units in the August 30th state of the "advanced" game, solid tokens represent the current one.

 

Expert mode certainly slows things down! We're at least two weeks behind schedule, thanks to deadlier, more strength-depleting attrition, the Soviets' ability to entrench and stay put longer, and our own mobility-sacrificing assault mode. Suprisingly, Expert mode is also going by a bit faster for me than Advanced did - this is partly because I'm more experienced with planning out traffic, but the reduced mobility also means there's fewer moves for me to plan out each turn, and that more than offsets the added complexity of choosing tactical modes and managing the Fliegerkorps.

Discounting the Fliegerkorps and newly-arrived reinforcements, we have 3,067 units of combat strength at the front, out of 3,598 units of muster strength. In comparison, the same units at this point in advanced mode had a combined 4,353 units of combat strength, and slightly higher muster strength! The Fliegerkorps provide a maximum of about 1,000 extra combat strength, depending on how rested they are, and how close they are to the action, so I'm going to need them to make the difference if I want a chance at winning.

To be continued!