Sheesh, you guys are impatient!




I'm currently sitting in an airport lounge on Koh Samui, Thailand. Next stop: Bangkok. Then Amsterdam. Then Zurich. Then back to the East Front.

You mean you are not running WitE on your laptop and uploading AAR's while waiting?

Well, I just gave up on try number 7. Para, what is the best way you keep your guys supplied? I get to Moscow (or even partially in Moscow) and all my front line troops show decent supply but for fuel (which is of course big) and show -1 on the "sp" notation. I tried blowing past Moscow to Stalingrad one of the campaigns and those poor bastards got cut off and destroyed.

Supply is a huge problem in this game....I would trade a couple of Infantry Corps for RR repair units that actually work "right".

I have been reading some on the official Matrix forum and alot of people are saying that you just cannot win. Personally, I think maybe Hitler was wrong...............

well its about time you came back...

I want to know who shot J.R....... We may need a season one recap as well...

Home again!

My rucksack is still MIA somewhere between Bangkok, Amsterdam and Zürich though...




I promise I'll post an update on Saturday.


@Airdrop: you simply can't keep you mobile units supplied forever when they are advancing rapidly. Just like in WW2, after 3-4 weeks of rapid offensive operations you will need to put in a brief resting period to let your railheads catch up a bit. Air supply drops are very important, and the "HQ buildup" option is a very powerful tool to fix supply issues, although with a heavy hit on the transportation pool.

Sure, he posts holiday pics before the AAR update. Tsk tsk.

Ok, back to Russia!




Turn 18, October 16th 1941

One word: mud.

Forget about fighting a war during the dreaded Rasputitsa, the "time without roads". While the supply echelons of my divisions desperately try to move ammo, fuel and supplies to the fighting regiments, the front lines become virtually static. Divisions are reduced to the fighting strength of small Kampfgruppen, attacks become a pointless waste of effort.

I use this turn mainly to reorganize my units and start building a line of defensive positions behind my main line.

In Army Group North's sector the Finnish formations continue to replace the German units east of Leningrad, freeing up reserves and making the northernmost front blizzard-proof.
Around Leningrad I've formed a reserve of three Infantry divisions which will be transported to the Rzhev-Moscow area.

South of Lake Ilmen I have my armoured reserve of 3 Panzer and 2 Motorized Infantry divisions. This strong force with 468 tanks will form the northern pincer of my attack to cut off that soviet front bulge towards Velikie Luki.



In the Moscow area I've pulled back the four weakest Panzerdivisions back to the railhead at Smolensk to use the mud period for refitting. The weakest one, 12th Panzerdivision was down to 46 tanks. These four Divisions will form the southern thrust of Operation Westerwald, which will start once the mud period ends. The success of this operation should result in a shorter frontline, netting me 5-6 divisions to strengthen my lines around Moscow. And destroy some 20 Soviet divisions, among them quite a few of the cavalry formations that could really pose a nuisance in case of enemy breakthroughs.



From Moscow all the way down to Voroshilovgrad the situatuion is the same: The Red Army withdraws east, my forces follow. The Soviets seem to make a stand at Voronezh though, which means I'll try another Panzer thrust to encircle the defending units, once my Panzers stop sinking into the mud...



In the south the situation is still a bit chaotic. My rapid advance has lead to an over-extended line here, with the bulk of my infantry formations still trying to catch up to the mobile divisions. I had to order both 16th Panzerdivision and SS Wiking to withraw in order to avoid encirclement while 16th MotInf division had to abandon Voroshilovgrad to stop a Soviet advance into XXIV PzKps flank. Rumours say the Führer threw a tantrum when hearing the news...

Another problem is the huge "pocket" west of Rostov. Due to a number of ports all those Red Army units aren't really cut off from their supply, which means that sooner or later I'll have to deal with them.

Still, I am confident to get that situation sorted out in due time.




In the far south the 73th Infantry division has destroyed the trapped Soviet 339th, 290th and 30th rifle divisions, killing almost 2000 men and capturing a further 16,000.

Other than that no offensive operations were initiated. I doubt I can take Sevastopol this year. It already sports strong garrisons in heavy fortifications, so anything besides a well-prepared full army attack supported by all the heavy artillery I can get would only end in a bloodbath for attacker. If I can isolate it and form a front line at the isthmus of Kerch I'll be already more than happy.




All in all I'm still confident, but the expanse of the front line already gives me a small headache.

Is the mud as bad in the south?

If not, I'd use eliminate the pockets in the Stalino area, rush some of the units eastward to keep up the front and pull the rest down south to split the large pocket into several pieces or at least try to capture the most important harbors.

That pocket down south might be a problem in the winter...