Part 12: Turn 2 - Soviet Org Phase: Peipus to Luga. Fall of Smolensk. Breakthrough at Odessa.
Army Group North vs Leningrad Front
Combat odds: 11/3 = 3:1 - shifted +1 for Blitz!, -1 for Forest = 3:1
Roll: 5 - DS
Army Group North assault the fortified positions of the Leningrad Front in the woodlands south of the old Russian capital. The fighting is intense, but in the end the Soviets cannot leverage the fact that the Germans are very limited in the use of their armour. In the end, superior Axis equipment and training carry the day. Soviet troops take significant casualties and fall back towards the City, with mass desertions along the way. By the time they reach it, they are hardly a cohesive fighting force. Meanwhile, the Germans find it difficult to advance in densely wooded terrain, especially with hardly any railways available.
9th Army, 2nd Panzer and 3rd Panzer vs Bryansk Front
Combat odds: 17/3 = 5:1 - shifted +1 for Blitz!, -1 for river = 5:1
Roll: 4 - DS
The Bryansk Front tries with all its might to hold back the Axis push across the Dneper, but they are simply overwhelmed by sheer German numbers. Concentrated attacks by enemy soldiers eventually cross the river and scatter the Front's divisions, which begin to break through towards Tula and Moscow on their own. The Germans hardly give pursuit, as they have several targets to secure, including the city of Smolensk, parts of the road towards Moscow and supply lines of the Southwest Front. German VPs now at 17.
1st Panzer, 2nd Army, 11th Army, 3rd Rumanian and 4th Rumanian vs Reserve Front
Combat odds: 18/4 = 4:1 - shifted +1 for Blitz!
Roll: 4 - DS
The Reserve Front has a very tough job of holding the flank of the Soviet forces near Kiev. However, when faced with an overwhelming Axis assault from Odessa and across the Dneper, it fails to hold ground for long. Its commanders quickly sound the retreat, but even before they do it becomes a rout. The Germans use that to surround Kiev just in time for an assault on the city.
17th Army, 6th Army vs Kiev
Odds: 8/5 = 3:2 - shifted +1 for Luftwaffe Support card, -1 for City
Roll: 1 - No effect
The AGS infantry move against Kiev, but the Central Front is ready for them. After a brief assault the German lead elements get a bit of bloody nose and decide to withhold the attack until the defenders run out of supply. The Luftwaffe dispatches fighter squadrons to ensure they don't get resupplied by air.
The Soviet situation is looking quite dire.
German Marker Removal Phase
Nothing to remove.
German Detraining Phase
Nothing to detrain.
Soviets have two cards in hand - they don't have to discard, so they just draw 4.
As you can see here, the 2nd Panzer's ZOC cuts Southwest off from supply.
The Central and Southwest Fronts are put out of supply.
The Germans pick this moment to initiate an attack on the nearly surrounded Southwest Front. Their brutal onslaught makes the Front collapse and surrender within weeks. German VPs now at 18.
No Soviet units are eligible to be flipped.
In order to reinforce the beleaguered front, new units are formed or shuffled in from the Far East. These are the Kalinin and Caucasus Fronts.
The Red Army also have a bunch of units to be rebuilt, reinforced or replaced.
I need Fangz to decide which units he replaces and what cards he discards in order to do that. Both they, recovering Shattered forces and the new guys have to be placed in a Soviet-controlled city in the USSR that can trace a supply path, even in an enemy zone of control. All of them, save for the new reinforcements, appear Disorganized. Deadline for this is tomorrow, 7 PM GMT.
