July I

Back on the right flank, 2nd Panzer finally breaks through to Minsk from the southwest. Infantry takes out pockets around Brest. I hate swamps.

4th Army continues to clean out forest and swamp pockets. Slow going. The only pockets left in AGC are two hexes with armor divisions. Supply can now be traced down the Minsk-Bialystok road. This is about the fastest that our group has seen pockets cleared up.

Minsk is too strong to take, so 2nd and 3rd Panzer tightly surround it. Engineers admin. move up to get the +1 bonus attacking next turn. The Soviets are running back to the Berezina river, so I attack across with a panzer division before he gets too strong and to hold him in ZOC. Pinning Soviets with a ZOC keeps them from running too far and limits flexibility.

July II

Minsk falls, but it takes all the panzers, lots of air, and engineers. Because the attack takes so much, the Berezina bridgehead can't be expanded. However, in the mech phase, the bridgehead gets jammed with panzers. All the border pockets are now eliminated, freeing the infantry to admin. move up next turn.

August I

Decision time. Should the main effort be east out of the Berezina bridgehead or northwest towards Leningrad from Daugavpils? I decide for the former along three thrusts. The first thrust along the Daugavpils- PolotskVelikie line will head toward the Valclai hills and possibly swing north if Leningrad is left wide open (unlikely).

This thrust is not strong because most of the armor is tied up around Minsk. This group has two armored divisions, two motorized divisions, and three full infantry corps. The second and main thrust, with most of the infantry and armor, will bear directly east out of the Berezina bridgehead. The third and least important, will try to cross the Berezina river near Bobruysk with two infantry corps and three motorized divisions.

The Russians have formed a defensive line of Velikie-VitebskOrsha- Bobruysk. This line has lots of swamps and forests. It is especially tough in the forests west of Vitebsk. Most of the Soviet armor is on the Velikie-Vitebsk line. This is hard to directly attack as most of my armor is tied down in the Berezina bridgehead on the Minsk-Orsha road. The Russians are not throwing in a lot of troops, just enough to slow me down for a turn. This is surprising because of all the good defensive terrain around the river. I break down a 11-10 armor, so I can make a 60-point stack for overruns.

On my left, armor wipes out a few volunteers around Polotsk. In the mech phase, the advance doesn't go much beyond Polotsk, as all the Soviet armor is in prime position to counterattack here. I need some extra 12-10's!

In my center, attacking out of the Berezina bridgehead, the Russian line takes heavy losses. Infantry takes one of the forest hexes west of Vitebsk. 3rd Panzer blasts up the Minsk road toward Orsha.

On the right Bobruysk falls and some motorized gain a bridgehead across the river. Big deal. This axis of advance was probably a waste of resources.

August II

The Soviets are clearly running and not playing a forward defense. They have fallen back to the rough terrain just before the Valdai Hills. The line then stretches back southeast to Moscow through Rzhev, then south and west to Orel-Bryansk. The main line is mostly eleven hexes away from me. While only one line, it's overrun proof. Lots of swamp rats are left behind to slow me down. I really hate swamps. Leningrad looks pretty solid, so I go for the Valdai Hills, which is one of our original objectives.

I spot one place west of Rzhev where he thought my armor couldn't reach and attack. About eight divisions are cut off in a pocket. Smolensk falls without a fight. The rest of the turn is spent cleaning out swamp rats. These guys are a major pain.

I am starting to worry about my right flank. The advance through Bobruysk is slow. It's just too weak. While I am tying down some Russians with this thrust, the troops would probably have been of better use in the center. They then could have advanced on Mogilev and then to Gomel instead of a Minsk-Bobruysk-Gomel axis. Next time I'll know better.

A note on rail conversion. We were using the "Rails through the Russias" rules from TEN #7 and they seem to be a big improvement. AGC needs only to convert on two axes. Two regiments should start in hex 1B:2309 (not the border, since the Riga- Velikie line is broad gauge) and head towards the Valdai Hills. Four regiments can then double-team the Minsk line. This leaves one battalion for AGN (that's all they need) and the rest for AGS.

September I

Here is another big turn of decision. Should I press directly for Moscow or concentrate on pocketing the Valdai hills? The Russian line starts in the lakes at 2A:2528, heads east to 2A:2524 and then turns south to 2A:2723, linking up with the potent Moscow defensive line. The Valdai Hills line is only one hex deep. Easy exploitation here.

The line in front of Moscow is two deep with strong armor stacks in the first line, but a weak second line that in some places can be overrun. Overall, this latter position is stronger, harder to reach and outside most of my air support.

Therefore, I decide to attack between the Valclai Hills and Rzhev and waste hex 2A:2723. I then mech from there to link up with some AGN armor that has already cut the LeningradVyshniy road. About fifteen divisions are caught in the pocket, some of them armored with artillery. However, it will take quite a few turns to reduce the pocket as most of this stuff can't be attacked until it's U-2. One fort located on a road hex in the Valdai Hills lakes is 25 points, has an NKVD, and can only be attacked from two hexes - impossible. I hate lakes, too.

September II

It's now or never, as the weather remains clear. Next turn could be mud on a die roll of 4 through 6. I attack Kalinin with all My armor and lots of artillery. I get enough engineers for the +1 bonus. Very important for a 4:1 attack. I take a 20-point NKVD exchange on a DR, and the city falls. It's worth it. On the left flank, the slowly shrinking Valdai Hills pocket is chewed down by infantry. Even though they're U-2, it's slow going with NE's and EX's.

On the right flank, the Russians made some minor counterattacks south of Smolensk. A large force is trying to hold Bryansk. No doubt they would like to launch a winter offensive from there. I counterattack and advance. The Russian player looks at me in disbelief since my rail conversion goes no further south than Smolensk and mud is coming. But what the heck, I'll take a chance mud won't hit. Perhaps we can pocket Bryansk with some help from AGS. Then we can all be out of supply together!

The two panzer divisions that are reinforcements this turn go to AGS. Rats. Maybe they can pocket Bryansk from the south.

In the Center of It All Planning the 1941 Invasion of the USSR

Introduction and Initial Set Up
Surprise and Jun II Turns
Jul, Aug, and Sep Turns
Oct, Nov, Dec Turns
Summary