DAR: USSR vs Finland II

[RERomine]

Turn 30

I shifted one tank to the right and am moving another that way. Most enemy troops are gone from the northern peak and are either on the north slope or north of the hill. Even then, there aren't that many. One enemy squad popped out of the woods on the southern peak, but was turned quickly by the platoon I have up there. Things have been fairly quiet there.

Pushed one squad out and turned the "free" flag west of Hill 2. He quickly ran into trouble and was turned. I'll push another one out there soon, but I still have the flag. The northwest sector of the hill is a raging war zone. Enemy forces are hiding just over the edge of the hill and some push up on the hill every turn. Seems like four or five squads each turn. I force them off and more come up next turn. One hex seems like it has fragments of six enemy squads. That area is just a death zone. Making it worse for the enemy, my mortars keep adding to the carnage.

Enemy artillery lifted off Charlie. They are pushing forward without resistance.

Casualties

Friendly: Estimated 5 casualties.

Enemy: Estimated 20 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 31

Enemy resistance is starting to break down at all points. Almost all enemy units are retreating on Hill 1. There was some incoming mail, but no damage.

A few enemy squad fragments are still trying to get onto Hill 2, but they are all getting chopped up and sent running. They are just about done in the northwestern edge of the hill. West of the flag I turned, a few enemy squads are trying to push forward. They are starting to draw fire from the lead elements of Charlie coming up from the south. Mortars are still hammering the enemy near the hill, but the number of casualties are starting to drop. There just aren't as many enemy units to kill anymore.

Casualties

Friendly: Zero

Enemy: Estimated 15 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 32

Enemy artillery hitting left end of the Hill 1 line, but no damage. A few enemy squads tried to push forward, but did no shooting. My units fired as they moved and usually scored well. Once the turn ended, the vast majority of the enemy units bolted. There are some left, but not many.

I'm still holding the flag to the west of Hill 2. The enemy is trying to push a few squads to it, but are catching fire from Charlie to the south and Bravo to the east. They might make it, but won't hold it. I've still got mortars pounding the enemy, but ammo has to be getting used faster than it can be resupplied.

Casualties

Friendly: Zero

Enemy: Estimated 15 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 33

Enemy artillery lifted on Hill 1. Two enemy fragments pushed forward and got hammered. The rest are either retreating or hiding in the woods.

The Finns took back the flag west of Hill 2. They have two squads there or what is left of them. The rest of their troops are about 250m north next to the hill or streaming to the rear. Their forces near the flag are being engaged by two platoons from Charlie, while the two platoons are moving in.

Casualties

Friendly: Estimated 5 casualties.

Enemy: Estimated 15 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 34

A few bold souls keep trying to push forward along, just to get torn apart by fire from my line. My troops on southern peak are working forward towards the "free" flag in front of them. I might be able to get to it, but I do know there is an enemy squad or two to the front.

The enemy are in chaos in front of Hill 2. All their troops are running. I finally moved my armored cars and light tanks up to link with the rest of my armor. The platoon that had been holding out in the buildings on the east side of the hill have moved forward to the western edge. I have firm control of the hill now. All enemy infantry close to the flag to the west seem to be gone. Charlie is pushing north and Bravo is pushing west. With all my movement, not one enemy unit fired. They are done here. I am walking my mortar fire with them as they retreat.

Casualties

Friendly: Zero.

Enemy: Estimated 15 casualties.

[RERomine]

Turn 35

The occasional enemy unit moves forward to Hill 1, but not many. Only five units are visible, with a total of 19 men between them. I've got one Infantry Company that is more or less intact, supported by three medium tanks. I don't think I have anything to worry about. Two squads are trying to push forward to get the enemy flag to the west of the southern peak. An unseen enemy scout opened up from the northern peak. My troops are about 200m away and the next turn is the last. Unless I get an extension, they won't make it.

I lost a few men in pursuit of the enemy in west of Hill 2. There are a few units in the woods pinned that open up when my infantry moves. I'm not going to send my tanks out alone because it just isn't worth it to pick up a few garbare time kills. The flag to the west of the hill has been turned and Charlie and Bravo have linked up.

My mortars packed up and moved out before the enemy artillery decided to counter battery fire against them. This battle is won and I don't want to lose them. They aren't needed now anyhow.

Casualties

Friendly: Estimated 5 casualties.

Enemy: Estimated 10 casualties.

[RERomine]

Decisive Victory!!!!

Turn 36

Enemy artillery started to drop on the center of my line near my three tanks. Had the battle not ended, I would have pulled them out. An HE round in the commander's hatch at the end of the game wouldn't make me happy. Four enemy units stiffened their morale and moved forward on the north side of Hill 1. They took fire from about two platoons and a couple of HMG teams. Several were turned before the firing stopped. My two squads heading for the last flag made it to within 100m of their goal, but no battle extension granted.

A couple of enemy squads also moved forward again northwest of Hill 2. They caught heck from infantry and armor. They were too far away to be any sort of threat.

Casualties

Friendly: Zero.

Enemy: Estimated 10 casualties.

Total Casualties

USSR

Men: 91
Artillery: 0
Soft Vehicles: 0
APCs: 1
AFVs: 1
Air Transports/Helos: 1
Aircraft: 0

Finland

Men: 720
Artillery: 0
Soft Vehicles: 0
APCs: 0
AFVs: 13
Air Transports/Helos: 0
Aircraft: 0

Score

USSR: 4713
Finland: 334

Final Comments

My forces did quite well in this battle. Compared to the last delay I fought, there were two major differences. The lack of snow, allowing my tanks to move from one point to another and the open fields of fire. In my initial comments, I mentioned I needed to keep the enemy at more of a distance. This gives me time to reposition units to meet threats and also allowed me to put more fire on target. I wanted to avoid those one on one battles in the forests. It worked out quite well.

The enemy forces were a little stronger than expected. They had six infantry companies, in addition to one tank company. For the most part, one of my infantry companies sat the battle out while my other two, supported by my tank company fought the battle. That speaks well of the strength of my position and the experience of my men. A few more battles like this and I should be able to meet the Germans on equal terms, at least as far as experience.

I just checked and I'm not going to get those few battles. It is time for the Germans, unless I want to continue to fight the Finns in the Continuation War. I don't think so. I've had enough forests for now.

Since the Germans are up next, I do need to try to update my force some, which means I need to do a little research. I'm after realistic, so replacing all my tanks with T-34s isn't going to do right now. My core will remain the same basic structure, but the Soviets did learn something from their Winter War with the Finns.

I've attached the save just before I ended my last turn. Enjoy!

[RERomine]

I did a little looking around and near as I can figure, my force is stuck with the tanks they have until one of two things happen. Either they get destroyed and are replace with T-34s or maybe they survive until 1942. Then I might be able to make an argument for upgrade with more current equipment. I could make a game player's argument that my force is more experienced than other Soviet tank units and would thus get the best equipment available. Somehow, I feel if my troops are in T-26 tanks when the Germans attack, the Soviet high command would be very unlikely to pull troops off the line to give them better tanks. My guess is tanks rolling off the line would be used to create new armored forces.

I'm going to dig into this a little more, but I don't expect to get much information. Anyone with any opinions on this subject, feel free to chime in.

[Brian61]

Depends on whether your force is drawn from a motorized rifle division or a tank division. If motorized rifle, probably more accurate to stick with the T-26's. If a tank division, especially considering you've had those tanks in operation for awhile, it wouldn't be uncommon for them to need heavy maintenance (at the factory), and T-34's were not uncommon in the tank divisions. At least according to what I'm seeing on Niehorster's TOEs and tank strengths.

One thing to consider is the AI's buying habits, the AI tends to buy the latest and greatest a lot. It isn't uncommon to see the AI buy units three or four months earlier than when they first saw battle (or were at least in common use) historically. Rather than seeing mainly 2cm and 3.7cm armed panzers as was common, I wouldn't be at all surprised if you encounter lots of 5cm and 7.5cm armed panzers of the uparmored variety which might be tough to handle.

Maybe upgrade your ATGs if you keep the T-26's?

My 2c, hope it helps
Brian

PS: not knocking the excellent work on the OOBs, its just one of those "can't please everyone in every situation" things combined with game limitations.

[RERomine]

Originally Posted by Brian61

Depends on whether your force is drawn from a motorized rifle division or a tank division. If motorized rifle, probably more accurate to stick with the T-26's. If a tank division, especially considering you've had those tanks in operation for awhile, it wouldn't be uncommon for them to need heavy maintenance (at the factory), and T-34's were not uncommon in the tank divisions. At least according to what I'm seeing on Niehorster's TOEs and tank strengths.

Very good opinion Brian. I hadn't gotten around to checking those site yet, but what you said makes sense to me. Since, I started out making reference to this core being part of a rifle battalion as part of a mechanized brigade, I guess I keep my T26s for now.