Well, I think it is well past time for me (the opponent) to give a report.
Unfortunately, the laptop I was using and recorded some of the early pictures of the battle, has crashed so no pictures---rather just an opportunity to answer some questions.
1) Yes, my the Axis player is likely more skilled than I am. This was my first full Moscow campaign and I have learned a thing or two. Brickie is very skilled, and I suspect better than I.
2) During the early campaign the Max. forces of the Germans took a terrible toll. His airforce was also a pretty big factor, as well. The worst part as I think some guessed was the reality that the Axis could move wherever they wanted, and much of the Soviet force was fixed. Best efforts were given to try not to have vast areas surrounded, as many forces were in the trees, and couldn't leave quickly has the axis push the roads.
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My stategy has gone through many stages
Early on as mentioned, it was just a matter of trying not to have too many troops surrounded/issolated, and taken out. Much of the time this involved retreating with units in the trees, and trying to salvage some sort of a road defense. I also early on took the attitude that the Russians have more men, I can try to engage the axis with fire and when it seemed I wasn't too badly outnumbered. Say up in the Kalin area. Not sure this was a wise idea, as German firepower had its advantages. Still, I hope I atleast slowed him a bit.
I, however had the general strategy however, of trying to keep the Axis in front of me while retreating one or two hexes per turn, and hope for the rare occasions when I could site a gun with an attack by artillery or air. That didn't happen often, but when tanks came to the front line I did try hard to punish them, sometimes even with melee--I felt this an effective stategy, as to me they were the most dangerous of his many weapons. I attepted stronger resistance once and a while where cities presented the opportunity. (In one city I thought I had a pretty fair chance, he had to cross a river, and I had one of the rare areas of having a good number of troops in the area. I attempted to exchange fire, and rotate troops to the rear as they became fatigued. This strategy seemed to draw some of his forces away and occupy things, but ultimately he finally sent them to melee in the city, resulting in huge Russian losses as the stacking behind the lines, as units exchanged caused failed retreats. That was the last of the strong defenses.
I do tend to have an offensive side, and the first opportunity for this was when Brickie landed his airtroops. I saw and opportunity to surround and brought out some defenses from Moscow, and the units on the front line had some chance of retreating back towards the paratroops and helping the Moscow forces surround. It seemed to come pretty close, and I felt like I had him on some edge for a good amount of time, but in the end he prevented most of the surround. I expected that atleast would take his airborne out of the mix for a good while, but it is clear it didn't as they have appeared at Moscow's gates.
I also took the opportunity to see if I could do something in Tula. I brought the gaurds down hoping to catch my opponent by surprise. It had some chance of success, but the weather changed right as the counter-attack was about to be lauched, and the Axis sliced even the gaurd units playing a defensive role instead without much effort. I sort of expect this miscalculation was in part from the fact that given the extra forces he got from this particular variant, The area around Tula was even stronger than it normally would be. I had expected to be able to hold Tula with the addition of the gaurds, and protect some of the flanks with the guards, as mentioned it failed and the city fell. I also figured that the drawing of forces to the Tula area would provide the bonus of keeping forces from the center, where the battle ultimately would or would not be won. A well prepared postion like this I figured could hold out for a bit, but I was mistaken.
At the time the rotation of the city failed, I decided keeping my opponent in front wasn't going to do the task, so I shifted.
When things looked grim, rather than scramble for the roads--infantry which was likely to get catured anyway would run to the center of large forest. The idea was that it would give me some needed time as the Axis would give chase. My lines were swiss cheese and were in need of alternate strategy. I also took the oppoturnity to send a few units behind his lines to blow bridges and take out railroads. I had been doing this routinely during the retreat (but not behind the lines), but I hoped that it would again either do damage to his rail, and reinforcing the area, or send forces away from the front. I also found I could do some damage when the weather turned with assaults, which to a degree seem to be a Soviet hope, to atleast make some defense possible, as Brickie was great at slicing like butter through units, then retreating them into one another, and issolating the whole stack.
As of recent, I have taken the view that Moscow is the only real defense (almost all other areas are pretty weak, or taken). It has a large area of stong defenses, and should be costly to attack. I have recently been fortunate that the weather hasn't destroyed any possibility to defense, but I'm not sure how long I can count on such luck.
Gamewise, I given the point difference, I would be very surprised if the Soviets can even turn back the offensive, much less get any thing less than an Axis victory. But I am looking forward to seeing what the reinforcements look like. I intend to play until they are generally recieved, lose Moscow completely, or go beyond the 50,000 Victory point level.
I will check back to attempt to answer any question.
Mike
