T004: Third Reich 42-45 - Mike (Allies) vs Ken (Axis)

T004. 29 May 1942.

Eastern Front - Kandalaksha/Karelia 

I'm going to give up Northern Karelia and consolidate toward Murmansk. The idea here is to hold out until I can send reinforcements to Murmansk. This affects the Lend Lease program, so it's very important to keep that city and Arkhangelsk in Allied hands.

Eastern Front - South Karelia/Medvezhyegorsk

 It's a similar situation here as to the north. Pull back as quickly as possible with as little loss as possible, form a defensive line along the river, and protect the isthmus approach to Arkhangelsk.

Eastern Front - Leningrad

The Nazis have broken through the outer defensive line. I don't know if I have enough reserves inside the city to counterattack and push them back. Ken has been very aggressive to send additional forces to attack the city. I cannot get any more troops inside unless I break the siege lines to the east. There was a successful attack by the 8th and 54th Armies, but failed to get far enough to open lines of supply. I should have moved the 2nd Shock Army to the north as reserves to exploit any breach. I'll regret that one.

Eastern Front - Vyazma

Turns out there's a pocket getting overwhelmed, and it's full of Soviets! The Nazis punctured my lines in the western wall of the salient, and have nearly cut them completely off from the rest of the Red Army. Their supply is gone, so unless I can manage a rescue attack, they're going to be written off as lost.

Eastern Front - Crimea

This might be the only update with a map, as the Axis should control the peninsula within a few turns. Disaster struck the eastern defenders when two embarked divisions were struck by an air raid, sinking the entire convoy. This was a risk I took, not escorting them with the Black Sea Fleet. It backfired. This is a significant disaster for a sector that is already low on functioning divisions. Defending the Northern Caucuses will end up winning or losing the early part of this war, and those divisions were going to add decent troops to the forces near Rostov.

North African Front - Tobruk

For all the bad news on the Eastern Front, the successful evacuation of two British armored divisions and an infantry division is a bright spot for the Allies this turn. If things keep going well outside Tobruk, and the brigades can maintain the covering defenses long enough, I should be able to get at least two more divisions out of the pocket. I'll need to save more of the Commonweath forces than usual for this scenario, because it appears Ken transferred several Nazi divisions from Europe and more on the way.