December - Russian Winter

The Wehrmacht spends the better part of November consolidating gains and eliminating pockets. Army Group North redeploys 5th Panzer Group on its southern flank and readies it for a larger offensive on Moscow that never quite materializes. We're still 200 miles away, and we might as well hurl the whole army into the abyss if we are to try blitzkrieg on that scale through January and February.

The screenshot shows that we still advance through mid-December, but these are mostly broad-front advances by the infantry armies. The war will probably bear much more resemblance to a World War I-style campaign for the next few months, unless things unexpectedly turn in our favor.

We have inflicted nearly 3 million casualties upon the Red Army, and its numbers dwindle. For whatever reason STAVKA has been unable to replace those losses at the rate it did historically, and it actually appears the Axis outnumbers its enemies in the East for the first time. The Soviet air force has virtually ceased to exist, the Luftwaffe can do whatever it wants (weather permitting). We do not really even need fighters in this sector to maintain air superiority, because the Russians do not even bother to challenge it.

However, we still have a long way to go as the enemy still controls 73% of victory points:

Taking Moscow will earn us 50 points, so that will very likely not be enough to finish the job.

Here's a closer look at Army Group North's situation:

5th Panzer Group still advances on the southern flank, but this is more of a "reconnaissance in force" than anything else. We mean to test Soviet defenses in this sector, keep an eye on where they reinforce, and keep STAVKA guessing about our intentions.

Army Group Center employs 1st Panzer Group in similar fashion. The weakness in the Soviet line is evident everywhere, and it is excruciating knowing that we cannot fully exploit it due to the weather:

Army Group South is putting the finishing touches on a late-November dash + encirclement maneuver, with 3rd and 4th Panzer Groups linking up at Kursk to trap 10 Soviet divisions. This is really just a giant flanking maneuver around the Soviet units still holding defensive positions on the eastern bank of the Dnepr:

The Axis satellite armies on the extreme southern flank are just now moving up in line with the rest of Army Group South, having recently collapsed the Moldova Pocket. An interesting dilemma confronting OKH in the near future is what to do with the Crimean Peninsula. It connects to the mainland over a narrow land bridge at the north end, and ground units may also go directly from its easternmost point at Kerch to the mainland. Sevastopol is a fortress city that also houses a large naval base, so we will have to reduce it and that will require some firepower. If we leave it be and just park forces on the north end of the land bridge, it will be a thorn in our side and a weak spot behind our right flank.