Starting Friday July 23rd "Long Red Winter"

[Shifty]

THE LONG RED WINTER

On The Ground:

While the German 6th Army and 4th Panzer Army had been fighting their way into Stalingrad, Soviet armies had congregated on either side of the city, specifically into the Don bridgeheads that the Romanians did not reduce, and it was from these that they struck on 19 November 1942. In Operation Uranus, two Soviet fronts punched through the Romanian lines and converged at Kalach on 23 November, trapping 300,000 Axis troops behind them. A simultaneous offensive on the Rzhev sector known as Operation Mars was supposed to advance to Smolensk, but was a failure, with German tactical flair winning the day.
 The Germans rushed to transfer troops to Russia for a desperate attempt to relieve Stalingrad, but the offensive could not get going until 12 December, by which time the 6th Army in Stalingrad was starving and too weak to break out towards it. Operation Winter Storm, with three transferred panzer divisions, got going briskly from Kotelnikovo towards the Aksai river but became bogged down  40 miles short of its goal. To divert the rescue attempt the Soviets decided to smash the Italians and come down behind the relief attempt if they could, that operation starting on 16 December. What it did accomplish was to destroy many of the aircraft that had been transporting relief supplies to Stalingrad. The fairly limited scope of the Soviet offensive, although still eventually targeted on Rostov, also allowed Hitler time to see sense and pull Army Group A out of the Caucasus and back over the Don.

On 31 January 1943, the 90,000 survivors of the 300,000-man 6th Army surrendered. By that time the Hungarian 2nd Army had also been wiped out. The Soviets advanced from the Don 300 miles to the west of Stalingrad, marching through Kursk (retaken on 8 February 1943) and Kharkov (retaken 16 February 1943). In order to save the position in the south, the Germans decided to abandon the Rzhev salient in February, freeing enough troops to make a successful riposte in eastern Ukraine. Manstein's counteroffensive, strengthened by a specially trained SS panzer corps equipped with Tiger tanks, opened on 20 February 1943, and fought its way from Poltava back into Kharkov in the third week of March, upon which the spring thaw intervened. This had left a glaring bulge in the front centered on Kursk.

The Air War:

The easy successes the Luftwaffe enjoyed during the beginning of Operation Barbarossa are over. The Russians now have more than I-153s, I-16s, and LaGG-3s to throw at the Hitler's Eagles.
Lend Lease aircraft from the USA and UK are beginning to make their presence felt on the Luftwaffe. New Russian aircraft such as the Yak-9 and LA-5 are on an equal footing with the best German aircraft. The Russian pilots that were crafty enough to survive the initial onslaught are now seasoned warriors and are passing their knowledge on to a new generation of Soviet Fighter Pilots.

Objectives:

During this part of the war the Germans were in decline and the Soviets were gaining momentum. This is the time where the strength of both sides is comparably
equal. This is the moment that decides who will be the aggressor and who will be the prey for the next two years of war. Victory conditions for both sides in this setup will be controling no less than 5 cities but no more than 6. If each side controls 4 cities or if one side controls more than 6 cities the outcome will be scored a draw. Victory will be determined Thursday night July 29th at 11:00 PM EST and will be based on the formula above.

Germany= Rooks
Bf-109F
Bf-109G2
BF-110G
FW-190A5
JU-87
JU-88
C-47
Pnzr Mk IV
SDKFZ-251
Wirblwind

Soviet Union= Knights
Boston III
IL-2
I-16
P-39D
P-40B (Lagg-3 Sub)
P-40E
HurriIIC
LA-5N
Yak-9T
C-47
T-34/76
M-16
M-3
M-8

Map= Rhinewin

[USRanger]

Yeah baby! 

[docwaldo]

Awesome time to go skiing! 

[Wildcat1]

Awesome...

I will get my squad in here for squad nights for sure. Love these setups

[Zeagle]

I'm there

[jimson]

This one is loaded in the arena now.

[tmetal]

Sweet.  A chance to fly the I16 without it useing half its fuel capacity just to get off the ground.

[Chilli]

Cobra for me thanks 

[Shifty]

Cobra for me thanks 

Be ready to play keep up. I flew it tonight and only had success when I was able to sneak up on somebody. The 109 shoots away in the vert and the 190 just shoots away. It's fun but humbling.

[Oldman731]

Be ready to play keep up. I flew it tonight and only had success when I was able to sneak up on somebody. The 109 shoots away in the vert and the 190 just shoots away. It's fun but humbling.

Dude.  Learn the La5, it dominates this setup.

Most excellent fights tonite.

- oldman

[Shane]

I always feel somewhat guily in flying the lala's in vvs setups... but then the f4 and g2 amd a5 aall can really compete. The yaks can be a pain.  I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of american iron in the air as many are not truly familar with the vvs planes. The p39d looks fun.

[Tyrannis]

Dude.  Learn the La5, it dominates this setup.

Most excellent fights tonite.

- oldman

Eh, shot down 2 LA's in an f4 last night no problem.

The biggest plane in this setup that gives me a hard time are the p39s simply because i ether never see them, or never pay attention to them. had 3 of them sneak up on my 6 last night. shot down by 1.


Btw, whats the troop amount needed to take bases in this setup?

[jimson]

Btw, whats the troop amount needed to take bases in this setup?

Ooops, forgot to ask Shifty how he wanted this setting.

Right now it's standard, but that could change if we start having a lot of undefended, empty arena, milk running.

[Shifty]

Big map. I'm leaving troop capture at 10 unless a couple of our favorite Milk Men start up with thier usual antics.

[Tyrannis]

Sad thing about this setup(like most otherS) is that most people are too concerned with furballing than actually going for the objectives. 


Btw chilli, nice try on that P39 HO attempt. better luck next time