OKH - STAVKA I

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Mehring
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Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 8:30 am

OKH - STAVKA I

Post by Mehring »

What Our Game’s About

Welcome to the AAR thread for our first OKH - STAVKA game. It promises to be, if we Russians are not destroyed in the opening weeks, more than merely another epic war game. It is also the testing of a new way of playing this game, one with an elementary chain of command, and necessarily, then, a command system, more likely two command systems, as the “other lot” will do things in their own way.

This is not a way of playing for which the anti-cheat mechanisms have been designed (wink and nudge to design team). It involves passing an unfinished turn file between players who each move their respective AGs or Fronts, plan production and orders for subordinates before finishing the turn and passing it back to the other side.

As such, for the Russian side- I cannot speak for “them”- our AAR will contain not only reports of the action on the map but to some extent the functioning or our team and how this arrives at command decisions.

Nothing is fixed here. The staff can change, move from one Front to another or even get the boot. On our side, even high command can be voted out by a majority of Front commanders. Hopefully new commands will be created with new players as the game progresses Our command system, once grasped, facilitates the speediest possible execution of a multiplayer turn.

There will be a delay of some game time before reports are posted, for obvious reasons. I suggest a three month wait before posting, so it could be a while before the first AAR. We are currently in mid August. That should not prevent any prospective commanders enroling at officer school in the meantime.[;)]

The Scenario
What attracted me to this as opposed to other scenarios treating the same war, is the scale, attention to detail in unit structures and numbering, also the map. I have no idea as to how historical it is but in discussion with the enemy we nevertheless felt the need for the following modifications, partly to facilitate our style of play, partly to beef up the Axis invaders.

The Germans gain an overall HQ to which all AGs are organisationally subordinated. It is equipped with staff, supply points and trains. To partly replicate the logistical problems the Germans encountered converting Russian rail gauge to something they could use, Germans cannot use train transport east of the Estonian border, Minsk, Vinnitsa, Zhitomir and Karosten until May 1942.

The Germans also begin with research level II in staff and fighters, also with 8 medium tanks. Though I’ve no idea what effect this will have, I think this is probably a big boost to their “stock” scenario, but, perhaps with the exception of the tanks, it feels right with history and many accounts that the GPWv6 Russians are otherwise too tough.

The Russians are handicapped by their inability to use STAVKA landcap to withdraw eastwards until November 1941, or to transfer that landcap to the fronts for any use. This reflects Stalin’s insistence on no strategic retreat. Our other historical handicap is that the at start Russians, bar TheArchduke, are all AT rookies while two of the other side are well experienced. This is a deliberate decision to reflect the detrimental affect of the purges during which the Russian military lost its most gifted and experienced officers and suffered a corresponding fall in morale.

We did have a “Zhukov” waiting in a command pool for the winter offensive but happily for him, less so for us, ccr has a new priority in life and will probably not be joining us should Russia survive that long. Congratulations all the same!

“Old age is the most unexpected of all things that can happen to a man.”
-Leon Trotsky
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