Operation Barbarossa - Alpha AAR

[j campbell]

Hi lee,

how is terrain influenced your combat? i notice you have 3 panzer divs moving through what looks like forest area (woodlands?) towards leningrad but they are on a railline. Does being on railine hexes aid movement? kinda like the only primary road to moscow leading across the "orsha landbridge" towards moscow? or are you just kinda using them in poorer terrain because they have a higher firepower/ movement points than the inf units following up?

Looks good going north with them -might be able to swing behind those soviet units just west of what looks like plyussa r. still just south there was an open area available and then you could have used these forces for AGC from there out 9would have probably meant abandoning a strong push on leningrad however)

cheers,
john

[elmo3]

Losses through turn 6:

[elmo3]

ORIGINAL: j campbell

Hi lee,

how is terrain influenced your combat? i notice you have 3 panzer divs moving through what looks like forest area (woodlands?) towards leningrad but they are on a railline. Does being on railine hexes aid movement? kinda like the only primary road to moscow leading across the "orsha landbridge" towards moscow? or are you just kinda using them in poorer terrain because they have a higher firepower/ movement points than the inf units following up?

Looks good going north with them -might be able to swing behind those soviet units just west of what looks like plyussa r. still just south there was an open area available and then you could have used these forces for AGC from there out 9would have probably meant abandoning a strong push on leningrad however)

cheers,
john

There is no movement advantage to following the rail line. It just happens to be the short route to Leningrad in this case and there isn't much open ground left up north. That, and as you say, they have the greater MP's and punch so they are at the tip of the spear. I'll try to keep moving toward Leningrad but if the opportunity arises to make a nice pocket we'll take it.

[Great_Ajax]

No, they aren't in. I can't find any reliable information to justify putting them in. I look for established fighting strength numbers and then look for records of combat. There just isn't enough information to justify these volunteer legions from what I have found.

Trey

ORIGINAL: j campbell

hi trey,

is the French AVF regiment included? I realise we are talking divisional level but that would be some nice chrome. Plus they come in summer 41' so they would be able to participate in the offensive

cheers,
john

[Captain B]

Elmo,

Again I say well done...I am definitely chomping at the bit for the game now. A couple of questions.

How is the rail construction going and how hard is it to keep track of supply?

I know you mentioned earlier that one of your Pz Divisions was at maybe 15% fuel...how does that resupply work?

How would you characterize the AI behavior..does it behave predictably, erratic, or too hard to tell yet?

How organized have the AI counterattacks been? Has it counterattacked at all...again historically the soviets counterattacked early and often when the situation allowed.

And on a lighter note: Do you still have a day job or are you totally swept up in this game...methinks I will take a couple of weeks off once it is out and lock myself in a dark room somewhere with my computer and a large supply of coffee.

[elmo3]

Unfortunately my rail units are catching up to the front.  That means the front is not moving forward fast enough!  Units will try to get the supply they need (general supply, fuel, ammo) from their HQ or direct from a railhead if they don't get enough from their HQ.  The player only needs to try to keep his supply lines within the hex/MP limits.  There is more to it than that but the player has no control over the details.

I think the AI has done a good job forming defensive lines.  Not sure it has counterattacked at all yet which I agree is not historically correct.  Then again most of the early war Soviet counterattacks were failures so I won't insist the AI repeat the same mistakes.

No day job for me.  I've been retired almost two years and loving it.

[Smirfy]

Does any screen show the replacements arriving?

[USSLockwood]

This game may drive me into retirement!

[elmo3]

ORIGINAL: Smirfy

Does any screen show the replacements arriving?

The production screen shows what is being built including new squads and all manner of hardware. However I don't think any screen summarizes what units got what replacements. Pavel is our production guru so he can correct me if that's wrong.

[Fastheinz]

[&o]elmo3[&o] [;)]

[elmo3]

AGN made little progress this turn.  Just when I thought we had broken through a lot more Soviets showed up.  The screen shot below is a more zoomed in view.  Thought you might like the variety.

[elmo3]

OK I couldn't resist the temptation to break clear of the Soviets south of Vitebsk and drive 12th Pz Div all the way to Smolensk.  They will probably be isolated in the Soviet part of the turn but we should have enough force to break them free if necessary.  I really wanted to blast through that huge Soviet air park southeast of Smolensk but just didn't have the units. If they are smart they will all have to bug out this turn or possible get overrun next turn. We also managed to pocket two groups of Soviet units although the northern pocket probably won't hold.  And we expanded the bridgehead further below Mogilev.  The AI made a general withdrawal from the Pripyat Marsh off the southern edge of this screen shot and we are rushing to fill the void and shorten our lines.

[elmo3]

AGS is still pushing toward Kiev and getting closer.  Again we thought we had a clear breakthrough but more Soviets have appeared.  The Soviets pulled their line back south of Zhitomir and we are moving up to reestablish contact as fast as we can.

[elmo3]

In the far south we have surrounded Odessa and begun a bombing campaign to reduce the defenders before the assault.

[elmo3]

Losses through turn 7:

[USSLockwood]

Next stop Vyazma!

[ComradeP]

How did the Soviets get 2001 operational losses, did you overrun their airfields?

[elmo3]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP

How did the Soviets get 2001 operational losses, did you overrun their airfields?

Operational losses are non-combat related. Crash on takeoff or landing, aircraft components failing in flight, getting lost in the soup and making a forced landing, etc. Some of those losses get repaired I believe even though they are in the permanent column. I don't think aircraft lost to overrun are included in that but I'll check.

[Captain B]

ORIGINAL: elmo3

AGN made little progress this turn.  Just when I thought we had broken through a lot more Soviets showed up.  The screen shot below is a more zoomed in view.  Thought you might like the variety.

Elmo,

Thanks for the reply earlier. Now a couple of more questions on this BE-AY-UTE-IH-FULL AGN screenshot....

1. The triangles in the upper left corners represent something by color...green i assume means fairly good supply and combat ready by TOE. The yellow marginal in one or both areas and red means trouble. Can ou clarify?

2. Can the German player see the soviet status as wel (the units in close contact and for some distance from the front have visible triangles as well)l...that may be an unfair advantage unless this is an algorithim by recon that may or may not be right.

Retired and being an alpha tester...what a life! Enjoy! And this is a great AAR btw.

[PyleDriver]

The upper left corner triangle is what we call soft factors. It toggles from off, morale, experience, supplies, fuel and attached units. The upper right trangle is movement. Black inside the white hasn't moved, white has moved and still can, no triangle theres no movement left...Enemy soft factors can be seen if the detection level rises high enough...