1942 scenario

Gary Grigsby’s War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945 is a turn-based World War II strategy game stretching across the entire Eastern Front. Gamers can engage in an epic campaign, including division-sized battles with realistic and historical terrain, weather, orders of battle, logistics and combat results.

The critically and fan-acclaimed Eastern Front mega-game Gary Grigsby’s War in the East just got bigger and better with Gary Grigsby’s War in the East: Don to the Danube! This expansion to the award-winning War in the East comes with a wide array of later war scenarios ranging from short but intense 6 turn bouts like the Battle for Kharkov (1942) to immense 37-turn engagements taking place across multiple nations like Drama on the Danube (Summer 1944 – Spring 1945).

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fcam1387
Posts: 404
Joined: Wed May 17, 2006 3:09 am

1942 scenario

Post by fcam1387 »

Is it just me or do the Germans start out in an appalling position? Why is 2/3 of their army on static mode? The front is so thin it looks like it can be torn to shreds by any sort of determined Soviet push.

Does anyone have any strategies as the Germans for this one? Is it possible to even attempt a Case Blue or is the game so lopsided that going on the defensive is really the only option?

Thanks
ErsteKavallerieDivision
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2011 3:13 pm

RE: 1942 scenario

Post by ErsteKavallerieDivision »

I have played this scenario only against the AI, but I think you can strengthen the terrible positions in the north and center and start a bold Operation Blau in the south. Please find some notes below which I took a couple of months ago.

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The first thing to do is taking Sevastopol on Turn 1 (which is very easy and doesn't require the committment of all available forces). Then you can transport 11th Army to the Donbas and let it help in the attack on Rostov. Defend the Kerch peninsula with Rumanians only; place some units as backup and for digging.

18th Army:
a) objective: hold the existing line except for three hexes
b) Turn 1:
- start the extraction of 11th, 21st and 269th Infantry (step by step, don't activate any unit)
- reinforce the Leningrad perimeter (Puskhin, Mga etc.)
- redistribute the excess artillery units of I Corps to other Corps of 18th Army.
- take additional artillery from 11th Army and its LIV Corps
- merge regiments with weak divisions (18th Army is extremely overloaded).
Warning: Do not merge low morale regiments with high moral divisions, since the combined CV is lower than the sum of both units.
- place Corps accordingly
c) Ignore the Oranienbaum pocket (its removal requires too many units, but frees only 5 regiments). Create a two/three hex defense line and assign Engineers to the rear diggers.

16th Army:
a) Objective: dissolve the Tscherkassy cauldron and form a solid defensive line
b) Turn 1:
- start extracting all units from the cauldron
- you may activate some of the most eastward regiments; take good care of hex 86/30
- important: add three artillery units to each of 16th Army's Corps
c) After some weeks you should try to free 8th Panzer Division and bring this weak unit back to full strength.

9th Army & 3rd Panzer Army: (most desparate positions, very weak armies considering the long MLR)
a) Objective: built new MLR between Smolensk and Vyazma
b) Turn 1:
- start activating units (from north to south); one could try to activate every second unit.
- use rivers and swamps to slow down the Red Army.
- 9th Army's Corps also requires additional artillery from the Army HQ, Army Group Center, and IX Corps.

4th Army:
a) Objective: hold the line
b) Turn 1:
- move 19th Panzer two hexes to the east and set in reserve mode

2nd Panzer Army:
a) Objective: hold the line
b) Turn 1:
- extract the regiments from hex 100-69
- move 707th Infantry to hex 106-66!

2nd Army & 4th Panzer Army:
a) Objective: start Operation Blau and reach Voronezh
b) Turn 1:
- start forming a pocket, northern pincer via Kastornoe, Gorshechnoe, and Stary Oskol

6th Army:
a) Objective: start Operation Blau
b) Turn 1:
- start the pincer movement and reach Novy Oskol, use Pioneers wisely
- start creating a second pocket to the south by reaching Valuyki, in cooperation with LI Corps
- thin out the western MLR

17th Army:
a) Objective: start Operation Blau
b) Turn 1:
- crack the Red Army front line by Infantry and gain space for the Panzer and Mot Divisions of III and XIV Panzer Corps, use also the Italian Cavalry and Celere Div
- thin out the western MLR, bring Rumanians to the front

At the end of Turn 1, check for remaining AP and use them for putting Rendulic or Hube into charge of the most threatened sectors.

=================

It is very important to form these two large pockets, irrespective of potential thrusts in the center and north. It will start the AP crunch and bring your beaten units back to sufficient morale. Take Rostov and activate the splitting of Army Group South; then you can reassign the German armies to AG A/B and the Allies to their respective High Command.

Joe
"Widely terra incognita", Henning von Tresckow on German army's knowledge about Russian reserves (June 21, 1941; at that time chief operations officer of AGC.)
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Klydon
Posts: 2300
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 3:39 am

RE: 1942 scenario

Post by Klydon »

The game starts with both sides having a lot of units in static mode.

If you are playing against the Russian AI, the huge thing is what you set the admin level for the Russians at. If you set it at 110 or higher, the Russians have unlimited admin points to spend. After you take your first turn as the Germans, that means you will be faced with a huge pile of rifle corps and units that won't necessarily be in static mode. This creates an absolute monster to deal with as the Germans.

One of the original pre release AARs is posted as a sticky and details a 1942 campaign. Excellent read and sound tactical advice on a different approach for the Axis in 1942. tm.asp?m=2410710
fcam1387
Posts: 404
Joined: Wed May 17, 2006 3:09 am

RE: 1942 scenario

Post by fcam1387 »

Thanks for the help, guys. will give it a go.
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