General strategy question.

Germany At War: Operation Barbarossa 1941 is an elegant turn-based design, inspired by classics such as Panzer General, but with more of a historical focus. You command the German forces through a branching historical campaign covering the entire 1941 campaign as well as part of the 1942 campaign. Dozens of scenarios stretch from the Soviet border all the way to Archangel and towards Astrakhan, the original military goals of Operation Barbarossa. Step into a wargame where your performance will rewrite history, through an addictive combination of compelling gameplay, realistic events and challenging battles.

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stormbringer3
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General strategy question.

Post by stormbringer3 »

I'm playing the A-A Campaign. So far, I've been careful to not to lose any units. As a result I often start the next scenario with a lot of beat-up units and it takes a lot of needed resources in the next scenario to make them combat worthy. Is it possibly better to let a unit be completely destroyed once and awhile?
Thanks for any opinions.
ComradeP
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RE: General strategy question.

Post by ComradeP »

You don't necessarily need to keep all of your units close to full strength, it depends on how many units you intend to use during a scenario. Using fewer, more experienced units, doesn't give as many benefits as it would in a game like PG/PC, but it does help. I typically use about 2/3 of the actual core in most of the battles in a scenario, the additional units (if deployed) only make low risk attacks.

Another good idea is to keep high value units out of positions where the Soviets can counterattack them en masse. A scenario like Smolensk is going to be punishing, but in other scenarios protecting the Panzers and not using too many motorized infantry divisions can work wonders.

You could also sort of game the system by keeping in mind how many scenarios there are left and not reinforce too many units during the final scenario (or the scenario before that) on an Army Group's campaign path.
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stormbringer3
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RE: General strategy question.

Post by stormbringer3 »

ComradeP,
Thanks for your advice.
ComradeP
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RE: General strategy question.

Post by ComradeP »

As an addendum: not using many motorized infantry divisions is a good idea to begin with, during the beta I initially used none because of their originally more limited fuel capacity, but the cost of replacements still make it a good idea to try to keep some infantry on the roads behind your Panzers.

The value of motorized infantry in a game of this type tends to be less than in a game which doesn't model their movement mode due to scale or other reasons, like WitE. In GaW, in many cases the trucks are good for movement using interior lines, but moving them up to the front will quickly lead to losses that are costly to replace.

Replacement costs are also a good reason to keep some of the older tanks around for a while.
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spillblood
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RE: General strategy question.

Post by spillblood »

I disagree, Half-tracks are pretty hard to destroy in this game, but their disadvantage is that they are very expensive. It actually worked pretty well to cross rivers with halftracks, and they can be very resistant to enemy attacks if you group them. But trucks should be kept out of harms way. I use to surround trucks on some sides with other units so that they can't be attacked.
ComradeP
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RE: General strategy question.

Post by ComradeP »

Halftracks provide more protection, but if the enemy has strong units in the area, you will still suffer costly losses. Unless I am absolutely sure there are no Soviet units in the area, I try to keep my motorized infantry on roads behind the Panzers. Normally, I'm not moving them anywhere by themselves. The losses they could suffer from being attacked several times during a turn would be costly to replace, for little real benefit.

As single battles cause fewer casualties than in PG/PC, it is more difficult to destroy enemy forces, just like it is more difficult for the Soviets to destroy my spearhead. The Soviets will usually have at least a couple of units in the area I'm advancing towards, so I will try to place my units in such a way that, at most, only the Panzers or regular infantry are exposed to numerous attacks. The losses of the Panzers are also costly to replace, but they will cause pretty serious casualties to the Soviets as well when defending.
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