Why have my Panzers stopped moving?!?

[alex0809]

I am playing my first game right now. As a self-proclaimed "Decisive Campaigns veteran" I obviously did not read the manual or watch any of the tutorial videos. Difficult AI, of course! I don't want to walk over it, after all.

Turn 7 now, my advance has halted completely. The Soviet army is bigger than it was at turn 1, my Panzers for all but one Army Group are completely out of fuel. The infantry is tired and easy encirclements are nowhere to be found (not that I could exploit them without fuel...).
And, a Soviet counterattack in the South has encircled Third Romanian Army. Which I cannot bail out because, again, no fuel.

I love this game already[&o]
Time to read the manual.

[Philippeatbay]

And the gotcha moment comes when you realize that your panzers are out of fuel because you just moved your forward supply base and your fuel trucks are getting lost.

[zakblood]

a tip or 2 then maybe, there's no options here to hide spoilers etc, so while it's good advice, it may not be always 100% correct in all plays.

Blitzkrieg posture should only be used for break outs and the first few turns, it burns too much gas and tires the men and equipment out too much, then changed and leave on sustained, with defensive posture to be used to rest and recover while using the rest and refit cards.

watch the supply lines at all time, as colour is key to winning, or staying alive anyway, so green is good, yellow means you will pay with less supply getting through, red means your dead soon, (as you won't be getting much at all)

Using air power to drop off fuel means less air support, first turn makes sure all support is given to your best units, unless you wish to spread it out to one and all, so none are too powerful but all are above average etc

the manual will really help, and don't be surprised if you get a shock or 2 playing either side, as the AI is as very good, leave a door open and it will kick it open, bring round some friends and party on the gap until you need to backstep with half you're army to fill it.

good luck and glad you enjoy it, i'd guess you could teach me a thing or 2 tbh, as i'm still a beginner [:D][;)]

[Vic]

If I would have only 2 recommendations to new players of Barbarossa they would be:

* play your first game on NORMAL difficulty.

* watch the videos in the 'Help' tab.

Best wishes,
Vic

[Tamas]

Fuel is key, so think about when you want to move your FSBs: don't do it too early as it can slow (or stop if you timed it badly!) your advance for a turn or two, and don't hold off on it for too long either.

As zakblood mentioned watch the colours of the train and truck lines of your logistics on the map, they are good indicators. If things turns yellow, well you need to find out what is wrong - Use the different reports available, they will always give you a good picture.

Also, VERY important: attacking with mechanised and tank units costs fuel! When you click on a hex in a theatre (north, central, south) you will see at the top right how much fuel you have left for the turn - try not to run out before doing everything important.

Also at the start of your turn you get your summary report, there is a very easy way to gauge your general fuel situation for the turn: you can see how much quotas of fuel you have for each theatre. It is explained in detail in the manual but basically, if you 1 full quota, you are good for the turn. If you have less, be aware that you can run out while moving and attacking.

[wodin]

I've been testing and still stick to normal difficulty. This shows how decisions are so important aswell as prioritising. It also shows how much more is involved in managing a War than you'll get in any other wargame so it takes some getting used to and new ways of thinking. I love it.

[Blond_Knight]

ORIGINAL: Philippe at bay

And the gotcha moment comes when you realize that your panzers are out of fuel because you just moved your forward supply base and your fuel trucks are getting lost.

Haha this happened to me several times during the playtest.

[towerbooks3192]

I just got the game but since I am asked about rail gauges, I would assume that converting those rail gauges ASAP and ensuring you have a working line towards your front would help you a lot with supply problems?

[rjh1971]

ORIGINAL: Blond_Knight

ORIGINAL: Philippe at bay

And the gotcha moment comes when you realize that your panzers are out of fuel because you just moved your forward supply base and your fuel trucks are getting lost.

Haha this happened to me several times during the playtest.

Moving the FSB... good time to undergo a refit on your Panzer Armies [;)]

[Tamas]

ORIGINAL: towerbooks3192

I just got the game but since I am asked about rail gauges, I would assume that converting those rail gauges ASAP and ensuring you have a working line towards your front would help you a lot with supply problems?

Indeed, however there are factors influencing the speed of that as well.... A number of events and decisions, most notably you will face the decision of rushing forward with track conversion (like in history) or actually taking the time to repair and extend the infrastructure along the lines as well.
And of course there is no pleasing of everyone, if you order to ignore the infrastructure, the theatre commander will be happy as he has a tight schedule to meet with his panzergroups, but the main rail guy will sure not like you that much, and vice versa with the pro-infrastructure option.