Soviet AI Strong early?

[battlevonwar]

I am a little shocked to see that by the end of July the Soviet AI has already regained itself and is launching mass counterattacks. I would guess that this shouldn't happen till you're pushing on objectives or my play make be too weak. Hmmm, interesting... as I understand it the Soviets didn't really start to do damage till late. Wonder what am I doing wrong?

[stonestriker]

Well, Soviet doctrine was AFAIK to go on the offensive whenever possible, so what you are seeing seems to mimic that. The issue in reality was of course that Germany completely overran any and all Soviet units, so any Soviet units forming up for an attack never made it of the start line before being hit by a panzer juggernaut

If you can post a screenshot of the area of counter-attacks, we might be able to provide some hints to help. In general, the Soviets should only make very limited counter-attacks unless you leave units exposed.

[zakblood]

also depends on what level of difficulty and options you selected, can be a right eye opener on the hardest[:D][;)][X(]

[mekjak]

That's roughly around the time that the real life Soviets were launching major counteroffensives around the Smolensk area against Army Group Center, so actually that seems about right. Thanks to all the Wehrmacht worshipers ([:)]) it often gets overlooked that Soviet counterattacks from the beginning of the campaign onwards seriously bled Germany's combat strength long before the winter.

[Vic]

In any difficulty mode its imperative in the first weeks to destroy as much Soviet armies as soon as possible. In the phase after that (especially in the center) you have to use schwerpunkten and pierce their lines at the weak points to try to envelop their masses. Easier said than done, agreed.

best,
Vic

[battlevonwar]

I see what you guys are saying, took me awhile to remember Matrix accepts certain links for images but below I have found really really strong armies. Last game I bumped into this and I took pretty standard settings, and difficulties. I am pretty amazed with the AI.(in the other game the AI began to not just halt but destroy me and push back and cut me off) a little unexpected is all...I will perhaps have to practice and practice more... I think I have a 1 to 7 loss ratio and I obviously am not resting and refitting well. Or finding enough pockets ... I think I wiped out 800k at this point in Soviet Soldiers and I highly doubt the way the AI has grouped up I will be able to get remotely near my objectives. Then again I may be prioritizing wrong. The goal here is Leningrad and I'm split all over.

Thanks for the feedback so far, and if you see faults on the map or things I am not doing point them out please. I tend to spend all my PPs on Oil, trucks, and trying to keep supplies up but I just began to learn the supply system... It's fun

[battlevonwar]

[Vic]

Hi,

You might want to take at somebody else his initial German turn to see how it compares to you:
http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=15513.15

Common beginner mistake is to not utilise the Artillery, Tactical Air and Focus cards (and subsequent commander cards).

Furthermore I am monitoring the difficulty balance with the people who have metrics turned on in the prefs tab.
Its not impossible that the difficulty levels need to be tuned down a bit or that a 'newbee' level might need to be added.

best wishes,
Vic

[stonestriker]

I can come with a few, hopefully relevant, comments to your situation:

1) You seem to have 3 units in a hex at a few places. Often a single unit will be enough, two for important/exposed hexes. Even if the Soviets attack they will rarely be able to exploit it. This could free up some divisions.

2) AGN and most of AGC seems reasonable enough, if a little 'slow', but I have no idea where all the Soviets in the Pripyat marches come from. I rarely see more than 4-5 infantry divisions here. I assume they are from around Brest, which would indicate you missed an opportunity to pocket them. You might want to attempt to move your PG into position to breakthrough south of Polostk once the mud clears, and continue on between Vitebsk and Orsha.

3) Your AGS show your PG lacking behind the advance which I assume is because they are resting. Usually they should be able to Kiev at this time and rest in relative safety behind Dnieper. I usually attempt to keep my PG closer together; "Klotzen, nicht Kleckern!"

Hope some of it might help :=)

[battlevonwar]

Vic, read that AAR(wish it went on just a little longer, but it was a bit insightful) I have utilized those cards mostly. I put the game on 1 above Normal(I found the AI to be insanely strong) I reached about this position and found a Soviet AI I would call nearly equal to my own forces. At least the AI is not a 2 or 3 game pushover which I applaud.

Stonestriker:

I kept stacks perhaps thinking that I could run the Center easy. The Terrain there is really not open or clear enough and the Rails are not to easy to move(oil shortages here blunted me as well as in the South till a little late) but I had not planned that, so I will now try to bottleneck up less. (those Pripyat Marsh Soviets are really shocking to me) Killed off 1.25 Million Soviets within 2 more turns of this in total and I assume this just is not enough to keep the Soviet on my difficulty level modest? Wow...

I suppose I am going to have to rethink how I am organizing the Panzers. Or switch to playing the Soviets as I am having a hard time getting my units to rest long enough and keep supplied long enough to do some of the encirclements you are speaking of. I will try to maneuver more and bang up less and try to lure the Soviets more into stay in their foxholes rather than allowing them to escape.

Perhaps the Marsh Army I am seeing which is quite formidable and even unstoppable with my skill level could be gotten around if I was able to have killed off double the divisions.

Thanks for the comparisons though I want to improve, quickly. I want to take on a human...

I am a bit a defensive player perhaps another factor...