The Next War 1979 (Wilkman [PACT] v Hellen [NATO])

[Hellen_slith]

After NATO turn 2, now,

No screenshot yet (as I don't want to reveal too much JIC, at least not until hostilities begin) ...

Wilkman has chosen to delay the Pact onslaught at least for another turn,
as "Tension" mode seems to have been invoked.

So, when he chooses his Theater Option to "Begin Hostilities",
that will give me one more move to be able to move my NATO chits into the line....or retreat LoL!

Couple of things going on for NATO, though ...
1) the suspense of the "dice roll" that will determine France and Italy's stance, and
2) the suspense of the "dice roll" for results of the "Battle of the Atlantic" (will determine some NATO supply and reinforcement schedules)

Also, I will remember the "scenario rule" about use of WG reserve units (as I recall, they are not allowed to voluntarily enter into Pact ZOC, as they are intended to be used for rear / "last line" defense).

That is a rule that I often forget, but want to be sure this go to keep those guys in check.

Well, in the mean time, I hope that France will stay in it and not be "garrisoned" until late in the game.
That is a real game changer for NATO if that happens.

I'll be keeping my eye on the Karl Marx Stadt corridor, too ... will be striving to incite as many rebellions as I can in East Europe, those are also key for NATO success. Loading up pallets of cash to drop w/ SF & SAS units into those cities as quick as I can!

Okay, well, good luck, Wikman! I hope that you will offer some comments from Pact point-of-view as we go along!

[Hellen_slith]

On NATO turn 4, after three hours of moving ...
the game CTD during my second round of combat.

When I relogged back into the on-line server (this is an on-line game)
the game was back to beginning to NATO turn 4 (ready for replay of opp. move again)

so, all those moves I did were lost.
Bodes ill for trying to play this scene on line.

I just cycled the move and sent it back, asking if we really want to try this one.

Not as much a problem via regular PBEM, b/c then at least you can easily make save points,
but on-line on the server, is not so easy. I think we'll have to nix this one.

[Hellen_slith]

My opponent was kind enough to mostly just cycle his turn 5, so we attempt to continue.

I made only a cursory move on my NATO 5, trying to recreate some of the major thrusts from my aborted move 4, b/c I was still a bit hinky from the previous crash, but successfully cycled NATO 5 after a few air sorties and paradrops, and some minor moves w/ WG navy and Danish forces. Main points:

NATO has successfully infiltrated Plzen and Frankfurt an der Oder using US and Brit SF, and some cities along the Karl-Marx-Stadt corridor w/ III Corps recon. So, I expect a few dice rolls from incitements to riot in Plzen and F.Oder. If successful, those uprisings will significantly hamper Pact. The French have mobilized, but Italians are out (at least until invasion of Austria, if any.)

I was surprised that Wilkman left Plzen and Oder undefended; securing those (and the other "key" Pact cities) is essential for Pact success.

Also, I found a "crash log" text file in one of my directories, from the previous CTD @ NATO 4 ... but I can't make heads or tails from that, it just references the activity from that move in "computer speak" ... is there someone that might take a look at that and maybe see what happened? Do I send that to Ralph, or post it in the Tech forum?

Okay, well thanks again to Wilkman for his kind patience with this effort! Fingers crossed that we can avoid any more CTDs!

[Hellen_slith]

I have in hand now WP move 6, beginning of NATO turn 6....
fingers crossed that any Foo-Fighters stay away and no CTD this move.

Result of last move: EG revolt put down, but some VP and shock value from that.
Currently a draw. Not sure what happened w/ expected Czech revolt from Plzen action,
but NATO abides (for now) ... we carry on

[Hellen_slith]

in NATO turn 6:

I'm still a bit hinky about possible CTD, so I limited my move,
what w/ Soviet shock of 25% that gave me some breathing room.

Action seems to be centered mostly around Hamburg,
but Fulda is seeing a bit of action.
My efforts around Karl-Marx-Stadt area are (I hope) stemming Soviet thrusts there.

The Soviet Parachutes around Bremen will be handled by BAOR.
Elsewhere, just gathering NATO REFORGER.

[Hellen_slith]

after NATO turn 9,

I managed to get the EG pulled off the board,
and another 15VP for inciting the Poles,
and another 25% shock on the Soviets.

I think I've used up most of my paratroops, though,
so now it is up to the armored ...
Wilkman is getting into Dutch and Danish territories, though,
so might be getting surrenders from them.

With the EG out of it, I might be able to keep him looking east,
if I can find enough British SAS or other helicopter types to swoop in there.

Still a draw! About 10 or 11 moves to go.

[Hellen_slith]

@NATO turn 10 ... the airdrops have been completed,
overall very successful by getting the EG off the board + about 30 VP for NATO.
But still a draw w/ about 9 or 10 moves to go.

PACT is heading for Amsterdam and Copenhagen it seems,
NATO putting heavy resistance up north behind the Rhine.

I have also found ... a SITREP log!
(I guess "sitrep" stands for "situation report"). I've been messing around in that,
from the Russo-German scene, and by opening it in excel and messing around with it a bit,
I have derived the following Situation Report (more like a battlefield report) for Soviet losses that last go.

Its too bad TOAW doesn't generate a "totalled" report as a "sitrep", instead the user has to go into that
and manually try to get some sort of cohesive overall picture of what's happening in that regard ...
TOAW should include something like the reports I see from WiTP:AE AARs as a "turn report" ....
or maybe someone has done a tool of sorts that "reads" the sitrep.log file and generates something like that.
Seems like I recall someone having done that once upon a time, can't remember. Anyway, here's my report
of Soviets losses from NATO turn 10, derived from the sitrep file:

UNIT TYPE est. # destroyed
MISC GROUND FORCES
Trucks 692
Armored Engineer Vehicle 83
Assault AT Squad 252
Assault AT+ Squad 443
Assault Squad 127
Heavy MG 114
Medium MG 142
ASU-85 SP Gun 3
BM-21 122mm SPMRL 108
BMD-2 8
BMP-1 ICV 258
BRDM-2 Scout 305
BTR-60PB APC 518
Command Group 1
Engineer Squad 43
Ferry-Bridging Team 90
FROG (late) SSM 26
107mm Recoilless 2
120mm Mortar 129
122mm Howitzer 263
2S3 152mm SP Gun 64
82mm Mortar 3

AAA
ZSU-23-4 SPAAG 94
BTR-60 SPAAG 142
SPSAM (various) 270

TANKS / ANTI-TANK
T-55 (Late) 671
T-62 (Improved) 872
T-72 939
PT-76 Light Amphibious Tank 121
AT-3 Sagger ATGM 2
BRDM-2 Sagger SPATGM 108
85mm (Improved) AT Gun 1
100mm (Improved) AT Gun 13

PLANES
MiG-19 Farmer 16
MiG-21 Fishbed 27
MiG-23 Flogger 14
Su-17 Fitter 20

Sorry, I forgot to get a screen shot of the map before I sent the move. Next time will remember.

[Hellen_slith]

Been working on this report thing all day, barely have it even scratching for planes.
But if I can get it even at least working planes, that would be something, and get basis for all the other types of units.

The below is not very good, I need to get the NATO on the left hand side (as it is on the map)
and get all the planes flying "toward" each other, and the right sized pics, so need to redo those pictures too.
Man, what a CHORE!! LoL but this is the kind of reports that TOAW should spit out: aggregate losses per turn, by types
(report for tanks, report for planes, report for AA, etc. etc.)

PS: I thought in the manual that it said for PBEM games, that SITREP only reported the last two battles .... well, I'm getting the complete report for me, in both PBEM and PBEM++. Not sure why you would WANT to truncate it, but I am glad it is not truncating on me.

[Hellen_slith]

This one ended in a draw I think, I did not get the end of screen ...

just barely capture Wilman email, I tried to email him but got email failed,

I have fransman??#hotmail.com, could not contact ....

if you have his email, please tell I am seeking CQ ... thank you!

And thank you Wilmaan for the game!!