Golden Delicious Plays Second Battle of Kharkov

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Graymane
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Re: Golden Delicious Plays Second Battle of Kharkov

Post by Graymane »

See? Doubled already!
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golden delicious
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Re: Golden Delicious Plays Second Battle of Kharkov

Post by golden delicious »

"What did you read at university?"
"War Studies"
"War? Huh. What is it good for?"
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Cpl GAC
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Re: Golden Delicious Plays Second Battle of Kharkov

Post by Cpl GAC »

Here's what I never can wrap my head around - it's May 19, 1942 (turn 8 in this game). In less than one month the Germans are going to start preparatory attacks then launch Case Blue with these currently worn-out formations

Technically the Germans didn't take the offensive in this scenario's counterattack until turn 8 - yet every scenario (including D41 that starts May 19,1942 and the Soviets around Kharkov have spent the last pregame 2 turns bashing their heads on the rocks) starts with green and deep green unit health everywhere. I find playing longer-term scenarios, like D21 or TGW 41-45, it's a land of mostly yellow, orange, and red health where there is combat and movement and you really have to plan/work to get green units for an offensive after the start.

I'm not good enough to implement it yet, but I think there is something to Larry/Steve's Red Green Yellow Rule (Units that are red in health can't move or shoot unless moving toward higher supply areas. Units that are yellow can move but not shoot. Units that are green can move and shoot like normal).

There is just never enough time and health...
If you're STILL making Panzer IIs after seeing your first T-34... you're probably going to lose.
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golden delicious
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Re: Golden Delicious Plays Second Battle of Kharkov

Post by golden delicious »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQgiJgyHqF4

Short one for the middle part of turn 9
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golden delicious
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Re: Golden Delicious Plays Second Battle of Kharkov

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Cpl GAC wrote: Thu Apr 07, 2022 3:58 pm Here's what I never can wrap my head around - it's May 19, 1942 (turn 8 in this game). In less than one month the Germans are going to start preparatory attacks then launch Case Blue with these currently worn-out formations
Well;
1) Case Blue was made with rather larger forces than we see here
2) It doesn't necessarily take that long to recover from a crushing victory. How long did German formations wait between the two phases of the Battle of France?
3) TOAW has no way to stockpile supply other than in a unit. In fact this is probably the most serious weakness in the scenario: TOAW really rewards a continuous offensive, especially if you have high proficiency units which can operate on no supply and still retain most of their effectiveness. Thus if the designer wants to reflect stockpiled supply then the units in the vicinity of the stockpile need to have high unit supply.
the Germans didn't take the offensive in this scenario's counterattack until turn 8
Hm. From my reading, the Germans began local counteroffensives within a few days (i.e. the operation to cut off the Soviet north flank); it was the main effort to cut off the whole Bulge by III Panzerkorps that started later.
I'm not good enough to implement it yet, but I think there is something to Larry/Steve's Red Green Yellow Rule (Units that are red in health can't move or shoot unless moving toward higher supply areas. Units that are yellow can move but not shoot. Units that are green can move and shoot like normal).
Maybe. Note that the health icon is also heavily influenced by losses. A unit at near full supply but under half strength will show orange health. This makes this mechanism a poor fit for the Germans as the war moves on and units were routinely operating well below their notional strength.

Certainly such a mechanism would make things more challenging against the PO- but wouldn't it just be better to play a human?
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golden delicious
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Re: Golden Delicious Plays Second Battle of Kharkov

Post by golden delicious »

Second part of Turn 9, sorry another short video as I was interrupted (again):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II-veiBUdxw
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Graymane
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Re: Golden Delicious Plays Second Battle of Kharkov

Post by Graymane »

I am enjoying these.
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golden delicious
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Re: Golden Delicious Plays Second Battle of Kharkov

Post by golden delicious »

Turn 10 (or part of it). Last one until after Easter

EDIT: removed this video as there was no sound
Last edited by golden delicious on Fri Apr 29, 2022 6:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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golden delicious
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Re: Golden Delicious Plays Second Battle of Kharkov

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golden delicious wrote: Thu Apr 14, 2022 7:04 pm Turn 10 (or part of it). Last one until after Easter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XiiUG5GRjQ
Oh cool looks like there's no sound on this video at all, that's great. And I tried to record another one but it only captured the last minute.

... this really is frustrating. I think I'll stick to text and screenshots.
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Graymane
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Re: Golden Delicious Plays Second Battle of Kharkov

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Thanks for what you did so far, they were great.
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Re: Golden Delicious Plays Second Battle of Kharkov

Post by golden delicious »

OK I finished up the scenario (at least, I played to the end of turn 12, not going to see how many extra turns the game randomly gives me) and recorded a short overview of the result

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLGjMSGYIV0

Nothing more really to add to what's been said before: even with a +2 bonus the PO is prone to being defeated in detail as it has a poor grasp of encirclements; it doesn't really guard its flanks and can often be relied upon to ignore yours, especially when the PO has not been subject to significant programming by the designer.

Things are much more complicated against a human opponent, who will be at least somewhat unpredictable.
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bonney23
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Re: Golden Delicious Plays Second Battle of Kharkov

Post by bonney23 »

That was fun to watch. Always interesting to see how other players tackle certain scenarios.
Thanks for posting.
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Re: Golden Delicious Plays Second Battle of Kharkov

Post by StuccoFresco »

golden delicious wrote: Sun May 01, 2022 6:33 pm OK I finished up the scenario (at least, I played to the end of turn 12, not going to see how many extra turns the game randomly gives me) and recorded a short overview of the result

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLGjMSGYIV0

Nothing more really to add to what's been said before: even with a +2 bonus the PO is prone to being defeated in detail as it has a poor grasp of encirclements; it doesn't really guard its flanks and can often be relied upon to ignore yours, especially when the PO has not been subject to significant programming by the designer.

Things are much more complicated against a human opponent, who will be at least somewhat unpredictable.
Yeah, it just can't guard its flanks. Either you attack them and it ignores you, or it plunges into your lines and gets cut off.
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