Blizzard in 1.08.01b

[Qitbuqa]

My buddy and me are nearing to and end of our "Road to Leningrad" game. As my SHC buddy got tired of all this defensive thing, he suggested us to have a go at "Demjansk Pocket 1942" scenario. We were discussing which blizzard rules should we choose.

Both of us want more or less "realistic" conditions. Therefore I was wandering was there any general consensus on which blizzard rules would be closer to "realistic" conditions in 1.08.01b. We play without Soviet combat bonus.

[Numdydar]

If the OP does not mind, I too would like to know what settings would be best for a GC game too. Matter of fact WHICH GC game would be the best for both sides? Sudden death, etc.

[Qitbuqa]

ORIGINAL: Numdydar

If the OP does not mind, I too would like to know what settings would be best for a GC game too. Matter of fact WHICH GC game would be the best for both sides? Sudden death, etc.

OP doesn't mind. In fact it's a good question. Also should GC and scenario settings be the same or should they differ?

[Numdydar]

It is obvious that no one loves us as no answers given to either of our questions [&:] So sad. Really. [:(]

[charlie0311]

Not a simple question, my buddy and I are 110 fort (both sides), 110 soviet morale, everything else 100. Reduced blizzard, no axis hqbu in '41, +1 Soviet defense bonus.

In the not so old days there was a lot more "action" in the forums, I make no comment as to why. Except it is sad.

[gingerbread]

The scenario is most probably designed with full blizzard in mind.

Probably the combat bonus as well. These were not optional at the time of design.

[morvael]

Optional rules were added with GC 41 in mind. Some scenarios may be very unbalanced with mild blizzard and no bonus. On the other hand I'm not a fan of using different settings than 100, they are not scaling well.

[M60A3TTS]

Knowing what I think I know for the GC, I would play the Alt VC 260 w/+1 Soviet bonus, mild blizzard and Soviet transport 90.

Without the +1 bonus, the Soviet player has almost no ability to go on the attack even locally. This end result is a lot less casualties than the Germans took historically.
Mild blizzard insures the Soviet player can't just run his armies westwards across the entire front.
Alt VC260 gives the Axis player a better chance to win in 1942 than the standard game.
Soviet transport 90 will insure the Soviets are challenged in their industrial evacuations in 1941 even more than they are now.

Of course I reserve the right to change my mind after submitting this post. [;)]

[Numdydar]

Great. Thanks so much for the replies everyone

[Achsah]

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS

Knowing what I think I know for the GC, I would play the Alt VC 260 w/+1 Soviet bonus, mild blizzard and Soviet transport 90.

Without the +1 bonus, the Soviet player has almost no ability to go on the attack even locally. This end result is a lot less casualties than the Germans took historically.
Mild blizzard insures the Soviet player can't just run his armies westwards across the entire front.
Alt VC260 gives the Axis player a better chance to win in 1942 than the standard game.
Soviet transport 90 will insure the Soviets are challenged in their industrial evacuations in 1941 even more than they are now.

Of course I reserve the right to change my mind after submitting this post. [;)]

I disagree about the combat bonus. I took red against ai on normal settings +1 bonus and jerry did not even pocket my western front on turn one. I rely on that pocket to get my west front cp down for crying out loud!:D your point about german casualties is certainly correct but I think that can be made right with under the hood modification.

[cpt flam]

I think that 90 for transport is too much
now russia must move much more factory
you need more HI (10 000 each)
Su 2 and Mig have now a "second life", so you will need some
if you want to save as much factory as possible, many reinforcement will have to walk from
east to the front [&o]

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: cpt flam

I think that 90 for transport is too much
now russia must move much more factory
you need more HI (10 000 each)
Su 2 and Mig have now a "second life", so you will need some
if you want to save as much factory as possible, many reinforcement will have to walk from
east to the front [&o]

aye, with 1.08 I'd be cautious about any adjustments. I think that Morvael has done a great job in building in a series of challenges for the Soviets that really help overall balance. You'll need to get far more HI out in 1941 so this has to mean both slower arrival of units from the Urals and more pockets. The changes to morale in 1942 are significant. Equally I suspect a more constrained supply situation will limit even late war Soviet offensive capacity, so that ongoing front wide attacks are less common and near impossible to sustain.

I'm still not convinced about no +1 (which is fine, there will be a loss of capacity in late summer 1941 but its no big deal) and mild winter is right though. I think in combination, the two will see the Soviet offensive be little but a few extra attacks in December and tend to stall completely by Feb. Thats too limited, esp given the Axis bonus for summer 1942 that is now built in? I think you need to go back to the harsh winter rules (or that the mild winter needs to be worsened).

[Denniss]

If you don't plan to lose Moscow there's no need to move the MiG-3 out. Good to use if you have spare rail capacity. You are now facing exactly the same problem the sowjet planners faced - which factory to move first and which one to leave.
SU-2 does not really have a second life but it's still a nice to use aircraft early on.