hellcat,
That's a nice all-around combined arms force - you may consider some mortars or Katyushas eventually.
Curious, I attempted to buy your force accurately in 7.1 and spent just 1505 points (had two extra Komosolets)...RS 1.1 gives you 1700 points to start.
This makes me think you are playing an older version of SPWAW - perhaps 6.x or 7.0?? I'm assuming you spent all the points - if not, then good'on'ya for taking on more challenge.
The build point cost of Russian units became slightly cheaper in 7.1 and caused playbalance issues for the older battles. As a result, we dropped the initial build to 1700 points from 2000.
2000 points in 6.x provided enough build points to get you a few more T34s or even a couple KVs...
In 7.1, 1700 points gets me 4 KV and 6 T34 and the other stuff is very similar....
SO, all this makes me wonder if your are on an older version (note: one of my playtesters swears 6.2 was the best so far..). If you are, then the points provided will be a little meager. You might want to adjust them slightly to keep from starting each battle with a crippled core force.
If you are on a pre 7.1 version, then I suggest you consider starting over and setting the build points to 2000. ALternately, to avoid restarting, give yourself another 200-300 build points following the first battle to make up the difference.
Otherwise, Good Luck, hope you enjoy (so to speak) Russian Steel.
RS 1.2 will be released within the next two weeks or so. Keep an eye out.
Russian Steel - Feel the thrill of being a Russian commander in 1941!
Moderator: MOD_SPWaW
hi RussianSteelDar,
Thanks for your concern... You're right, I'm playing 7.0 and haven't yet upgraded as I'm playing some other stuff that may not be compatible with 7.1. I don't mind not having those extra 300 points maybe my commisars got trigger happy on the way here!
I'm on turn 6 of the Dubno gig and managing to hold pretty well despite 2 of my motorcycle units and 1 T34 breaking down on Turn 1! I managed to smoke that group of 5 pzIIs in the South with no loss and have so far only lost one afv in the Northern sector. Of course the conscripts are all milling about like mad in downtown Dubno but the wagons are trickling in with reinforcements. It's tense but the Primary Line is holding. I'm not quite sure how best to deal with all those German motorcycle units though! In retrospect I'd rather have more maxims than those infantry guns!
I really don't mind the shortfall, it kinda adds to the effect of the early part of Barbarossa and I'll enjoy the agonising decisions of what to refit! A similar thing has happened to me in the Stalingrad campaign (ref my post in scenario /campaign) subforum...
Am enjoying Russian Steel and looking forward to all of it! Oops I've stayed up all night again!
hellcat
Thanks for your concern... You're right, I'm playing 7.0 and haven't yet upgraded as I'm playing some other stuff that may not be compatible with 7.1. I don't mind not having those extra 300 points maybe my commisars got trigger happy on the way here!
I'm on turn 6 of the Dubno gig and managing to hold pretty well despite 2 of my motorcycle units and 1 T34 breaking down on Turn 1! I managed to smoke that group of 5 pzIIs in the South with no loss and have so far only lost one afv in the Northern sector. Of course the conscripts are all milling about like mad in downtown Dubno but the wagons are trickling in with reinforcements. It's tense but the Primary Line is holding. I'm not quite sure how best to deal with all those German motorcycle units though! In retrospect I'd rather have more maxims than those infantry guns!
I really don't mind the shortfall, it kinda adds to the effect of the early part of Barbarossa and I'll enjoy the agonising decisions of what to refit! A similar thing has happened to me in the Stalingrad campaign (ref my post in scenario /campaign) subforum...
Am enjoying Russian Steel and looking forward to all of it! Oops I've stayed up all night again!
hellcat
me and my bravado! the very next turn the luftwaffe came in and stomped me. My big AA guns just waved them past and the attack in the Northern sector smoked about 5 of my machines! hmpf! I'm taking your advice now and bumping the points as you recommended (humble pie, eating crow) new OOB as follows:
Hq unit
5 BA-3 (recon / armor support)
5 BT-5 (light tanks)
3 SU-37 (armor support)
5 T-26 m.33 tanks
3 T-34 m.40 tanks
2 85mm AA m.39 (for AA and Anti-tank)
4 7.62 Maxim HMG
2 Yag-6 transporters
3 Motorcycles (recon)
4 Cossack cavalry (recon, mobile inf)
4 engineer units
4 Gaz-4M-AA (for AA and anti-personnel)
4 12.7mm AAMG (for AA and anti-personnel)
10 Conscript Squads (Co)
4 SMG squads
5 BA-27 (Recon / Anti-personnel)
I think this will give me a better core and make me more able to deal with the german attack more thoroughly. And I'll try not immobilise my T-34s on the first turn!
Hq unit
5 BA-3 (recon / armor support)
5 BT-5 (light tanks)
3 SU-37 (armor support)
5 T-26 m.33 tanks
3 T-34 m.40 tanks
2 85mm AA m.39 (for AA and Anti-tank)
4 7.62 Maxim HMG
2 Yag-6 transporters
3 Motorcycles (recon)
4 Cossack cavalry (recon, mobile inf)
4 engineer units
4 Gaz-4M-AA (for AA and anti-personnel)
4 12.7mm AAMG (for AA and anti-personnel)
10 Conscript Squads (Co)
4 SMG squads
5 BA-27 (Recon / Anti-personnel)
I think this will give me a better core and make me more able to deal with the german attack more thoroughly. And I'll try not immobilise my T-34s on the first turn!
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Supervisor
- Posts: 5160
- Joined: Tue Mar 02, 2004 12:00 am
Hall of Fame nomination
Any one want to second this nomination? 7 pages and over 100 replies in more than deserving!!!!!:)
Hey guys!
Awesome campaign! I played the first four battles and then experimented a couple of times with the first 10 or so turns of the first battle in order to tweak the core force. There's no way a unit like this could've exsisted at the front during these early battles, right? Too Rambo, too soon? I didn't pay attention to points allowed, but it's v7.1. Anyway, the game play is fun...
HQ Unit
7x KV-1 m39 (gods of battle)
7x T-34 m41 (get there fast, mebbe flank 'em)
2x KV-2 (how can you resist?)
14 Armor
1x Paratroop(!) "HQ" Sqd
9x Paratroop Sqd (Here come da pain!)
4x Engineers (too much of an SMG advantage?)
3x Recon Patrol (4 man sqds)
17 Leg Units
2x Maxim (Usually tankriding)
2x 12.7mm Dshk (Again with the tankriding)
4x 45mm ATG (the cheaper of the two 45's, try to replace with one 76mm per upgrade)
4x Komsomolets (for the AT guns/MGs or an ad hoc battle taxi, if they survive)
3x 120mm Mortar (when in doubt, knock 'em out!)
2x Ammo Carriers (would this be realistic? the 120s just rain down, but I guess the Germans lived off of different encirclement battle captures for a while)
1x FO (too good to be true?)
4x- GAZ AA (the quad Maxims, good luck with those planes, but don't you feel a little sorry for the German infantry?)
22 Hvy Weapons/Support Sorta Units
Any suggestions on making this more historical. I'll probably start again "for real" for the long haul. I'm guessing Soviet Rifle Coy instead of Paratroop Coy. Or a mix of Tokes and Mosins along with a few Conscripts. You gotta love the Tokarevs, though...
Can't wait for more updates. This campaign is going to be epic in the sort of "David Lean Meets Robert Shaw And Maybe Even Chuck Heston In 70mm Sens-A-Round" meaning of the word!
Awesome campaign! I played the first four battles and then experimented a couple of times with the first 10 or so turns of the first battle in order to tweak the core force. There's no way a unit like this could've exsisted at the front during these early battles, right? Too Rambo, too soon? I didn't pay attention to points allowed, but it's v7.1. Anyway, the game play is fun...
HQ Unit
7x KV-1 m39 (gods of battle)
7x T-34 m41 (get there fast, mebbe flank 'em)
2x KV-2 (how can you resist?)
14 Armor
1x Paratroop(!) "HQ" Sqd
9x Paratroop Sqd (Here come da pain!)
4x Engineers (too much of an SMG advantage?)
3x Recon Patrol (4 man sqds)
17 Leg Units
2x Maxim (Usually tankriding)
2x 12.7mm Dshk (Again with the tankriding)
4x 45mm ATG (the cheaper of the two 45's, try to replace with one 76mm per upgrade)
4x Komsomolets (for the AT guns/MGs or an ad hoc battle taxi, if they survive)
3x 120mm Mortar (when in doubt, knock 'em out!)
2x Ammo Carriers (would this be realistic? the 120s just rain down, but I guess the Germans lived off of different encirclement battle captures for a while)
1x FO (too good to be true?)
4x- GAZ AA (the quad Maxims, good luck with those planes, but don't you feel a little sorry for the German infantry?)
22 Hvy Weapons/Support Sorta Units
Any suggestions on making this more historical. I'll probably start again "for real" for the long haul. I'm guessing Soviet Rifle Coy instead of Paratroop Coy. Or a mix of Tokes and Mosins along with a few Conscripts. You gotta love the Tokarevs, though...
Can't wait for more updates. This campaign is going to be epic in the sort of "David Lean Meets Robert Shaw And Maybe Even Chuck Heston In 70mm Sens-A-Round" meaning of the word!
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RussianSteelDar
- Posts: 50
- Joined: Mon Mar 25, 2002 8:36 am
I like that core force - and I cannot resist KV-2s either...maybe its Freudian...
How to make a more historical core force......
From what I've read, about 30% of a first-line Tank Division was T-34s - the rest was light tanks and obsoletes....
Throughout the war - at least until 1944, 33% T34s seems to be fairly common for most tank units with the rest being light or lend lease tanks - I never realized how many T-60s and T-70s they used..
Sort of deflates the stories of big German tank kills a little - "over 500 Soviet tanks were killed" is more believable if only about 160 were T34s and the rest were T70s, T60s, and Stuarts...
It appears that the KVs were concentrated in Heavy Regiments and allocated to Armies...
The Sovs were just starting to reconstitute Tank and Mech Corps by the outbreak of Barbarossa...typically 2 x Tank Div + 1 Mot Rifle Div - but these got burned up in 1941 and it was not until 1942 that the large units reappeared (they got creamed at Kharkov and in the Don Basin and on the road to Voronezh in summer 1942...) then got rebuilt for Operation Uranus and Mars and creamed during Manstein's spring riposte then rebuilt again in time for Kursk and creamed again but finally, with the initiative shift, the Soviets finally had the opportunity to perfect the Tank Army which essentially was a Russian style PanzerKorps 1941 style...
Paratroopers were frequently sent into regular combat so I think that's not too much of a stretch...
The more I read about the Soviets in 1941 the more I realize that their weapons were often superior or at least equal to German stocks and their unit organizations were rational and well-thought out - they added infantry to tank battalion sized units before anyone else thought of it....making them into combined arms units..
Their doctrine was OK and sometimes quite realistic and by most accounts, they were often ferocious fighters when cornered or dug in.
BUT....
their training and maintenance was deplorable (many tank drivers had little or no experience driving T34s - and many tanks were inoperable for lack of spare parts) - the rear echelon was riddled by incompetence - and they were saddled with a War Plan that rivals Plan 17 for sheer denial of reality...and that was without adding in the paralysis and shock of the "surprise" Barbarossa attack...
Oh, and the professional officer corps was largely dead or in the Gulags...
From what I've read, the first month was dominated by Soviet units that were often low or out of fuel, starving, low on or without ammunition - and they were ordered into desperate attacks that were generally uncoordinated, lacked effective artillery support and relied on mass assault waves...
the fact that they carried out these orders nonetheless speaks volumes both for the Russian soldier's sense of duty and the terror instilled by Beria's goons...
The Luftwaffe was generally available to relieve any truly desperate situation for the Germans and so the intermittent successes by various units usually had no lasting operational impact.....but the attrition effect could not be totally ignored by the Wehrmacht..
So:
Starting core (mostly historical - IMHO): assumes this is a favored unit...
5 t-34s
10 Bt-7
2 Bt-7a
Mot Rifle Co.
82 mort platoon
45mm ATG platoon
Maxim HMG Platoon
AC platoon (BA-3,6,10..)
Motorcycle platoon
Possible attached units (from Corps or Army):
GAZ-AA flak truck platoon
4 x KVs
76mm Gun (dual role: FH or ATG) platoon
Additional T34s
I think the above would have been OK for a Tank unit that enjoyed some privileges in equipment and supply (due to well-connected Commissar most likely)...
For a run-of-the-mill unit, lose the T34s and KVs replace with Bt-2 (shudder) and bt-5, the Rifle company would be motorized in name only, and the mortars and guns would be gone or at best present but low on ammunition...
I'd avoid having less than 30% T-34s and expect your Bt and BA vehicles to evaporate in combat....if anyone manages to get a Bt7 to elite status I will be majorly impressed!
t-26 tanks would have been associated with Rifle Corps and Divisions - I kinda like these and the t26E has a slight chance of surviving a round or two if faced front-on...
Thanks for the feedback and I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the campaign...
Brad
How to make a more historical core force......
From what I've read, about 30% of a first-line Tank Division was T-34s - the rest was light tanks and obsoletes....
Throughout the war - at least until 1944, 33% T34s seems to be fairly common for most tank units with the rest being light or lend lease tanks - I never realized how many T-60s and T-70s they used..
Sort of deflates the stories of big German tank kills a little - "over 500 Soviet tanks were killed" is more believable if only about 160 were T34s and the rest were T70s, T60s, and Stuarts...
It appears that the KVs were concentrated in Heavy Regiments and allocated to Armies...
The Sovs were just starting to reconstitute Tank and Mech Corps by the outbreak of Barbarossa...typically 2 x Tank Div + 1 Mot Rifle Div - but these got burned up in 1941 and it was not until 1942 that the large units reappeared (they got creamed at Kharkov and in the Don Basin and on the road to Voronezh in summer 1942...) then got rebuilt for Operation Uranus and Mars and creamed during Manstein's spring riposte then rebuilt again in time for Kursk and creamed again but finally, with the initiative shift, the Soviets finally had the opportunity to perfect the Tank Army which essentially was a Russian style PanzerKorps 1941 style...
Paratroopers were frequently sent into regular combat so I think that's not too much of a stretch...
The more I read about the Soviets in 1941 the more I realize that their weapons were often superior or at least equal to German stocks and their unit organizations were rational and well-thought out - they added infantry to tank battalion sized units before anyone else thought of it....making them into combined arms units..
Their doctrine was OK and sometimes quite realistic and by most accounts, they were often ferocious fighters when cornered or dug in.
BUT....
their training and maintenance was deplorable (many tank drivers had little or no experience driving T34s - and many tanks were inoperable for lack of spare parts) - the rear echelon was riddled by incompetence - and they were saddled with a War Plan that rivals Plan 17 for sheer denial of reality...and that was without adding in the paralysis and shock of the "surprise" Barbarossa attack...
Oh, and the professional officer corps was largely dead or in the Gulags...
From what I've read, the first month was dominated by Soviet units that were often low or out of fuel, starving, low on or without ammunition - and they were ordered into desperate attacks that were generally uncoordinated, lacked effective artillery support and relied on mass assault waves...
the fact that they carried out these orders nonetheless speaks volumes both for the Russian soldier's sense of duty and the terror instilled by Beria's goons...
The Luftwaffe was generally available to relieve any truly desperate situation for the Germans and so the intermittent successes by various units usually had no lasting operational impact.....but the attrition effect could not be totally ignored by the Wehrmacht..
So:
Starting core (mostly historical - IMHO): assumes this is a favored unit...
5 t-34s
10 Bt-7
2 Bt-7a
Mot Rifle Co.
82 mort platoon
45mm ATG platoon
Maxim HMG Platoon
AC platoon (BA-3,6,10..)
Motorcycle platoon
Possible attached units (from Corps or Army):
GAZ-AA flak truck platoon
4 x KVs
76mm Gun (dual role: FH or ATG) platoon
Additional T34s
I think the above would have been OK for a Tank unit that enjoyed some privileges in equipment and supply (due to well-connected Commissar most likely)...
For a run-of-the-mill unit, lose the T34s and KVs replace with Bt-2 (shudder) and bt-5, the Rifle company would be motorized in name only, and the mortars and guns would be gone or at best present but low on ammunition...
I'd avoid having less than 30% T-34s and expect your Bt and BA vehicles to evaporate in combat....if anyone manages to get a Bt7 to elite status I will be majorly impressed!
t-26 tanks would have been associated with Rifle Corps and Divisions - I kinda like these and the t26E has a slight chance of surviving a round or two if faced front-on...
Thanks for the feedback and I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the campaign...
Brad
Thanks for the reply! If you have time, could you help me troubleshoot the core force? I'm thinking about the campaign in terms of a sweeps week mini-series here! What kinds of equipment weirdness could I add to give the force some sort of backstory? Or whatever.
O.K., I think I'll just say that my commissar and Stalin's projectionist are poker buddies or something:
I'll keep the T-34 ratio down and go with the BT-7/T-70 armored company. Would T-26s instead of T-70s be realistic? I'll use the ACs for armored recon. (The T-70 is listed as "recon tank", right?)I'll assume that Corps really wants us to do well and coughs up the 4 KV-1s. The paratroops become grounded "motorized" infantry, but maybe with a few stray trucks thrown in for historical flavor. Through some miracle of logistics or the commissar's skill at covering excessive Politburo gambling debts AND keeping them a secrect (for a small fee, of course), half of the infantry are equipped with the Tokarevs. The rest carry Mosins. For some reason that sounds like something that would happen during this part of the war, but I dunno.
82mm for 120mm and no ammo carriers. Maxim platoon, 45mm ATGs and some trucks. Were Komsomolets that common? I'll assume trucks for the heavy weapons. I'll also stick to the random 76mm ATG upgrade since a Moscow street kid turned enterprising subaltern has a knack for "obtaining" the choicest bits of equipment floating around out there, no questions asked.
Realistically, when should I start to have the SMG/Assault/Engineer-class platoons showing up? It will be cool to try out some of the Stalingrad-era reinforced shock troop tactics that I read about somewhere. Did they at least have a partial ability to have close assault troops this early on? I'll probably buy up some recon units and convert these to SMG/Molotov guys as war goes on.
If you can't tell already, I'm laid-off and so I have the time to obssess about these kinds of things.
O.K., I think I'll just say that my commissar and Stalin's projectionist are poker buddies or something:
I'll keep the T-34 ratio down and go with the BT-7/T-70 armored company. Would T-26s instead of T-70s be realistic? I'll use the ACs for armored recon. (The T-70 is listed as "recon tank", right?)I'll assume that Corps really wants us to do well and coughs up the 4 KV-1s. The paratroops become grounded "motorized" infantry, but maybe with a few stray trucks thrown in for historical flavor. Through some miracle of logistics or the commissar's skill at covering excessive Politburo gambling debts AND keeping them a secrect (for a small fee, of course), half of the infantry are equipped with the Tokarevs. The rest carry Mosins. For some reason that sounds like something that would happen during this part of the war, but I dunno.
82mm for 120mm and no ammo carriers. Maxim platoon, 45mm ATGs and some trucks. Were Komsomolets that common? I'll assume trucks for the heavy weapons. I'll also stick to the random 76mm ATG upgrade since a Moscow street kid turned enterprising subaltern has a knack for "obtaining" the choicest bits of equipment floating around out there, no questions asked.
Realistically, when should I start to have the SMG/Assault/Engineer-class platoons showing up? It will be cool to try out some of the Stalingrad-era reinforced shock troop tactics that I read about somewhere. Did they at least have a partial ability to have close assault troops this early on? I'll probably buy up some recon units and convert these to SMG/Molotov guys as war goes on.
If you can't tell already, I'm laid-off and so I have the time to obssess about these kinds of things.
I got a decisive Victory at Dubno! and for my efforts I have rewarded myself with ... (wait for it...) 1 forward observer! Comrade Stalin is extremely generous! My commisar tells me I should be grateful for the repairs.
Was reading Barbarossa (Clarke) and apparently germans didn't see T-34s until hitting the outskirts of Moscow in late '41 (not sure how accurate that is, just repeating it) Personally can't imagine not having them after that scenario, even though I only had 3 of them and 1 broke down right away
am going to post an aar on this epic thunderclap of a start to what is clearly such a cool campaign (it will be getting colder soon though Will post in the scenario and campaign subforum.
by the way... what happens if I blow that bridge in the second scenario??
hellcat (masquerading as a veteran t-34)
Was reading Barbarossa (Clarke) and apparently germans didn't see T-34s until hitting the outskirts of Moscow in late '41 (not sure how accurate that is, just repeating it) Personally can't imagine not having them after that scenario, even though I only had 3 of them and 1 broke down right away
am going to post an aar on this epic thunderclap of a start to what is clearly such a cool campaign (it will be getting colder soon though
Will post in the scenario and campaign subforum. by the way... what happens if I blow that bridge in the second scenario??
hellcat (masquerading as a veteran t-34)
-
RussianSteelDar
- Posts: 50
- Joined: Mon Mar 25, 2002 8:36 am
sjohn: I'll help as much as I can - I recommend a balance between historical and fun....
A core of nothing but elite KVs and T34s and SMG-armed engineers is pushing it..
on the other hand, Katukov's boys outside of Tula in October 1941 had KVs and T34s and supporting infantry and they were veteran crews...
I would start with somethinglike the core force we;'ve discussed and then upgrade as points allow...
I rationalize this on the theory that victory would be rewarded with favoritism in choice of supplies...
We have tried to make these battles such that a combined arms force is absolutely necessary - you will need AA, mortars, infantry, ATGs, HMGs and of course, tanks...more than a platoon of light tanks will create a challenging play situation over the long run...
The 50-unit core force you assemble would have been part of a larger force - one could assume that the rest of the force is tackling the easy jobs with their light tanks - you get the nasty jobs that require heavy armor...
A very realistic unit (in 1943) would be the SP Arty Regt or Shock Tank (Heavy) Regiment - these had recce forces, SMG infantry, AA, ATG, mortar, all built around a core of 17 SU-85/100/122/152s or Heavy tanks (KV-85/IS-2..)...
So, in a way, your core force is the forerunner of these special units that were reserved for the dirty jobs like breakthough ops...
hellcat: blowing up the bridge is satisfying but will not have any effect on play (no reinforcements) - but that might change with RS 2.0
A core of nothing but elite KVs and T34s and SMG-armed engineers is pushing it..
on the other hand, Katukov's boys outside of Tula in October 1941 had KVs and T34s and supporting infantry and they were veteran crews...
I would start with somethinglike the core force we;'ve discussed and then upgrade as points allow...
I rationalize this on the theory that victory would be rewarded with favoritism in choice of supplies...
We have tried to make these battles such that a combined arms force is absolutely necessary - you will need AA, mortars, infantry, ATGs, HMGs and of course, tanks...more than a platoon of light tanks will create a challenging play situation over the long run...
The 50-unit core force you assemble would have been part of a larger force - one could assume that the rest of the force is tackling the easy jobs with their light tanks - you get the nasty jobs that require heavy armor...
A very realistic unit (in 1943) would be the SP Arty Regt or Shock Tank (Heavy) Regiment - these had recce forces, SMG infantry, AA, ATG, mortar, all built around a core of 17 SU-85/100/122/152s or Heavy tanks (KV-85/IS-2..)...
So, in a way, your core force is the forerunner of these special units that were reserved for the dirty jobs like breakthough ops...
hellcat: blowing up the bridge is satisfying but will not have any effect on play (no reinforcements) - but that might change with RS 2.0
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RussianSteelDar
- Posts: 50
- Joined: Mon Mar 25, 2002 8:36 am
Re: early appearance of T34s...
there are serious experts in this forums who know definitively...
I have read that T34s and KVs were in the inventory on June 22, 1941....
Kiev MD had hundreds - there were over 3000 on Day One...
I also think they were in reserve in most cases and were not encountered in June....but I do seem to recall hearing that July-August saw their debut...
AG Nord encountered KVs within the first 2 weeks I had thought and it shook them up big time...
Why not post to the big forum and see what you find out?
there are serious experts in this forums who know definitively...
I have read that T34s and KVs were in the inventory on June 22, 1941....
Kiev MD had hundreds - there were over 3000 on Day One...
I also think they were in reserve in most cases and were not encountered in June....but I do seem to recall hearing that July-August saw their debut...
AG Nord encountered KVs within the first 2 weeks I had thought and it shook them up big time...
Why not post to the big forum and see what you find out?
-
RussianSteelDar
- Posts: 50
- Joined: Mon Mar 25, 2002 8:36 am
Russian Steel 1.2 is now available on Fabio Prado's excellent Armor Site.
See the details in the SPWAW campaign/scenario subforum.
Russian Steel 1.2 is posted (with some new graphics, too) at:
http://www.fprado.com/armorsite/spwaw_camps06.htm
http://www.fprado.com/armorsite/sp_waw.htm
With much appreciation to Fabio Prado for his continued support and enthusiasm.
See the details in the SPWAW campaign/scenario subforum.
Russian Steel 1.2 is posted (with some new graphics, too) at:
http://www.fprado.com/armorsite/spwaw_camps06.htm
http://www.fprado.com/armorsite/sp_waw.htm
With much appreciation to Fabio Prado for his continued support and enthusiasm.
Too many DVs reported with 1.1?
Looks like so many people reported DVs with version 1.1 that the ante has been upped in 1.2:D
You now have 1500 points to buy core instead of 1700.
Oh well, it's still enough to cover two companies of T-34m.41's, four platoons of GAZ-4M-AA and an FO
Seagull - off to commit military suicide
You now have 1500 points to buy core instead of 1700.
Oh well, it's still enough to cover two companies of T-34m.41's, four platoons of GAZ-4M-AA and an FO
Seagull - off to commit military suicide
-
RussianSteelDar
- Posts: 50
- Joined: Mon Mar 25, 2002 8:36 am
Thanks for the guidance on force selection
I'm getting my head handed to me on a plate in the first scenario. My T-34's and AA couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if they were leaning against it... and my FO got whacked by a plane
Playing as a Russian (and the entire Eastern front, for that matter) is a novelty for me. It's been a real blast, though!
Many thanks to all who've contributed so freely of their time and talents.
I'm getting my head handed to me on a plate in the first scenario. My T-34's and AA couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if they were leaning against it... and my FO got whacked by a plane
Playing as a Russian (and the entire Eastern front, for that matter) is a novelty for me. It's been a real blast, though!
Many thanks to all who've contributed so freely of their time and talents.
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RussianSteelDar
- Posts: 50
- Joined: Mon Mar 25, 2002 8:36 am
Seagull,
The first several battles are fairly rocky because the Soviets have such poor experience/morale ratings... the survivors will learn fairly well - if they can manage a kill (even crewmen!) it seems to go much faster...
By Battle 3 you should notice some modest improvements....
By Battle 5 you should be seeing a few lucky or well-managed units reaching veteran status - if you're lucky, maybe one elite unit by Battle 6 even...
By Battle 8 or so you should be seeing considerable improvements and maybe have a tiny elite cadre....
But I have found that shooting German armor with Soviet 76s can be frustrating regardless of experience or morale...
The most appalling I've seen with 7.1 is 8 consecutive hits on a MkIII (front and side, turret and body) without destruction...
Eventually the crew bailed (presumably from a massive headache from all that clanging!) but I was torqued....
Green, Veteran, or Elite, it pays the Soviet player to handle nearly all Panzers with care...I find the MkIIIjs especially fatal to my elite KV-1s and that gets really annoying...
Coincidentally, the Soviet High Command eventually ordered their tank crews to AVOID engaging German armor!!! They were ordered to seek out infantry, light tanks, and other soft targets...
Whenever possible, if they engaged Panzers they were ordered to get hull down with just the turret showing...
Good to hear you are enjoying RS - we love to get feedback and the more specific the more we can improve the campaign...
Brad
The first several battles are fairly rocky because the Soviets have such poor experience/morale ratings... the survivors will learn fairly well - if they can manage a kill (even crewmen!) it seems to go much faster...
By Battle 3 you should notice some modest improvements....
By Battle 5 you should be seeing a few lucky or well-managed units reaching veteran status - if you're lucky, maybe one elite unit by Battle 6 even...
By Battle 8 or so you should be seeing considerable improvements and maybe have a tiny elite cadre....
But I have found that shooting German armor with Soviet 76s can be frustrating regardless of experience or morale...
The most appalling I've seen with 7.1 is 8 consecutive hits on a MkIII (front and side, turret and body) without destruction...
Eventually the crew bailed (presumably from a massive headache from all that clanging!) but I was torqued....
Green, Veteran, or Elite, it pays the Soviet player to handle nearly all Panzers with care...I find the MkIIIjs especially fatal to my elite KV-1s and that gets really annoying...
Coincidentally, the Soviet High Command eventually ordered their tank crews to AVOID engaging German armor!!! They were ordered to seek out infantry, light tanks, and other soft targets...
Whenever possible, if they engaged Panzers they were ordered to get hull down with just the turret showing...
Good to hear you are enjoying RS - we love to get feedback and the more specific the more we can improve the campaign...
Brad