Formations and other questions?

[sabre1]

1. A formation are all the units stacked in a hex?

2. Do units gain the hedgehog bonus if they are in a hex with the unit that actually built the hedgehog or entrenchment?

3. Minor HQ's with the dark green star recieve combat bonus, and the units that are stacked with the minor HQ, and this has to do with combat integrity?

4. So do all units that are in a stack, and attached to the same Parent HQ, only one unit recieves the minor HQ status, and the rest in the stack gain combat integrity, even though they are not directly affiliated with each other?

I guess I'm having a hard time understanding units and formations, things like the 267 rifle regiment, and the 201 panzer regiment (not sure if those names are in the game just for examples sake) if they are stacked together, one unit is desginated the minor HQ and the rest recieve combat integrity just by being stacked with that unit and are considered a formation.

5. Engineer units, are they better at building hedgehogs vs. regular units?

6. What is a well built formation, and how much combat power is enough to at least withstand a very strong attack?

7. Artillery, is it better to keep it stacked with a formation, or have it behind formations for shoot and scoot?

8. Armor, better stacked with infantry or behind it, to launch pincer movements, or to reinforce frontal assaults?

9. I'm assuming that blowing bridges and defending on the other side of the river is the best defense?

10. Is it necessary to form a continuous line to prevent breakthroughs, or to just have units/formations in every other hex, with reinforcemts in the rear to plug holes?

11. Attack supply is handled automatically, and is nothing that I have to personally administer?

I know I have more questions, and the one's I have asked could be pretty lame, but this game which I do find interesting, and yes fun has so much in it that I find myself staring at the screen without a really cohesive idea of what I am suppose to be doing.

Yes the tutorials take you through the mechanics, but leave you wondering ultimately from a NOOB standpoint as to the how and why of things. Not a complaint just an observation.

I have always played tactical level games, so this is really my first serious forray into the world of large scale operations. It is interesting and I DO want to learn, but also at the same time VERY daunting.

In my game with JD, I am actually having fun trying to think of a way to give him FITS, and also struggling at the same time to write a decent AAR, which is also giving me fits having never done one, and not wanting to have you guys groan at the results. [8|]

Anyway, enough rambling for now and all help is appreciated, unless of course you are associated with the enemy. [:'(]

[JudgeDredd]

ORIGINAL: sabre1
In my game with JD, I am actually having fun trying to think of a way to give him FITS, and also struggling at the same time to write a decent AAR, which is also giving me fits having never done one, and not wanting to have you guys groan at the results. [8|]

So...touting for a "personal trainer", eh? [:D]

I would have a go at your questions, but I'm not up to the task as yet and I don't want to feed you miss-information.

The bit I quoted above though...?? You worry too much about what other people think[;)]

Why not look at it this way....they're getting it for nothing. They either like it or they don't.

You are dealing with wargamers here...as long as you give them a few pictures, some details, some arrows (they love arrows) and throw some unit names...they'll be as happy as the proverbial![:'(]

[sabre1]

Thanks JD, I figured that we might both benefit from someone answering some of these. 
 
Yes you are right, I tend to be a bit wrapped to tight. [:D]
 
 

[sabre1]

What the heck is an Aufklaruns battalion?

[Carl Myers]

ORIGINAL: sabre1

1. A formation are all the units stacked in a hex?

2. Do units gain the hedgehog bonus if they are in a hex with the unit that actually built the hedgehog or entrenchment?

3. Minor HQ's with the dark green star recieve combat bonus, and the units that are stacked with the minor HQ, and this has to do with combat integrity?

4. So do all units that are in a stack, and attached to the same Parent HQ, only one unit recieves the minor HQ status, and the rest in the stack gain combat integrity, even though they are not directly affiliated with each other?

I guess I'm having a hard time understanding units and formations, things like the 267 rifle regiment, and the 201 panzer regiment (not sure if those names are in the game just for examples sake) if they are stacked together, one unit is desginated the minor HQ and the rest recieve combat integrity just by being stacked with that unit and are considered a formation.

5. Engineer units, are they better at building hedgehogs vs. regular units?

6. What is a well built formation, and how much combat power is enough to at least withstand a very strong attack?

7. Artillery, is it better to keep it stacked with a formation, or have it behind formations for shoot and scoot?

8. Armor, better stacked with infantry or behind it, to launch pincer movements, or to reinforce frontal assaults?

9. I'm assuming that blowing bridges and defending on the other side of the river is the best defense?

10. Is it necessary to form a continuous line to prevent breakthroughs, or to just have units/formations in every other hex, with reinforcemts in the rear to plug holes?

11. Attack supply is handled automatically, and is nothing that I have to personally administer?

1. No. I.E. the 3rd Panzer Division is a formation of the 6th Army and has 10 units in the formation.
2. No. The unit will not get the hedgehog bonus but will have the benefits of the hedgehoged unit.
3. Minor HQ's automatically recieve an integrity bonus. All combat units of the formation within the integrity radius(a dotted green linte around the Minor HQ unit) also receive the integrity bonus.
4. Stacks are stacks of units, have nothing to do with minor HQ status or integrity. Each unit of a stack can be from a different formation and each unit may or may not be in integrity range.
5. No. Hedgehogging is about devising a 360 degree defense in a hex instead of a linear defencse in a hex.
6. Formations are determined by the scenario designer. A well defended hex has an entrenched or hedgehogged unit with good antishock unit. A lot of combat steps is desirable to soak up artillery fire.
7. Best behind the lines with covering combat units.
8. If some infantry needs antishock defense, entrenched with the infantry when possible, otherwise entrenched behind the infantry.
9. Rivers deny the attacker hexside combat shifts. Major rivers halve base attack strengths. During bad ground turns, minor rivers halve base attack strengths and major rivers prevent attacks.
10. Depends on the situation. Continous line prevents encirclement of entrenched units to gain combat shifts from attacking more hexsided. Hedgehogged units prevent the enemy from gaining combat shifts when attacking from multiple hexsides.
11. Keep your units in command range of the HQ.

[Carl Myers]

ORIGINAL: sabre1

What the heck is an Aufklaruns battalion?

Recon battalion.

[e_barkmann]

Generally, there's a big difference in combat values when a unit is in/out of its minor HQ range, so it's a good idea to always keep your units within the radius unless you have some very good reasons not to do so.

In the Map Options display in the control panel, make sure that Integrity (Radius) and Integrity (Units) are both on.

This will then display the integrity bonus radius (green dots on the map) and highlight all units of a particular minor HQ. P54 of the manual has more info about integrity bonuses.

cheers

[e_barkmann]

Regarding Aufkarungs, or Recon units - generally these units have been given better spotting powers than normal units (you can check this in the unit popup, if there's a + value next to the binocular icon it means they can see that many extra hexes).

So use these kind of units to snoop out in front - ie move these guys first into unknown territory, thus possibly exposing units earlier than normal and allowing better intelligence of the battlefield.

cheers

[sabre1]

Thanks Carl and Chris!

[Gregor_SSG]

Yes, thanks Carl and Chris, excellent answers.I'd just like to clarify a couple of points.

Firstly, formations. English is a wonderful language, but we do into bother when we have impose precise, technical meanings (of our own devising) onto an existing word with natural meanings.

So, in natural English, every unit on the map is a formation of some sort (battalion, regiment) and belongs to a number of other formations (division, corps, army etc).

In SSG English, a formation is all units that have a HQ on the map as their immediate superior. All units must belong to a formation and have such a HQ.

So in Kharkov, the 3rd and 23rd Panzer Divisions belong to the 6th Army. When you select on of their units on the map you will see the 6th Army Unit Icon appear at the top of the unit display, to the right of the unit name. You can even click on the HQ icon to see where the HQ is on the map. When you do this the HQ icon is replaced by the icon of the unit you were first looking at, and clicking this will take you straight back to the initial unit.

Now it is true that, in military terms, 6th Army belongs to Army Group South but this doesn't matter in the Kharkov system. With a minor exception, formations in Kharkov are independent of each other.

Secondly, I would say that however you configure your defenses, you must keep a reserve. This needs to be far enough back that it has enough freedom of movement to get to any threatened sector of the line but not so far back that it can't intervene straight away. No reserve always means big problems.

Gregor

[sabre1]

Antishock defense?  I am assuming that means your infantry is being attacked by armor so you should have some armor stacked with your infantry?  That is almost always the case isn't it?  With fog of war, it is difficult sometimes to know exactly at what point armor units will strike your units, so best practice dictates that armor should be part of a defense if available?
 
Don't you get some type of bonus for attacking with armor against infantry, so in that case it behooves the attacker or counterattacker/defender to have stacks of armor to strike advantegeously vs. having your armor spread out among stacks of infantry trying to stop an overall ofensive, or defense.  I am just thinking out loud at this point.
 
I am also having difficulty in deciding what is the best practice for placing air interdiction forces, to maximize results?
 
 
 
 

[sabre1]

In the opening turn for the Axis, the information panel states that I have Panzer units in reserve, what specific units are they referring to, other than "any" armor units near Kharkov?

[JudgeDredd]

I am also having difficulty in deciding what is the best practice for placing air interdiction forces, to maximize results?

I just select the interdiction icon and kind of "pin the tail on the Donkey".

Not strictly speaking true. I don't know if I'm using it properly, but what I try to do is put it in front of the "front line" to make it as expensive as possible for your units to move and engage...like I said...I have no idea if this is a "proper" use of the asset. I have the same issue with Partisans.

But I'll read up on those for next turn. Rest assured I won't be using them wrongly the WHOLE battle

[sabre1]

Hey, comrade in arms, see, this is a useful thread.  Hopefully other neophytes like ourselves "may" learn something.  I say may, because I tend to be pretty dense/stubborn.  I think it's the scottish blood in me.

[emcgman]

Sabre 1,

Here's some info on Direct Attack and Defense. (tank shock and anti-shock)

A lot of stronger infantry units provide Direct Defense (anti-tank shock) combat shifts. This will help keep your opponents Direct Attack combat shift bonuses to a minimum.

Look at the defense bars of several different infantry units. Notice the anti-tank icon and quantity of `roundels' to the right of it.

The difference is that the dice roll needed for the infantry units to actually make a Direct Defense `hit' are a lot higher than a Tank or Anti-Tank gun.

It's important to understand the difference between Direct Attack and Defense `combat shifts' and the actual dice rolls needed to make a Direct Attack or Defense `hit'.

`Shifts' are what gives you the better odds for the CRT table, in order to make the actual close combat dice rolls easier to get. The Direct Attack and Defense bonus `shifts' are determined by the `roundels' in the unit attack and defense bars.

During a combat round, the die roll for Direct Attack and Defense is a separate die roll from the normal close combat die roll.

Look at an attack bar of a Tank. First there is an orange die. This is the minimum number that has to be rolled for the Tank to achieve a `hit' in Direct Attack.

Next, there is an icon of a Tank and just to the right of that are the small `roundels' (colored round dots). Depending on the quantity of these roundels is the level of Direct Attack compared to a Defensive unit Direct Defense shift bonus that will be added or subtracted to the total shift bonus for close combat.

`Close combat' is your normal attack and defense, compared to the separate die roll that determines your `Direct Attack or Defense' hits.

Similarly, examine the Defense bar for the anti-shock dice roll, and the `roundel' shift bonuses.

Here's the real kicker, from the manual:

For any close combat, all friendly stacks that are adjacent to the defender and could gain a tactical shift, can contribute a Direct Attack to the combat. Each stack can only make one contribution per combat and only from units that are actually attacking, using the best factor from the attackers.

This means that if you have an enemy stack surrounded, for example, on 3 sides, and each of those 3 hex sides has a green triangle shift blip, that each of those 3 hex sides can potentially provide a Direct Attack (tank shock) `hit'. (each `hit' will eliminate 1 enemy step)

In real terms, this means that if you have 3 tank units available for an attack, you are far better off placing 1 tank in each of the 3 separate hex sides, (along with your other attacking units) as opposed to all 3 tanks in the same stack!!!

This way, you could potentially (depending on the direct hit die rolls) eliminate up to 3 additional enemy steps in that combat round from your Direct Attacks alone (besides any enemy steps eliminated from normal close combat) compared to just 1, if you had all the tanks in the same hex. Each stack (units in a single hex), can only make 1 Direct Attack `hit', no matter how many tanks are in it!

As much as possible, read and re-read the manual. The information is so detailed that there's no way you can soak it all in at once.

Hope this helps.

[sabre1]

Ok now lets talk supply?  How is it used up.  I have been made aware that you can run out of attack supply.  I will go back and read the manual, but if anyone wants to paraphrase it in a more succint manner I'm all ears
 
That's old JD and I attentively listening to your pearls of wisdom...[:D]

[oldspec4]

ORIGINAL: sabre1

Ok now lets talk supply?  How is it used up.  I have been made aware that you can run out of attack supply.  I will go back and read the manual, but if anyone wants to paraphrase it in a more succint manner I'm all ears

That's old JD and I attentively listening to your pearls of wisdom...[:D]

You better add another chair to the table beause I'm also attentively listening to the pearls of wisdom....

[emcgman]

Really, understanding supply is easy. Maintaining supply is another matter.

Attack supply is used up by conducting combats. The bullets in the unit panels have to be whole bullets. If the bullets look like they've been cut in half, then you're screwed. [:D]

Seriously, you need as many whole bullets as are shown in green to perform 1 attack. Except for an over run attack (when the row of numbers in the CRT is colored green) uses 1 bullet. No bullets are used for an over run on a strongpoint.

It's very important, then, to perform as many over run attacks as possible in a row, because you're using less attack supply!

Always try (it's not going to always be possible, of course) to get your CRT combat results odds high enough, so that the results are shown in green. That's an `over run'.

The attack bullets are shown in the attack bar of each unit, and the defense jerry cans are shown in the defense bar of each unit.

Most units have a decent quantity of defensive supply, that will also be replenished. You can't attack with it, but you can defend and perform actions, like entrenching.

Attack supply is provided by each unit's main HQ (not the minor HQ)

The main HQ can always be found by clicking on a unit, and over to the right of the screen, in the info panel, toward the top right is the HQ icon, just click on it and it takes you right to the HQ for that unit.

The yellow outline on the map is the current range of the HQ supply. It's usually a fair amount of hexes. Also, the HQ has to be able to trace a supply source back to the edge of the map. These are the two main things.

So, you don't want to get too far ahead of your HQ, and, you don't want your HQ to get cut off from it's supply source. It's really that simple.

[sabre1]

I thought the powers that be "might" find this interesting.  I just got JD's second turn.  When I click on his turn in my Hotmail screen, the game loads and tells me there is an error and cannot load the turn.  I must go into my MS Outlook program and log into my hotmail account and download the file to my HD.  I can then open the file by just clicking on it, and everything is fine.
 
I must add that this is the slickest PBEM game I have ever seen in terms of ease of use, that is once you get past the arcane description in the manual as to how to do PBEM.  I can't remember who it was that gave a very succinct and to the point description of the PBEM process, but I recommend you follow their instructions.  I believe it was Carl, but don't quote me. [:)]
 
The game for the lurkers out there is very fun for an operational game, and I highly recommend it, from a person who normally plays tactical level games.  The learning curve is steep with many days of reading the manual, the forums, and making LOTS of mistakes.
 
The AI for this putz is ruthless, and stomps on me at the easiest level.  Some may see that as a positive, others not so much.  Sometimes it is nice to just blow things away and stomp on anything in sight.  That will not happen in this game unless you are very good, which I know many here are.
 
Thank you SSG/Matrix, great game, and already I feel I have more than got my money's worth from your creation.  Shoot, just getting to play "Old" JD in a PBEM game, "PRICELESS".  [&o][:D]
 
Now if I could just figure out how to draw those nifty arrows other people do for the AAR's.

[emcgman]

In order to draw stuff onto a screenshot, load the screen shot into your `paint' program. If you have Windows, you have a `paint' program.

It's not advanced like Photoshop or anything, but you can draw over, resize, etc.

Make any changes, draw, etc, then save the resulting work. Then you can upload it here.