Directive 21 playtesters thread

[sPzAbt653]

In Central Finland it looks much the same. I've only got a few units in the area, and I've had to break some of them down in order to cover the area.

[sPzAbt653]

Murmansk area. In my last game I attacked here and lost one of the mountain divisions. This made it difficult to defend the area, and you don't want to lose Petsamo because the Axis will take a production hit. So for now, I am happy just to sit on the defensive.

[sPzAbt653]

Overall, Elmers new program of defense has worked well so far. I've only caused him 1/3 of the casualties that I did in my last game. This is due to the fact that instead of running all his units forward at all times, he is now focused on delaying/blocking positions with some units, while the main part of his forces are looking to defend, mostly at the major rivers.

[sPzAbt653]

1st Panzer Army strikes north from the Kremenchuk area, elements of 2nd Panzer Army strike south from Loyev (131,191) and Chernigov (133,197) to outflank Kiev. In the south the Rumanians move on Odessa. Army Group Center is bashing it up in the Orsha/Smolensk area.

[sPzAbt653]

In the northeast part of the Kiev cauldron, Elmer made a good effort to break out (this view is from Elmer's side, so you can't see all the German units). But breaking out from the inside is usually difficult. It's best to have a good attack from the outside at the same time. It looks like Elmer had followed Stalins order to hold the Dneiper Line at all costs, and most of his units were forward at the river.

[sPzAbt653]

Orsha is surrounded, Smolensk should be next.

[sPzAbt653]

Working thru the dense forest and swamp areas around Lake Ladoga. Rick has done some great work with the terrain around Leningrad and up in Finland and has made a game of it in these areas. [&o]

[sPzAbt653]

No more Cease-Fires. Now we have heavy Negative Shock. This bogs most of the units in the mud, greatly reduces combat strength, and makes the supply situation impossible. If any of your units can move, don't unless you have to because they won't be able to recover any supply. Also, try not to make any attacks because the units tend to evaporate easily. Historically, when the mud hit only small elements on foot could make any progress, sometimes accompanied by one or two light guns dragged by a team of horses. Awful conditions, and difficult to recreate in a scenario. We'll see how this turns out.

[cesteman]

Looking good!

[Silvanski]

ORIGINAL: sPzAbt653

Overall, Elmers new program of defense has worked well so far. I've only caused him 1/3 of the casualties that I did in my last game.

Cool! This will benefit him in the long run, when the winter comes

[sPzAbt653]

Working thru the mud turns, the effects appear reasonable in mimicking the harsh historical conditions. One unintended effect is that on the engineer units 'major ferry' capacity. They are all dropped below 10%, and then cannot cross major rivers. Any units on the 'wrong side' of a major river will be stuck there thru the mud turns, and are considered 'cut off' and in no supply. I wasn't aware of this and will be more prepared for the next mud. Only a few units were affected this time, and the situation was easily remedied once the mud was over.

[L`zard]

Way to go, Steve!

How much neg/shock did you dial in?

[sPzAbt653]

How much neg/shock did you dial in?

A whooping 80% !

Seems crazy high, but anything less left too many units still available for orders. The whole point being to grind everything to a halt, and 80% does that!

[L`zard]

Sweet!

I'm especially impressed with the effect on engineers.

Rock On! [&o]

[sPzAbt653]

Nov-Dec 1941. Working thru the mud turns, then the bad Axis supply situation and harsh winter conditions. That slows things enough, but then the Soviets get some shock and supply bonuses for their Winter Offensive so they can make some effective counterattacks. I'm trying to organise things so that I can make a push on Moscow once the weather breaks and the supply situation gets a little better.

[sPzAbt653]

Elmers' defensive priorities are currently based on different objective tracks at different turns. This isn't really the best setup, as who knows what the situation will be on any given turn. So we've switched it from turn based to using the Event Engine Variable (EEV). In the next version, Elmers' defense will be based partially on the Axis rate of advance.

We are also considering moving some of the Axis reinforcement arrival locations from Berlin to areas inside Russia. Similar to the way that the SS Police Division currently arrives at Riga, many of the other arriving units will enter at locations once they are Axis occupied. This will give the player a little more impetus to continue moving to the East, and to also capture some key locations.

[Silvanski]

ORIGINAL: sPzAbt653
In the next version, Elmers' defense will be based partially on the Axis rate of advance.

neat

[samba_liten]

First off, i'm enjoying the scenario. I'm just past the first mud, and preparing a final lunge for Moscow. I do have a question though.
There are two SS brigades, named 1st and 2nd Reich Fuhrer. I've been trying to figure out what they are, and here is the best i can come up with;
They are in-fact 1. SS-Infanterie-Brigade (mot) and 2. SS-Infanterie-Brigade (mot). So, here is the promised question: Is this correct?
And if so, what happened to the rest of the formation it was attached to?

(Kommandostab RFSS (Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS) was formed 7 April 1941 as Einsatzstab RFSS (Einsatzstab Reichsführer-SS) and redesignated 6 May 1941. It was used to coordinate anti-partisan operations on the Eastern Front and to assist in the rounding up of by-passed Red Army units.
Order of battle (22 June 1941)
1. SS-Infanterie-Brigade (mot)
2. SS-Infanterie-Brigade (mot)
SS-Kavallerie-Regiment 1
SS-Kavallerie-Regiment 2
Begleitbataillon Reichsführer-SS
Nachrichten-Kompanie
Wehrgeologen-Kompanie
Nachschubdienst
DRK-Lazarett
Veterinär-Kompanie
Feldpost-Dienste)
The above fromhttp://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=11689

I realize the OOB would have been created by the original creators of the scenario, and that most of the above units would be abstracted anyway.
I guess i am mostly curious about the two SS cavalry regiments. If the motorized units qualify, why doesn't the cavalry? They were , after all, both part of a formation that rarely saw action on the front lines.

Sorry about the long post and the annoying question.

[sPzAbt653]

Thanks for the question, Mr. Henriksson. It's not annoying, but sometimes going thru various sources to get oob information is annoying. You are correct that the original oob was created by others (and thanks again for their permission to use it). We've gone over most everything to see if any recent sources are in conflict with what we have. The SS ReichsFuhrer Infantry Brigades may also be known as the 1st and 2nd SS Brigades. The Cavalry Regiments aren't in the scenario until they are combined into the 8SS Florian Geyer Cavalry. The Infantry Brigades are later used to form the 18SS PanzerGrenadier Division.

While there are a lot of units that worked Partisan duty most of the time (and are therefore left out of the oob), any that were found to have spent a lot of time helping at the front, we included. Therefore the Cavalry Regiments weren't included until they formed the 8SS Cav Div. There were also many units that came and went from the Eastern Front in a short time (therefore not included). This does include, as you say, some abstracting. Also, the original oob was maxed out on the Axis side, and it was due to the 'reworking' of several Axis formations that we gained a little room to add some units.

Have fun on your lunge for Moscow. And if you come across any units you feel deserve to be included, let us know!

[sPzAbt653]

Jan - Feb 15, 1942. Finally captured Odessa, closed off the northern passes into the Crimea, and have reached Rostov. I am thinning the lines everywhere and moving as many units as I can towards Moscow. There is another mud period coming up around turn 80, and it would be nice to have surrounded Moscow by then, but it may not be possible due to the freezing temperatures, storms, and low supply.