Operation Barbarossa - Alpha AAR

[elmo3]

1/1/42 (turn 29)  More of the same for AGS with our forces slowly being pushed back.  At least we still hold Kiev!

[elmo3]

It was a lot of fun presenting the game in this AAR and I know many of you enjoyed it as much as I did.  Stay tuned for more AAR's as we move the game along toward completion.

[Zovs]

Lee challenging is where its at. Have you tried hard yet...[:D]

[wmcalpine]

Lee,

The screenshot of AGC with FOW turned off was scary. A veritable sea of Soviet troops. Were many of those brigades or divisions?

Thank you for the very entertaining AAR.

Bill

[The SNAFU]

Elmo,

Thanks for sharing this AAR and for the time and effort it took to do it. It must have been hard invading the Soviet Union when the rules of war were changed on you several times during the operation and you were asked to go back in time (no small feat indeed [:)])

In any event, your AAR has provided us with a glimpse of what this game is and what it can be once it's complete.

[elmo3]

ORIGINAL: wmcalpine

Lee,

The screenshot of AGC with FOW turned off was scary. A veritable sea of Soviet troops. Were many of those brigades or divisions?

Thank you for the very entertaining AAR.

Bill

A lot of those were brigades, probably too many. We're looking into that. Glad you liked the AAR.

[pejsek]

Thank you for this AAR. It was very interesting reading. I am looking forward to this game.

[ComradeP]

Thanks for the AAR elmo, I'm looking forward to the next one.

It does seem the AI might take defending cities a bit too seriously, as there are plenty of units near or in Moscow, whilst the danger of a German breakthrough was pretty minimal. Of course, it's possible they arrived by rail, but there are other places where there are AI units in the rear in some weird locations.

[Naughteous Maximus]

Someone looks like they will be facing the "firing squad" real soon.[:D]

[critter]

ORIGINAL: elmo3

ORIGINAL: Zort

It looks like your fort units have not done as well as expected. Wonder if the soviet losses will be so bad that they will falter in 42?

The fortified zone units were disappointing, as Joel predicted. I wonder if we'll still have an army at all in '42?

Thanks for the AAR
Elmo whats your take on the fortfied zones? Worthless? What do you think their next evolution will be? Aren't they supposed to represent heg hogs?
As per ComradeP Q, what did the soviet rear area look like? Was the AI shipping its units to the front?

[elmo3]

ORIGINAL: critter

Thanks for the AAR
Elmo whats your take on the fortfied zones? Worthless? What do you think their next evolution will be? Aren't they supposed to represent heg hogs?
As per ComradeP Q, what did the soviet rear area look like? Was the AI shipping its units to the front?

The fortified regions are really special static combat units designed to help with fortification construction, supplement line units while building defenses, and allow the allocation of more support units (directly attached) for defense. They are not worthless, it's just that I'm not sure how to use them effectively yet.

The vast majority of Soviet units were near the front lines. There were a few armies forming in the rear areas but they had pretty much all their forces within 100-200 miles of the front line.

[freeboy]

great aar, definately a a tempting taste of the main course yet to come

[PyleDriver]

In 41 the things to remember are...Be very agressive in good weather, and chew up as many troops as you can. When mud hits, shorten the lines and dig in. Then pray...lol...I focus on Leningrad in 41, the Finns are joined and the Baltic sea is now yours. In 42 Moscow, and once it falls so goes the house of cards...Why Hitler called off the attack on Leningrad in 41 I'll never know...

[ComradeP]

Aren't they supposed to represent heg hogs?

Hedgehogs are defensive formations that are strong in the sense that all sides are protected by an equal amount of force, but when that line is broken at one point, you're in trouble. It's a nice defensive strategy when you're surrounded, but it has many disadvantages.

The fortified regions are really special static combat units designed to help with fortification construction, supplement line units while building defenses, and allow the allocation of more support units (directly attached) for defense. They are not worthless, it's just that I'm not sure how to use them effectively yet.

As Joel posted earlier:

Just to be clear, a fortified zone is not a fort. It is a unit, that contains around 2000k, of which 270 are labor. The rest are about 2 companies of men and support troops. That's when they are up to full strength. They will help increase the fortification level of the hex (because like all troops they will dig), but not by a bunch. Units adjacent to the enemy dig less than those in the rear (since they can't spend all their time digging but have to worry about the enemy).

I guess if you give them time, and establish them some distance away from the front, the labourers will do a pretty good job of creating defensives. I think the key word is "time". In your case their effectiveness was limited as there was little time and you created so many of them that some units might not have been up to strength to begin with.

I seem to recall it was discussed earlier, but can't recall the specifics: what happens to forts over time? Let's say you establish some forts with fortified region/zone units, and disband those units, but place a regular up-to-strength infantry unit in the hex. Will that unit be enough to keep the forts up to strength or do they decrease in size over time until a construction battalion is in the hex?

[Smirfy]

Why Hitler called off the attack on Leningrad in 41 I'll never know...

In general staff circles it was said he found an old memorandum of Lundendorff's which dwelt on the difficulty of provisioning large cities. Personally I believe the reasons that drew him to Stalingrad in 42 repelled him at Leningrad in 41. And great AAR by the way Elmo.

[zbig]

Thank you for the AAR, it was fun to watch. In the immortal words of General "Buck" Turgidson:

"Mr. President, if I may speak freely, the Russkie talks big, but frankly, we think he's short of know how. I mean, you just can't expect a bunch of ignorant peons to understand a machine like some of our boys. And that's not meant as an insult, Mr. Ambassador, I mean, you take your average Russkie, we all know how much guts he's got. Hell, lookit look at all them them Nazis killed off and they still wouldn't quit."

I do not know if that is relevant but I always wanted to use that quote.

[elmo3]

A classic movie.  [&o]

[Lokos]

'Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!'

[wmcalpine]

One of my favorites

"If the pilot's good, see, I mean if he's reeeally sharp, he can barrel that baby in so low... oh you oughta see it sometime. It's a sight. A big plane like a '52... varrrooom! Its jet exhaust... frying chickens in the barnyard!"

What a great movie

[oldman45]

Thanks for putting the AAR together and taking the time to share it with us.