War in the East Q&A

[jaw]

Another thing that people forget is how small a portion the tank strength of an army represents to its total strength. In Pyledrivers' current AAR of the '42 Campaign he has about 2,800 AFVs. Given an average strength of 4 men per AFV they represent roughly 11,000 men out of an army of over 3 million. In the game, as in the real war, it's the infantry, backed up with tons of artillery, that does most of the fighting (and dying) and their creation is not historically fixed in the production system.

[jaw]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP


A question: will the game ship with a document detailing where the factories are, what they produce, what their upgrade path is and (indicated by an asterisk or the like) whether they were evacuated in case it's a Soviet factory? That would be really helpful. Of course, the community could also create such a reference sheet but it would be nice if its included with the game.

You can press a hot key to see a list of the cities, then drill down to see what factories are in each city. You can also press a key to highlight factory cities on the map. Upgrades are based on the unit itself so you would have to look at a unit to see what it upgrades to. For example, if you click on a Panzer IIIh you will see that it upgrades to a Panzer IIIj.

As for a master reference sheet of all these upgrades, it doesn't currently exist to my knowledge but they are always adding new or enhanced displays with each new version so it may eventually be there.

[wurger54]

[/quote]

I'll be holed up in Berlin with my last shattered corps taking as many of them with me as I can... Now, if I can just cut my way through to the American. Where are the wonder weapons we were promised?

THAT'S the spirit!!! [:D]

[karonagames]

Correction there are 210 turns to the historical game end - this can be extended if the soviets have not achieved their "instant win" victory conditions.

[SGHunt]

Now that it has become a 'live' issue (because of Jon's AAR), did we ever get an answer to the question that someone asked about the railway line that crosses an impassable hexside over the Volga Reservoir NW of Moscow?   I presume only entrained units (and rail repair units?) can cross this hexside, and then only when the railine is converted? 

Thanks

[SGHunt]

... and another for Joel:

He realized he had special defense zones set up that were not defending key cities from the south but mostly from the west. Next time you play it won't be quite so easy to pocket troops in those key cities like Tula and Voronezh coming from the south

Do ask Gary from me not to overdo it!   I have a nasty suspicion that Jon is doing as well as he is because he knows what he's doing, based I've no doubt on some pretty bloody experiences (witness Elmo's first winter!)  I think Special Defense Zones facing W, NW and SW will be quite enough, thank you. [;)] 

BTW what are special defence zones?   Do they represent fixed emplacements, trench systems, mines, wire and such?  Or do they act like the fortification units that Elmo employed in his Barabarossa AAR?

What impact do they have?   Do they increase the fortification level or the combat value?  

Are we there yet? [:)]

Thanks again
Stuart

[jaw]

ORIGINAL: von Jaeger

Now that it has become a 'live' issue (because of Jon's AAR), did we ever get an answer to the question that someone asked about the railway line that crosses an impassable hexside over the Volga Reservoir NW of Moscow?   I presume only entrained units (and rail repair units?) can cross this hexside, and then only when the railine is converted? 

Thanks

You must use rail movement (entrained) to cross that hexside which obviously implies the correct gauge.

[jaw]

ORIGINAL: von Jaeger

... Do ask Gary from me not to overdo it!   I have a nasty suspicion that Jon is doing as well as he is because he knows what he's doing, based I've no doubt on some pretty bloody experiences (witness Elmo's first winter!)  I think Special Defense Zones facing W, NW and SW will be quite enough, thank you. [;)] 

BTW what are special defence zones?   Do they represent fixed emplacements, trench systems, mines, wire and such?  Or do they act like the fortification units that Elmo employed in his Barabarossa AAR?

What impact do they have?   Do they increase the fortification level or the combat value?  

Are we there yet? [:)]

Thanks again
Stuart

I'm not certain about my answer here because I have not yet loaded the most recent version of the scenarios but in the version I have in front of me there is a string of hexes west of Moscow containing Fortified Regions and entrenched to fort level 3 that may be this defense zone. There is nothing about the special defense zone in the latest version of the rules I have but that version is now almost a week old so that's not saying much.

[jaw]

Now that I look at Joel's post I don't think he is referring to any physical defense but to programming logic to help the computer cope with flanking attacks on particular areas of the map. [&:]

[SGHunt]

Thanks - over to Joel for some more on this perhaps?   My sense is that all the big cities, when under threat, had the entire population out digging big AT ditches, making tank traps and pill boxes, and digging miles and miles of inter-connected trench systems.

[Zorch]

In addition, major buildings and public squares were mined with explosives that would be detonated when the Germans took up residence. Plus, factories (that weren't evacuated) kept producing until the very last second.

Any way you look at it, taking defended cities was very costly and time consuming, which makes Hitler's obsession with taking Stalin's city even more irrational.

[Joel Billings]

I was talking about the AI code and how it arranges it's forces and when it decides to pull out of certain locations. No physical defense zone units, just areas the AI is trying to defend in specific ways. Now the computer is smarter about reacting to attacks from directions other than from a westerly direction. As for city population digging ditches, it's in the game.

[Kharkov]

Will there be any tutorial scenarios to break us in gently? Maybe commanding a corps for a few weeks or sometjhing similar...

[Helpless]

Will there be any tutorial scenarios to break us in gently? Maybe commanding a corps for a few weeks or sometjhing similar...

Yes

[Beetle]

Are there plans to add the HQ designation to each unit...adding the army number to the divisions that compose that army group or corp?

[elmo3]

No, you can get that info from mousing over the unit.  Clicking on an HQ will highlight all units directly under it's command.

[Hard Sarge]

plus if you notice, that is part of the color coding also

(all units from that command will have the same background color)

[notenome]

Will it be possible to bomb railroads? I say this because as the Germans its mightily important to bomb railroads to 1- slow down Russian Reinforcements and 2- prevent factories from being evacuated from cities you intend on capturing.

[Beetle]

Sounds great. Thanks for the information.

[elmo3]

ORIGINAL: notenome

Will it be possible to bomb railroads? ...

Can't do it now and I have not seen anything to indicate it will be added. Interdicting enemy units that are moving is handled by the AI.