War in the East Q&A

[Neal_MLC]

Will we be seeing any AARs against the German AI?

[karonagames]

I'm doing a test at the moment that may be allowed to see the light of day - but only if I win!

[Schmart]

Been out of the wargaming loop for a few years now, and have recently re-discovered WiR, and now find out about this project. Keep it up guys, you've got yourself another customer for WitE!

I've been plodding through some of the threads, AARs, etc, but it's been a lot to read, so forgive me if my questions have already been asked.

1. Is there any provision to be able to rename units and HQs in-game?
2. Are historical HQs (Corps/Army/AG/Front) included as reinforcements?
3. Are HQs renamed along historical paths? (It was always annoying in WiR to end up with original 1941 Soviet Front HQ names in 1943-45!)
4. I understand that only the Soviets can create new units. What about a provision for the Axis to create a small number of (historical) ad-hoc corps or army HQs?
5. While Divisions can be moved between Corps HQs, can HQs themselves be moved around to other higher HQs (moving a PzKorps HQ from one army to another, for instance)?
6. I understand that a unit's TOE rate can be set (50-100%). If a unit is at 80% and I set it to 60%, will the unit dump the excess into the replacement pool (fleshing out units to direct replacements to other areas of the front)?
7. I'm a bit confused on entrenchment/fortifications. Can one (for example) build some kind of fortified line to fall back on?
8. What is the 'FAT' column I see in many unit status screenshots?

Really looking forward to seeing this title out there. Perhaps christmas will come a little early this year?

[Schmart]

Oops, missed a couple...

9. German independent Bns are attached to HQs or Divisions as sub-units), but I see some screenshots showing Soviet Bdes (really Bn equivalents) as on map units. Surely the Soviet player has enough to manage than to deal with all these independent Bdes on the map?
10. Does the game model the later recreation of Soviet Rifle Corps (essentially western Division equivalents)? It would sure help to reduce map clutter and help the Soviet player manage his massive horde of troops.
11. I see Commanders with Naval ratings. What purpose does this serve in the game?

[Montbrun]

1. Nope
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. No provision for Axis unit creation
5. Yes
6. Nope
7. Yes - Fortified Zones are immobile are "units" created "on the board."
8. Fatigue
9. There are Soviet Brigades - they were an intregal part of the early-war army, and yes, there's a boatload of them.
10. Yes
11. Dunno...

Brad

[ComradeP]

Some extended answers:

1) and 3) Some units and HQ's are renamed automatically, Soviet air units are renamed automatically when they grow in size for example. Soviet Front HQ's are also automatically renamed at certain points in the game.

2) The Germans use a historical arrival/withdrawal schedule, one that can't be influenced regardless of what is happening on the map. The Soviets get historical reinforcements in 1941, but the vast majority of the "reinforcements" you want after 1941 are units you'll have to create yourself.

4) You can shuffle units around between HQ's, split up divisions and attach independent battalions. Essentially, you can create your own KG's that way.

5) I believe every unit can be moved to another HQ, but there's an administrative point cost associated with most of the moves so you do have to be careful about moving units as constantly moving units around can be quite costly in terms of administrative points.

6) Units won't return squads or equipment to the pool when set to a lower than current TOE level, but can gradually decrease in size due to attrition. I'm not sure whether non-frontline units also decrease in size over time somehow as the attrition rule only affects units next to enemy hexes I believe.

7) As Brad said, you can create fortified zones/regions, which are actual units. They're basically guys that dig for you. Don't expect them to form a Maginot line by themselves. Fortification levels don't require a fortified zone/region unit, those levels increase over time when units spend some time in a hex or construction battalions/the population of cities ( when the enemy is near) get to work. You can't directly influence which hex will get the most attention, but if you place a good stack of units somewhere that's attached to a HQ that has construction battalions as support units, the digging process will take place at a good speed. Keep in mind that there's a limit to the fortification level when there are no enemies around (that keeps you from fortifying half the map).

8) Fatique, primarily gained from combat. If your units spend every turn in combat, their fatique levels will skyrocket. Give your men the chance for some R&R from time to time and they'll be fine.

9) Brigades are on map units, which can in most cases be turned into divisions (1941>) or corps (1942>).

10) Corps consolidation starts in 1942, except for Cavalry Corps consolidation which starts in December 1941. Rifle and Cavalry Corps are, in terms of TOE, basically 3 divisions glued together. Mechanized and Tank Corps have special TOE's that make them have more value than the some of their parts. The TOE's grow in size over time (1942 Tank Corps are not scary, 1944 Tank Corps are).

11) At the moment, it seems it's mostly there so people can ask why it's there.

[Joel Billings]

The only impact of the naval rating is on amphibious landings, which are only allowed by Soviets in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

[Capt Cliff]

So there are or there are not Kamfgruppes? A combat unit, not an HQ unit, made up of adhoc units (battalions), which the German was famous for creating and using quite effectivily. A button the German player has to "Create Kamfgruppe" ... add a bit of this and a bit of that ... and walah ... an combat unit.??!!

[jaw]

ORIGINAL: Capt Cliff

So there are or there are not Kamfgruppes? A combat unit, not an HQ unit, made up of adhoc units (battalions), which the German was famous for creating and using quite effectivily. A button the German player has to "Create Kamfgruppe" ... add a bit of this and a bit of that ... and walah ... an combat unit.??!!

No, there are no kampfgruppen per se and for good reason: at a scale of 1 week per turn, ten miles to the hex the feature would get abused to death. You can breakdown a division into 3 equal parts to simulate kampfgruppen but you can't create "original" ones.

[Capt Cliff]

ORIGINAL: jaw

ORIGINAL: Capt Cliff

So there are or there are not Kamfgruppes? A combat unit, not an HQ unit, made up of adhoc units (battalions), which the German was famous for creating and using quite effectivily. A button the German player has to "Create Kamfgruppe" ... add a bit of this and a bit of that ... and walah ... an combat unit.??!!

No, there are no kampfgruppen per se and for good reason: at a scale of 1 week per turn, ten miles to the hex the feature would get abused to death. You can breakdown a division into 3 equal parts to simulate kampfgruppen but you can't create "original" ones.

Bummer! [:(] But I can see why and your right it could prove too gamey, since the German's did it out of necesscity rather than planning. Still an option to have them would be ok for PvP games.

[karonagames]

You can still add a battalion-sized support unit to a regiment. Adding a Tiger battalion to a panzer grenadier regiment forms a pretty handy "fire brigade" - it may not get called a kampfgruppe, but it fulfils the role of a kampfgruppe.

[randallw]

Perhaps this question has already been asked, but i've gone through this full thread just once, and that was 3 weeks ago, so I forgotten much of what's been asked.
 
In the few years before the war the Soviets were starting to re-organize their armor, with big mech corps mixed with regular size corps; then a few weeks into the war they tried to get rid of all the remaining big mech corps.  How is this modelled in the game?  Is the extra equipment sent to the replacement pool, with the new formations showing on the screen immedidately, or do the new formations take time?  Also, do they appear on the map in the same spot that they were?

[Shupov]

Do leaders come and go as in real campaign? Can they be killed in combat or succumb to illness as many did?

[jaw]

Tanks divisions convert into tank brigades and Motorized divisions convert into rifle divisions. Any combat elements not in the TOE of the tank brigades/motorized divisions are returned to the pool.

[elmo3]

ORIGINAL: Shupov

Do leaders come and go as in real campaign? Can they be killed in combat or succumb to illness as many did?

Each side has over 300 leaders. They do not come and go strictly at historical times. They can be killed in combat, automatically dismissed/executed by the AI (think of it as Stalin or Hitler meddling) for poor performance or promoted for good performance. Illness is not modeled.

Players can manually dismiss leaders and replace them with some limitations on what HQ they can command.

[Schmart]

ORIGINAL: jaw
You can breakdown a division into 3 equal parts to simulate kampfgruppen but you can't create "original" ones.

Do they only breakdown into threes, or can one select two or three parts? I found it handy in TOAW that one had the option to breakdown into two or three parts, since sometimes three made the unit too weak or one simply didn't need to cover too much area and two would sufice. Also, can one breakdown more that one level, Division->Regiments->Battalions?

[Capt Cliff]

ORIGINAL: BigAnorak

You can still add a battalion-sized support unit to a regiment. Adding a Tiger battalion to a panzer grenadier regiment forms a pretty handy "fire brigade" - it may not get called a kampfgruppe, but it fulfils the role of a kampfgruppe.

This is a good question ... be nice to be able to rename this regiment to say Kamphgruppe Meyer or what ever the regiment leader name is, and that when you detach the ancillary battalions the regiment number/name goes back to it's default name. Sure would add spice to the game for the German player.

[PyleDriver]

The division breaks down into 3 equal regiments in the same hex. There are 3 draw backs. First, the divison needs to be in a vacant hex (stacking limits). Second, the regiments next turn may have differnt MP's and when recombined the MP is the lowest of the 3. Third, units under division level don't excert a ZOC when moving, however they do on defence...In this (ss) the Das Reich SS was broken down. I have 3 attached units to the division, so when broken down each of the three recieved one battalion in full...

[cardolan]

Hi everybody

Been a luker for a long time. This game convinced me to register in the forums. It looks terrific! [&o]

In PyleDriver`s last AAR I discovered something I never saw in previous screenshots.



What is the strange symbol over the rounded ID? [&:]

[karonagames]

It indicates that it is entrained and using strategic movement via rail.