Soviet GC vs. AI - WiTE Version 1.02 beta

[Redmarkus5]

I think they are all overloaded as I have a lot more units than HQs at the moment. I can't really tell what the impact is unless I drop a lot of units off. Things seem to be going ok in general.

[Redmarkus5]

One idea I playing with is to attach all of my recently Artillery Divs and Brigades to a single dedicated HQ. I will move this 'Artillery Army' around the map as needed and thus avoid the need to detach/re-attach artillery to new HQs every time offensives are to be conducted in new locations.

[randallw]

I'm guessing the Germans got far enough that some MDs were converted to Fronts:  Northern, Northwest, Western, Southwest, Southern, Reserve.  Any others?

[Apollo11]

Hi all,

ORIGINAL: redmarkus4

One idea I playing with is to attach all of my recently Artillery Divs and Brigades to a single dedicated HQ. I will move this 'Artillery Army' around the map as needed and thus avoid the need to detach/re-attach artillery to new HQs every time offensives are to be conducted in new locations.

That would not work... [;)]


Leo "Apollo11"

[randallw]

Won't work because the HQ needs to be in the same chain of command as the Front which commands the tanks n' infantry?

[Apollo11]

Hi all,

ORIGINAL: randallw

Won't work because the HQ needs to be in the same chain of command as the Front which commands the tanks n' infantry?

Yep!

And the limit on number of "Support Units" used in one battle... it would be terribly inefficient way of handling "Support Units"...


Leo "Apollo11"

[Redmarkus5]

Note - these are stand-alone on-map Soviet artillery divisions and Brigades, not attached support units. You can build them as you would a new Infantry Division.

I was assuming that you attack with the artillery units (they have a 2-hex range) as a separate action prior to launching the ground assault.

[Redmarkus5]

The Soviet winter offensive '42/'43 is winding down. Minsk is under threat but is held by strong AI forces. In the south I am clearing out and pushing back the remaining AI forces to push onto my objective line in the next 2 turns.

I have now figured out how to use the new Artillery Divisions, and they are proving extremely effective.

[Redmarkus5]

Comrade Stalin has proposed the following objectives for Summer '43, with a continued focus on the southern front:

1. A concentrated thrust south of the Pripyat in the direction Lvov, terminating with an orientation NW towards Warsaw. This should place a major force in a position to assault Warsaw in early '44, possibly forcing the AI to pull troops out of the Leningrad area and the Baltic states without a need for major combat operations there.

2. A second thrust in the direction Bucharest to force the AI to split his forces in the south - to defend both Poland and Romania. The AI will hopefully be hindered in moving troops between these two fronts, while I will be operating on interior lines and can switch my '44 objectives as the situation warrants.

[Redmarkus5]

RED ARMY PLAN OF OPERATIONS - 1943 TO 1944

1. Seize Warsaw from the SE and Leningrad from the E, thus pocketing all of AGN and the remains of AGC.

2. Smash AGS and seize Romania.

3. Drive west from Warsaw to Berlin in summer '44 before the AI can establish a coherent defence of its capital.

[Redmarkus5]

In '43 the Ai is quite clearly coded to defend city hexes in strength, although it will pull out to avoid pocketing.

This tells me that the problems with the AI not defending cities in '41 (Soviet AI) and '42 (Axis AI) are built-in to the game design and can be fixed if the developers decide that there is a reason for doing so.

[randallw]

It must be pleasing to see friendly units with CVs like 1941 Germans.

[Redmarkus5]

Very pleasing - especially now that the German CVs look so low in many cases. However, routing Axis units is still pretty hard to do.

[Redmarkus5]

Turn 92.

The reorganisation of the Fronts in the south is almost completed. I will replace Smirnov as soon as I have the admin points.

9 artillery divisions have been distributed to the Front commands to support the breakthrough after the period of mud. This offensive is intended to break AGS as a coherent fighting force and create a threat to Warsaw and the flank/rear of AGs N & S.

Assignment of phase lines and objectives follows.

[Redmarkus5]

Phase lines for the Soviet Summer Offensive 1943 - Codename "Operation Tunguska".

[Grotius]

Fun stuff. I'm curious how you managed to get so far along so fast. I'm playing the Sovs in the CG, and after a week of obsessive play, I'm on turn 8. Each turn takes me 2-3 hours minimum, sometimes more. Turn 5 or 6 took me all day, as I had to reorganize my HQs after all the Corps HQs started departing. Maybe I'm micro-managing too much?

[Redmarkus5]

Well, I learned early that if I micro-managed every turn I was never going to get very far. So what I do is to micro all my HQ's, Air etc. at the start and during the pauses (Mud, between offensives, etc.) and 'Macro' the campaign for 5-6 turns trusting the AI to handle sub-unit attachments and air strikes. These last 2 turns, reorganising my whole command structure, have taken me half of Sunday with zero combat action. Next turn I start on reviewing the air force!

However, because I have a plan prepared for each phase, I don't normally attack everywhere at the same time. I will focus on, say, Kiev for 2-3 turns and then let those units refit while I go for Minsk. So, a turn might only involve combat on 20% of the front.

Also, I play late at night

[Redmarkus5]

The assembly of artillery behind the front line is almost completed - over 20 artillery divisions and heavy rocket brigades are now in place.

Next turn, my HQs will start to build up their supply levels to stockpile for offensive operations.

[Redmarkus5]

The repair programme for the rail net has also brought the rail heads up to the front in most sectors. This will be completed before the day of the Attack. I still have only two user-controlled rail units and one of these has been attached to Central Front, the other to Western Front, my key front commands for the offensive in order to drive two parallel tracks west, behind the advance.

However, a total of about 40 rail repair sub-units have been created and attached to each Army HQ. These are carrying out the remainder of the repairs very effectively, the only downside being that I can't stak other units 3 high without blocking the repair activity, something I keep forgetting.

[Redmarkus5]

The process of building up supplies at selected HQs begins. This is expensive in AP - between 15 and 40 AP per HQ, depending on the number of sub-units.

I will only be able to build supplies up for 4-5 key armies.