Sapper 22 Invades his Homeland

[Tom Hunter]

Thanks to non-random weather we know the blizzard is about to hit. I'm posting a number of maps of my jump off position, T25 is in Russia now, and it's December 11, I love the irony.

These maps show something I am certain was a mistake by Saper222 letting me repair the rail lines. I’ve been moving up since a turn or two before the mud, that is seven turns of rail repair, and in I’ve gotten the railhead 5 to 7 hexes closer to the front line as a result, in a number of cases the rail is repaired right up to the front.

This turn I moved some of the RR engineers into the fronts, because it seemed to me that Stavka was fixing Moscow and I need more repair in the South. For example I have had rail to Tambov for three turns, but not in it.
Blizzard is going to be interesting, obviously I have never done it before, and I am often unsure what I’m doing well or poorly, but I am certain that moving the logistics forward is smart.

The red lines are my jump off positions, if they are on the map edge then I started behind them off map.

[Tom Hunter]

In the Moscow area I want to cause casualties, these armies are infantry heavy with little cavalry. I have another front (Moscow Defense Area) coming, and I plan to put new armies in, you can see the Stavka troops around Ivanovo. I’m also planning on merging units to keep strength up and the meat grinder going. We’ll see how that works.

In the air the bombings continue, most bomber units have xp in the 50s, and I rebalanced the airbases and removed the A4 commanders, replacing them with A5s and A6s. I also moved airbases into the newer air commands, Volkov and Reserve, and out of the Leningrad air command, some groups are moving South as I finally finish my move away from the North. I’m also occasionally shooting down a 109. I think Saper222 can take control of the air in any one place he wants, but I can hit him in many places fairly effectively.

All pictures are at close of turn 24. Hug me is the phrase of the day.

[M60A3TTS]

Deleted

[Tom Hunter]

South of Voronezh is where the strategic offensive is going. I plan to keep pushing South and West, with air supply to keep the momentum up. Right now there is not a lot in my way, but there is more at the river crossing than I was expecting. Saper222 may run, I would.

In the east you can see a reserve army that just moved in. I plan to put these in places where I want strong fort lines, and draw on them to support the Fronts as needed. The goal is to have the reserves building the lines that will make Saper222’s job harder in the summer of 42.

[Tom Hunter]

In the South I am trying to pin him at Rostov while the armies further North come down. If you look in the lower left corner you can see paras, all my surviving paratroops are in that area, I am thinking hard about a big drop in Saper222s rear.

I find I am still mastering the order of movement and setting up an army to get the maximum advance, as you can see I did not get contact everywhere I wanted. On the other hand I have my armies well coordinated, no mixed stacks and the tank brigades are in places where they will get to attack inspite of needed 16 movement points.

Saper222 has a lot of air down here (so do I) and I think he is hoping it will mess up some of my attacks. Once again if I were him I would run, but he does not look a lot like he is going to run, there are quite a few troops on the east bank of the Don and Donets, I don’t think that’s a very safe place for them.

This is where one of you chimes in with the news that rivers give off heat and prevent the blizzard from hitting next to them until T26 or some similarly useful piece of information. [:D]

[lastkozak]

Tom,

You should contact Bozo the clown for his thoughts on para-drops. He is a big supporter of their use and uses them extensively, thus you may obtain much important info you require regarding their use from him.

lastkozak

[Wuffer]

ORIGINAL: Tom Hunter
there are quite a few troops on the east bank of the Don and Donets, I don’t think that’s a very safe place for them.

Well, Sapper might 'tuned' his advance in a way the developers hadn't foresight, but fighting for bridgeheads in blizzard is, hm, 'very german' and could regarded as very fair play IMHO.

[jwolf]

I'd like to buy front row seats for this show. [8D]  Regarding the rivers, you need a high ice level for them to be neutralized.  Ironically, a medium ice level makes them virtually impassable, worse than either high ice or no ice.  You might have to wait a turn for the Don to freeze solidly, or maybe it starts December already frozen.  I don't think it will be a major problem, though.  Good luck!

I'm really puzzled at Sapper's positions.  The level 1 forts aren't much of a barrier, and many of his front line units aren't in forts at all!  I admit I'm a green player and he's an expert, but I just don't understand what he has in mind.

BTW how can he still have his airlanding division (near Rostov)?  I thought that got withdrawn during the fall sometime.

Edit: You probably know this already, but in the North beware of the Finns. They are like alien supermen during the first winter.

[Tom Hunter]

@Wuffer Saper222 and I are in agreement that anything the game lets you do is fair. I don't think he is forward because he wants to play fair or because he does not want to play fair. I don't think either of us makes a move to be fair. Personally, I stay fair by not repeating moves or die rolls, by running one save and sucking it up when I make a bone headed move and wish I could take it back. I think Saper222 does the same, but makes fewer bone headed moves. I realize some publicly state they will play a certain way (like no big Lvov pocket on T1) to be fair, and there are others who privately reopen their saves after making bone headed moves [8|] too.

I have a few theories as to why Saper222 is deployed the way he has. My best one is that he opened several games with other players and is not paying enough attention to this one because he beat me up so bad in the opening. I really did not understand how to set up for an attack until a turn or two before mud, so he may not realize I've been improved, especially because I did it by experimenting with scenarios vs the AI and by opening some of our very early turns and doing what would be suicidal counter attacks.

@jwolf I'm not sure about the airlanding, though it is a regiment. Thanks for the tip about the Finns, I knew not to attack them, but did not know they would get bonuses to attack me. Leningrad front is full, but its covering a very large area so the unit density is low, and its really a side show, I am pushing from Moscow and South. If the Finns want the forest they can have it.

[Tom Hunter]

Saper222 does what we all expect, and pulls back in the face of the blizzard. Casualties were just over 10k on a side this turn, with me launching a series of mostly successful attacks on Saper222s screening units. On this map you can see I put one German regiment into a positions that might be trouble. The river is impassible, so I have to wait another turn.

The arrow extends from a 50 moral cavalry army, which I am hoping will trap some Germans. I’m also doing a lot of air supply to try and keep momentum going. Still we have the usual problem of the game design encouraging retreats not combat.

[Tom Hunter]

This shows how Saper222 pulled back, and I advanced, mostly without combat He was 3 hexes back infront of Moscow, so I mostly just moved up and smacked a few regiments around. I expect he will keep retreating, he has no reason to defend forward. If he continues to do that I may start leapfrogging my armies, resting some on the rail lines to save trucks and advancing a select few with a lot of air supply. We will see if that works.

In the Moscow area the terrain is more favorable, and Saper222 is trying to hold a bit, but still mostly retreating. In the air losses were 221 to 84, which is acceptable, in the farther North Saper222s planes would not fly so I had some fun bombing his airbases and killed 30 fighter/fighter bombers and 21 bombers in addition to the usual mess of recon aircraft. There are still a lot of damaged arm factories, though they are all under 50. I continue to evac factories from anywhere near the front, by the time Spring comes it will all be in the rear and my production will likely be about as high as I can make it.

[Tom Hunter]

The second turn of Blizzard goes much the same as the first, casualties are a little higher, about 15,000 on a side. Saper222 continues to withdraw, I continue to chase, the game continues to be both predictable and a-historical, unfortunately this seems to be baked into the design.

Tactically more of my moves are optimal, even in places where Saper222 is putting troops in the front I am able to advance several hexes, in fact the infantry armies seem to advance at about the same rate against opposition as they do if there is no opposition. Cavalry goes faster, and thanks to high moral and air supply my cav sometimes advances as many as 5 hexes a turn.

In the air I am thinking that some big attacks on Saper222s forward fighter bases early in the turn is generating a dividend later in the turn. T25 I hit the fighters first, and did ground combat second. The early ground combats shows a mix of fighters and bombers coming to support the ground troops. In the later combats only bombers showed up, and I shot a number of them down. Over all losses were 80 to 204 if my memory is correct, I am hoping that the fighter groups will also see experience gains.

In the South my progress is blocked because the river will not freeze, but the big army along the Don seems to have drawn Saper222s attention. Further North an even larger army is coming South, I’m pretty certain I can get Stalino well before the mud, maybe I can catch some Germans in the process, but its more likely they will all run away. Saper222 and I are able to calculate the movement rates of each others armies at a glance, so it nearly impossible for either of us to create a major pocket.

I’m enjoying the game, and temped to start another, but the design problems are a serious obstacle for me and have me thinking about War in Flames instead. Some of Michael T’s comments resonate very strongly for me. I also dislike the positive feedback loops, and especially the highly deterministic nature of the 1941 game. There is a hard coded need for the Soviets to do the opposite of what they actually did in from June to November 1941, and a hard coded need for the Germans to do the opposite of what they did starting in December.

Map of the South, showing where I am going, I doubt I will get a pocket here, though I am going to drop a bunch of paras to try.

[SigUp]

I think with the new blizzard rules the times of those massive runaways in the winter will more or less be over. In the South retreats in December will be unavoidable, but in the Centre and North the Germans can really stand and fight.

[Tom Hunter]

I thought I would post one map of the least important front, so here it is. Basically I am trying to keep the Finns off the rail line so that I can use some of the Leningrad front troops to beat up the Germans.

[Tom Hunter]

I'm approaching the gates of Moscow, its been a hard slog but its going my way for all the usual reasons. I have gotten better at merging units in to keep momentum up, and using air supply. These armies are all infantry, so the going is a bit slower and there are no pockets to speak of.

I am showing the rail because I think its the critical feature. I've already started rotating armies through to keep them fresh.

This is mostly a grid, casualties were higher this turn, 17k German and 25k Russian. No where near enough, but better than 10k.

[Tom Hunter]

I don't want these guys to rout, I want them off the map and in a Siberian camp. The will get surrounded next turn, and wiped out T29.

Still no where near enough, but something.

[Tom Hunter]

I'm finally over the river. Almost all my Cav is in the South, and I may catch a few more Germans near Rostov.

Paradrops have proven almost impossible for me, I follow the instructions and they seem to fly at random, which is why there is one small group of them on a hex in the wrong place. I was not expecting much from them, but the interface is one more example of the many examples of really bad coding and poorly thought out design in the game. I'm still on the fence about the game as a whole, because there is a lot that is good, but there is also a lot that is very poorly thought out.

Saper222 is fortifying the Stalino complex, I think he will start running for it this turn. The problem for me is lack of supply, I can get there, but when I do the rail head will be far behind. At the moment I am racing to see if I can capture some of his stragglers as they retreat. I may put most of my army on rail to Moscow shortly after, as the railhead will be too far back for me to advance much in the remaining winter.

[Tom Hunter]

Stats wise the Soviets are holding steady at about 5.5 million men. Guns is up to 50,000 from 30k a few months ago, tanks over 3500 and planes just under 7200

Most of my armies moral is in the 40s with some in the 50s and a few 60s. I’m starting to look at strategies for boosting moral in select armies for the 1942 battles, I think it may be helpful to show up with a bunch of 55 or 60 moral infantry divisions and Cav corps at certain moments. The Cav is better, much of it is 50 moral 50 experience, and climbing.

In the air the best Soviet pilots are in P40s, but there are other fighter bomber units climbing the experience curve in all I think I have 5 air groups in the 80s. Moral has not been a problem for the airforce since September, and now its just a question of rotating units for maximum effect. Experience is a problem for the bomber groups, they take heavy attrition each turn and the climb into the 60s is slow.

At this point I think I have the measure of the game, which is a very different thing from thinking I will beat Saper222 this time. One of my concerns is this quote from Pelton “another boring turn one and two” written as his game against Bozo restarts. It’s not very good that invading Russia is boring.

[Bozo_the_Clown]

Paradrops have proven almost impossible for me, I follow the instructions and they seem to fly at random,

If you can't drop the brigade into a specific hex then that hex is occupied. Unfortunately the para brigade you dropped is depleted. No combat is required to displace it. The Axis unit just has to move and the brigade is gone forever. Did you drop during day? Where your transports intercepted and lots of them shot down? Did you use Li-2 or TB-3G? How many transport regiments did you have in the airbase?

Did I mention that I like paratroopers? [:D]

[Bozo_the_Clown]

It’s not very good that invading Russia is boring.

It's boring for him because he has everything written down and plays the first turns exactly the same way over and over again. It's the SHC players job to figure out how to screw up his perfect game plan. I find that very motivating.