Why bother with Crimea ?

[Franciscus]

Hi

A discussion about Crimea started in the beta patch thread, but IMHO it deserves it's own space.

Currently I think there is no incentive to either invade or defend Crimea in DC:B. But in the real war we all know what happened.

First I think perhaps we should debate the main reasons why the germans invaded Crimea, and then try to see if, or how, this is or can be replicated in the game.

I am no expert, but I think historically the main reasons were:
- to eliminate a potential threat to the flank of the main thrust to Rostov and beyond. This can be more or less replicated in game, but by just blocking the isthmus with one of the Romanian armies this can probably be achieved, at least until the game "ends"
- to capture Sevastopol, in order to negate the threat of the Russian fleet, AND to gain a strong naval and air base for further operations. This IMHO, due to the abstractions of the game is not replicated. The only value of Sevastopol is being an alternative to Kharkov as the second objective to win in the south. But it is much more easy to go for Kharkov.

Possible solutions:

- easier but maybe too radical: make "winning" in the south dependent on conquering Rostov AND Kharkov AND Sevastopol. It would force a fight for Crimea but could make Germany victory almost impossible (as it was ) But maybe a "key" to solve the apparent exagerated "easiness" of germany in the south.

- increase the "value" of Sevastopol, perhaps by some naval and air special cards for the soviet side, available only if in control of Sevastopol, or simply by some VP system that would make Sevastopol a real objective to conquer or defend

Thoughts ?

Regards

[governato]

Sevastopol was a relevant strategic objective: it was home of the Russian Black Sea fleet AND an important harbor to supply forces East of the Kerch strait and South of the Caucasus, instead of going through the primitive mountain passes. Control of Sevastopol allowed supplies to be sent to Novorossysk, which the Wehrmacht got very close to in Summer 1942. Moreover, the rumanian oil fields where within range of the TB-3 bombers in Sevastopol, even if long range raids where considered more for PR reasons than for the actual damage caused. Here is some info:

For the really daring bombing of Ploesti in August 1941 check HERE.

[edit:] the two bombing raids below did not originate in Sevastopol, but they are worth mentioning in context:

For the bombing of Moscow in August 1941: "The first Luftwaffe raid on Moscow took place on 21 July 1941 and was carried out by 195 bombers. These were attacked by 170 VVS fighters. 104 tons of high explosives and 46,000 incendiaries were dropped over the city. 6-7 bombers were lost. In the evening of 22 July, 115 Luftwafe bombers attacked the Soviet capital. 5 were lost. The number of aircraft that took part in the raids decreased to a squadron, but until 5 April 1942, the Germans carried out 87 raids."See Back Cross/Red Star"

For the bombing of Berlin in August 1941: The Soviet Union started a bombing campaign on Berlin on 8 August 1941 that extended into early September. Navy bombers, operating from the Moonzund Archipelago [in the Baltic] conducted 8 raids to Berlin with 3-12 aircraft in each raid. Army bombers, operating from near Leningrad, executed several small raids to Berlin. In total in 1941, 33 Soviet aircraft dropped 36,000 kilograms of bombs on Berlin. Combat and operational losses for the Soviets tallied 17 aircraft destroyed and 70 crewmen killed.

Now, one can easily see how all these events can translate into interesting 'chrome' cards for both the Russian and the German player, making Sevastopol a relevant objective and affecting 1) the strategic planning for both sides and 2) the perception of the campaign in the public view...and hence Stalin's paranoia or Goering and Hitler's attitudes.

Long story short: as other people mentioned the Russian side could use some chrome, which would also help shape the German campaign.

[lancer]

Hi,

The Crimea could do with some love.

It's on the list.

Cheers,
Cameron

[battlevonwar]

governato,

interesting contribution. I had no clue the extent of Bombing by the Soviets and Germans and it never gets a tiny bit of mention in the history books. Especially the bombing of Capitols.

[ChuckBerger]

Actually, I'm a fan of taking the Crimea in any game where the Russians don't dedicate at least 2 armies to its defence. You can sweep through to the Kuban quickly, threatening Rostov from the south. Sure there is the bottleneck at Kerch, but if all the Russian player dedicates here is some conscript divisions, they are easily swept aside. I've even sent the entire 11th army through here, causing panic in my opponent and forcing diversion of lots of units from the main front.

One improvement in the game would be giving the Russian player some of the units guarding the Turkish and Persian borders, in the event the Germans actually cross the Kerch straits in 1941.

I'd be all in favour of making Sevastopol a real fortress, and having some better reasons for both sides to try to hold it.