Directive 21: thread for questions - feel free to add yours

[jjdenver]

I'm having a look at Directive 21 and have one question but I suspect I'll have more as I go along. Anyone else who has Directive 21 questions can feel free to post them here also.

Q: Does it make sense to try to replicate the Luftwaffe strikes against the Red Air Force in the first few weeks of the campaign? If so how is a good way to go about it? Bombers unescorted? Or only escorted bombers? Do you make "airfield attack" or "single unit attack"? Is it better to spread the attacks around (1 bomber unit attack 1 airfield) or concentrate each "attack round" with many units on 1 airfield to minimize losses to AA? Are Luftwaffe fighters any good at airfield attacks or just bombers? What else should the Luftwaffe do early in the campaign to try to devastate the Red Air Force? Run lots of air superiority?

Q: It looks like a lot of Axis units start with the "PO" column checked meaning PO will move and attack with the units. Is there a way to turn them all off at once without going through and unchecking each unit? I don't want the PO to bungle what I'm trying to do.

Q: Similar question with "ignore losses" - maybe Axis units - in particular air units - are set to "ignore losses". Is there a way to set them all to "limit losses" (which seems a more reasonable setting?) in one shot?

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: jjdenver
I'm having a look at Directive 21 and have one question but I suspect I'll have more as I go along.
Anyone else who has Directive 21 questions can feel free to post them here also.

Thank you for posting this thread. It's needed I think.

ORIGINAL: jjdenver
Q: Does it make sense to try to replicate the Luftwaffe strikes against the Red Air Force in the
first few weeks of the campaign? If so how is a good way to go about it? Bombers unescorted? Or
only escorted bombers? Do you make "airfield attack" or "single unit attack"? What else should
the Luftwaffe do early in the campaign to try to devastate the Red Air Force? Run lots of air
superiority?

The air shock difference between and Germans and the Russians is so remarkable that it'd be a
crime not to take advantage of it. The German air shock is something like 120 and the Soviet
air shock is like 50 or so and almost any attack at all will succeed. Yes airfield stikes
are called for. Unfortunately you can't escort your bombers to all of their potential
targets but the losses in bombers will be light and the strike will get results. I've seen
some numbers on the air losses meter for the Soviets on the order of 3K losses.

Also, you can drop bridges in the Soviet rear. To thwart the flow of supply and traffic across
rivers. It's somewhat problematic to find a good percentage of success but they are out there
and I've launched bridge attacks when the percentage is as low as 10% and as high as 30% and
it varies from target to target. It's especially useful to isolate the battlefield to prevent
the escape of your ground targets but also prevent the flow of supply to them.

I like to use my aircraft manually when I assign missions. I like to use them offensively
to bomb high-value targets like armor and HQ's and arty units. If you can drive an HQ unit
into reorg the entire formation will go into reorg. It's handy when you can do that for
the effect it has on the ground game. It's also handy when you find a really dense target
a cherry red dense target with lots of units in the hex. I like to bomb arty pieces because
they are a combat multiplier on the front lines. Especially dangerous. They make good targets.
Most of all have some fun and try different things until you find something that works.
Don't be afraid of flying unescorted missions during the early war period. The Soviets air
force is tired, worn out, very low proficiency, and most of them are in the red already.
Until about turn 7 or so they will be almost useless. You'll have some losses, but not many.

Elmer likes to fly airfield strikes, have you noticed? Surprise him by having some fighters
at the base where your bombers are. A CAP for each bomber base is a good thing. Makes
airfield strikes expensive. Run some bombing missions near your fighters for the interception
of the enemy fighters when they go after your bombers. Escort your bombing missions where
possible of course. Don't be afraid to strafe with your fighters when they have a slow day.

[TPOO]

ORIGINAL: jjdenver

I'm having a look at Directive 21 and have one question but I suspect I'll have more as I go along. Anyone else who has Directive 21 questions can feel free to post them here also

.

Q: It looks like a lot of Axis units start with the "PO" column checked meaning PO will move and attack with the units. Is there a way to turn them all off at once without going through and unchecking each unit? I don't want the PO to bungle what I'm trying to do.

If you have the Air Staff Assistant turned on in the Players Option Menu the PO will program your air missions for you. It probably defaults to ON. You should probably make sure that is turned off as the PO does not make the best use of your air movement. The PO should not move any of your other units unless you also have turned on the program assistant for formations set which is normally OFF when you start a scenario.

Q: Similar question with "ignore losses" - maybe Axis units - in particular air units - are set to "ignore losses". Is there a way to set them all to "limit losses" (which seems a more reasonable setting?) in one shot?

You can mouse click on the unit to bring up the menu and adjust to a different setting or the Air Menu and do each unit but it has to be done one at a time. Air units should probably be on Ignore Losses for the first 4 turns because of the superior Axis Shock advantage if attacking Airfields.

[jjdenver]

Q: If I have a unit selected and I right click on an adjacent enemy unit. Is this an "overrun" attack happening? I did this by accident and a Soviet unit "evaporated". Is this what people mean when they talk about overrun attacks? Or am I executing regular attacks and I'd be better off setting them all up then executing at same time using another game interface mechanism?

Q: Is it better to leave your HQ's in place for a turn then leap them forward on turn 2 or 3? Or maybe every other turn? Or is it fine to move the HQ's each turn to keep right up on the front line? I ask because I think I read somewhere about trucks being lost or used or something when an HQ moves....something like that.

Q: The command structure for Germany is a bit confusing. Take for example the north-most units.
291st HQ, 291st Div
61st HQ, 61st Div
217th HQ, 217th Div
26th Inf Korp HQ, 667th Pionier (part of 26th Inf Korp)
18th Armee HQ

What is the point of 26th Inf Korp HQ? Do the division HQ's have to trace supply back up through the korp HQ or is it completely independent?

There are 12 arty in 26th Korp HQ unit. Can these support any nearby battles or only for divisions that are part of its korp (presumably 291, 61, 217 although I can't be sure of this)?

Same questions for 18th Armee HQ.

Q: Why do some hexes have "circles" in them - 2 are shown in the image attached.

[gbaby]

Yes, when you right click (not right click and hold to get menu) on an adjacent enemy unit you are taking the default action "plan combat". However, if the adjacent unit is much weaker, it may decide to "Retreat Before Combat" (RBC), in which case, your default action is move into the now unoccupied enemy hex. Of course, disengaging may cause combat on retreating unit and it will lose some equipment. Depending on status, it may "evaporate". This doesn't mean you wiped it out, it means most of the equipment it had left over has gone to the replacement bucket for the enemy, to be re-used in later turns as replacements for other units and re-constituted units (if allowed in scenario).

Some call it overrun, because you sometimes can keep forcing the enemy unit to RBC until it evaporates. It is still best to cutoff supply before evaporating enemy units, so lost equipment is destroyed, none of it going to replacements.

[gbaby]

Q: Why do some hexes have "circles" in them - 2 are shown in the image attached.

Yellow is "selected" and gray are all units part of same formation. It helps a lot. You should try to keep them close together for cooperative attacks and keep their HQ close for supply.

[jjdenver]

ORIGINAL: gbaby

Q: Why do some hexes have "circles" in them - 2 are shown in the image attached.

Yellow is "selected" and gray are all units part of same formation. It helps a lot. You should try to keep them close together for cooperative attacks and keep their HQ close for supply.

Thank you, but I actually meant the dashed circles on hexes with no units in them.

[gbaby]

Thank you, but I actually meant the dashed circles on hexes with no units in them.

Oh, sorry. Those are just built up fortifications put in place on units that used "dig-in" and went to Entrenched/Fortified. Hang your mouse over them and you'll see a slight increase in fortification % because of them. They slightly benefit any unit occupying them, and may, not sure, help more speedily if you "dig-in" in gaining next fortification level.

[jjdenver]

Q: I'm trying to follow your advice and create a pocket before performing overrun attacks so that lost enemy equipment won't go back to their pools. So I'm driving a few divisions up the road in the screenshot. One problem I'm having is that as small units (HQ, AT, engineer, etc) move through along the road they are taking some sort of attacks from units they pass by. I think it's from moving out of ZOC and getting a disengagement attack. How do you handle this? Do you hold the divisions on the road while smaller units pass by and only then move the divisions forward? Or do you make a wider (3 hex wide) breakthrough corridor? Or something else?

[jjdenver]

I think I've created a pocket here just using overrun attacks. So now it's safe to overrun and attack everything inside this pocket and any equipment/troops that are taken as casualties by the Soviets will not go to their replacement pool?

Is this a worthwhile use of a mot & pz division's action points in the first turn or should they just be charging ahead to take river crossings and not worrying about creating pockets like this?

[gbaby]

ORIGINAL: jjdenver



I think I've created a pocket here just using overrun attacks. So now it's safe to overrun and attack everything inside this pocket and any equipment/troops that are taken as casualties by the Soviets will not go to their replacement pool?

Is this a worthwhile use of a mot & pz division's action points in the first turn or should they just be charging ahead to take river crossings and not worrying about creating pockets like this?

It might look like it from boundaries, but no, you have not created a pocket and cut off supplies. You will note it on next turn and see the russian units still are supplied. They can trace communication through your possessed territory, which is only what the borders are showing.

To create a pocket and cut off supply, you must do it with your units. Their ZOC blocks supply lines one hex away. So that means one of you units, two empty hexes, then another of your units, will block between them.

You will need to cut supply lines to ensure that no losses will go to replacement pool.

So in your example, no enemy units have blocked supply line, so some losses will still go to the replacement pool.

Edit: PS, those possessed territory boundaries sure look pretty, but they have no impact to the enemy except it would cost more MP to move through them. Other than that, the boundaries can detect unseen enemy unit movement, which is intelligence under the table kind. [:)]

2nd Edit: Also note that your nice circle of possess territory will disappear next turn even if the enemy does not move. Territory adjacent to a unit (ZOC) will convert automatically to its side territory if no opposing unit ZOC is contending it. So your "path" will have all kinds breaks in it on your next turn...

3rd Edit:

Is this a worthwhile use of a mot & pz division's action points in the first turn or should they just be charging ahead to take river crossings and not worrying about creating pockets like this?

Sorry, didn't answer this. From my previous answer, it should be obvious. No, don't use your units doing this, it is not really doing anything for you except intelligence, and use your recon for that, but not so far behind enemy lines, the enemy will make you pay. Keep your own lines secured and don't let the enemy surround and cut off supply on you! It only takes two units to do it, one on each opposing side, and if you think you can escape easily, well, you might get hurt on disengaging.
All this is assuming you have Fog of War option on and Dissengagement combat on.

[TPOO]

In D21 you should be using your Panzer units as they were used historically for the opening turns, advancing with lighting speed to their initial objectives. You should also secure intact rail lines during the first two turns (there is no rail damage on converted rail hexes for 2 turns) along those objectives or you will be doomed later on with little forward supply.

[jzardos]

ORIGINAL: jjdenver

I think I've created a pocket here just using overrun attacks. So now it's safe to overrun and attack everything inside this pocket and any equipment/troops that are taken as casualties by the Soviets will not go to their replacement pool?

Is this a worthwhile use of a mot & pz division's action points in the first turn or should they just be charging ahead to take river crossings and not worrying about creating pockets like this?

hehe, JJ you must have been a WitE player? This is what I would assume from your posted pic [:)]
yeah, I came from that game too. Not the same game, but doesn't mean can't be as fun [;)]

Also, when your units pass enemy units there is a chance they will suffer loses from the enemy units opportunity fire. It's not much in the beginning of this scenario because most Soviet units are weak.

[jjdenver]

ORIGINAL: TPOO
In D21 you should be using your Panzer units as they were used historically for the opening turns, advancing with lighting speed to their initial objectives. You should also secure intact rail lines during the first two turns (there is no rail damage on converted rail hexes for 2 turns) along those objectives or you will be doomed later on with little forward supply.

Thanks for the advice. So the idea is to pick a few rail lines, push forward on those with pz/mot units then follow along on those with other slower units to be sure they aren't converted back to enemy control. Then after 2 turns start to clean up all of the trapped units when you have a ring of zocs around them so that eliminated units don't go back to replacement pool?

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: jjdenver

ORIGINAL: TPOO
In D21 you should be using your Panzer units as they were used historically for the opening turns, advancing with lighting speed to their initial objectives. You should also secure intact rail lines during the first two turns (there is no rail damage on converted rail hexes for 2 turns) along those objectives or you will be doomed later on with little forward supply.

Thanks for the advice. So the idea is to pick a few rail lines, push forward on those with pz/mot units then follow along on those with other slower units to be sure they aren't converted back to enemy control. Then after 2 turns start to clean up all of the trapped units when you have a ring of zocs around them so that eliminated units don't go back to replacement pool?

That sounds like a good plan. Execute. Let us know how it goes.

[jzardos]

What is the best use for my Axis Engineer units? So far I don't believe there are any bridges blown to repair or maybe I just don't know how to spot them? Which would be good to know.

thanks

[Meyer1]

ORIGINAL: jzardos

What is the best use for my Axis Engineer units? So far I don't believe there are any bridges blown to repair or maybe I just don't know how to spot them? Which would be good to know.

thanks

Not scenario specific, they facilitate the entrenchment of other units. Also if they have ferry capabilities they can reduce the action points cost of crossing a river, or even make possible to cross a "major" river.

[jzardos]

What is the rule of thumb for stacking air units on an airfield? Max seems to be 3 air units. Efficiency lose?

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: jzardos
What is the rule of thumb for stacking air units on an airfield? Max seems to be 3 air units. Efficiency lose?

There is no detramental effect of stuffing an airfield with the max number of planes. I've lobbied for a higher
max number for planes at an airfield to no effect. I've been reticent in the past of basing planes in an airfield
adjacent to an enemy unit but I've discovered that there's no detramental effect of having enemy units adjacent.

I like to park an HQ at my important airfields to help keep the planes in tippy top shape. Those pilots just love
patriotic lectures and long-winded speaches by the Rear Area Mothers.

[jzardos]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

ORIGINAL: jzardos
What is the rule of thumb for stacking air units on an airfield? Max seems to be 3 air units. Efficiency lose?

There is no detramental effect of stuffing an airfield with the max number of planes. I've lobbied for a higher
max number for planes at an airfield to no effect. I've been reticent in the past of basing planes in an airfield
adjacent to an enemy unit but I've discovered that there's no detramental effect of having enemy units adjacent.

I like to park an HQ at my important airfields to help keep the planes in tippy top shape. Those pilots just love
patriotic lectures and long-winded speaches by the Rear Area Mothers.

thanks for this tip
what type of HQ ? Corps?