FITE2 Cantonia Allies larry Axis

[gliz2]

Looking good Larry.

Any chance for hotfix for Stukas (both of You would have to update the equip files right?)

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: gliz2
Looking good Larry.
Any chance for hotfix for Stukas (both of You would have to update the equip files right?)

I would jump up and down with joy if there were a hot fix for this problem. I think you're
right, that the fix would probably just mean an adjustment of the EQP file. But I don't feel
comfortable making the change myself. I know it's just XML but I don't know which flag to
change. I'll take a look at it, see what's going on.

[larryfulkerson]

<ITEM_1456>
<NAME>Ju-87D</NAME>
<COUNTRY>Germany - 1942</COUNTRY>
<EQUIP1>256</EQUIP1>
<EQUIP2>182</EQUIP2>
<AT>3</AT>
<AP>13</AP>
<AA>4</AA>
<DF>7</DF>
<ARTY_RNG>346</ARTY_RNG>
<EARLY_RNG>0</EARLY_RNG>
<SAM_RNG>0</SAM_RNG>
<NUKE>0</NUKE>
<VOL>999</VOL>
<WEIGHT>0</WEIGHT>
<SHELL_W>1000</SHELL_W>
<ARMOR>0</ARMOR>
<FLAG0>0</FLAG0>
<FLAG1>32</FLAG1>
<FLAG2>4</FLAG2>
<FLAG3>0</FLAG3>
<FLAG4>16</FLAG4>
<FLAG5>2</FLAG5>
<FLAG6>0</FLAG6>
<FLAG7>0</FLAG7>
</ITEM_1456>

I think one of these flags needs a different value than the
one it has.

[larryfulkerson]

T18, new moves from Jonathan, and this is what's going on in the north right now. The yellow arrows shows the axis of advance planned. I haven't moved anybody yet so there's the potential to make some progress this turn. I'm not seeing many Soviet units to the east so I'm going to have to move into that area and take a look around. I should imagine there's some Soviet defenders in there I just can't see them.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's a closeup of the Narva area. It doesn't look like there are any Soviet defenders there but I'm pretty sure they are there. Most of the Axis units in this area are tired and several of them are red. The supply level in this area isn't the best but the railhead is getting closer so as soon as I get these bridges fixed the supply level will be okie dokie. I've been moving the fighters forward with the advance to make sure the troops are covered with an Axis aerial umbrella. I need to bring up some more arty too. There's several RR arty pieces that I'd like to bring up here. I've got to keep in mind that I'll have to garrison the ports to prevent surprises. According to the expected reinforcements dialog I'm supposed to get some CD guns along the coast soon. I'm not sure I'll need them.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on around Pskov looking to the east. The Soviet units approached me from the north and started forming their line so I ran up adjacent to them and now the right flank is open and I need to drive into that area and continue the front line to the east. I've got units heading this way, some have already arrived but they are red tired and need a rest before they will be ready for combat. The railhead is headed this way but it's still too far away to help out much.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's a spot down south and you can see how the supply levels have decreased by about half and the threshold for being overextended is 5 so I'm going to have to stop the advance soon and let the rails catch up. It's just as well because my guys are tired and in need of some refit. There are still many bridges broken and I'm thinking that when I get them fixed the supply level will be a little higher.

[larryfulkerson]

New moves from Jonathan and this is T19 before I have clicked away the combat replay. There were close to 130 Soviet bombardment attacks and at least two land assaults. I remember one German unit having to back up. And now it's my turn and I'm going to have to turn my artilery on the Soviet arty and try to delete some of their tubes. I'm not sure that's possible unless I gang up on the Soviet units one at a time or something.

[MikeJ19]

Larry,

Thanks for sharing. I always enjoy your AARs.

[larryfulkerson]

This is what it looks like around Leningrad now. The Finns are having a devil of a time trying to push the Soviets backward and so far the Soviets haven't really tried to push the Finns back. There's been a lot of arty shooting back and forth. I've got a Soviet CD gun north of my positions on the coast and that's what's holding back my ships from joining the fight. I'll see if I can't destroy that thing with my BB's and keep the smaller ships out of the way for awhile.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19
Larry,
Thanks for sharing. I always enjoy your AARs.

You're quite welcome. I'm going to try to go into more detail, include more numbers of things, go under the hood a little. I would LOVE to see Jonathan post something. An idea what it's like on his side of things. I'd like us to get a conversation going about some aspect of the game, those are always rewarding.

Germany has no heavy strategic bomber and I'm thinking that if they had one the war might have turned out differently. Stalin moved his factories east to the Urals and perhaps if the Axis side had bombers that had sufficient range and could reach the factories they could have destroyed them despite the movement of the factories. The He-111 and the Ju-88 were too small to carry enough bomb load to level sections of a city at a time. The Allied B-17 was the most deadly weapons system in the world at the time. I heard that from a WWII pilot. In the movie "The War Lover". Steve McQueen.

The War Lover:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD-RZ1rdep4

[larryfulkerson]

I've been railing formations to the railhead in this area and moving them to the north into that huge gap. I'm hoping to get an intact river crossing so I can continue moving NE. I'm trying to do a left hook to isolate Leningrad from the rest of Russia. Or at least cut the rails leading to the port from Moscow. The take down will be a lot easier if no more Soviet units can enter the battlefield. It's already been turned into a fortress by now.

[larryfulkerson]

This is a close up of the Pskov area where I'm pushing north on their front line and at the same time driving Axis units NE into the zone where there's no visible Soviet units. It's like a footrace to see who can get there first, although the Soviets have had sufficient time to have garrisoned the cities and forested areas around the axis of the roads and rails and they are just waiting patiently for me to arrive.

[larryfulkerson]

I've moved the frame of reference to the SE a bit and got this screenshot of what's happening across the breadth of the gap showing the various units making their way to the NE and the river crossings that I'm going to need to keep going north to Leningrad. I've been moving Panzer units up here because they are fast movers and even though the terrain isn't the best for tanks they can usually find a way to flow like water around Soviet positions and keep going. Hopefully the follow on forces are close enough to the recon units to take over the babysitting while the recon units disengage and move out. In this particular situation, I can imagine in my mind's eye that there are several Soviet positions already garrisoned in the area we're entering. They are dug in and backed up by RR arty and regular arty and will have to be handled by the follow on forces. Unless I can dredge up another Panzer formation from down south and form two moving prongs to keep the Soviet guessing.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's happening in Estonia. I've got a few units going around converting the hexes and flushing out the Soviet remnants. The clearance of the Peninsula is almost done now and the action will move to the Narva area where the Axis forces are going to try to force passage and get into the plains on the other side. Supply levels aren't extreamly great but it doesn't suck so operations aren't stopping, just slowed down. I'm going to move some of the Stuka's up here to do sea int and I need to move more fighters up here. When the peninsula is cleared these units will move to the Pskov area and join the movement to the east and take part in the left hook.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's a zoomed out view of what's happening right now. The front line has reached the river crossings in the gap and Axis units are racing to close the river crossings further to the NE and then just guard the crossing, don't provoke the Soviets, just babysit the crossings to allow some time for rest and to let the follow on forces to catch up to the front. The railhead is still too far away to be of much help and the supply levels could be higher to be more helpful and there's pushing and shoving going on just east of the lake and I'm expecting the Soviets to give way and fall back if and when I get through the Narva bottleneck and have access to the east side of the lake and can cut them off if they don't reposition themselves. IIRC I've got some brown water boats and I'm going to see if I can't move one of them up here to lend a hand around the lake.

[larryfulkerson]

This is a view of a southern group moving through an area that has been cratered by all the dropped bridges. Supply has gotten down to 9 at the front so I'm going to have to call a halt to the advance here and wait for the supply levels to rise enough to justify operations. I've railed in some extra engineers to help get all these bridges repaired. That will restore the rail and allow the supply to flow a LOT better. I'm moving SE with them to stay close to the river because that's where the bad guys are. The Axis minor nation formations have been helping out quite a bit. I'm trying to employ the Rumanians, Slavics, Italians, and Hungarians but keep them separate at the same time. I think I'll insert a German formation between them both to separate them but also to help them out when they need some firepower.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's a zoomed out view of what's going on down south. I've contained the Soviet units at Kiev on the west side of the river and the Axis forces are moving into the wilderness between the rivers and I have to convert all the hexes, roads, and rails all the way over to D-town and Z-town. I predict that I'll have it all converted and cleared in about 6 weeks game time. Repairing the rails to keep up with the moving formations probably will fall behind and I'll have to move some more RR engineers down here. The rails have reached the front lines around Veliki Luki, and Gomel, so there's some engineers that need to be reassigned somewhere. Sounds like I need them in the south.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's what's going on around the Crimea. I've got Odessa surrounded and I'm bombarding it and I've launched some light probes with losses higher than I'd like to get with one-dot attacks. I'll bombard them some more and try again in a week or so. I've got a formation headed into the Crimea to try to get to the bottlenecks before they are turned into a fortress. Making headon attacks into the face of determined Soviet infantry backed up by some fine Soviet arty isn't my idea of fun. Massive losses doing it that way. I'll have to employ the RR arty to the situation and maybe that'll break the logjam, if there is one. I'm hoping to get there before a defender can arrive and dig in. I may be too late already.

[larryfulkerson]

The rails are getting closer to Kiev all the time. I've got to move some of the unemployed RR engineers down here to help out. I'd like to be able to employ the RR arty on Kiev as well as Odessa and the Crimea. I think I've got enough to go around. Oh, and I'll need some for Leningrad as well. I might ought to take a look at the inventory of RR arty and see what is available. I need the longer ranged guns at Odessa to defeat the 3 Range 7 CD guns that Odessa has near the port. I have some range 11 RR guns that can serve that purpose. I'll need some range 4 or 5 RR guns for Kiev to defeat all the Soviet arty that's surely going to be there. But on the other hand there's some long range CD guns at Leningrad that I'll have to defeat too. I'd best make a list of what I've got in the way of RR arty and assign it now because I may have to change my plans or redirect the axis of advance somewhere to take advantage of my longest ranged weapons. I'm using the aircraft in direct attacks when I see a huge stack of arty or two or more HQ's in a hex together or an overstacked infantry group; mostly soft targets.