what would be the best scenario for newbie player

[bostonrpgmania]

I have just finished lesson 8 and not back to real business.
Can you recommend the best scenario that I can start?

[Crimguy]

I suggest picking the shortest scenario (in terms of turns). I've played all of them and think there's "something for everyone".

Last Stand at Korsun should be good.

[bostonrpgmania]

Thank you for your tip!

[Adam Parker]

Imo start with the campaign full scenario. There is only one way to learn the game and about the Korsun battle itself and that is to play it. Once you've got the overall strategic picture in mind and have played enough to learn from your mistakes, you may find it interesting to focus on an individual aspect of the campaign - ie one of the flanks or particularly the historical pocket.

KP is very manageable and you'll find some solid stimulation switching from flank to flank, trying to build a pincer or fendng one off and counter-attacking depending on the side you choose to play.

And then the mud arrives......

[Pawlock]

Imo start with the campaign full scenario. There is only one way to learn the game and about the Korsun battle itself and that is to play it. Once you've got the overall strategic picture in mind and have played enough to learn from your mistakes, you may find it interesting to focus on an individual aspect of the campaign - ie one of the flanks or particularly the historical pocket.

KP is very manageable and you'll find some solid stimulation switching from flank to flank, trying to build a pincer or fendng one off and counter-attacking depending on the side you choose to play.

And then the mud arrives......

I disagree Adam, for a newbie the Campaign can very daunting, especially with the amount of units.

I know I was confused when I first loaded up the campaign.

Again this is my personnal opinion, you may be right. I just dont want to scare the guy before he's had chance to savour the delights of this game.

1UK is very short and not so many units to concentrate on. 2 UK is short , but slightly more units. Havent played Last stand yet so cant comment on that.
One thing though the 1UK and 2UK will teach you ALL you need to know for the opening of a Campaign.

[Ozie]

Tutorial.

[elmo3]

Wiking Whiteout, available at Wacht am Rhein, is quite good. Very manageable in size and a real nail biter to the end in my PBEM playing of it.

[Arbiter]

I started with the 2nd Ukr assault, it's only 16 turns I think and it was a perfect way to start (any of the smaller KP scenarios). I don't think I'd recommend the full Korsun Pocket or TAO scenario as a starting map, I can't wait to play them but they were clearly overwhelming in size and complexity, and your turns will take so much longer. I think the the 'segmented' battle maps play faster with a large but managable set of units and therefore you will learn faster. I worked through the scenario in three nights.

For any other newbies out there, running through the tutorial, carefully, is a must. There were a few times when I regretted speeding through a few of the sections.

[bostonrpgmania]

Thanks all guys for helpful tip

I went through tutorial scenarios (hoped that I could continue turns against computer but it seems that we cannot)

I am now trying last stand which is just 12 turn and started the game with the maximum (minumum) benefit for my side (AI)

After the second turn, I am winning just by 9 points.........

I am totally new to this hex based war gaming and hope I could do better.

BTW, I am now playing using German. I am alwasys attacked (overrun) by the Russian.

Any tips would be appreciated and I will keep you posted (if you are interested) of my progress using this thread

PS) BTW, I purchased my third matrix game and that is titans of sun warring sun. Sounds quite interesting (yesterday)
But now at the moment my whole time goes to Korsun Pocket

[Arbiter]

Some basic tips:
- Make sure you are not defending clear terrain (use woods, villages, swamps, or behind rivers whenever possible). Don't be afraid to retreat a little to do so (which is a good opportunity to leave detachments)!
- try to defend in lines. If possible only give the enemy 1-2 hex faces to attack from. In many games it is second nature to clump as many units as possible and play with large 'stacks'; for defense this is not always optimal. If you do have a unit that can be attacked from multiple sides, make sure its a tough unit and that he's holding tough terrain.
- use the entrench button whenever possible, I think this automatically prevents overruns!
- make sure your artillery is in range of your defending units so it can help in the battles (you won't see it but it gives your defenders some extra shifts that the opp must overcome)

[Pawlock]

More tips;

Furthermore to terrain for defence, remember defendinding behind ANY river stops shifts being applied from said hex.

IMO personally I try to use detatcments on road hexes if Im retreating as these are normally the easiest to traverse to slow the enemy.

AirInterdiction is extremly powerfull if used wisely, ie, can cut supply to retreating units, can make advancing hard, can be used to slow up reinforcments etc.

Always try to stack Armour with equivelant sized stepped infantry based units, that way if you take a step loss, chances are the infantry will take the loss first, which is important as armour replacments are more scarce.

[bostonrpgmania]

Thank you arbiter and pawlock!
I am now applying your strategies to my battle field
I am currently on my 5th turn

[Ozie]

Some basic tips:
- use the entrench button whenever possible, I think this automatically prevents overruns!

If there is atleast 3 steps in the hex and a entrenched unit then the ourrun is prevented. Only needs one unit to be entrenched and the steps can be of any unit.