The D21 Road Not Taken....

[larryfulkerson]

Leningrad, T10
Here's the T10 view of the Leningrad area right now. The Finns are at the stop line above Leningrad and can't help out in the takedown of the city itself. But it does tie up some Soviet units.

Weak in the middle
I'm worried about the area in the middle where all my little units are out there by themselves and don't have a lot of support nearby. My Axis units are following on but it would take a turn or two to reach some of them. I'm thinking I got some of them out too far needlessly. I'll need to watch out for that because I'm running into more and more Soviet units all the time. Those Soviet units that I killed earlier are starting to respawn and Elmer is sending them out while they are still cherry red without letting them rest a little first. He must think he's in serious trouble.

Aircraft status
All the aircraft are in the green except two bomber units that are yellow. I'm letting them rest until they are green again. I'm running my fighters at a three-dot setting because of the huge gap in the air shock levels. Mine is 120 and his is 50. I'm shooting down about 60 Soviet planes each turn of various types but I'm pretty sure he's building them faster than that. I'll have to check that out.

[larryfulkerson]

Bryansk, T10
This is a view looking south from Bryansk and shows how I'm getting on the east side of the Dnieper River and moving east. The supply levels are not the best I've ever seen and so far it's looking like I'm going to have to pull up short and wait for better supply levels, which I would really rather not do. I'm in a footrace to Moscow against the weather and the Soviets. The mud season is going to put a halt to my progress and I'll have to start to prepare for the Soviet Winter Offensive when their shock goes up and mine goes down and they have the advantage for about 10 turns. It's brutal. I've already lost one D21 game because of it.

Blown bridges hinders advance
Elmer has been busy blowing bridges all over the map and so far I've been able to repair them fast enough to keep up with the front lines. Sometimes I can reach an area fast enough to capture it with intact bridges. From what I can gather from the cursory glance I gave the map there are no more major rivers until east of Bryansk so theoretically the advance can accellerate but I'm not going to count on it.

Soviet remnants
I've had two separate instances of a Soviet unit respawning in my backfield and I've had to dispatch a task force to quell the insurrection. Sometimes I have to repair a hex of rail for a second time. So to avoid any further surprises I have a lot of my little units busy converting hexes to make them friendly so that no Soviet unit will spawn in it. I'm not quite keeping up with the front lines in this task.

Alternate supply spots
Theorically there are some Axis supply spots in the areas I haven't captured yet, at least one near Bryansk. They go away in November so I need to capture them ASAP to get the most use out of them. Besides I could really use the additional supply.

Worsening Weather
I haven't been keeping up with the weather but I need to start monitoring it because it's now late July and soon it's going to transition to Fall and worse weather. I'm not at all sure that the performance of the aircraft will deterioate with worse weather, I have no proof, but that's the way I'm leaning right now. I'll have to do some tests during the game to find out one way or another whether or not bad weather will affect the combat results.

[rhinobones]

Larry

FYI. Noticed in post #211 that a couple of mortar units are shown as platoons. In the scale of D21 I thought that was odd.

Looking thru the Russian OOB, found a number of artillery units also designated as platoons. Judging by their TO&Es maybe they should be regiments or battalions.

Something to look at for the next D21 version.

Best Regards, RhinoBones

[larryfulkerson]

Good catch Steve dude. I'll look into that. I have no idea how that happened.

[cpt flam]

Can't this be made to hinder division in 3 units by retreat ?

[larryfulkerson]

I think that may have been the original intent, yes.

[larryfulkerson]

It's T11 and this is the view of the Leningrad area looking south. I've been using the RR enginerring capability of the Corps HQ's to repair the rail to where it is right now. Still to do yet is some repaired rail leading south to feed the troops pushing east. The supply situation south of here is on the verge of being inadequate and the advance will have to hold up for a couple of turns to allow the supply levels to rise.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's a look at the Kiev area right now. I'm getting across the river above Kiev and I intend to push south to trap all the Soviet units defending the river crossings, kill them and allow even more Axis units across the river. The strategic idea is to push east with everybody in a huge front line extending down to the Crimea. I'm aiming for the cities of Orel, Kharkov, Stalino, and eventually Stalingrad. With the exception of Stalingrad I think it might just be possible to capture all the other cities before the end of winter. I'd like to capture Leningrad to release the Finns so I can push east with them into the forested areas. Maybe try to capture Archangel with them. I want to use the Romanians in the south to push into the far south to the oil wells that I need so badly. There's not so many Slavs and Italians so I'll use them for garrison and security and the Hungarians can help out in the takedown of Sevastopol. I need to capture Sevastopol by 4Dec41 to gain the release of the Bulgarians and those troops could watch the troops in Turkey and the southern Urals areas.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's a look at the 6th Panzer formation. They are operating in the north and it's units are spread out abnormally and that's because they have been putting out brush fires like crazy. More and more Soviet units are showing up at the front lines and the Axis side is struggling to adjust. More often than not my little units are being used on the front lines as a temporary stopgap and that only works if I can get a larger replacement unit to releave the smaller unit within a single turn at most.

[MikeJ19]

Larry,

I am remembering how hard it is too keep units together. They often do end up spread all over the place.

[larryfulkerson]

I got curious about what difference it would make to the game to give those platoon icons that are really batallions a proper battalion icon so I changed all the Soviet units that needed to be changed and restarted. I'm on T3 already and it hasn't made much of a difference yet. I'll keep you guys posted.

[rhinobones]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

I got curious about what difference it would make to the game to give those platoon icons that are really batallions a proper battalion icon so I changed all the Soviet units that needed to be changed and restarted. I'm on T3 already and it hasn't made much of a difference yet. I'll keep you guys posted.

The difference is that the units you re-designated can be subdivided into companies. There is now the possibility that you’ll have company level units interacting with divisions. This all goes back to the discussion years ago about “Ant Units” and the ability of a small unit to block much larger units. Using the squad symbol was an attempt to work around the ant unit problem while limiting the organizational size of the units on the board. The altered icons are only for visual effect and have no functional impact.

Regards

[Hellen_slith]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

I got curious about what difference it would make to the game to give those platoon icons that are really batallions a proper battalion icon so I changed all the Soviet units that needed to be changed and restarted. I'm on T3 already and it hasn't made much of a difference yet. I'll keep you guys posted.

Larry, thanks for the AARs, I really enjoy them! I'm thinking that I want to start another go against the Soviet PO (due a lot to your inspiration!) but, I'm not sure if I have the latest version.

Which one are you playing now? Is it ver. 4.61 that is the latest version I should start on? If there is a more recent version than 4.61 could you post it up in the mods forums?

Well, thanks again!

[larryfulkerson]

Yes I've got a more recent version of my mod to D21 that I'd be happy to post so you guys can use it too.
You can find it here:
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... 2365533%3B

Here's the change log for my mod:

D21_lgf (05/18/2020) changed some of the Soviet units to show Brigade size instead of platoon size.

D21_lgf(04/25/2020) decided to make the final RR damage setting 70% instead of 100%. To model the occassional failure of the Soviets to FU the rail before they leave the area.

D21_lgf(01/30/2020} moved the attrition divider back to '6' as it was originally and added a lot of RR engineers to
all HQ units.

D21_lgf ( 01/25/2020) made the attrition divider 3 instead of 50 to make the combats more bloody.

D21 lgf ( 01/18/2020 ): made the attrition divider 50 instead of 6. I'm not sure what difference that will make.

D21 lgf: adjusted the Axis supply situation a tiny bit and tried to install the TOAW v.5.2 database but it gave yr2000 equipment to the Soviet side. So I fell back to the original D21 EQP file but modded the equipment file to give the Stuka a decent anti-ship value. 12/24/2019 : added some RR engineers for a little better supply effort.

Directive 21: Version 4.6

'The German Armed Forces must be prepared to crush Soviet Russia in a quick campaign.'
Adolph Hitler

[Hellen_slith]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

Yes I've got a more recent version of my mod to D21 that I'd be happy to post so you guys can use it too.
You can find it here:
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.a ... 2365533%3B

Here's the change log for my mod:

D21_lgf (05/18/2020) changed some of the Soviet units to show Brigade size instead of platoon size.

D21_lgf(04/25/2020) decided to make the final RR damage setting 70% instead of 100%. To model the occassional failure of the Soviets to FU the rail before they leave the area.

D21_lgf(01/30/2020} moved the attrition divider back to '6' as it was originally and added a lot of RR engineers to
all HQ units.

D21_lgf ( 01/25/2020) made the attrition divider 3 instead of 50 to make the combats more bloody.

D21 lgf ( 01/18/2020 ): made the attrition divider 50 instead of 6. I'm not sure what difference that will make.

D21 lgf: adjusted the Axis supply situation a tiny bit and tried to install the TOAW v.5.2 database but it gave yr2000 equipment to the Soviet side. So I fell back to the original D21 EQP file but modded the equipment file to give the Stuka a decent anti-ship value. 12/24/2019 : added some RR engineers for a little better supply effort.

....

'The German Armed Forces must be prepared to crush Soviet Russia in a quick campaign.'
Adolph Hitler

Thank you, Larry! I see now the use of the extension "lgf" ....
and how that distinguishes from 4.61

Thanks again! You ROCK!!!!

[larryfulkerson]

Please do an AAR about your game. I'd like to see your progress. And by the way you're a better player than I am.

EDIT: This is what I listen to when I'm doing my moves:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAgnJDJ ... rt_radio=1

( AC/DC )

[Hellen_slith]

I don't know about that ... this is a hard game to grasp.

You know a heck of a lot more about it than I do!

Anyway, I see your AC/DC, and raise you Tull

Took me long time to find this one. Enjoy!
PS: I esp. like the hippies swaying
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTYXf0R4Ffc

[larryfulkerson]

Kiev, T4
Here's the area just to the west of Kiev and you can see how I'm up to their MLR and the fighting is savage. The units in Bessarabia have relocated to this area along the Stalin Line so there's more than a little resistance here.

Romanians
The Romanians are pushing northeast to clear out the Bessarabia area and the seige of Odessa will start in a turn or two. I'm trying to repair all the blown bridges and convert all the enemy hexes because I don't need any Soviet units spawning behind my lines.

German Units
Most of the German units are pushing SE so as to clear out the terrain between the rivers. I've been repairing the rails to keep the supply level adequate for operations. I'd like to get to the south end of this valley before the Soviets can escape their troops to the east. But during the Soviet turn I see lots and lots of units escaping into the Crimea. It's worth a try. I've been pushing SE toward Z-town and the Crimea. I'm trying to get there ASAP so as to trap as many Soviet units before they can escape my net. During the Soviet turn I watch as lots of units escape into the Crimea. I need to get down there sooner rather than later.

[atheory]

I noticed with your mod, that all units start unlocked. Is this intentional?

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: atheory
I noticed with your mod, that all units start unlocked. Is this intentional?

I've given some thought to putting them back into garrison mode until a future turn but in all my recent D21 games I've noticed that LOTS of Soviet units beat feet from the Bessarabia area toward the Crimea and escape from harm's way. It was an accident of my making the scenario with a game engine that for some reason doesn't read the turn of entry for the various units when it loads the scenario for editing and starts them active from turn one. My first game with the scenario in that condition felt really really different and changes the equation for the Soviet side ( played by the PO[AI] ) where they have to start defending in the south from turn 1 and the thousands of units that were escaping to the Crimea suddenly were in real jeopardy. And I really liked the change. So I left it in. Feel free to mod my mod to set it right again if you'd like.