Once more into the Breech with D21

[Oberst_Klink]

The reason some of the designers use the squad designators, as in the .. on top of the NATO symbol is; that those units can't divide. That's basically it, Geoff.

Klink, Oberst

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: mccartyg
Didn't want to hijack your thread but, I like your opinions.

Don't worry about hijacking my thread. I like your questions. I like answering questions.
I like to hear from my readers.

ORIGINAL: mccartyg
You know I'm also having trouble with these forums otherwise I'd post in Steve's thread.

Steve might know the name of the moderator. I wish I did for times like these.

ORIGINAL: mccartyg
TamasK is out until 04JAN. :/

Oops. Sorry for the wild goose chase there.

ORIGINAL: mccartyg
I know about the classic UI button and I use it as well. The new interface seems disorganized. A great upgrade would have been to allow the user to choose the button layout and their functions in the classic style perhaps via scripting. I see you use the new interface. Will take some getting used to it for me. Wish I could at least start a game with the classic by default.

I'm switched to the classic view and then shut down TOAW knowing that a new INI file would be
written when TOAW quits. I was hoping it would start up in the classic view but that's not how
it worked. D'oh. It would be really cool if it opened up in the same view you had when you quit.
Also, It would be really cool if you're using the new UI, that the windows would be in the same
places you left them in when you quit last time.

ORIGINAL: mccartyg
Steve uses squad element symbols for formations lower than regimental level. While those formations are actually company or battalions themselves. I find it confusing but, guess it's his designer's artistic license.

I guess it's the only way to guarentee that the unit will be unable to break down into pieces.

ORIGINAL: mccartyg
Maybe it is helpful to the player to distinguish a divided unit's parent organization.

I think the formation report will list the parent organization of the pieces. The OOB will not
however.

[mccartyg]

Played TOAW for 10 years and didn't realize or remember squad and below were used for breakdown negation. Thanks. I'm about to start D21 and find your AAR helpful turn by turn. Gonna try a ahistoric funnel towards Moscow than over the Dnepr to Stalingrad myself.
Need I say that there should be a unit switch that disallows formation divsion instead of having to use this work around still?

[larryfulkerson]

Gonna try a ahistoric funnel towards Moscow than over the Dnepr to Stalingrad myself.

That's what I started out wanting to do and then I got victory disease and thought I'd try to capture Leningrad
after all. Well, at the time, it looked like an easy target. I've since decided I made a mistake going after
Leningrad in that it has tied up a lot of divisions I could really use elsewhere.

I'd be interested in following your progress.

[mccartyg]

Yeah scope and goal of your '41 invasion should be key to winning the scenario. If the Germans managed to capture Moscow in '41 then North and Northwest Front should be isolated from the South and they could have probably capitulated the Soviets by '43. The game's supply system isn't nearly as detailed as it needs to be to simulate the drag of shipping food and ammo as deep as Vyasma while keeping the flanking groups geared up for opportunity advances if the Reds try to react to the penetration. The encirclement at Kiev was the best operational decision but, strategically short sighted. While fighting in the North and even bolstering the Finns with German corps in the Artic and a Luftflotte were outright wasteful against what the Axis needed to accomplish in that campaign season. Good luck with your campaign. You're still well positioned for an early capture of Moscow if you decide to shift forces.

[larryfulkerson]

You're still well positioned for an early capture of Moscow if you decide to shift forces.

I'll see if I can't make it happen. Thanks for your insight.

[DanNeely]

ORIGINAL: mccartyg

Yeah scope and goal of your '41 invasion should be key to winning the scenario. If the Germans managed to capture Moscow in '41 then North and Northwest Front should be isolated from the South and they could have probably capitulated the Soviets by '43. The game's supply system isn't nearly as detailed as it needs to be to simulate the drag of shipping food and ammo as deep as Vyasma while keeping the flanking groups geared up for opportunity advances if the Reds try to react to the penetration. The encirclement at Kiev was the best operational decision but, strategically short sighted. While fighting in the North and even bolstering the Finns with German corps in the Artic and a Luftflotte were outright wasteful against what the Axis needed to accomplish in that campaign season. Good luck with your campaign. You're still well positioned for an early capture of Moscow if you decide to shift forces.

Either that or the Germans should've doubled down in the north. Actually capturing Murmansk or cutting its rail link long term, and the resultant disruption of lend/lease supplies, might've been worth the diversion of effort.

[larryfulkerson]

Either that or the Germans should've doubled down in the north. Actually capturing Murmansk or cutting its rail link long term, and the resultant disruption of lend/lease supplies, might've been worth the diversion of effort.

I've got an effort underway to capture the rail link from Murmansk south to the rest of Russia and that's not the same
as capturing Murmansk but it should help a little bit. I'll see if I can't dig up a picture of the effort in the north.

[larryfulkerson]

Here's a picture of the effort in the north. They have made rapid progress prior to this but now they have run into a
serious roadblock and they are pounding it with arty and probing on the ground. I'm optimistic.

[larryfulkerson]

This is Odessa right now. I've started the pounding with arty and light probes. So far so good. No hurry or anything.

[larryfulkerson]

This is the area just NE of Kiev and shows how I'm capturing more and more river crossings and I'm starting to get
units across the river. In numbers. If only the supply level were higher.

[larryfulkerson]

This is the area around Bryansk right now. In the lower half of the image almost everybody is scrambling to the SouthEast.
To try to fill the void while the Soviets are still so sparse.

[DanNeely]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

Either that or the Germans should've doubled down in the north. Actually capturing Murmansk or cutting its rail link long term, and the resultant disruption of lend/lease supplies, might've been worth the diversion of effort.

I've got an effort underway to capture the rail link from Murmansk south to the rest of Russia and that's not the same
as capturing Murmansk but it should help a little bit. I'll see if I can't dig up a picture of the effort in the north.

Unless there's something not mentioned in the briefing doc, you'd need to press all the way to Archangel to inflict a supply penalty in D21.

[larryfulkerson]

This is the area to the SW of Leningrad and shows the illogical configuration of Axis units and my proposal as to how to
fix it. I'm thinking of pulling back and just holding in place. Get a proper front line going instead of being
helter skelter. There's probably not enough manpower present here to form a proper front line. We'll see.

[mccartyg]

Looks like it's Raputitsa time. How are you doing on replacements? All of your bautruppen are in the center?

[larryfulkerson]

Here's the front lines in T16 before I have moved very much.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: mccartyg
Looks like it's Raputitsa time.

geezuntite.

ORIGINAL: mccartyg
How are you doing on replacements?

I haven't looked in a while. I'll post something about the inventory and we'll have
a look.

ORIGINAL: mccartyg
All of your bautruppen are in the center?

Originally I was aiming for Moscow first before anything else and started building rails
that I thought would support that so three of the four rail lines are above the middle of the
map but there IS one rr engr down south trying to build a rail to Kiev. One railhead is near
Minsk right now and I've got hopes for it's rapid repair.

[larryfulkerson]

I found the place in the Scenario Briefing where the text talks about the mud seasons and I expect the first one to be
brutal. Collapse of the Axis supply system and everything.

[DanNeely]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

ORIGINAL: mccartyg
Looks like it's Raputitsa time.

geezuntite.

ORIGINAL: mccartyg
How are you doing on replacements?

I haven't looked in a while. I'll post something about the inventory and we'll have
a look.

ORIGINAL: mccartyg
All of your bautruppen are in the center?

Originally I was aiming for Moscow first before anything else and started building rails
that I thought would support that so three of the four rail lines are above the middle of the
map but there IS one rr engr down south trying to build a rail to Kiev. One railhead is near
Minsk right now and I've got hopes for it's rapid repair.

Looking at those numbers, I'd be more concerned about the heavy rifle squads than the motorcycle ones. You've only lost 701 of the latter vs 880 replacements issued (assuming still t16). But you've only gotten 6896 heavy rifle squads issued as replacements vs 9685 destroyed; the big on hand pile is just them not cycling back into your units fast enough.

[TPOO]

ORIGINAL: DanNeely

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

Either that or the Germans should've doubled down in the north. Actually capturing Murmansk or cutting its rail link long term, and the resultant disruption of lend/lease supplies, might've been worth the diversion of effort.

I've got an effort underway to capture the rail link from Murmansk south to the rest of Russia and that's not the same
as capturing Murmansk but it should help a little bit. I'll see if I can't dig up a picture of the effort in the north.

Unless there's something not mentioned in the briefing doc, you'd need to press all the way to Archangel to inflict a supply penalty in D21.

Capturing Murmansk does not change Soviet Supply but there is a 5% reduction to the entire Soviet replacement pool for its capture, to simulate loss of Lend Lease equipment. Also, cutting the rail will not effect anything except cutting supply to the area. You must actually capture Murmansk to get a benefit.