The Vet vs A-Game - Round 3 (No A-Game for now)

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: rrbill

As said by others, very useful & interesting AAR. Says a lot about the blizzard option & current state of the game.

Thanks for your excellent commentary.

agree, interesting to see more views on the new blizzard rules and how that shifts the options in late 41 going to the summer of 1942.

[Peltonx]

You are still bleeding morale as before even under the new rules?

The more aggressive players understand that 10+ counter attacks per turn in 41 will lower
German OOB every turn.

There simply is no way to not expose yourself
as winning battles vs stacks of infantry in woods and swamps
does not help as I have shown in my AAR.

You are both good players and the AAR is great, but 3 90+ morale infantry in woods can easly be beaten as Saper has proven in our game.
If you have a counter for that let me know.

[Peltonx]

ORIGINAL: loki100

ORIGINAL: rrbill

As said by others, very useful & interesting AAR. Says a lot about the blizzard option & current state of the game.

Thanks for your excellent commentary.

agree, interesting to see more views on the new blizzard rules and how that shifts the options in late 41 going to the summer of 1942.

Its all based on player skills and exploits as every game is with each patch.

In my AAR's the new rules vs average SHC players vs expert GHC's the game ends in March 42 under the SD rule set. German win.

Vs Good to expert SHC's the effects will not change a stalemate in 42 early to mid and SHC beginning to steamroll east in late 42.

There is the snowball effect as many old timers have pointed out with this game, the little counter attacks add up over 35 turns.

People that do not exploit lose and people that do win.

The game is very balanced if both players are average, but the better players exploit weak pts in the ruleset.

SHC has several exploits still- 50 morale brigades and 1v1=2v1.

its a game changer if the SHC chooses to use them.

In this game the SHC player is not so should be a draw, still not sure why 2by3 is so resistant to removing clear exploits.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 31 - NORTHERN REGION[/center]

Here in the North the front has delved into a stalemate. The Volkhov River is heavily fortified while the front bends along the Valdai region. This is a great investment for German players as it is a huge break water for the blizzard turns. If you notice the random clear hexes sprinkled throughout the front..these hexes have turned into a sort of no mans land. Neither side wants to occupy them as they get hammered as a result. Last turn I routed about 8 of A-Game's divisions in this region. Even in Blizzard..A-Game has learned to fear the clear hexes. Lower combat than usual as A-Game has lowered the number of attacks..

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 31 - CENTER REGION[/center]

For the first time ever I am holding Kaluga during the Blizzard. The main problem in my front lies from Kaluga down to just north of Stalino. Here I have moved both of my mountain divisions, all reinforcements, and 3 divisions transferred from the North. The front is starting to take hold. In Bryansk you'll see ne of my elite 90+ infantry divisions wintering it out. While this unit would help solidify the front.I am not going to sacrifice its morale. Any ground lost in this area will likely be made up in February-May before the Summer attack begins. I hope to hold Orel.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 31 - CENTER/SOUTH[/center]

This is where its getting sketchy. The 6th army has huge holes and one of my Corps is getting enveloped. I'm not terribly worried but its forcing me on my heels every turn. Also my infantry are moving back 3-4 hexes a turn causing mad attrition. Luckily more and more units are arriving so hopefully by the end of January the front stops moving.....West anyways.

The Crimea is in full trench mode and nothing is happening in Finland. My airforce is keeping a healthy 4-5 to 1 kill ratio and all signs point to a positive start come Spring.

*****Let's make no mistake about it. The old Blizzard is dead. This is a cakewalk compared to the old rules****

I have been repeatedly able to counterattack as earlier as December. In total I routed approximately 40-50 divisions during the whole event and have heavily stalled A-Game's growth. He went into Blizzard with right under 6 million total men and he is in mid January with about 6.1. While my strength has obviously dropped I still have almost 250k men in the kitty with almost as many armaments. In the next turn or two the Blizzard is over and a heightened sense of trench warfare will ensue come February with limited counter offensives on my part. Any snow in March and I will be able to strike with serious consequence. Long live the new Blizzard!

[Bozo_the_Clown]

Could you give us an update on how many of A Game's attacks rely on the 2:1 rule? How successful/unsuccessful would the blizzard be for him without the 2:1 rule? Thanks!

[Disgruntled Veteran]

ORIGINAL: Bozo_the_Clown

Could you give us an update on how many of A Game's attacks rely on the 2:1 rule? How successful/unsuccessful would the blizzard be for him without the 2:1 rule? Thanks!

If my understanding of this rule is correct then if A-Game gets 1:1 odds than it multiplies by 2 correct? Not sure exactly what battles were influenced by this but here is couple that I guess were influenced by it. The first one was a hold that is 1:1 so not sure how that works.

[SigUp]

The rule is above 1:1 odds the Soviets get +1 on their number. So basically, every successful attack below 3:1 succeded only due to that rule.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

I really hate the options for Commander's screen-Battles. I wish you could clean this up a bit. Anyways, this is the end of my turn battles report in regards to wins/holds. Not exactly answering your question, but it does show some indications to our progress. I'd say about 4-5 of A-Game's attack were within 3:1 odds either way. The rest of them he dogpiled weaker units.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

Here is the OOB screen: I have 247k men and 215k armaments in the pool. The Rumanians have almost 100k men in the pool and periodically have armaments in reserve.

Interestingly enough, I have yet to use the 2nd Panzer division in combat. It still has a full combat load of tanks since its arrival in September. My tank strength is fairly high for this time of year I think.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

Here is the total kills but also see the 4:1 kill ratio I have inflicted by counterattacks this turn!

[gingerbread]

Are you hugging the Soviets to inflict maximum attrition losses on them? This will lead to Axis losses as well, but the ratio is favourable to the Axis.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

ORIGINAL: gingerbread

Are you hugging the Soviets to inflict maximum attrition losses on them? This will lead to Axis losses as well, but the ratio is favourable to the Axis.

Where I can. In the South there is a solid line of clear hexes between us which neither of us wish to occupy. In the north we are hugged together tightly.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 35 - 2ND WEEK OF FEBRUARY - KILL/DEATH RATIO[/center]

Here's the kills at mid February. A-Game has still hit a lot of units and inflicted a high casualty rate but no divisions were destroyed. A huge difference from my current game vs the Pro's who destroyed 11 divisions. In comparison..my other AAR showed 1.48 million losses as German at roughly same point. Thats almost 300k less permanent losses. A huge differnce.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 35 - THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE FRONT[/center]

The lines here will not move until March. A-Game has stopped attacking and is conserving his strength. Not too much to report otherwise. I'm not wanting to move that many divisions because I will still suffer blizzard attrition and I want my units to recover.

[Disgruntled Veteran]

[center]TURN 35 - THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE FRONT[/center]

The Southern half is a different story. The lines are still shaky and one of my panzer Corps is battered to pieces. The 6th army is slowly recovering as 2 mtn divisions and the 4 February divisions are en route. A-Game is reluctant to chase me and is complacent with getting easy wins and being conservative. After this turn I think combat will stop until March. The milk toast blizzard is almost over.

[Flaviusx]

I lol'd at "worthless Italian guards makers."

[SigUp]

I see you have quite a number of motorized and panzer divisions out in the open. How's their morale? I'm about to enter the mud in my game and am already thinking about what to do with them. In the Moscow 41-42 scenario I threw them around as firebrigades and stabilizers, but I don't think it is a viable option to allow panzer morale to drop to 75 or so in a campaign game.

Additionally, have you pulled any high morale infantry divisions into cities?

[Disgruntled Veteran]

ORIGINAL: SigUp

I see you have quite a number of motorized and panzer divisions out in the open. How's their morale? I'm about to enter the mud in my game and am already thinking about what to do with them. In the Moscow 41-42 scenario I threw them around as firebrigades and stabilizers, but I don't think it is a viable option to allow panzer morale to drop to 75 or so in a campaign game.

Additionally, have you pulled any high morale infantry divisions into cities?

I have a feeling that hitting morale milestones in increments of 10 is more important than simple increases in morale. For instance, it seems to me that getting from 79 to 80 is more important than getting 77 to 78. I'm not sure if thats a game principle or not but it sure seems that way. Maybe its just psychological. With that being said about a dozen of them are within the 77-83 morale range. I'm not too worried about it because once they start attacking again they will all go above 80 relatively easy.

Here's the thing though. Units don't necessarily lose morale every blizzard turn IMO. I'm going to pick 5 examples on my next turn just to prove it. If a unit is stationary and in a high fort I'm seeing a lot of them not lose morale. The Das Reich is at 89 morale right now (from 92 pre blizzard) and it has been out of a city and on the front line the whole time. If you plan to stand in the Blizzard (even the softer one) you need most of your units at or near the front.

Yes, I do have 5 infantry and 3 mech units sheltered from the Blizzard. Most of them are within 3-4 hexes of the front. I also have a large amount in the Stalino Tri city region but that is part of the front line.