The Anti Bolshevik Crusade - Tarhunnas vs Q-Ball (no Q-Ball please)

[Tarhunnas]

Counterattacked the Soviet landing at Ochakov. Partly successful, pushed them back too one hex and one tank brigade surrendered! I was lucky in that I had some fresh mobile units on rails in the vicinity that were actually on their way to reinforce the Dnepr front.

[Tarhunnas]

The center seems to be the area of greatest Soviet effort. The mountain divisions did not fully restore the situation at Belgorod, but some Soviet units were pushed back in confusion. Map after Axis moves.

[Tarhunnas]

Casualties from counterattacks. Not too bad I would say, though the Finns are responsible for a part of that.

[Tarhunnas]

I post the OOB to complete the picture.

[Tarhunnas]

And production filtered to German production.

[Apollo11]

Hi all,

ORIGINAL: Tarhunnas

I post the OOB to complete the picture.

Looking good!

Nonetheless the German tank numbers are very low... this is, IMHO, your biggest weakness...


Leo "Apollo11"

[Peltonx]

Huge differance in your manpower pool and mine at this time, mine was at 270,000 and grow by 50k a turn for 4 more turns. My losses were less then yours also I only lost 75k first turn. Still seems really weird.

You should do fine your troops are staying at front by 5th turn of winter I had almost 500,000k in pool.
Your losses will be higher then mine because you were not dig in very good, but again your not geting the wierd manpower pool issue I was having so front line strength should be ok.

Your front line troops seem good, tank numbers are about right for pushing hard, art and planes are about right also.

Your going to end up giving up some ground, but it realy means nothing at this pt until the end of war.

Pelton

[Tarhunnas]

ORIGINAL: Apollo11


Nonetheless the German tank numbers are very low... this is, IMHO, your biggest weakness...

There was apparently a bug prior to 1.04.28 that increased tank losses. I think that might be part of the explanation. I see the same tendency in my other GC. Or else it might be me driving the panzers too hard [;)]

[Joel Billings]

The "tank loss" bug was something that had been in the game since release, AFAIK. It was something that made hitting tanks easier than it should have been (especially fast tanks). However, when we fixed that bug we did increase the chance of tanks to become damaged due to mechanical breakdown during combat. So there was some offset to that.

[Ketza]

Your fortress units are causing you excess casualties from both winter attrition and surrenders in combat. Is this risk worth the extra level of entrenchment?

[gingerbread]

Another thing notable in the production screen shot above is the high number of German Pioneer Squads built during the 25 first turns - 2623 vs 623 Rifle Squads.

I can't tell if its due to that units are below TOE for this type of squad at start (I checked a couple of infantry divisions, but they were OK) or if it is due to losses - are pioneers spearheading every attack??? Also, what is the cost in Armament pts for a pioneer squad vs a rifle squad?

[Tarhunnas]

ORIGINAL: Joel Billings

The "tank loss" bug was something that had been in the game since release, AFAIK. It was something that made hitting tanks easier than it should have been (especially fast tanks). However, when we fixed that bug we did increase the chance of tanks to become damaged due to mechanical breakdown during combat. So there was some offset to that.

I see. I had gotten the impression it was introduced more recently, but then I have nothing to blame except myself. [;)]

[Tarhunnas]

ORIGINAL: Ketza

Your fortress units are causing you excess casualties from both winter attrition and surrenders in combat. Is this risk worth the extra level of entrenchment?

I try to disband them before they get in the first line, though two or three were killed last turn when they were attacked in breakthroughs. I will have to be more careful.

I hadn't thought about the increased winter attrition, but that was a good point, thanks. I should probably be more restrictive about using them.

[Tarhunnas]

ORIGINAL: gingerbread

Another thing notable in the production screen shot above is the high number of German Pioneer Squads built during the 25 first turns - 2623 vs 623 Rifle Squads.

I can't tell if its due to that units are below TOE for this type of squad at start (I checked a couple of infantry divisions, but they were OK) or if it is due to losses - are pioneers spearheading every attack??? Also, what is the cost in Armament pts for a pioneer squad vs a rifle squad?

Hmm, I hadn't thought about that at all. Thanks for pointing it out! I have no idea what could be causing this. I haven't done anything unusual with the Pioneers. I am hoping for someone more versed in the intricacies of production to comment on this.

Edit: I checked the numbers of rifle and pioneer squads built from the production shots in my other AAR.

Turn 21: Pioneers 2572, Rifle 3339.
Turn 56 (July 1942) Pioneers 7552, Rifle 6348.

This is interesting, since pioneers squads should be much fewer than rifle squads, but as I said, I have no Idea what might be causing it. It would be interesting to hear if others see the same thing.

Edit again: I made a thread in the Tech Support forum for further discussion on this.
fb.asp?m=2843887

[gingerbread]

Just to get the facts straight, are the nubers in your edit filtered to German only?

[Tarhunnas]

ORIGINAL: gingerbread

Just to get the facts straight, are the nubers in your edit filtered to German only?

Yes.

[cpt flam]

for info about production of pionneer
got a look at my AAR actually turn 41 as Russian
Rifle (-) 38 000
Rifle 162 000
Sapper 36 000 (for the 2 types)

[Tarhunnas]

Turn 27.

I have some problems to deal with. The Slovakian division and a German infantry division are surrounded nortwest of Stalino. I am paying the price here for my decision to do a "staged withdrawal" I should have withdrawn averything and created a stright line. Any kind of protrusion or bend in the line is potentially dangerous. I underestimated the risks because my previous winter was very mild, mainly because the Soviet army in that game was so beat up and disorganised that they couldn't put together a decent winter offensive until January.

Next time, the frontlines will be ruler straight! I should have learned from Peltons AARs.

Comment: Its a pity the games hex-mechanics encourage unhistorically straight frontlines, and there is no chance whatsoever of a Demyansk or Kholm occuring in the game.

Map of Stalino area before Axis moves.

[Tarhunnas]

Extra! Great victory on the Eastern Front. Soviet landing annihilated!
Panzer reserves converge on the Soviet landing at Ochakov, and in a concerted drive manage to utterly crush the bidgehead. Soviet soldiers in the thousands surrender. The event will be covered in an extra issue of "Signal", with colour photographs and all (though black and white would have done the job, with maybe some red).

I had expected that landing to generate a lot of trouble, but it proved unexpectedly easy to deal with it. I was lucky in that some panzers were on rails nearby, on their way to reinforce the Dnepr front.

[Tarhunnas]

Otherwise, things are not so bright. My counterattacks have evidently made an impression on the Soviets, and it appears they are not pushing single cavalry divisions or tank brigades forward to the same extent. On the other hand, they are now using cavalry corps instead, which are much tougher to counterattack!

I am gradually falling back in most places, but I am now driven out of my first line of fortifications, and the second (and third) lines exist mostly on paper. The pressure is heaviest in the Tula - Kursk - Kharkov region. The front is stretched, but not broken through yet. I have both 2d and 3d Panzer armies here, and they help a lot to shore up the infantry and provide reserves.

Central part of front after German moves.