Pass the Kryptonite - Oleg's Supermen are coming! 1943 AAR.

[Mynok]

16th army area.



Trying to get some reinforcements here. Have no reserves and a thin line.

[Mynok]

Center-north.  Getting a bulwark behind the line here as he has punch in the area.

[Mynok]

Center south...worried about here once the river freezes. Maybe 3 turns at most.

[Mynok]

Kiev area. Pulling back as fast as possible. 3 IDs left to the wolves. Just can't afford to save them.

[Mynok]

And the south. Trouble here too. I fear he will breach the Dnepr this turn as I have pitiful forts and little backup.

[Mynok]

We're in snow now, so I expect a lot of attacks this turn. We'll see how that goes. My guys got a major boost during mud.

In the south, I have 1st SS, 24th panzer and a nice Fallschirm div headed to boost my most southern lines. have some HQs with little to do there and will organize a new corps with these guys. I fully intend to pound any bridgehead he makes out of existence with these guys.

Major goals right now are to contain the Dnepropetrovsk stuff with a carpet of units, get the Kiev area guys behind the river ASAP, and keep the center from imploding. Secondary is to get 18th army pulled back to a shorter line, and to get 16th army activated.

[Mynok]

There's some more heavy hitters coming soon in the reinforcement queue. Alot are SUs I can attach directly to front line units and will do so, pending my activation of the rest of 16th and 18th armies. I'll be forming two new panzer corps by reusing some currently depleted HQs. One will be in the south (already mentioned) and the other in AGN. We need reserves up there as I foresee we will have to retreat from our strong forts pretty soon.

[Mynok]

Well, the expected assaults have occurred. 16k troops lost this turn. [:(]

[Mynok]

In the south, we've had some amphib invasions. Awaiting a breach here...it's inevitable.

[Mynok]

Kiev area, we are pulling back rapidly. We had some good attacks in the south and here knocking some units back...but there were losses to be suffered.

[Mynok]

Center has issues. He breached the Dnepr yet again and I've nothing to toss him back with. Still looking at this.

[Mynok]

Center area. We really did some damage with our panzers, routing a mech corps and knocking him back seriously. Unfortunately, our infantry is in a world of hurt and we have panzers in the front line out of necessity.

[Mynok]

16th army area. Reactivated most of these guys this turn. Hoping to hold the line a little longer.

[Mynok]

Far north is stable but only temporarily. Have more to activate here.

[PeeDeeAitch]

To be honest, I would suck, and suck badly at the 1943 scenario. My mindset is just not right.

[Mynok]

I'm no different. I'm an attacker by nature. I keep looking for opportunities. They will get fewer. I take unsustainable losses even though I won all my attacks this turn.

The defensive SU commitment bug did indeed show itself this turn. I had exactly one battle where my guys showed up. It was one of the few holds I had.

[randallw]

Why not just abandon the area in front of the marshes? [:D]

[squatter]

"The defensive SU commitment bug did indeed show itself this turn. I had exactly one battle where my guys showed up. It was one of the few holds I had."
 
So, either defensive SUs make little difference to the game, and all our hours micromanagement to get them in the right place are wasted, or the game is not playable until patch 1.04 comes out.
 
Helpless, if you're still out there, I'd like to know that answer to this. I'm not trying to be hostile, I'd just genuinely like to know. I mean which is it to be - 1. "dont worry about the bug, HQ-controlled SUs make little difference to the game" or 2. "sorry, this bug has borked the game, you'd better wait till 1.04 comes out before playing on"?
 

[Aditia]

ORIGINAL: squatter

"The defensive SU commitment bug did indeed show itself this turn. I had exactly one battle where my guys showed up. It was one of the few holds I had."

So, either defensive SUs make little difference to the game, and all our hours micromanagement to get them in the right place are wasted, or the game is not playable until patch 1.04 comes out.

The commitment is not the only big issue in my opinion. The fixing of SU not benefiting from forts/terrain will be VERY influential. Imagine a battle where the initial CV ratio is 540:530 (very typical for 43-45 beginning) and of your 540 who are in a level 3 fort, only 27 is contributed by a full Bn of 45 tigers.

The game is still playable imo, the game will just be rather different with the patch. Also, if they are really implementing more movement attrition this will mean a way slower German advance in 1941, as they have no railroads to use yet. I regard my current PBEM is a test to see how different play style for Germands and Soviets changes the dynamic of the 43-45 campaign as compered to BigA's and Oleg's first 14 turns, fully realizing that the German potential with the patch to hold out longer will rise.

I will post an AAR after Del and I finish a few more turns, but from the feel of the scenario I would say that BigA's decision to weaken the front line and put up 2 weak lines helps the Soviet player to do a lot of attacks, while simultaniously generating unsustainable losses for the Germans by exposing his troops to all those attacks.

[squatter]

Okay, yes the game is playable, maybe too strong a word, but this bug means that it's not just the first summer or first winter that's unbalanced, but the whole thing. Unless, as I said, the influence of SUs in defence is negligable, which as I said several posts earlier I hope is not the case.

The only sensible course of action for the German player playing this scenario before the patch comes out is to either disband all SUs, or attach everything that can be attached to divisions, and disband all artillery and LW flak SUs. Even then you're riding a bike with a flat tire instead of first fixing the tire, then getting back on the bike. So said Confucius.

It's fine if you're playing a 'test' game, but if you're half way through a serious campaign, the only thing you can do is stop and wait for the patch, which is what I've done, and havent played for weeks while waiting, hence my haunting these forums in frustration!

I agree that SUs getting defensive bonus will also have a big impact. Cracking fort lines, attacking swamps and cities will be made considerably more difficult I'd imagine. May have a significant impact on German players taking Leningrad in 41 for one thing.

Mynok: I honestly dont see why you're happy to be Oleg's punchbag in these circumstances!