"AAR Germany faces East", formerly not an AAR

[freeboy]

Well I snuck a unit in the Northern Port above the LAjke Piopus and behind his lines! He is now also at the regular, non winter bonus supply so those troops in the North are really in trouble.. too bad my troops are wasted! I should kill off the rest of the pocket agauisnt the lake and thats it. In the Finn front he keeps pounding away!
In Turkey he is reaching my defensive lines... he has lost several front running uniots that I surrounded and was able to eliminate.
 
In the Southern breakout sevear stress is being placed on my forces, an emergency call is going ot and many points are being stripped to repell the attacks andsave the limited troops from being totally overun before the mud arrives in a few short weeks.. I think this is t283.
The center is stable.. the North center is weak but reletivley stable as we both are drained there.
I am not seeing much mud on the map yet though.. sometimes the rain comes and the southern areas start to mud up before the cease fire... oh well.
If  can stop the hordes in the south, North of the Crimia, then things will have gone ok... I also pulled a 10 -15 unit group from the center.. not much to do there and they are wawaiting trains to take them to the North and South respectively.
 
What does the summer hold? I will withdraw and screw with his supply again.. dig in around Helsinki for the last stand.
Dig in in Bessarabia and odessa and the ports along the coast, Black Sea.
 
In the North.. even though we have hurt him, he just has TOO many troops to fight where we will end up at t290,mud... I withdrawel to at least Riga etc, taking advantage of the MArshes, with a secondary line in place behind them??? will be the most prudent. While my biggest drain was the North and center, my greatest concern is the South UGLY... 
 
Sorry I forgot my save game routine to help with the pix... and it take awhile to load so maybe next turn.. and remember you guys, watchout foramphibuious landing in the rear areas! WE are playing an OPEN game alowing much more fluid landing than the game designers suggest, as well as some other "helps" cheats?
 
 

[Zort]

ORIGINAL: freeboy
I do not know why my minor air units do not resurrect and I have thousands of 109s in the pool.. SO

This is a simple answer, the game doesn't allow you too. You can change it of course in the editor. But I think the reason way they don't is if the entire air unit is lost, the game designers are saying that that minor nation didn't have enough pilots or training centers to rebuild them.
It would be nice if there was a training option for your personnel (think I mentioned this before or was it Larry). Just because you have tons of equipment, it doesn't mean you have people who can use it. It takes a long time to get a good pilot out of the pipeline to a unit.

[Veers]

ORIGINAL: Zort
It would be nice if there was a training option for your personnel (think I mentioned this before or was it Larry). Just because you have tons of equipment, it doesn't mean you have people who can use it. It takes a long time to get a good pilot out of the pipeline to a unit.

Then a Mig-1 showing up in your replacements window should = trained pilot+airframe. That way there is no traiing option needed.

[freeboy]

That is the way I understand these things, a tank = a tank and crew a plane a plane and crew etc...
The scenario is off isn some substantial ways, BUt it is still fun.. I think some time with the editor will have anew Freedoy approved version out in the near future, after this game ends with Berlin lost or Saved[:@]

[Zort]

I sorta agree that is the thought process equipment ready = equip + trained crew. If that is the case then having "1000's" of 109's in the pool means that they are trained and ready but there is no new unit for them to go. So another option would be the ability to create units using the excess equipment.

My training example from before was based on seeing 1000's of bridging squads available to the soviets in FITE just sitting there waiting for a unit to lose people. So having just the personnel portion separate and giving the option for the player to designate a % of personnel to each type personnel squad (rifle, HRS, SMG etc) would be good. Tanks come as a crewed piece of equipment.

So using Freeboy's example but for the Soviets, they have several thousands of a/c sitting there not being used since they are not being shot down, what do you do with them?

[SMK-at-work]

Expanding training systems was not a trivial task, and also not within the OPERATIONAL scale of warfare.
 
However some things should be exchangable - as Zort mentioned - how much difference is there between an engineering squad and a HRS?  some weapons and equipment - fairly trivial when compared to the difference betwen an operational tank and a fighter.  so you should be able to move "production" between various types if infantry squads, but not between tanks and aircraft - at least not easily!
 
there's also a difference between replacements and reinforcements.  If you're not taking losses then that surplus would be used to form new units.  If you're taking massive losses then it becomes replacements to keep units up to strength. 
 
A good example is the RAF and LW during the BoB - the RAF is often noted as being worried when it's pilot reserves got down to 1.5 pilots per aircraft.  However the LW never got ABOVE 1.1 pilots per 109!!  Their replacement rate was very low - but they were very well trained.  The RAF was happy to take less training for more pilots, but still felt it didn't have enough numbers!

[freeboy]

You could play around with a manpower to equipment factor.. with pools of pilots and tank crews and generic land crews, infantry engeneers smg etc.. and then pick how you want them to build out, and then say three months later, more or less to suite, get your new "units"

for instance I am persuing a defence strategy in whatever scenario, I select fighter pilot training and .. build fighters.. and then add the required units etc.. same with a fite oriented red army, "make fifle sqwyuids or make exxess troops over X number convert to smg squids etc... this would probably need to be in TAOW4 though, I do not thing the engine is robust enough for this level of tweeking

[freeboy]

Note hte fisrt two maps show what you want to see, enemy cutoff and destroyed en mass

[freeboy]

some retreated most died in their places

[freeboy]

These two are not so happy, a massive breakout, and the trickle of troops into the flood, glad he only has a few more turns, hard choices now since this area I will give up anyway.. how best to preserve the units??

[freeboy]

the choice weather to allow the troops to die and withdraw, or reinforce, is a difficultone. I choose to reinforce due to: I would rather fight, I hate giving away troops .. I still have local superiority in quality.
Since the mud is coming I am attempting the rolling retreat rather than the "RUNAWAY" plan, we will see..
This shot shows the strongpoints in black and a continious line ..

[Karri]

Well?

[freeboy]

My lines finally ruptured and he is driving me away.. landing troops allong the black sea Northeast of Odessa! I took some personel time to greive the loss of my third pet put down in 8 months and juststarted replaying!
In the North my forces in Finland are strugling against too many troops, and I am almost ready for the massive redeply, a few more isolated reds in that pocket against the Pioupus lake.

I had joped to hold out till T 290 and the mud, BUT hed severely punced through! Now I am going to do the 1941 red army road bump defence! and stall them in the South... although he is deadstaoped in Turkey.

After the mud, the games last[X(] I look towards 44 with deap trepidation! I plan on taking hte t317 additional tank units rather than the boost in troops, and probably will be looking to do the Marshes, passes in the south and center defence and the three layer cake defence in the North, more to come after he sees it in the game!
I will get some screan shots out soon, after I see his next turn... thanks for the patients.

[freeboy]

the ugly truth! I need another 40k in troops... I am barely holding in Finland.. in the Pioupus region we have now destroyed the last pocket including a truck supply unit, boy I hope those guys do not get resurrected! anyone know?

Turkey is the only bright spot with th reds stopped.

In the center I am just trading losses for time waiting hte few turns left before mud.. look below for the disaster in the SOUTH!

[freeboy]

the next mud is sceduled at t 290, I know they can com late, But can they come early?

[Karri]

Not to my knowledge.

[freeboy]

My situation is dire.. I think Finn will hold out till teh mud, and I probably will attempt to stall in the South If the mud cam early it would save a few units.. but I will be withdrawing to poland for sure, I just have taken too many casualties to effectely cover the frontal lines!

[freeboy]

With a finnall withdrawel from Finnland, the troops are pulling out of the Baltic too.. only in Turkey we seeing some defence force, and only because the redsare not committed.. the entired front is shattered, only the mud will wlow the tide
ps sorry aboutthe delay, favorite pet died, new job broken toe hell of a month!

[freeboy]

Withdrawing to the defensive lines due to losses the once mighty Axis forses are also choosing to withdraw forces in Turkey.. as this side show is eating valuable troops that are being moved into the mountains defending the minor allies. when the mud ends, my opponenet will have 105 turns till the historic end to grind his way into Germany.. My armored forces are intact, the infantry on the other hand.. well things are looking grim.. If I could only devide my units and detribut fragmented armor it would help.. One vote for a code change to allow greater than 2000 units and or allow for dead units to not count toward the totall!

[Monkeys Brain]

ORIGINAL: freeboy

Withdrawing to the defensive lines due to losses the once mighty Axis forses are also choosing to withdraw forces in Turkey.. as this side show is eating valuable troops that are being moved into the mountains defending the minor allies. when the mud ends, my opponenet will have 105 turns till the historic end to grind his way into Germany.. My armored forces are intact, the infantry on the other hand.. well things are looking grim.. If I could only devide my units and detribut fragmented armor it would help.. One vote for a code change to allow greater than 2000 units and or allow for dead units to not count toward the totall!

Freeboy, excellent AAR!

Where you will put your defenses now? Will you try to fight him in Rumania, Balkans?
Plenty of good defensive terrain. How much HRS do you have?

Mario