Operation Barbarossa - Alpha AAR

[Balou]

elmo,

... We sent in two waves of bombers to pound the city defenders

Are there combat reports to show how much damage you did to a particular objective (eg Kiev) ? I figure out that sometimes more than one or two aerial attacks are required to soften a target.

[ComradeP]

Seems pretty gamey that the AI is holding back the Finnish Army with stacks with a defensive strength of 1. There doesn't seem to be a single division in that line.

I know it's hard to code and open to exploitation, but perhaps an offensive/defensive value trigger could be added to the hexes next to the no attack line, similar to the AV trigger in Manchukuo in WitP:AE so the Soviets have to defend it with more credible units than a few guys in a bunker.

[elmo3]

ORIGINAL: Balou

elmo,

Are there combat reports to show how much damage you did to a particular objective (eg Kiev) ? I figure out that sometimes more than one or two aerial attacks are required to soften a target.

Yes you can see bombing results like any other combat result.

[elmo3]

ORIGINAL: ComradeP

Seems pretty gamey that the AI is holding back the Finnish Army with stacks with a defensive strength of 1. There doesn't seem to be a single division in that line.

I know it's hard to code and open to exploitation, but perhaps an offensive/defensive value trigger could be added to the hexes next to the no attack line, similar to the AV trigger in Manchukuo in WitP:AE so the Soviets have to defend it with more credible units than a few guys in a bunker.

Something along those lines has been discussed. Not sure if any decision has been made yet.

[Shadrach]

Man this AAR's got me really psyched for this game... I can sit at work and stare at those screenshots forever, my coworkers think I'm being very concentrated [:D]

Keep it up please [&o]

[PyleDriver]

If you think this AAR is something that is consuming, wait until you have the tools in your hand. If your a WWII buff, your time is lost, you can't wait to play hooky from something you should be doing...

[elmo3]

ORIGINAL: stian

Man this AAR's got me really psyched for this game... I can sit at work and stare at those screenshots forever, my coworkers think I'm being very concentrated [:D]

Keep it up please [&o]

I'll keep it coming but there may not be a turn today. It's my day to do the taxes and I'm still not finished. I have also been tracking down a couple of potential bugs in the game in my free time.

[Neal_MLC]

So I should get the divorce paperwork going now to save my wife the time?

[cantona2]

elmo, how far do you intend to go with this AAR? Will you go as far as Taifun and the Soviet counter?

[wiking62]

ORIGINAL: Neal_MLC

So I should get the divorce paperwork going now to save my wife the time?

This game is going to cause a lot of strife with our wives.[;)]

[kfmiller41]

My wife already counts me as lost due to War in the pacific, this will just keep me gone for more years[:D]

[elmo3]

ORIGINAL: cantona2

elmo, how far do you intend to go with this AAR? Will you go as far as Taifun and the Soviet counter?

I'll keep it going as long as it is of value to Joel and company for AI testing. Of course any bugs encountered along the way add to the value. Looks like I'll be able to get part of the turn posted later tonight but maybe not all of it.

[elmo3]

As you will see shortly, Typhoon got an early start with shocking results.

[elmo3]

Elements of AGN continue to expand the bridgehead across the Luga.  We'll try to shift 4th Pz Grp armor and mot units across and into the relatively open country to the southwest of Leningrad while avoiding the swamps to the east.  Next turn I'll stretch the 16ht Army (off the bottom of the screen shot) lines so we can take more 4th Pz Grp out of the line an=d swing them west and then northeast.

[elmo3]

Historically Operation Typhoon started during the first week of October.  My Operation Typhoon started the week of September 11th.  As you can see from the screen shot below it's looking like it will have far greater success than the historical operation.  The 17th Pz Div has entered W. Moscow and 3rd Pz Div and 10th Mot Div are at the gates of Moscow as well.  My intention was just to punch another hole in the Soviet line east of Vyazma, which succeeded.  However as I sent advance units through the hole they encountered almost no resistance and just kept rolling.  They are badly overextended and will be short of supply next turn.  If we get a Mud turn they will really be hurting but it was a risk worth taking in my estimation.

[elmo3]

On the AGS front the Soviet AI must have decided Kiev was going to fall and teh best thing to do was withdraw to a better defensive line.  It left one division in Kiev which was easily swept aside.  We followed up with 1st Pz Grp breaking through the reformed line to the southeast of Kiev.  We'll have to decide whether to continue east to Kharkov or turn southeast toward Dnepropetrovsk in the upcoming turns.  Most likely it will be the latter in the hope of tyring to pocket Soviet forces along the Rumanian front.

[elmo3]

Not much progress on the Rumanian front compared to elsewhere this turn.  That is probably an understatement.   [:'(]  Note the partisan unit behind our lines.  I noticed a few of them cropping this turn and left this one alive long enough to put it in the screen shot.  It might also be a bug that it formed in the same hex with a Rumanian HQ.  Will have to check on that later.

[elmo3]

Losses through turn 13:

[paullus99]

Wow - that's a full-blooded thrust to Moscow. That kind of advance historically might just have caused the collapse of the government (maybe). Looks like the AI might need a bit of tweaking to protect the vital approaches.

[elmo3]

ORIGINAL: paullus99

Wow - that's a full-blooded thrust to Moscow. That kind of advance historically might just have caused the collapse of the government (maybe). Looks like the AI might need a bit of tweaking to protect the vital approaches.

Keep in mind that there are no victory conditions yet to encourage the AI to hold certain ground. Moscow is no different than any other city to the AI. We're still in alpha and there will be more improvements to the AI.