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Q-ball, there's some oddities in replacements.

Another element that seems to take forever is rocket artillery. I had Pavel look into that a while back and he goosed the code to improve it, but it is still slow.

I would think a likely explanation is that weapons systems are weighted so that a rifle squad will take priority in the production queue over a machine gun.  As long as you have any units waiting on the more weighted systems, they would get them before those less weighted systems are produced and distributed down the line.  That would mean refit is only going to help a unit get more rifle squads over another unit in need of the same. Once the need was filled across the board would production move to the next system in line.

ORIGINAL: Flaviusx

Q-ball, there's some oddities in replacements.

Another element that seems to take forever is rocket artillery. I had Pavel look into that a while back and he goosed the code to improve it, but it is still slow.

Is that true even for Rocket Artillery Divisions?

If so, maybe I shouldn't build those when they are available, and stick to "regular" artillery

Build the rocket artillery divisions, they pack a serious punch. (As do the rocket brigades, unlike the tube arty brigades.) But they will take some time to populate, alas.

Here's a way to get around this issue a bit: build rocket arty SUs, then disband them when divisions become available to flood the pool. These SUs are available before the end of 41.

The build cost of an element determines how likely it is to be built. This relates massively to build on demand items like artillery and infantry. I raised this recently as to why my Cavalry squads weren't building. The issue is that there's so many things that need building and only so many men to fit these requirements each turn!

Armaments are generic. I'd suggest bringing this MG/Mortar issue up with a post in the tech support area. Pavel should be able to answer whether it's WAD that MGs and mortars take longer to replace than other items, or if there's a bug or unintended results coming from the replacement system. I know at one point he put in code to make it harder for large artillery pieces to be replaced, but I don't remember anything that would slow down MGs and mortars, but that doesn't mean it may not be there.

5/7/42: Spring Attacks:

With the first clear weather in Months, the Wehrmacht went on the offensive.

One place was not a surprise; the Kursk "bulge" is an obvious spot to flatten out and potentially surround my units. I had reserves in this area in anticipation of attacks on the flanks (but not at the tip).

To my surprise, though, there was NOTHING around the Dnepr line, where I had alot of preparations.

Overall, I am very pleased, though, with this turn. The Germans inflicted some heavy losses on me, but nothing we can't handle. In counterattacking back, we pushed several MOBILE formations, exhanged 1:1 casualties, and knocked-out 139 Axis tanks. We also surrounded an SS Division pretty tightly; I don't think they can be relieved next turn. It could have been worse, actually; the Panzers to the south barely held against an attack where I had 2.5 to 1 advantage in unmodified CV.

This isn't your grandfather's Red Army!

5/7/42: Tactics

I wanted to show what I am attempting to do in terms of tactics this summer.

Generally, the Germans can knock-off any stack they want to at the front. Wehrmacht infantry is good for blasting holes. The more you can make Panzers fight, though, the better. Keeping that in mind, here is what I am attempting to set-up:

At the FRONT, I want just 1 or 2 "Regular" Rifle units. Even a 2-CV Rifle unit dug in has to be Deliberately attacked by Infantry. They will retreat, but that's OK.

Behind them, in rows 2 and 3, I keep the real troops; Guards Rifle, Cav Corps, and Tanks Corps. These are there for two reasons:

1. Further back, German Infantry won't have the MPs to Deliberate attack them. Thus, Panzers have to, which is expensive.
2. They are in position to counterattack
3. They are also digging the next line of trenches

I don't want any GUARDS right at the front, because they can get easily cut-off anyway. I may as well just have REGULARS up there, because I can easily replace those.

Wehrmacht:

If this turn is any indication, I will not have a problem this Summer. It would be different if Tarhunnas can get me beyond the trench lines and into the open, but this turn does not bode well for him. I pushed back at least 7 hexes of Panzers this turn, inflicting high losses. He can't afford to keep doing that, whereas I can easily replace my losses.

I think the Germans are a tougher side to play....you just get more resources as the Red Army. If you plan carefully and build the right stuff, you can have a good army in 1942.

I have 50 Guards Rifle units, all with 5 or 6 CV; about the same as most Wehrmacht Infantry Divisions right now. My Cav Corps are all 5-7 CV, and the Tank Corps are 4-5, and will probably climb. I am pumping-up the Tank and Cav with liberal attachments, but still.....these guys are no slouches.

I would be highly surprised if he really gets anywhere with the currently pretty serious German losses considering their experience whenever they're attacked and his much reduced CV's. Bleeding his attacking units white shouldn't be difficult at all.

ORIGINAL: ComradeP

I would be highly surprised if he really gets anywhere with the currently pretty serious German losses considering their experience whenever they're attacked and his much reduced CV's. Bleeding his attacking units white shouldn't be difficult at all.

His Panzer formations took a real beating in the Blizzard, not to mention the 3 Motorized Units that surrendered and had to be reconstituted. His current OOB is 1,100 tanks; I know we killed older types in the Blizzard that don't matter in 1943, but in 1942 you can definitely use IIIj/42s and IVe and IIf and all the other stuff that died.

I am wary of relaxing my guard; I think the result of this is that Tarhunnas will call it off until June, build up more tank strength, and come when it's 100% Clear, and he can keep some momentum going.

I think I can prevent a real mobile 1942. I hope I don't eat those words, but I have the mobile reserves to do that.

With his current CV's, getting 1:1>2:1 odds shouldn't be too difficult.

I think you're right to keep up your guard. A hopelessly outclassed German side can still achieve local superiority in 42, good enough to break a deep line of forts and encircle a good quantity of Russians. That said, from the last stats you posted and the healthy CVs you state, I'd be looking to 'hit him where he ain't' again this summer.

Q-ball, he saw your carpet down south and ignored it. No surprise at all. Instead, he hit the "weak" part of your line, and your reserves dogpiled on him.

This is a textbook case why I dislike carpets and prefer defense in depth. You stand a much greater chance of luring the German into a deceptively weak deployment, hitting him, and doing a good deal more hurt to him than a too obvious carpet.

And if he does hit your carpet and busts through it, with no reserves to counter, that too is disastrous.

It's all about the reserves, baby.

One thing I might do slightly differently: don't leave the mobile reserves in the front line after counterattacking. Move them back to the rear. Rinse and repeat. Let him expend himself on your infantry line. You can even set some of the mobile units to reserve if you feel frisky, but that can leave them with low MPs on your own movement phase.

Your tank corps will improve over the summer. There's a big TOE upgrade in July. Properly managed, they can hit double digit CVs by September.

A couple things I have been thinking about in regards to this AAR and things in general.

First, I think Q-Ball deserves a ton of credit for hanging in after a nasty 1941. Many players would have said "good game" and hung it up. On top of that, he took advantage of many German mistakes and just absolutely hammered him over the winter.

One of the things that excited me about this AAR was the campaign in general was between two experienced quality players and you got to see both sides to a point. The community has seen far too many games where more often than not, the Russians just wind up kicking the crap out of the Germans with a handful of games (mainly Pelton) kicking the crap out of the Russians to the point that they quit. This game showed a lot of promise going into 1942 to follow a more historical "the Germans launch a limited offensive against a still weak Russian".

I have no clue what Tarhunnas plans on doing (he hasn't posted), but at this point, I think I have changed my mind in that I think it is going to be either trench warfare with a turtled German or the Germans get the crap kicked out of them trying to attack. In short, I think this game is about toast for the Germans, despite the massive amount of damage they tossed out in 1941. It goes to show that no matter what you did in 1941, you have to survive the winter relatively intact and that didn't happen. I hope I am wrong on that, but..

The game in general seems to have a very narrow knife edge where it tips one way or the other quite rapidly and more or less stays that way when in fact the eastern front campaign was a sea-saw affair over a good period of time. Many other games have that type of feel to them, but this one has not demonstrated it in most cases. Hopefully that will change, but until then, I don't know.

It's a long ways to Berlin, Klydon.

If Tarhunnas turtles, the game will stalemate for probably the rest of 1942, barring a brainfart on one side or the other. (This can happen, it's happened in this game, and I just saw it happen the Ketza-76mm game. You never can tell when someone will just up and goof.)

The Red Army has good counterattacking capability right now, but hasn't got the chops to take on the Germans directly on the offense, not until the rifle corps and arty divisions come in numbers. It's one thing to catch the panzers on the open when they are tired out, it's quite another to directly assault heavily entrenched Axis forces.

I agree with Klydon the game between these 2 players has been a joy to read.

The big thing that jumps off the page to me is the resilience of the Soviet army. There was some nasty hits dished out by the Axis but its been shown that the Soviets can take a severe beating and still be strong as time goes by.

It also shows that as the Axis you cannot rest on your laurels after a good summer campaign.

Actually, I think the problem in this game was precisely the lack of resting on laurels. The Germans pushed too hard, too far, threw away forces unnecessarily, and didn't straighten out their front and make preparations for the winter. Tarhunnas had a brilliant summer campaign but didn't make the right transition in the late autumn.

ORIGINAL: Flaviusx

Actually, I think the problem in this game was precisely the lack of resting on laurels. The Germans pushed too hard, too far, threw away forces unnecessarily, and didn't straighten out their front and make preparations for the winter. Tarhunnas had a brilliant summer campaign but didn't make the right transition in the late autumn.

Perhaps my definition is different. I meant you cannot get complacent and not prepare even when you think your opponent may be weak.

Tarhunnas does not appear to be the type of player to turtle, but at this point, it is probably his best move.

ORIGINAL: Flaviusx
Actually, I think the problem in this game was precisely the lack of resting on laurels. The Germans pushed too hard, too far, threw away forces unnecessarily, and didn't straighten out their front and make preparations for the winter. Tarhunnas had a brilliant summer campaign but didn't make the right transition in the late autumn.

I think we all need to praise the revisions made to the game engine along all 1.04.x beta patches. If this game had been played in 1.03 or 1.02, after the severe beating the Axis took during winter - exactly because of what Flavius just pointed out - we wouldn't have seen nothing like the quite credible - though misguided - show Tarhunnas set up in front of Kharkov. Even ignoring blizzard effects - as Tarhunnas basically did - his forces still pack some punch.