Case White PBEM: RocketMan-Poland vs. CYORESS1-Axis : Polish Thread

[Keunert]

i think i' ve seen you position artillery units without support in a line, protected by rivers only. north and northwest of lodz as an example.
aren't they easily lost with this tactic?

i rarely use polish artillery units, they are always in the second line, retreating most of the time. so they really have not much use and seldom get to bombard the attacker.
so far i treated them like family jewels. but i don't know how to make good use of them. should i sacrifice them rather to slow down the germans?

[RocketMan]

ORIGINAL: Alan Sharif

Very enjoyable to read and making me want to play this title again. So many games, so little time

Thanks. And I know about having too little time to play some of the great games that have come out lately. I bought WitE and haven't even had a chance to play it yet!

[RocketMan]

ORIGINAL: Keunert

i think i' ve seen you position artillery units without support in a line, protected by rivers only. north and northwest of lodz as an example.
aren't they easily lost with this tactic?

i rarely use polish artillery units, they are always in the second line, retreating most of the time. so they really have not much use and seldom get to bombard the attacker.
so far i treated them like family jewels. but i don't know how to make good use of them. should i sacrifice them rather to slow down the germans?

In an ideal situation artillery should be positioned behind the first line of defense, but the Polish situation is far from ideal. I am putting some artillery units in the front line because I don't have enough units to form one full line, much less one full line backed up by artillery. In Case Yellow, the Allies do have enough units to do that and in my other PBEM game of Case Yellow, my opponent has used that tactic to great effect.

On the defense, artillery should ideally be used to bombard forward enemy units to cause some causalities and reduce a units readiness and integrity. However, if placed properly, they can put up a credible defense. For instance, last turn in my line south of the Vistula between Thorn and Bromberg I had an artillery unit (the Pomorze Art) in the front line in heavy forest. My opponent attacked it three times, first with a Panzer unit, then with an airstrike (dive bombers) and then with another Panzer unit as shown in the screenshot below. The unit not only survived, but held it's ground with only 100 infantry casualties total.

[Keunert]

thanks for your help.

another question: why is building a consistent line that important? the germans are able to penetrate it easily.
sometimes i rather build some obstacles that will hold out some turns instead of a weak line.
but your strategy plays out well.

[oldspec4]

I'm currently playing Case Yellow as the Brits/French; and have been using artillery behind the front line in field terrain for better attacking stats (or so I thought).

After reading your AAR, I'm thinking I should have placed artillery in light/heavy forest, if possible, for the defensive benefit vs. less offensive power . The AI seems to blast my artillery in fields w/ airstrikes/artillery. As a result, I've lost much of my artillery offensive power anyway.

[RocketMan]

ORIGINAL: Keunert

thanks for your help.

another question: why is building a consistent line that important? the germans are able to penetrate it easily.
sometimes i rather build some obstacles that will hold out some turns instead of a weak line.
but your strategy plays out well.

A continuous line is not critical. If you look back at my screenshots from prior turns you will see in some areas I only have units spaced a few hexes apart to slow down an advance. In other areas I try to form a continuous line to force the Germans to attack and use up APs, which slows them down.

I have found that leaving units to be surrounded does little to slow the Germans down. They just isolate them, bombard them with artillery and then attack, causing the units to surrender when they can't retreat. I would rather have my units retreat to fight another day then die surrounded.

[RocketMan]

ORIGINAL: oldspec4

I'm currently playing Case Yellow as the Brits/French; and have been using artillery behind the front line in field terrain for better attacking stats (or so I thought).

After reading your AAR, I'm thinking I should have placed artillery in light/heavy forest, if possible, for the defensive benefit vs. less offensive power . The AI seems to blast my artillery in fields w/ airstrikes/artillery. As a result, I've lost much of my artillery offensive power anyway.

It doesn't matter where artillery attack from, only where they attack into, or where they are when they are attacked. The terrain they occupy has no effect on their bombardment ability. If at all possible, you should keep your artillery in forest/city terrain to protect them from air strikes, but in a lot of cases that isn't practical.

[RocketMan]

Turn 4 - Messages.

Got a new regiment in Poznan. There is no way it will be able to escape at this point, so it will just die in place.

Losses have spiked up as predicted. 2% for the Germans and 13% for the Poles.

And moving Juliusz Rommel to the front lines seems to have cured him of his desire to have all units die in place now that he would share that fate himself.

[RocketMan]

Turn 4 - Start - Northeast.

I will straighten my line this turn but hold along the Bobr and Narew rivers for now. Between the start of the Bobr river and Grondo I will fall back a little. The unit in Grondo will hold in place.

[RocketMan]

Turn 4 - Start - North.

My line in this sector was broken this turn so I will pull back and for a new one as shown.

[RocketMan]

Turn 4 - Start - Northwest.

Any units still able will try to flee. The rest will die in place.

[RocketMan]

Turn 4 - Start - West

I will pull back and form a new line as shown. The units in Poznan will die in place.

[RocketMan]

Turn 4 - Start - West Along the Warta River

I will bombard and then attack the exposed engineer unit as shown, blow bridges and complete the line along the Warta river.

[oldspec4]

ORIGINAL: RocketMan

ORIGINAL: oldspec4

I'm currently playing Case Yellow as the Brits/French; and have been using artillery behind the front line in field terrain for better attacking stats (or so I thought).

After reading your AAR, I'm thinking I should have placed artillery in light/heavy forest, if possible, for the defensive benefit vs. less offensive power . The AI seems to blast my artillery in fields w/ airstrikes/artillery. As a result, I've lost much of my artillery offensive power anyway.

It doesn't matter where artillery attack from, only where they attack into, or where they are when they are attacked. The terrain they occupy has no effect on their bombardment ability. If at all possible, you should keep your artillery in forest/city terrain to protect them from air strikes, but in a lot of cases that isn't practical.

Ok, thanks for clarifying the Landscape Statistics chart for each terrain hex..think I now understand the attack/defense modifiers.

[RocketMan]

Turn 4 Start - South - Lodz to Krakow.

This whole area is a mess with my lines penetrated in multiple places. Not surprising of course, but I still need to build some kind of defensive line in the area shown from the units available. I don't know if I will be able to do it though.

[RocketMan]

Turn 4 Start - Southeast.

Not enough units in this area to form a good line, so the units in this area will start trading ground for time by falling back.

[RocketMan]

And that completes the tour of the front lines at the start of turn 4. Next up will be the situation at the end of turn 4. Will the Poles be able to form new defensive lines to keep back the German invaders? Keep your eye on this thread to find out!

[gerones]

ORIGINAL: RocketMan

ORIGINAL: RedCharlie65

Very much enjoying this.[:)]

I'm glad at least one person is reading it!

As I´m trying to familiarize with the game I also follow this thread almost every day![:)]

[RocketMan]

One more picture, losses at the start of turn 4. Polish losses damn near doubled this turn with surrounded units being destroyed. Note that German losses did not spike as well, which shows the futility of allowing units to be surrounded to try and slow the Germans down.

[RocketMan]

Oh and one more. Gdynia finally fell and a couple of regiments of the 27th Infantry Division are still holding out, but I doubt they will survive next turn.