Matrix Games Forums

Contrary to myth, the winter of 1812-1813, so damaging to Napoleon's Grand Armee, was (according to Wikipedia) actually milder than average for Russia. However, the conditions in 1941-42 were exceptionally frigid, the cruelest winter of the German war. Is this event- the Winter of '41- reflected in the game or are conditions randomly determined based on average historical data? If the latter, it would seem advantageous to the German during the 1st year.

Yes

first year Blizzard is nasty, snow is going to be what you wish for, Mud will hurt you almost as bad as Blizzard

plus, Blizzard is party time for the Su, Mud hurts the SU as much as the Axis, but it can still be of great help when it hits

(supply lines are murder during Mud)

[font="compatilfact lt regular"]Planning for the weather.[/font]
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[font="compatilfact lt regular"]Is there a screen, that allows players to see what the weather will be like in upcoming turns?   5 turns in advance is probably enough for planning purposes.[/font]
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[font="compatilfact lt regular"]Does the map change colour as the weather or the season changes?[/font]
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[font="compatilfact lt regular"]Is there an option for the player to choose:  Historical weather or Variable weather?[/font]
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Yes, yes and yes...

Is there a screen, that allows players to see what the weather will be like in upcoming turns? 5 turns in advance is probably enough for planning purposes.

5 turns = 35 days. Even today you can't get exact weather forecast for such long period.

There is a screen in game which tells current weather and icing in each of 4 weather zones. Also there is a table which could help you to understand what weather could be expected.

Are we talking about the classic four: Clear, Rain, Winter and Blizzard or are there more types of weather?

Well our rain is mud turns, otherwise yes...

Yes, we have clear, mud, snow, blizzard, but we also have ice levels, from 0-10. Each weather zone has an ice level. Ice can be from 0 to 10. Ice goes up by 4 in Blizzard, 1 in Snow, goes down by 1 in Rain and down by 3 in Clear. It also goes down 1 automatically each turn from May 1 - September 30. Ice level 1-2 is Loose Ice, 3-4 is Thin Ice, and 5+ is Frozen. Movement/supply transit is effected by the ice level. We also have 3 types of river(small lake) hex sides, Minor, Major and Impassable (unless frozen).

5 turns = 35 days. Even today you can't get exact weather forecast for such long period.

There is a screen in game which tells current weather and icing in each of 4 weather zones. Also there is a table which could help you to understand what weather could be expected.

One turn would be enough. In turn based games the player going first has a huge advantage because he knows the weather his opponent will have but not vice-versa. On a clear turn the German knows the Russian will also have a clear turn but the Russian doesn't know what the German will have next. Were the German weathermen that much better? [8|]

If the weather came from the West, then yes, the German weathermen were good. If the weather came from the East, then the Russian weathermen were much better.

The Allies had much better weather forecasting over the Atlantic and Europe, because weather moves West to East over that part of the world. Simple geography helps predicting weather.

Xian

You got it spot on and it is mentioned in several books if its from the East in winter the Sviets should have better info and from the West the Germans . However I think as usual the Germans were prettgood at this sort of thing generally.

I wouldlike to see variable weather ( option ) with one severe winter in a five year period. It should not be known in advance that 41-42 will be terrible

Cav

ORIGINAL: cavalry

Xian

You got it spot on and it is mentioned in several books if its from the East in winter the Sviets should have better info and from the West the Germans . However I think as usual the Germans were prettgood at this sort of thing generally.

I wouldlike to see variable weather ( option ) with one severe winter in a five year period. It should not be known in advance that 41-42 will be terrible

Cav

While the Winter of 1941 -1942 was more severe than the historical average, it was German unpreparedness for ANY Russian winter in 1941 that caused them most of their problems. The German High Command made the decision to give priority to shipping ammunition and fuel to the front over winter gear in an attempt to conclude Operation Barbarossa before the winter set in. This gamble failed and the German Army suffered the consequence.

It is obvious that if we added a "winter preparedness" option the Germans would weather (pun intended) the Soviet Winter Counteroffensive much better. What's the point of that? Would anyone really want a boring 1914 style winter where the two armies simply sat staring at each other and digging trenches over the nail biter battle we have now where the German Army is literally fighting for its life? I think not.

What about Finnish troops? I remember they suffered as badly as the Germans when the first winter came in the old DOS-era War in Russia, which wasn't historically accurate. Unlike Wehrmacht, the Finns were well-prepared for winter conditions in 1941. Are such differences modelled in War in the East? Or are all the Axis troops treated in the same way?

Looking forward to the game. [:)]

Yes, Finns and the German Mountain Divisions do not suffer nearly as much as the average unit.

Trey

ORIGINAL: PJJ

What about Finnish troops? I remember they suffered as badly as the Germans when the first winter came in the old DOS-era War in Russia, which wasn't historically accurate. Unlike Wehrmacht, the Finns were well-prepared for winter conditions in 1941. Are such differences modelled in War in the East? Or are all the Axis troops treated in the same way?

Looking forward to the game. [:)]

Great, now I'm even more excited about WitE! [:)]

Question regarding variable weather; will it be the same over the course of the game (that is, the same chances for Blizzard every winter), or is there a bonus making the first winter extremely hard (that is, is there some kind of bonus to the random roll)?

ORIGINAL: sven6345789

Question regarding variable weather; will it be the same over the course of the game (that is, the same chances for Blizzard every winter), or is there a bonus making the first winter extremely hard (that is, is there some kind of bonus to the random roll)?

When you first start a game, there is a game option that you can select for random weather. If you don't select this, then the weather will be historical in each of the weather zones for the entire war with the first year winter being more blizzard than the norm. Even with random on the first winter will be more severe.

If you select random weather, then there are chances for mud in the summer or winter, chances of snow rather than blizzard or vice versa. While you won't have clear weather in the middle of winter, you won't see snow in July either. Weather can be different in each of the weather zonzes too.

The chances for weather each turn in each zone with random on is a die roll that is then compared to a weather chart.