Help for the Axis player

[decaro]

I am having much more of a challenge as the Axis player than as the Allied; granted that going on the offensive is more difficult than the defensive, but w/all those German tanks, I thought I would make a better fight of it.

As the Axis, I always seem to run out of time during the scenarios: is it my fuel situation, moral, or should I use the "Move" command more than the "Attack" icon for distant objectives?

[FredSanford3]

These are not the "blitzkrieg" Germans that were so qualitatively superior to their opponents in the 39-42 era. The VG Divs suck, by and large. You have to be careful about just 'throwing' them into battle, they tend to be fragile. Even the 'elite' units often aren't high in experience or training due to the Germans having to rebuild just about from scratch after Normandy (nevermind Russia).

Managing fatigue is a major factor in keeping the momentum going. I use the rest command a lot more than the attack command in a typical scenario. Personally, I think the fatigue accumulation is a little too onerous, but you can still win if you focus on keeping troops as rested as you can.

Attack command is overrated IMO, unless it's a major attack on a position you HAVE to take. But US artillery is plentiful and deadly which makes it tough to attack into, especially in daylight, and especially with the VG. Since artillery caused something like 70-80% of battlefield casualties in WW2, I'd rather have good arty/bad tanks over bad arty/good tanks for that reason. But remember the basis of German tactics was infiltration/bypass/movement, and not 'break down the front door' full-on assaults.

[vj531]

For me the challenge with Axis side is where the game excels.

Sometimes I feel the allied arty is too powerful but when its doing the damage it does, I guess I would.

Franklin "The VG Divs suck, by and large." "VG" whats this?

[Capt Cliff]

ORIGINAL: sharper

For me the challenge with Axis side is where the game excels.

Sometimes I feel the allied arty is too powerful but when its doing the damage it does, I guess I would.

Franklin "The VG Divs suck, by and large." "VG" whats this?

Volks Grenadier Divisions. They are basically a militia unit with minimal training. Not a regular infantry unit. I'd assume they are ok for defense but stink on the attack.

Now US arty did recieve the "proximity fuse" rounds during the Bulge, Eisenhower released them for use. The air burst proximity round was devistating. It broke up the 12th SS PD's attack in Bullinger (sp) after they were foiled along Elsenborn.

[tukker]

Volks Grenadier Divisions. They are basically a militia unit with minimal training. Not a regular infantry unit.

Actually, the Volksgrenadier Divisions were regular infantry units. They are often confused with the Volkssturm, which was a militia. The VGD's were six-battalion Infantry Divisions, with fewer manpower but more firepower then their predecesserors, the Infanterie Divison 44 (which had six infantry battalions and füsilier battalion).
The VGD's weren't well suited for offensive actions because they were weak in terms of manpower, and lacked almost all forms of motorized transportation. Also, since the Germans were scraping the bottom of the manpower-barrel at this stage of the war, many (but by no means all) VGDs lacked training.


Pieter

[Capt Cliff]

ORIGINAL: tukker

Volks Grenadier Divisions. They are basically a militia unit with minimal training. Not a regular infantry unit.

Actually, the Volksgrenadier Divisions were regular infantry units. They are often confused with the Volkssturm, which was a militia. The VGD's were six-battalion Infantry Divisions, with fewer manpower but more firepower then their predecesserors, the Infanterie Divison 44 (which had six infantry battalions and füsilier battalion).
The VGD's weren't well suited for offensive actions because they were weak in terms of manpower, and lacked almost all forms of motorized transportation. Also, since the Germans were scraping the bottom of the manpower-barrel at this stage of the war, many (but by no means all) VGDs lacked training.


Pieter

I stand corrected but I really don't think the VGD units had all their TO&E flushed out. They lacked tactical expertice and more fit for static useage rather than a fire and maneuver environment. They probably didn't stand up well to U.S. arty attacks, didn't know enough to dig in and dig in deep, especially with the proximity fuse rounds released to counter the German Ardennes offensive. Lack of man power does not fair well against the Napoleonic axiom of morale is 3:1 on the battlefield. Just too many cowarers in a VGD than in a '44 regular unit, most likely due to a lack of experience NCO's. No Sargent Steiner's in the VGD's.

[decaro]

ORIGINAL: sharper

For me the challenge with Axis side is where the game excels ...

I was impressed when a lone Allied Enginner unit blew a bridge that I desperately needed to cross, but when an entire German command was held-up at an exit point by a single infantry glider unit, I thought it was just too much for the Axis player to bear.

[Capt Cliff]

ORIGINAL: Joe D.

ORIGINAL: sharper

For me the challenge with Axis side is where the game excels ...

I was impressed when a lone Allied Enginner unit blew a bridge that I desperately needed to cross, but when an entire German command was held-up at an exit point by a single infantry glider unit, I thought it was just too much for the Axis player to bear.

So a single foot light infantry unit held up armored units from exiting from the map?? Something wrong with that. No overrun chance? Basically you had to dismount and/or come out of road column to deal with this stray unit? AI or against a human player?

[decaro]

ORIGINAL: Capt Cliff

... So a single foot light infantry unit held up armored units from exiting from the map?? Something wrong with that. No overrun chance? Basically you had to dismount and/or come out of road column to deal with this stray unit? AI or against a human player?

vs. AI, but what difference would that make? IMO, it shouldn't happen in any circumstance or against any opponent.

[Capt Cliff]

ORIGINAL: Joe D.

ORIGINAL: Capt Cliff

... So a single foot light infantry unit held up armored units from exiting from the map?? Something wrong with that. No overrun chance? Basically you had to dismount and/or come out of road column to deal with this stray unit? AI or against a human player?

vs. AI, but what difference would that make? IMO, it shouldn't happen in any circumstance or against any opponent.

True, it might be a glitch on the map. Unit gets hung up there when the AI is playing. There should be a no move zone around exits so the AI won't do this. I assume a human player won't do this because is sucide for that unit.

[emerson]

Uhm... not sure what scenerio y'all playing, but on 17 December a 12 man engineer squad with a lucky hit on the lead tank stopped the exausted Kampfgruppe Peiper for the night east of the heights above Stavelot allowing the americans to move in more troops, just goes to show that one lucky guy with a bazooka can stop the spearhead of the German offensive in what would end up being a twelve hour delay. If there's a glitch in the handling of exit objectives then it needs fixed, but if what's described in the post above is just one lucky engineer with a bazooka then ymmv, but it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility that a squad can stop an entire armoured column with a disabling hit on the lead tank in such a channelized environment as the one depicted in this wargame.

[decaro]

ORIGINAL: emerson

Uhm... not sure what scenerio y'all playing, but on 17 December a 12 man engineer squad with a lucky hit on the lead tank stopped the exausted Kampfgruppe Peiper for the night east of the heights above Stavelot allowing the americans to move in more troops, just goes to show that one lucky guy with a bazooka can stop the spearhead of the German offensive in what would end up being a twelve hour delay ...

Well, it wasn't Stavelot and it was much longer than a day.

Delays, sure, but stopped cold indefinately for the remainder of the game, nein!