Frustrating

[bodmerm]

This GC 1941 is just a frustrating experience for an axis player, at least for me against the AI. Not only BLizzard destroys a game which lasted forever to reach winter 1941. Also that the Soviets immediately get stacks of 3 fully equipped divisions all over the place make me feel bad. Any thoughts?

[gids]

those stacks are most of the time easily breakable with a good attack and support,and you need a good panzers in reserve to breakthrough,you dont expect a game like 1941 for 5 years do you now,and the blizzard effects are much improved,try playing a vanilla game with first version and the n try again with latest i promise you ,youl see different on the word"hard",atm its still difficult but now the germans can keep a more or less cohesive frontline if the retreat every turn 1 or 2 hexes

[Perturabo]

I'm pretty sure that Hitler was pretty frustrated too when he didn't take Moscow before the Winter[;)].

[MilRevKo]

I started to prepare for winter in October, I set up where I wanted to have my lines, building forts and puting units in to reserve/static mode. I really do not know what to expect for a full winter. It is the first turn of 1942 and I think there has been 8 stright turns of blizard.

I read that even if the German can take Moscow in 1941 they will not be able to hold it.

[PeeDeeAitch]

Against the AI blizzard is one thing, but learning what to do in terms of saving units can help later on. I would suggest reading the "blizzard preparation" in the War room as these will help. However, nothing really helps like playing a few times to get it.

The retreats and losses against the AI, with proper preparation and defenses, will never be as severe as against a human. Moscow can be held (there are plenty of good lvl 4 towns around it too), and the far south also has some good sources of defense. My problem has always been the "big empty" in the center of the map, south of Moscow, but thankfully there is a lot of room to retreat there.

Don't dispair, bod, this game takes a large (and by large I mean huge) investment of time and play to get. I am still just a pup and I have played since the day it was released - read my AAR to see that winter is killing me too! However, with time you can get how to live through the winter.

As for the huge stacks in 1941, all I can say is read the opening turn moves in the War Room, and learn to go for broke as the Axis - doing this will keep the AI (and a human) on their heels and those carpets and stacks will not seem so bad...until winter!

[bodmerm]

Thanks guys, i keep going on and hope I wiöö survive. Its January 1942...

[pat.casey]

The latest patch (and the current beta patch) are reducing the impact of the first blizzard pretty significantly, so its evident the developers sort of agree with you. Based on the patch notes though, the blizzard is still going to be very challenging for an axis player, but probably not the near impossibility it was in release.

If you're playing release, there really isn't much you can do in my experience except fall back faster than the russians can attack. If you can keep your units in cities/towns for the most part and not allow the russians too many deliberate attacks, then you can salvage a chunk of your army at the expense of giving up a lot of territory.