Matrix Games Forums

Hi,

Having finally purchased WITE and played through the first 5 turns of "Road to Leningrad" following the excellent "Operational Boot Camp" tutorial and actually completing the scenario I have a reasonable understanding of the mechanics; however, given the scale of the game I have a few initial questions that I am having some difficulty locating answers for in the manual:

1-In the scenario I am given the single FBD unit to control for repairing rail lines of my choice. It works fine for the first time I use it but after the initial repairs it runs out of supplies and for the life of me cannot figure out how to get it resupplied so it can keep doing its job.

2-While I had no issue with punching through Soviet lines and forming pockets (including breaking down exploitation units to regiments to assist in encirclement) I am sort of unsure of the mechanics where routed units manage to slip the net. Also along the lines of routed units I noticed that in some cases towards the late stages of the scenario these routed units would run west as opposed to east forcing me to do some additional micromanagement of the rear areas. Ditto airfields that when encountered at the eastern edge of the map would displace west to my further annoyance [:'(].

3-I must have missed something with regard to holding cities. I noticed that upon completion of the scenario my score was calculated based solely on the number of units/men etc destroyed and no score for any of the objectives captured along the way. Is there a mechanic I missed for claiming a city/objective location? I did station either a security unit or freed-up combat unit in each location.

4-What is the recommended strategy for moving the HHQ's and air support forward? I did ok with this aspect but did frequently find myself with "out of range messages" when I needed air support.

Thanks for any clarification of the above. It was quite satisfying to "win" the scenario and it was not easy given the grind required up in Leningrad. I got there by turn 7 and cut the links to the east by turn 9 and it really took the rest of the turns just to clear the place out while chewing up a lot of my units (casualties were negligable to that poit then blammo...urban combat). When I try the grand campaign I imagine the dilemna faced with taking Leningrad while trying to assault Moscow turns into a nightmare!

ORIGINAL: TedG
1-In the scenario I am given the single FBD unit to control for repairing rail lines of my choice. It works fine for the first time I use it but after the initial repairs it runs out of supplies and for the life of me cannot figure out how to get it resupplied so it can keep doing its job.

I'm not sure what you mean, for the first hex it works then doesn't or for the next turn it doesn't work.
There sometimes can be a glitch...ie a game mechanic... that I noticed that I'm unable to lay track on a certain line for a turn but that never happens in the beginning for me.

ORIGINAL: TedG
2-While I had no issue with punching through Soviet lines and forming pockets (including breaking down exploitation units to regiments to assist in encirclement) I am sort of unsure of the mechanics where routed units manage to slip the net. Also along the lines of routed units I noticed that in some cases towards the late stages of the scenario these routed units would run west as opposed to east forcing me to do some additional micromanagement of the rear areas. Ditto airfields that when encountered at the eastern edge of the map would displace west to my further annoyance [:'(].

Units encircled that turn will rout out of the pockets...a running mass of men disorganized slipping the net otherwise. I know its not pretty but just keep in mind everything is 'happening' all at once during the week even if its a UGOIGO system. You must keep them encircled for a full turn then attack them. Then they surrender to you. As far as where they rout to, they tend to go closer to their higher headquarters.

ORIGINAL: TedG
3-I must have missed something with regard to holding cities. I noticed that upon completion of the scenario my score was calculated based solely on the number of units/men etc destroyed and no score for any of the objectives captured along the way. Is there a mechanic I missed for claiming a city/objective location? I did station either a security unit or freed-up combat unit in each location.

Sorry I've never been 'did I win' kind of guy and never looked at scores [&:]

ORIGINAL: TedG
4-What is the recommended strategy for moving the HHQ's and air support forward? I did ok with this aspect but did frequently find myself with "out of range messages" when I needed air support.

As far has Corp HQ I keep them within 3-4 hexes if not right with the frontline troops. Army HQ's tend to stay at least 10-20 hexes behind the lines and centered to help Corp with supply support.

As far as AS goes, keep them as close to the lines as possible at the end of a turn. Then the next turn they have their full movement % to assist you with ground support. If you move them forward and then try and use them they will have run out of their movement % faster to simulate the relocation of the airbase and all the equipment, men, parts and fuel.

Thank you Carnage...here are a couple of clarifications:

-With regard to the FBD I was able to repair the expected 3 hexes worth of rail only during the first turn. After this the FBD showed zero supply level and while able to move could not repair anything. While the speed of rail repairs cannot hope to keep up with the advance it would cause a problem if this behavior occurs during the larger scenarios.

-With regard to routing versus surrender I need to keep them pinned for the full turn rather than take them in the same turn?

-With regard to the VP points I am much the same as you in not really caring about "scores", however, I am curious about the mechanic involved as I thought I held all the objectives involved.

Cheers for the answers and look forward to more. Great game and after a few more runs with the smaller scenarios will give the grand campaign a shot.