Campaign AAR - Russian Steel

[Alexandra]

I thought I'd get back into the AAR business with the largest non MC Hope you'll all enjoy my travails defending the Motherland.

All I've done so far is buy my core, which is listed here:

1 Soviet HQ

Armor:

1 Plt BT-7 (5 tanks)
1 Plt OT-134 (3 tanks)
1 Plt T-26 m40 (3 tanks)
1 Plt T-28e (3 tanks)
1 Plt T-34/41 (3 tanks)

Now, I know what you're all asking - why not just T-34s?? Well, firstly, I love flame tanks, so had to have 1 Plt of them And, the -34 was not that prevalent when the Germans crossed the border, specially the /41, and the /40s were rarity kills. And, I like the variety, and can slowly upgrade them.

Non Armor:

1 SPAA Plt 4xGaz Niki trucks with .50s. (I don't expect many plane kills with these, but they can eat infantry)

2 Plt 12.7mm HMG (this gives me 6 of them. They are nasty, and are for tracks, scout cars, etc. I was hoping for ATG teams, too, but they must not have been available in June '41)

1 Conscript Company. (Yes, conscripts!! Who hoo!! 10 squads - 3 3 sqd platoons and a HQ Squad. Why them? Oh, a couple reasons. 1. Realism 2. Never used them before. 3. I can upgrade them and make a cool custom Infanry element )

1 Recon Company of 4 platoons:

1 Armored Car platoon of 6 BA-20s.
1 Motorcyle Platoon (3 squads)
1 Platoon of 6 Recon teams (I think they may become ATR teams in time)
1 Platoon of 3 Prime Movers. (Why them?? Got me! They are part of the platoon - can you say SPA or tanks later anyone )

Comments are welcome.

AAR for battle one at Dubno soon!!!

Alex

[Alexandra]

I finished the first battle. Here's the AAR:

Campaign AAR - Russian Steel

Battle One:

Date: June 25, 1941
Time: 1200
Location: Dubno, USSR

Mission: My task force must aid the defenders of the town of Dubno. The enemy has cracked one defense line and is pushing to the second, and are staging from two villages - Rovno and Lutsk - that have already fallen. We need to hold the enemy advance.

Field: The battlefield is a mixure of Urban and Country, with Dubno being urban of course. The terrain is battle scarred, and there is already some smoke upon it. An area HQ and a Collective Farm, as well as the secondary defense line, are to the rear.

Auxilary Forces: The Dubno area is defended by the following units, in addition to my TF. 1 FO, 1 82mm Mortar Platoon, 1 50mm Mortar Section, 1 Plt KV-2, 7 T-28m38, 1 Plt 107mm mortars, 3 reinforced infantry platoons, 6 Conscript Platoons, 1 Ammo Dump, 1 CP, 1 Btry 75mm Arty, 1 Rifle Company, 4 MGs, 4 ATGs, 2 AA guns, and a T-35.

Plan: I'll use my own Recon Company and Conscript Company to bolster the second line, and use the rest of the TF as a fire brigade. Or so I hoped. However, the deploy lines are terrible, and so I'll have to move them overland to where I want them - the fortunes of war open up with a strike!

Turn One:

We get hit with some Arty pre battle. While the units hit with it sort themselves out, we order all infantry to hold fire until the enemy is 150 to 200 yards away. I don't want them to be able to use long range tank fire to knock out infantry spotted at a distance. Let them come in close. Reserve units and my TF move forward, while I withdraw my 3 prime movers - no need to lose them in this fight, and they have no use in a defense.

Enemy infantry creeps forward, but our men hold thier fire as ordered, and wait.

Turn Two:

We continue to wait and advance the reserves. I also send my cycle platoon to sieze a hill in front of the secondary line.

The enemy uses arty to screen his advance and infantry fighting begins.

Turn Three:

Our infantry fight back and kill an enemy recon team. My cyclists take the hill and kill off an enemy ATR team that was on it.

The enemy advances recklessly and gets stopped in his tracks on the ground. We kill a recon team and knock out more infantry than we lose. However, the enemy hits us hard with arty and aircraft. We take suprression and lose a few men, a wagon, and one of my flame tanks! Argh!!

Turn Four:

We keep fighting with enemy infantry in Dubno, both sides taking losses in the fray. We lose a wagon, and the enemy loses a MG team. Our cyclists clear two more ATR teams off of the hill. Enemy recon is pushing in from the north, near the second line of defense.

The enemy presses in under arty cover, but it's hurting him as much has helping him. He's being stopped cold and loses another recon team. However, yet another bombing aircraft comes in and it looks as if it's killed 2 of my HMG teams.

Turn Five:

Infantry fighting continues and while taking losses we are holding our own! We knock out a MG team and a recon team and drive back some squads, though enemy flampanzers are in Dubno. I put a pair of T-28s in ambush postions for the panzers, though the third -28 breaks down! My Cyclists come off the hill, probing towards the village of Rovno and find and take out an ATG. To the north, we use scout cars and MG fire to rake enemy infantry and knock our 2 more recon patrols.

The German attack presses on but achivees only limited success as both sides keep taking losses. Enemy Arty kills an enemy panzer, but 3 take 3 more airstrkes, and lose a tank to one. Large enemy recon forces are coming in from the north. I lose a scout car to enemy scout cars.

Turn Six:

We keep fighting, though, mostly rallying, and knock out two more recon patrols and a squad in the town. We also get a T-35 stuck in the mud. My clyclists knock out another ATR team, and enter Rovno, where they find and wipe out a 50mm mortar crew. To the north, I have a trio of tanks advancing in to help. My cars withdraw, one more being knocked out.

Lots and lots more arty hit us, as well as 5 more passes by A/C. While the planes don't do anything, they,
we've now taken 16 airstrikes - and that and the arty is, IMO, all that's giving the enemy a chance.

In the fighting, we keep holding our own, doing a good job of defending with what we can keep unsuppressed. The enemy recon elements press in from the north, and drive towards the hill I took earlier. Overall, though, the ground fighting is in our favor, casualities are even, perhaps slightly higher to them, and I can deal with that. However, now I have Spec Ops Squads at the Area HQ - I'm not really suprised at all by that though...

We have mini crisis' to the north, with the German recon company, and the south, where a Plt of Mk IIs is causing problems, but I have local armor for both.

Turn Seven:

In Dubno, the fighting slows, as most of my forces are disorganized. But we retake city center and a T-34 kills a flampanzer. We also kill off another recon patrol. On the south we stabilize things a little, where we kill a rifle squad and 2 Mk IIs, but lose a T-26 and a squad. I feel good there, though, as the enemy has 3 tanks to my 4, and his infantry is pinned between multiple defending groups. My cyclists press towards Lutsk where they discover a Stug Assault gun. To the north, my tanks start to engage enemy armored cars and knock out one of them. My own ACs duck and hide, and once the enemy ones are dead, they can hit the German motorcyclists. The Spec Ops squad takes heavy losses from direct fire 107mm mortar shells.

The enemy probes slowly forward, pressuring the town center. As the fighting continues, both sides lose men. We lose 2 squads, they lose 1 and a third Mk II. Panzers are pressing in from the north, to back up the recon company. We have to hold there, with the tanks that are already there. It could get tough. Another strafing run hits an ATG, but to no real effect.

Turn Eight:

In parts of the city we go onto the attack while in others we defend, as the battle becomes more fluid. We kill an enemy squad and a MG team. An enemy recon team is destroyed near town center. In other fighting in the area, we kill 2 squads and another recon team, retaking a key road. Along the south, we kill a fourth Mk II. Our motorcycle probe Lutsk, kill an ATR team and find an ATG position. Along the north, we kill a scout car and one of the Mk IIIs that are following the recon elements. One of our tanks loses it's main gun.

In the city itself we're holding quite well and an enemy squad and 2 MG teams are killed. On the north flank the Germans do well, killing 3 of our tanks. And, the 19th plane pass comes in, strafing an AA gun.

Turn Nine:

We attack inside Dubno itself, and secure town center with two more fascist squads being destroyed. Along the south side of Dubno, in the village of Lvov, where the Mk IIs were met, we kill another squad. The main enemy assault seems stalemated. Along the north, though, we can't do anything as every tank is dead or unable to be rallied.

During the enemy turn, in addition to more massive artillery, we take 5 more airstrikes, 4 with bombs. That's 24 airstrikes so far. The enemy advance is slow, and they lose a squad. To the north, we immobilize a scout car, and note tracks - and infantry - behind the tanks.

Turn Ten:

We now see a second platoon of Mk IIIs to the north. There's no way the second line will hold. Maybe we can withdraw from there, and lure the tanks into Dubno and kill them there. In Dubno itself we eliminate an ATR team, 2 rifle squads, and 2 motorcycle squads. We do have 2 platoons of Stug IIIs heading for Dubno, but I have armor to deal with them. To the north, we're not able to do squat. Only one tanks is alive, rallied, and with main gun ability and is misses three times.

The Germans keep attacking, with the most force in the north. In the city, we lose a MG team, to the north we lose another tank and a scourt car. There's nothing I can do in the north. To much flanking armor, nothing to stop it with. We'll talk more about that later.

Turn Eleven:

In the fighting for Dubno, Stug's are entering the fray as infantry combat continues. We lose a HMG team but kill off two enemy squads. Along the north, we pull back, harrassing as we can. The enemy presses his attack in the city, but makes no progress as we kill 3 of his Stug's. In the north he advances more slowly than he should. Air strike 25 does nothing.

Turn Twelve:

The fighting in the city continues, with our forces winning. Six enemy squads, and 2 MG teams, fall as our tanks and infantry advance. We lose a BT-7 to a Stug, one of it's crew alive still. Along the north front, we fall back, inflicting some losses as we do, but mostly trying to save what's left of the recon company, as well as the conscripts, as they can't hold against 2 platoons of Mk IIIs, and I'll need them another day.

The enemy keeps advancing, perhaps more slowly then he should, given his arty support. But, his main assault makes little progress. Overall, he loses a squad and a Stug, and I lose a squad and a recon team.

Turn Thirteen:

Our withdrawing forces keep doing that, and in the process we lose 2 scout cars, but we also knock out one of the enemy armored cars. In the city fighting, we lost a motorcycle squad but they lose a squad as well. In armor fighting, we lose a T-35, and they lose 2 more Stug's.

They keep attacking, and the fighting is bloody. They lose 4 squads and a recon team, and I lose two and a OT-134. Still, most of Dubno is on our hands.

Turn Fourteen:

The withdrawing forces continue to fall back and we kiss a German scout car as we do. In the city, we knock out a mortar team, 5 rifle squads and another Stug. I think I've bagged all of the Stug's now.

The enemy keeps attacking. They lose a MG team in the city and a Mk III as well, but kill 2 Aux Conscript squads as I keep falling back in that area. We take more arty, and strike 26.

Turn Fifteen:

The withdrawing forces keep doing so, though we lose a BT-7. In the city, though, we knock out another squad and another mortar team, and Dubno seems secure. The enemy advances in the east, and knocks out a stay behind aux conscript squad. Mk IVs are seen moving towards Dubno from Lutsk, so it looks as if we'll need to bag more enemy armor.

Turn Sixteen:

We keep falling back, and a BT-7 is lost. In the city area, we kill off two more squads. The enemy advances, and wipes out a recon team, but they lost a Mk III to a KV2. We lose a T-28 to the Mk IVs.

Turn 17 - 22

We fight to defend the city, as well as pull back from the second line. The fighting flares back and forth. During it, We kill 3 squads, a MG team 4 tracks, a Sdkfz 6/2, a Mk III and 4 Mk IVs. We lose one squad.

The scen ends 1 turn early with the score: USSR 8985, Germany 4831.

We lost 478 men, 14 Arty, 8 wagons, 22 AFV.
They lost 665 men, 3 Arty, 5 APC, 22 AFV. They also failed to take Dubno at all.

Thoughts: This is, IMO, a very poor lead scen for a campaign. It is very often tedious, as it becomes a rally button game due to the huge amounts of arty, and insane numbers of aircraft available. Furthermore, the actual Dubno attack force is so weak as to be laughable, and the deploy line for the Russians rots. However, the biggest flaw is the flank attack. It is larger and more powerful than the actual attack force, and, given the breifing and the deploy lines, it's unlikely the Rusians can stop it. The scen felt like a bad PBeM game - with one side buying a plausabile force for the time and place, and the other loading down with the biggest goodies. That, combined with the German off board support, and spec ops squads, and hidden VHs, made this feel like a very untested scen.

In a cool note, I will start the next scen understrength, as I am down 1 12.7mm MG, 5 BA-20s, 2 cycle squads, and 2 recon teams.

So, my current core strength is 17 tanks, 4 AA trucks, 7 12.7mm MGs, 10 Conscript squads (at least one of which is now a veteran squad ), 1 BA-20, 1 Cycle Squad, 4 Recon teams, and 3 Prime Movers.

Alex

[Alexandra]

Here's the next chapter:

Campaign AAR - Russian Steel

Kill Leaders: Sgt Holhov T-34 (11)
1Lt Pashov T-34, Sgt Kashin T-35, Sgt Dubrovnin BT-7 (5 each)

Battle Two:

Date: June 26, 1941
Time: 0500
Location: Slutzk River, USSR

Mission: Enemy forces have established a bridgehead. We must eliminate it. There are no estimations of enemy force size.

Field: The field is split into two halves by a 200 meter wide river. The half that matters is heavily wooded. There is a road that leads through a field, to a small village where we assume the enemy is. There is also a building complex south of the fields. The woods will provide a lot of cover for both sides.

Auxilary Forces: My TF has been augmented by a pair of 107mm mortars, and a rifle company.

Plan: My plan is, once more, simple. I shall withdraw my very beat up recon company. My armor shall advance behind an infantry screen. I'll try to drop the bridge so that the enemy will not be able to reinforce. It's wooden, so the mortars should be able to do it.

Turn One:

We bring down the bridge easily, trapping the enemy on this side and the recon company withdraws. We advance slowly, and then get hit by a Geman scout car that damages a flak truck. Attached infantry report a track to the south.

Turn Two:

We press forward. The main element moves along the road, after knocking out the scout car. A BT-7 damaged it, and conscripts finished the crew. To the south, infantry move at the building complex. A MG 34 takes them under fire but is knocked out by a flak truck. The track in that area is a recon one.

The enemy advances with an infantry platoon, supported by a recon track at my main body and inflicts some losses. To the south, they lose a recon team and our mortars hit the building complex.

Turn Three:

The main fight, I think, will be along the road, and we need to keep moving, so the focus is moving the infantry out of the way. We drive them back, damaging a track as well, and wipe out a MG team, using the infantry to scout, and the armor to inflict the losses. To the south, the attached company advances with some support from my armor. The advance towards the house goes well, with no contact, and the enemy scout track is destroyed in close combat.

The enemy counter attacks in the north and south. To the north, they get a track damaged and a squad is ripped apart and destoyed by our HMGs. To the south, two platoons enter the fray, and a Mk IV is spotted. There will be a fight, it seems, for the buildings. Nebelwerfer fire begins, but it's merely smoke.

Turn Four:

The enemy has two forces. Ahead of me is at least a platoon, I'm assuming two. They have the advantage of being in cover, but the disadvantage of facing most of my armor. To the south are two platoons and a Mk IV. They are in the open, but have thier own tank for support. I plan to drive forward, inflicting losses as I do.

In the north, we drive back a squad and kill another then discover trucks, and at least 2 37mm ATGs further back. The enemy is depoloying forward it seems. It doesn't help them long, though, as a BT-7 knocks out a truck and an ATG. After that we advance, killing a squad, a recon team, a MG 34, and another truck. In addition, one of my flak trucks kills two of the squads on the road, which helps out my south element. They, in the meantime, press towards the small building complex. We discover that there were already more men there, but we attack. One enemy squad is destroyed and 3 others are driven back.

The enemy attack is limted, as they seem to to in confusion. Two tracks advance along the cornfield, and one of my flak trucks is killed, and the crew of the damaged one is shredded by arty, so we're down two of them.

Turn Five:

In the north we carefully advance, due to smoke. We destroy a recon team and a MG team and inflict a few other losses. Along the south, a Mk IV is killed by a flame tank. We push towards the complex and kill a squad, but the advance has stalled slightly.

The German counter attack grows stronger but is being stopped dead with them losing a squad, an ATR team, and a Mk II.

Turn Six:

This enemy counterattack is annoying. We press forward, though and kill 4 squads, a MG team, a Mk II, a 50mm mortar team, and a track. They fight on, and while we kill a track, an ATR team and a Flampanzer, as well as a normal Mk II, they get a BT-7, and a HMG team.

Turn Seven:

We push on, trying to clear the enemy away from our front and eliminate a track and 4 squads. Three of those are in the farm complex, and, so, even though most of the infantry there have been disrupted by enemy arty, we've nearly taken the place. The enemy is more defending in place than counterattacking, and loses an Sdkfk 6 in the process.

Turn Eight:

We're bogged down it seems, and well short of the town. We keep up the killing though, and knock out 2 Sdkfz's and an ATG, and kill a squad. At the complex, we take down 2 more squads and a MG teamm while south of it we kill a Mk IV, a squad, another MG team and a mortar squad. The Germans lose 2 tracks and an engineer squad trying to counterattack.

Turn Nine:

We don't do much, just drive them back, kill a squad at the complex and take it. The enemy does just as little, though a pair of Mk IIIs enter the fray.

Turn Ten:

I start a small force towards the village, through the woods north of the field. It's a lone squad, 3 tanks, and a HMG. Let's see what that can do for me. We also knock out both Mk IIIs and take out a squad near the farm complex, which seems secure. We may have broken through on the south. The Germans toss 3 more Mk IIIs into the fray and counterattack hard. They lose a track, a truck, and 2 squads as a result.

Turn Eleven:

We press on trying to break this line of resistance. With some good shots and good luck we get all 3 Mk IIIs. We also find and kill a mortar team. We are moving past the line, as well, to both north and south. We lose a BT-7 in the tank duel.

Turn Twelve:

We push past on north and south, while mopping up the line. We kill another mortar squad but two BT-7s get stuck. The enemy loses 3 squads at the complex, which is now secure. It seems the line is broken.

Turn Thirteen:

We kill 2 more squads along the line, and don't think there's much left there. To the south of the village, a T-28 with a HMG team enages an infantry gun. To the north of the village, we overrun a 'wefer position. A small German attack kills an AA truck, and we kill a squad.

Turn Fourteen:

Quiet for us. The only fighting is south of the village where the IG is killed.

Turn Fifteen:

We kill 2 more 'werfers to the north of the village. To the south of it, we find an IG. The Germans attack on the line and lose another squad.

Turn Sixteen:

We find a destroy an ammo dump!! (Now, this is just plain silly. This is supposed to be a small German force tossed forward, on the first day of the war, to get a bridgehead. How in God's name would they have time to set up an ammo dump???) We enter the village as well. A German attack in the village leaves them with a dead ATR team.

Turn Seventeen:

We fight on in the village and kill a squad and on the line, kill a track and a MG34.

Turn Eighteen:

We take more of the village, knocking out a ATR team, 2 squads and the second IG.

Again, the scen ends one turn early, but with a Soviet DV: 5750 to 802.

My losses were 188 men and 5 AFV.
Geman losses were 582 men, 12 Arty, 2 soft vehicles, 12 APC, 11 AFV.

Comments: The German force was larger than I expected, but it's IRL tactics were modeled well. The only thing I'd complain about is the totally silly ammo dump.

Post battle: Core is fully repaired and all Recon teams are turned into MC squads.

[Gary Tatro]

Thank you for the AAR's. I have been wanting to do more my self and to play Russian Steel but I never seem to find the time. Between real life and playing PBEM games and my girlfriend I have little time for Lost Victories any more.

I really liked your ARR's, the analysis on the senarios is something I have not seen before but I like it. I have played the first senario of Russian steel and agree with you that the rally effect is difficult and cumbersome.

Your purchase of forces was different that mine I tend to be more of an infantry man. I also did not purchase any T-34's I went with the BT-7's, the T-28's and T-26's good tanks for there time, week armor but decent tanks. I also purchased much more anti aircraft guns and vehicles to move them. Along with extra artillary. It is difficult to determine what type of forces gives you a balances game without just gaming the computer.

Have you ever thought of putting pictures in your AAR's with the use of hyper-snap? It requires quite a bit more work I will warn you ahead of time.

Do you still play PBEM games? I have been playing JJ (probably the best PBEM player I have played against IMO) and I think he said that he learned alot from playing you.

Thanks again for the AAR it has me thinking I should go back and put the effort into some Lost Victories senarios.

PS Congrates on you new addition to the family.

[wulfir]

Originally posted by Alexandra
Thoughts: This is, IMO, a very poor lead scen for a campaign. It is very often tedious, as it becomes a rally button game due to the huge amounts of arty, and insane numbers of aircraft available.

The first time I tried Red Steel I got hammered on that opening scen.

But I kind of like it; it's difficult but it also a pointer of what you can expect in the future. It aint gonna be no dance on roses..

You really have your work cut out for you by choosing conscript infantry.. and no KVs! (the only Soviet tank that doesn't need to be nursed around the battlefield..! IMHO.

Nice AARs, btw and good luck defending the motherland!

[darroch]

Alexandra,

First of all, thank you for taking the time to write up these AARS - I didn't realize you were doing this until today. I know these are a fair bit of work and I appreciate it quite a bit. I think you'll find things get better from battle 1.


It is a pleasure to have you put these battles through their paces. I am not surprised to see that you have found a few things that need to be changed. We went through some design iterations in these initial battles.

I had considered renewing the early RS battles and re-issuing them as Russian Steel 2.0. Your interest encourages me to do just that. I have been building new battles in 1943 with an eye towards reaching Kursk but since you're taking the trouble to write these up, I will schedule some time to modify these battles and try and implement your suggestions.

Battle 1: I recently discovered with a player's help (thanks, SD!) that the version I had developed with only 6-8 Luftwaffe planes is NOT the one in the campaign - my apologies for that - I had already planned to fix that. The mega Luftwaffe thing is a regrettable artifact of the predecessor of Russian Steel called the Campaign Collective - CC envisioned a battalion-sized core force and a creative (but in the long run, unworkable) approach to build and support points (namely, you only got build points every 3 or 4 battles - in between builds you had to make do with what survived the previous battles - this proved impossible to playbalance and playtest in practice and the huge core force drove us to excessive unit counts)...believe it or not, you are playing the downsized versions of these battles!

[My latest battles are even smaller and shorter - with the intent of speeding up both playtesting and gameplay]

You mentioned overwhelming artillery support - I will relook at that too....

The northern flank attack was the designer's intent as I recall - he wanted to simulate how in the early days, Panzers would hit from unexpected directions. I concluded that some significant changes were required for battle 1 - at the time, we were scrambling to get the first 10 battles lined up - each of the original 13 battles had a different designer signed up - unsurprisingly, several designers never delivered and of the rest, there was a wide range of styles and skill levels. It took a lot of effort to level this out as much as possible and fill in the blanks. Along the way we also reduced the scope of the battles - originally battle 1 maxxed out the game's unit limit (400 units!) - the original design had a core of over 100 units.....

As you see we made a big design change and downscoped but there are traces of those mega battle notions that weren't scrubbed out completely (e.g the Luftwaffe and artillery)

For battle 2, the ammo supply is to keep the Nebelwerfers firing - but if all you saw is smoke then this fight still needs work....I will come up with an alternative to the ammo dump - the orginal version had an ammo carrier but it tended to either attack or run away as I recall so we switched to the dump...)

I think you'll get more out of battle 3 - that one was much more extensively tested - I look forward to your AAR on that one!

If you have particular design suggestions I welcome those. I will look for general comments in your AARs.

The Motherland showers you with gratitude, Comrade Commander! Now get back to the front!

[Alexandra]

Originally posted by Gary Tatro
Thank you for the AAR's. I have been wanting to do more my self and to play Russian Steel but I never seem to find the time. Between real life and playing PBEM games and my girlfriend I have little time for Lost Victories any more.

I really liked your ARR's, the analysis on the senarios is something I have not seen before but I like it. I have played the first senario of Russian steel and agree with you that the rally effect is difficult and cumbersome.

Your purchase of forces was different that mine I tend to be more of an infantry man. I also did not purchase any T-34's I went with the BT-7's, the T-28's and T-26's good tanks for there time, week armor but decent tanks. I also purchased much more anti aircraft guns and vehicles to move them. Along with extra artillary. It is difficult to determine what type of forces gives you a balances game without just gaming the computer.

Have you ever thought of putting pictures in your AAR's with the use of hyper-snap? It requires quite a bit more work I will warn you ahead of time.

Do you still play PBEM games? I have been playing JJ (probably the best PBEM player I have played against IMO) and I think he said that he learned alot from playing you.

Thanks again for the AAR it has me thinking I should go back and put the effort into some Lost Victories senarios.

PS Congrates on you new addition to the family.

Thanks for the kind words I've been playing scens, and, with my temp dir mostly empty - until I start unzipping DirtyDozne zips - back to April!! I thought it was time for a campaign. And, Red Steel looked like a good one to start.

I tend to analyze as I write the AAR as I play So, you see a lot of heat of the moment comments in them. But, I also think it's a valid expression, and, can help designers in the future. Like with Arty on low rated units

I went with mostly armor as you are supposed to be a Tank Btn Cdr, though I view myself as more of a Commissar with a 'this is what we had availiable' scratch TF. The tank mix is interesting so far, though the -26s aren't too impressive. I held them out as a reserve in Scen 2 and never moved them. The BT-7s, though, are doing very good work, much better than I expected.

I've not really played with Hypersnap, I tend to be too lazy! As for PBeM it's been forever since I played one - had a couple ones where it seemed the other side had nothing but elite's and arty, and then got into MC testing, which ate a lot of time, in a very fun - and sometimes tense - way.

Thanks on the congrats, too. She's doing fine, and the sounds of SP:WaW don't seem to bug her any

Alex

[Alexandra]

Originally posted by wulfir


The first time I tried Red Steel I got hammered on that opening scen.

But I kind of like it; it's difficult but it also a pointer of what you can expect in the future. It aint gonna be no dance on roses..

You really have your work cut out for you by choosing conscript infantry.. and no KVs! (the only Soviet tank that doesn't need to be nursed around the battlefield..! IMHO.

Nice AARs, btw and good luck defending the motherland!

Well. KVs make it too easy As it is, I tend to be reckless with the -34s The lesser tanks are both more realistic, and make it more challenging, though I suspect my -34s will grow, though the next upgrade has got to be the ACs. The BA's I have are pretty useless. Thin armor and a MG.

The conscripts have done well so far, and saved me enough points for the recon company which more expensive Infantry would not have allowed.

I wonder how they will do in battle three, though....

Alex

[Alexandra]

Originally posted by darroch
Alexandra,

First of all, thank you for taking the time to write up these AARS - I didn't realize you were doing this until today. I know these are a fair bit of work and I appreciate it quite a bit. I think you'll find things get better from battle 1.


It is a pleasure to have you put these battles through their paces. I am not surprised to see that you have found a few things that need to be changed. We went through some design iterations in these initial battles.

I had considered renewing the early RS battles and re-issuing them as Russian Steel 2.0. Your interest encourages me to do just that. I have been building new battles in 1943 with an eye towards reaching Kursk but since you're taking the trouble to write these up, I will schedule some time to modify these battles and try and implement your suggestions.

Battle 1: I recently discovered with a player's help (thanks, SD!) that the version I had developed with only 6-8 Luftwaffe planes is NOT the one in the campaign - my apologies for that - I had already planned to fix that. The mega Luftwaffe thing is a regrettable artifact of the predecessor of Russian Steel called the Campaign Collective - CC envisioned a battalion-sized core force and a creative (but in the long run, unworkable) approach to build and support points (namely, you only got build points every 3 or 4 battles - in between builds you had to make do with what survived the previous battles - this proved impossible to playbalance and playtest in practice and the huge core force drove us to excessive unit counts)...believe it or not, you are playing the downsized versions of these battles!

[My latest battles are even smaller and shorter - with the intent of speeding up both playtesting and gameplay]

You mentioned overwhelming artillery support - I will relook at that too....

The northern flank attack was the designer's intent as I recall - he wanted to simulate how in the early days, Panzers would hit from unexpected directions. I concluded that some significant changes were required for battle 1 - at the time, we were scrambling to get the first 10 battles lined up - each of the original 13 battles had a different designer signed up - unsurprisingly, several designers never delivered and of the rest, there was a wide range of styles and skill levels. It took a lot of effort to level this out as much as possible and fill in the blanks. Along the way we also reduced the scope of the battles - originally battle 1 maxxed out the game's unit limit (400 units!) - the original design had a core of over 100 units.....

As you see we made a big design change and downscoped but there are traces of those mega battle notions that weren't scrubbed out completely (e.g the Luftwaffe and artillery)

For battle 2, the ammo supply is to keep the Nebelwerfers firing - but if all you saw is smoke then this fight still needs work....I will come up with an alternative to the ammo dump - the orginal version had an ammo carrier but it tended to either attack or run away as I recall so we switched to the dump...)

I think you'll get more out of battle 3 - that one was much more extensively tested - I look forward to your AAR on that one!

If you have particular design suggestions I welcome those. I will look for general comments in your AARs.

The Motherland showers you with gratitude, Comrade Commander! Now get back to the front!

Well, firstly, thanks to you all for making them, and I'd rather see you advance the campaign to '43 - and beyond? Poland and Berlin anyone? - than go back to '41.

I like the core points, I tend to use 1500 for my own random camp's, when I do them. It keeps the core small, yet variable.

The arty I didn't mind as much as it may seem. It's just that - as anyone who played in the SCW league knows - large arty amounts and low quality troops leads to a rally fest. In the battle, the arty was a wash cause the AI just dropped it on both sides. I ROFLed when German Arty killed a Flampanzer

The Planes were excessive.

As for the flank attack, it was the size, not the attack, that bugged me. 2 companies, that I saw - and I was bugging, there may have been more. 1 recon, and 1 panzer heavy Panzergrenadier. When compared to the weak, and disjointed, attack on Dubno, it seeemed to be oversized. Still, if the deploy zone was shifted north, so that the Russians could deply in thier own 2nd Defense line, a core with ATGs could counter it I think.

Scen 2 is perfect. The AI acts as the Germans really did, turn length and force size is right. My only complain is the dump, and as long time people here can tell you, I'm against them - and ammo trucks - 99 percent of the time . I find the way they work in the game to be very gameish.

Why not manually adjust the ammo for the 'werfers, in the edit unit screen?

I'm looking forward to 3. If I read the brief right, it's basically a 'run the hell away and escape' scen, and those tend to be interesting.

Alex

[darroch]

Alexandra:

...push to 1943 and beyond.....well, OK but I feel I have to fix serious boo-boos like Battle 1 and the Luftwaffe...

Once I finish with the Caucausus, it's on to the 3rd battle of Kharkov....

Gonna use Brent's map that comes with the game...

Then III Panzerkorps at Zitadelle....

and yes, there will be plenty of Tigers (503rd SchwAbt)...

Re: battle 1 fix...while I'm tinkering it is just as easy to consolidate the attackers too....

I like Bat 2 - I may replace the Nebels with mortars anyway - Nebels in the front lines may be pushing it..


Battle 3: Yup - run away - a little fighting to cross the river...

...make sure you exit at the Victory exit hex - until I fix it, there is the chance to exit via the Russian retreat hex and get zero points for escaping...

Oh, and the germans are crafty so exit your tanks last...

Cheers...

B

[Alexandra]

Kill Leaders: Sgt Holhov T-34 (15), Sgt Kashin T-34 (15)
2Lt Vyazemsky T-28E (13)
Sgt Dubrovnin BT-7 (10)


Battle Three:

Date: June 27, 1941
Time: 1300
Location: Slonim River Fords, USSR

Mission: The front is giving way and Soviet forces have been ordered to withdraw.

Field: The field is again split into sections. The upper, of 40 percent of the map is typical woods, clear, and hill mix, with a single town, on the wesr side, held by the Germans. There is a second town, more to the center, held by our forces. Then there is a ridgeline, followed by more typical terrain to a river. The area road net leads to a ford, then more typical terrain and our exit hex.

Auxilary Forces: Other forces in the sector are 18 normal trucks, 2 45mm ATGs, 1 SMG Sqd, 9 platoons of conscripts, 10 Maxim MG teams, 1 Co of 17 T-26m40 tanks, 1 engineer platoon, 1 rifle company, and 1 82mm mortar squad. The ATGs are already dead, given where they were placed by the scen designer. What is missing here is Russian OBA!!! Soviet withdrawl orders were very rare in the early days, and it seems to me if one was given, Army, Front, or Stavka would support it with Arty.

Plan: This will be complex. My hope is to skirt the town, move south over the ridgeline and make for the exit VH ASAP. The problem is that, once more, the Soviet Deplyoment areas are horribly set up. This, IMO, is something that is very important to look at if/when the early RS scen's are redone, for bad deplyoment areas limit the players ability to make a plan, forcing him/her into an almost predetermined setup. In this case, the line runs down the west side of the map, which means you can't reploy at all, except into a narrow pocket in the center - and given the fact that, in the pocket, is a covoy of my trucks, I'm a little leery of deploying there, fearing a pregame, or T1 airstike. In addition, I've been noted to expect attack from the east. That said, I will deploy as much there as I can, and pray for the best. In the end, I cram everything into the two pocket areas. I plan on sending the core south, scouting with recon company, and using the trucks to evac other friendly forces.

Turn One:

Yay!! No airstrikes! Yet at least. Recon sets off, skirting the town and comes under fire from 88s and 50mm ATGs. No biggie, I'm not going to fight them, and will take any minor losses they inflict. The main body moves south as well, infantry screening ahead of tanks, and the convoy moves towards our town. Other friendly forces fall back, with tanks skirmishing with enemy ATR teams. We kill an ATR team and lose a tank to a 300 meter shot.

The Germans, though, seem to have gotten good deploy zones as two platoons of infantry, supported by at least one Mk IV are moving at the town we hold.

Turn Two:

Recon keeps moving south, skirmishing with the 50mm ATG. A BA-20 gets stuck, dunno on what. I may bail the crew and have them walk. The main body presses south, with other forces leaping back, fighting as they go. Some trucks get loaded and take off, while an enemy ATR team is killed.

The Germans attack almost recklessly, one Mk IV giving it's flank in a gunnery duel. Minor losses on both sides, but no crisis yet.

Turn Three:

Recon pushes south and makes it to thier first objective, a crossroads north of the ford. We kill a rifle squad there, but lose a cycle squad. All other forces keep moving. We lose a truck to a Mk IV.

Well, to no real suprise, an air strike came in and killed a few of my aux infantry. And, to no real suprise, not one of my 4 flak trucks fired at it. AA really needs to be looked at in SP: WaW and I hope it gets better attention in CL. The enemy presses in, and, to my suprise, Pz 35s arrive on the west side of the map, and one is killed by one of my 45mm ATGs.

Turn Four:

Recon pushes south, knocking out a rifle squad and hitting two engineer squads. The main body finds and kills a MG 34 team, while the tanks covering the withdrawl kill a squad.

The Gemans advance and knock out a MG team and a 45mm ATG but lose another Pz 35t to it first. However, at the end of the turn an airstrike hits the main body, and goes after a T-28. It kills it, and, even though the T-28 is withing 5 Hexes of all four of my quad .50 AA trucks, withing 3 hexes of 3 of them, and next to one of them, not 1 firest at the plane!!!!!!! It's things like this that - while not truly the designers fault - make you want to shelve a game.

Turn Five:

Recon presses on, killing the two engineer squads, though we lose a cycle squad in the process. We then knock out a MG team that the whole recon company somehow failed to see. It opened fire at long range on conscripsts, missed, was seen and killed by tanks. As the main body and recon start to link, a German squad is found and killed. All of our trucks have now picked men up, anyone on foot will have to stay that way. The last of the attached men and tanks are engaged in a fighting withdrawl. In the process, they wipe out an engineer squad. The Germans press in, and again a Stuka makes a pass and again not a single shot is taken at it.

Turn Six:

Recon fights south, pushing back another engineer squad, and spotting an ATG and a squad near the ford. I just can't help but wonder if I saw the whole map, if there's be German blocking forces everywhere along the river, or just a ford that, most likely, the Germans would not even know about. However, we knock out the engineers. As we push down, we find at least three more squads moving in this area. Elswhere on the front, we elimianate 2 squads. We lose a truck and a T-26.

The Germans press on and knock out my other, useless, sacrificial, ATG, and finish off a squad. And it turns out that the enemy squad on the road near the ford is not, after all, infantry - but a Spec Ops one - which means there will be more. How cute.

Turn Seven:

We finish off the enemy ATG and start slipping cyclists towards the ford. They, and a BT-7, take care of the Spec Ops squad. We then shift vehicles south along the road to supress enemy infantry so that softer units can slip towards the ford. In the process, we kill one of the enemy squads. However, in some bad luck, we have an OT-134 disabled by a 1000 meter shot from a 50mm ATG at the captured village. Along the rest of the front, covering forces knock out another enemy squad. The enemy advances openly and without fear and if I had arty I could make them pay.

Turn Eight:

Recon pushes across the ford - and what do we find right near the exit hex. Yes. Another Spec Ops squad. Even with that, the withdrawl continues in good order and we knock out 2 squads and an ATR team with covering forces. We also get a probable on a Mk IV, and lose a T-26 and a squad. A Stuka run damages a truck.

Turn Nine:

Long range fire from a flak truck kills the spec ops squad (one shot got 8 men!! ) We find a third one in the trees and do not engage it, allowing 5 Mcy Sqds to evac. We knock out 4 other squads, though I lose a BT-7 due to overagressive carelessness and a T-26 to a Mk IV. We also lose a straggling squad, but it slows down two platoon.

Total withdrawn forces: 37 men.

Turn Ten: The evacuations continue. We get a truck immobilized in the swamp. We also kill 3 enemy squads and a Mk I. During the withdrawls, we lose a MG team. We spot massive enemy armor - and a stuka attacks. It kills a T-26 and a squad - and once more - even though it overflies two Flak trucks and lots of men, nothing shoots at it!!!!

Total withdrawn forces: 48 men, 1 truck.

Turn Eleven:

We keep running for our lives. The spec ops squad kills a truck. More men and trucks escape though. However, the bridgehead is getting crowded, which makes the cover forces have to keep fighting in place. Those forces kill off four more enemy squads. We also confirm the earlier probable Mk IV kill. The enemy press in and thier panzers worry me. A stuka makes a run and is engaged this time!

Total withdrawn forces: 59 men, 3 trucks

Turn Twelve:

We finish off the third Spec Ops squad as we run. Truck will start to shuttle to the ford to grab men! We only kill one squad, but all the infantry that can make it there is in the evac perimiter.

TWF: 59 men, 2 MG teams, 3 trucks, 1 BA-20

Turn Thirteen:

As we flee, a Pz 38 and a Mk I are killed by covering forces. We also kill a squad and lose a T-26 and the disabled OT-134.

TWF: 93 men, 2 MG teams, 3 trucks, 3 kosmolets, 2 BA-20, 1 Flak truck

Turn Fourteen: We fall back. We lose 3 T26s, 2 Flak trucks and kill a squad.

TWF: 116 men, 3 MG teams, 3 trucks, 3 kosmolets, 4 BA-20, 1 Flak truck, 3 tanks.

Turn Fifteen:

Now, we have a company of German armor within a turn of the ford. I'll comment on that later!! We kill a Pz 38 and 2 35s. Suddenly, I see a second ford, not that I can get much other than armor off it - assuming there's no guards. We lose a BT-7 to one of those 2 kilometer German shots. We also lose two squads.

TWF: 142 men, 3 MG teams, 3 trucks, 3 kosmolets, 4 BA-20, 1 flak truck, 3 tanks.

Turn Sixteen:

We run for our lives. Probably not fast enough. We do get another -35.

TFW: 165 men, 5 MG teams, 3 trucks, 3 kosmolets, 5 BA-20, 2 flak trucks, 3 tanks.

Turn Seventeen:

We lose a squad, a MG team, and 2 T-26s.

TFW: 207 men, 6 MG teams, 3 trucks, 3 kosmolets, 5 BA-20, 2 flak trucks, 5 tanks, HQ

Turn Eighteen:

All of the armor is across the river. We lose a MG team.

TFW: 230 men, 7 MG teams, 7 trucks, 3 kosmolets, 5 BA-20, 2 flak trucks, 8 tanks, HQ

Turn Nineteen:

We lose a squad and the stuck BA-20. And, we get new German Panzers, now, on the far side of the river, coming from the east. How amazingly cute that is.

TFW: 242 men, 7 MG teams, 8 trucks, 3 kosmolets, 5 BA-20, 2 flak trucks, 13 tanks, HQ, Mortar team

Turn Twenty:

We lose 2 T-26s.

TFW: 273 men, 7 MG teams, 12 trucks, 3 kosmolets, 5 BA-20, 2 flak trucks, 17 tanks, HQ, Mortar team

Turn Twenty One:

We have a T-34 disabled, from the front, by one of the lame Mk IIIs on the east side of the evac zone. We kill a Mk III and 2 squads and it should be four.

TFW: 291 men, 7 MG teams, 13 trucks, 3 kosmolets, 5 BA-20, 2 flak trucks, 18 tanks, HQ, Mortar team

And, again!!! the scen ends one turn early - and in evac scen's every turn is critical!

Score: 7970 to 4578. My lead. Draw. I have no idea how they scored over 4500 with no VHs on the map.

Losses: Us: 306 men, 2 arty (must be the ATGs), 5 soft, 20 AFV.
Them: 536 men, 11 AFV.

Comments: Where to begin. I know! WTF is the Soviet Arty!!!! The Soviets always gave arty support to withdraws - where is it??

Now, let's look at the German OOB: They get 7 82mm squads, and 4 Stukas for support. They get 8 ATGs!!! Not that most of them came into play, but, for thier mission, that's rediculous. They get 6 ATR teams, which is reasonable. They get one engineer (more on that) and the spec ops platoon. They get 2 normal rifle platoons. They get 60!!!! AFV. And now for the cheese: They get 6 rifle platoons of six squads each, which is the same as 9 normal ones. And, they get 15 with 4 squads and 2 enginneer squads each. So, in effect, they have 24 platoon of infantry - 8 companies - a battaltion. As well as 8 platoons of engineers and the armor brigade. Now, panzers from 'an unexpected direction' is one thing, but name a German Panzer Commander who would have agreed to use a Brigade of his best tanks to take a single Russian village on the 3rd day of the war!!!

The German setup is perfect, the terrain is wonderful for them, the tanks get perfect scripts to keep them from long range soviet fire. The Sov's get Aux T-26ss!!! Not -34s, which I agree with. Not BT-7s. But, arguably the worst tank in the Sov inventory to fight off IIIjs and IVds.

And, where's my arty???? I won't even start on AA fire.

This scen is one that could have been great - but, ends up being just another 'how badly can we mess up the players core' Given that your core is early war Russian, this kind of scen has campaign long repercussions.

How would I rework it? Cut the German tanks in half. Fix the deploy zones, or if not, remove the useless Sov ATGs. Add more fords and a second exit hex to give the Russians options - and give them arty!!! If nothing else, the arty should be added. I can think of other things too.

If it wasn't for the wonderful design of scen 2, I'd simply quit here, but that one showed me that there is hope for well designed scens in Russian Steel.

Aftermath:

The TF is withdrawn and sent to the Bryansk area.

Core upgrades: I swap out the Useless BA-20s for cossacks!!!

[darroch]

Alexandra,

Thanks for the AAR - regrettably it was discouraging.

I like the notion of the second exit victory hex - adding some artillery to the SOVs probably wouldn't hurt either...

cutting the armor in half is of course do-able but the player might be tempted to fight it out (and against the AI maybe win...)..the whole idea is to run from overwhelming force...

The notion of this fight (as I recall) was to run like hell with your core and let the AUX forces soak up the pursuers...

I'm not sure I approve of aircraft in this fight...but as coordinator, it is my responsibility...the problem is it has just been long enough that I don't recall where we left this one...I suspect I could even remove them and it wouldn't affect the over intent that much...

BTW, the high german score is probably related to the exit VHs - whenever you have an exit scenario, the AI gets 33% of your force's points at start - then you get 3 times the value of exited units (those that exit from an exit hex (not a retreat hex which caused a fair amount of confusion in this battle I'm afraid)

My concern is that if your reaction is similar to many other players, then I suspect a lot of players became disgusted and never reached battle 4 and beyond...

I saw few indications in the forums of player's getting past 5...

You AARs are the first comprehensive feedback I've received and the points you raise are troubling..

What I need to ponder is whether a remake of these early battles will make any difference at all....

and I won't make any rash promises about future battles - I'm a little worried at this point....I'll wait and see how you feel about battle 4....I hope things improve...

Thanks again for the feedback

[Alexandra]

Originally posted by darroch
Alexandra,

Thanks for the AAR - regrettably it was discouraging.

I like the notion of the second exit victory hex - adding some artillery to the SOVs probably wouldn't hurt either...

That's my biggest complaint, the lack of arty. Not huge amounts, but even a battery or two could make a difference, even if all they fired was smoke

cutting the armor in half is of course do-able but the player might be tempted to fight it out (and against the AI maybe win...)..the whole idea is to run from overwhelming force...

The notion of this fight (as I recall) was to run like hell with your core and let the AUX forces soak up the pursuers...

I did that, for the most part, using my tanks and HMGs to cover from afar - the blocking force by ford 1 slowed that, though - and, admitted I made a huge error by not seeing ford 2 until so late - and it's unguarded! The Sov Aux is well done, even if I did whine about only getting -26s The 50mm ATG in the village, too, made things very hard, it's wonderfully sited from the German PoV!

I'm not sure I approve of aircraft in this fight...but as coordinator, it is my responsibility...the problem is it has just been long enough that I don't recall where we left this one...I suspect I could even remove them and it wouldn't affect the over intent that much...

The A/C I didn't mind, there was a good amount - I was peeved at my ground forces lack of return fire, especially on the first run when the Stuka came into an accidental flak trap and the flak didn't shoot! Nothing you can do about that, though.

BTW, the high german score is probably related to the exit VHs - whenever you have an exit scenario, the AI gets 33% of your force's points at start - then you get 3 times the value of exited units (those that exit from an exit hex (not a retreat hex which caused a fair amount of confusion in this battle I'm afraid)

Yes, a lot of people don't realize the diffences between the two I've written about that myself, on these forums before - I didn't know about the 33% part though, thanks.


My concern is that if your reaction is similar to many other players, then I suspect a lot of players became disgusted and never reached battle 4 and beyond...

Perhaps that's true. My AARs are often emotional as I write in real time, and let the emotions of the moment stay in them.

I saw few indications in the forums of player's getting past 5...

You AARs are the first comprehensive feedback I've received and the points you raise are troubling..

On a very positive note, the briefing for 4 is top notch, one of the best I've seen in any campaign.

What I need to ponder is whether a remake of these early battles will make any difference at all....

and I won't make any rash promises about future battles - I'm a little worried at this point....I'll wait and see how you feel about battle 4....I hope things improve...

Thanks again for the feedback

Perhaps you should post a poll on the main forum, something like:

If you have played Russian Steel, how far have you gotten?

Then break it down by like Scen 1-5, 6-10, etc. I do think it's a very good idea, and I'm looking forward to 4, both to see how it plays and to test my new Cav!!

Alex
4 losses in a row? Can Belichick beat Bledsoe? I don't think so. Oh well, we won one in my lifetime!!! Go Pats!!!

[darroch]

Alexandra:

I continue to review your feedback - I think I may add some more text - perhaps warning the player about the village and the second ford...

How much intelligence do you feel is appropriate for the pre-battle briefings? They range widely.

Does limiting intel add to the "fog of war" or simply annoy the c**p out of the player?


Also, I realized you did not appear to take any mortars in your initial build....

The playtest force included 3 x 82 mortars to start and grew to 6 mortars (plus FO)..

In the 1943 battles, these are 120mm mortars and in many of the fight you need the indirect fire support...

There is no core transport but there are always 125 support points to buy heavy trucks with if it is an escape battle...


If you do not intend to upgrade some units to mortars then I strongly recommend you edit the support points provided for each battle and add about 120 points per fight for some mortars

In battle 3 this might not really help since your mortars are in trucks running away but in the follow-on fights, they will come in handy and in many battles there is no AUX artillery (I had assumed the player would have some core mortars..)

Anyways, good luck on battle 4...

[Alexandra]

Originally posted by darroch
Alexandra:

I continue to review your feedback - I think I may add some more text - perhaps warning the player about the village and the second ford...

How much intelligence do you feel is appropriate for the pre-battle briefings? They range widely.

Does limiting intel add to the "fog of war" or simply annoy the c**p out of the player?


Also, I realized you did not appear to take any mortars in your initial build....

The playtest force included 3 x 82 mortars to start and grew to 6 mortars (plus FO)..

In the 1943 battles, these are 120mm mortars and in many of the fight you need the indirect fire support...

There is no core transport but there are always 125 support points to buy heavy trucks with if it is an escape battle...


If you do not intend to upgrade some units to mortars then I strongly recommend you edit the support points provided for each battle and add about 120 points per fight for some mortars

In battle 3 this might not really help since your mortars are in trucks running away but in the follow-on fights, they will come in handy and in many battles there is no AUX artillery (I had assumed the player would have some core mortars..)

Anyways, good luck on battle 4...

Ok, taking things in order:

No more text is needed. The village is marked as held by the enemy, and the second ford is marked, too. I just missed it. That was a command error by me

As a player, I don't want too much intel detail in the briefing. I do, though, want the briefing to tell me what my job is, and, if his is different, what we suspect the enemies is. And, I want the scen to match the briefing. If you tell me I need to defend a hill, don't have me actually making a move to contact!! That's just an example

On to Mortars. No, I didn't. Rarity got some, and I hate relying on aux points for transport. And, I'm spoiled from German SP Ones. I may change my little recon company movers to them at some point, I dunno - I have other things to upgrade first. And I'd not buy an FO in any event. Why you ask? Cause Soviet FOs were not attached to forward units and were not allowed to advance with them. That's why Sov tac arty was so poor, but thier massed fires were the best in the war. I try to keep a core relaistic to what a nation did.

I would think, though, that if you were going to assume a mortar platoon in the player core, note that in the campaing intro. Bill, for example, always gives a 'you should buy this sort of core' line in his. It can be vague (an armor heavy taskforce), or very specific, like the Tulagi Camp's message.

And I never edit support points I play with what I get - often, I don't use them, as 125's not enough to do anything with.

I'm on T5, battle 4 - and I think I'm doing ok so far.

Alex

[wulfir]

Originally posted by darroch
...cutting the armor in half is of course do-able but the player might be tempted to fight it out (and against the AI maybe win...)..the whole idea is to run from overwhelming force...

I tried this approach.

I went in with the intention to beat off the German attack and conduct a retreat in very orderly fashion, both Aux and core, and for a while it looked as if it was working.

Held my ground and opened a route to the ford. Because I didn't know you could actually ford the river I had edited the aux points and bought a section of Barge carriers. Never did need them but they were a pain to protect.

Then I was hit by German Panzer flood. Some of my troops got away, but most I hurried out of the way of the Germans into the sides of the map, so had it been the real thing my core force would have been dispersed.

I was still able to continue the campaign. As of now I'm on the raid/POW-rescue battle. Haven't been able to fight for the Motherland for some time now due to real life intruding, but I like the campaign very much.

It's difficult, yes. My troops can't hit anyhting and the Germans are deadly. It's large and time consuming, at times frustrating but that's exactly what I like in a campaign. It makes winning a joy. It makes 'surviving' a joy. Play-balance is a tricky thing as every player has his own solution but not every solution is a winner. In the above case I tried the exact opposite of the intention of the scenario designer - well, it cured me from my hubris. Still, the freedom to try your own way is worth much IMHO.

[darroch]

Alexandra,

Thanks for the words on text - I tried to ensure no real surprises in these battles - probably could do more with hinting at German intentions...

I also think a strong suggestion of mortars in core at start is in order - the nice thing about campaigns is that you can adjust your force over time...but unless you get "creative" about US lend lease, you will have to accept truck-brone mortars....in nearly all battles, they can safely sit out of the way and plink away...

You will appreciate them for their suppressive effect on ATGs - but I'm not sure there are any battles where you cannot get along without them but it might hurt a bit...

[Alexandra]

Here's the next report:

Kill Leaders: Sgt Kashin T-34 (17)
Sgt Holhov T-34 (16)
2Lt Vyazemsky T-28E (13)



Battle Four:

Date: August 16, 1941
Time: 1300
Location: Pripet Marshes

Mission: We have to hold open the Gomel - Bryansk road.

Field: The field is mostly woods. Along the south side of the map of the map is the road. There are a number of trails, as well as three large swampy areas. About two thirds of the way down the map to the east, in the direction of Bryansk, is a road that moves north to Krichev. There are also two large logging areas.

Auxilary Forces: Most of my support troops are infiltrating, so I will report them as they arrive. Starting on the map are 1 rifle squad, 3 Tanchkas, 2 snipers, 2 Cav squads, 3 cossack squads, 3 recon patrols, a Katyusha, a CP, and an Ammo Dump. In addition a pair of R-5 aircraft are on standby.

Plan: This will be a wing it battle? Why - because I cannnot deploy. My only deploy line is the default one along the west side of the map, so I cannot deploy a single core element. My plan is to move as best I can, find the enemy, and kill him. This is a major flaw, and should have been caught in playtesting!!!!

Turn One:

We start to move to sort out and seek the enemy. We have contact with an enemy sniper to the east side of the map. The, suprise - while we get no deploy zone at all, 2 German Platoons (!) is within of 100 meters of us, well outside of the German deploy zone!! Playtesting??? Did it happen??? We also run into an in close sniper - and kill him.

Turn Two:

More Soviet forces arrive. We get a squad of militia, 2 rifle squads, an airborne squad, 4 SU-12, 2 SU-37 a Ba-11, 2 T-26s, and 2 Katyushas. A scouting Cossack unit comes across a convoy on the Krichev road. We kill a recon patrol. My core advances carefully. Along the way, we kill 2 squads and push more back, and note we have at least a rifle company to the front. As the enemy moves, we kill one ATR team, and they kill one of my MG wagons. They also kill my scout cav squad, but, also one of thier own squads.

Turn Three:

More Soviet forces arrive. We get a militia squad, 2 Katys, a 45mm ATG, an OT-134, a SU-37 and a BA-6. In the clear cut area, we kill a recon team. Elsewhere on the front, my main body and attachments advance. We kill a recon team and an ATR team. We choose not to chase enemy infantry into woods, rather to advance, and let them enter our own defensive killzones. We lose a BA-11 in the advance but they lose a recon team. We also encounter a *sigh* Spec Ops squad. Spec Ops squads - Brandeburgers - were not that common in the German Army, and we not used as commonly for normal objectives as we see them in the campaign. Many enemy trucks flee, which will slow them down.

Turn Four:

Enemy Arty hits us. More of our men arrive. We get 3 more ATGs, 2 scout cars, 2 T-26,a KV-1, a MG team a paratroop squad and a militia squad. We overrun the Spec Ops squad quickly in the clear cut area. My lead elements - recon cycles and T-34s reach the main road/Krichev road intersection and set up. Other elements advance as well. We flush out and kill a squad. We kill 2 other squads and an ATR team as well. The enemy attacks towards the clear cut area in force, as panzers enter the fray. In the fighting, we lose a milita squad, and they lose a 38t, and a Mk IV. Other forces kill one of our recon teams.

Then both air forces enter the fray. Our R-5s kill a truck and at least 2 squads. Their Stuka's do well too, killing 2 BT-7, including Sgt Lucharsky. They also get my HQ, and a conscript squad - and at least 2, perhaps more, German squads!!! Go Luftwaffe!!!!

Now, some comments. The German battle plan seems flawed. The goal for both sides is the Gomel-Bryansk road. If they take it, they cut off off board Soviet forces, and if we hold it, those forces escape to fight another day. The main German advance seems to be down the Krichev road, where the R-5 reported a Panzer company. But, they are going off road - into woods, and the clear cut area. Now, there is a VH there, but it is, at best, a secondary objective. By angling major force that way, the German are letting themselves be drawn into a battle that favors me, where I can trade low value units for Panzers, while gathering forces. It is a suprising decision, and one that may have a major effect on the battle.

Turn Five:

However, the Germans have a second Panzer company in the logging areas to the east. Katy's need to say Hi! I think, once they are ready. Arrived forces: 3 squads of stragglers, 1 of Cav and 5 of cossacks.

We kill a recon patrol and an enemy squad. During thier advance, they push back militia, but lose a 38t, and have a second immobilized.

Turn Six:

In the fighting in the clearcut area, we get another 38t and kill the crew of a Mk II, taking it out of the fight. We lose a militia squad. Along other parts of the front our forces advance, and my kosmolets get off board. At the intersection between the two main roads, we adjust west, to counter Pz Co 2. An MCs find 8!! trucks!! Or Victms! We attack it in force, and kill 3 trucks and scatter occupants of more. One of the squads that scattered is killed off as well. Both sides take losses in the German attacks. We lose a scout car, a sniper, and an ATG. They lose an ATG as well, and a squad.

Turn Seven:

Fighting is happening all over the front in a maelstrom of blood and death. They lose a Mk II,a Mk III, 9 squads, 2 MG teams, an ATG, and 2 trucks. The victim convoy is dead now - and my T-34s find panzers trying to sneak in and engage. We lose a tankcha, a sniper, a recon team and a scout car.

There is heavy fighting in some parts of the front, but, at the moment, we have the upper hand I think.

Turn Eight:

The fighting is spread across the front:

The clear cut area: We kill a Mk IV, a Mk II, and a squad. There are at least 11 German tanks in that area, plus a rifle platoon and an infantry gun. Still, we are giving them a costly delay there. We lose a flame tank and a BA-10.

The east: Here we do well, killing a squad, 2 Mk IIIs, 2 38t's, and a sniper. We lose a flak truck. R5 flyover shows at least a Panzer company moving in the logging area. I am assuming at least 30 German tanks still on the field.

The rest of the field: Most of the fighting in this area is small infantry fights in the woods. We kill 3 squads.

Turn Nine:

The clear cut area: We are getting thin here. Still, we are costing them time and losses. We don't need to hold it, after all, just make them pay for taking it. And we keep doing so, killing 3 Mk IVs, 2 Mk IIs, a squad and a recon team. We lose some stragglers.

The rest: Skirmishing. 2 German squads fall.

The east: We advance here. Our forces kill 3 Mk IIIs, a Mk IV, and an Infantry Gun as we retake half the logging area.

Turn Ten:

We are hurting them, that's for sure. Across the front we attack where we can, and defend where we must. And the fighting is heavy. The Germans lose 6 more panzers (2 38's, 2 Mk IVs, 1 Mk III, 1 Mk II), 2 recon patrols, a squad and an FO. We lose 1 conscript squad, 1 Mcy sqd, 1 cossack squad, 1 cav squad, 3 wagons and 2 BT-7s. Both are core, my platoon leader and Sgt Dubrovnin. I am upset about Dubrovinin, because the Mk IV that got him took 4 damaging hits in my turn. 2 to the suspension, 2 to the turret, yet could move, kept the main gun, and was, seemingly, not supressed.

Turn Eleven:

More fighting along the front. They seem to have columns everywhere. They lose a recon team, a mortar carrier, 2 38t's and 2 Mk IVs. We lose 2 snipers, a wagon, a cossack squad and 3 T-26s. We immobalize another Mk IV.

Turn Twelve:

We fight on, all over the place. It seems no where is there a lack of the enemy. They lose 2 squads, a sniper, a Mk III, a Mk IV, 2 Pz Jg IB and 2 38t's. We lose 2 cossack squads, a cav squad, a straggler squad, and a militia squad.

Turn Thirteen:

German pressure seems to be everywhere, but we try and cope as best we can while hurting them. We get a Mcy squad, 5 Mk IVs, a Pz-Jg 1B,a SiG and a 38t. We lose an SU-12 and a Mch Sqd.

Turn Fourteen:

I think they are getting low on forces. We've killed a lot of them after all. We kill more, bagging 3 more squads and a Pz Jg IB. Sgt Holhov's T-34, damaged, and down to a MG, but up to 24 kills, is ordered to get off the field!!! After all, his Platoon leader is, at the moment, the TF commander!

German Force Morale is broken, but, as that has no game effect on ability to attack - which it should, and I hope will in CL, it means nothing.

Turn Fifteen:

We fight on. We kill another Mk IV, a squad, a Mcy squad, and a Pz Jg 1B.

Turn Sixteen:

We get a Spec Ops squad a Mk IV and 2 Mk IIIs. We lose a Cossack squad.

Turn Seventeen:

The fighting is slowing, and it's clear we'll hold the road open, but it's not over yet. We get a MG team, 2 snipers, 2 squads and a Mk III while losing a cav squad.

Turn Eighteen:

Argh! I stupidly lose 2 tanks. A T-26 and a flame tank!!! Still, we kill 2 more enemy squads, a Sig and 2 mortar carriers. I lose another T-26 and another flame tank in the German turn.

Turn Nineteen:

If the pattern holds this is the last turn.

As a result, I play it close to the vest, kill a mortar carrier and a recon squad and call it good. They lose a Mcy squad on thier last turn. They also cheesily steal a 750 pt hex back which is under the guns of 2 T-34s

Result: 13974 to 2981. Soviet MV. This *should* be a DV. The reason it is not is simple. VHs in the logging camp, and clear cut area and small trails were worth as much as the Highway ones. That's poor design. In fact, had the logging area VH not been taken like it was, it is a DV. The highway ones should be worth more, or or the sideshow ones less.

Losses: Soviets: 438 men, 20 AFV.
Germans: 888 men, 2 Arty, 8 APC, 59 AFV. They had 69 total AFV's it looked like.

Thoughts: I have mixed feelings even with the win. Again, the deployment zones were messed up, and that is one of the key design features of any campaign scenario. The way you deploy affects the way you fight, and when the deployment options are limited - or in this case, non existent - it locks you into a limited strategy. Second, while interesting, the scen asked the Soviets to play fire brigade in '41, something they lack the real ability to do. This sort of scen would be a very good one to play as the Germans, but the Soviet's have a hard time pulling it off. I didn't try, I fought a delay with ambushes and mini battle groups, attacking where I could. However, the biggest flaw is VHs!! I pulled off my mission - Hold the Highway open - perfectly. Over 19 turns, the Germans held 3 of the highways VHs for no time at all, and one for 2 turns. In addition, I wiped out an enemy Panzer Briagde and an Infantry Battaltion, inflicting nearly 2 to 1 manpower, and 3 to 1 tank losses, and don't get a DV becuse of trails and logging camps being as valuable point wise, as the highway.

I'd give this scen a B grade - and with a little bit of work, it could have been an A. But, on a good note, it is an improvement, which is a very good thing

Core notes: I'll go into the next scen, a raid, down 2 flame tanks and a HQ. No upgrades possible this time.


Alex

[darroch]

Alexandra,

Now I have a little more homework - you should have been able to deploy your force at the bottom of the map - all the way to the east edge of the map (right side as you look at it)....

And there should not be any stragglers on map at start...

I am going to take a closer look at this....

I'm curious to hear your impressions on battle 5 - do not try and recapture the city center - you'll be doing well to hold parts of the eastern suburbs.....

Cheers,

Brad

[Alexandra]

Kill Leaders: Sgt Kashin T-34 (39)
Sgt Blinov T-28 (26)
Sgt Holhov T-34, 1Lt Pashkov (24)


Battle Five:

Date: December 20, 1941
Time: 1800
Location: Bryansk

Wow - six months between missions!! Wonder if that's a bug?

Mission: We have to raid the enemy, and save some PoWs.

Field: The field is mostly open. There are some woods, a couple hills, a small pond in the SW, and a ridgeline. Threr is also a village and beyond it a PoW area. I have to free those prisoners in this raid.

Auxilary Forces: 1 MG, 1 FO, 3 SU-37s, 3 OT-134s, 2 45mm ATG, 2 Infantry Guns, 4 Gun Teams, 3 120mm Mortars, 3 Wagons, 5 platoons of various infantry, various transport and Pow's, 3 82mm mortars, and - yay!!! a T-34 company, with a company of tankdestoankii. Bring on the Germans!!

Plan: I plan on getting slow units to the exit VH as fast as possible and use my mobile units to rescue and screen the Pow's.

Turn One:

Problem one. A Night scen with Vis 15. Problem 2 , a December 1941 scen, in Russia, and no snow!
Minor, I think, both of them, but also telling.

We move the core out to cover the rescue. Aux T-34s move north towards an enemy column, and wipe out a Sqd, 1 MG team, and an ATG in a ruined village north of my jump off point. Partisans start of take a town in the center of the map. 2 OT-134s and 3 Flak trucks withdraw.

Turn Two:

4 wagons, with passengers, arrive, are are ordered to the retreat hex. No need to risk giving the Germans points. One flak truck, my core OT-134, and my core T-26 platoon withdraw. Aux T-34s advance on the distraction, finishing an enemy squad as they move. The rescue force advances, but after losing 2 Mcy squads stuck in mud, I order all not past the swamp to withdraw. We find a hidden VH. Partisans and a conscript platoon have the distraction village half secure.

Both Aux T-34 sections engage convoys. Enemy loses a Benz to mines.

Turn Three:

Gun teams arrive - and are ordered out. I know I'm taking a risk by bailing my read guard. I'm betting my -34s cans take of themselves. 3 Kosmolets, and 3 HMG squads get out. 5 Mcy squads do too. Raid sectio one kills an armored car, 3 trucks and 2 ammo carriers. Raid 2 gets no kills but engages enemy scout cars. Partisans take more of the town and enagage a AT gun inside it. The enemy advance, and starts shelling to Pow area. They are out of it, though, so no effect.

Turn Four:

I decide to pull back all core units and fight with Aux only. The last flame tank, most of my MGs, and some of the conscripts withdraw. We kill a truck, a 20mm Flak gun, 3 scout cars and a command truck. We lose a partisan team. Buses arrive to pick up prisoners! Yay! The Germans find a hidden VH, but then lose a scout car and another command truck.

Turn Five:

All of my conscripts, except the command squad, get off the map. We kill a flak gun, a kubelwagen and a truck. We lose a truck as well. Then they lose another command truck to mines.

Turn Six:

We evac 2 wagons, 2 infantry squads, and the command squad for my conscripts. We kill three trucks and an engineer squad. Skirmishing in the village between infantry and German scout cars. We lose a bus, but it was stuck and had no PoWs in it.

Turn Seven:

We evac 2 squads, a wagon, a gun team, and an infantry gun. We kill off a group of prison guards. In the village we knock out a scout car and an engineer squad. We have a T-34 immobilized. Enemy tanks begin to arrive in the area.

Turn Eight:

We withdraw a MG team, a TD squad, 2 gun teams, an ATG and the second infantry gun. We kill off another group of prison guards. In the village we knock out another 2 engineer squads. The enemy loses 2 Stug's of a reaction element. It also has a recon element moving in from the northeast, but I don't think they'll have any real effect on the battle.

Turn Nine:

We withdraw a MG team, a gun team, an ATG, and 3 cosaack squads. Most of my forces are pulling back now, and I wish the swamps here had been drained before the war, or that they were frozen. We lose a partisan detachment and a Mcy squad but kill a scout car.

Turn Ten:

All my Cossacks are out of dodge, and 1 Mcy squad gets out, too. My extraction guards get a Mk IV. We also get a Mk III with Sgt Holhov. I think the mission is going well, even with the large amount of stuck vehicles that slow us. However, I may have spoken too soon as an enemy recon element, armored card and Mk IIs, break into my withdrawl route. They kill 5 trucks and we get a scout car. In the village a partisan detachment is overrun.

Turn Eleven:

We withdraw a TD squad and a pair of SU-37s. We kill a truck, a recon patrol, a scout car and a kubelwagen. However, Sgt Holhov misses a Mk III - twice! Argh. He gets the Mk III, though, when it shoots at a truck! We also get a scout car - and then the scen is wrecked! Why? Because, you recall that recon section I mentioned. Well, it wasn't. It was the lead element for a reinforced panzer company, that just happens to show up right in the middle of the only real withdrawl route. 5 Mk IIIs, 5 IIs, 5 scout cars, and 5 tracks with infantry, at a minimum. In effect, anything not already past them is dead, or isolated, and the sheer convenience, for the AI, of where and when they turn up, wrecks a fairly well designed - to this point, scen. Why punish the player for carrying out the mission???

Turn Twelve:

We pull out a partisan unit, SU-37, a TD, a wagon and a 120mm mortar. We knock out a squad and an armored car. However, with the total superiority that they have now, we lose 2 trucks, a partisan element, a recon team, a conscript squad, a paratrooper squad and a BT-7.

Turn Thirteen:

We pull out 2 Mcy Sqd's, a TD squad, 2 82mm mortars and a T-34. We get 2 rifle squads an a recon patrol. In addition, Sgt Kashin's stuck tank gets a track, his 40th kill. Will he live??? Who knows.

Turn Fourteen:

The rest of the mortars and mobile wagons are gone. As are 2 TD squads and 8 T-34s. We get a MG team and a rifle squad. Sgt Kashin gets 2 tracks, and Holhov gets a third, then Holhov gets stuck too!!! As they attack, with a huge anount of armor. Kashin gets another track. I also note how the enemy tanks and scout cars can drive through swampy and a small river withouyr getting stuck, yet all over the field I have trucks, and tanks, stuck on roads!! We lose a truck and a bus.

Turn Fifteen:

6 more tanks and a TD squad get out. Due to the German ability to have hover tanks, I have, at this point Zero chance to get any PoWs out. Holhov gets a Mk III, but Kashin and his men bail from thier tank, so I'm gonna lose a 44 kill crew since thier T-34, with wide tracks, designed to *not get stuck* on open Russian terrain, gets *stuck* on a trail!!! Holhov gets another Mk III.

Turn Sixteen:

At this point Nine German AFV's have crossed 3+ swamp hexes and a river hexside, each without getting stuck. All my mobile tanks, except a T-28 are gone. Kashin and his crew are still alive, but now Holhov's crew's bailed!! Holhov dies, along with a Mcy squad. They lose a track to mines.

Turn Seventeen and beyond:

The FO and my last mobile tank are out of dodge. The enemy starts to mop up. Kashin and crew remount and may live!! They get 2 Mk IIIs, a PzJg 35(r) and an engineer squad before being killed by a Mk III. The Germans also lose 2 tanks driving them into known mined areas!

Results:

Draw. 16408 to 5842.

German Losses: 356 men, 2 Arty, 17 Soft, 4 APC, 22 AFV
Soviet Losses: 269 men, 10 soft, 4 APC, 4 AFV

Comments: Well you all know they are coming. 47 German AFVs. 4 companies!! 4!! At least half, from my guesses show up in the middle of the withdrawl route at the perfect time to mess everything up. Now, this is the kinda scen I like. I love raids, get in duck out scens. They really tend to be fast playing and fun. And this one one - until turn 11. On turn 11 it went from 'Raid' to 'Mess up the player'. There is no need, at all, for the Germans to have 4! Companies of armor on call to secure a prison camp. That's insane and poor design. There is poor design onm both sides, though. The Russian force should be the core, and a few trucks. The German core no more than 2 total companies. It should be a small scale, fast play, raid!

This scen, once more, seem to have a serious case of too many forces. This one, though, is by far the worst, as at least in the others the forces could make sense and be explained. Here, they are just not needed. It's easy to get carried away adding bad guys, as Bill points out in his Scenario design workshops - and, again, playtesting should have caught this and corrected it.

I can't give this more and a B-, and that's only cause of the first 11 turns.

Core notes: We're back to full strength. No upgrades.


Alex
Wow! Brady pulled it off after trying to lose it. Pats will kill me yet!! 5-4, though!