NATO WP 78: Hellen v. PO

[Hellen_slith]

Hello, Since NATO-WP scenes are kind of my hobbyhorse, I decided that I am going to play through all of those types of scense that have WP programmed ... not in any particular order, so firstly I found this scene was recommended for NATO human v. WP robot, so I start w/ that. I hope these AARs are not going to be "old hat" ... I'll try to put some spice in them. ANYWAY, here,

Not sure yet (even at turn 6) how I NATO should be handling this incursion, but in the map below (beginning turn for NATO @ 6) we see a lot more Reds than NATOs. I am still forming up US divisions (they are broken up into brigades in this scene) and so far, I still have an overwhelming victory by points with 10 or 12 turns to go.

The one thing I did not like about this scene is that on turns 1 and 2, NATO did not have much to do except dig in a few hundred units. Not my idea of fun. But I soldiered on, and finally got some meat on the road ... right now, at turn 6, I have two or three US divisions and a couple of WG formations starting to get their "sheize zusammen" !!

The PO has been pretty aggressive, I've lost a brigade or two of US Cav, and it is a challenge trying to get NATO forces together to act as one.

Great starter scene for against the PO and for me, it is a learning experience about how to get brigades / divisions to work together "operationally"

Ok, well, back to the game, and in the mean time, if any knowledgeable souls could recommend the next scene for me to try, please chime in. Only requirement is that it must be a NATO v WP, and WP must be a programmed PO Elmo, thank you for reading and thank you for your recommendations!!!

D

[Hellen_slith]

Here is beginning of NATO turn 7 ... I am down to a significant victory, so Elmer is gaining points. Trying to get the US 1st Armored and 3rd Mech divisions together, almost there, aiming for around those woods w/ the little orange dots ... trying to establish a line of resistance along the orange slash. I believe there are 12 turns left to go, will try to get through six turns today. The PO is pretty aggressive in this one, it seems. At least to me, I am not that good at the game. I have a German airborne brigade in my back pocket, not sure where it will go yet.

[Hellen_slith]

This is a way harder scene than I expected against Elmoer in this one, Nato 7 mid - turn, and I am really starting to have to get hese NATO guys into a better position....

[Hellen_slith]

Elmer moved, so now it is beginning of NATO turn 8. Somehow I earned some points and am back again at Overwhelming Victory w/ 11 moves to go. I think WP must have been a bit disorganized b/c Elmer did not move as many units, so this turn may give me a better chance to form up against the East Germans that are headed for Schweinfurt. I also changed monitors, and am having much less eye strain. Turns out big screen TVs are not the best computer monitors for your eyes LoL. The game looks much "crisper" on a plain old 19 inch computer monitor.

[StuccoFresco]

Is elmer concentrating its forces to advance? In various PO scenarios I've seen he tends to overpenetrate with heavy units but fail to support them with follow-up forces, so his best units risk getting encircled.

[Hellen_slith]

ORIGINAL: StuccoFresco

Is elmer concentrating its forces to advance? In various PO scenarios I've seen he tends to overpenetrate with heavy units but fail to support them with follow-up forces, so his best units risk getting encircled.

Seems like he's got three objectives, at least three that I can tell (just from watching, but I haven't looked "under the hood") and he hasn't really concentrated, seems to be bringing a broad front approach and doesn't stack a lot. In the pic below, you can see where the black EG are going farthest west at the top left, giving me the most trouble over there. I've managed to get the NATO divisions pretty well formed up, but I've been a bit sloppy the last few moves.

This is near the end of NATO turn 10. Still barely an overwhelming victory for NATO, but he is trying to get around the 12th panzer there in the southeast ... that and the NW area are the most concentrations for Elmer right now.

[Hellen_slith]

Here is the game at the beginning of NATO move 12. I've noticed that WP keeps taking loss penalties (about 4 or 5 points per turn) which seems to offset any points Elmer gets by capturing the point hexes. Also, noticed that there are about 8 or 10 artillery pieces that seem to have been left behind by WP (that's the purple circle area), he could probably use those closer to Schweinfurt. I pushed back the EG there, but Elmer is threatening Amberg and is also making his way toward Nurnberg. Still, I'm holding on to an OV with nine or ten moves to go.

[Hellen_slith]

At the beginning of NATO 13, not much change. Four pockets of fighting.

[Hellen_slith]

Still not much change. I have chosen the Germany "BAOR" scene for the next go, and have noticed that I can set the computer to have a "plus one" advantage in intelligence, so I will try setting Elmer to that plus one extra brain in that one. Here, I think it is pretty clear cut that I will retain an OV, if only from WP suffering so much loss penalty. I also need to understand what / why is loss penalty. This is NATO 14 start of turn:

[Hellen_slith]

The game has ended! At end of WP turn 18. NATO OV by points. The PO did not seem to be aggressive enough. Elmer managed to get one tank unit to w/in a few KMs of Nurmberg, but the line held pretty easily. Well, I have started a BAOR scene, we'll see how it does w/ the extra plus one advantage in that one.