Turn 1
Objectives
1. Capture Riga
2. Capture other Courland ports to avoid Soviet units fleeing
3. Drive as far as possible northeast and pocket Soviet units
Tips
- A good use of AP is to reassign divisions to avoid command limit penalties and try to have all divisions reporting to Corps level commanders (not higher HQs). The rest can often be used to replace poor leaders.
- Seems like attacking with about 3x the enemy's CV is about ideal as that then gives some buffer for rolls/SU/etc so that you still end up with at least 2x to win. Remember hasty attacks only do half CV.
- Try to attack with infantry instead of panzer/motorized divisions where possible to optimize how far the latter can move.
- Move divisions reporting to the same Corps HQ towards similar areas to ensure they all are within 5 hexes and 20 MP of their Corps HQ so they get supplied at the start of next turn.
- Don't forget to repair rail hexes and not block the repair path.
- Pocket enemy units where possible and then clear them the following turn so that they surrender. But also make sure to clear where you need to repair rails and avoid wasting movement on enemy ZoC.
Turn Steps (this will probably be more brief in future turns or highlight just specific things)
1. Start with 9 AP so review some options (replace leaders, re-assign divisions, etc). I review the commanders report to see if there are any HQs over command limit but there doesn't appear to be. Then I review OOB and notice 2 divisions (1 Infantry and 1 Motorized) that are reporting directly to Army Groups so I reassign them down to a Corps for 0 AP (I believe its best to have all fighting units reporting directly to Corps). I decide to replace what appears to be the worst leader (28 Corps) with Walter Model (appears to be the best infantry leader) which costs 4 AP. I decide to save the rest til the end of the turn as I'd like to re-assign at least 1 of the 2 infantry divisions (cost 3 AP each) that are currently assigned to Panzer Corps as they won't be able to keep up with those fast moving panzers/motorized divisions.
2. Bomb nearby enemy airfields that have the most planes. End up around 500 enemy air losses for just a few German losses. I'll admit I haven't quite dove into air combat mechanics yet.
3. Use infantry to attack with at least 3x the defenders CV as you need at least 2x to win and there is a decent amount of randomness (remember hasty attack halves attacking CV so then you want like 5-6x). Also 1 CV defenders appear to be any where from 0.1-1.9 so hard to figure out how much is needed but security and fortification units seem especially weak. I sent the 26th Corps north to capture the port of Liepaja. The rest generally push northeast with a few around the city of Kaunas to the east.
4. Try to keep divisions that report to the same HQ close together and move the HQ to follow them and stay within 5 range of all the units that report to it.
5. Use mech/panzers to drive as far northeast as possible focusing mainly on capturing Riga (41st Panzer Corps). The 56th Panzer Corps sends some up north to capture the port of Ventspils and the rest to clear and pocket remaining Soviet units. Trying to ensure that the panzer corps near Riga can't be cut off as well as capturing as much territory as possible to allow maximum infantry advancement next turn.
6. Repair 4 rail hexes northeast around the town of Taurage.
7. Assign 269th Infantry Division to Model's 28 Corps (3 AP) as they are out of command/supply range of the 41st Panzer Corps that advanced to capture Riga.
8. Advance all remaining HQs and airbases forward to ensure all divisions are within command/supply range.
Questions to the Experts
1. Is that a reasonable use of AP turn 1 here? Are there clearly better options?
2. Any major things that were missed? Should Kaunas be captured turn 1?
End of Turn 1
