My first Highway to the Reich AAR (a sort of review, if you will)

[Skyfire7631]

Hi all,

New to HTTR, but already posted this AAR in another forum (which Golf33 visits too), and he thought this AAR/review could be interesting here, so I'm re- posting it, so here we go [:)]. Oh yeah, please forgive my english which is probably sometimes strange, since I'm french [;)]

EDIT : and if someone knows why my posts are so wide [&:], I'd like to know in order to correct this

Ok, I'm gonna try to make a small AAR for Highway to the Reich. As this will be my first game with it (apart from the 2 tutorials), that can also be considered as a little review.

Installation/setup process is easy :

• Install game
• Patch with 1st patch
• Patch with 2nd patch
• Read manual
• Play the 2 tutorials (which are interesting [:)] )
• Play on your own, and get your arse kicked [;)]

Ok, let's start the game. First strange thing is that the game asks you every time you start it at which resolution you want to run it (800x600, 1024x768 or 1280x1024).
This is fixable by modifying the shortcut (by adding "/resolution 1024x768" for example after the exe name). You can, if I'm not mistaken, choose other resolutions this way, but it seems it's not really recommended.

I'd like to have the same kind of option to disable the intro videos : once you saw them once, no use keeping them. In fact, this gives me an idea, wait a minute .... Yeah, it works : just delete (or rename if you don't trust me [:D]) the three AVI files in your HTTR folder, and voilà, no more intro videos [:)]

(note about the screenshots : I resized most of them, to keep the file size at minimum, so they're a little blurry : sorry about that, and keep in mind this is not a problem with the game)

Now, onto the magnificient (erhm) main UI :


As you can see above, I doubt you can find a more minimalist UI. You have at your disposal the following buttons :

• New
• Load
• Host
• Join
• About
• Quit

And that's all. I think I don't have to explain what are the functions of these buttons ? [;)]

So, let's click on new, to find the list of scenarios (note : yep, there's no campaign in this game [:(])


This makes around 35 scenarios available, which is a good number (of course, the more the merrier), all the more that replayability is supposed to be high (you can play both sides, and of course try different strategies, at different difficuly levels).

Now, I'm looking for a small scenario (small map, small number of forces) for this first try : two things annoy me in this search. First, you can't use the arrow down key on the list to scroll down the said list, while having a quick glance at scenario data. Second, the only "visible" parameter is the duration. If you want more information, you need to read the short briefing. It would have been nice to have some sort of evaluation of the number of forces to command at a quick glance.

Scenario durations range (for the ones installed, at least) from 12 hours to nearly 10 days.

I'll of course try the shortest one, called Advance on Loenen. Here's the briefing :

The 504th Regiment has been tasked with opening the route to Loenen. Only light oposition is expected, but can you do it in the 12 hours your superiors have given you?

Best played as the Allies.

Not designed to be played as the Axis

(note : though the scenario files seem to be binary, you can open them with notepad and find the briefing at the very end of the file. Easy for making such AARs [:)])

Ok, so here's now the scenario window :


Here, you can customize how the scenario will be played, with :

• which side you want to play (upper left button)
• what order delays will be used (ranging from None to Painfully Realistic)
• Type of weather (historical, seasonal, better or worse)
• Reinforcement schedule : not very clear for me now, but should allow you to set the reinforcements in favour of one side or the other, if there are any
• Supply schedule : for each side, it can be historical, more or less (note on supply : it is done automatically each morning, and as such, there are no lines of supply or such
  things to manage).

I'll leave all the settings at default, but choose the allies side and set the orders delay at realistic (painfully realistic is probably not for me yet [;)]), and then click on begin game.

More on next post.

EDIT : Btw, good point for the game, it apparently does not need the CD. At least, I've done all the above, and got into the game without the CD [:)]

Regards.

[Skyfire7631]

Ok, we're now in game, and here's the interface we'll spend the whole game in :


Obviously, the map is on the right part (wow, I'm good [:D]), while the left part is reserved for orders and informations. Let's try to view the different parts a little closer.

The upper left part :


contains the minmap, with the zoom level below. You can also zoom in/out with the mouse wheel (and btw, it should be reversed : if you scroll up, it zoomes out, and if you scroll down, it zoomes in, and this bothers me a lot. Golf33, if you see this [;)]).

You also have the current weather (more information is given in a tooltip if you hover your mouse over the picture).

Below the weather, you have the current loose/win status (bad for me, currently)

And below again, you have the buttons controlling the speed of the game (paused at that time).

Below the upper left part, we have :


which is the toolbar for orders and game options

And below again, we have :


General information about the game, or detailed information about units when one or several are selected.

And finally, the map (which I zoomed in one notch)


On this map, the darker the color, the higher the terrain is. I also activated the 1km terrain grid. Overall, I'm not really satisfied with the maps, for the following reasons :
[*]It's hard to see the heights
[*]Sometimes, you can't see your mouse cursor, or some names are barely readable

There are 2 mods existing modifying the default colors, but I did no find them especially useful either.

On the other hand, you have a LOS tool which can help you see the heights and ... lines of sight from any point to any other.

One thing that you should check closely, at least if you want to win (or try to [;)]), and most of the times several times during the game, is the objective list.

Here (see 2 pictures above) we have 4 objectives : 3 are places which must be secure, and the last is the overall objective to destroy as much as possible of the enemy.

If we look a little closer, we'll see that the 3 objectives have no occupation values, only a completion one. This means that we do not need to rush to occupy them, since the only points awarded will be if we hold the objective at the end of the game.

On the other hand, if we look at the map (units filtered out, in order to see the 3 objectives) :


we see that from where we are (south), there is something like 8 or 9kms from out starting position to the last objective (the one at 75 points), with several enemy units in between. So, as we only have 12 hours, and even without getting points for occupying the objectives, we'd better go fast.

For example, if we only hold the last two objectives at the end, we'll have 50 pts, and the enemy 75. Unless, we manage to destroy a lot of his units, we'll not even come out with a draw.

More on next post.

Regards.

[Skyfire7631]

Let's have a closer look at our units now :


When units are higher in the chain of command, they're drawn on the top of others. Besides, when you select one, you see green lines linking it to its subordinates, and a blue line towards the "commanding" unit. The white square you see represents the facing of the selected unit (this one is facing north-west. Funnily, when I first saw that, I thought it was facing south-east ...).
You can navigate through your units using the arrow keys (up/down the chain of command, or right/left on the same level)

So, here's our OOB, then (excuse me if I don't have the correct terms) :

Code: Select all

 504th Para regiment HQ
     504th regiment base
     A Bty 80th Abn Anti-Tank Battalion
     376th Arty Battalion
     307th Engineer Company
 
     1st Battalion HQ of 504th regiment
         A company
         B company
         C company
         1.504 Mortar platoon (why this one is called 1.504, while the 2 others are called 2/504 and 3/504 ???)
 
     2nd Battalion HQ of 504th regiment
         D company
         E company
         F company
         2/504 Mortar platoon
 
     3nd Battalion HQ of 504th regiment
         G company
         H company
         I company
         3/504 Mortar platoon

The upper left icon gives you the type of units, while the upper right one gives you different information (in the above screen shot, it's the combat power, but you can choose to display strength, rout status, task, fatigue, morale, and so on).

The bottom bar tells you if it's an HQ unit (little flag on the left), and the color of that bar can give you several info (in particular, if it's white, it's because you have taken direct control of the unit, and it is no longer commanded by its normal "chief").

Wow, this takes me longer than I thought, and I don't intend to explain everything in detail, just scratch the surface. I need a beer [:)]

For the record, my whole force represent 2465 personel, 30 guns, strengths of 598 in AP, 1263 in AT and 129 in bombardment.

More on next post.

Regards.

[Skyfire7631]

Now, on to my strategy. Here's a view of the 1st 2 objectives, and south of them.


Apparently, I have 2 units awaiting me on my way to the 1st two objectives. Their sighting age is "current", but reliability is "poor", so I must not rely too much on their information.

However, the right one is said to have an anti-personel strength of 51, and an anti-armor strength of 92. If this is somewhat accurate, I should be able to take care of it with only 1 Battalion (the 1st one, which is the closer).

The left one (which you can barely see at the bottom left of the map) has values of 125 AP / 148 AT. So the rest of my forces will be dedicated to this one (the other 2 battalions have roughly 250 of AP strength so they'll need a little more punch probably, so the HQ will help them).

Finally, I'll take command of the 376th arty, to bombard wherever it is needed. I'll need to move it a little towards north so that i can cover the final objective.

After taking care of these 2 units, I'll go towards the 1st objective (which will require the 1st batalion to cross the woods south-east of this objective), then the second (I doubt I have enough power to attack the two at the same time) and then the final one.

Here are the orders given to the 1st battalion (note the white bar of the HQ, indicating that I took its command) :


I have also modified the depth of the form-up point (just before the attack) to gibe a little more punch to the attack (600m instead of the default 1000)

Here are the orders for the rest of the troops (except the arty, which has been ordered to rest NE of its actual position, to get in range of the last objective. Only problem with that is I don't know if it will be there soon enough to support the both "ongoing" attacks. However, I think it should be ok : the single arty should deploy much more rapidly than the full regiment minus one battalion) :


In both cases, I left the parameters at default (aggressivity, rate of fire), but I put the acceptable losses at high (I don't want to get delayed on the 1st attack), and the formation for the left attack on successive lines.

The main problem I see for now is that I will probably have to leave some units along the way to defend the first objectives, to make sure I still have them at the end of the game, and so, my forces will be reduced when arriving to the last one (if they ever make it there, that is ).

Ok, let's run the game for some time to see what happens.

Regards.

[Skyfire7631]

Here's the situation after 40 minutes of play :


The right battalion is on its way (you can spot the route it chose), and on the left flank, units are reorganizing to move.

What I did not expect is that the enemy unit on the right started to fire at me almost immediatly, and even advanced a little towards me. Worse : the 376th arty did not even start to move, and so is not available for support. I'll cancel its order and put it on rest where it is (I understood while later : by default, the order was given with a formation "in-situ", i.e. don't move, hey [:D]) :


It has now a bombar order of 20 minutes (but with a slow ROF : I don't want to spend all my ammo too quick) to try to calm a little that enenmy unit while mine are reorganizing.

Here, 40 minutes later and after the end of bombardment, you see my units arriving on the FUP (with the 2nd battalion being quite late). The FUP is now alas too close to the enemy, because he moved.
On the other hand I now have a clear view of my enemy, and it's far from being as powerful as we were thinking at the beginning. So even with a messed up FUP, we should have no real problem.



At 09h (so, 3 hours after the start, here is the situation) :


On the right flank, the attack has started (after I sent some rounds of arty), and I routed the unit, but unfortunately, the B company was routed too (while the A was apparently put in reserve).

On the left flank, the units are still forming up at the FUP, and while I was looking at the attack on the right flank, the enemy on the left flank has disappeared. WTF ? [&:]

3 hours out of 12, and I achieved next to nothing [X(] My 1st error was to attack these units : I think I should have ordered to move directly towards the objectives, while avoiding these 2 units. Too late now.

Regards.

[Skyfire7631]

At 10h30, the situation is the following :


On the right flank, the enemy has been routed, and disappeared from my sight. After securing the place, I sent the battalion in defense in the woods SE of the first objective, so that they can spot what awaits me there.

On the left flank, the enemy appeared again, and is routing. I gave the troops the order to move towards the end of the woods to the north, using an avoidance route, to bypass this enemy unit.

At 11h, I get an airstrike, but have no real target for it. But instead of loosing it, I just send it over the first objective, just in case.

At 12h10, another airstrike, which I send on a vaguely spotted unit on the path of the left flank to the 1st objective.

At 13h30 :

The 1st battalion is deployed, but has spotted nothing.
The rest of the troops only start moving (i.e. nearly 3 hours after I gave them the order ...).

At 15h, the left flank is not yet at the end of the woods :rolleyes: (they had to rout again that damn enemy unit).

Ok, if I want to avoid a total defeat, time for some radical measures : I send the 1st battalion assaulting the 2nd objective, and cancel the move orders for the rest and put them on attack to the first one (all of this on fastest speed).

At 17h, I'm at last attacking (and needless to say sending all the arty I have) :


At 18h, both groups are at the objectives but fail to secure them, due to enemy units not being pushed away far enough :


The final result, without any surprise is then a decisive defeat [;)]


Yep, I scored a massive 0 points in total [:D] On the good side, I destroyed 215 men, 1 AFV and 2 guns, while the AI only managed to kill 30 of my men [:)]

That's the worst (and I can't see how I could do worse than that now) result I've ever got for any wargame, whichever kind, I ever tried [X(]

What I should have done IMHO : completly ignore the 2 units in the woods, make the orders battalion by battalion (to speed up orders) and leave the rest of the regiment coming up later to defend the objectives.

So, overall, how's this game (all IMHO of course) ? On the plus sides :
[*]Complex, I like that
[*]Good AI
[*]New and well thought out concepts

Shortcomings :
[*]No campaign
[*]Map very far from perfect (bordering unreadable sometimes)
[*]Abstracted supplies (but I can live with that)
[*]UI could support some minor enhancements

I'd also like to see some more different kinds of objectives (escorting units, escaping at one particular point, destroying one special unit, and so on).

But what's more important : I'm enjoying it, and I'm recommending it to anyone interested by operational wargames [:)]

Regards.

[Skyfire7631]

A last note : I'm replaying the scenario. It's now 11h and the right flank is ready to attack 2nd objective, while left flank just received the orders to attack 1st one. It's already much better than above [;)]

EDIT : ok, scenario ended for 2nd time, and still 0 points, lol. I managed to get the 2nd objective (in the east) but the AI sent a unit 5 minutes before the end in counter-attack, enough to deny it to me at the end. One thing that bothered me is that one company was put in reserve (you can see it : the A company in the picture below) and never got to attack, while 2 others in the assault were routed for some time. What's the use to have a reserve if it does not come to help when things are going bad ? [&:]

I was unable to secure the 1st objective, thanks to some motorizd infantry dug-in near by, who did not move.

Final situation :


Hmm, ok, maybe the idea then is to try to get only the last one (75 pts), or as I said give the orders to all battalions individually to speed up things (and maybe attack in different directions).

Regards.

[Skyfire7631]

At 5th or 6th try (erhm [:D]), I finally managed to come out with a victory. Here's the final situation :


As you can see, I sent the 1st battalion to attack Loenen directly with an avoidance route which worked perfectly (note the perfect formation, with the front troops in line at the objective, and the mortar platoon being on call at the rear, as support : all of this done by the AI of course [:)])

I sent the 3rd battalion to the west of Loenen, via the highway. Unfortunately, it stayed pinned down in a fight with some units you can see on the west edge of the screen. I don't know why, but I had to regive them the order to move via an avoidance path in order for them to give up that fight and move again. As a result, they were unavailable for the fight in Loenen. Again, I understood later : I think I had put one waypoint just where the enemy units revealed themselves. As a result, even with an avoidance rule, the battalion was trying to follow my orders and use that waypoint.

The arty was under my orders near our starting point, and the rest of the troops were ordered to attack the 1st objective, which they did with success.

I was rather lucky : the AI had a good amount of troops on second objective, which I completly ignored. The defense of the 1st was on its east, but too far it seems to pose a real threat. And the defense in Loenen was not really big, and suffered a lot from my arty, which allowed me to get the objective. But what a race !!! [:)] (where's the thumbs up smiley, hmm ? [;)])

Final results :


Regards.

[Skyfire7631]

Sometime later, after some discussion with Golf33, I made this post about a light modification of the map.

Here's a screenshot of the map somewhat modded (just contrast/brightness slightly adjusted) :

Original version


Modded version


Now, I would like to be able to have the roads and tracks be grey (I know, maybe not too realistic, at least for little tracks, but would make them much easier to spot), and if possible the names on the map written in white instead of black. Is it possible ?

Regards.

[Golf33]

Thanks Skyfire, I didn't get the chance to post the link as intended but it's better this way anyhow [:)] Good writing btw, your english is excellent.

To keep your posts narrower, try restricting the size of embedded images to 650 pixels wide or less.

Re: making the roads/tracks grey and the text white, from your post in the modding forum I gather you have this one under control already?

Regards
33

[Arjuna]

Well done Skyfire. [:)]

[Grotius]

Great AAR, Skyfire. I'm in the middle of my first go at this scenario, so I feel your pain. [;)] I did bypass the first couple of pickets, for which I congratulated myself, but I hadn't ordered my troops to assault the main objective. Instead, my initial order was to assault the closest objective. Oops! With that much order delay, by the time I realized that I didn't have time to stop, it was probably too late. I've got four hours left, and I'm just now approaching the second objective. I probably shoulda bypassed 'em both, detached a couple companies to contest the secondary objectives, and made a beeline for the main objective.

By the way, I also have some trouble seeing place-names on the map, as well as cursors. But in general I do like the look and feel of the maps.

[Skyfire7631]

ORIGINAL: Golf33

To keep your posts narrower, try restricting the size of embedded images to 650 pixels wide or less.

Argh, this means I should resize all my pictures. I think this will stay as it is then.

Re: making the roads/tracks grey and the text white, from your post in the modding forum I gather you have this one under control already?

Regards
33

Well, yes for the roads/tracks, but negative for the text, since its texture is shared with railroads and some other things, so in this case, I'm stuck.

Regards.

[Skyfire7631]

ORIGINAL: Grotius

Great AAR, Skyfire. I'm in the middle of my first go at this scenario, so I feel your pain. [;)] I did bypass the first couple of pickets, for which I congratulated myself, but I hadn't ordered my troops to assault the main objective. Instead, my initial order was to assault the closest objective. Oops! With that much order delay, by the time I realized that I didn't have time to stop, it was probably too late. I've got four hours left, and I'm just now approaching the second objective. I probably shoulda bypassed 'em both, detached a couple companies to contest the secondary objectives, and made a beeline for the main objective.

By the way, I also have some trouble seeing place-names on the map, as well as cursors. But in general I do like the look and feel of the maps.

Hehe, good luck, then. IMHO, you'll need it : I have the feeling that you need a little bit of luck to get at least one battalion to Loenen in time [:)]

Regards.

[JeF]

Very good work Skyfire.

Congrats for the victory at last. You played it the way it should IMHO.

ORIGINAL: Skyfire76
IMHO, you'll need it : I have the feeling that you need a little bit of luck to get at least one battalion to Loenen in time [:)]

I don't think so as I regularly managed to bring two of them in Loenen. [:)] OTOH, it took me at least 20 attempts before being able to do so. [:D]

Cheers,

JeF.
PS: et excellente maîtrise du rosbif. Sans l'indication de localisation, tu serais passé inaperçu. [;)]

[Skyfire7631]

Lol, thanks JeF [:)]

Regards.