Originally posted by Montenegro
Loki,
I think as far as WIR goes, interdiction and Luftwaffe strength are so powerful that there is no way a skilled German player can be stopped when you add this to the already huge factors of readiness, mobility, and armor in '41. If you basically attack Lenningrad with the idea of taking out as much of the Soviet defenses in the swamps and form a front line around Kharkov and Rostov, Moscow is a very real possibility by Sept, Oct , or even Nov. However, a good Soviet player can draw enough blood and defend properly to make Generals Mud and Winter be the stop gap reserves. I contend that all this game needs in a future update is historical readiness/fighting on Soviet side where they deserve it, better entrenchment values in these areas (especially if Zhukov is in command), and more of a partisan factor, particularly in the movement of German forces by rail or even basic transfer btw HQ's and units.
Regards,
Montenegro
I agree. WIR is grossly imbalanced in the 1941 senario. Any German player worth his salt will take at least Leningrad without too much trouble, even against a good human opponent. I have a number of suggestions, which I hope more experienced WIR players will comment upon:
1. The panzer corps move too far, too fast. In WIR they can race without pausing for brautwurst breaks. A personal pet peeve is they will create zones of control as they run amok in the Russian rear (and later, tank armies do the same). This automatically condemns the Russian to mass losses because they go instantly out of supply. It took the Germans two months to go 400 miles; in WIR you can do it in half the time. Because of the ZOCs, it's almost impossible for Russians to have any chance of escape - which large numbers did in reality. A good German player doesn't need to wait for the infantry, which in reality they had to do to seal off escape routes. Most of the mass surrenders were caused by the lack of Russian movement, waiting too long to withdraw before infantry, not armor, sealed their fate. You'd never guess from WIR the terribly high loss in German infantry from cleaning up the pockets that WIR just surrenders. Kiev almost automatically falls in the 3rd week which is way too fast. You'd never guess from WIR that the Red Army stopped AGN and AGS by August, which is why AGC was split to go north and south. Playing even level against a human, it's almost impossible for a Russian to win the 41 senario.
2. It's too easy to move forces around!! Jeez, in WIR one can shift large forces almost with abandon. In reality, large scale troop movements were very complex and surprisingly slow.
3. How about letting the Russian player have the option of not getting penalized for early war command and control. It's nearly impossible to corrdinate any reasonable counterattack. In reality, a number of their attacks went off well; others were more problematic.
4. The attrition rate for marching armor is too low. German armor was notorious for breakdowns.
5. Who ever calculated the production costs? I think there've been threads on this, but German costs are too low.
6. Swamps should all but stop armor. Period.
7. How did all those German airplanes get shot down?? In WIR the Red Air Force must spend a good chunk of the war in the far east eating borscht and playing the accordian just to survive. Losses should be heavy, but the Luftwaffe losses don't seem very realistic.
8. Lastly, I just think WIR has a generally pro-German bias. Give me a break on the command strengths. Much of this is based on the myths propogated by the Germans themselves after the war. Put Guderian in Pavlov's shoes in June 1941 and let's see how well he'd do.
Anyway, comments and suggestions.....???
