Extreme Challenge Demonstration Game

[vahauser]

Riun T has requested that I post a DAR of a battle from my German Long Campaign Extreme Challenge.

Feel free to ask questions or make comments along the way.

This demonstration game will be played using standard SPWAW 8.4.

These days I prefer playing SPWAW 8.403 Enhanced FV (and this campaign format will work with it), but most players use standard SPWAW 8.4 so I'll demonstrate this game using standard SPWAW 8.4.

[vahauser]

These are the initial preferences as detailed in my German Long Campaign Extreme Challenge thread (in the general SPWAW forum). Note that AI Advantage is ON and that I have chosen an initial Troop Quality of 69 for my core.

[vahauser]

My initial core consists of:
1 A0 HQ
6 sections Pz 38(t)
6 sections Pz IVc
5 platoons Light Cavalry
3 platoons Special Ops Infantry
5 sections Halftracks
6 sections Pz Ib
8 sections SS ATR
1 platoon Stoewer 40
1 sniper
Total of 110 units and 2748 points spent

[vahauser]

September 1939, first battle of the campaign.
Delay mission at night, 33 turns.
Note that I have the battle difficulty set to Hard (x2).

With my 818 support points I bought:
9 sections 81mm mortars
1 ammo dump
1 forward observer
2 platoons SdKfz 221 armored cars
3 sections Stoewer 40
2 squads recon teams

Note that I have no heavy artillery (and no air strikes at night).

[vahauser]

Here is my initial northern deployment area.

Note that all of my units are deployed behind all of my victory hexes.

Note that the forward victory hexes are worth 25 points per turn.

This is going to make this battle more challenging because I am not allowed to engage the enemy until all of my victory hexes have been captured.

[vahauser]

Here is my southern deployment area.

Note that all of my forces are deployed behind all of my victory hexes.

[vahauser]

This is my northern attack force. It will advance and seize the northern cluster of 25-pt-per-turn victory hexes as soon as my combat force is released.

[vahauser]

This is my center force. It will recapture the victory hexes in front of it and harass any enemy in the area.

[vahauser]

This is my southern force.

The group of units concentrated in the southern hex is my south attack group and will advance and recapture the southern and central 25-pt-per-turn victory clusters as soon as my combat force is released.

Note that my rearmost victory hex is on the 20 hex column. This means that none of my units can deploy past the 19 hex column.

Also note that even though I bought 3 platoons of special ops infantry, I am never allowed to use them as infiltrators. I may only use them as regular ground infantry throughout the campaign.

[vahauser]

For the first 9 turns my entire combat force did nothing and just remained in place, waiting for the Poles to capture all of my victory hexes.

This is the situation at the start of my Turn 10.

The Poles captured the last of my victory hexes during their Turn 9, so my combat force is now released to engage the enemy.

[vahauser]

This is my north attack group heading for their objective at the end of my Turn 10.

[vahauser]

This is my south attack group heading for their first objective at the end of my Turn 10.

[vahauser]

This is the center combat group harassing the enemy at the end of my Turn 10.

This is where the Polish artillery will send their first heavy salvoes. My ATRs will likely suffer heavy casualties during the several turns of bombardments I expect in this sector.

My ATRs managed to score a long-range kill against one of the enemy armored cars. This is the first of over 300 kills I expect to accomplish during this battle.

[vahauser]

This is where the Poles will lose this battle. I expect them to send hundreds of units to attack this victory cluster in an attempt to recapture these victory hexes. The battle will be won or lost here.

This is the situation in this critical sector at the end of my Turn 10.

[Alby]

ORIGINAL: vahauser
Note that AI Advantage is ON and that I have chosen an initial Troop Quality of 69 for my core.

you have bumped the Germans base experience up from 55 (what it would be with country training on) to 69 and call it extreme challenge??
[&:]

[Riun T]

I'm also kinda scratching my head as to what u think turning off historical charicteristics for two battles would be doing for him Alby?? and agree that 69 is kinda high for the first battle but lets give him the credit that maybe his core got some extra from being part of the CONDORE BATTALION forces that where training the spainish nationalists around 37-39??

[Alby]

Dont know

[vahauser]

Alby and Riun T,

This is standard SPWAW 8.4 here, not Enhanced FV.  In standard 8.4, the German base troop quality in 1939 is 65 and the base Polish troop quality is 55.

Also, historically there have always been formations that have troop qualities that are better (and worse) than the "national average" (whatever the hell that means). 

Further, just because Matrix Games and The Depot have subjectively decreed that the "national averages" are such and such and so and so, I happen to disagree with those subjective decrees in many (most) cases.  And the fact that The Depot and Matrix cannot even agree between themselves on what those "national averages" are is proof enough that these are subjective decisions and are not dictated by any measureable historical data.

Further, the group of players that I play with in the Austin/Dallas areas also disagree with the subjective decrees of Matrix and The Depot regarding "national averages".

Further, if the points system works, and if the game system works, and if the other conditions of the campaign have been set up correctly, then any troop quality a player chooses should not noticeably affect the overall outcome.  A player still only gets 2750 initial points and he still must have at least 110 units in his core. If you choose a high troop quality (I've sometimes chosen as high as 110) then your force will be much lighter (lots of recon patrols and ATR sections and Stoewer 40s).  If you choose a low troop quality (I've sometimes chosen as low as 50), then your force will be much heavier (lots of battle tanks and battle infantry).

Further, allowing players to choose their own troop quality at the start of the campaign gives players the ability to experiment and allows for more interesting core variations.  In fact, my local friends would not have agreed to continue with my idea in the first place if I hadn't agreed to let them choose their own troop quality.

Further, this challenge has been developed and refined and playtested over the course of many months, and I promise you that the challenge is difficult enough no matter what troop quality you choose for your initial core (see the above sentence highlighted in bold print).  If you don't believe me, then try it and see for yourself.

However, if you believe that choosing my own core troop quality automatically invalidates absolutely everything else (which is basically saying that the Historical Ratings button should be always hardwired into the ON position and that anybody who thinks different is a heretic), then I might as well stop this demonstration game here and now.

Riun T, I was doing this at your request and for your benefit.  Do you want me to continue this demonstration or not?

[Alby]

sorry, missed where you stated you were using 8.4
[:(]

[azraelck]

It seems to me that you've limited yourself to concentrated counter attacks after the enemy force has captured your VHs. Given the AI's tendancy for a broad front advance, that means your forces will end up out flanked by a portion of the Polish force, due to your own manuvering. However, it also means that you will be dealing with them piecemeal, as the AI also seems to go full speed ahead, and thus will have spread it's troops out quite a bit. Once you've regained the VHs, then you just defend I guess, in isolated clusters. This does seem to fail at the purpose of a delaying action; which IIRCis to stop and enemy advance until turn 21 or 25 or something, then withdrawl as much of your force as you can. It seems to me you will not be able to withdrawl without fighting your way through the enemy forces at your rear, and will likely have not held the VHs long enough to have them affect the score substantially.

Just my observation, and lacking in the specific details of your counter attacks and the subsequent defenses. It is also assuming your fighting a delaying action, not a defensive action.