Soviet City Supply

Gary Grigsby’s War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945 is a turn-based World War II strategy game stretching across the entire Eastern Front. Gamers can engage in an epic campaign, including division-sized battles with realistic and historical terrain, weather, orders of battle, logistics and combat results.

The critically and fan-acclaimed Eastern Front mega-game Gary Grigsby’s War in the East just got bigger and better with Gary Grigsby’s War in the East: Don to the Danube! This expansion to the award-winning War in the East comes with a wide array of later war scenarios ranging from short but intense 6 turn bouts like the Battle for Kharkov (1942) to immense 37-turn engagements taking place across multiple nations like Drama on the Danube (Summer 1944 – Spring 1945).

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AFV
Posts: 437
Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2011 2:12 pm
Location: Dallas, Texas

Soviet City Supply

Post by AFV »

There has been a some talk about Soviets not fighting forward, and German supply being under-powered (or over-powered, depending on the poster), and fixes needed for the game, etc.

One thing that would help the Soviets fight forward would be if cities could provide some supply to Soviet units that are otherwise isolated. In another words, after a turn in which Soviet units are isolated, the next turn the German is basically facing a bunch of ants that they can mop up in short order. The game might actually provide the units some supply- I don't know and I don't care- what I am getting at is the CV reduction.
Also, I do NOT have any references to how cities were or were not able to provide supplies, I do NOT know the page/paragraph in Glantz's book that details this and don't care lol.
What I do know, is that in this GAME, if a city would provide the Soviet some CV protection, I would be much more likely to defend it knowing that if I was able to hold it, my CV's would not drop to 1, and those units might last longer than one more turn.

Maybe this could be modeled in game terms by providing port supply?
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thedoctorking
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RE: Soviet City Supply

Post by thedoctorking »

I think future evolution of the game will take this into account. Yes, one dramatic aspect of the war was the ability of both sides' forces to survive long periods in pockets. This aspect is not present in the game as it now is - if you get cut off and can't re-establish a line of supply, you are pretty much doomed. Air resupply should be more effective in permitting units to continue fighting for long periods.

Production from Soviet cities is another matter. As the game currently is, manpower recruited from isolated cities goes into a stockpile that the USSR can use when the city is subsequently reconnected/recaptured. I think this is quite odd. I'd say it would be better to allow the city to produce new elements for units present there, especially if it has armaments factories. There are plenty of sources reporting on city garrisons, not only in Odessa/Sevastopol/Leningrad where they were connected to the outside world, however tentatively, by sea, but even in Kiev and Kursk, recruiting local manpower, arming them with weapons stockpiled for the purpose in the city or recovered from battlefields and repaired in local workshops, and then putting them into the line. There are estimates that as many as 20% of Soviet military casualties in 1941 were not recorded because they were enlisted irregularly under these circumstances.

If they can get replacements from a city, they should certainly be able to get supplies, at least enough that they wouldn't suffer the enormous nerfing of combat power associated with isolated status.
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AFV
Posts: 437
Joined: Sat Dec 24, 2011 2:12 pm
Location: Dallas, Texas

RE: Soviet City Supply

Post by AFV »

How hard would it be to code that you think- as in give them port supply if they can trace a line to a city hex (or above)?
Perhaps a rhetorical question, really one for someone like Morvael.
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