First Winter Effects

[Farfarer61]

I Read the rules/AAR etc. but is a an short encapsulation ( by testers ) available of what the First Winter rules mean in terms of effects on Play ? In WITE1 this whipsawed from devastating to not so bad then back and forth. I'm looking for a " You can expect to be forced back 6 hexes on a 15 hex front if the Soviets concentrate or 2 -3 hexes everywhere in a war of attrition but in any case the Germans will have a million casualties". Big picture stuff. Thx.

[juv95hrn]

Germany loses some bonuses during the winter, and after summer 1942. The Soviets get the same bonuses from 1943 instead.

Dont think there are any other first winter rules.

[GloriousRuse]

There's a few effects:

1) Units in either blizzard conditions or snow levels of 6+ take additional attrition during the logistics phase and during combat. More snow equals more attrition. During combat the effect of this on AFVs is particularly notable. This can be mostly negated by units in cities and urban areas (not towns), or by digging in to fort level 2 which represents somewhat permanent defenses beyond a forty eight hour dig. Alone this isn't fatal, but it helps catch out units that are over-extended.

2) Rail supply is harder as snow goes above 6, or in blizzards - more snow, harder costs. Near big railyards on high capacity lines, that's no big deal. If you're working at the end of shaky rail infrastructure, it can hurt what is getting to the depots.

3) Through April '42 trucking costs are doubled, but in particular they get excessive in blizzard hexes (your supply trucks take a +8 MP cost per blizzard hex), and to a lesser degree in any hex with snow 6 or higher. More snow...you get the idea. For units near depots, tolerable, but units caught more than a few hexes from a depot in a blizzard are going to be roughly served indeed.

4) Not a special first winter rule, but heavy snow builds up fatigue very rapidly.

No one of those is individually annihilating. It isn't the WitE1 method where on December 7th every soviet rifleman is suddenly twice as good. The net effect is that German units near supply hubs with well connected infrastructure and time to get ready will suffer a little extra attrition, but generally be solid. Units caught out on the steppes with minimal preparation, sixty miles form the nearest depot which is already on a low capacity part of the network - those units will start to disintegrate, a process which will be expedited by the fact the Soviets will no doubt get their licks in on top.

The net effect is that German defenses near logistics hubs (and, almost as if the general Staff knew it's business, almost all VP cities are major hubs), particularly if given time to prepare, can still mount very serious defenses. But Russia being Russia, there are lots of places that are not logistics hubs, especially in places the germans start looking at in November. The '41 defense for them involves a lot of deciding on how to solve the problem of sufficiently holding the barrens to prevent breakthroughs or isolation of major nodes and formations without getting the Heer ground to death in the deep snow. The soviets have to weigh fighting where they have the most advantages versus fighting near the cities that are worth more in terms of VPs and operational value, but are not going to be nearly as easy to force.

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: Farfarer61

I Read the rules/AAR etc. but is a an short encapsulation ( by testers ) available of what the First Winter rules mean in terms of effects on Play ? In WITE1 this whipsawed from devastating to not so bad then back and forth. I'm looking for a " You can expect to be forced back 6 hexes on a 15 hex front if the Soviets concentrate or 2 -3 hexes everywhere in a war of attrition but in any case the Germans will have a million casualties". Big picture stuff. Thx.

read this - https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4941282

posts 24+ cover the main effects and the loss tables will give you some idea of the relative impact