thedoctorking
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TTG Multi-player Game
Axis turn 1 AAR
For those who did not follow the conversation about starting this game, this we intended this to be a teaching game. The Axis side has four ground commanders, one each for the three German Army Groups and one for the Axis Minors, and a Chief of Staff. The Chief, Hobotango, and one of the ground commanders, ST in Army Group Center, are experienced players, and the others have little or no experience playing against live opponents. The principal idea of the game is to teach those inexperienced players the critical but often poorly documented game techniques that make your electronic armies effective. We also hope that, with a good AAR, we can teach forum readers the skills necessary for success in this game. We love War in the East, but we are aware that there is an enormous learning curve before you can truly enjoy the game.
One important feature of the first Axis turn is the initial air offensive. In days of yore, Axis players always started their turn by bombing every Soviet airbase within range. Enormous numbers of airframes went up in flames. Unfortunately for the Axis, the planes destroyed were typically the 1930’s-era aircraft – the I series fighters and SB-2 bombers – based on the frontline airfields in western Belarus, Ukraine, and Lithuania. The modern aircraft of the Red Air Force, and the precious (and hard to replace) long-range bombers and recon planes, were based farther to the rear and often didn’t suffer very much. Lately, Axis players have taken to setting many of their aircraft ranges to one hex (so they won’t fly in ground support of their attacks and use up miles) and launching their ground offensive. Then, they can then send airbases forward into newly-captured territory and then rebase airplanes to them. This allows strikes against those more remote airbases. Typically, the lack of air support on turn 1 is a minor handicap to the opening-turn ground offensive, because the game nerfs Soviet combat factors on turn one to reflect the surprise Axis assault. And this tactic pays big dividends in terms of useful Soviet aircraft losses.
A game mechanic note: to transfer aircraft forward, it is best to use the “air kabuki” method. Move a higher-numbered air base onto the base you want to transfer from (higher numbered because units are stacked in order of their number, and when you transfer aircraft into a hex they automatically are put on the airbase on top of the stack. The unit number is found on the upper right hand corner of the unit detail window that comes up if you right-click on the unit tile in the right-hand pane of the main window.). Hit f10, click on the hex, select all squadrons, and right-click on the same hex as the destination. The planes will be transferred to the empty base you moved in, but since they haven’t changed hexes they will still have zero miles traveled and can still rebase (only air units with zero miles flown are eligible for rebasing). Move the original base (now empty) to its new location, and transfer the planes normally. The reason this is important is that, in the logistics phase at the beginning of your turn (run automatically when the other side clicked end turn), the original base drew enough fuel and ammo to fly the planes effectively. If you just transferred them to a base that started the turn empty, there won’t be enough fuel and ammo for the planes to fight effectively for the following two player turns. I know, it’s silly, but it’s the best way to do it. On turn 1, you don't have an empty air base that has a high number, so look for a base with long-range bombers on it, transfer them off to another base, and then move it forward to become the home of a fighter squadron and as many Ju87 squadrons as appropriate.
In this game, the Axis don’t appear to have used the newer air strike strategy. All Axis airbases are still located in Poland. Air assets have been rebased closer to the front than their starting positions, but not forward into newly-occupied territory. Indeed, there aren’t even any empty “staging bases” located forward. Nonetheless, the Axis managed a respectable haul of the more important airframes destroyed in their initial attack – almost 1200 modern aircraft. The IL-4 is the most effective Soviet long-range bomber, and they only get 15 of them a turn. The SB-2 Recon is their long-range reconnaissance plane, and they have few and get few new ones. The Soviet air arm will be significantly weaker in the coming turns.
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< Message edited by thedoctorking -- 2/5/2019 2:44:22 AM >
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