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Fite Karri Mod - 7/3/2010 6:11:52 AM

Fungwu

Posts: 161
Joined: 8/22/2007
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quote:

these changes:

Axis minors now reconstruct, with the exception of fleets, forts and air force.
-Finns reconstruct in Helsinki
-Hungarians reconstruct at Budapest
-Slovakians reconstruct at Bratislava
-Italians reconstruct at Triest
-Romanians reconstruct at Bucharest

- German air shock 105 in 1943, instead of 100(event 10)
-Russian first winter shock 105(event 11)
-Russian shock of 95 after winter offensive(event 14)
-turn 178 russian air shock 100(event 26)
-Russian shock until mud set to 95(event 361)
-turn 4 air shock to 80(event 362)
-turn 11 russian air shock to 85(event 363)
-turn 32 russian air shock 90(event 501)
-turn 57 russian air shock 95(event 502)

-Some changes to territory in Finland. Shallow water to deep water
in order to decrease frontage
-Max rounds per battle set to 2

The most important change is max battle rounds set to 2. If your not familiar with this feature, basically it means your units will not continue attacks more than once, so no turn burn. Axis attacks are much more powerful because you get easily 5-7 rounds per turn with a lot of movement points remaining after the first attacks.

History:
In my first game of FITE with Karri I molded all 4 panzer groups into one mega panzer group and attacked nothing but Moscow, which I took around turn 15. I then followed up with Leningrad before Mud. And both these with minimal losses. Unfortunately for me I didn't capture anything in the South at all. After an early shock Karri rallied and attacked relentlessly everywhere, even capturing all of Turkey and attacking into Greece! Huge losses mounted among my men from his artillery and tanks. I had totally lost the initiative and was forced to concede by turn 60. Evaluating this loss I recognized I was vastly over focused on Moscow, and also I was very poorly organized. Many of my troops laid around on critical turns and my 'Super' panzer group turned into a mis directed mob very quickly once Moscow was mine. The cities in the Northern zone did not produce enough production losses on the Soviets to have a decisive effect, and a limited focused attack, did not produce enough casualties to cripple the Soviet army. Now it is time for a new game and a new plan starting from the ground up.

First: What is the strength of the German army and what does it need to accomplish with it?

I figure that the striking arm of the Wermacht is its motorized troops. Head to head in a battle with fortified soviets, the Germans are not very powerful. However in a battle of maneuver the German recon battlions, engineers, and motorized infantry have a great potential to slip through and around Soviet units. Unlike the Soviets the germans can subdivide, allowing one recon unit to half encircle a soviet unit and give other German units the chance to eliminate it rather than pushing it back.

Against an enemy in a siege situation, grinding against a fortified line, pushing it back a hex at a time, german mobility means very little. In a mobile situation the germans can pin the soviets in place with some units, and then selectively eliminate and bypass the enemy, leaving them to the infantry to fully surround and destroy. In this manner the motorized divisions are more remarkable not for their combat prowess, but their ability to avoid a fight and instead simply pin the enemy and move past him, in the process cutting him off from supply and reinforcement.

Strategically the Germans have the initiative, this means they can choose wherever they want to attack. The soviets can build any type of defense they want, but the Germans can choose when and how to attack it.

To win the scenario requires defeating the Soviet army in the field, only then can various cities be captured to reduce the Soviet advantage in material. To defeat the Soviet army I must use my strategic initiative to select the right battleground where my troops can fight a battle of mobility and fully defeat the enemy.

The first step in this is to at once forget all history, all historical routes, battle plans and habits of play. I feel like everyone else I have experienced as Axis commanders in this scenario follows the same basic battle plan suggested by the initial deployment of their troops and of the progression of the historical Barbarossa campaign, and of the games of their past experience.

My plan is simple, simply take a map and remove all place names to ease the burden of fame certain places put on a commander to capture them. Then note which terrain is suitable for mobile operations and which isn't. The results of this study could not be clearer. The northern half of the map presents nothing but obstacle after obstacle to a battle of maneuver. The Baltic Sea and the limited involvement of Finland greatly reduce the potential for enveloping attacks. The approaches from the South and west consist of marshes, lakes, rivers, hills, and dense forests. This entire area is totally unsuited for my troops and I will avoid it accordingly. The areas West, North, and East of Moscow are similarly difficult, with forests, rivers and marshes being augmented by fortifications. Some other areas present minor obstacles, but nothing compared to the vast forests, hills, and marshes of the North.

Examining the Southern section of the map could not provide a clearer contrast. The southern area of the map is almost totally open, with only rivers and few select areas as major obstacles.

So my choice is obvious, I will reroute all my mobile troops to the Southern region and fight the deciding battle there.

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RE: Fite Karri Mod - 7/3/2010 6:42:49 AM

Fungwu

Posts: 161
Joined: 8/22/2007
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I'll skip over the first few turns, only to note that my progress was rapid. My opponent used the time tested Soviet strategy of falling back and forming a solid defensive line deep in Soviet territory. The only deviation was his choice to use an unusually larger number of divisions, especially armored divisions to stay behind and face certain elimination in order to slow my advance.

As you can see I have very few units in the northern sector and all these are infantry units clearing out Soviet resistance. 4th and 3rd panzer armies have come together at the enemy line at Smolensk and 2nd panzer army is going at full speed to join them there. 1st panzer army as well as a strong body of German infantry and Romanian divisions is advancing to meet the enemy line at Kharkov.

The opening battle will depend wholly on my ability to pierce the first line of Soviet resistance quickly and decisively. I mentioned before my intention to use my strategic initiative to pursue the battle on terrain of my choosing. Obviously the enemy has some say in this by where he stands to fight. Luckily the Smolensk region is not only fairly open, but it is also along the shortest route of advance for my panzer groups. I could however have chosen to attack with three different panzer groups in three different places, rather than 3 groups in one place. There are tactical and strategic reasons for this. I will discuss the strategic advantages first.

Lets consider the standard German attack plan that runs a battle line from Leningrad south to Bryansk. In this case the enemy might have, lets say, 100 units 'in the fight' in other words in direct contact with the German units. In this case all 100 units enjoy the benefit of being fortified, and many of them enjoy the additional benefit of artillery support and an armored reserve behind the line and ready to assist.

Let consider my plan of concentrating all forces on a frontage of around 10 hexes. In this case the enemy has only 10 units in the fight, he also has a proportionately smaller amount of artillery and tanks within range to affect the battle. While his tanks and artillery have been dispersed along his entire battle line, mine in contrast are all at the same spot. So few of his best forces are contributing a defense against the weight of all of mine.

If I am able to defeat the Soviets quickly I will be through their lines. What becomes of the other 90 unengaged units then? They have two choices. One is to stay put, in this case while my units are off fighting and contributing to the outcome of the battle, the Soviet units will be sitting around and doing nothing of value. The other choice for the Soviet player is to move his units to counter mine. However if he does this than those units no longer enjoy the bonus of being fortified, they have now committed themselves to a mobile battle, and that is exactly where I want them. His artillery while stationary behind his lines is hard to get at. But moving to engage me it is vulnerable to air interdiction and sudden sweeping attacking by my ground units. His tanks are too big to relocate by rail and if they drive from, for instance, Leningrad, they must travel many turns to meet me, arriving not only without the benefit of being fortified in an unflankable marsh with artillery support, but they are also now tired and depleted.

The enemy has spread himself over a wide area, and is waiting for me to come to him, by bringing all my striking power to the fewest number of places, his widely spread forces must leave their trenches and come to meet me on my terms.

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RE: Fite Karri Mod - 7/3/2010 6:59:36 AM

Fungwu

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Joined: 8/22/2007
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This picture details my first turn of attacks against the enemy battle line at Smolensk. It was unexpectedly weak and my progress was rapid. The tactical benefit of concentration of forces can be seen here. Along a small frontage, I have amassed a large amount of artillery, and also I have switched my planes from interdiction to direct attacks. By using two panzer armies together I get two benefits. First is a large amount of artillery that allows my attacks to be more powerful and at the same time less costly to my attacking infantry and tanks. Second is the amount of forces available to exploit the breakthrough.

Many times an Axis player breaks through the Soviet line in one spot, but has only a few tired divisions to put through the gap, these usually become bogged down with enemy reinforcements. Often the axis player is left with a choice of whether to use his breakthrough to envelop the enemy line, push straight through, do either in one direction, or in all possible directions. With a limited force he cannot do all of them. In this case behind my attacking divisions I have many fully rested divisions ready to fully exploit any success with maximum effort.

By suddenly switching my air units from all interdiction to all combat support I was able to use my strategic initiative to achieve a tactical advantage. The Soviets had deployed all their fighters to the rear to protect their rail lines against interdiction attacks. But this left their frontlines without air support. By switching modes, my bombers can lend their full weight to the main effort and at the same time avoid almost totally confrontations with soviet fighters. Rather than shooting all his planes down, in this case I have merely 'dodged' them, at least for one decisive turn.

Another advantage the Axis player enjoys is the use of 5 air droppable commando units. In this case a situation developed where a Soviet armored division was isolated, but I couldn't bring enough friendly units to encircle it. The brandenburg units are a perfect option, they fly over the enemy, split up as they land and can move without being engaged to fully surround the enemy and give my regular units a chance to eliminate them rather than pushing them back a hex. Additionally since they are in contact with my frontline I neatly avoid the possibility of my small unit from being cut off and destroyed. If they are attacked, they merely retreat before combat into friendly lines.

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RE: Fite Karri Mod - 7/3/2010 7:14:28 AM

Fungwu

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This picture is from a few turns later.

The enemy line I penetrated disengaged and retreated, various retreating units slowed down 4th and 3rd panzer armies and the enemy shifted to a prepared line further east. One section of his line south of Smolensk that had contained several fortified tanks has moved east and become angled back to connect his original line coming out of Bryansk to his new line at Vyazama.

As you can see my first attack caused his tanks to abandon their fortified position without a fight, but now they are digging in again. Before 3rd and 4th panzer were in a position to renew their attack 2nd panzer arrived to the battle to lend its support. In this case I chose to strike right at the hinge of the enemy line where the N-S running portion coming from Bryansk ended and the angled portion began.

A careful observation of the terrain reveals that I have just narrowly avoided entering the marshy area around Bryansk and although I am attacking across a river, I can carry my attack into the plains and light woods beyond.

This picture clearly shows the benefits of operating three panzer armies in close cooperation. Just as the Soviet line is recovering from my first attack and my first two panzer armies are losing momentum, the third panzer army is striking a critical spot, upsetting the new defenses before they can become fully established. Morever just as the momentum of 2nd panzer army's attack is countered, 3rd and 4th will renew the attack on the other end of the Soviet line, crushing it once again before it can become fully formed, and trapping the troops between two pincers.

This method of alternating attacks by heavily concentrated forces blows the enemy out of his trenches, and as my troops pour through the holes the rest of the line has the choice to retreat from their strong position without a fight, or be encircled, bypassed and destroyed. As he tries to flee many enemy units are caught and eliminated. The attack maintains momentum by virtue of the strong artillery preparation sparing the infantry, and the plentiful number of reserve units ready to take over tired for tired formations. The infantry advance closely following the motorized units, attacking the enemy stragglers and allowing the forward units to disengage and continue the pursuit.

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< Message edited by Fungwu -- 7/11/2010 3:15:54 AM >

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RE: Fite Karri Mod - 7/3/2010 7:19:38 AM

Fungwu

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This picture is from turn 13. It is the result of 1st panzer group's attack the Soviet line in the south. Attacking with 1st panzer group is all the German infantry stationed in Romanania that has made a dashing forced march to keep up with the panzers. With them is all Romanian artillery and mobile units. Once again you see mutually supporting attacks using large artillery concentrations and narrow frontages to penetrate enemy lines. Once again I have used my brandenburg units to seal in the enemy and complete his destruction. In continuing the attack from this spearhead the next turn I will employ my parachute division in the same role to seal off an enemy tank division.

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RE: Fite Karri Mod - 7/3/2010 7:47:28 AM

Fungwu

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This is the strategic situation at turn 15. As you can see the attacks of 4th,3rd and 2nd panzer and 1st panzer are not just a tactical arrangement, but both strike groups are mutually supporting a strategic level, isolating a large section of the enemy line and threatening it with large scale encirclement.

In the case of 1st pz group a small hole has been enlarged by follow up attacks and all mobile units have disengaged, been replaced with following infantry, and are now headed deep into enemy lines. The flanks to both the north and south of 1pz groups breakthrough are now threatened. The enemy can retreat, giving me key terrain without a fight. Or I can roll down his lines with my infantry, destroying them.

In the north the enemy forces have the appearance of a somewhat shaky line. In this case his units after suffering a penetration in their lines have kept retreating trying to form new lines. At each retreat I catch a few units and eliminate them, the ones that get away are engaged before they can fortify or receive artillery support. Reinforcements come in piecemeal and are destroyed easily.

A special note is my air units. To combat me the Soviets have deployed all their fighters around Moscow. These have put up quite a good fight. Just as I make my breakthrough in the South I switch all my bombers to that region and set them on interdiction. Once again I have not shot down his fighters, I have dodged them. Enemy reinforcements coming by rail to the South without fighter support face withering interdiction. Units trying to reposition close the front take hits and lose combat effectiveness before my ground troops over come them. In this manner I have kept the initiative in the air despite increasing Soviet strength in that area.

I will now discuss my operations in the far north and south. Here I have a light but powerful screen of forces deployed to contain Leningrad, Odessa and Sevastopol. Rail lines exist to transport reserves here quickly if a Soviet attack develops. The same difficult terrain that makes these cities hard to attack is now working to my advantage, as I need only a few units to secure them. As I predicted enemy tank units have started the long march from Leningrad toward Moscow. My forces in the Northern sector amount to ~18 infantry divisions. Those divisions, without taking any casualties, are tying down twice their number of enemy divisions and a large amount of artillery. Certainly I could achieve no better with a direct attack which would be costly and unlikely to achieve any gains. If I attacked Leningrad, every unit up there would be in the fight. Now, at the cost of a little guard duty, many powerful enemy formations defending formidable terrain are causing me no casualties whatsoever. They are instead waiting patiently for my real striking power to accomplish its mission and at a later date attack them from all sides. In this way, although my units are in heavy fighting and achieving good results they have in effect dodged about half the Soviet army without fighting it.

My supply situation is excellent, my rail heads have reached both North and South, I have 2 lines in the north and 2 in the south. My lines are being kept close the spearheads and also smaller detachments are creating lines to the extreme north and south so these areas can be reinforced quickly when the time comes.

Finally, concerning Moscow. A strong body of my infantry has taken up a position due west of the city. Here is a formidable line double or triple thick and backed by strong artillery. I am not wasting lives trying to batter through it. Instead my forces are more of a feint, making a few small attacks and drawing reinforcements away from the main effort further south. My play for Moscow is simple. Move my mobile units south beneath the city and instead of attacking it pushing due east. To the defend the city my opponent will be forced to create a line not just west, but also south and potentially east of the city. The longer the frontage I can create by advancing east the more units it will suck up just to make a solid line.

In this way, just by advancing in open terrain I can draw units to a spot where they won't oppose my troops driving into the deep south. So for instance if I advance a line thirty hexes running west to east south of Moscow it will require 30 soviet units to prevent me from entering the city, but I don't have to engage those units if I don't want, and if they man a line around Moscow, they can't be sent elsewhere where I would have to fight them. Finally, when I choose, I can attack the line protecting Moscow at any point or points, and with a long frontage it will invariably be weak somewhere. This is better than immediately grinding away towards the city and burning up my time and troops in siege warfare.

The overall situation is going exactly to plan. My two supporting concentrations of mobile troops are pushing the enemy into the open plains of the south and there decisively eliminating them in mobile operations. Once the enemy is thoroughly beaten it will be a small matter to dash to the corners of the map and capture a majority of objectives that influence his weapons production.

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RE: Fite Karri Mod - 7/3/2010 8:01:51 AM

Fungwu

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This picture is the most current turn, 17.

Included is my losses in heavy rifle squads, the principle equipment of my infantry regiments, my losses in tanks, fighters and bombers, with the amounts remaining to the right. As you can see my plan has maximized results while minimizing casualties to a great degree. Along the length of my penetration most soviet units are either fleeing under hot pursuit, or throwing up weak lines that are under assault almost before they begin. Large concentrations of tanks and artillery have been surrounded or are under threat. The enemy position in the South is pinned against the coast, their line of retreat covers open terrain that is easy for me to cross and my motorized units have completely broken free of their main force while my infantry, artillery and rail artillery is hammering the enemy there quickly into oblivion. As I predicted his reinforcements are largely being drawn to man the increasing frontage being created south of Moscow as my units drive east. At this point the Soviets need an entirely new army to prevent the Southern half of the map from being cut off and overrun.

My units having preceded quickly have forced a decisive battle on terms exactly to my design and now they have 12 turns to exploit their success and ensure that the enemy does not recover. To this end I have many capable and well rested forces. In the north I have 3 full panzer groups to pursue various objectives as well as a very strong infantry contingent, so much the stronger for it weakness in non critical sectors. In the South my mobile units have broken free of the fight and are free to pursue the enemy into the interior as my infantry pursue their own fight to completely defeat the enemy concentration between Kharkov and the Sea. You can see in this picture the benefit I mentioned earlier about concentrated forces exploiting breakthroughs. In this case all four of my panzer groups are in position to advance in many possible directions while my infantry tie down the remaining Soviet units. In this way not only have I made a breakthrough, but in a short amount of time I can send strong forces to all corners of the map and accomplish all my objectives there simultaneously.

I have posted this to hopefully enlighten and inspire the Axis generals out there to do something different, and to show the benefits of NOT attacking certain favorite targets. I would also highly recommend Kari's mod of FITE, as its various changes add balance to this great scenario.

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< Message edited by Fungwu -- 7/3/2010 8:12:03 AM >

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RE: Fite Karri Mod - 7/3/2010 2:42:47 PM

Panama

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sorry. bad post.

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RE: Fite Karri Mod - 7/11/2010 3:57:26 AM

Fungwu

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Joined: 8/22/2007
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Latest turn is 27:

The Soviet army is in rough shape. In the South I have captured Rostov and am moving quickly to encircle the remaining defenders. After this there is nothing stopping me from taking everything else in the South during the winter.

Stalingrad is almost surrounded and the rail lines leading into the city have been cut. I can't starve them out, but I can prevent any new soviet divisions entering the city and I will be able to take it by force during the opening turns after mud.

Saratov is my last remaining objective in the center and a whole panzer army is approaching the city. Currently my lead recon unit is 12 hexes away and resistance is a few isolated divisions. I should have it before mud.

I am rolling up the flank of the last soviet line south of Moscow and I will likely be engaged in destroying Soviet divisions there until mud.

At Moscow I am attacking from the South and I also made a surprise breakthrough in the marshes east of the city and am approaching from there as well. Currently my lead units are 4 hexes from the city center. The fighting here is very bloody for both sides. I have a huge amount of artillery, including my rail artillery here and the casualties are worse for the Soviets. A huge amount of the remaining Soviet tanks and artillery have been captured in my offensive pushing up from the south. At the pace my troops are advancing it is probable that I can capture Moscow before mud begins. If not, the city will be on the front line and will be vulnerable, no matter how many troops the Soviets send to defend it.

I predict with the loss of everything in the south and the capture of Moscow my opponent will surrender. If not, Soviet replacements will be so low it should be an easy matter to defeat the rest of the Soviet army.

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RE: Fite Karri Mod - 7/11/2010 3:58:20 AM

Fungwu

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Some detail of the Moscow operation:

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RE: Fite Karri Mod - 7/11/2010 1:54:25 PM

madner

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Does that mod change the recon % of both sides as well, and at which turn did you start the attack on the MLR?

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RE: Fite Karri Mod - 7/11/2010 3:46:01 PM

Fungwu

Posts: 161
Joined: 8/22/2007
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All the changes are listed in the post, in other words no, theater recon is the same. Although after playing through the campaign I think 75% for the Germans seems absurdly high.

I reached the Soviet lines with 3rd and 4th panzer armies at Smolensk at turn 8, with 2nd panzer army slightly south around turn 10, and with 1st panzer army at kharkov around turn 12.

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