janh
Posts: 1216
Joined: 6/12/2007 Status: offline
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Only the first turn is a half week one, Anauso, It is supposed to be part of the "surprise" effect that caught the Soviets on their mats. The hindsight benefits you mention also apply to some degree to the Soviets, depending on how each side plays of course. Naturally as this game is almost purely governed by military considerations (military and economic value of targets, manpower size, but more defensibility of terrain, counterattack potential etc), a Soviet player can also choose not to fight in bad, fairly ideally open Panzer terrain. He can also benefit from not doing any or many futile counterattacks and assaults, as the historical counterparts did. Does this sum up to a greater effect then the Germans have by already knowing what to expect when and where? Hard to say. I begun to think that one needs to look at specific smaller time frames, since the value of hindsight changes dramatically during the various stages of the war. Take for example fixed weather tables, which are a major advantage to the attacking player. Or take 1943, a German player unlikely will make a wasteful Kursk assault in a similar situation, while a Soviet player can try to maximize his army building program. A German player will already focus on the long run and safe his men for an attritional war. Difficult to say how has more benefits overall, but certain that both sides benefit in many ways and make it really hard to design a game of a war, which was often characterized by mistakes and uncertainties coming from that lack of knowledge.
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