NikolaiEzhov
Posts: 738
Joined: 7/23/2014
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Hey man:
The reason for putting Tannenberg 14 into the "Tutorials" folder is to qualify the player's ability to conduct OPERATIONAL MANEUVER.
Just remember that the manpower comparison between Germany and Russia is 1:2, you cannot win only with your men on the front. However, the Germans enjoyed an "insider's advantage" (that's how Japanese and Chinese military textbooks call them; I don't know what it shall be described in U.S. military terms), that it has a shorter Line-of-Communication than the Russian and a convenient railway system that can travel troops fast and without attrition. Therefore the key point of German prevail in the battle is the dare and capability of concentrating decisive superior forces against one instead of two Russian Armies once at a time, which means that you must leave another Russian Army basically unopposed except for limited fortified regions and tactical reserves.
Historically, after the Battle of Gumbinnen, Rennenkampf's Russian 1st Army attacking from the east halted to reorganize, when the bulk of the German 8th Army maneuvered to the south to attack the then-isolated Russian 2nd Army and totally annihilated it in the Battle of Tannenberg. After that, the German 8th Army further maneuvered to the east, hampered the Russian 1st Army in the Battle of Masurian Lakes. The maneuver of major German forces between two different Area of Operations in the Theater is basically through railway.
If a German player ends up Tannenberg 14 with statemate and heavy casualties, it usually (if not always) because that he doesn't concentrate sufficient force to conduct the main assault.
Therefore, in order to win this scenario, a German player has to figure out:
1. When will Rennenkampf's 1st Army (attack from the east) be exhausted and stop rapid advance that will worsen the state of the whole German defense gesture?
2. Samsonov's Russian 2nd Army (attack from the south) is bogged down by German fortified regions temporarily and will be easily encircled. However, Samsonov's army is so big that can't be easily eliminated with the already-existing German forces at the southern front. How many more troops do you need to accomplish an offensive operation that will totally wipe out Samsonov and clear the enemy in the south?
3. Where can you find the sufficient troops? How to bring them to the south? When will they arrive at their positions?
4. How to conceal your purpose of operation and deceive the enemy? (Not necessary when playing with PO, though.)
5. After you put your main force to the south, how can you defend off (at least delay) Rennenkampf's Army at the eastern front with limited covering force? If they push too deep they could gravely threaten the whole situation.
6. How long do you plan to take to annihilate Samsonov before Rennenkampf can risk your strategic situation?
7. If the attack is a success, how to bring your main troops back to the east after dealing with Samsonov before Rennenkampf can do more harm to you? How many troops are going to be left to the south as the covering force against any further attack by Russian reserves, which is not available at the beginning of the scenario but will enter the theater of war later?
8. If the attack is a failure, how to restore defensive gesture and minimized the loss before the Ivans takes Eastern Prussia and Berlin?
9. After finishing with Samsonov, how to conduct the attack against Rennenkampf's army?
This is a long question list but they are necessary. To win a military operation you have to think about what operational commanders and staffs (Hindenburg and Ludendorff) think. The answer to these questions reflects the ability on, in Chinese military terms, the mastering of the "season of operations", which is one of the major ability that a commander that is at or beyond regiment level.
And these questions are not difficult. They can be answered with a combination of common sense, experience and a bit of calculation. Some vague instinct will be far enough.
Figure out the answers, create your plans first, adjust your plan with real-time theater situations, determine the "when, where & who" of your plan, and conduct your plan with inherent resolve. That how to win this game.
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Personnally I catalogued the four tutorial scenarios in TOAW4 (3 left in TOAW4) as below:
Easiest and first to play: Turtoral (=Korea 50-51) - learning TOAW abc, offensive, defensive and the conversion between them at general level, logistics.
Second easiest: Kasserine 43 - maneuver, combined arms operations, offensive and defensive art at the tactical level.
A little harder: Tannenberg 14 - mastering of the "season of operations", maneuver, offensive and defensive art at the operational level.
Hardest: Anonymous Heroics (Red PO) (already removed in TOAW4) - strategic thinking and the combined application of strategical, operational and tactical arts on the battlefield.
You can try this four scenarios one by one (Anonymous Heroics (PBEM) in "Hypothetic Studies" folder can be the substitute of the fourth scenario); not to just win the game, but to construct your "thinking circuit" as a strategist. Then things may be much easier when playing the other scenarios.
Regards, Nikolai.
< Message edited by NikolaiEzhov -- 6/21/2018 6:53:09 PM >
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