M60A3TTS
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quote:
ORIGINAL: topeverest
Probably switching Zhukov and Shaoshnikhov to get armor rating. Stavka is set up for the attack on Berlin
From this it looks as though you're still missing a basic concept which although it doesn't manifest itself in a lot of losses, makes things more difficult than it needs to be.
The basic concept is simply this. STAVKA is not a fighting command. It is a planning and coordinating entity that issues strategic orders once the plans are formalized and approved at the appropriate level. Most times that meant Stalin was being briefed by the operations head of STAVKA, A. Antonov or one of the STAVKA inter-front coordinators like Vasilevsky and front commanders most often Zhukov, Konev and Rokossovsky towards wars end. Of course that wouldn't prevent Stalin from contacting lower level commanders when he was displeased, but that's another conversation.
The game provides these various level of commands so you can maximize your chance to get the needed leader rolls. If the army leader fails, the front commander has a chance to step in. If he fails, there is still lastly the STAVKA to fall back on. Again, this is another conversation but I have always felt the STAVKA HQ at this point is really the STAVKA coordinator such as Vasilevsky as the real STAVKA simply sat in Moscow and ran the war.
You are planning to attack Berlin where the army commander will roll the dice and if he fails, your only backstop is Shaposhnikov. For what it's worth, Boris Shaposhnikov had been essentially invalided out of meaningful service by mid 1942 due to illness and did not outlive the war, dying in March 1945. But that aside, he's a fine administrator, again what a high ranking STAVKA officer should have, but what I'd call his "fighting numbers" are just above mediocre.
What you have is a bunch of fronts that have some good commanders and some that by now had proven themselves unfit for command such as Budyenny and Voroshilov. Your fronts are to some extent also a bit light in the tooth. In the battle for Berlin, both Konev and Zhukov had started with fronts that exceeded a million men. Your largest front of 1st Belorussian at 760k. It's west of Katowice and headed in the direction of Breslau. Ok, but then you have Tyulenev as front commander. His initiative level is 4. Really? Your largest front commander basically feels he has to contact STAVKA in order to get permission to go to the latrine. Again, he has to try and cover for failed leadership rolls, and in the case where he does, passing the initiative roll is hardly promising for someone like Tyulenev.
Also, you're talking about swapping out Shaposhnikov for Zhukov for the armor rating. But Zhukov's infantry rating is 9. That is what matters. Your infantry corps have to do the brunt of the fighting, not the tanks. You might have had a better case to make if earlier you had built more mech corps that are far superior to tank corps, but that ship sailed a long time ago. The army commanders with armor ratings of 6 should manage all your tank, mech and now cav corps where possible. That's plenty good enough if you have an Ivan Konev as front commander backing them up. You happen to have no less than 5 front commanders with a mech rating of three. That's no big deal so long as they have no tanks.
Here's the bottom line. You should have along the main directions of attack strong army leaders with 6+ as their primary combat skill, backed up by a 6 or 7 infantry/armor leader in front command as appropriate. With that, you can co-locate your STAVKA HQ there so you have two backstops for failed rolls.
What I would challenge you to do is figure out where you can consolidate more forces under Purkaev, Govorov and Sokolovsky. Excluding Zhukov, those are your best front commanders (although as a point of interest Sokolovsky was quietly sacked as front commander in early 44 due to the poor performance of Western Front that was disbanded shortly thereafter). You don't really need a Leningrad Front and 3rd Baltic was likewise gone in 1945. Budyenny has the largest tank force in the Red Army but he has an unimpressive armor rating. Maybe Purkaev with an armor rating of 6 would be a better choice?
Enough pontificating. Keep on chugging and as always, good luck
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