Firewire9452
Posts: 26
Joined: 4/1/2021 Status: offline
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I’m hardly an expert, but at some level, your ability to advance is affect by 4 constraints. The first is your supply network. You won’t be advancing on Moscow if your trains stop at Minsk. And you won’t be advancing if you lack enough trains—which you gain from lvl 2 railyards connected to your railnet. And if your troops are pushed so far forward that you lack the tricks to supply them, that’s another constraint. So you’ll want to plan your rail routes so that you connect all/as many as possible lvl 2 or above railyards, are building on double rails as much as possible heading east, and are building on terrain that was captured last turn so it’s easier to move and you can maximize rail spaces repaired per turn. You should also monitor you truck pool—it’s its low, your troops are getting less supply per turn and less fuel, so they are less mobile and less powerful in combat. The next constraint is the Red Army. For most of 41, the Red Army’s primary constraint is manpower. After using up their starting reserve of .5M and until they get another .5M in December, they gain about 100,000 a turn. That’s roughly 7 infantry divisions as turn until August, when they switch to 41b divisions, at which point it’s about 10 divisions a turn. If you can encircle 10 divisions a turn, you are ensuring that the Soviets don’t build up. That sounds like a lot, but think of it as 3 divisions in each AG. Whether those built up units are effective or not is sort of irrelevant. They are roadblocks with ZOC. They slow movement, drain CPP through battle, add combat delay, and when there are enough of them, they eventually create a second and third line of depth that allows many units to fight at full CPP. If you can keep the red army under control, they have to withdraw to avoid risk of large encirclements, which means free terrain without fighting or depleting CPP. The third major constraint is wear and tear. Units suffer less fatigue and attrition and use less MP when they move administratively through terrain that you conquered last turn. They then regain more CPP, which makes them more powerful and allows them to ignore fatigue penalties, if they stop movement on a space that was conquered last turn. An efficient advance will have a portion of your force generating forward movement while the rest rests in already captured territory. These two groups then switch roles the following turn. Another part of this is maximizing your assault armies. Cram them full of your best commanders and best infantry and use those troops for your fighting and the rest for holding pockets, flank protection, etc. Finally, the fourth constraint is terrain. Certain terrain forms a natural defensive barrier. Rather than fighting through/across that terrain, try to punch a hole through it in an unguarded or easier to cross location. The Dnepr is a good example. Attacking across with armor costs a lot of MP. It’s much easier to drive across in an unguarded section, and then force a withdrawal rather than having to fight for it. Have a plan for how you will cross major rivers or by passive rough terrain.
< Message edited by Firewire9452 -- 9/2/2021 5:49:50 PM >
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