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fogger -> RE: Field Marshal Fogger vs Marshal Fulkerson (again) (11/14/2014 8:40:03 PM)
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A copy of Ron's rule following
TOAW – Fire in the East
Notes
Locations of replacement/re-enforcement cities:
Hex City
163,116 Sychevka
163,121 Vyazma
144,84 Novgorod
163,142 Bryansk
140,69 Leningrad
153,46 Suvilahti
199,158 Voronezh
159,73 Tikhvin (between Moscow and Leningrad, NW of Moscow)
163, 110 Rzhev (due west of Moscow about 150 km)
153, 235 Sevastopol
176,176 Kharkov
140,69 outskirts of Leningrad (SE)
205, 206 Rostov
186,116 Moscow
174, 103 Kalinin
German Operational notes:
1) The Germans must take care to keep Corps and Army Hqs adjacent to airfields that have air units on them. Such HQs give the units a 50% increase in supply. It is also useful to keep corps and Army HQs next to other unattached units such as rail repair units, Nebelwerfer units, artillery, and MPs.
2) It is also vital, particularly for the Germans early in the game, to make sure that usage of rail repair units is maximized. By making sure that RR units are next to a Corps or Army HQ it should be possible to ensure that the rail repair capacity remains above 95%. It is important for the Axis to concentrate the repair effort on only two or three main railroad lines early in the game. The Axis have some 25 rail repair units and it should be possible to keep the railheads reasonably close to the front by concentrating the repair efforts.
3) Axis air units should be placed on Interdiction duty when their supply and/or readiness percentage falls below 75%. Placing the units on Interdiction duty will slow, if not halt completely, the deterioration of the squadrons' supply/readiness.
4) The Germans can generally count on having enough strength to have three strong Schwerpunkts, though it may be advisable to concentrate on only two of them, depending on the strategy the Russian player adopts early in the game. Should the Russian attempt to defend forward of the general line Daugavpils – line of the Berezina River – Gomel – Kiev – line of the southern Dnepr River, it should be possible to punish him by encircling large forces as was done historically. However, should the Russian not attempt to defend forward of the line described above, it will be difficult to force the resulting river defense line in more than a couple of places with any hope of establishing a suitable line prior to winter. Should the Russian run like hell the German is faced with two choices:
1. Try to maintain three strong spearheads, as was done historically, and drive on Leningrad, Moscow, and Kiev
2. Choose to move Panzer units from AGN to AGC and make a strong thrust towards Moscow while going over to the defensive in AGN's area. If this option is taken it will also be necessary to move some of AGS' Panzer units to backup those of AGC and provide a reserve so as to be able to rotate tired units in and out of combat. However, AGS will be able to maintain a limited offensive capability in combination with the Romanians in the area of Odessa and the Crimean isthmus. This secondary offensive needs to be pushed as strongly as possible in order to prevent the Soviets from concentrating all of their forces before Moscow. The terrain in AGS' sector is far more conducive to offensive operations than is that in AGN's area, though it is important to try to cut off Leningrad if at all possible, just don't rely on Panzer units to do it: move a couple of infantry divisions from AGC to the north. Also, be aware of the possibility of turning the AGC Schwerpunkt north once it is behind Leningrad so as to isolate that city from the south. Taking Leningrad before winter 1941 would greatly ease the task of the German forces during the Russian counter-attacks that winter, to say nothing of the adverse effect the loss of Leningrad will have on Russian production and replacements.
1. Should Leningrad be taken it is important to take advantage of the increase in flexibility of the Finnish forces from that point forward. The Finns should then be used to undertake a major operation against Murmansk, at least investing it closely and limiting its ability to provide Lend-Lease supplies to the rest of the Soviet forces.
1. Even if Leningrad is not taken it is advisable to push as strongly as possible towards Murmansk. When playing the “Buzz Mods” variant of FITE it is possible to place two German mountain divisions and another infantry division in the Murmansk area; diverting them from the AGS area. This will mean delaying a drive into the Crimea, but taking Murmansk reduces overall Soviet supply and replacement levels enough to make the offensive here worthwhile.
2. It may also be possible to undertake an offensive aimed at Archangel, though that would be quite a stretch and would have to be done with only infantry units as the swamps and forests in that area are no place for armor.
1. Any attempt to take Archangel should only be done in the closing stages of a successful German attack on Moscow. In order to be successful such an attack should probably be preceded by the capture of Gorki, which is a major Soviet replacement arrival point.
Russian operational notes:
1) Do not attempt to defend the forward areas. Run like hell and establish a series of defensive lines based on rivers beginning with the Berezina and the Dnepr in the north and the Dnestr, the Southern Bug, and the Dnepr in the area south of the Pripet marshes.
2) Try to avoid having large forces cut off and encircled by marauding German Panzer units. Don't worry about losing a few divisions here and there, but try to avoid losing more than five or six at any one time and place.
3) Pick out a few urban areas to defend with infantry while the remainder of your forces flee to the safety of the river lines. In general don't try to defend Minsk or Riga, but a few places such as Daugavpils, Lepel, and Polotsk in the north and Zhitomir, Uman, and Novo Ukrainka in the south can be useful for slowing down the German juggernaut. The trick is to find places that are the nexus of road and rail lines that the German will need in order to continue to supply his offensive. The Russians are aided here, particularly in the south, by the use of the fortress units that are already in place. However, don't try to defend all of the fortresses as the German will chop you up out in the open. Recognize that the fortress troops are sacrificial, set their loss tolerance at “Ignore losses” and wish them luck.
4) Try to get your units concentrated with the appropriate Army Hqs. While some armies are so scattered as to make this impractical, it is possible with a significant number of formations, and it will help out immeasurably with improving the supply status and the readiness of Soviet divisions. It will take a bit of effort, but the results are worth the time spent on administrivia in order to obtain them.
5) Be careful when dealing with the Finns as they are capable of inflicting significant casualties and tying up divisions that could be used to slow the German approach to Leningrad. If the German places the two optional divisions in Finland the threat from the north of that city will increase considerably.
Notes on FiTE Mods
There is currently (04/15/10) a discussion going on about making modifications to the original FiTE scenario. A guy by the name of “Buzz” was in the process of developing a reasonably comprehensive set of modifications for the stock scenario and got as far as Version 7 of them. They are known within the TOAW community as “the Buzz mods” and they are summarized below.
House rules for FiTE modifications
Here are the house rules for the Buzz mods as sent to me by Buzz himself:
Original House rules:
1) Minors may not stack, or attack together with other minors. (Exception: Swedes may stack and attack with Finns) – KEEP.
2) Hungarian, Rumanian and Slovakian units may not move before turn 4. The Finns may not move until turn 6. THIS IS REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT THEY ARE ACTIVATED BEFORE TURN 4 AND 6. If the Soviet forces moves into the respectivly minors, or attack any of their units, this restriction is lifted – DELETE.
3) Only Inf type units (Mtns, Marine, JG etc., NOT Cav, Mot., Armored, Art, HQ ect. ) may invade. Only 1 Division for the Axis may invade pr. turn. Soviet forces may invade with (Current year-1940) divisions each turn. E.g. this means the Soviet player may invade with 5 Divisions in 1945 and one in 1941. Invasion is defined as entering a hex that's enemy controlled BEFORE the turn started. This is regardless of whether the hex was occupied by enemy units – KEEP. (Note: this rule applies to sea-borne invasions, not the land units moving into Russia in Operation Barbarossa.)
4) Units are not allowed to paradrop more than 10 hexes away from friendly land units able to trace a supply path to a friendly supply source – KEEP.
5) The only HQ allowed to airlift behind enemy lines are the 7th FJ Div HQ – KEEP.
6) The Finns may not move south of the original border north of Leningrad (line marked on map), or south of the Svir River at the Karelian ness (marked), east of the line by Karhumäki (marked) and across the old border by Salla (marked), untill turn 40. Further more, given the special circumstance of the historic involvement of the Finns, they are not allowed embark on ships or attack into ANY Leningrad or Murmansk hexes. If Leningrad falls the restrictions on the Finns are lifted – DELETE. (Note: this is a very important change as it allows the Finns to pose a threat to Leningrad and Murmansk – which was not possible with the original house rule. When combined with the deletion of Rule 7 (below) a lot of strategic possibilities are opened up for the Axis player)
7) The Axis player may only send one German division or three air formations to Finland. This is in addition to German divisions that start or enters as reinforcement in Finland and Norway. Only two GERMAN divisions may be in or attack out from the southern part of Finland at any time. (Area below the non-playable, black area) All restriction on the German forces are lifted on turn 136 or if Sweden joins the war – DELETE.
8) Axis forces are not allowed to enter the foot of Italy - KEEP.
9) No ground attacks may be made from non-active minor countries. (Finland from turn 6, Hungary and Rumania from turn 4) – DELETE (buzz mod 7 provides theater options for earlier start times, anyway).
10) No units are allowed to enter Sweden unless Sweden joins the Axis by the use of Theater Options. No Swedish units must be moved unless Sweden has been activated – KEEP.
11) After the German Case Blau offensive in 1942 Theater Options appear for the Axis to bully Sweden and/or Turkey to join them. THIS THEATER OPTION IS PURELY OPTIONAL AND SHOULD BE DISCUSSED BETWEEN THE TWO PLAYERS BEFORE THE GAME BEGINS. IT IS JUST TO ADD FLAVOR TO THE SCENARIO – Make available as soon as it appears (normally Soviet turn 1).
12) Units may ONLY be disbanded if they are in a city hex (minor or major) AND are able to trace a supply path to a friendly supply source. Remember you cannot trace supply in enemy Zone Of Control unless that hex contains a friendly units – DELETE --- NO DISBANDING ALLOWED AT ALL.
13) Slovak, Hungarian, Turkish and Rumanian units may not enter Finland - KEEP.
Other house rules:
a. Again, no manual disbanding authorized.
b. No usage of the UNDO button / feature.
c. Again, no restrictions regarding Finland, whatsoever, except 13 (to include the rest of the above and those that came with Buzz Mod ver 7).
d. As I haven’t gone too far beyond the first winter in any FitE game, not sure of any other house rules for later time periods. If we get that far and we come across an issue we can discuss and decide, then.
Re-entry points for Axis minor allies (re: Karri Ekegren mod):
Finnish Helsinki (107, 63)
Rumanian Bucharest (87, 232)
Hungarian Budapest (47, 193)
Slovak Bratislava (37, 186)
Italians Trieste (10, 211)
Note: The Axis minor ally re-entry points are set by deleting the first objective on Track 1 for each top-level formation and then replacing it with objective 1 set to the appropriate hex. This does not need to be done with subordinate units as they take their objective settings from the top level unit. This method does screw up the PO's objective track and would not be useful in a scenario with a functioning Programmed Opponent.
Theater reconnaissance has been reduced for the Axis player as follows:
Turn 1 – 5: standard at 75
Turn 6 – 10: reduced to 50
Turn 11 – 31: reduced to 25
Turn 90 – 135: increased to 40 to represent start of good weather and preparations for Fall Blau
Turn 136: decreased to 20 due to onset of fall and bad weather in 1942
Turn 194: increased to 35 due to onset of good weather and preparation for Operation Citadel
Turn 239: reduced to 15 for remainder of the game
The theater recon changes for the Axis are an attempt to model the gradual decrease in overall Axis ability to tell what was going on behind the Soviet lines while also allowing for the increased intelligence gathering that went on during times when the Axis was planning or executing offensives. The early turn decrease is an attempt to model the degree of uncertainty that the Germans had during the initial stages of Barbarossa as to what the condition of the Red Army really was. As Panama pointed out in a discussion on the Matrix TOAW forum Guderian was surprised by the number of Soviet Armies that appeared in the battles around Smolensk during the summer of 1941 and that leaving the Axis overall recon level at 75 simply gave the Axis player too much information about what was going on with the Russians. (As I mentioned earlier, I'm shameless when it comes to incorporating the ideas and suggestions of others in these mods. ;)
To simulate the initial Soviet battle doctrine of counter-attack at all costs all mechanized, armor, and reconnaissance units up to 150 km behind the initial front line have been set to “Local Reserve” status to start the game. The Soviet player is under no obligation to maintain this setting once his turn begins.
To try to reduce the combat effectiveness of so-called “ant units”, that is the small non-combat units of both sides such as rail repair units, bridging – as opposed to regular combat engineering – units the proficiency of these units has been reduced. To then bring the units back to their normal non-combat effectiveness (rail repair abilities, etc.) the number of relevant squads has been increased. In testing thus far this seems to have reduced the ability of the “ants” to bring whole Panzer or armored divisions to a standstill, though I have not done any statistical analysis of this. If someone wants to set up a test scenario and do the analysis I would be interested in knowing the results as want I perceive may be nothing other than wishful thinking.
For any questions or clarifications please do not hesitate to contact me either by PM on the Matrix TOAW forums – user name is “morleron1” - or via email at: morleron@yahoo.com.
I am indebted to Buzz for his support in the development of these mods. He did the vast majority of the heavy lifting involved. I have only made some changes which I think he would have gotten around to anyway. I have contacted Buzz about my little project and he has given it his blessing – such as it is. I have also incorporated changes made by Karri Ekegrin in a set of mods that he is working on independently of this project. I've also not been shy about using ideas that have come up for discussion on the Matrix Games TOAW forum. Where appropriate (or when I can remember whose idea something was) I have tried to give them credit in the above document. Some of the changes that I've made, while triggered by a discussion on the Matrix forum, are the result of actual independent thought on my part – which will probably get me in trouble. ;)
Above all, I'd like to thank the team that developed the original FiTE scenario. Simply making these mods has given me an appreciation for the, probably thousands of, man-hours that went into that effort.
Lastly, any bugs which have sneaked in during the modding process are my fault. The original “Buzz mods” seem to have worked well and any problems are most likely due to something that I have changed. I hope that this effort results in an increase in player's enjoyment of what is a tremendous scenario.
Thanks for your patience,
Ron Morley
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