RE: Adventures in Russia (Full Version)

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larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/4/2018 3:44:24 AM)

Down south near Z-town where the supply is turned off I've called a halt to the
advance which is too bad too because I'm getting closer to Stalino and the Soviet
industry that is there. I have no idea whether or not there's a supply point there
but I want it whether or not it's got a supply point. As soon as the supply returns
I'll press further east.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/190AD0853FCF43E48BA5C7CA28461E29.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/4/2018 3:57:56 AM)

I've got a pioneer unit that somehow got itself into the hex and now it can't laave.
Way back during the early game phase when the advance was passing through this area
the Pioneer unit moved itself into the hex and now it can't leave and the pestilance
effects have whittled the strength down to nothing because it's got only three of it's
trucks left for equipment. I can't disband it because it's out of supply. I'm
wondering what will happen to it finally.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/7F1AE598BCC54DF89FB81787DCE8B045.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/4/2018 10:28:38 AM)

Leningrad finally fell after a three-dot attack by an armor unit, which releases the
Finns and I'll use them to kill all the Soviets north of Leningrad and all the German
units will press toward Moscow.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/8A889B3BCC384129B4E95B57C0D823D5.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/4/2018 12:14:33 PM)

Here's the front lines in T34 before I have moved anybody. Most of the progress is
still being made in the south.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/FD11E7DDD47C427A86D1FFE7C98F56D0.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/4/2018 4:26:03 PM)

Here's the northern front lines right now. I'm trying to kill all the Soviet units
around Leningrad and the Finns are helping now that Leningrad has fallen they don't
have to abide by the stop line rules any longer and I've got them pushing and shoving
from the north. I'm thinking if I attack from all directions they will give up faster.
This is all possible only because there's enough supply to do it. Out in the field it's
a different story. Whole sections of the front line have no supply at all and things
are at a stand still until the supply levels are good enough to operate again, maybe 9
more turns or so.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/2435AA056CD74966B52EC5AF250370CC.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/4/2018 4:58:01 PM)

Here's the typical supply situation out in the field where the rails aren't very
close. So these units are stood down and are doing close watch operations and
short patrols and not much else. Some of the units are yellow already. There's
no easy way to rotate them back to the good supply areas because they are almost
all indispensable to the maintaince of the front line. I'd like to have a regular
infantry unit on the front but I find that I'm having to use engineers, recon, AT
guns, AA guns, etc. to fill an opening in the front lines. This won't work for
the late game period when the Soviets will have more units yet. I'll just have to
break down the divisios into pieces. The problem with that is that they can't stand
by themselves on the front line without some kind of support, arty or otherwise.
And CS is iffy, depending on the ambient weather locally and breaking down the units
into pieces will lessen the proficiency of the individual pieces slightly. There
are no good answers. Somebody should have said "no" to Hitler about Russia.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/BDF831353F09415FA414D9D79CAD5DDE.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/4/2018 6:16:47 PM)

According to my careful calculation I've discovered that the Finns aren't getting
any supply from Helsinki and need a boost from south of Leningrad so I need to move
all the Soviet units away from the city and clear a path for the supply to get to
the Finns. It's a war changer kind of move.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/1B96894B82AB4F2CBCE37371ECA79E7B.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/4/2018 11:58:17 PM)

I was setting up an attack just now and noticed that a lot of my CS missions are
in reorg and can't fly. D'oh. So I'll have to measure my use of the planes for
direct CS missions. Only one plane per battle instead of two, say. I'm wondering
what caused them to go into reorg.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/6DB0CA44AA6147C5BE77CDC6AF6BD108.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/5/2018 12:00:19 AM)

I'm having similar problems near Falaise with my planes reorging. The AA units on the airfields have been reorging almost all game...



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/5/2018 12:33:52 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19
I'm having similar problems near Falaise with my planes reorging. The AA units on the airfields have been reorging almost all game...

Is your enemy bombing those AA units or something? I've seen planes go into reorg when they get
into a furball and lose a significant number of planes. Or maybe it failed a morale check or
some other kind of check that it needed to pass. I'm not really knowledgeable about what triggers
reorg but I'm fairly sure there's some kind of check that they are failing. The units sometimes
come out of reorg the next turn but sometimes it takes a couple of turns. Same when they riot.
Maybe it sez in the toawlog file what check it's failing. It can be the source of some irritation
in some players. Not much we can do about it. What are you supposed to do for your AA units that
are continually reorging? I guess you could move a land combat unit into the hex with it so that
attacks will spread out their fury on more units than just the AA unit. Or if the attacks are
coming from the air maybe more AA units yet for that hex will suffice. I'm guessing a change is
needed of some kind.



MikeJ19 -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/5/2018 12:40:40 AM)

The Germans attacked a couple of airfields on one of the early turns and my AA units have been reorging since. Not a big deal as the Luftwaffe has been very quiet since. As the airfields are off the map, I do not have any ability to move troops back to link up.




larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/5/2018 1:00:22 AM)

There's a supply point close to my units down near Orel and I want it. The supply
levels in that area are zeros and that supply point might just fix that for me.
The problem is that I need supply for my attacks and I ain't got it. You have to
have money to borrow money it turns out. You have to already have adequate supply
to get more yet. I'm thinking of puttng together a probing attack scheduled for
about 14 turns from now to raid Orel's surburbs and just capture that supply point
like I know what I'm doing. But the red green yellow rule doesn't allow non-green
units to attack. And I'm following that rule. So I'll just stare at that supply
point and dream big.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/949F9504F5AC4C589DCEA2A8AD3C3F94.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/5/2018 4:55:08 AM)

This is the Kharkov area in T39 and as you can see supply is only just now starting
to trickle into this area in places. It's not enough to prompt me to start up the
advance again but it's better than nothing at all, which is what we had since turn
32. These people haven't been moving or shooting to conserve their supply and some
of them turned red from being attacked by the Soviets and I'm going to have to
rearrange the front lines a bit to allow the red ones to go to the rear to refit.
Supply is usually better in the rear and good supply accellelrates refit. This
area ought to be ready for advancing again in a few turns from now.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/4FD43E4723BA4FB888A5A314551A872D.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/5/2018 1:14:08 PM)

Here's the front lines down south in T40 and they haven't changed since T32 because
everybody is frozen where they are not moving, not shooting, just waiting for the
supply levels to wake up. I expect to have to wait until at least early December
for the supply to have improved enough to continue the advance. This is going to
be a long war if the supply level is perpetually like this. That would make the
scenario unfun. It's been my experience however, that the supply levels do eventually
return to some semblence of normality. Whether the supply radius changes by events,
or the rails get repaired closer or maybe a combination of both, the supply levels
will rise enough to keep going.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/C0BF9A9A61AF42469DEEE10CDBF16A72.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/5/2018 1:23:56 PM)

Here's what it looks like in front of Moscow right now and it hasn't changed very much
since T32 and probably won't. This is one of the better supplied areas and it's still
in the low single digits at the front lines so nobody has been doing anything that would
consume supply. Moscow is too far away for me to be able to capture it this year I
think. I'll try of course but the supply is too low and there's just not enough time
for the task.

The Soviets are starting to shoot back and generally harrasse me with their arty. It's
a harbinger of what's to come I think. By the time the Soviets launch their Winter
Offensive they will probably be launching close to 80 attacks per turn. All of them
determined and supported by the state of the art artillery and by this time in the
game they have a rudimentary ground support going that I'll have to deal with so the
face of the war is slowly changing. The Soviets are slowly becoming better opponents.
[image]local://upfiles/16287/AE5D9BE9FEEB46308D6282C465A57E18.jpg[/image]



700851McCall -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/5/2018 5:30:30 PM)

Hi Larry

You'll get a brief period of good supply once the mud ends but that won't last long. It varies as it is randomized in some way. From memory I think I got 4 turns of good supply, which was enough to push a little further to Moscow. The supply drops again for the Soviet winter offensive. Not as bad as it is in the mud, but still poor enough that it will cause problems away from the supply dumps and the rails.

I used the 4 turns between the mud and the offensive to consolidate my position in the AGN sector, rested all the units there and built a solid MLR along the rivers. I was glad I did, the Soviet offensive was brutal in that area especially.

After that it is the start April before you get back to full supply (although full supply in '42 is lower than in '41) and the pestilence effects end.



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/5/2018 5:40:13 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: 700851McCall
Hi Larry

You'll get a brief period of good supply once the mud ends but that won't last long. It varies as it is randomized in some way. From memory I think I got 4 turns of good supply, which was enough to push a little further to Moscow. The supply drops again for the Soviet winter offensive. Not as bad as it is in the mud, but still poor enough that it will cause problems away from the supply dumps and the rails.

I used the 4 turns between the mud and the offensive to consolidate my position in the AGN sector, rested all the units there and built a solid MLR along the rivers. I was glad I did, the Soviet offensive was brutal in that area especially.

After that it is the start April before you get back to full supply (although full supply in '42 is lower than in '41) and the pestilence effects end.

Wow. Thanks a lot for the heads up. I've been through this period in this scenario before but not
while playing the red green yellow rule. Also, I've developed a dislike to stack units because it makes
it hard to know what's in the hex without having to look under the top unit and when they are all
spread out in their own hexes I know where the engineers are, where the tanks are, etc. No need to
go to the OOB and sort on icon type and scroll until you find the type of unit you need at the time.
I back up those areas that have a lot of pressure with other infantry units on 'T' status and if
absolutely necessary, and it sometimes is, I'll stack the units as high as I think is needed.

Thanks for posting tho because I like to hear good ideas and things to look out for etc.



700851McCall -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/5/2018 5:49:57 PM)

You've done amazingly well playing the red green yellow thing. I didn't think it would work. Personally I'll attack with a unit if it is at yellow or better, assuming the attack is necessary. Orange and red will only fight or move if things are desperate. The game does account for this itself though, since I believe the way it works is that units in poor supply will make weaker attacks and take more casualties. So moving and attacking with red and orange units is punished automatically.



MikeJ19 -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/5/2018 8:06:44 PM)

I would find the green, yellow and red approach very difficult. Well done.



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/6/2018 1:17:57 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: 700851McCall
You've done amazingly well playing the red green yellow thing. I didn't think it would work. Personally I'll attack with a unit if it is at yellow or better, assuming the attack is necessary. Orange and red will only fight or move if things are desperate. The game does account for this itself though, since I believe the way it works is that units in poor supply will make weaker attacks and take more casualties. So moving and attacking with red and orange units is punished automatically.

I can't find anything wrong with what you've said and on the other hand I think it's accurate. I didn't
think the red green yellow rule would work either but the only drawback I've found is not attacking
when you want to. I know guys that run their units in the red for the entire game. They try to do
what the Axis did in real life and to do that you have to take chances and drive your units when they
really ought to rest and that just feels "gamey" to me. It's not realistic I think. I've been in the
military and I've seen how particular they are that the equipment is kept in the green and that the
people are treated with respect and empathy and it's rare that something beyond the call of duty is
required. And taking risks is rare in real life. The US spends so much on the planes and tanks and
the training for the people that run them that they don't want to lose any. Especially for no good
reason. The military has changed since I was in. It's all volunteer now and they treat their people
right for a change. Oh, and thank you so much for your kind words. I like to get praise every once
in a while. It's good for the soul.


quote:

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19
I would find the green, yellow and red approach very difficult. Well done.

It IS difficult. You have to be aware of the health dot of the units much more than in a regular
game. You have to check each unit each round of each turn and it's a lot like micromanagement
but with a purpose. I find it MUCH more realistic for my side to fight that way. It's more like
real life operations. And I don't have proof that the red green yellow rule is the reason but I
don't remember ever getting Leningrad before this game. I feel like I'm doing better than I have
in the past for this scenario. I don't think it's because the scenario is all that different...
the game is playing out different than I remember. I've gotten further east than before. I've
captured Orel aready for instance. I'm having a blast and I have yet to follow the original plan
which was to skip Leningrad and go full blast for Moscow. Put all the good resources in AGC and
concentrate on Moscow as the priority goal. Build a front line that looks like a finger pointed
at Moscow and after you take the city THEN do something about the rest of Russia.



MikeJ19 -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/6/2018 1:22:08 AM)

Larry,

It looks like you are having fun, which should be the aim of playing. I always think about resting my red units, but then see an opportunity that I should exploit first. I have not played a really long scenario where I can find time to rest units that much. I may give it a try in my new battle. I'm about to switch to the Germans and try to hold off the Allies in Normandy. It is going to be hard not having all those air units...

Keep having fun,



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/6/2018 1:29:12 AM)

My units are sneaking up on Stalino but as you can see in the image there's no
supply to support such a position and there's no supply points in this area that
I'm aware of so these guys will have to just dig in and wait for more supply. I've
run the AGN supply unit down here to help out but the supply radius for that bad boy
is only 4 hexes and his supply doesn't go very far. This scenario is accurate in the
supply difficulties that the Germans had but it would be more fun if it didn't have
such severe supply problems. As many RR engineers again might help some.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/A5F0EBFBA228413B99E6A42D8D83B19A.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/6/2018 1:31:51 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19
Larry,

It looks like you are having fun, which should be the aim of playing. I always think about resting my red units, but then see an opportunity that I should exploit first. I have not played a really long scenario where I can find time to rest units that much. I may give it a try in my new battle. I'm about to switch to the Germans and try to hold off the Allies in Normandy. It is going to be hard not having all those air units...

Keep having fun,

So Mike....which scenario are you going to do? How about an AAR about it so I can kibitz and
suggest things for you to try. Or have you started already?



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/6/2018 1:42:30 AM)

I'm confused. I thought that the supply radius of AGN's supply unit was 4 but I've
come upon the unit to decide whether or not to move it and I discover that the radius
is only 2. No wonder the units are starving...the supply wagon can't or won't
deliver door to door. That's not a long-term solution to the supply problem but it's
better than doing nothing at all. Maybe if I rail ALL the supply units into this AO
I might see a difference.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/D0931FC77487443C981F191E39DAA137.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/6/2018 2:05:33 AM)

Here's the northern front lines right now and the idea was to follow a rail line
to Moscow as the next priority project but then some Soviet units started ganging
up on the NE corner and I've redirected the Panzers up there to fight off the
threat. I've got to find enough units to build a front line from here to Moscow.
I don't think there's enough people for that. I'll have to take the broad-front
approach instead of a finger pointed at Moscow. It's a lot slower but you don't
have to fortify the flanks as you go.

As soon as the Finns are done mopping up near Leningrad I'm going to set them
on a mission to the NE of here to ArchAngel to see if they can shut down Lend Lease.
It's a long journey and I expect them to take the rest of the game getting there
and doing something about Lend Lease. It's not a crisis if they fail and it's
something positive for them to do.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/AFB0206DBF7B4B9096C7159D2D3B3B5B.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/6/2018 2:13:15 AM)

According to the scenario briefing there's local supply points out there to be
had for the taking and I need to look up the position of those bad boys and see
if I can't get one or more of them. Every little bit helps.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/D66CDD0E26714417955931C4E2D8D740.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/6/2018 2:27:11 AM)

Hey you guys: I looked up the local supply points and there's one missing from the
map where the scenario briefing says it's supposed to be. All the others are there
so is this some oversight or did the Soviets destroy it somehow or what?

[image]local://upfiles/16287/B140063EB96F4DBFA2E7378B72DD0E86.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/6/2018 5:20:19 AM)

It's already 9 days into November and I haven't really gotten started on the rail
to Moscow from Leningrad and I need to do that so I drove several Panzer divisions
up into the NE corner of the lines and I've given them missions and there's an
attack scheduled and the goal is to push all those Soviet units off the rail so I
can get started repairing it. All the way to Moscow. I'm going to need a ton more
people to staff the front lines. The people in the south aren't going anywhere
anytime soon so I'm thinking of stripping off about three divisions and get them
busy pushing back the hordes up here. Start forming a front line and everything.

EDIT: Let's call the operation to build a working railroad between Leningrad and
Moscow operation Coaltrain and label it started Nov. 9 and see if we can
get it done in six months. By the end of next spring say...first of June how
about that for a goal date.
[image]local://upfiles/16287/3F78A836D69648FF859E10D514BC5335.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/6/2018 5:54:56 AM)

I put this together for me and I thought you guys might like to see it too. I'm
planning what route to take and I've scopped out the traffic congestion at the river
crossings and I think I've found a better route, a shorter route, with less resistance
to get to Moscow and that involves extending the rails from the second from the
northernmost railhead south to have it turn east at Staraya Russa and go to Moscow
from there. I'm hoping it'll be easier than the route in the far NE corner.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/66B76B476B0C4C47AB33F8C2307428A6.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: Adventures in Russia (4/6/2018 10:09:50 AM)

Larry,

You almost need a team of players to try that scenario there is so much to think about. The scenario I'm about to begin will be my first experience with rail movement and I'm hoping to remember to use it to get my forces into defensive locations faster. It is very interesting watching your planning about the rail network.

Well done getting Leningrad.

All the best



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