Wargammer of the Year Attempt #1 (Full Version)

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larryfulkerson -> Wargammer of the Year Attempt #1 (4/26/2018 12:03:28 AM)

There's a new version of D21 out now ( v.4.6 ) and I thought maybe I should
playtest that bad boy. I discovered, reading the briefing.doc, that there's been
a lot of good changes in this version, a lot of corrections, and some new house
rules. I did a cut and paste of the Briefing.doc and I think these are the
highlights:

New for Version 4.6 :

Adjusted more equipment for Axis and Soviets to be more weapons and side specific.

Please when looking at the replacements window to check the "New Equipment Section" at the end of the unit list as well as some of the equipment is in this section.

The JU-87/B had an error and it has been corrected.

The Turks were not activating and should now if Makhachkala is captured, There are house rules regarding their limited use.

Moved some Soviet sea supply hexes to a mainland hex do to possible bug in TOAW IV.

New Axis 13th and 14th Wave infantry divisions missing from the OOB.

Soviets Moscow Defensive Zone will now be stronger starting with the onset of the 1st Winter Offensive and will gradually grow strong turn by turn over the winter and harder to capture Moscow, if at all after after the 1941 winter offensive begins. The scenario did not account enough for the buildup in previous versions.

Some shock parameters have been adjusted for the Germans in 1941. They will get a limited boost during Typhoon in November 41 but that can range from as little as 2 turns to possible 6 depending on the activation of the Winter Offensive which is random. The Germans will gradually( 3 phases ) re-gain shock over the coarse of the first winter offensive. There are new house rules regarding the use of German security and auxiliary units

New House Rules:

5. The Third Turkish Army will activate if the Axis capture Makhachkala at hex 252,297. The Turkish army may only occupy area west of the Caucasus. They probably would not be any more than a co-belligerent and would manly be preventing the migration of ethnic minorities into Turkey from Georgia and Armenia.

6. After Turn 4 Security units and MP units may only be used to convert rear enemy hexes, mop up rear echelon surrounded enemy units, preform garrison duties in any occupied rear echelon hex. In other words they cannot advance into enemy territory with the purpose of converting forward hexes or encircling enemy units. They can be used to shore up front lines. They do not reconstruct if destroyed.

7. Other Auxiliary/support units such as Anti-Tank units, AA units, Artillery units can only advance into front echelon enemy territory accompanied by panzer, cavalry, and infantry regiments, brigades and Divisions.



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/26/2018 12:18:25 AM)

Here's the game options I'm
going to use:

[image]local://upfiles/16287/774A5080A99C437A8669467E6C51190E.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/26/2018 12:22:33 AM)

The OOB says there's just short of 800 units for the Axis player to deal with but
a LOT of those units are CD guns, shore batteries, fixed garrisons, etc. so the
actual unit load on the player is closer to perhsps 700 or so. I've been thinking
of disbanding the CD guns because I would like a more accurate OOB count and I don't
think I'll be needing those CD guns for anything.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/8D84E1329D2C40C6AE3C54BABF56083B.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/26/2018 1:07:01 AM)

I've done a cut and paste of the inventory to show you the numbers. I've excluded
those types that we don't have any, we're not going to make any, and there's none
assigned. Also, I've excluded those types that come later in the game, so this is
the current stuff that we have showing in this list. As you can see the custom
equipment is towards the bottom of the list. There's a lot of stuff that we have
some assigned but we don't have any on hand and we're not going to make any. Lots
of those. As we're starting out we have about 32K HRS's on duty and i'd like to
keep it about that level if possible. There's lots of vehicles of various types
that will come in handy. The aircraft are all ready. Everybody is in the green.
There's one loss already. I moved a Soviet unit and he bit me.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/DDC90E327A2E4F51BFEAC7AEBA34BF05.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/27/2018 10:27:04 AM)

Here's some of the losses from just one combat round so far.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/C8F58C26F11E4F3D8A975C5EFA237B6F.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/27/2018 1:04:33 PM)

Larry,

Wow, 700 units and many many kms off front lines. I'm going to enjoy watching over your shoulder as you go through this battle! Good luck!



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/27/2018 9:42:03 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19
Larry,

Wow, 700 units and many many kms off front lines. I'm going to enjoy watching over your shoulder as you go through this battle! Good luck!

I usually move the units in OOB order because you just hit the 'N' key to go to the next unit that way, and every time I get to the coastal guns instead of going through all of them one at a time I usually just click past the entire formation now. You see, this version of the scenario has the CD guns in garrison mode with a yellow band and I can't disband them. D'oh. So they are carried in the OOB for the entire game. I can't disband them to salvage the artillery and the troops. And they are practically useless to me.

I'll try to capture the highlights for you.



DanNeely -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/28/2018 12:53:42 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

quote:

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19
Larry,

Wow, 700 units and many many kms off front lines. I'm going to enjoy watching over your shoulder as you go through this battle! Good luck!

I usually move the units in OOB order because you just hit the 'N' key to go to the next unit that way, and every time I get to the coastal guns instead of going through all of them one at a time I usually just click past the entire formation now. You see, this version of the scenario has the CD guns in garrison mode with a yellow band and I can't disband them. D'oh. So they are carried in the OOB for the entire game. I can't disband them to salvage the artillery and the troops. And they are practically useless to me.

I'll try to capture the highlights for you.


I see TPOO blocked another way you were cheesing the scenario. [&o]



Rosseau -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/28/2018 2:14:29 AM)

Thank you for continuing to perfect this scenario. For me, it goes back to the roots of my wargame fanaticism in 1983 playing Eastern Front (1941) on the Atari - and hoping one day to see stuff like this.

To Larry and so many other TOAW scenario authors, editors, beta testers, and devs, who have spent valuable time that they cannot get back on these projects, please know your efforts are appreciated and the battles you build are much enjoyed by military history lovers...without getting all mushy about it [;)]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/28/2018 2:58:41 AM)

I dropped a few paratroopers on some key avenues to block the free flow of Soviet
units fleeing the battlefield. I'm hoping to trap most of them. It worked in
rehearsal.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/D5C0F7F1B1EC4BB2B3055B0FA297D09C.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/28/2018 3:07:06 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Rosseau
Thank you for continuing to perfect this scenario. For me, it goes back to the roots of my wargame fanaticism in 1983 playing Eastern Front (1941) on the Atari - and hoping one day to see stuff like this.

To Larry and so many other TOAW scenario authors, editors, beta testers, and devs, who have spent valuable time that they cannot get back on these projects, please know your efforts are appreciated and the battles you build are much enjoyed by military history lovers...without getting all mushy about it.

Hey there Rosseau dude. I feel the same way you do. I used to have an Atari 800XL and I played wargames on it too. Since I've been playtesting I've learned a great deal about what goes on under the hood with this game engine and I'm really impressed with the background processing that has to happen for battles to be resolved and so on. It's an effort to simulate reality realistically and it's getting pretty close. The PO has had some work done on it and it'll give you more of a run for your money and with all the corrections and additions the D21 scenario is getting more and more accurate and better and better as an emulation of the real conflict. As a scientist I love that. I'm not just playing games, I'm performing a rough draft of what WOULD happen in that situation. It's been an eye opener being a playtester.



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/28/2018 4:04:24 AM)

Here's the T2 front lines before I have moved anybody. So far so good.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/22949A69D35D4A2F87C5908BE1A85C14.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/28/2018 1:32:46 PM)

When I'm moving the units I'm checking them out for the health dot and supply level
before I move it and I found a Korps HQ unit that seems to have started the game
without it's tubes and has only started receiving them. It may be several turns
before it's got it's full load of tubes. And then I noticed that some of the HQ
units have a range of 1 still and I look at them and they have no tubes yet. Okay,
now I know.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/B72E6BD960364C3B9B1C6E03C557EB1F.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/29/2018 4:16:16 AM)

Here's the T3 front lines before I have moved anybody.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/D9E7764D6B2047B7A0F90EA27E6C58AF.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/29/2018 10:12:59 AM)

It's T3 and I'm sneaking up on Minsk. I'd like to surround the city before I take it
down but if I have a chance to take the city beforehand I'll go for it. It's important
to take Minsk down ASAP because it hinges on Soviet production and reinforcements.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/01C4851789A545D69AA117CEDA2542C6.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/30/2018 1:55:54 AM)

It's T4 and I'm sneaking up on Riga and the river crossing and port there. I've landed some paratroopers on the east
side of the river to do some recon for me and to get the conversion of roads and rails started. He landed on an airfield
and as a result didn't go into reorg and I was able to move him after he landed.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/2A165A33BBC84C9588E5152F9A567731.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/30/2018 11:30:23 AM)

So I'm moving units and I've come to the 20th Panzer Division and I have to decide
where to send it and as I see it I have at least three choices:

(A) drive for Pskov to see about capturing the city. The problem with this choice
is that there's usually already a Soviet unit garrison there and there's no recourse to
waiting for reinforcements before storming the city.

(B) I could drive on to Smolensk and continue the drive on Moscow. But driving east
would quickly embroil the division in dealing with Soviet resistance and would probably have
the same result as choice A above in that the division is likely too weak to blast the
Soviets out of the way by itself and would have to wait on the follow on forces to deal with
any stout Soviet resistance.

(C) I could drive south and help in the takedown of Minsk. I can't think of a problem
with this choice. The city DOES need to be taken down ASAP and there's hardly anyone there
right now. The division would likely play a decisive role in the take down of the city and
that means honor on the whole formation. Let's do this choice. What do you guys think?

[image]local://upfiles/16287/244135E5220F469085EBC2D0D4B7DA8A.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/30/2018 11:49:15 AM)

Here's my plan for Minsk: I want to circle the city with my hexes to cut the city and
it's defenders off from their supply source for total destruction of all the Soviet
equipment and then approach the city from all sides simultaneously if possible. So
the actual take down will probably take another two turns I'm guessing.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/49B62754733A46A981390DA4CE420333.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/30/2018 12:26:28 PM)

I'm starting to confront the Soviet's Stalin Line down south and the advance will
slow down to deal with that. I'm trying to find a way around it though and I'm
getting units to infiltrate through the Soviet line so I can surround and kill the
enemy units. I'll be through this in a couple of turns I'm guessing.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/ADD8CB43580447208391A3C4A5E820DE.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (4/30/2018 8:14:11 PM)

Here's the T5 front lines before I have moved anybody.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/91289DE1AA634B1B890D447D7B59C6A6.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (5/1/2018 12:38:44 PM)

Around the Riga area there's lots of movement going on. Almost all the units in
this image are in motion, heading outbound from Riga in a pattern to spread out and
convert the roads and rails and find the Soviet units lurking nearby. The security
forces are through in the area NW of Riga so now they are heading east to the sound
of the guns. I've designated Riga as my rest camp for now. The rail is almost
repaired all the way to Riga and the bridges are repaired down to Jekabpils, which
is being negotiated over as we speak. An attack is scheduled and I expect to have
the crossing shortly, after which I'll attempt to repair the bridge and in any case
ship out the troops nearby as their jobs will have been done.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/94C18114879A4997963DF07C5865E0CC.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (5/1/2018 7:09:57 PM)

So I'm going in OOB order moving the units and I've come to the 20th Panzer Division
and it's in a special situation that I need to remind myself of. I've driven too many
units to the Minsk area and have left a section of the front lines empty of units. I
need to shift some of the Minsk crowd to the NE and to fill that vacuum. But what
should I do with the 20th in the meantime? I expect to run into some Soviet units before
I go too much further to the east and I don't want the 20th to get embroiled in a firefight
where they would have to deal with enemy units alone. I need follow on forces to be closer
to the tanks. Maybe the 20th should just rest for a turn. I'll do that.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/974A5AE8EA7D4D72B4E77212FB828744.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (5/1/2018 10:19:01 PM)

It's T5 and I've finally surrounded Minsk with my recon units and engineers. There's
three broken bridges in Minsk that need to be repaired and I drove a lot of engineers
that way. I took a look at the zoomed out view and discovered that I've gathered too
many divisions in this AO so it's congested and there's at least one section of the
front lines that's scerce for Axis troops. I'm going to move about a third of these
divisions north to bypass Minsk and drive on Smolensk.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/1555684CAA5D496A903CBE29220AB9AC.jpg[/image]



MikeJ19 -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (5/2/2018 1:20:50 AM)

Larry,

Awesome stuff. It is such a large theatre of operations and there is so much to think about. It would take me forever to do a turn...



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (5/2/2018 2:54:08 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19
Larry,

Awesome stuff. It is such a large theatre of operations and there is so much to think about. It would take me forever to do a turn...

If I quit tinkering with stuff I can usually do a turn in about two hours. I usually check the deployment of the aircraft first, resting the yellow ones and giving missions to those that rested sufficiently to go back into combat, and maybe even moving them to a better position and trimming their range again for the spot they moved to. I like to just cover the important areas and not much overlap with deep Soviet areas. I have trimmed the range of the bombers from 83 to 50 so that they cover a given area with more dilligence and I feel like I get more performance from my aircraft.

At any rate, after I've looked at the aircraft, I usually press the '.' ( period ) key and disembark all the units riding on the train. Then starting at the beginning of the OOB I take a look at the units to see if there's any problems with them and move them. The red ones have to rest, yellow ones should be looking for a good supply spot and the green ones are the shooters. Sometimes I have to postpone the movement of a unit to move a different unit first. For instance, if I have to move a unit across a broken bridge and there just happens to be an engineer unit within range, I'll see if I can't repair that bridge with that engineer unit first to see if I can't save some MP's for the moving unit. Things like that. And if units are moving long range by rail it's a good idea to provide some CAP along the route for them so they don't get damaged by interdiction while moving. Same principle applies to ship-borne units as well.

Then after I've moved all the units and configured all the units to their best positions and all the planes have their missions and all is ready I usually review all the battles to cancel the outlayers that will take too long compared to the others. And then resolve the combats. And after the combat has been resolved I start again at the beginning of the OOB and move the units that still have MP's left. I open the OOB and check out the MP's on the last column on the right and I can scroll until I find another unit that has MP's and move it. Once all the units have 0 movement points and there's no pending battles I find that about two hours has passed.

It's like that every turn. I've learned the game mechanics sufficiently so that I can find just about everything I need to know about the units, formations, etc. I'd like to see some of the dialogs adjusted a tiny bit. On the unit display for aircraft I'd really like to know how many are being produced each turn and how many I have on hand and stuff like that because those are some of the contingencies that obtain when I need to decide whether or not to fly the plane that turn. And on the inventory dialog I'd like to be able to click on the equipment item and be directed to a screen that shows all the formations that include that equipment in their particular inventory. For those times when you have some early model planes that you need to retire from combat you have to look through the units one at a time unless it has a particular range or someother distinguishing property.

D21 is a large scenario and this version is the latest and greatest so far and I like it. I'm getting familiar with the map and it's not so large that you're constantly lost. To be honest with you I could do without the Finns and Turks and all the side shows that happen. I'd rather concentrate on the main contest without the distractions. Like ignoring China in WITP-AE. I've never been past turn 63 or so and I'm looking forward to what happens after that. It's so large a scenario that you have to take notes to keep on top oof all that needs to happen. I don't personally take notes but rather depend on my Mark 2.3 brain to stay ahead of the curve and sometimes it doesn't work out. But I play beer and pretzel games instead of tournament games so it works out fine in the long run. I'm having a blast playing three games and doing the AAR's for them. This is more fun than the Baptist church allows.



cpt flam -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (5/2/2018 8:05:55 AM)

Larry i see a little problem with your troops.
With latest version you are not authorized to mix units of different army group, they must stay together.
Otherwise, always a pleasure to read. [8D]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (5/2/2018 9:10:09 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: cpt flam
Larry i see a little problem with your troops.
With latest version you are not authorized to mix units of different army group, they must stay together. Otherwise, always a pleasure to read.

I'm not allowed to "mix units" of different Army Groups with this version of scenario? I did not know that. I would be curious to know how in the world you got that idea.



MikeJ19 -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (5/2/2018 9:58:46 AM)

Larry,

Thanks for the outline of your turn. I keep thinking of writing myself a short guide to a turn - a checklist - so that I stop forgetting to do things - like move up the reinforcements. I think I have a handle on getting lots of combat rounds in, but remembering to move everyone or dig units in or check my air force still seems to be a problem for me.

Have fun!



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (5/2/2018 1:58:54 PM)

This is the view of Minsk from outer space. I've moved some units north so that the
glaring open spot isn't so obvious and I did a lot of mop up around Minsk but I still
have to grab the city hex itself. My Panzer dudes turned yellow in the hex adjacent
to the city and I can't attack with yellow units. D'oh. Anyway, it's looking better
and soon there wil be an epic battle for Smolensk.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/714574C5B2E54DDAB143DB466ADDEE1F.jpg[/image]



larryfulkerson -> RE: More adventures in Russia ( D21.v.4.6 ) (5/2/2018 2:14:27 PM)

I just learned quite by accident that the overextended supply threashold is 5 and
not 0 like I thought. That means if one of my units wanders into a hex with less
than 5 it will be overextended and the pretty pernitious pestilence policy starts
for that unit. So the rule of thumb is to stay out of less-than-5-supply hexes.
Now I know. I'll start doing that from now on.

[image]local://upfiles/16287/2067F69FCD1C4105BD27C71890BE4DB9.jpg[/image]



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