German First Turn - A tutorial?

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa >> The War Room >> German First Turn - A tutorial?

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German First Turn - A tutorial? - 3/6/2016 9:22:15 PM

AlbertN

Posts: 3693
Joined: 10/5/2010
From: Italy
Status: offline

I understand that some want to tinker and explore themselves.

I bought the game and sort of got pretty frustrated already as the Germans seem to litterally gain 1-2 hexes top in most of the sectors; or project themselves in places where they'd get technically encircled by the soviets.

Some German attacks even failed against the Soviets - in the woods.

So besides the "Decisions" to be taken, which are rather simple, how exactly the Germans should move and attack in a somewhat historical degree?

I litterally played 1 turn - and then saw all the Soviets running away merrily, damaged or not, moving further away from my divisions which anyhow pay a helluva of APs to cover 1-2 hexes (which means pratically, at turn 2, my infantries can barely do 1 attack each, IF ever.).

I take it with good will that it was my first experience, I am a novice in this game - and acted clueless.

Is there a possibility to have a "tutorial" for the 1st turn for the Germans, how they actually pierce through the Soviets, begin their encirclements and so forth?

Post #: 1

RE: German First Turn - A tutorial? - 3/8/2016 8:50:14 PM

Gunnulf

Posts: 686
Joined: 10/31/2012
Status: offline

For a start reading a couple of AARs from the German perspective will give you a good view of not only what can be achieved in turn one but also the why - ie. why what you do in the first turn is important for the next few turns. The first turn is really setting up the breakout in the 2rd and 3rd which is much more important to get right. Turn 1 you need to lead with your infantry to break through the crust and set up the conditions to follow through with the Panzergruppes to head towards your objectives and/or create encirclements. Don't lead with the armour or you will burn them out too early on the initial fortifications. But by the end of the turn likely in the north you will have broken through and at least a few mobile divisions will be halfway to Riga or the river, in the center very likely 2 & 3 PzGrp will have linked up and Brest and Bialstok will be individually surrounded, and in the south then either you will have encircled the infantry to the west and be close to Lvov or you will be working on a wider encirclement to close next turn.

Rather than a tutorial I can offer a more of a quick checklist;

- Check your decisions. You don't need to execute them yet as most won't have an impact until next turn. But at least understand whats coming up as it might steer your movements. Most you can take at the end as likely too what happens might change your mind a little.

- Pour a whiskey, unwrap a cigar, zoom out the map and have a condor moment. Make a grand plan, decide on your schwerpunkt; overall and for each Army Group. No plan survives contact with the enemy but you'd better at least start with one, and then you should continue to try to get inside his decision loop and make him dance to your tune. Good luck with that!

- Zoom back in to each Army Group. Consider where you want each Panzergruppe to be in 3 turns time and 2 turns time and 1 turns time. What do you need to break to do that?

- Look in detail at your Infantry armies. These are now your tools to create conditions for your PzGrp to achieve their aims. Some divisions will get a chance to attack twice. Consider how you can herd the enemy to create gaps for the Panzers and also encirclements that you will neutalise on turns 2 and 3. Remember they will not be out of supply if encircled on turn 1, and they will be weaker after they are kettled, however often you might as well kill them now if you have the chance. Surrounded units die if they can't retreat - units you continue to force to retreat will have to be fought a few times and slow you down. Circumstances will dictate whats best each time.

- Brest is usually a good early target for you siege artillery. Make sure you have an Inf Div on the rail line leading into the city so you can then play that card.

- Return to your PzGrp's and drive them through the gaps, exploit the breakthroughs and create the encirclements. But don't over expose yourself. An aggressive Soviet will love to gang up on an over exuberant Pz Div and give it a bloody nose. Pair up at the tip of the spear at least, and try not to leave chances to get cut off. Remember to move in conjuction with the HQ so that a) it is not exposed b) your divisions are within 5 hexes, or you will encounter problems next turn.

- Repeat for each Army group.

- Go to your cards. Allocate artillery to the armies that face the heaviest fighting for the next few turns. Assign focus to your favoured PzGrp where possible so long as relationships allow (Remember to go back to them next turn and play the Officer cards...)

- Go back to your decisions and pull the trigger on what seems best. This is obviously an art in itself

(in reply to AlbertN)

Post #: 2

RE: German First Turn - A tutorial? - 5/5/2016 2:32:02 PM

ShotgunFarmer

Posts: 4
Joined: 4/13/2014
Status: offline

quote:

- Pour a whiskey, unwrap a cigar,

I'm sorry, was there more after this?

On a serious note, this is a nice overall summary of a todo list for noobs like myself. Thanks.

(in reply to Gunnulf)

Post #: 3

RE: German First Turn - A tutorial? - 5/11/2016 3:09:26 PM

Philippeatbay

Posts: 855
Joined: 12/3/2014
Status: offline

" - Brest is usually a good early target for you siege artillery. Make sure you have an Inf Div on the rail line leading into the city so you can then play that card. "

I always take Brest on the second turn, and never use siege artillery.

Surround and isolate it on the first turn and assault it on the second.

Siege artillery is slow and political points are usually in short supply.

(in reply to ShotgunFarmer)

Post #: 4

RE: German First Turn - A tutorial? - 8/5/2016 12:05:58 AM

aaminoff

Posts: 13
Joined: 12/11/2006
Status: offline

I think my reaction was similar when doing my first turn as German. After a while I realized that the turns are 4 days long, so it really is pretty realistic what you can accomplish in that time. The initial forces along the border will take a couple of turns to surround, isolate, and kill off or leave to starve - don't expect to do it all in one turn. Also, an oddity of this system is that you assign focus on turn 1 (or can you do that in the pre-turn? I don't think so), and then on turn 2 you get to play commander cards, like say Guderian doing Envelopment, and then suddenly on turn 3 all the panzers are +15AP and +15% combat power. That said I think this game does under-represent German progress in the initial week, which is compensated by the speed at which even infantry can march across Russia later.

(in reply to Philippeatbay)

Post #: 5

RE: German First Turn - A tutorial? - 1/27/2017 5:11:12 PM

sabo10

Posts: 36
Joined: 2/25/2011
From: Minneapolis
Status: offline

I think Gunnulf is telling you it's a thinking mans game. Of course you could substitute for a blunt. LOL

(in reply to ShotgunFarmer)

Post #: 6

RE: German First Turn - A tutorial? - 1/27/2017 5:51:40 PM

Philippeatbay

Posts: 855
Joined: 12/3/2014
Status: offline

The first turn for the Germans is really no big deal. You can kill pretty much anything you want or need to (including Brest-Litowsk) and encircle or almost encircle the rest.

If you're having problems with the German first turn assault, try this. Set up a game with the AI on the slowest setting and no bonuses, set the Germans on AI and the Soviets on human. Watch the playback of the first German turn very carefully, and play the game over again from the begining a few times because the AI doesn't always do the same thing twice. If you watch closely, you may see the AI do things it never occurred to you to try, and with those settings, anything the German AI can do you can do as a German human player as well.

If you think the ferocity of the initial German attack is under-represented, wait until you see what happens when your troops are tired and the initial bonuses have worn off.

The problem comes when you're about two months into the campaign and you discover that you've been too consistently aggressive and have run your panzer groups into the ground. That's when you go back and ask yourself what you really needed to kill. There's no point in having your panzers sitting on Vyazma in mid-August if they're too burned out to make that last push.

I'm almost surprised to hear myself saying this, but I think it's a mistake to get too hung up on exactly where the German front line was at a given point in time. The historical German front line is only relevant to your game if the AI Soviets have done exactly what the real Soviets did, and you have also done exactly what the Germans did. In other words, there's no point in executing the Kiev encirclement if there is no tactical need to execute it. A German player is playing against a digital or human Soviet opponent, not against historical penetration lines. This is more of a simulation than a re-enactment. Competent generals maneuver against their opponents, not against the map.

< Message edited by Philippe at bay -- 1/27/2017 6:31:11 PM >

(in reply to sabo10)

Post #: 7