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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Gary Grigsby's War in the East Series >> After Action Reports >> RE: 8MP T40

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RE: 8MP T40 - 8/16/2018 8:09:03 PM

Zorch

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quote:

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS

quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus
Instead we went from not knowing who would have what in advance to not knowing who would have what at the start of the turn to not even being sure of it by the end of the turn. That is the key job for a Supreme Commander - so my big failure this turn.

Our Red Army faces no such difficulties. Orders are given and orders are executed.

'Orders' are not the only thing being executed in the Red Army.

(in reply to M60A3TTS)

Post #: 631

RE: 8MP T41 - 8/17/2018 11:48:08 AM

Telemecus

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As the snow comes to an end tank crews feed the polar bears one last time.

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Post #: 632

RE: 8MP T41 - 8/17/2018 7:50:08 PM

Zorch

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

As the snow comes to an end tank crews feed the polar bears one last time.

Recruiting some PBI (Polar Bear Infantry)?

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Post #: 633

RE: 8MP T41 - 8/18/2018 7:05:23 PM

Telemecus

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Going through archive photos there does seem to be a "thing" about the German army and bear costumes.

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Post #: 634

RE: 8MP T41 - 8/19/2018 8:12:09 AM

leverkuhn

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

As the snow comes to an end tank crews feed the polar bears one last time.

Are those actually german soldiers? Is that a czech 38t?

Edit: I found the picture in color https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/feeding-polar-bears-tank-1950/

< Message edited by leverkuhn -- 8/19/2018 8:14:23 AM >

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Post #: 635

RE: 8MP T41 - 8/19/2018 8:31:56 AM

timmyab

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OMG proof right here that Russians have the biggest balls. Kissing a wild polar bear cub on the mouth with the mother standing right behind it

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Post #: 636

RE: 8MP T41 - 8/20/2018 8:22:34 PM

Telemecus

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quote:

ORIGINAL: timmyab
Kissing a wild polar bear cub on the mouth with the mother standing right behind it

Because he has his own vehicle I think mum approves of the new boyfriend.

The German Navy takes a more robust approach in these matters.

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 8/20/2018 8:28:10 PM >

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Post #: 637

RE: 8MP T40 - 8/20/2018 10:17:21 PM

timmyab

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Turn 41 Army group North

The last week of March arrives with heavy rains forecast for next week.

Operation Snowdrop, or the Ilmen offensive as it's also known, has become somewhat bogged down, but has acheived it's minimum goal in March of establishing a strong bridgehead South of the Msta before the river thaws which it soon will. This week efforts are concentrated on clearing X corp's flanks and ejecting Soviet units from the North side of the river.

Further South in the Torshok-Kallinin area there is some fighting including a Soviet attack which dislodges 18th army from a very desirable piece of defensive real estate. This hex will need recapturing at some point.

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RE: 8MP T40 - 8/21/2018 7:32:10 PM

thedude357

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Turn 41 Army Group South

Operation National Garden has now become a rescue operation. Soviet infantry was able to launch an effective counterattack and isolate the bridgehead by 2 hexes. The offensive has ended and the rescue attempt was successful. This part of the operation can be considered a failure as a bridgehead was not able to be held until the mud. However, it is still winter and even one weather zone was blizzard in the beginning. The ease at which Soviet infantry were pushed out of the way in the opening attacks leads to some optimism about the summer of 42.

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Post #: 639

RE: 8MP T41 - 8/22/2018 10:27:19 AM

Telemecus

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Turn 41 01-April-1942 Air

Soviets continue to bomb our storks and to ground bomb - but also bomb our transports this turn. As already mentioned during our go they succeed in launching one ground interdiction which meets heavy flak and loses all bar one of their bombers.

The Luftwaffe moves south this turn to join its southern allies and also to cover and support the 1st Panzer army. But as a result the bombing of industry in Gorky takes a rest this turn.

...

Meanwhile the Finns continue to bomb the non-flying biplanes of the north. There are now some Sturmoviks being added to the mix too.

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 8/22/2018 10:29:48 AM >

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Post #: 640

RE: 8MP T41 - 8/22/2018 12:07:09 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 41 Rules and Interpretation

This was another turn in which the Axis team had to debate extensively the rules of the game, and what we could do within them.

The house rules can be found in the sign up thread http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4245675

In particular we have debated two continuously

quote:

House Rules

4. No unit may deliberately move forward into isolated status (defined as being more than 99 MPs from a railhead). Units that are isolated due to being surrounded may only move towards supply. The only exception to this rule is air-landed units which may move in any way.

5. The game is supposed to be fun and historically plausible, they players agree to play accordingly and not try to exploit the game engine or do �gamey� stuff.

Rule 4 in particular caused us many problems over Operation Dumbo Drop and the end of the clear turns before the mud period. Did this apply to units that were suddenly isolated because of mud? Did this mean we could not reseal a broken pocket if they were suddenly isolated? Could units be trapped by just the one side towards supply even though an escape route round an obstacle might exist and so on. The debates went on endlessly. In the end we did lose units and cancel a major operation in 1941 because of what we thought the house rules meant.

This turn rule 5 became the main point of debate. If I knew then what I know now I would have asked that the rule be changed to specific actions rather than a subjective assesment. I consider myself to be a historical player, and get surprised when others say I am not. Similarly I see certain tactics as obviously ahistorical being treated as orthodox on these forums. The question was what exactly is historical and what is "gamey" stuff? And is there any such thing as "historical" other than just meaning "what I did not think of myself" or "what I feel like it should be?"

We did use that principle of legal interpretation often used in common law systems and some others that a law is meant to stop something and not meant to be vacuous. And that as everyone had different views we should look to what the author of the rule meant by historical or gamey. As far as we can see the rules author, Hortlund, only gave one example of what he saw as being ahistorical or "gamey" here http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4210686&mpage=5 - see post 141

In particular they refer to the use of dummy stacked units to prevent a unit reteating the wrong way in this picture

Without expressing any views on whether this is historical or not (and I have many doubts on whether it is a meaningful term at all as I usually see it posted) we have to accept the author of the rule saw it as not being so. So if anything is prohibited by this rule, this must be.

It follows from that fact that if anything is included in the rule this must be, and that the rule should not be interpreted as vacuous, that the house rules prohibit this action in this game.

In this turn we faced the exact analogue in that we did not want units that just crossed the river Don being forced to retreat back the wrong way. After debating the rule in the end we did not place other units to prevent this happening.

< Message edited by Telemecus -- 8/22/2018 4:15:57 PM >

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Post #: 641

8MP T41 - 8/22/2018 12:36:12 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 41 Allocations
For information only - team allocations for turn 41.

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 9/4/2018 7:21:35 PM >

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8MP T38-41 - 8/22/2018 1:00:39 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 38 to 41: OPERATION NATIONAL GARDEN: The story so far ...

Before the start of snow we had discussed as a team whether we should pool our resources on one main target. Here are some of the options we considered

While still taking forward operations in the centre East from Tula, at Lake Ilmen and in the Crimea, the Bridgehead over the Don before it unfroze was the one we chose to make our main effort on. Not only would it save us many turns trying to cross this formidable barrier later when the river was unfrozen, but it would break important Soviet rail lines, cross what we thought was their main line of resistance being dug in and could potentially trap more soviet industry in Voronezh. (The remaining industry in Voronezh however was evacuated shortly before the operation began.)

The original plan called for an attack slightly oblique to the frontlines to gain a bridgehead over the Don just near Svoboda. This was changed to a bridgehead further south that was perpendicular to the front. This took advantage of the lighter opposition to gaining a foothold there. But it also meant that any chance to get relief from another direction was now more difficult or impossible, let alone threatening to encircle any Soviet units left to the north of the thrust. Any relief forces could only arrive by the same corridor as the original thrust - and was itself being threatened from both sides.

Also starting the operation in a blizzard rather than snow turn meant much of the fuel built up for the operation was used up in one turn. An advance over more than one turn in the snow might have met overwhelming opposition in its final phase. But as it turned out getting the bridgehead immediately left us with a rescue operation for the bridgehead instead.

This turn by the normal weather patterns will be the last with snow. Future turns will be mud and with that the river Don will unfreeze - and even become more impassable for a while due to free floating blocks of solid ice. As such we have failed in our objective to gain a bridghead over the Don before it unfroze. For Operation National Garden it was
a bridgehead too far..........

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 8/22/2018 5:59:24 PM >

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8MP T01-41 Soviet Tank Numbers - 8/22/2018 2:28:58 PM

Telemecus

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 8/22/2018 2:29:54 PM >

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8MP T42 - 8/22/2018 2:49:45 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 42: Team

beender from this turn is our centre commander.

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Post #: 645

RE: 8MP T41 - 8/22/2018 3:26:28 PM

HardLuckYetAgain

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

Turn 41 Rules and Interpretation

This was another turn in which the Axis team had to debate extensively the rules of the game, and what we could do within them.

The house rules can be found in the sign up thread http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4245675

In particular we have debated two continuously

quote:

House Rules

4. No unit may deliberately move forward into isolated status (defined as being more than 99 MPs from a railhead). Units that are isolated due to being surrounded may only move towards supply. The only exception to this rule is air-landed units which may move in any way.

5. The game is supposed to be fun and historically plausible, they players agree to play accordingly and not try to exploit the game engine or do �gamey� stuff.

Rule 4 in particular caused us many problems over Operation Dumbo Drop and the end of the clear turns before the mud period. Did this apply to units that were suddenly isolated because of mud? Did this mean we could not reseal a broken pocket if they were suddenly isolated? Could units be trapped by just the one side towards supply even though an escape route round an obstacle might exist and so on. The debates went on endlessly. In the end we did lose units and cancel a major operation in 1941 because of what we thought the house rules meant.

This turn rule 5 became the main point of debate. If I knew then what I know now I would have asked that the rule be changed to specific actions rather than a subjective assesment. I consider myself to be a historical player, and get surprised when others say I am not. Similarly I see certain tactics as obviously ahistorical being treated as orthodox on these forums. The question was what exactly is historical and what is "gamey" stuff? And is there any such thing as "historical" other than just meaning "what I did not think of myself" or "what I feel like it should be?"

We did use that principle of legal interpretation often used in common law systems and some others that a law is meant to stop something and not meant to be vacuous. And that as everyone had different views we should look to what the author of the rule meant by historical or gamey. As far as we can see the rules author, Hortlund, only gave one example of what he saw as being ahistorical or "gamey" here http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4210686&mpage=5 - see post 141

In particular they refer to the use of dummy stacked units to prevent a unit reteating the wrong way in this picture

Without expressing any views on whether this is historical or not (and I have many doubts on whether it is a meaningful term at all as I usually see it posted) we have to accept the author of the rule saw it as being so. So if anything is prohibited by this rule, this must be.

It follows from that fact that if anything is included in the rule this must be, and that the rule should not be interpreted as vacuous, that the house rules prohibit this action in this game.

In this turn we faced the exact analogue in that we did not want units that just crossed the river Don being forced to retreat back the wrong way. After debating the rule in the end we did not place other units to prevent this happening.

A great deal of this stems from the gaming system itself not being able to adhere to certain perspectives that would not happen historical. So player do the best they can to overcome these situations. But interpretation is in the eyes of the beholder. Ask one person you will get an answer different of the next. Good luck

_____________________________

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Post #: 646

RE: 8MP T40 - 8/22/2018 11:21:42 PM

timmyab

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Turn 42 Army group North

Very heavy rains combined with the thaw means mud. This would normally close down operations, but the Soviets have weakened their front line to such an extent that 1:1 attacks are possible in places and these produce good results. Especially welcome is the expansion of the Msta bridgehead.

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RE: 8MP T40 - 8/23/2018 10:30:31 AM

beender

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Turn 42 Army Group Centre

Taking over command of AGC from this turn now seems such a long time ago, indeed several campaigns were fought since then. During mud season all offensive operations had to wait, at least major ones. Axis troops launched several attacks here and there, in order to gain a little bit of ground here and there, which would in turn give better terrain/rail access/more threatening starting position for attack. But in total none of these had strategical significance, so were their results. Commander was amazed by how little time it took to carry out his duties, in comparison to that during the summer of 41.

Some casualties number did look good.

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< Message edited by beender -- 8/23/2018 10:33:20 AM >

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Post #: 648

RE: 8MP T42 - 8/24/2018 3:50:06 PM

Telemecus

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Can't help but notice the different approaches my esteemed colleagues take to mud warfare.

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 8/24/2018 3:54:49 PM >

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RE: OKH - 8 player multiplayer Axis thread - 8/29/2018 2:31:05 PM

thedude357

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Turn 42 Army Group South

This turn saw the end of Operation National Garden. No units were lost to surrender, although the final Soviet counterattack made them retreat with high losses. The battered units will be sent to the rear and refitted and ready for summer. Revenge will be on their minds.

In the far South, all that is left in the Crimea is Sevastopol. An extra corps that will be transferred to 11th Army gets ready for the oncoming attack. Once the weather clears, the attack will be swift and brutal. Massive amounts of artillery, pioneers, siege guns, and stukas are beginning to stage around Sevastopol to crack the level 5 forts.

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Post #: 650

RE: 8MP T42 - 8/30/2018 7:02:24 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 42 08-April-1942 Air

With mud the Soviet air forces have largely left the map except for some airbases opposite the battles which were raging for a Don Bridghead and three bases near Kazan. Curiously our reconnaisance finds their fighters and fighter bombers at the Don are not providing any interceptor cover, so our bombers bomb them in daylight unescorted and unintercepted. Previously airbases had been placed in swamp hexes so that they would not fly interceptions. Now they will not fly interceptions from airbases not in swamps again! And while there is some fighter cover of Gorky, it is noticeably weak.

With next to no air combat at all this turn the air losses we ordinarily get from flak every turn are now easy to discern. This is our first turn since we upgraded to v1.11.02 and there is a noticeable uptick in the effectiveness of flak. But the losses we are getting owe more to the large number of targets we are bombing so we now expect to lose up to 50 level bombers a turn from bombing even if there are no fighters to oppose us.

Our level bomber force at the moment is almost exclusively Heinkels.

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 8/30/2018 7:07:33 PM >

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RE: 8MP T42 - 8/30/2018 8:39:37 PM

M60A3TTS

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

Turn 42 08-April-1942 Air

With mud the Soviet air forces have largely left the map except for some airbases opposite the battles which were raging for a Don Bridghead and three bases near Kazan. Curiously our reconnaisance finds their fighters and fighter bombers at the Don are not providing any interceptor cover, so our bombers bomb them in daylight unescorted and unintercepted. Previously airbases had been placed in swamp hexes so that they would not fly interceptions. Now they will not fly interceptions from airbases not in swamps again! And while there is some fighter cover of Gorky, it is noticeably weak.

This was a direct result of the inadequate explanation in the forum for the patch on how group ranges should be set. The air units in question were set to '5' thinking that was the radius in hexes. Who knew with that setting the planes would not fly?

Once I finally figured out with the help of a subsequent post by HLYA that the hex range was on a scale of 40=1, it was no longer an issue.

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Post #: 652

RE: 8MP T41 - 8/31/2018 9:17:35 PM

M60A3TTS

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

Turn 41 01-April-1942 Air

Soviets continue to bomb our storks and to ground bomb - but also bomb our transports this turn. As already mentioned during our go they succeed in launching one ground interdiction which meets heavy flak and loses all bar one of their bombers.

The Luftwaffe moves south this turn to join its southern allies and also to cover and support the 1st Panzer army. But as a result the bombing of industry in Gorky takes a rest this turn.

...

Meanwhile the Finns continue to bomb the non-flying biplanes of the north. There are now some Sturmoviks being added to the mix too.

Speaking of flak, here's a tidbit...

How many AA guns contained in support units did the Soviet team start this game with?

47 regiments with approximately 1,000 guns
46 battalions with approximately 553 guns

But, if you start the bitter end scenario right now, care to guess how many AA guns the Soviets get in support units?

61 regiments with approximately 6,470 guns
170 battalions with approximately 3,095 guns

Think about it.

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Post #: 653

RE: 8MP T42 - 9/1/2018 4:56:54 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 42 08-April-1942 Economic

This is our first turn since upgrading to v1.11.02 and getting any factory damage is no longer sufficient alone to prevent any expansion. Instead expansion probability is proportional to the lack of damage - so we now need to start building high damage levels at the Gorky T-70 factory before it has a chance to expand much. We also continue to get collateral damage on the T-60 factory we were not targeting.

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 9/1/2018 4:57:46 PM >

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RE: 8MP T42 - 9/1/2018 5:04:17 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 42 Allocations
For information only - team allocations for turn 42.

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< Message edited by Telemecus -- 9/17/2018 9:00:21 PM >

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RE: 8MP T42 - 9/1/2018 5:07:56 PM

Zorch

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

This post is being reserved for a future upload of the team allocations of turn 42

Kind of like the old IBM manuals that said "This page intentionally left blank".

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Post #: 656

RE: 8MP T42 - 9/1/2018 5:32:13 PM

Telemecus

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Zorch

quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus
This post is being reserved for a future upload of the team allocations of turn 42

Kind of like the old IBM manuals that said "This page intentionally left blank".

Which is self-contradictory if you think about it!

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Post #: 657

8MP T43 - 9/1/2018 5:33:14 PM

Telemecus

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Turn 43: Team

quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus
Another week and another Russian poisoning attempt! The perfidy of the Soviet side knows no bounds as its assassination squad tampered with thedude357's Ragu sauce preventing them from doing their whole go in turn 34.

The poisoners have been tracked down by intelligence. The F�hrer has granted the request by our South Commander to personally lead the retaliation raid. While thedude357 is temporarily absent leverkuhn will be deputising for the South command from this turn.

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Post #: 658

RE: 8MP T43 - 9/1/2018 11:47:12 PM

Zorch

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

Turn 43: Team

quote:

ORIGINAL: Telemecus
Another week and another Russian poisoning attempt! The perfidy of the Soviet side knows no bounds as its assassination squad tampered with thedude357's Ragu sauce preventing them from doing their whole go in turn 34.

The poisoners have been tracked down by intelligence. The F�hrer has granted the request by our South Commander to personally lead the retaliation raid. While thedude357 is temporarily absent leverkuhn will be deputising for the South command from this turn.

Sounds like too much snapps and bratwurst.

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Post #: 659

RE: 8MP T43 - 9/3/2018 6:25:39 PM

beender

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Turn 43 Army Group Centre

T43 on AGC and AGB, which is put under my command this turn, things are not much different from T42... Troops sit between the frontline and stare at each other. At two locations Axis launched attacks and succeeded, gaining...two hexes of ground. OKH worked hard to cheer up the morale of front commanders, but I cannot pretend that the effect is very big on me

(through no fault of OKH Supreme Commander of course).

If there is anything worth noticing, that is German panzers are indeed superman because they are the only reliable force for offensive purpose during mud season. Without them the attacks would not even be considered.