Game of DNO

[06 Maestro]

I have not played this against a biological unit yet, but I think I'm ready. With all the good info from the players here and 62 years worth of hinde sight I should be able to get to Gorky with 100% supply status. ;)
I would like to command the Axis this time around. No doubt the Soviet side is interesting , I'll cross that bridge later.
I can get out at least one turn of this per week and at times one per day. :crosseye:
If you are interested please post here.

[JAMiAM]

I have not played this against a biological unit yet, but I think I'm ready. With all the good info from the players here and 62 years worth of hind site I should be able to get to Gorky with 100% supply status. ;)
I would like to command the Axis this time around. No doubt the Soviet side is interesting , I'll cross that bridge later.
I can get out at least one turn of this per week and at times one per day. :crosseye:
If you are interested please post here.

Since Xandamere has disappeared, in the game that I was playing the Soviets in, I'd like to answer the challenge. I do have two others going on, both as the Axis, as well as a few other smaller games, so if you can handle a leisurely pace (should be able to do a turn a week, most of the time), then I'd be happy to play you.

[06 Maestro]

I was hoping that you or another ace would pick this up as I hope to get a lesson in the art. I'm working on a PBM turn right now. I'll send it late tonight or in the morning.
Thanks.
atmarino@cox.net

[JAMiAM]

I was hoping that you or another ace would pick this up as I hope to get a lesson in the art. I'm working on a PBM turn right now. I'll send it late tonight or in the morning.
Thanks.
atmarino@cox.net
Whenever you're ready is fine. Take your time and do it up right. The first turn usually takes about 20+ game hours for me to finish. Then again, I'm the type of retentive bastard that spends 15 minutes figuring out where to move a damned recon battalion... :nuts:

[06 Maestro]

I just ran into another first as I have never played a huge by PBM. So a question; I'm trying to save a partial turn in pbm but it will only go into a regular sav file. The screen says it's PBM at the top of the window. Is all well here or am I headed for a nightmare? The save dropdown menue only has sav on it where as at the completion of my pbm turns it'll display both.

[JAMiAM]

I just ran into another first as I have never played a huge by PBM. So a question; I'm trying to save a partial turn in pbm but it will only go into a regular sav file. The screen says it's PBM at the top of the window. Is all well here or am I headed for a nightmare? The save dropdown menue only has sav on it where as at the completion of my pbm turns it'll display both.

You'll be fine. Any intermediate saves are always saved as .SAV, or .SAL files. When opened, they will not ask for the PW again, but will still play as PBEM games, including saving with the appropriate file extension when the turn is complete.

[06 Maestro]

Thanks Pardner.

[laszlo.nemedi]

I have not played this against a biological unit yet, but I think I'm ready. With all the good info from the players here and 62 years worth of hind site I should be able to get to Gorky with 100% supply status. ;)
...

I think Jamiam will be "slightly" different than a PO. But I expect you 99% supply status at Gorky :devil:

[Kraut]

ugh, tough choice, first PBEM and that's DNO vs JAMiAM, I guess you'll need some tips because this monster game really needs all your skill tu survive!

first: luftwaffe. before you start moving your forces set all units to rest or they will participate in overrun attack only wasting supplies and loosing readiness. Than, before you start your first attack round, move your fighters as close to the enemy airfields as possible and start assigning your airfield attacks, use just one unit per airfield and use your real long range bombers to knock out as many enemy rail bridges as possible. You wont knock down to many bridges every attack round because your best success % will be something like 25% but with 4-5 collapsed bridges every attack round, 7 attack rounds per turn and after 3-4 turn you should have blown most rail bridges to prevent the soviets from making full use of their enourmous rail capacity. Before the turn ends switch every bomber to interdiction, you will only get 1% interdiction but that's often enough to knock some entrained soviet units back into mobile deployment and thereby greatly hinder his redeployment efforts. The rest of your airforce should continue it's airfield attacks, during the first two turns you should be able to evaporate every enemy air unit in range ! Fly some (two are allowed) Ju-87 to Finland and sink the soviet baltic fleet as long as they are still vulnurable at sea! Do the same to his Black sea fleet, you can reach them from the very southern tip of rumania with your long range bombers.

Mobile units: your only chance to repeat the historic german successes is to copy there Blitzkrieg tactic, speed is the key not destroying soviet divisions as these will reconstitute. You know you are doing good if most of your mobile units arent wasting MP to fight enemy units but are racing east at full speed, the initial fighting should be done by the infantry only. Don't wast to much efforts on one spot, so instead of using all your PzD to take Minsk, use them to drive around the city to the north and south to keep the soviets off balance and prevent them from building a solid defence to early. One PzD together with some arty is enough to take Minsk, you know you are doing OK if Minsk fall during turn 3, so so la la if it falls turn 4 and you have to really do better if it falls turn 5+.

Split up your railroad engs, a half RR has 66% chance to repair a railroad and 2 x 66% is better than 1 x 99% :)

Use your shock: during the first few turns you are almost guaranteed to have several combat rounds, use them well and plan your combats with great care to squeeze out as many rounds as possible

[JAMiAM]

...you'll need some tips because this monster game really needs all your skill...

Indeed. This scenario gives you the very best overview of the TOAW system in its full glory. There are sooooo many details to attend to, to maximize your side's chances of success. A great learning experience.

first: luftwaffe. before you start moving your forces set all units to rest or they will participate in overrun attack only wasting supplies and loosing readiness.

Only set the air units that are on Support deployment to rest. Leave the Air Superiority units as they are. Further, check the TO&E of each of your air units. Become familiar with what ranges correspond to what air units. Me-110's should be put to AS. They can stand toe-to-toe with most of the Soviet fighters and since their range is 50% better than the Me-109's the expansion of your CAP umbrella is very important in maximizing the later interdiction efforts, as well as providing escort to your airfield attacks that are out of range of the single engined fighters.

Than, before you start your first attack round, move your fighters as close to the enemy airfields as possible and start assigning your airfield attacks, use just one unit per airfield and use your real long range bombers to knock out as many enemy rail bridges as possible. You wont knock down to many bridges every attack round because your best success % will be something like 25% but with 4-5 collapsed bridges every attack round, 7 attack rounds per turn and after 3-4 turn you should have blown most rail bridges to prevent the soviets from making full use of their enourmous rail capacity.

First, of course remember to reset your air units mission status after you've moved them. :p

I find that the best success is to have very specific tasks for each of the equipment types. Especially in the crucial first turns.

Ju-88's have a very high replacement rate, and rather good defensive stats, so they get the dangerous jobs, like bombing airfields, deep unescorted missions next to Soviet airfields, etc. They should be your general workhorse units.

Do-17's are short-ranged, but still effective, and can be used in the early turns for airfield attacks. Later I shift them over to combat support so that they give a little extra staying power to my exposed recon elements against the occasional Soviet counterattack.

He-111's excel at bridgeblowing, and their extended range make them nice for deep airfield attacks on the first two turns, when the Soviet Air shock is 5%. When the Soviets start recovering though, these bombers are less sturdy than the Ju-88's and their replacement rate is significantly less. At this time, you should shift them over to missions that do not place them in as much danger. Keeping them flying interdiction is usually a good idea as their range can pop railroading units out of their embarked state and leave them high and dry in some useless place in the USSR.

Ju-87's are great, but very vulnerable. Since they are not high-altitude bombers, they get shot at by everything, and your replacement rate is never enough to keep the units up to full compliment if you're using them to any effect. The have the best anti-shipping strength of any of the units in the game and are great for toasting off the Soviet Fleet units, before they can get into port. In the first two turns you can use them for airfield attacks, but after the the 5% shock goes away, do not waste them on unimportant missions. Seemingly contrary to this, is my habit of leaving a couple on Support missions (from about turn 4), again to protect my recon units against counterattacks.

A note on bridgeblowing. I follow a different path than Kraut. I try for higher cumulative success % against fewer bridges. My luck ranges from very good, to very bad, and I don't want to have a bunch of 25% chance attacks that fail, followed by a turn ending, leaving no followup. Remember that bridgeblowing % is a cumulative function. So, two air units concurrently assigned to such a mission each with 25% add to a total of 50%. I usually try to get my % to 90% for each bridge under attack, and bank on trying to maximize the number of combat rounds in which air units fly to destroy the largest number of bridges. Granted that the numbers are theoretically same between Kraut's and my methods for the total number of successfully blown bridges. However, I usually make an effort to methodically seal off specific areas of the front with blown bridges, and don't trust to overall luck when targetting crucial bridges.

On airfield attacks, I find the best success in having a bomber unit strike the airfield and relying on in range fighters to assign themselves to escort them in the attack. If the fighters are assigned to actually strike the airfield, they fly as bombers and have their combat values adjusted downwards as a consequence.

Fly some (two are allowed) Ju-87 to Finland and sink the soviet baltic fleet as long as they are still vulnurable at sea! Do the same to his Black sea fleet, you can reach them from the very southern tip of rumania with your long range bombers.

The Soviet Fleets are never more vulnerable than on the first turn, when they are deployed at sea. Just be careful to check your attack planner to not waste ground combat rounds by flying your bombing missions too soon.


Mobile units: your only chance to repeat the historic german successes is to copy there Blitzkrieg tactic, speed is the key not destroying soviet divisions as these will reconstitute. You know you are doing good if most of your mobile units arent wasting MP to fight enemy units but are racing east at full speed, the initial fighting should be done by the infantry only. Don't wast to much efforts on one spot, so instead of using all your PzD to take Minsk, use them to drive around the city to the north and south to keep the soviets off balance and prevent them from building a solid defence to early. One PzD together with some arty is enough to take Minsk, you know you are doing OK if Minsk fall during turn 3, so so la la if it falls turn 4 and you have to really do better if it falls turn 5+.

Right. Keep in mind that many of the Soviet formations will be unreleased for the first few turns, so they will be inactive, or possibly suffering from shock induced formational reorganization. You can afford to be daring and bypass things. You do want to seal them off, and work to reduce them, but not at the expense of forward progress, mass at the tips of your schwerpunkten, or loss of combat rounds. On the other hand, if you leave too weak of forces sealing off a pocket, expect the Soviets to do all they can in trying to break out, and cause havoc in your own rear. The right balance must be found, but emphasis should always be on moving East with the greatest haste.

Split up your railroad engs, a half RR has 66% chance to repair a railroad and 2 x 66% is better than 1 x 99% :)

You can be even cleverer than that, but that is my secret... :devil:

Use your shock: during the first few turns you are almost guaranteed to have several combat rounds, use them well and plan your combats with great care to squeeze out as many rounds as possible

Absolutely. Multiple rounds are the name of the game here. Study carefully the detailed combat reports for your battles. Understand what has occurred within the course of each battle. See how many rounds have been fought, and what is joining in to support the battle for both sides. Learn to read this to maximize your success and reduce the enemy's.

Most of all...have fun!

[Kraut]

You can be even cleverer than that, but that is my secret... :devil:


Well... I do know a 'better' way, too, but that's close to beeing gamey. You could:

1. move your RR unit to the destroyed hex

2. split it in thirds

3. use the first to try repairing the rail, if it fails try the second one

4. if both failed, rejoin the unit, it should now have 1/3 of it's former MP

5. continue with step 2

this also works for bridge repairing but so far I've never used this trick beause it's hard to visualize how this tactic could work in real life :D

[laszlo.nemedi]

Well... I do know a 'better' way, too, but that's close to beeing gamey. You could:

1. move your RR unit to the destroyed hex

2. split it in thirds

3. use the first to try repairing the rail, if it fails try the second one

4. if both failed, rejoin the unit, it should now have 1/3 of it's former MP

5. continue with step 2

this also works for bridge repairing but so far I've never used this trick beause it's hard to visualize how this tactic could work in real life :D

Uhh, again a new trick (go it to the faq)

[Kraut]

Uhh, again a new trick (go it to the faq)
Naa, this belongs to ER Chasers Black Book of Dirty Tricks, don't put it into the FAQ :D

[06 Maestro]

If an air unit changes base and then is sent on a long range mission will this have the same effect as a ground unit using up its movement allowance and then launching an attack? I would hate to bum up a 10 round turn for a bombing mission.
BTW, danke Kraut.
Jamian, turn one is just about ready. Thanks for the tip on the JU88s to protect against the "occasional Soviet counter attack". You wouldn't do that.

[JAMiAM]

If an air unit changes base and then is sent on a long range mission will this have the same effect as a ground unit using up its movement allowance and then launching an attack? I would hate to bum up a 10 round turn for a bombing mission.

If you direct an air unit to attack an enemy hex it will begin the attack on the tactical round corresponding to the proportion of movement points that it has already expended. If you leave it undirected and it happens to join in, then it will not affect the timing of the attack.

[06 Maestro]

Turn 1 on its way.
Good luck.

[JAMiAM]

Didn't see your e-mail around so I'll just put it here .

You can find the ladder players email addresses by resting your cursor over the players user names on the ladder page.

[JAMiAM]

Ps. You might want to edit the post and remove the attachment. ;)