Heldenkaiser
30 Aug 06, 08:48
While this game is of course not directly relevant to this workshop, I am writing down some notes, accompanied by some hopefully helpful map snapshots, in this forum for two reasons.
For one thing, I hope that some other new players may feel inspired to try something new in a different timeframe and on a different scale (the basic unit in most or all WW1 scenarios is the brigade). In TOAW as in reality, WW1 is a good deal different from WW2; there is only infantry, artillery and cavalry (which obviously fills the rôle that recce/AC units have in WW2); units move very slowly, especially off roads; and a typical attack/defense strength for a small unit like a battalion is 2/7 or 2/8, in other words, defense is infinitely stronger than attack, as it should be. This puts even more of a premium on thoroughly pre-planning one's moves and making sure units are at all times in good supply, on or near a road or railway, backed up by HQs, or else supply and readiness will decline to near immobility after a few turns. (BTW someone with more experience will be able to comment on the actual relationship between these values, but it is plain enough that units with low values move much slower.)
For another, most concepts that we have been taught here apply all the same to WW1 TOAW gaming. I am under the impression that my opponent in this game (played in a different club, hence I think there no harm in posting my comments here) is making some mistakes that can easily be avoided and which I believe will win me the battle (we are currently at a marginal victory), so I believe others can benefit from my shared experiences with this game.
In my opinion, my opponent is making it easy for me by doing the following things:
1) He is not breaking down his units at all and is building very large stacks instead of spreading out. This gives me significantly more frontline length and significantly less density in each hex. As a consequence, I can not only most easily outflank and surround his forces, but also he is suffering more casualties in practically every combat. In T8, right now, his loss penalty is 79, mine is 17.
2) He is not exploiting the combat rounds model to the fullest. Either he is using ML and IL a lot, or he is not paying attention to movement allowances left, or maybe the low Russian force proficiency is failing him, but in any case, there are only very few combats per turn.
3) I am not sure he has a very good plan, or any plan at all, for that matter. As you will see in the map snapshots, 2nd Army has most obligingly advanced right on Tannenberg into the bag three of my corps had prepared there for it, thereby repeating the historical mistake the Russians made in 1914. As a consequence, it is already practically destroyed right now. 1st Army has allowed itself to be pinned down near Gumbinnen by a single German corps, thus being without any use at all.
4) He is not moving much in reaction to my threats, i.e. he is not extracting himself well when threatened with being surrounded. This may have something to do with being out of supply and thus having low movement allowances, but still, as you will see in T7 and T8, some of his forces are still advancing in the most impossible terrain, the dense forests in the narrows between the lakes, west of Lyck, while left and right his other corps are being pushed back. In short, these guys are begging to be surrounded and taken out. :surprise:
So here goes ... snapshot from the end of T1. The Russians are invading, and we are spreading out in fortified positions to meet the threat. :smoke:
The Russian advance is in three axes: from Warsaw towards Tannenberg; from Bialystok towards Lyck and Lötzen; from Kovno towards Gumbinnen. Cavalry skirmishes are taking place at Stallupönen.
For one thing, I hope that some other new players may feel inspired to try something new in a different timeframe and on a different scale (the basic unit in most or all WW1 scenarios is the brigade). In TOAW as in reality, WW1 is a good deal different from WW2; there is only infantry, artillery and cavalry (which obviously fills the rôle that recce/AC units have in WW2); units move very slowly, especially off roads; and a typical attack/defense strength for a small unit like a battalion is 2/7 or 2/8, in other words, defense is infinitely stronger than attack, as it should be. This puts even more of a premium on thoroughly pre-planning one's moves and making sure units are at all times in good supply, on or near a road or railway, backed up by HQs, or else supply and readiness will decline to near immobility after a few turns. (BTW someone with more experience will be able to comment on the actual relationship between these values, but it is plain enough that units with low values move much slower.)
For another, most concepts that we have been taught here apply all the same to WW1 TOAW gaming. I am under the impression that my opponent in this game (played in a different club, hence I think there no harm in posting my comments here) is making some mistakes that can easily be avoided and which I believe will win me the battle (we are currently at a marginal victory), so I believe others can benefit from my shared experiences with this game.
In my opinion, my opponent is making it easy for me by doing the following things:
1) He is not breaking down his units at all and is building very large stacks instead of spreading out. This gives me significantly more frontline length and significantly less density in each hex. As a consequence, I can not only most easily outflank and surround his forces, but also he is suffering more casualties in practically every combat. In T8, right now, his loss penalty is 79, mine is 17.
2) He is not exploiting the combat rounds model to the fullest. Either he is using ML and IL a lot, or he is not paying attention to movement allowances left, or maybe the low Russian force proficiency is failing him, but in any case, there are only very few combats per turn.
3) I am not sure he has a very good plan, or any plan at all, for that matter. As you will see in the map snapshots, 2nd Army has most obligingly advanced right on Tannenberg into the bag three of my corps had prepared there for it, thereby repeating the historical mistake the Russians made in 1914. As a consequence, it is already practically destroyed right now. 1st Army has allowed itself to be pinned down near Gumbinnen by a single German corps, thus being without any use at all.
4) He is not moving much in reaction to my threats, i.e. he is not extracting himself well when threatened with being surrounded. This may have something to do with being out of supply and thus having low movement allowances, but still, as you will see in T7 and T8, some of his forces are still advancing in the most impossible terrain, the dense forests in the narrows between the lakes, west of Lyck, while left and right his other corps are being pushed back. In short, these guys are begging to be surrounded and taken out. :surprise:
So here goes ... snapshot from the end of T1. The Russians are invading, and we are spreading out in fortified positions to meet the threat. :smoke:
The Russian advance is in three axes: from Warsaw towards Tannenberg; from Bialystok towards Lyck and Lötzen; from Kovno towards Gumbinnen. Cavalry skirmishes are taking place at Stallupönen.