JoeBob vs. Bruce

JoeBob

Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2002
Messages
218
Reaction score
0
Location
NorCal
Country
llUnited States
Our game has begun. I wouldn't budge on the number of TO's (2), so we have defaulted to historical (2nd north, and little Saturn probably on turn 5).

I triggered 2nd north immediately, so I'm assuming they will show up on Turn 2? (I didn't see them on the map, although the TO states they become available on turn 1)

Also assuming I can wait and pull the trigger on little Saturn on turn 5. (in other words I don't need to push that particular TO button yet)

JoeBob :devil:
 

CyberRanger

Member
Joined
May 1, 2003
Messages
1,984
Reaction score
6
Location
NC, USA
Country
llUnited States
JoeBob said:
Our game has begun. I wouldn't budge on the number of TO's (2), so we have defaulted to historical (2nd north, and little Saturn probably on turn 5).

I triggered 2nd north immediately, so I'm assuming they will show up on Turn 2? (I didn't see them on the map, although the TO states they become available on turn 1)

Also assuming I can wait and pull the trigger on little Saturn on turn 5. (in other words I don't need to push that particular TO button yet)

JoeBob :devil:
So what did he want? 3 TO's?

Yes, the 2nd Gd will deploy on turn 2. Pull the Little Saturn trigger on turn 4 .. that makes it effective on turn 5. That's a historical game.
 

JoeBob

Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2002
Messages
218
Reaction score
0
Location
NorCal
Country
llUnited States
Ya, he wanted 3 TO's pretty bad. He joked about having to settle for historical. As team CO, I think that means that the Axis players feel 3 TO's will give them the upperhand. I recommend having ALL our players to push for 2 TO's with historical as a default.

Like you mentioned before, Brent, the object is to WIN this tourney!
 

JoeBob

Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2002
Messages
218
Reaction score
0
Location
NorCal
Country
llUnited States
Turn 2

Bruce hit me pretty hard, hammering all my airfields (only one unit not reorganizing), using supply drain attacks on all units adjacent to the pocket, and got in 5 combat rounds. Not good...

We are playing historical.

I got in two combat rounds, trying to hammer his line from north to south, and achieving minor breakthroughs against the Italians, and German security units. I squeezed the pocket, trying to wear him down, but not as much as he hurt me.

57 Panzer and friends are driving toward the pocket, and will probably connect in 2 turns. I'm trying to screen him off but only have one mech division free to try and hold him off.

I think i'm holding my own, all things considered. Little Saturn will commence on turn 4. Does anybody have any thoughts. What can I expect for the next few turns? Am I positioning myself correctly. Any comments will help.

My turn 2 EOT file should be downloadable.

JoeBob :angry:
 

JoeBob

Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2002
Messages
218
Reaction score
0
Location
NorCal
Country
llUnited States
Let's try uploading again... :(

Whoops, looks like I have to zip it and all I have is WinZip evaluation version.

Odd I can't upload a .PBL or .SAV or .SAL file.

Any freeware out there I can download to zip files?

Or, I can send the file to anyone interested.
 

JoeBob

Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2002
Messages
218
Reaction score
0
Location
NorCal
Country
llUnited States
Thank you, Laszlo!

Turns out the evaluation version does quite a bit. File now available for anyone who wants a peek.

;)
 

laszlo.nemedi

Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2003
Messages
1,288
Reaction score
0
Location
Budapest, Hungary
Country
llHungary
I saw your counter attack in the center, and south seems getting consolidated (be careful many weak points there).
Again dug in ignore losses!

I think your opponent somehow weaker than you so you have big chances when you start little saturn (or what).
He will lost the selfconfidence then and you can be the hunter...
 

JoeBob

Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2002
Messages
218
Reaction score
0
Location
NorCal
Country
llUnited States
I assasinated Von Paulus!

Sent off turn 3, got 2 solid combat rounds in.

Had a pretty hilarious event. I've been bombarding his airfield hex with long range artillery (152's and 8 inchers), trying to wipe out some aircraft, and it turns out the Von Paulus HQ unit was located there. It evap'd on the first combat round!

I assasinated Von Paulus with about 100 tubes of heavy artillery!!! :D

Now I wonder if this will give me any VP's and/or cause a major unit reorg?

Keeping pressure on the north, buckling the Italian line, can't wait for little Saturn to trigger.

The Stalingrad pocket got hammered some more this turn, but the danger of a linkup from 57th Panzer still exists. It could happen on his next turn if he has some good luck.

When do my Don reinforcements arrive?
 

CyberRanger

Member
Joined
May 1, 2003
Messages
1,984
Reaction score
6
Location
NC, USA
Country
llUnited States
JoeBob said:
... It evap'd on the first combat round!

I assasinated Von Paulus with about 100 tubes of heavy artillery!!! :D

...

When do my Don reinforcements arrive?
Great luck! I need to try that.

Don Front reinforcements arrival varies ... I think from turn 5 until up to 8. I don't know the %'s.
 

JoeBob

Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2002
Messages
218
Reaction score
0
Location
NorCal
Country
llUnited States
Soviet turn 4

After another 3 rounds of Bruce bashing on me, he still has not linked up with the pocket, but it does appear inevitable.

Triggered Little Saturn at the beginning of turn, and turned loose "the dogs", to attack the Italians and Rumanians en masse.

Got in two combat rounds, and pushed heavily into his lines up north, and also pounded the Stalingrad pocket with some effect.

I am worried about my vulnerability in the center, and my general weakness in the south.

Any thoughts about what I should do now? Can I expect major reinforcements to deal with the threat of his panzer forces in the south?

Does he have major reserves that he can suprise me with?

We are playing historical. Any input would be helpful.

File is attached.
 

Heinz57

Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2002
Messages
534
Reaction score
0
Location
Odessa, Ukraine
Country
llUnited States
Hi JoeBob,

Your situation looks pretty good. It looks like he gave Don Front a pounding, but he stepped onto the release line, so that's as good as the TO for Don Front elsewhere. Some notes,

1. Never put your HQ's on the front line if you can avoid it. (83, 29) losing it cuts the prof. of units in that formation by half.

2. Do what you can to reinforce 5th TA in its drive to Morozovsk. Perhaps bring 1st Mech Corp toward Petrovka so units there can redeploy. Looks like your 5th TA is doing really good otherwise, but 5th TA lacks staying power in the face of determined counterattacks.

3. Continue as you are with the Northern and Southern Offensives, looks like you are doing pretty good with both.

4. Most everyone is finding it difficult to contend with 57th PzK wherever it appears. If it appears inevitable, and in your estimation you cannot stop the linkup between 57th PzK and Sixth Army, try to pull some of the units in front of the steam roller to shore up your flanks. Getting hit from both front and rear, as it looks like he can start to do in T5 will not bode well for your containment effort.

5. Pull your AA into defensive positions. They are doing next to nothing in deflecting strikes on airbases. They have reasonable prof., and the 76 and 37 AA guns are good AT assets.

6. If you are worried about the Brandenberg unit dropping to cut supply, you will only really need garrisons on the supply points, and even then, only the most important ones. We have several. Odds are he won't be able to cut supply entirely to anything, at least with the commandoes. That might free up a few regiments.

7. Don't be afraid to take some good swipes at the Germans holding lines near the Italians. They will fold with a few good stabs.

8. Relative to South Front...you won't have to contend with 1st PzA, but keep an eye out for rail movement and when you see it, keep an eye on unit designations. 19th PzD will show up eventually, he's got some Infantry, Ostlegionen and the like that could be sent to help the Romanians. Might be worthwhile to consider using 28th Army as a draw to siphon off any reserves he may send to help the Italians. Hard choice there, but it is vulnerable -- and isolated.

Main choice is whether to engage as best as you can to prevent a linkup with the pocket, or engage to pull some of these units from Don Front to decrease 28th Army's exposure.

Other major consideration with 5th TA, if you can press forward 1 more hex, is to bring down some of the horsedrawn arty, or HQ's with a range of 4 and start dropping shells on his precious Luftewaffe.

Looks pretty good, be wary of counterattacks..it looks like he's doing the ant thing and if he's being aggressive, he will like strike back at 1st-3rd Gds + 6th A with ant attacks. Don't hesitate to do the same thing back to him.

Good Job!
 

Heinz57

Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2002
Messages
534
Reaction score
0
Location
Odessa, Ukraine
Country
llUnited States
Ant attacks are attacks conducted with the smallest possible unit, breaking the regiments down to battalions, breaking battalions into companies, and so forth. This is particularly effectively in conjunction with loads of artillery in support being able to generate "disproportionate" losses.

Actually, in some regards, I don't think they're disproportionate, considering the relative uselessness of direct preliminary bombardments.
 

JoeBob

Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2002
Messages
218
Reaction score
0
Location
NorCal
Country
llUnited States
Thanks for the excellent analysis!

I didn't realize the HQ's were so vulnerable and that their loss would cause the proficiency of the formation to drop by 50%. Is that in terms of attack/defense, or just efficiency of supply?

Also, Bruce dropped Brandenburgers on turn 1 and I wiped them out. Does he have more? I have been concerned about paradrops on supply.

Are my flak units completely ineffective? I thought they might help absorb losses from when he conducts airbase attacks.

And yes, I've been eyeing those Luftwaffe bases, but dont' want to bring up the 4 hex artillery until it's a little safer.

Thanks again!

:cheeky:
 
Joined
Aug 5, 2002
Messages
130
Reaction score
0
Location
Houlton, ME, USA
Country
llUnited States
JoeBob said:
Thanks for the excellent analysis!

I didn't realize the HQ's were so vulnerable and that their loss would cause the proficiency of the formation to drop by 50%. Is that in terms of attack/defense, or just efficiency of supply?

Also, Bruce dropped Brandenburgers on turn 1 and I wiped them out. Does he have more? I have been concerned about paradrops on supply.

Are my flak units completely ineffective? I thought they might help absorb losses from when he conducts airbase attacks.

And yes, I've been eyeing those Luftwaffe bases, but dont' want to bring up the 4 hex artillery until it's a little safer.

Thanks again!

:cheeky:
Answering these, hopefully in order....

That 50% loss applies to attack and defense. There's a certain logic to follow- first, if a formation lets it HQ get wiped out, that formation must not be that good anyway; second, without its HQ to put orders from higher up into perspective (and help distribute supply, etc), that formation will be more 'confused' than its neighbors as to its task in the grand scheme of things.

The Axis has one battalion of Brandenbergers available. Most of the .SALs I've seen, as well as my own game, show that our Axis friends are splitting this unit into 3 companies before dropping them. Without seeing a .SAL from the turn you killed them, before you killed them, I can't say for certain...but if you remember the unit size in question, you'll have your answer.

If you don't remember...they're based at the start of the game at the Axis controlled airfield closest to the pocket south and east of the Don (in the area LVII PzK deployed in your game)...if you're theater recon assets have observed that airfield, and Bruce hasn't moved them, you'll be able to see if any components of that unit is still there or not. Also, they don't reconstitute...and if they did, they'd be incapable of airborne operations anyway.

Careful and controlled experimentation (I can't remember if it was here at HQ or over at TDG...Brent? Pelle? anyone remember?) has shown that the flak units are about effective as they were historically in downing/damaging aircraft. In TOAW terms though, they're pretty useless, since downing 1 or 2 aircraft out of 500 (an exaggeration, but not by much) and failing to otherwise break up an aerial attack is meaningless to the attacker, and painful to the defender, in the grand scheme of things.

I think that's it for now...and for me tonight. Gotta get some sleep! I have a big day in southeast Russia tomorrow! :D

Ivan
 
Last edited:
Top