DC3 : Barbarossa under beta

[Drakken]

Also - why does it spam me to relocate my FSBs every two turns, usually trying to get me to move them backward?

Every other turn or so it asks me to relocate my FSB from Minsk back to Grodno or Brest.  Also back randomly in the South and North as well.  They all say they are closer to the depots, but fail to say that they would be much much farther from the HQs.

Am I missing something here?   

The German player may decide to relocate somewhere else closer to his main depot if combat gets too close to comfort to his FSB (you don't want your FSB to fall into Soviet hands). Also it might prove too far ahead, straining your train so much that the elastic ruptures. So the option is always given to the German player to fall his FSB back to another destination.

Always keep in mind, the Germans has a limited amount of trucks, but also a limited amount of trains as well : They have nowhere enough of both. Neglige either of them, and the pipeline with have big leaks leading to fuel laying useless in back depots. Hence why it is recommended to move your Panzergruppe HQs along railways - to help preserves trucks and decrease mileage. Not all the time though, sometime you need to maneuver to push in the Soviet's flanks. But railways are Panzergruppes' best friends.

One big reason why logistics proves such a strain to trucks is because most players move their HQs around like a Panzer Division. It forces trucks to drive through shitty secondary roads when on plain or wooden hexes. That is a killer for truck convoys, as Opels were not adapted to the Russian terrain. You'll be losing a lot of PPs and time repairing them when the number needing maintenance reaches a critical percentage. Railways are also main roads (Double railways = sealed main roads, so practicable even with mud!), with paved surface more easier on your trucks. If the fuel reaches your HQs, it reaches your panzers. So you might have to sacrifice a close HQ combat bonus for a streamlined truck supply of fuel by keeping your HQ on a main railway. As long as your Divisions are within 5 hexes of your HQ you are fine, command-wise.

As for your trains, you need to plan your railway conversion according to your operational strategy. If you aim for Ostrov-Pskov for 4th Panzergruppe, then concentrate your Construction Bataillon on Dunaburg-Ostrov-Pskov line. The faster it converts, the easier it becomes on your trains.

So yes, if moving too far ahead proves unworkable for your locomotives, you might consider moving your FSB back west to shorten the distance, while keeping your HQ further ahead but close to the railways so that less Opels lose a wheel all the time because they have to cross-country to reach your HQs. Friction and losses will be unavoidable, but it should be less of a burden for your supply system.


It is in part, also, why dividing their Quartermaster-General for the Ostfront between a guy responsible for trucks and another guy responsible for trains was such a stupid organizational decision for the Wehrmacht. You have to play one against the other, and each have their own contradictory demands, causing further friction to your supply system.

[PDH]

FWIW - using the new start for 1.02 I got the 1st panzer into Daugavpils by turn 2...close enough I guess.

[Drakken]

FWIW - using the new start for 1.02 I got the 1st panzer into Daugavpils by turn 2...close enough I guess.

Just starting a PBEM as the Bolsheviks with 1.03b, my three Front marshalls are Tsarists, with my lovely Voroshilov at +11 Threat. Stalin is not amused. Needless to say, my opponent closed none of his attempted pockets on T2.

Playing the Soviets in this game is really fun, compared to WITE where I never succeeded in making any semblance of front against any Axis player in PBEM. I'd really like if you would teach me, PDH.

[PDH]

I never liked playing the Soviets - my WiTE pbem games and AARs were all as the Germans.  I had one lovely win where in 1942 the Germans were rolling across the Steppes surrounding everything, but mostly they played pretty historically after January 1943 and the coming Soviet steamroller.

Right now I am trying to figure out the supply in this game - my 3rd go now is a bit better but I want to see if I can replicate some of the schedule of advances.

[PDH]

Here is my latest experiment - turn 4 attempt at a breakout.


img host

3rd PzG is beyond the end of their rope, 2nd is a bit behind, 4th has swept into the Baltics.  The only problem is that fuel has run out.  Still, not bad for turn 4

[Alcibiades]

Yeah, that advance is very impressive compared to my last game opening.  I tried doing stuff like that later in the campaign and I would get cut off pretty bad.  Nicely done though, let us know how it works out. 

[Drakken]

Communication from Der Führer to Tovaritch Vojd, through unofficial transmission through emisssaries on Swedish grounds :

Before submitting my next turn, did you upgrade to the most recent 1.03 beta patch?

[PDH]

By the beginning of Sept Leningrad fell - the Finns released early.

The line south of there is basically the Valdai Hills through Smolensk down SSE toward Kursk.  The South is a mess, though 1st Pz did help capture a lot in the Gomel Pocket that always seems to form.  I still haven't cleared the Dnepr Bend, though I did pocket 12 div near Cherkassy.

Not sure where to go from there - the south especially has way more Soviet reinforcements than actually wen there - the 2nd Pz is resting and in Sept might be able to break through to Orel.

I still think my grasp of logistics in this game is weak.

[Drakken]

What is GRÖFAZ's priority objective? Have you taken Support Hitler, Moscow or Bust, or Military Independence?

When in doubt, the first objective should always be priority... except if it is Moscow or Bust, in which Moscow is the main objective.

[PDH]

What is GRÖFAZ's priority objective? Have you taken Support Hitler, Moscow or Bust, or Military Independence?

When in doubt, the first objective should always be priority... except if it is Moscow or Bust, in which Moscow is the main objective.

Leningrad was first objective - I took that (the Finns freeing up early helped).  Now it is Rostov, which it also was on turns 1-2...

[Drakken]

Tamas, seems you have missed the post. I'm waiting for your reply. 

Communication from Der Führer to Tovaritch Vojd, through unofficial transmission through emisssaries on Swedish grounds :

Before submitting my next turn, did you upgrade to the most recent 1.03 beta patch?

[Tamas]

Sorry! No I have not upgraded, I suggest we continue with 1.02 for now

[PDH]

I stopped that campaign - the massive reinforcements in early Sept for the Soviets were able to muster a large scale summer offensive in 1941 against 2 infantry armies and a panzer group. I got to roughly the Smolensk-Orel line by the time there was this influx, and I might have been able to clear the Dnepr Bend.  I didn't get a sense at the end of Summer that the Soviets were at the end of their ropes to be saved by the mud.

[crazy canuck]

Did the Russian winter stop the game?

[Drakken]

It is my fault. I have been very busy the last two weeks.  I've let Tamas down.

I will send my turn by this weekend.