von Nev Wrote:In my humble opinion, there needs to be some tweaks to the S42 campaign to give the Germans some survivability beyond a week or two.
In my stock campaign the Russians just concentrated stacks of 1500 men per hex and drove a wedge 5 to 7 km wide straight through the salient in a week and half. Their arty blasted anything in its way until it broke and the infantry and tanks pushed through. I tried stacking 1000 A rated German infantry and tanks and panzergrenadiers in hexes and the Russians still broke the hex in a couple of turns. The Russians just have too many units to keep feeding into the mill to be stopped. Remember historically that the Germans stopped the Russians until Operation Ring in January 43. By then the counterattack was broken and all hope for the 6th Army was fading. Currently, the campaign plays with the Germans lasting until mid-December at the latest and are crushed before a counterattack can even get going.
I think what should be changed is the stacking limitation should be reduced to 1000 men/tanks per hex and the defense entrenchments stiffened a bit (a lot?). The problem with this, in my mind, is that the parameter file (PDT) needs to be changed. This then affects all the games (I believe) within the game unless a separate parameter file can be created for a specific scenario and the scenario is designed to point to this parameter file instead of the stock one. I honestly am not good at changing these things and understanding the ramifications. If somebody with more knowledge can help out and let me know if I am thinking about this the right way let me know.
Thanks,
Marty
Marty ,
All recent PZC campaigns seem to have gone of the rails . Thats why I modified the EA42 campaign which plays well and I am now looking at B45 and MG44 ) . I assume you are not playing an alt version In S42 I have not played the bigger games but same old problems Russian fire values far too high , supply propbably too high and terrain values too low. Exp supply is much better and I think helps the defender provided its been thought out properly .
I remind you of my summary ( below ) on Inf units and in most alt versions ( and as I did earlier than alt ) all trenches are 40% and most terrain values are 10% higher .
Also if I recall most German morale values are too low . 6A was an impressive bunch of units including the infantry - it was lost not because the Russians were good but because of cautious leadership ( VP ) and politics .
British and US .
Units not so good at close assault but should be higher fire values , allied units shot enemy units to bits ( mainly with artillery and planes ) then move in and take a few prisoners ( very elite units such as Para's and Commandos excluded ) and say it was a tough run thing in the movies ( N44 ) . Fire without assault works well if terrain is open but In N44 and Italy thats not the case. In the weaker willed Western democracies we cannot accept casualties and the state understands every individual expects to survive . That undermines the quality in attack as seen by the mad amount of time spent in Normandy and Italy. So higher fire values lower assault values . Morale of all types possible . Earlier war green troops low morale D and lower assault say 12/8/D
example average 12/10/C ( fire / assault/ morale )
Para 10/18/B or A ( Untried B late war A )
Russian -
Tough soldiers but generally poorly trained and lead ( though well commanded at Army level and above not reflected in PZC values remember ) , however should be good at assault values as they have more short ranged weapons which work well regardless of training. They are governed by the acceptance that they will die for the state and the state has no interest in their individual survival . So low fire values , low morale values but high assault values
Example 6/16/D 41 = D/E
Guards 43 onwards 7/16/C one or two units at B
Cavalry 6/14/D later C ( These were slightly better trained and self reliant units )
German - Now thats the question that has more debate than all the others put together . Looking at it mid war here .
In my mind you have a two state system that is those soldiers of political ideology and or elite units who are willingly promoting the ideology of the state over their own interests ( or just tough soldiers like allied Para's ) Then the regulars. None of these types fall broadly into the bands above . Western democracies can never understand units like SS . In war gaming nothing causes more discussion .They after all come from a central civilized part of Europe and despite their good fighting qualities committed a number of serious atrocities which will forever tarnish them . The fact the the Russians were every bit as bad has nothing to do with it because in our minds in a dark corner - we all know thats just expected of them. No Russians were tried for any war crimes that I have heard of , just as my own countries bomber command killed many many too many civilians - but thats the way it goes - we won after they started it and they lost.
Back to values
SS and other elites -
Depending on the exact units high fire values and high assault values . Volunteer units ( almost all were volunteers ) of high morale and very well lead - willing to die for the state and also enjoy a unique comradeship for units within their own organisation - resulting in some distrust with the regulars ( not reflected in PZC ) These like it or not are the best combat troops of WW2
Example 12/18 + /A odd late war ad hoc units at B
SS units cannot surrender in reality to Russian units ( not reflected in PZC ) so they should not become broken in Eastern front games after 42
Regular -
High fire values than Russians - remembering the MG42 ( and other ranged fire ) was one of the deciding factors in France for example it disrupted and suppressed a much larger army in the field allowing assaults pretty easily . I would say slightly lower fire power than allied troops but higher morale on average and higher assault values ( due to very good NCOs ) . some tendency toward survival of the individual but less than the western democracies .
Example 10/14/B Early war B/A , late War mainly C
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