Fall Kreml Weather??

[76mm]

So I'm playing one of the Fall Kreml campaigns...in the summer.  And now I'm on my third day in a row of 1 km visibility.  What exactly is this weather supposed to represent?  Heavy summer storms come and go in a few hours, not three days.  OK, so maybe it's cloudy...but why can I only see 1 km?  For three days?  Whatever it is supposed to represent, I don't think it is very realistic.

Meahwhile, for the past three days the weather forcecast says that visibility will be 1-5 km...so it is always 1 km?

I have to say that it is extremely tedious to stumble around blindly for days on end.

[Compass Rose]

I don't own the title you are playing however, since you said it is summer time, could your limited visibility be dust storms?

[Green]

I have never had a problem with it so I do not think it is a bug. There is a 10% chance of Storms each day. If a Storm was in effect it would show up in the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen and this would explain visibility of only one hex.

But if that is not the case then I cannot imagine what could cause this other than extreme bad luck. I think there is only a small chance each turn that Visibility goes up or down so it tends to be stable and often does not change from one day to the next. But in the manual it says "Once Visibility starts to change, it will tend to continue changing for multiple turns within the range determined for that scenario". If it did manage to get down to 1km, I guess it could remain at that level for a period of days? Was Visibility higher when you started the scenario?

[76mm]

I don't own the title you are playing however, since you said it is summer time, could your limited visibility be dust storms?

Not in Russia, I don't think so!

Was Visibility higher when you started the scenario?

Yes, the first day it was higher, I forget what, but I could see more than one hex...dropped to 1 km on the second day and has been there for three days now. There is no storm as far as I can tell, although the weather forecast (also for the last three days) says there is a 10% chance of storms. But frankly even if it is "storms" it should not reduce visibility to 1 km for more than one turn.

[wildb]

Dust was a problem for the Germans on the Eastern front in the summer time.

Effects of Climate on Combat in European Russia
DA Pam 20-29

https://history.army.mil/html/books/104/...index.html

page 46:

Right at the beginning of the Russian campaign the Germans experienced
the havoc which dust can wreak with motor vehicles. Even
German tanks sustained severe damage from the dust they stirred up
while crossing vast sandy regions. Many tanks had no dust filters,

page 48

and on those so equipped the filters soon became thoroughly clogged.
Quartz dust was sucked into engines, which became so ground out
that many tanks were rendered unserviceable. In other tanks the
abrasive action of dust reduced engine efficiency and increased iuel
consumption; thus weakened, they entered the autumn muddy season
which dealt them the death blow. Sand roads greatly slowed, but did
not stop trucks. The VolksWagen [$d: German counterpart of the
U.S. jeep], which otherwise proved highly serviceable, stuck easily
in sand because of its narrow wheels. Huge dust clouds raised by convoys
frequently provoked air attacks that. resulted in serious losses
of vehicles and horses.

page 61

Aircraft. engines need special protection against summer dust. Precautions
must be taken against raising dust on unpaved airfields.
Dust storms in southern Russia occur immediately after the end of
the spring muddy season, and visibility during take-offs and landings
is greatly reduced.

[Outlaw Josey Wales]

Is there any mention of fog? I don't know about Russia, But, I have been in different areas where fog has been a pain in the butt for a few days.

[wildb]

There only two mentions of fog. Both involve flying in the winter time.

[76mm]

Dust was a problem for the Germans on the Eastern front in the summer time.

um, this is a comletely different issue--you are referring to the effect of dust from Russia's poor roads on German equipment--I'm talking about visibility being reduced to 1 km across the whole front. Not caused by dust, or at least shouldn't be.

Is there any mention of fog? I don't know about Russia, But, I have been in different areas where fog has been a pain in the butt for a few days.

I've lived in Moscow for 15 years. Sometimes fog in the mornings, but rarely in summer and never for 72 hours straight.

[Green]

The Notes for the game say this;

"It has proven very hard to source weather information for the period simulated. Programmed
weather therefore consists of representative days of primarily good weather. There is 25%
chance of any particular day having a ground condition of soft – representing the aftermath of
heavy thunderstorms that are prevalent at this time of year. There is also a 10% chance of
storms, in this case representing cloud bursts."

We are not talking about fog or dust but the problem remains. If it is not Storms causing the low visibility then, as I mentioned above, it is probably just that visibility dropped and has temporarily stabilized. If so then hopefully it will soon start to increase.

[76mm]

If it is not Storms causing the low visibility then, as I mentioned above, it is probably just that visibility dropped and has temporarily stabilized. If so then hopefully it will soon start to increase.

Thanks. I'm not sure what the odds are of visibility dropping to 1 km in the summer and then staying there for three days, but unless I've just been extremely unlucky, perhaps they should be reconsidered.

Besides being extremely unrealistic. 1 km visibility has a pretty serious impact on game play, and not in a good way.