Smolensk '41 artillery and its effects

[Dog Soldier]

Actually, ghostrider, I would agree/disagree.

I agree that in S41 the powerful arm is the artillery for the Russians. Properly used, the Russian artillery can wear down the German offensive somewhere after turn 100.

I disagree that the Alt Indirect fire rule is the only way for the Russian to win. In fact, this rule works better for the Germans since the Russians need to stack their units on a small front to take advantage of the few counter attack opportunities the game will provide them. Stacking in choke points on the board with entrenchments can present the Germans with a problem to dislodge the Russians and continue the advance. Russian units are smaller than the German units. Thus without the ability to stack the Russians in key positions for fear of the AIFR, the Russians can not hold any ground anywhere. The loss of this stacking ability surrenders the Russian S41 secret weapon. This is the ability to cause the Germans to take the easier route you leave less defended, which is the route you want the Germans to go rather than allowing the Germans to go anywhere they choose. Such Russian stacks will be torn to shreds in a single turn with the AIFR option. Under the default rules there is a chance these large stacks can inflict some pain on extended German units and then disperse to a defensive role when the German player reacts. If they remain stacked in tight terrain, the Germans have to set up a deliberate attack with artillery, armor direct fire and then infantry assaults. This takes time. Time is what the Russian is playing for the first half of the CG.

The Russians in S41 will have their lines broken time and time again. The best Russian play is to get as many units to survive when the line breaks and retreat to the new line formed with the reinforcements. The more units that can escape to fight again, the better the Russian chances are to effect a draw or minor win. With the AIFR, the German player can concentrate on assaults that bunch the Russian units into a single hex rather than try to disperse the defending units to break through. Once an assault or two is successful in "creating" a stack of Russian units in a single hex, the artillery is called in to pound the stack for far greater casualties than under the default indirect fire rule. The main delay to the Germans of mopping up the Russian units caught after a break in the Russian lines is lost. The Germans can then proceed faster to the next Russian defensive line, even before it is cohesive enough to hold for a day or two.

The effect is the German offensive can roll forward much faster with AIFR than under the default rule. The Russians have no ability to mount a counter attack or ambush in some of the many choke points in the terrain since stacking is equal to death for the smaller Russian units under the AIFR.

Dog Soldier