Alt Version of K44 - Community Request

[Dog Soldier]

David,

Some further observations.....
and I look forward to your version of this intriguing CG. The lure of both sides having to defend and attack gives K44 high expectations from the PzC gaming community, I believe.

I can add that I do not have a problem with K44 being a game of an Axis mobile defense. That is what they should have done historically. There is a CG scenario that simulates Hitler's stand fast orders which I was never able to convince any Axis player to play.

Bottom line, even though the Axis forces should have the ability to form a mobile defense, the Russians should have the ability to bring the Axis forces to battle.

A thought about the Axis HW companies. I am not so sure they should be added back into the values of the regular line companies. Same for the fusilier companies. The German infantry companies are weaker if they can not combine back these types. The Russian player will target the HW companies as a priority with artillery. Thus the Axis infantry is subject to the same piecemeal destruction as the Russian tank Bn's are.

I could be wrong, but by the time of K44 did not the Russian infantry have a lot of 120mm mortar support for an offensive like this? There are a about a half dozen or so of these batteries with Second Ukrainian Front in the stock CG scenarios. I thought I read an article once claiming that the 120mm mortars were hated and feared by the Axis front line troops. The Russian mortar crews were were good. Maybe these units should have a B instead of D rating to make them more effective? Some balance must be achieved with these types of Russian weapons to counter the Axis HW companies. Another thought would be to make it so they can move like the 120mm mortar units in other PzC titles. Currently, in K44 these guns have to go in T mode only to move. They are then easily picked off by Axis artillery or air strikes as their five hex range requires they stay close to the front to be useful in neutralizing the Axis HW companies. The time it takes to enter travel mode, move in the deep snow, then exit travel mode and wait for setup means these units have no targets left by the time they are ready to fire.

Can you tell me if there is some increase in the defense rating of the Russian 76mm AT gun units? My experience was these units could not utilize a field of fire due to the 14 defense rating. Axis HW co's would fire from three hexes and weed out the 76mm AT gun units. Then the Axis armor would roll over the Russian infantry line since the Russian infantry has a zero AF range. All that would be left to do is send in the Axis infantry to mop up as the panzers reform for their next targets. The only way to get an AT shot was to setup on a reverse slope and hope the Axis would lead with tanks. Naturally, Axis tactics would then use their infantry or trash units to spot over the hill and still take out the Russian AT guns with indirect fire from the HW companies. I never could get these Russian AT units any good shots in before they were lost. Even though the hilly terrain looked good to set up the AT guns behind an infantry screen, the Axis HW units could fire from three hexes and disrupt the AT guns without much retaliation. Russian artillery is the answer, except there were enough Axis soft attack units with 2 or more hex ranges to get the AT before the Red artillery could drive them off.
Anyone ever have any success with these AT guns, or were they just regulated to rear area trench digging?
In fairness, the Axis AT guns are defense strength of 14 also. The Russians just had very few weapons to hit them with from range. So they tend to work well in guarding areas to keep Russian tanks away as long as they have HW companies and infantry support.

The Russian tank Bns (9 tanks each) can not combine to form rgts. in the stock game. This results in Russian tank stacks being picked apart by German Bn sized tank units (20-30 tanks each). It appears you are working on a solution to give the Red tanks a fighting chance.

I had only one Soviet tank tactic I could use in the stock game. This may have been historical. Others with more knowledge of this battle will have to comment. If the Axis left a panzer unit alone in a hex, I could mass all the Red tanks in an armor corps, around 40 - 60 T-34s (at full strength) and rush the lone panzer unit with an assault. It did not matter if the German tanks were disrupted. The T-34's could give as good as they got in this type of fight since they would have two to one superiority. Anything that dropped the Axis tank unit from B to C morale would increase the Russian chances of success.
The obvious problem was the Soviet armor had to get away after the assault. Unfortunately any T-34 units that disrupted would be picked off in the next Axis turn if there were more panzers close by since the Soviet Bns were only nine tanks at full strength. Such unlucky units would have one to three tanks left the next Russian turn or could be lost outright. It was frustrating to have to regulate the T-34's to rear area guards and hold them back until the panzer divisions attacked later in the CG. The T-34s were the only credible threat to the waves of Axis HT and flak units.

Dog Soldier