Barbarossa PBEM campaing

[klanx171]

Hi players

I just got through a test battle with Jadpanther.

It was a tough fight but I will post about what it was like so players might get an idea of what will come.

Firstly i like the idea and really enjoyed the battle. Of course if your not up for big scale battles then this isnt for you but if you want to see if you can do it a bit more realistic than we usually play (ie sacrifice men like its WW1 rather than keep it within limits) then this is for you.

I found that the hardest part was organiszing who went where as there was not a lot of transport and moving men around was hard to do.

Using realistic settings means that the Germans have an advantage in troop quality which means they can fight longer and tougher and the russians have trouble spotting them but a dug in Ruskie is as hard to kill as always.

The reds have some good tanks and if your a tiger or Panther specialist then you will have to make do with lesser breeds (i took the PZ 38(t)s and found them accurate but unable to crack the armor of the KVs and T-34s I faced, but I found that the tanks couldnt see the infantry coming so once the infantry hit they still killed tanks just as well (barring when the refused to assault the dam things).

Art was very important in the battles as dug in reds are hard to remove.

I didnt have planes but i will be taking them for the next game.

The maps were a bit to big in length but not depth, so if they are shortended things will be easier.

turns did take over an hour but again if you dont like long games then this is not for you.

I found playing with well organized coys and divisions made all the difference and support weapons were absolutely crucial in this respect, heavy MGs and AT guns provided the support fire for the attack while infantry guns and mortars provided the support fire and the all important smoke. Plenty of ammo trucks will be needed.

I hope the maps are not random as that lessened the fun a bit as its was just another random map, something custom made would be great.

If all the maps are wide open then tanks are vital if not and they are close in or woods then infantry will be very important. Tanks in clsoe without support die very fast.

Counter battery was important as your only arty was on map, I lost a lot early to jads CB fire.

I won the battle but the costs were high enough that both of us would have sufferd in the next round. Oncentration will be very important here as I set myself an upper limit of 25% casualties or bust. 2 of my infantry coys were chewed up in the fight and without support fire they suffered.

Overall I found it a much more realistic battle than I often play and my tactics were more small scale and realistic accordingly. If you want to play closer to what it migt have been like in an average battle and less on hack and slash slaughterfests then i suggest you try this. The long term of battles will much more important than a one off sweeping victory.

That siad I think there will need to be a fine balance of how the outcome of a battle is judges to prevent some of the problems that have been mentioned from coming up, for example not setting the VHs as the only way to victory and preventing a russian Opp from playing unrealisticly (or the german for that matter).

For example the objective for any battle should not exceed a certain limit of losses. So if the GM's figure that it will take less then 25% losses to take the VHs then thats what the VHs shoul be set. Much of our old style SP doesnt take this into account so being able to get a maneuver victory (by breaking the line Blitzkrieg style) or making sure the russians are dug in in approximate positions, not all prepped to flee and such will make all the difference.

I will be signing up for sure.:)