Battle for Moscow- AAR

[Currahee]

Battle for Moscow (now in ver. 2.0) deserves to be played more than it has been; a great deal of work went into it from the designer, Briann Topp, and it plays well, each side having chances to win. In the game just finished, I won an OV over Fabio Riggi, who played a very solid game.

The designer’s notes, packaged with the scenario as downloaded from the Rugged Defense depot, are excellent. However, there are a few facts they don’t fully convey, and that is the reason for this AAR.

This scenario is practically unique, in that the German forces can succeed with limited attacks, even at a heavy shock disadvantage; at one point the German slides down to 65 shock, and then rises over several turns back to 90. Historically, I never attack at anything like 90 shock or worse, unless absolutely desperate; but in this game it can be done, due to the relatively much higher proficiency of the German units; however, they should be supplied, and readiness and supply should be somewhat elevated. This is not easy to accomplish in the Russian winter, and the only answer I found is RAIL: keep the rail lines repaired and secured, and stay close to them with your attacking formations.

The German air arm is also formidable, although I suspect the Russians will wear it down if the Germans dare to place bombers on combat support more than very occasionally. I kept them on interdiction the whole game, and the fighters on air superiority, and fought all of my air squadrons (bombers and fighters) only when readiness was over 66% (a recommended formula for minimizing air losses); and still, my squadrons were badly depleted by game end, although their proficiency remained high, and I retained air superiority.

The German must also be aware of the arrival location of late-game Russian reinforcements, as they can seriously threaten German supply rail lines, as happened in our game. As some of these are map edge arrivals, it’s not sufficient to guard just a few hexes, entire sectors have to be watched.

If Moscow falls, the battle becomes difficult for Russia, as supply and replacements are reduced, pestilence (desertion) is introduced, and some permanent victory points are awarded to the Axis. And as Fabio pointed out to me during our game, a significant number of Russian reinforcements, scheduled to arrive at Moscow, won’t arrive at all, unless and until it’s retaken.

I hope we can see this scenario played more often; I think you’ll be pleased with it.

Currahee
3-30-09