Several Moscow 42 Questions

[Strela]

I'm getting more worried about German losses and their chance to recover from them the more I play the game.

The problem I see is for the following situation:

-The Soviets move a stack next to your unit.
1)You can decide to stand and resist the assault, which will generally result in 30-50 losses from the assault alone, excluding artillery fire.
2) You move 1 hex back, you avoid the assault but do take artillery/air strike losses, usually 5-10 or so per turn (sometimes more but 5-10 is a reasonable average to account for Soviet artillery moving up or being unavailable) when the Soviets spot you again.
-The situation continues for several turns. As you can generally move back only 1 or 2 hexes, you're always in (vision) range of the nearest Soviet unit. If you take 30-50 losses per turn, your battalion dies in 1-2 days. If you retreat, and take average losses of ~5-10 men per turn, it dies in 4-10 days or so.

The main problem is not having any time to recover/stop. If a unit replaces the battalion you're concentrating on in the line, the situation just starts over and the battalion that was replaced will still have to retreat with the rest of the line and won't have a chance of taking replacements unless it stops for a turn outside of the range of the enemy. The German replacement rate is such that even an A quality unit isn't likely to attract more than 7-9 replacements per turn, or about 1 good artillery barrage. As you can only replace losses through the replacement % mechanic when you haven't moved and haven't been attacked, all it takes is for some Soviet unit to either assault or take some potshots at you during the night to make sure you can't take replacements.

The low protection % offered by the terrain, the slow movement rate of units in most terrain types, the low per turn replacement rate and the lack of reserves that can realistically hold the Soviets back for a while makes it possible for German units to get into a downward spiral many of them can't seem to recover from.

If I'm missing something, do tell, because the situation of the German player looks quite grim from the perspective of sustainability.

ComradeP,

You are confirming exactly what happened in this campaign. The Germans had requested a stop in operations and Guderian had actually begun to retreat north of Tula because he was so dangerously exposed. As the German player you have to consider the same thing. As you pointed out once you begin to retreat you will take less losses and if the Soviets persist in following you during the night then they will suffer a disproportionate impact from night disruption.

Also keep in mind that the German player has no incentive to hold forward. There are very few forward objectives other than transport nexus that need to be held and then only to allow a retreat path. The other big consideration is supply. The replacement rules used are modified by supply. The further below 50 it is the less replacements received. The only way to increase supply is to retreat closer to the supply sources.

From a Soviet perspective they will never be stronger but will face German units that are still potent, particularly when they shorten their line or defend in the bunker line. Also as the Soviets advance they have exactly the same issue as the Germans - extended supply lines.

As a designer we have to give you the same dilemmas your historical compatriot had, I think this has been achieved, but I also think you will see the Soviets can't maintain the pace long term.

David