Moscow '42 Files Update (as at Jan 23rd, 2013)

[ComradeP]

The first two weeks of the campaign go like this when I play it against myself:

-The initial attacks proceed more or less historically, although I pull 3rd and 4th Panzer Group back, leaving a screen that can spot for artillery to prevent the Soviets from moving up in T mode without taking substantial losses/disrupting.

-As movement speed is decided by unit type and quality, the Soviets are slower than the Germans in most areas. Soviet cavalry, for example, which is supposed to be fast and be able to outflank the Germans, can't move ZOC to ZOC and is slower than German cavalry. Likewise, assaults by ski units are easily avoided by moving back 1 hex.

That's main problem 1 for the Soviets: the infantry and cavalry can only assault if the Germans let them, giving the initiative to the German player as he basically decides where the Soviets can attack.

-As the units west of 16th Army can pull back unopposed, I tend to move Das Reich and at least some pioneer units to Kalinin, where they can give an ugly surprise to the Kalinin Front units pushing into Kalinin. When 16th Army activates, the Soviets have no idea where the German units are.

By the time the Soviets reach the Germans, the first snow turns have generally appeared, so the Germans are in trenches and have a second and sometimes third line of trenches behind them (the Germans have enough engineer and particularly AT units to dig in where they please). The defensive benefit isn't substantial, but it helps. Shortly afterwards, 16th Army loses two Guards divisions to withdrawals.

-2nd Panzer Group is under some pressure, but it gets a head start and as Schuetzen units can move two hexes in clear terrain unlike any Soviet infantry unit, they can fairly easily screen the infantry that uses the road network to get out of the salient.

-When the units in the center activate, they're facing a nearly full strength 4th Army. As the chance of removing a 800 man B quality unit from a bunker is minimal, some of the Soviet forces spend several days relocating.

The Germans benefit greatly from having 800 men infantry units.

This is main Soviet problem 2: replacements are calculated based on unit size and supply, which gives the Germans a substantial edge. A slightly reduced supply state doesn't decrease replacements enough to matter. Crucially, there are no diminishing returns as unlike with the refitting percentage based on losses, the Germans will always gain 8 men on average when they draw replacements. The goal of limiting German replacements, as expressed in the campaign notes, is thus not achieved: German infantry units still refit more quickly than their Soviet counterparts.

A possible solution would be giving the Germans the usual 1% refitting based on losses, and the Soviets the current replacements. On average, the German B quality units would then draw fewer replacements than the Soviets when below 400 losses. A quality units would still draw substantial replacements most of the time, but that sacrifice might be worth it. What matters to the Soviets is that the German infantry won't refit so quickly. As the Germans can still refit for over a week, it wouldn't help much with 4th Army and 9th Army units, but at least it would help eventually.

When Kalinin Front starts to get serious, I'm sort of forced to move the reinforcements to the breakthrough at Kalinin, as I face the same "800 men B quality units in bunkers" problem there like when engaging 4th Army.

One of the other problems is that replacements only appear if a unit doesn't move, which heavily favours the side with the initiative. This is unlike most wargames, where the player gets X replacements per (couple of) turn(s).

Replacements being placed on a percentage can be a big problem in scenarios where one side or both sides received few replacements. It seems to the same in many PzC titles. The same ahistorically strong Germans appear in Normandy and at Kharkov '43 based on AAR's. The standard tactic seems to be to refit, something that simply wasn't possible historically.

The sequence seems to be:
-Either the attacker breaks through quickly, so the defenders can't refit, in which case it's a fairly quick victory for him

or

-An event occurs which allows the defender to withdraw or at the least not face attacks. In Normandy, it's the storm. In winter East Front scenarios it seems to be the mobility the Germans still have which allows them to pull back and rest before the Soviets can reach them.

Volcano Man recently rebalanced France '14, as losses were also ahistorical due to both sides being able to draw significant replacements, which combined with a low point value for objectives unbalanced the scenario in favour of the French the longer it lasted.

In Moscow '42, the Soviets are both slow and face storms, as well as being Fixed in some sectors. As a result, attacking in some sectors is just not productive as you know the Germans will be near full strength when you get there. It's impossible to launch some of the historical attacks covered in the small scenarios, because by the time you reach their starting point in the campaign, the Germans have refitted (and so have your men, but as you face the rigid assault limit, it favours the Germans).

-Meanwhile, the German mobile units have generally refitted at least to some extent, many being near full strength. The first attacks are launched and attacks in the center become slow.

-The main reason why problem 2 ends up being such a big problem, is because this series is one of the few series where the attack/assault system is quite rigid as the assault limit is purely determined by stacking limits for a single hex. This heavily favours the defender when he has better quality units than the attacker. In this scenario, the Germans are not only of a better quality but are also at least 33% larger in terms of maximum manpower than their Soviet counterparts.

As soon as you start losing 20 men per shot fired at your units, your attack stalls real quick. It's even worse when facing Schuetzen units.

On this timescale, you can only slowly grind German units down, making them gain fatigue, but your losses are often so high it's not really possible to break through.

-As the historical way of attacking is difficult to impossible due to advantages the Germans get, I tend to concentrate ahistorical numbers of units in some areas to achieve a breakthrough through sheer firepower. Due to the terrain and because it can refit less, the preferred target is 2nd Panzer Group. After about two weeks, it's hit by hundreds of tanks and 40 artillery and rocket units. Against such a storm, resistance of frontline units crumbles in just a couple of turns. It's a 1944-style steamroller that's very difficult to stop. Many tanks are not worth much, but there are many and you can whack the German tanks with your artillery. Katyusha's have an excellent hard attack value for some reason as well.

I usually stop at that point, as it just isn't fun: in the north and center, near Kalinin and on the major road heading west where the Sturm division starts, a large concentration of Soviet units backed by a large concentration of artillery is grinding its way west. Elsewhere, the Germans hit Soviet infantry hard at their leisure with local counterattacks. In the south, a large ever increasing hole is blown in the German line and 2nd Panzer Group quickly loses cohesion.

Such tactics are possible because there are no clearly defined areas of operation or limits on how many units can be supported by the same road due to simplified C&C and logistics mechanics.

I really like the scenario as such, but it can quickly break down into an ahistorical brawl due to the overstrength Germans and huge Soviet artillery concentrations (for the period).

I haven't tried Fall Kreml yet, but I imagine those 24 Katyusha units can also cause very high losses to German units when concentrated. That's just sort of the problem: the most efficient way to use the units is concentrating them, which is ahistorical but there's no mechanic preventing you from doing so.

Large artillery and unit concentrations might be considered to be gamey, with some good reason, but so are nearly full strength German units. One ahistorical situation leads to the next.

That's one of the reasons why I'm looking forward to battles with limits on the amount of artillery that can be fired at a hex and that don't last long enough for the replacement mechanics to unbalance the scenario.