Balance discussion/suggestions

[Strela]

The standard approach to a strongly held defensive position would be either to bypass it (not always possible, particularly when it's an objective) or bring in more of your own troops. If the Soviets man a position with a reinforced company, I can bring in a battalion. The problem is that I can't attack with that battalion in one assault. I need to attack with reinforced companies of my own due to the stacking limit. The stronger the defender's units are, the more problematic it becomes that both sides use the same stacking limit. This is why many wargames don't have such a rule.

At the start, scenarios are balanced in such a way that positions can be taken, but if the player can reinforce a position, that can quickly become very difficult. The difference in quality between the Germans and the Soviets will mean that even reinforced positions will eventually be taken if the Germans bring enough men, but it takes more time.

I'm not saying the game is broken or unplayable, I'm just trying to help improve certain mechanics to make the game more enjoyable than it already is.

I agree that there is definitely a time factor that needs to be considered for the HTH scenarios due to the 'smarter' reinforcement of positions by a human player. This is being factored in as we look at the 1.01 versions of the scenarios. For example the latest HTH version of Gertsovka is 20% longer with two additional turns as well as multiple other tweaks to ensure that chance does not play a significant role.

I appreciate all the feedback and have not viewed any as out and out criticism that the system is 'broken'. All is being considered.

One final comment; I am finally getting a little PBEM play action. I am seeing some 'interesting' tactics that are representative of not understanding all the game mechanics or using troops in an appropriate, historical manner. In some part, I believe this is a factor in some erroneous analysis of the game system. There is a lot of subtlety in playing the game right and the inclusion of the new hidden & spotting rules as well as players previous experience with Tiller games is resulting in some missteps. Additionally the initial situation at Kursk (attacking heavily fortified lines) is a polarizing factor.

David