Enemy minefields in the jump map

[ComradeP]

I would say that in 60% of the scenarios which are all 15 turns or more there are more than one or two ways to approach them and gain victory. The game is not as limited as ComradeP claims. At least not when playing a human opponent.

I guess we're interpreting the points made by the other too literally.

I'm not saying there are one or two approaches in the sense that there are areas of a couple of hexes where the attack is likely to happen, I mean parts of the map.

In the shorter scenarios, a lot will depend on initial dispositions, which is also where you can predict the Axis attack with a good chance of getting it right if you can always see where the Germans are going or at least know what units attacked your initial lines.

In the corps-sized (nearly) full day scenarios, where the bulk of the German units often either start further to the rear or at locations where the Soviets can't determine where they're going, that changes. However, the Germans have to move through bunker lines there so you do get some advance warning of where the attacking is likely to come from when the Germans move on to the second line.

Such a broad assumption that players cannot figure things out seems contrary to my gaming experience here with blitz members.

Again, it depends on how many units you have that can see the Germans coming, or if there are tripwire units that tell you where the Germans will attack. Knowing, roughly, where the Germans will strike isn't enough as in order to prevent a breakthrough, you have to put your men in the right bunkers and you often have just a handful of platoons (or if you're lucky companies) to spare as bunker lines tend to be Fixed before the Germans reach them.

I would not presume any player of the Soviets sends an unsupported 'D' quality battalion to oppose a full strength 'A' quality SS battalion. Combined arms is key. Most players know this. Soviet 'support' can take take significant chunks each turn out any Axis formation. To typify the game as a hopeless Soviet cause like this is disingenuous IMHO.

I'm not saying the game is hopeless for the Soviets, in fact in other posts I said quite the contrary and the results thus far certainly seem to favour my comments on game balance. Rather, I'm saying (or trying to say) that in situations where the Soviets are not in bunkers, their infantry units tend to fold quickly. Example: State Farm. The only reason I won my game was because visibility was minimal so my opponent couldn't see my units on the final hill before it was too late, as well as me being able to fire at the Nebelwerfers when my opponent moved them to the front and me bombing their positions when they were spotted through counterbattery fire or air recon.

The D quality units initially in front of the Germans melt away upon contact due to the high direct fire casualties caused by the Germans, and their numerous artillery units.

The platoons tend to be become incapable of offensive action in a single turn if they're discovered.

The number of Soviet victories recorded here at the blitz contradicts the assertion "your units are often not good enough to make good use of the situation."

What I meant was that in most scenarios where there are numerous minefields, you either have a lacking mobile reserve because the majority of your units are Fixed (if you even have tanks in that sector to begin with), or you have too few units to hold the 1st line bunkers to good effect. Rather, you might do that at the second bunker line when more units are available. In my games thus far, both for the ladder and the non-ladder games, the majority of the casualties the Soviets caused came from artillery in terms of casualties per turn.

Your units have low soft attack values so they will kill 1-2-3 men. That will still cause attrition over time, which is a problem for the Germans as their units can get bled white in a hurry as well, but it will not by itself stop a German attack. The Katyusha's, guns and mortars do most of the killing. Ivan in a bunker is mostly there to buy time so the Germans can be bled white. The direct casualty causing potential of Soviet units is significantly lower than that of German units, so the balance of how they cause their casualties shifts to indirect fire weapons (and tanks, if they're there).

The issues there are with how unpredictable capturing bunkers is don't come from minefields or casualties caused by the Soviets, but from the likeliness of causing Soviet units to disrupt and move out of their hex.

I'm talking about situations as seen in a vacuum of sorts, so just an SS battalion attacking a D quality unit, or just a few battalions attacking a fortified line, not about the outcome of the actual scenario that happens in (which tends to be: the Soviets win). You're interpreting my comments about the "isolated" instances as criticism about the entire game, which isn't intended.