Kharkov 43-Closed

[Strela]

Soviet opponent wanted for #0202_03s Initial Soviet Offensive - Combined Star & Gallop
Default rules+delayed disruption reporting

Hi there,

As the scenario designer, I would strongly suggest you look at #0202_03s_Initial Soviet Offensive_Variant_1.

This version comes with 1.01 and later patches.

The key rationale and changes are as follows;

After 18 months of play, experienced players are finding that the campaigns are weighted too heavily towards the Germans in the initial phase. This is preventing the Soviets from having a chance to attain their historical achievements. Particularly in the south of the map, the German armour is in a position to immediately counterattack the Soviets and never allow them to close with their objectives. Variant 1 has taken into account much of the communities’ commentary and these new releases should play out closer to the historical result.


Change Log : Initial Release 

1. PDT file : Foot speed dropped back to 4 (from 5). This will slow all German motorized units and will prevent two step movement. I know people would prefer faster Soviet movement but the current rate is historical and some of the below changes fix up some of the loopholes. 
2. PDT File : Bunker probability is .5% 
3. PDT File : Night move disruption is set at 60%. 
4. PDT File : Rubble creation has been doubled to 10,000. Most PzC games use 1,000 as the base value. 
5. PDT File : Unit Recovery loss is now set to 0% for both sides (see OOB below) 
6. PDT File : Wired bridges are in play with a 20% chance for both small and large bridges. NOTE : Only bridges on rivers are wired, all others (streams etc) will not blow. This should allow VST to work properly. 
7. PDT File : Range effect modifier is now 1.5 (from 3). This increases the emphasis on ranged fire. 
8. PDT File : Various movement rates adjusted. Particularly Cav/Ski in forest and motorised in villages. 
9. OOB File: Replacement rate set to 1% for both sides. This is a key change as it is impacted by supply levels (if it is less than 50), rather than by quality. 
10. Scenario : All bridges on rivers are now wired. 
11. Scenario : No German reinforcements by rail 
12. Scenario : Most German Panzer Divisions have had all formations (other than tanks) dropped to between 60% - 88% strength. This change is to prevent the German player immediately going onto the offensive. It is necessary to rest Panzer forces to get them to a level that is viable for the Backhand Blow. This impacts, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 11th, 17th, 19th & 27th Panzer Divisions as well as Wiking. This could be justified as these formations had retreated back from the Caucasus and had little time to rest or reorganize. 
13. Scenario : German 7th, 19th & 27th Panzer Divisions have been fixed for the first day. 
14. Scenario : Most German Infantry Divisions have been set at 75% of their nominal strength. 
15. Scenario : Soviet forces are untouched. The Soviet Tank Corps are as crappy as they appear – they managed to advance as far as they did in the main due to the Germans having nothing to stop them with. They had very little supporting arms and a major change in their structure now has a very big impact on all scenarios. Toning the Germans down will see these forces improve. 
16. Scenario : Supply adjusted to 100 for the Soviets and 80 for the Germans. The Germans are steady for the whole scenario, the Russians drop to 70% on Feb 19th .


Hope that helps,

David