New Campaign Game for Rzhev '42 Gold

[Green]

Cesar,

It may be a while before I have a chance to actually play your Rzhev '42 campaign but I have had a look and have some comments.

Firstly, I think the Fixing of those units that did not actually affect the battle, is a great idea. It will make this campaign far more playable and at the same time closer to history. This alone should radically improve the game.

I see that the 337 Inf Div is not Fixed although the 312th Rifle Div opposite to it is Fixed. Hard to imagine this Division moving away but I mention it in case it was not deliberate.   

One concern I have (not specific to your Mod) is the rate units can travel along Primary Roads. Because they are exempt from Ground Conditions, it means that moving on Primary Roads is no different than it would be in Summer (unless there is a Storm). Were any roads in the Russia really that good? In your scenario the weather is always Snow or Frozen, so all other terrain is subject to a modifier of 200%, 250% or 300% depending on terrain type and movement class. The only two exceptions are Ski which is not modified and Horse which is 150% in Snow but 200% in Frozen.  

Reading Glantz, the impression is that the main roads were not so easy to use. For example;

"The fact was that 1st Panzer Grenadier Regiment had begun its long march to Belyi late on 25 November, and on the 27th its columns stretched for almost 50 km along the snow bound roads..."

In this game, even though this unit is not Released until 0800 26 Nov, it could travel the necessary distance in just 4 turns, and so be in place by 1400 26 Nov (unless other road traffic slowed it down). If it was released on the 25th as suggested above it would arrive well ahead of this, even allowing for possible Night Move Disruption and the fact that its speed is halved due to the Storm conditions on the 25th.

Given that the conditions in this campaign never get better than Snow, I think you could increase the Primary Road movement cost without causing any anomalies. For instance, you could double it (except for Ski and Horse) and it would still be faster for travel than any other terrain. There would be an impact on supply but a minor adjustment, principally to the map edge sources, could compensate for this. Might be worth thinking about, unless you think my assumptions are wrong.

I like the idea of giving the Penal Companies the ability to clear mines. It may be a bit too much as it makes them as good as engineers at clearing mines but their low Morale should make them easier to Disrupt. It is a nice touch as it gives an incentive to use them as they were historically (as gruesome as that is).

I am sure you have good reasons for all the changes you have made to Release dates but the one that stands out for me is that 9.Panzer Div. This is no longer Fixed on 25 Nov but my understanding was that Model did not release the Division until the evening. The earlier release seems to allow it to reach the fighting sooner than it did historically.  

And on a trivial note I see that Gr.Rgt.14 of the 78.Inf Div has been renamed Gr.Rgt.141. Is this correct?

That is all I have at the moment. Cannot wait to give it a try. It looks seriously good!

John