Several Moscow 42 Questions

[ComradeP]

Liebchen: I'm guessing France '40 has more units, because both sides have predominantly division sized units. There are actually not all that many Soviet units, and as half of Western Front (and Bryansk Front's forces) is frozen at the start, the first few days don't take too long to play or the Soviets. In terms of units, the Germans outnumber the Soviets about 1.75:1.

[76mm]

OK, another dumb question: I put a unit on patrol for the first time, and no enemies showed up. I then moved an adjacent unit forward one hex and bam, it ran into an enemy unit within two hexes of the patrolling unit. Does patrolling take a turn before you see anything, or how does that work?

[JDR Dragoon]

Yes. A unit patrolling won´t show anything before the start of your next turn. If you had used "Recon Spotting" instead, the result would have been immediate.

[76mm]

Aha, thanks. But if I recall correctly, Recon Spotting only allows for a chance of spotting enemy units, but patrolling definitely reveals them, is that correct?

[JDR Dragoon]

Yes. And you can only do "Recon Spotting" with a unit that is marked as capable of doing so.

[76mm]

OK, another question...so far I've played Mius, Minsk 44, and now Moscow 42; in each case I was the attacker (ie, on the Sov side). I wouldn't mind playing as German in some of these games but am concerned that the AI won't be able to put much of an offensive together, especially given the level of fortifications in some of these games. Can the AI put together a decent/challenging offensive?

And I know, I know, I will play a PBEM game eventually but I tend to focus on the monster scenarios and am not sure that I want to commit the next five years of my life to playing one against a live opponent!

[ComradeP]

I don't think you should expect the AI to concentrate its forces like a human can do, so an offensive by the AI can presumably be slowed down or stopped earlier than an offensive by a human player.

[76mm]

I don't think you should expect the AI to concentrate its forces like a human can do, so an offensive by the AI can presumably be slowed down or stopped earlier than an offensive by a human player.

I don't expect it to do as well as a human, I just wonder if it can launch any sort of effective offensive at all, or if it will fall at the first hurdle and not even be able to break the lines at all?

I remember in Minsk 44 in particular it was pretty difficult for me to break the line in most places (involving crossing rivers, etc.), and I have a hard time believing that the AI would have made any headway at all.

[Liebchen]

And I know, I know, I will play a PBEM game eventually but I tend to focus on the monster scenarios and am not sure that I want to commit the next five years of my life to playing one against a live opponent!

While I admire your enthusiasm, may I respectfully suggest that this is like trying to run a marathon before being able to complete a 10k run? As you say, this is a big commitment in time and energy. You're seeing a number of points where you lack clarity regarding the game mechanics that you would have were you to spend time on at least, say, five smaller scenarios.

And by all means, once you have mastered the mechanics you should play humans, because the AI sucks and all you'll really learn at that point is that you play better than the AI.

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I'm guessing France '40 has more units, because both sides have predominantly division sized units.

I had France '40 in mind when I said "one of the largest." It seems to me that the biggies are Stalingrad, Minsk, France, and the two Moscows.

[Nitram Draw]

I don't think you should expect the AI to concentrate its forces like a human can do, so an offensive by the AI can presumably be slowed down or stopped earlier than an offensive by a human player.

I don't expect it to do as well as a human, I just wonder if it can launch any sort of effective offensive at all, or if it will fall at the first hurdle and not even be able to break the lines at all?

I remember in Minsk 44 in particular it was pretty difficult for me to break the line in most places (involving crossing rivers, etc.), and I have a hard time believing that the AI would have made any headway at all.

In Minsk it will make headway just by sheer numbers but after that it won't offer much of a challenge.