Serbia '14

[KAreil]

The other great thing is that Ed also likes obscure military history so nothing is off the table for future titles! 

Emu wars? 

[Mr Grumpy]

The other great thing is that Ed also likes obscure military history so nothing is off the table for future titles! 

Emu wars? 

Maybe?? He has done the OOB already...…………….

[ComradeP]

The weather on the 15th of November 1914 is 100% Snow.
On the 16th, it's 100% Normal
On the 17th, it's 100% Soft.

I get the feeling there might be a typo in the weather.dat and that the weather on the 16th should be 100% Soft.

[Mr Grumpy]

Thanks for the heads up, I will pass the info onto Ed to see if there is indeed an issue. 

[stigmatress]

Thanks for the compliments. :)

Yes, you have to patrol against the partisans (Chetniks), which cancels out their effects if you are within 2 hexes from them.   Certainly they are powerful though, but with infantry moving up in non-T mode movement, the disruption to MGs are usually just a nuisance.  If you are getting lots of disruptions, then it implies that there is more than one Chetnik unit in the area, perhaps.

I think near the very end of the notes is a section on Patrolling. Check that out if you haven't -- hopefully it helps.

(Also, if you come across Chetnik units with infantry, just assault them every time and they can't stand up to it.)

Thanks, I forgot completely about patrolling. Will give it a try.

[stigmatress]

Having tested this title and having played the AH side over hundreds of moves as the AH commander you will grow to despise the Chetniks with their ability to disrupt units in T mode via the partisan feature (which I believe has only ever appeared in one other PzC title M44), because this feature (along with the patrolling feature) has been so underused by players I guessed that like myself players who take on the AH forces will suffer the same frustration as I have over the last 5 years! 


So the key here is planning ahead, before you move your units forward in T mode you need to consider if there are any Chetnik forces within 3 hex's of your moving units, if so you will need to detail a battalion or cavalry unit to go into the patrolling mode which will negate the Chetnik effects.


The difficulty is that some Chetnik units may not be in your LOS so there is a certain amount of guesswork/ gut feeling when it comes to selecting if you should detail units to patrol and inevitably there will be times you will have not needed to do this. Disrupted battalions/cavalry units are allowed to patrol so these would normally be the units you would normally select (providing they are in advanced positions) leaving you units in good order for other tasks.


As Ed said you should assault Chetnik units even if they are not disrupted (just like MG/FG units) as this will wear them down over time and it should be noted that disrupted Chetnik units have no effect on movement in T mode.


As the Serb player obviously you try to hide your Chetnik units just behind the line to make life as difficult as possible for the AH player as he advances, also they are very useful in mountain areas where AH units have to use certain roads and of course bridges where all units have to go into T mode. 


If at all possible try to not allow them to be assaulted as the AH player will try to do this any chance he gets!

Got it. This will make a difference. Thanks.

[Volcano Man]

The 4th invasion might be the most complex scenario of any PzC/FWWC/PB games in terms of length of the frontline attacks from all directions into the "central" part of the map. It's a great design, but the complexity might result in few reported games. It's an impressive campaign scenario.

It requires a lot more planning than more straightforward "push the enemy in a certain direction" scenarios.

Indeed, given the complexity of the strategic situation, I imagine that game results will vary quite a bit, producing some very different results. This is a good thing, but I can imagine that some play throughs might seem totally in favor or one side, and the other side in different games. I think the VP levels are well thought out, but its certainly a very tricky and interesting situation, so I hope there isn't a quick jump-to-conclusions about balance within the community ladder results, before it is played quite a few times. Scenarios that can vary wildly are dynamic and fun, but it can lead to misinterpretations in the ladder comments.

I think the all four campaigns in S14 are very much a unique experience, especially the 3rd invasion with its reversal phase.

[Volcano Man]

The weather on the 15th of November 1914 is 100% Snow.
On the 16th, it's 100% Normal
On the 17th, it's 100% Soft.

I get the feeling there might be a typo in the weather.dat and that the weather on the 16th should be 100% Soft.

Thanks for the info.

Yes, I agree - it looks odd at a glance, but its actually correct. I verified in the historical text (Austo-Hungarian Official History) and there was a strange weather anomaly on those dates.

Historically it was off and on periods of rain (often severe) up until the 13th, at which point the historical text mentions a severe snow storm. After that, it neither mentions snow nor rain between the 13th and the 15th, at which point the historical text goes to great lengths to mention that on the 16th, something remarkable happened: the sun came out in full force and the weather and conditions were surprisingly ideal.

The troops overjoyed, and "joyously" marched to the Kolubara in the fine autumn sunshine, it says.

However the ideal weather was short lived, as it says:

"The beautiful weather continued only until the afternoon of the 17th; then rain returned..."

Now certainly it is debatable whether the 15th should be Soft instead of Snow, but I opted to go with Snow because it has better mobility for the A-H side, and because I didn't read anything about poor ground conditions on that day. In the absence of details between the 13th and the 15th, I tried to retain the best mobility between the two possible choices (Soft vs. Snow).

So, my interpretation is that there was a snow storm on the 13th, then snow remained on the ground but it gradually dried up over several days (but it must of remained very cold, not in that middle warm/cool temperature to turn to mush), then the weather turned hot on the 16th as the sun came through, firming up the ground in full intensity.

[ComradeP]

Thanks for the explanation. I mentioned it because a change from Snow to Normal seemed odd, given the ground state on the days afterwards and before.

[CountryBoy]

Not really a WWI fan, but this thread is tempting me to buy my first ever WWI title of any sort....