Clash of Titans Redux 2 Final - Combat Mission: Red Thunder

This was a very educational game on a number of different levels.
The scenario designer’s notes say, “Both the JS-2 and the King Tiger can destroy pretty much anything around 1200 metres …“ and “…the King Tiger seems to have the advantage at range.”
Both of these comments are severe understatements. The King Tiger was killing my JS-2s at over 2000m including a first shot kill at 2600m frontally against a fast moving JS-2 during pre-dawn hours. Accuracy of German gunnery in this scenario was significantly better than the Russian.
The German quality advantage is further significantly magnified by the combination of a scenario design feature and a game bug. The scenario designer has provided the Germans with an engineered berm behind which their armour can go deeply hull down, making the already nearly impervious King Tiger into a very small target. If that’s not enough, there is also the ‘indestructible trees’ bug to absorb most of the Russian fire against the German armour. The Russian, on the other hand are pretty well in the open except for whatever dead ground they can find to move through.
My opponent played like a professional military man, pulling back and repositioning his defending armour after every round or two of fire. He seemed to have a pretty good idea of the lay of the land from the outset.
Me, having never played a ‘huge’ scenario before, I have yet to learn to pace my actions to the time available. A, “Thank you” to my opponent for allowing me a second go at this scenario to continue my learning curve.

'Terrible' for the Russians that is.
'Wonderful' for the Germans :)

Scenario design heavily favors a German victory.

It is extremely important to understand the victory conditions and terrain before playing this scenario. VPs are asymmetrical and include Touch, Preserve, Occupy and Parameter types. The VP balance is such that the Russian player MUST assault all objectives including on the German side of the river if he wants to try for a win. Quite impossible given the following.

To test the balance of opposing armored forces I created a flat map on a clear day and lined up the Russian’s twenty IJ2, twenty T34-85 and four ISU-152 1500m from the German’s nine King Tigers, nine Panthers and four StuGs (ignoring the two Stummels). This was half of the map distance. I unbuttoned their commanders and let them blaze away at each other under computer control. The Russian force which outnumbered the German 2:1 was annihilated in four minutes in exchange for less than half of the German armor. German fire was earlier, more rapid and more accurate.

With the Russian player already hurting with respect to VPs and armor match-ups let’s add in the terrain factor. The scenario designer has terraformed berms and dug-outs that enable the whole of the German armor to deploy in hull-down positions. If the King Tiger’s were already match for the Russian in the open, how much more so when they are dug-in?

As if that is not enough. There is the problem of the indestructible trees program bug. Heavy forest covers the German dug-in positions and absorbs 30% or more of Russian fire (which is already inaccurate) aimed at the German armor.

And finally, Russian artillery which might be expected to lay down a smoke screen to cover at the very least a short run to and across the wreck choked ford is woefully inadequate. It has been assigned ‘Limited’ and ‘Scare’ ammunition which is not up to the task. Really? In 1944? At a major river crossing?

The convergence of VPs, armor capabilities, terrain, ammunition and 2:1 armor odds, results in a scenario tailor made for a German victory. The German army could truly claim, “Scenario Designer ist mitt uns.”

The rating I gave it is more reflective of my growing distaste for "Huge" scenarios rather than the scenario. I have written extensively about this scenario elsewhere. I don't think it is appropriate for H2H on the ladder.

This is a massive battle, particularly for the Soviet player. Coupled with a huge map, it may take time to load and complete turns on older computers.

Although very long engagements do happen, there is enough terrain for the Soviet player to approach under cover to engage at ranges with a reasonable chance of taking on the King Tigers. The Soviets outnumber the Germans 2 to 1 in both tanks and infantry. In addition, the Soviets massively outgun the Germans with artillery - you can essentially rain down fire almost the entire game with a variety of 81mm, 120mm, 122mm and 152mm! These force imbalances make it slightly more favourable for the Soviet player. I think the following changes would help balance the game and make it an even better battle:

1) Forces - The German side could use another full company of infantry and a few Pak ATGs to help defend such a wide area.

2) Soviet VP Ground Objectives - The Soviets should have more occupy vice touch objectives so that at least some of their force must be allocated to holding ground.

3) German VPs - A large (300 VPs IIRC) German ground objective is predicated on a German counter-attack and holding a large swath of the Soviet rear area. Given the forces, the counter-attack isn't adequate and clearing the entire rear objective would be almost impossible as it has both woods and buildings. Reduce the points on this to 100, make it touch, and allocate the other 200 to destroying Soviet forces.

The map is wonderful, and the concept is good, but this scenario needs some adjustment for balance IMHO.
Location victory points: The Russian side gets 1200 points compared to 1050 for the German side but this doesn't tell the whole story. The Russian player can get 900 of those points without even crossing the river, and of those 900 points, 650 of them are easy touch objectives. I would recommend adjusting this to balance the location objective points.
Force composition: The Russians greatly outnumber the Germans in artillery, infantry and AFVs. While the German side gets a total of 9 King Tigers, which seems very daunting, the 40+ Russian AFVs can all take out a King fairly easily at medium range - even the T-34/85s - by either killing them outright or destroying the main gun.
I have tried playing this as the Germans several times (once against a human player, 3 against the AI) and even when I know what the AI is going to do, the sheer numbers of Russian AFVs is overwhelming. And the idea of the Germans counterattacking across a ford and taking the town of Sekov at the far end of the map (Russian entry area) for 300 points is virtually unattainable.
I would like to play this scenario again with some tweaking.

It was fun

A fantastic and massive clash on the Eastern front. The Soviet touch victory conditions give them a slight edge in this battle and the German side has very little room for error but a very enjoyable scenario with an excellent map, mix of VPs and lots of troops to manage!

Easy to win battle for the Germans.I don't understand how some players can even lose against the AI.The AI is always stupid as an attacker as a bread.
The Russians may have over 40 tanks,but they have to hunt 1500 meters across an open field.
As a German you only need to move three king tigers to the ford at the beginning.The other two king tigers each place one on the two bridges to secure them.Cross the ford with the three other king tigers and advance slowly.The tank battles are not long in coming. In 60 minutes I had already destroyed 33 Russian tanks.Not a single King Tiger was lost. One was unable to move and another had only HE ammunition left.All Russian tanks were destroyed between 1100 meters and 800 meters.
Then cross the ford and advance with the Panthers and the 4 replacement King Tigers.The battle was boring. Basically something like Seelow Heights, which you can't win as a Russian either.