Blitzkrieg 41-42

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Horst
Brigadier-General - 15 cm Nblwf 41
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Horst »

prattaa wrote:If there is a problem with supply on the maps it's the AI's suicidal tendency to leave important road junctions and cities to go off on the fringes of the map to occupy 5 or 10 point railway or road exits. I would be curious to see if their defensive behaviors improved by removing those border supply zones and increasing VL supply. They might be more inclined to defend them.
The AI seems to favor the highest supply point hexes nearby. If villages tend to have only 3, the AI possibly leaves them to defend higher ones. This is what I also have often noticed during playing.
I would reduce the off-map points to 1 for dirty road and 2 for paved/railroad. That should work better together with the 3-point villages.

Strat bombers: always good to have as auxiliary units, similar like AA units, as both classes are usually less effective for a regular offensive compared to other classes in the core.
Andy2012
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Andy2012 »

@Erik: Finished Zhitomir. Awesome mission, the Red Army undersupplied trying to break out, great! Those tons of tanks rolling on me in the red, really dramatic.
BTW, victory trigger is broken. Captured everything except Kiev, still draw.
Those self-destructing bridges are still irritating. Are they really necessary?
Horst
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Horst »

Specializations: Auftragstaktik normally requires Specialized Training (Boot_Camp). How comes you start with the first mentioned one and not with the latter one in 41?

I think the most annoying specialization is the Waffen-SS if you don’t start with that as early as possible. In Belgrade, you somehow begin with Waffen-SS but afterwards you have lost this spec again and have you re-purchase it again.
Importing core from 40 doesn’t work with Waffen-SS, by the way.

As the campaign features importing units with slightly higher experience, I would let the player begin 41 with at least all the experience boosters: Boot_Camp, Tank_School and Flight_School.
Besides these three, I’d also add the Waffen_SS, so you can get your special extra unit(s) as early as possible. Belgrade already starts with 220 Waffen-SS RPs, so everything should be purchasable.
The rest of the specs are buffs which may be earned on the way (again). Gifting too many specs makes earning points too pointless.

If you like plausibility, then hide Pilot_Rotation from 1942 as only following exists for the Axis pilots: fly until you die. A declining experience level was the bitter truth until the end of war.
Waffen_SS_II/III isn’t supported yet as far as I know. Empty text boxes only confuse players.
Proximity_Fuses from 1943, by the way, didn’t exist either for Axis besides prototype state near end of war.

Starting with my four mentioned specs above, the campaign would offer without Pilot_Rotation and Waffen_SS_II 60 points worth of obtainable specs. That should perfectly work with your current setting of 5-points per scenario until 11Vyazma where you have stopped giving points.
Andy2012
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Andy2012 »

@Erik: Leningrad is fun, well done. But it is quite impossible to move my siege arty into the marked positions with all that russian arty in Leningrad. I mean, two battleships, one cruiser, two fortresses, several heavy arty? You know that support units get destroyed easily by artillery fire. I suggest adding a lot of bunkers with tons of experience and AT into Leningrad to make it a siege situation. But remove the battleships or reduce them to destroyers or something.
Andy2012
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Andy2012 »

Andy2012 wrote:@Erik: Leningrad is fun, well done. But it is quite impossible to move my siege arty into the marked positions with all that russian arty in Leningrad. I mean, two battleships, one cruiser, two fortresses, several heavy arty? You know that support units get destroyed easily by artillery fire. I suggest adding a lot of bunkers with tons of experience and AT into Leningrad to make it a siege situation. But remove the battleships or reduce them to destroyers or something.
Tried inching closer, impossible. I can deal with the Russian tanks outnumbering me 4:1 or the Red Airforce throwing tons of inexperienced planes at me doing quite a lot of damage to my fivestar fighters. (BTW, with OoB's air mechanics working the way they are, the Red Airforce is slightly too powerful. I mean, I can handle it, but always need to fly back, land, repair and attack again.) But the siege arty points are too close to that massive wall of concentrated heavy arty fire. And with Luftwaffe's strat bombers never making a dent in a battleship, this is not working. Go for bunkers, AT, AA and some destroyers as the Leningrad garrison, then this mission might work out.
Also, the trigger "dont lose any siege arty" is not working. They are still there, but the counter is down to 6/7 somehow.
And again, there is not enough supply to deploy everything I want in the starting area. Light infantry, light AT and light arty without transport is kind of the only thing helping me beat those masses of Russian armor. I let them attack my infantry and the light AT behind it deals the damage. Next round is the counterpunch, knockout. Cant do that with just Panzer IIIs. I doubt that any other Army composition (mine is fairly balanced) allows you to beat these missions as fast as this one with as few reinforcements necessary. 88AT is too slow and cumbersome, heavyinf expensive, slow, useless without transport.
GiveWarAchance
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by GiveWarAchance »

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Last edited by GiveWarAchance on Tue Mar 14, 2017 6:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
prattaa
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by prattaa »

Despite the horrible red text that is not a bad idea. For that scenario only give the player a Stuka aux unit with a commander who has very high naval attack and defense modifiers.
Andy2012
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Andy2012 »

prattaa wrote:Despite the horrible red text that is not a bad idea. For that scenario only give the player a Stuka aux unit with a commander who has very high naval attack and defense modifiers.
Well, it is about establishing a siege, pushing the defenders back and setting up siege artillery - not about knocking out battleships or actually taking the city. I think Leningrad should remain out of reach, but the siege line should be a bit more out. Those mortars dont have to reach the city in the game, just make them move there, finished. Reduce Leningrad garrison to experienced bunkers, AT and AA, done. Balancing Rudel seems to be a more difficult job. And then there are still hoardes of Yak and I-16s, who do an unrealistic amount of damage here.
vidzm7_slith
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by vidzm7_slith »

I am on the scenario re battle of sedan and going through the ardennes. i manage to defeat the the germans but fail on the ardennes objective - what am i doing wrong? am stuck and unhappy :evil:
Horst
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Horst »

Leningrad: just by taking a look at the editor, I would immediately swap those two BB King George against two BB Kongo. The AA capability of the Georges is too powerful for the Marat and Oktyabrskaya Revolyutsiya. I haven't collected the data of these Soviets ships yet for game conversion, so can't give a good alternative besides the weakest BB. CA Kirov is correct.

The siege-position where the 45 mm AT gun is positioned in the middle is spotted by the defenders, and whatever is positioned there by the player will be annihilated. I remember that was the same issue in PC which should be fixed. 3 hexes distance is a must.

I'm going to restart 41, so it will take a while until I get to Leningrad and further.
Andy2012
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Andy2012 »

vidzm7_slith wrote:I am on the scenario re battle of sedan and going through the ardennes. i manage to defeat the the germans but fail on the ardennes objective - what am i doing wrong? am stuck and unhappy :evil:
Are you sure this is the right thread?
Andy2012
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Andy2012 »

@Erik: Okay, cheated through Leningrad. Kiev encirclement is fun, second mission (forgot the town name). Took everything in 13 turns, still minor victory. Counterattack never happened.
This mission, I had 8 army command points left I could not fill. Third Kiev encirclement, it is 12 command points without sufficient supply. To have any chance against the Red Army, I need more supplies. Waiting for 3-4 turns at a minimum to drag new units onto the battlefield is annoying. Also,3-4 more air supply would be pretty good. One Stuka or one fighter more would really put a dent in the Red Airforce. If those counterattacks actually came, I would be hard pressed.
Still great work.
Horst
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Horst »

I guess going through all scenarios again and adding +10 supply to the exit zone should solve this pesky supply start problem.

Eric's campaign name is indeed quite confusing for someone who just dropped in here and likes info about the original Blitzkrieg campaign.
Andy2012
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Andy2012 »

Horst wrote:I guess going through all scenarios again and adding +10 supply to the exit zone should solve this pesky supply start problem.

Eric's campaign name is indeed quite confusing for someone who just dropped in here and likes info about the original Blitzkrieg campaign.
Yeah, more like 15-20 supply for good measure. I mean, it is not like the Wehrmacht had major supply problems at this point. After all, they were doing the encirclement and crushing the Kiev pocket.
Right now, I am cutting out all the least necessary starting units and deploy them around turn 5-7 when I have conquered sufficient supply. That means my mobile AA and engineers can sleep in. (Would actually need them with all those fighters and autodestruct bridges.)
Last edited by Andy2012 on Wed Mar 15, 2017 9:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
Andy2012
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Andy2012 »

vidzm7_slith wrote:I am on the scenario re battle of sedan and going through the ardennes. i manage to defeat the the germans but fail on the ardennes objective - what am i doing wrong? am stuck and unhappy :evil:
I think you meant this mission:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PvUc6Q ... XqDDwnjd53
Go check out the video.
I think you meant that you defeat the Belgians, but cant get through the Ardennes, right? We can help, but please pick the proper thread (or start a new one) and describe the problem with a bit more detail. :D
Horst
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Horst »

Smolensk: it was already reported that the hidden Beutepanzer T-34 and Mountain Troops 41 reinforcement are not defined as core units, so you are going to loose them in the next scenario.
+2 Supply left in the deployment zone is at least barely enough this time. When creating the deployment zones, don’t forget the (6) command points of the Waffen SS. These points possibly cause supply trouble sometimes.
The Mountain Troops 41 reinforcement could really need a better transport like the SdKfz 251 and more experience; otherwise it won’t feel that special. 2.5-stars should look better there. Changing their nation from WSS to Germany is also more useful. If someone has already chosen the WSS spec earlier and purchased the favored unit(s) then no one really needs more units that can’t be deployed for a long while or never.
Andy2012
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Andy2012 »

@Horst: Good points. Didnt think about those.
Andy2012
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Andy2012 »

@Erik: Zolotonosha - victory trigger is broken. Took everything by turn 11, still says Zolotonosha is a fail. Conquered Kiev, too. But mission is fun.
Erik2
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Erik2 »

Horst wrote:Leningrad: just by taking a look at the editor, I would immediately swap those two BB King George against two BB Kongo. The AA capability of the Georges is too powerful for the Marat and Oktyabrskaya Revolyutsiya. I haven't collected the data of these Soviets ships yet for game conversion, so can't give a good alternative besides the weakest BB. CA Kirov is correct.

The siege-position where the 45 mm AT gun is positioned in the middle is spotted by the defenders, and whatever is positioned there by the player will be annihilated. I remember that was the same issue in PC which should be fixed. 3 hexes distance is a must.

I'm going to restart 41, so it will take a while until I get to Leningrad and further.
I think I'll swap King George with the upcoming old Deutschland BB class.
I'll check the 45 location.
Andy2012
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Re: Blitzkrieg 41-42

Post by Andy2012 »

@Erik: Okay, in Vyazma, the usual issues persist. I now have 13 command points for which I cant supply units for. The Red Airforce has total air superiority, even when I forgo bombers totally and just go for fighters. (Cant deploy AA, not enough supply. But command points a-plenty...) With the few supply I get, I cant even fully deploy my experienced core. But I also get tons of inexperienced units (core, not aux) in my reserves list - what are they for? Bug? Played a few turns, tried the pincer move on Vyazma suggested. But the supply dynamic isnt working for this strategy to pay off. I have too few units, hardly any close air support to make this in 20 turns - or am I supposed to fail here already as the Wehrmacht did in Moscow? I mean, the Red Army goes in undersupply in Turn 3-5, but with me slowly destroying their units (or else they reinforce from bottomless credits), this does not stay. Put shortly, I need more supply and more air command points - as in most missions. With the way OoB does air battles, the inexperienced fighters and bombers the Russians throw at me take a big toll. BTW, these observations apply to almost all missions in this campaign. Mostly, I have around 3000 credits in the bank and wish I could put them to use...
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