Thantis

The demo is great - now that the annoying Invasion France bug is gone. I waded through the French Army & took Paris before Fall 1940 (found out how potent airpower can be in sustaining the attack). Then I found out how difficult Sealion will be in this game. I managed to get a couple of armies across, reinforced by a tank unit a couple of turns later, but when the Royal Navy moved in, it was a massacre in the Channel. I ended up using Italian units as bait to draw the British Navy away from the real landings (my German reinforcements) & took London after pounding it with all of my available airpower. Then I find out that Churchill backs up to Manchester & refuses to surrender. With a few armies and corps between me and him, and my inability to reinforce most of my existing units on the ground, I was very happy for the end of the demo in May 1941. I could have probably knocked out England, but definitely not before late Summer 1941 & Barbarrosa would have to be put off until 1942. I can't wait to get my hands on the full version of this game. I am reading "Third Reich Victorious" & "The Moscow Option" in advance of the game coming out to come up with some more ideas for possible strategies. Quick Question - will Demo Saved Games be available to be used on the full version of the game?

I saw it too. Hopefully we will see the demo soon (since it does say download it NOW).

I saw it too. Hopefully we will see the demo soon (since it does say download it NOW).

Without Operation Husky (invasion of Sicily), Hitler may have continued the Zitadelle a few days longer. A few extra days and there may not have been enough reserves in AGS to prevent the Russian counteroffensive from rolling down to the Dneiper and into Kiev a few months early.

Kursk was an operational offensive in the most limited sense. The size of the forces involved was substantial, but the overall conduct of the battle was almost entirely tactical in nature (with penetrations of less than 20 miles along a front of over 1000 miles - the whole of the Eastern Front). If the Germans had launched their offensive earlier, they would still have taken losses (though not as heavy as the actual offensive), and of course one of the main reasons Hitler delayed the offensive was to collect more of the heavy armor (Panthers, Tigers, & Elephants) necessary to face off against the Russian tank forces. Upon deeper analysis, the committment of the Panther in this battle (its first large scale use) was hampered by its EXTREMELY poor maintenance record with a majority of the tanks breaking down either before or during the battle. Either way, the Germans would have lost a prohibitively large amount of armor in the battle, resulting in heavy Russian counterattacks, either in May or July. OKH's best bet would have been to withdraw from the two salients around Kursk, straighten the line, prepare defenses along the Dneiper River and prepare to meet the Russian Summer Offensive with organized and well-rested Panzer Divisions in reserve. Of course, this kind of flexible defensive doctrine was never implemented - the result of Hitler's stand fast orders. Even without Kursk, the Germans would have hard pressed to prevent the crossing of the Dneiper in 1943 (though probably later than historically), and the Russian winter offensive would still have packed a hell of a punch in '43 - '44. AGC would still have gotten socked in June '44, with the armored savings that the Germans had saved from Kursk burned up in these other operations. Even without Kursk, German doctrine guaranteed the Soviet steamroller would get to Berlin eventually (but maybe not before the A-Bomb takes out Berlin from the air).

The Germans should have either launched the Kursk Offensive when it was originally planned (May '43) or abandoned the idea, husbanded their tank reserves and used their superior manuevering skills to fight a flexible defensive action on the Eastern Front for the remainder of the war. Its interesting to note that the Germans were able to launch a strategic offensive in 1941, operational offensive in 1942, but only a tactical offensive in 1943. These reduced expectations for the offensive should have been a huge red flag to the Germans that they could not accomplish any meaningful victory at Kursk. Even a German tactical victory is still a strategic defeat due to the overwhelming equipment advantage held by the Red Army.

Airborne forces were never intended to act independently for long (i.e. strategic) periods of time. Each time airborne forces were used in WWII, they were intended to operate in conjuction with ground forces in some form or fashion (in Crete there was a seaborne follow-up force that was thrashed by the Royal Navy before they could land in support of the airborne forces).

Operation Market Garden - the airborne forces were used as a strategic leap across the rivers in the Netherlands so Montgomery could sneak 21st Army Group into Northern Germany before winter.

My cousin was just in Slovenia talking with the government about joining NATO in the next round of expansion. Good luck & I hope you guys can join the club.