abukede

I’m back from Disney… I survived!!! Well back in South Florida only a few days left of vacation. Turn wise… it was a very interesting turn with heavy fighting on both sides but the Germans clearly getting the better of the Russians. You can see my ring around Odessa is now complete. I have also pushed back the line to the north. I pushed up to Kiev and launched a devastating combined arms attack knocking back the Soviet defenders and hammering the defending unit in the city. I should take Kiev next turn. Here is my position in the center. I conducted a number of attacks but due to supply issues did not advance much. I thought you might find this predicted supply for next turn interesting. This should allow me to begin advancing again and really hammer the soviet defenders.

I am off to Orlando for the weekend. We’re doing Disney… so you will not be hearing from me for a couple days. Before I went I wanted to leave you with one more thing. I have found that when I get to these positions it is very easy to become distracted and lose focus. The map is huge. Turn after turn you are only looking at little parts of it. From hard PvP experience I have learned that when I reach those positions I have to take a pause assess my entire strategic position and begin reorganizing my army. Typically I have taken a beating casualty wise, my units being understrength badly need repair and rest. Supply at this point becomes a real problem too and it typically takes a turn or two to catch up. I think it wise to take a strategic pause. I know it sounds crazy… in the middle of summer to pretty much halt your offensive… but this does not mean you stop advancing in all areas or simple stop everything you are doing. What I mean is that for me… this is typically the point where I reorganize/repair my army and set objectives for the second half of the summer and fall. I also allocate the force I feel is needed seize these objectives. This is the point where I typically switch to XYZ objective before winter. My main objective is still to break the Russian army, but I feel a few benchmark cities and towns are important to firmly hold before winter strikes. (when I get to this point… I will explain why.) A strategic pause at this point usually trips up the Russian player. They don’t expect it and at first are grateful for the reprieve. Then when your armies move again… it is usually with a focus in different directions. I typically move my armor (operational movement) around to support my new direction of focus. Depending upon the strategic and tactical position and where I want to be, the Russian player could suddenly find himself facing 8 armor in the south instead of the 4 that were there to begin with along with the majority of the German air force. The force I currently have around Gomel can also easily join this focus, by breaking through and linking up with the force that will be taking Kiev or it can turn and drive for Moscow with the Kiev force pushing in the same direction and supporting it. This means the German player can easily put a very powerful (really a sledge hammer) force directed toward the goodies in Southern Russia or Moscow. When this happens, I have found that the Russian player typically goes into scramble mode to try to stop/slow me and has to pull forces from elsewhere… like the Leningrad front, making it much easier to take Leningrad with the reduced forces I have on hand in the North. So my advice for pvp games is that if you see the German player take a strategic pause in the middle of the summer… prepare for a new axis of advance. I will see everyone in a couple of days. o/

We are going to briefly take a look at supply. As I said “Supply” is critical in AoC. Ignore it at your peril. This turn I was compelled to take Mogilev for a supply base. The nearest town is Minsk… several tiles back… with scorched earth… it will be several turns before Minsk begins producing good supply… but still Minsk is too far away to really help with breaking this defensive position. So I needed to take Mogilev… for near supply. Without that town it would be much more difficult and costly to break this defensive position. Here is the current supply. As you can see it is terrible. This is the next turn’s expected supply. It is not much better… but it is improving. Notice Mogilev’s immediate effect of becoming a 4! Unlike other SC games… scorched earth does not automatically set a city or town to 0… Give it a couple turns and that supply source will begin radiating out.

As promised here is the next turn. A lot of fighting this turn… Germany’s 7th. I was able to break through enemy lines in the North to nail a fighter!!! It made my day. I also destroyed a number of armies and a couple of light armor units. I believe the Russians only have 3 or 4 more light armor at best. I hope to take down a couple more next turn. I was able to finally begin closing in on Odessa this turn, while working to trap a few units. I expect to be able to close the bag this coming turn. There is a pretty strong defensive position rapidly forming east of Odessa. Note the two paras… I want these units badly. They are just too dangerous to leave around. As a player, I would recommend carefully hoarding paras till a real opportunity presented itself and then use them in conjunction with a major offensive. I am closing in on Kiev. Supply is good and I should be able to push forward toward the outskirts of the city this upcoming turn. I expect the defending unit will be well dug in. In the North, I was able to completely break the line east of Riga and broke out into open terrain. There is a powerful force, really the southern anchor of this line, around Ovinsk. My next objective will be to try to see if I can encircle these units before the artificial intelligence begins to pull them back. I hope I can catch a number of them in a bag. Soviet armies are much easier to destroy when their supply is limited. I have noticed Soviet unit morale and readiness steadily increasing. As a result, I am taking additional casualties. So once again… anything I can do to reduce my casualties the better. You have to think long haul in this game… it’s not simply break the enemy line like a bull in a china store… it is more of a marathon approach… and you have to manage your resources as such, because cash is limited. I can’t harp on this enough. Poor management will lead to defeat. The Soviets took a real beating this turn… I have now destroyed and shattered 87 enemy units, including 29 armies and still the Russians are fighting! Germany is 7 turns in!!! Think about those losses for a moment… and compare that with other SC games… Notice the chart… in the last 3 German turns I have destroyed over 1000 MPP per turn. The soviets on their turn are hovering around 200 per turn for the last 3 Russian turns. Very heavy losses… This loss ration should continue for some time to come… requiring the Soviet player to carefully manage things so that you don’t lose too much too early while slowing the Germans down. It is a tricky balance.

Just thought you might like to see research status around the middle of July. Here is an overall view of the entire front. You can see I am now beginning to gain ground. The soviet armies… though putting up a stubborn defense in a number of areas is still reeling before my offensive drive. In the coming posts I will discuss strategy a bit more and will also post a bit about supply. Things should really begin to get interesting over the next few turns. Stay tuned!

The army in Riga is pretty well dug in. I used my 3 arty shots to knock down the entrenchment level before assaulting the city. I dedicated the medium bombers to strike the army on east of Riga. That is where I will break the enemy defensive line and exploit beyond it. As you can see there was a lot of heavy fighting. I was able to break the line in 2 places. In the coming turns I need to push through and see how many armies I can bag. There was some fighting in Finland this turn as I assaulted Viipuri. Here are the detailed losses. You can see the number of destroyed soviet armies spiked this turn. The soviets have dropped to 84 units. I want to see if I can get them below 50. If I can’t there will be some hard fighting over winter and the war will easily go into 43.

I got a quick turn in. I will try to get another tonight before we head off to Disney World. Got a very interesting decision event this turn. I would recommend saying “no” to this one. You will need medium bombers more than strategic bombers. In theory strategic bombers could come in very handy, however as Soviet air defense grows the bombers will be flying deep into enemy territory unescorted... meaning a strategic bomber force would not only be costly, but a cash drain the Germans can not afford. I have not yet elected this option in a game… I have deep misgivings about it. Turn wise… the Soviets performed a series of strategic withdrawals, while at the same time striking forward in a few areas. My attacks struck the Soviets particularly hard. I managed to bag a number of armies. In this image you can see the Soviets pushed forward in the very south hammering my Romanian allies pretty hard. I intend to make them pay. As you can see I am moving to encircle those units that struck me with an objective just east of Odessa. In the center you can see an interesting development around Gomel. This is the beginning of a powerful blocking line. I actually smashed into the front of it… already destroying a couple of armies. More troubling are the ever increasing defensive positions in the North. I will be forced to breakthrough this line. I also intend to take Riga.

Addressing the strategy question... I've played around 30 PvP games and there are a ton of strategies to pursue. The map is so huge that one single strategy will not win the game... especially against a player. The player needs to approach the game with a dynamic strategy in mind that is flexible and adble to adapt to the unexpected. Many 0times circumstances develop in such a way that both opportunities and challenges are presented... sometimes at the same time. As I said this is a thinking game... frequently I find myself studying the map prior to making my moves. This is a very fun game. As to the AI... I think that on the hardest setting the AI can be a real challenge. So don't discount it... no matter what BigAl says.

Kuni... Minsk fell under my control around the 16th of July. Minsk can be taken much quicker. Please note: I am following a specific strategy of an early slow conquest of territory. I expect I will begin taking a good amount of ground shortly. Strat, Yeah... you have to still manage your HQ's. I actually enjoy attaching units to specific HQ's... makes me feel a little more in control. Some of the HQ's like Kleist, Guderian, etc. come with solid experience. You want to make sure you attach your key striking units to these HQ's. You can even work carefully to build/manage HQ experience... this is critical on the soviet side as very few HQ's start with any experience. Zhukov (comes with experience) is the main one you want to attach your key offensive units to ... during the first winter to give them that added boost. Hope this answers your questions. Any more thoughts on the game as a whole? Questions?

Here is the center. I may need to send some reinforcement north soon. I was able to advance pretty much unopposed… really only ran into light resistance though the cav in Minsk did not go down easily. The soviets have concentrated a lot and I mean a lot of units in the North. I have to be careful advancing or I could take serious casualties. Supply in the North... because of how I went about making my opening moves... is not so great at the moment. It should begin to seriously improve next turn. Here are my positions at the conclusion of the turn. I was able to advance but supply and large numbers of enemy units are limiting me somewhat. Large concentrations of troops in one area will slow the Germans down in that local area but it will allow a more rapid advance elsewhere. Players should watch this tendency as it can pay limited dividends early on but long-term could hurt them. You can't afford to allow the Germans to advance too quickly in other areas. Detailed losses for your review. In Finland there was very little action. I chose not to attack but prepare. Can I ask people following this thread to post their initial thoughts of the game as a whole... AoC? I am curious as to what people are thinking?

The artificial intelligence struck back hard this turn, with major spoiling attacks in the north and center/south. I was surprised with the intensity of the attacks. It appears between the last beta patch and this one… BigAl has been very busy making the artificial intelligence a much better opponent. Across the entire front there were isolated incidents of individual soviet units advancing and making probing attacks. It was a bit of a wakeup call. Here is the south. Notice the enemy light armor unit that advanced and attacked me!!! Here is the south after my moves. Notice my friendly armor finally arriving to reinforce the south. He made his presence felt immediately. Also notice how I was unable to destroy the enemy light tank. He successfully retreated. Notice the large force of enemy armor that advanced in the center/south and hit me. This is a direct example of the improved artificial intelligence. Even though light tanks may not be the best units, they attack twice and can still do solid damage. Operate enough of them together and you are looking at some serious firepower. That said… I think the enemy attack went off too early and too close to solid German supply. Had the soviets waited 1 turn I think they would have done more damage to the advancing Germans. Essentially my supply situation would have been worse. Here is the picture after my moves. Note that all of the soviet light armor has been destroyed, but at a cost. Notice the German armor at strength 4. Losing experience hurts. The soviets have now lost most of their light armor, which is good. The quicker the Russian armor is eliminated the better. My focus is still on Russian armies.

That's great to hear. A lot of work went into this monster... The game is awesome!

That said you can see my Finns struck hard and there was heavy fighting. They managed to nearly destroy that soviet armor and take ground. I expect a strong soviet counter attack. Take a look at the detailed losses chart. Soviet losses continue to mount. Here is a final shot of unit disparity. Soviet numbers continue to drop even with the addition of new formations arriving. Time to shut down, pack up and leave the hotel.

Here is the center. I am also beginning to push hard in the center…. Here are my forces advancing on Minsk and pushing eastward in a general direction. There was some fighting… but not a lot. I expect to run into a number of defensive lines in the coming turns. I also have to keep an eye out for a major spoiling attack and work to limit the vulnerability for my advance units. This is the position in the north. As you can see it is only July 10th. Lots of time left to the summer! I am intentionally moving more slowly in the north than I could. My goal is to take as few casualties as possible, while my focus is on destroying as much of the soviet army as possible. Basically as I have said I am trying to isolate, surround and cut off from supply large numbers of Soviet troops. Then I reduce these units that are starved from supply. Notice the soviet defense around Riga. This will take a bit of work to break over the next 2 turns. Here are the final positions. You can see the powerful force I have moved up next to Riga. I will begin my assault on Riga next turn. I will also try to pierce this line and cut out as many enemy units as possible. Those 6soviet armies are a very tempting target. Remember armies are a primary target for me! The more enemy armies I destroy now will pay dividends later. Hopefully the artificial intelligence will not conduct a tactical withdrawal. Finland at the beginning of the turn. Notice my upgraded units. The Finns also arrived heavily experienced. This makes them very effective… so you have carefully managed them or you will squander your advantage over the soviet forces in the area.

Posting this from a hidden location somewhere in Georgia… just a few miles north of the Florida border. So far I have survived the car ride with a 5 year old, 3 year old and a 2 month old… oh yeah and the wife too. This is the first moment where we have had an internet connection. Last night our hotel’s internet was broken. I will keep this post brief… as we are due to leave our hotel and push on to south Florida shortly. The artificial intelligence launched a number of attacks this turn doing limited damage... it is only a sign of what is to come. Over the next few turns soviet attacks should increase significantly. The artificial intelligence also conducted a number of well executed tactical withdrawals, while leaving a few speed bumps behind to slow me down. The soviet forces are beginning to get their act together. Supply managed to catch up a bit in a few areas for me as well. Here is the south. Notice the shifting of positions in the south and the armor that finally arrived on the Romanian front. My forces are slowly becoming more powerful and supply is up. It is only a matter of time at this point till I begin pushing forward hard. Here is the center south. It does not look like there is a lot in front of me. Right? Wrong. There are a number of soviet units sitting just out of view. This is where later in the war long range aircraft tech comes in very handy. Basically at the moment I am advancing blind. Notice the heavily damaged armor. There was a small blocking force just out of view that did not go quietly. I am beginning to push now… East and Southward to help strengthen the Romanian front.

Okay... I am off on vacation for the next couple weeks. Taking the family on a road trip to Florida. I know... I know... great timing... I will keep the posts coming but they will likely be a turn every other day. Feel free to ask questions... either Al, Hubert or myself will be more than happy to answer and feed your growing curiosity... errrr hunger for this game.

Arty starts with the ability to fire 3 shells... so each new level adds 1. It is hard to actually use them consistently because the front tends to shift and change rapidly that the arty is either playing catch up or attacked by advancing enemy units. They do come in handy when you have to break an enemy line or are sieging a city.

Detailed losses for your review. This is a very important chart. Check it each turn and study it carefully. The chart shows you losses, income and money spent. (I use it to gage the health of the enemy) Notice the huge bump in income for the Soviets. This is more than double what Germany is making!!! The soviets get a Great Patriotic War income boost which lasts for around 15 turns. Soviet units are cheap and with this level of income the other side is not only replacing losses but building additional units as well. This means that I can expect large numbers of ‘new’ enemy formations to begin arriving around September. It is critical for me to try to break the Soviet army as rapidly as possible before those units begin arriving and gobble up as much ground as possible. I will show you later where I want to be prior to winter hitting. I invested the last of my available chits in long range aircraft. Long-range aircraft technology gives your aircraft range but what I really am looking for is the better spotting range that comes with the advance. Later in the war I will place my aircraft, specifically fighters, far forward and utilize their enhanced vision for passive recon. This will allow me to spot large enemy concentrations that are in the early stages for offensive preparation. Spotting these concentrations is critical to success. The front is sooo very large that it is very easy to conceal offensive preparations and then spring a trap on the enemy. In PvP mode such surprise offensives occur more often and can be very devastating. Here is a better picture of the front at the conclusion of the turn. Later I will post several of the strategic maps back to back detailing the progression of the German advance so that you can see how the front has changed/shifted since kickoff.

Here is the strategic position on the central front. My objective this turn is to move forward a bit, occupy Vilna and clean up a number of soviet units. Supply is starting to become an issue for forward units. You can see some of the action as it unfolded. I took a turn to reinforce 1 armor that had been damaged. Here is the strategic position in the north. Note the date. We are only on July 4th! There is still a lot of time left in the summer. I occupied Vilna and advanced beyond the city. Further north I pushed forward and engaged the enemy where I could, mopping up as I went. A number of my units have already pushed to the edge of effective supply, meaning I was forced to pull several back slightly so I can repair them on the next turn. Fresh units pushed forward almost in a leapfrog effect. I did very little with Finland this turn, other than upgrade some of my units. Next turn these upgraded infantry corps will move into forward positions and begin offensive operations. I also upgraded the fighter. The soviets have moved fighters and tactical aircraft to the Finnish front. The beginnings of the aerial war over Finland have begun. I may need to deploy a Luftwaffe fighter, with an HQ, to Finland to shore up her air defense network. Note the soviets are now down to 92 units giving the Germans their first lead in the war. The soviets have now lost 47 units!!! This is only the beginning of the game and 3rd turn for the Axis. The wastage of soviet units early in the game is intense. For the soviet play the beginning of the war is a struggle just to hold things together, especially as the Germans approach Leningrad. Until significant reinforcements begin flowing the Russian player is in a precarious position. Play poorly and loose too many units early on in the fighting and that precarious position could rapidly become one of desperation.

First real (very cool) decision event. This is a critical one… and I think it is one of those… “always… always” say yes! If the Soviet player says “no” to a similar one and does not reinforce Archangel there is a real chance of cutting off a good chunk of Soviet economic aid. In addition should things go poorly in Finland there is another decision event that allows the Axis to pull those forces operating in Finland and Norway to reinforce Finland proper. So my recommendation is to say “Yes” Here is a look at the starting positions in the south for this turn. Notice the beginnings of a defensive line forming around Odessa. Can you say improved artificial intelligence? The soviets are beginning to get organized and I expect this defensive line to steadily improve in strength over the next few turns. I marked a few enemy units to show you what my objectives were this turn. That para simply “has” to go! The Russians start with a number of paratroop units. Most players (betas at this point) never use them in the air drop roll. I’ve used them to great effect and had them used against me to devastating effect as well. If you concentrate them and save them for later they can be used in conjunction with a major offensive… i.e. dropping them behind enemy lines to cut off supply to forward units and make retreat more difficult. This was how operations ended in the south. My units are not very powerful with supply already being an issue. It will be another couple turns before I can get some power down there and captured towns start producing better supply. The corps located near Ungheni next turn will sever the rail link isolating a number of Russian units to the north. The only way to potentially escape will be by foot. Operational retreat will be severed. Here is how the strategic position looked at the start of the turn for the Center/South Front. My goal this turn will be to move forward, mop up and begin to break off a force to help out the troops struggling in the far south. I will also move up my air force to better conduct operations and keep them close to HQ and solid supply. As my units begin to push the forward positions will allow them to reach deeper into Russia. Take a look at the final positions… you can see the powerful force around Buchach, which will be tasked with heading south as a powerful hammer/reinforcement for the Romanian front. The other grouping will be pushing eastward. Notice how my tactical bomber is positioned up close… his range is limited… but he should be able to hammer the armor next turn should they stick around.

Ah... I see BigAl got in a reply. Kuniworth... I think that when you get your hands on this game you will find it is very different than previous SC releases and mods. It is a very cool game dripping with strategy and plenty of opportunity. I think you will find it a challenge and a lot of fun, especially against a player.

SeaMonkey... that sounds like a great idea. I have several turns already completed and ready for posting... in addition I am off on vacation for 2 weeks... (will keep posting) but I will do a post on supply in the next 2 weeks for you. Kuniworth... I am unfamiliar with your w&w eastern front scenario... so I can not speak on that... as to Riga falling immediately it usually takes the Germans till turn 4, 5 or 6 to take Riga. The soviets typically form a defense around the city. Against a player Riga is usually more difficult to take... the ground around the city lends itself to a good defense. If I recall correctly, in turn 3 I managed to battle my way right up to the city. I will spend some time on the fall of Riga when it happens in the walkthrough. Game wise... due to the size and scope of the battlefield it is very difficult/maybe impossible for the German player to take Riga before turn 4.

I know its killing you to wait on AoD... but the wait will be worth it. AoC is just as awesome an expansion. Operation Barbarossa is an incredible campaign on a grand level. Check out the walkthrough. http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=109038

The Finns were able to force back that Russian Light armor and now hold a good defensive position behind a river. The Soviet counter attack will likely hurt, but I hope to hold long enough to get a few reserves upgraded and ready to take the frontline. These are the final positions at turn end. I have begun to make good progress in the North and Center. I hope to push hard in the coming turns and begin gobbling up territory more rapidly. I want to be on Leningrad’s doorstep by the beginning of September. I expect that I should begin making real progress in the south 2 or 3 turns from now. As I said it takes time to get rolling down there. I destroyed 16 more units this turn. I could probably have gotten another 4 or 5 more, but again I am attempting to limit losses by taking down isolated, low supply and demoralized units. The key figure to look at is the number of armies that fell. On the first turn I had destroyed 5. 10 more fell this turn, along with 3 light armor and the para. I also managed to finish off a couple of divisions. So here are the final numbers at the end of the turn. Notice how the Axis and Soviets now have an equal number of units deployed. This is not combat parity! Do not confuse the number of units deployed with combat parity. The Germans have better experienced units, organization, morale and a slight edge in tech at the moment. More on this later. Build wise I was only able to purchase 1 infantry division. I upgraded a couple of units and also invested in tech as previously shown. I invested in Industry this turn... Germany needs cash.

This is my position in the center. I have a number of isolated soviet units to mop up this turn. I have already begun the process of isolating more, deeper into soviet territory. I had good success, though two of my armor took moderate damage. There was significant fighting around Brest-Litvosk… as you can see evidenced by the damaged armor. The paratroop did not go down easily. Paras are tough units, especially when experienced. Just out of vision I am confident the first new defensive lines are beginning to take shape. I expect to begin running into them in the next 2 to 3 turns. In the Northern part of the front, my intent is to get in behind the HQ and cluster of troops around Mazeikai. I also want to isolate the forces near Kaunas so that in the following turns I can begin my push north to Leningrad. The encirclement, isolation and reduction of the Kaunas pocket should take an additional turn to complete. In the end I was able to get around and behind a number of units. I decided not to occupy Kaunas, but instead elected to see if I could catch that HQ next turn in the bag I am working to close. I know a number of people are probably thinking… are you crazy?!? That’s income. You should take it immediately! This game is a bit different than other SC releases. Yes, taking Kaunas will make me extra income, however in my mind, the focus should really be on destroying the red army and economic conquest second. Let me put it this way, the more enemy units I destroy now and in the next few turns, the better position I will be in come winter, when Russia is finally gearing up for a December/January offensive. So my focus for the summer and fall will be to see how close I can come to completely breaking the Russian army and taking as much territory as possible. With focus on the destruction of the soviet army should come economic spoils. More on this later. Moving far north to Finland, the Finns are in a difficult position. The soviets can concentrate a lot of firepower on the Finns. I have been forced to rescue the Finns more than once by shipping off Germans forces. This is time consuming and costly. So the player really wants to manage his Finnish forces carefully. The Finns start with no upgraded units. What you can’t see is that they come with experience!!! To make them truly effective, I will have to spend some money on the Finns. This process will start next turn. Just a note: North where my Finnish fighter is currently located, the terrain is virtually impassable so you don’t have to worry about much going on from that direction. Almost all of the fighting will occur on that narrow strip of land where the Finns and Soviets are faced off. The key to Russian attack and defense against the Finns is the town of Viipuri. If the Finns capture it, the soviets are hobbled for supply. The nearest major supply source is Leningrad. It is common for Viipuri to change hands several times before the matter is decided. If that does happen, it usually means the Finns are in trouble. The player really wants to simply hold out long enough for German forces to approach Leningrad and then "really" go on the offensive with the Finns.