Discussion on Totenkopf Scenario as russian: definitely a spoiler

[laxx]

Hi, I would like to start this thread on my observation on the Totenkopf scenario and make some remarks on the scenarios included in the game in general.

Firstly, I had no problems with Totenkopf as Germans. My second attempt resulted in 98 vs 2 as Germans.

( one tip : hide hide hide all your anti-personnel force until the bulk of the Russian troops are in the fields before opening a concentrated fire, this is important for 2 reasons: Troops move slowly in grain fields than open ground and can't escape quickly in an ambush, it will be their death trap. The second reason is that up against numerical superior troops, there is a real danger of expending too much ammo (in Anthony Beevor's book Stalingrad, he highlights this and the Germans would wait until the enemy is up close before opening up on them), hence to be effective, concentrate on sure-kills. )

This discussion is on Totenkopf as Russians.

The scenario favours the Germans greatly (and this may not be a bad thing, it's just that it was "like that" in this semi-historical scenario):

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• Tall Pines Cover and Concealment for the Germans</font>
• Disadvantaged approach for the Russians, the basic choices from L to Right were: Bush, Open Ground, Field, Open ground before meeting up with the Germans in the Woods. </font>
• Little room for manoeuver for the Russians from Get-Go as the 37mm Pak/MG gets overlapping arcs on your Recon Armored Cars/Troops during Turn 1. </font>
• No help from Smoke Motar, Tanks, Troops. Russians did not have Smoke in 1941.
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My crux is this:

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• did the Russians in RL succeed in the assualt ?</font>
• if they lost, does it mean that I as a player of this most excellent game will find it hard to win as well, unless I alter the play balance ?
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Side Note:

I played Russian about 3-5 times before I realised that perhaps the Russians were never meant to win this battle.

Well, gonna try a couple of other Russian Tactics:

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• Tank Rush on Left Flank.</font>
• Suppressive fire </font>
• Alter the Play balance
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Any Enlightened Comments on the above are most welcomed.

[ December 17, 2002, 09:30 PM: Message edited by: laxx ]

[laxx]

I achieved a tactical victory of 69 vs 31 as Russians this evening.

But... I sort of "cheated" on two counts (a) changed the scenario to 50 turns ( had prior knowledge of the force composition of the enemy.

Normal play balance, extreme fow, stick to scenario default. Normal computer experience.

Broadly speaking, the strategy are as follows:

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• Pre-turn positioning. Red Zone: Moved 3xmotar, 2xMG to left knoll tall pine, Move 01 platoon to the left lower tall pine (just before the wheat field).Concentrate 4 BT-7s in middle-right , just in front of softground. White Zone: Move all the armored cars to the centre, and all troops to the top edge of the white zone. </font>
• Hide all troops for Turn 1 But position one T-26 (unhide) to the lower right knoll (between the 2 pines). Gamey Tactic: Allow the AI to see the lone T-26 and order turn-one-artillery on that spot but the rest of the force are somewhere else. </font>
• Use the three motars + MGs to concentrate on the 2 Pak 37mm in the small patch of woods. With 65 HE each, the motars ought to do the job. For the next few turns, adjust the target area so that the chance of hitting the Pak 37 is higher. The lone t-26, if it survives the 81 mm artillery should just concentrate on the german HMG in the scattered trees next to the 2 Pak 37mms.</font>
• Move all troops to the scattered trees along the road. You should position 2 large force. Suppressive force on the right(recon force), assault force on the left (Motorized Rife Battalion) . Move tanks towards the right to join the suppressive force. </font>
• Synchronising is key. Position the right force along the road, start moving the tanks to support them. On the left, the assault force should start moving from the scattered trees to the Brush. I used a combination of Advance to the scattered trees and sneak while in the brush. Around this time, the two german armored cars would have appeared, the russian Armored cars or the BT-7 would not have problems destroying them (except for the T-26s dual mg which is quite weak). </font>
• For the assault force, I move 2 platoons into the left woods next to the Brush, one platoon in the brush to provide covering support. Destroyed the German HMG hiding in the wheat field. Used Advance to enter the wheat field then move right towards the single pak 37 , destroyed the Pak 37. Use firemovement of the 3 platoons to destroy the German Recon platoon in fox holes. </font>
• Towards the end, I did a double Human Wave, the assault force towards the right (the russian right) and the suppression force with the tanks towards the front. In hindsight, I might have achieved Major Victory if the suppression force did not do a human wave.
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My AAR stats: Men okay 17 axis, 196 allied, casualty: 96 vs 83, killed 22 vs 20, Guns destroyed 3. Vehicles Destroyed: 2 vs 5. Men captured: 31.

It took me 42 turns to complete the scenario. I sort of did things sequentially, could have knocked off a couple of turns had I co-ordinated the troops/tanks in parallel.

cheers!

[ December 06, 2002, 12:38 PM: Message edited by: laxx ]

[Gpig]

In my experience with this scenario, you should never play it as the Germans versus the A.I..

(It says in the briefing to take the Russians if going one player.)

The A.I. just will not give you a good challenge.

I've played it as the russians and managed a minor tactical defeat.

It's a tough one.

Nice write ups.

Gpig