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A BETA-preview Barbarossa AAR

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From what I've seen it seems as if the AI has the ability to do the "Oh ***k! My stomach just turtled" kind of maneuver that gets the blood racing and the adrenalin going.

As Germany I've always end up looking at problems figuring out a strategy and then implementing them without anything other than minor tactical reversals. (I haven;'t played Gotterdamerung but I did finally DoW on the SU in 1952 once which left me slightly outnumbered).

What we're seeing here is the ability for the AI to potentially do medium and major strategic reversals that really keep you on the edge of your seat. A lot of the games I start I give up by mid-game because the conclusion is fairly obvious and it's too tedious to play it to an end. I've never seen anything like the entrapment that SM just got caught by and that will make it a whole load more fun :)
 
So, the Germans can encircle now. Excellent (Mr. Burns voice. . .)

You've beat the dev diaries sticky. Probably from all of us fanboys spamming F5 for the next post :rofl:
 
Re leadership points
Look on the laws passed - things like civilian economy gives big IC maluses and leadership boni
As I understand UK & USA starts rather on dove side of laws, GER & SOV should have more hawkish setting and that should explain differences
I'd like to see educational laws - that could bring some explanation
 
Registered said:
The purge (not putch) started in '37 i think. As far as the Red Army was concerned.
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Ah right, silly me. It was late when I posted that and I had just finished 'Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood', cool game but a bit short.

Von Hilficker said:
Nice job with the AAR, Singleton. I'll be reading as long as you care to write.
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My plan is to keep writing until the Demo is released....and no, I don't know when that will be.

Baneslave said:
If you don't have multi-core (3+ cores) I don't there is simple way to do it. IIRC, you have dual-core, right?
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Yes, I have a dual core, beefed up 3 years old machine.

Time to F5 for the next installment.....

And a little 'announcenment'. We are having a "HOI3 Writing contest" in the AARland section of the forum. 63 fanastic stories have been written and the voting is currently in progress. Head over there, have fun reading the stories and vote for your favorites. The winner of the contest will get a signed copy of HOI3 (not by me ;), signed by the dev. team), 4 runner ups will win a GG copy of the game.
 
Chapter fourteen: showing my teeth, The Odessa front part II​


We will look back a bit now while I recount the events of the Battles on the Odessa front. As you have perhaps gathered I am fighting three battles at the same time but did not want to mix them up in this AAR with one another. So, from my loss in the Parechcha pocket we will take a look at the more glorious battles West of Odessa.

When we left the Germans were breaking through our barely existing lines, their Rumanian allies keeping our troops south of Odessa busy. It was early July.​


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Now, my plan here is rather risky but born out of necessity. As I lack the troops to create a coherent defence I will attempt a little blitzkrieg myself. The plan is to bring together all supporting divisions of the part of the Stalin line west of Kiev and let them strike deep into Rumanian territory. Then hammering them in the back of the combined German and Rumanian army while using the forces defending Odessa, my only strong infantry force in the area, as the anvil.

As any plan in war, this one does not go as I want it to from the start.​

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I had expected them to do so earlier on but still my plan was thwarted right away when a German corps rolled straight around the end of my Odessa line. Luck was on my side however as the troops I had held ready for the offensive were closer then their support. And while the Germans moved in half a Rumanian army to widen the gap and exploit the breach I countered and cut it off.​

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Now, I can call myself a lucky bugger, as I didn’t have anything to stop them with. Two of my reserve corps’s were yet to be reinforced and the division from the Crimea wouldn’t arrive in several weeks. Had it not been for my planned counteroffensive Kiev would have been in danger.
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so not strong enough to do a little encirclement of your own in there yet

oh and am I seeing this right, the germans are taking territories for themselves in spite of fighting out of rumanian soil? :cool:
 
If an encircled Division is "shattered" does it appear in the capitol with the same Strength levels as a "shattered" division which was part of the line?

If a division is encircled the whole of the division is either destroyed or captured - appart from a few people returning from hospital and leave there should be nothing left, at least no equipment. If the unit was under supply then probably most of the 'rear echelon' part of the division would still be in takt to use as the core for rebuilding.
 
I hope that the German AI will become a little better, as it seems that you are doing fine Singleton Mosby!

You are still far from loosing the amount of men and materials the USSR really suffered during 1941.
 
Wulf145 said:
If an encircled Division is "shattered" does it appear in the capitol with the same Strength levels as a "shattered" division which was part of the line?

If a division is encircled the whole of the division is either destroyed or captured - appart from a few people returning from hospital and leave there should be nothing left, at least no equipment. If the unit was under supply then probably most of the 'rear echelon' part of the division would still be in takt to use as the core for rebuilding.
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IIRC, if division is encircled and it shatters, it is lost forever.
 
Great update. It looks like this instalment of the series is really expanding into the operational level. The localised attacks and counterattacks are really looking to make for a very interesting battlefield, which was really a significant weakness in HoI2.

A question on my part: How is leader assignment handled? I'd think, that with so many units to assign leaders to, things could get a bit confusing. So, what I'm asking is, has there been any improvement in the leader menu, so you can easily find the kind of leader you want for a specific unit? Now, I suppose if you know the specific leader you want by name e.g. Guderian, it would be rather easy. I'm talking about finding a, any, e.g. good tank leader for your armoured divisions from the list.
 
Thomas Kenobi said:
A question on my part: How is leader assignment handled? I'd think, that with so many units to assign leaders to, things could get a bit confusing. So, what I'm asking is, has there been any improvement in the leader menu, so you can easily find the kind of leader you want for a specific unit? Now, I suppose if you know the specific leader you want by name e.g. Guderian, it would be rather easy. I'm talking about finding a, any, e.g. good tank leader for your armoured divisions from the list.
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Sort by traits, sort by rank, sort by skill... I don't think that those options have been expanded from HoI3.
 
Van Diemen said:
I hope that the German AI will become a little better, as it seems that you are doing fine Singleton Mosby!

You are still far from loosing the amount of men and materials the USSR really suffered during 1941.
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Ai become better? Remember I outnumber the Germans, not the other way around. Of course this is not real 41 losses I suffer but considering I have 1200 brigades against the German 500 (taking the Hungariand and Rumanians in account plus the fact I have to leave troops on the Finnish broder and in Manchuria I guess the odds are about 900 vs 600) the AI is doing a hell of a job here.

Baneslave said:
Sort by traits, sort by rank, sort by skill... I don't think that those options have been expanded from HoI3.
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You can sort in various ways. IIRC there are a few additional sorting options compared with HOI2.


And for something else:

Considering this AAR will end after chapter 20 because of CTD's I couldn't get past, I want to know what you like me to do next. Take into account I can't play more then several months so I won't be able to start in 1936 and do a full campaign.
I will start playing for this second part of the preview-AAR during the weekend and posting will start on tuesday or wednesday.


1. Replay Barbarossa but do so historical, Attack! Attack!
2. Replay Barbarossa but play as the Germans
3. Fall Weiss 1939 and attempt to get as far as possible and attack France once the job is done in Poland
4. Gotterdamerung '44 as the Germans
5. '43 as the Germans
6. Gotterdamerung as the US, Normandy and Italy.
7. Barbarossa with the Finnish, DOW. And seeing how the AI conducts the main battle to the south​

I am curious which of these scenarios you would like best.
 
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Zibi78 said:
some kind of filtering would be nice (eg. show me all panzer gen with skill 3 or greater)
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Indeed. Personally I'm also hoping for a full screen leader selection menu, so they can appear in more than one column. I think it would simplify things considerably.

But speculation is really pointless at this point, since there is no more time for any suggestions to be implemented. What I'm really asking for is, regardless of what the current system is, how does it feel in terms of ease of use.

edit: Ah I was a bit slow responding there. Anyway thanks for the info Mosby.

As for my vote... tough choice:
I'd say 4. Gotterdamerung '44 as the Germans
 
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