Sudden Carnage - A CptEasy multiplayer AAR

[Baltasar]

Yet again, the AAR will probably end earlier than later, having unleashed a two front war upon you that early. Chances seem to be fairly equal, though. I don't quite see the neccessity to close the Baltic Sea just now, it would have been more prudent to delay the invasion of Denmark until a point where the Allies indeed had landed somewhere in that area. This would have cut off their forces there and the cost in forces to do so would be relatively small anyway.

Judging by the relatively small numbers the Soviet player is using against Germany, he is either waiting for your main force to arrive or was trying to do a two pronged pincer movement, attempting to encircle troops in the western parts of the Prijpet marches. I'd expect the Soviet player to have sizable reserves vis-a-vis Romania, small to moderate forces vs Persia etc and basically the historical forces vs Japan. Soviet Russia does not have important provinces in the east, may be except for Vladivostok, so losing them temporarily to the Japanese would not really hurt him at all.

It'd be interesting to see if someone could win the diplomatic battle, eg convincing Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, the Baltic States to join either side... Same goes for BeNeLux, Switzerland and possibly Spain.

[CptEasy]

Chapter VIII – The clash of Giants under the Summer Sun








Countries played by humans: UK, France, Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, Japan
*The Polish player’s computer had a breakdown at this stage and then a two week trip to Thailand so we will only be six players for a period of time ahead.









Recap: After the Soviet declaration of war, German and Italian forces have stumbled in disarray to turn about eastwards and meet the charging Red Army. Now, the two fronts have met and they Valkyries are screaming of pure anticipation. Also, to close the Baltic Sea, Germany has attacked Denmark and its capital – Copenhagen.













July 19th, 1939

With Copenhagen lost and the leadership fled, Denmark as a nation was crushed and its forces surrendered. After that, the Baltic Sea was closed to the enemies of the Third Reich.











July 19th, 1939

In the North East flank, Kobryn was a vital province as it held the key to a potential creation of a pocket. Even if the pocket would fail, it would force the Russians back. The Red Army tried to reinforce the defense but the 130th division was losing fast.

Authors note: The German lands in the east consist mostly of the swamplands through which movement is impossible.

::The province of Kobryn had a mighty variation of culture. It had belonged to various nations during its history, Poland, Lithuania, Russia and Byelorussia, and traces from that heritage could be visible on especially the buildings. Heinrich noted this, but did not care much. As the driver of a 22 ton Panzer III, he cared about the terrain. It was not optimal. The province had a lot of forests and some smaller rivers coming from the marshlands up north.::







Kobryn

::This terrain hampered the movement especially for the heavier panzer regiment with the Panzer IIIs and they often found themselves in the backwaters of the battles as infantry or the armor car regiment had crushed the resistance before the Panzers arrived. Heinrich saw some action crushing a small pocket, maybe of company size, fortified in a trench system on a woody hillock. The Panzers were mainly used as artillery, suppressing the Russians before the infantry attacked.::












July 19th-27th, 1939

During about a week a terrible bloodbath erupted on the eastern fronts. Germany won all the battle, pushing the Russ back, but at a high cost. As casualties rose, the leadership grew worried. With a massive investment on infantry equipment and training, they had hoped to throw back the Russians more easily. Surely, most battle were being fought in rough terrain with the Russians being dug in to a varying extent – but it still was a disappointment and a growing worry.












July 26th, 1939

Japan, not really recovered from the war with China and the still ongoing war with Xibei San Ma, had taken some time to march up sufficient forces to launch an attack against USSR. A month into the war and they were now punishing the Russians for their unprovoked declaration of war. Vladivostok, the Russian capital of the east, was badly threatened.












August 1st, 1939

The German onslaught continued even if the long and bloody battle started to wear a few of the divisions down. Still, the threat of a pocket forced several of the Russ divisions to retread, which they did in a fairly orderly way.

::The 1st Panzer Division hadn’t taken any casualties worth mentioning during the battles of Kobryn. Now, in the battle of Volkowysk, it was different. The Russians had a lot more troops present and even armor. At the same time, several of the German infantry divisions had been through heavy fighting recently and bore the scars from it.::

::Like in Kobryn, Volkowysk was heavy forested with small rivers coming from the marshlands in the north. This time, the movement was slow and the Panzers had no problem of keeping up with the infantry. They had reached a place called "the Swedish Mountain". It was not a mountain but more of a hill. There was some ancient fortification surrounding the hill which gave the Russian infantry good defensive positions. They had even had AT-guns there and a wrecked armor car in front of then made Wittmann careful. Heinrich knew he could maneuver fast enough to make a hard target, and was eager to prove it, but Wittmann didn’t see the rush and wanted to wait for more of their own infantry to arrive.::

::Later, though he wasn’t actually in command, Wittmann pulled together a few tanks and armor cars and made a spearhead attack. For Heinrich, this was the first time he actually charged a prepared defender but he trusted his skill, the skill of his friends and the armor of the Panzer. He turned left and right, but never so much as to show his side to the enemy. Bullets and shrapnel ricocheted of the mighty steel vehicle but no AT-munitions managed to hit them. Bobby blew a hole in the low stone wall and Heinrich bashed threw it. It was intense. Armor cars and light tanks followed suit, guns blazing, and the Russians retreated from the sector when several AT-gun crews had gotten killed. The German infantry soon reached the breach and consolidated it. After that, Wittmann and his crew pulled back from the Swedish Mountain as it was poor panzer terrain, but they were called to other places to make similar breach attempts. The Battle of the Swedish Mountain and Volkowysk had just started.::

Authors note: The Swedish Mountain is said to be a remnant of a burial site of old, from when Sweden was a grand empire and fought the Rus. If I’m not mistaken, Sweden is actually the only country who has conquered Moscow – though it had little strategic meaning at the time.












August 4th, 1939

Author’s note: Here comes one really bad miscalculation of mine. In our second MP-game (Wildfires) a similar situation had occurred. Allied then tried to influence Belgium and Netherlands but as Axis counter-influenced, they both drifted towards Axis - too much penalties due to being so close to the Allies already.

I had planned to do the same here. As I now counter-influenced Belgium, I realized with a flash of fear that they still drifted towards Allies (with about 1 full point) and was already quite close. This was not what I had planned and did not really have any reserves at this point.

Well, they are not with the Allies yet…












August 8th, 1939

In the northern part of the east front, the Germans are advancing, slowly but steady, pushing the Russians in front of them.

At the same time, the 2nd paratroop division is deployed according to schedule.

::For Lucas Bauer, the training days were over. He had liked that orderly life. He didn’t mind the hard life in training camp with a lot of outdoor activities. Now, it was real. The Russians were not far away. It would take some time for the two brigades to organize into a battle-ready division and they would stay in Suwalki for some time. It appeared to Lukas like Suwalki was not a very beautiful place with a lot a old industry in a bad condition. After a while, trailing after his good friend Martin, he found that the place indeed was not entirely uninteresting. It had been some heavy combat here during the Great War and some remnants were still quite clear. Also, the province had a couple really old monasteries and churches dating back to when monks started to colonize the area some 400 years ago.::

::Lucas liked visiting the places but there were not too much time for that. Even though training was officially over, and they’d got their wings, there were still a lot of drills. And they had to be careful too. The populace didn’t like the Germans at all. Lucas could understand that but didn’t feel like fuel that hostility. Instead, it happened that he gave away some excess food to some Polish worker. That the people receiving his gifts mostly were attractive females were a coincidence, Lukas claimed. Nevertheless, he soon had a romance with a sweet Polish girl who lived close to the camp. Martin mentioned gruffly that Lucas used his position to get what he wanted, but Lucas didn’t see it that way. He was just being nice and she liked to be with him. Girls always liked to be with him. Martin did not argue further. Martin, in difference to Lukas, just wanted their first combat jump to happen.::












August 11th, 1939

In the north, Wehrmacht has made distinct land-gains. In the Italian sector, things are going slightly slower. Still, the fights have not reached USSR-lands yet and will not do it any time soon. The Russian defense is stronger than predicted.



....................................




Good with Denmark beeing conquered in a quick and easy manner. Germany being more or less bogged down in the east is less good. Actually somewhat disturbing.

[Cybvep]

Sweden is actually the only country who has conquered Moscow – though it had little strategic meaning at the time.

Poland did that in XVIIth century, too. It didn't last very long, but it's still a fact.

The fighting will be fierce and both sides will be limited by everything (IC, MP, LP) at least for a while. Then MP will become the deciding factor, as reinforcements and upgrades are relatively cheap in HOI3 and MP games are usually decided by MP. Still, with 2 ARM divs you definitely need IC ATM

If Belgium joins the Allies, it will not be the end of the world. The Belgian front is not very wide. Netherlands is another matter, though. That's why you should plan ahead and prepare a defensive line that could cover the whole front from Swiss to the Belgian border. The LP should be spent on Netherlands instead.

[JDNIGHT]

Not seeing any Naval battles. Has Italy or Japan engaged the British yet?

[Baltasar]

The Russians do have mechanised divisions already? Or is it just again a misleading name to cover a medium tank division?

[Profetkaninen]

Still, the fights have not reached USSR-lands yet and will not do it any time soon. The Russian defense is stronger than predicted.

Good with Denmark being conquered in a quick and easy manner. Germany being more or less bogged down in the east is less good. Actually somewhat disturbing.

Interesting fight in the east! The soviets did not break but seems to be giving ground slowly and steadily. That is what I selfishly hoped for since I'm hoping for some cunning move (Paradrop?) to match your Trident operation from last AAR.

How big of an impact is mistakes from stress or under management in the game at this point?

I haven't played MP myself but it seems to me that "attention" is just as valuable as in-game-resources or units. Considering that having Baltic sea secured might bee a good way to not having to worry about a bunch of beach provinces.

[Forgiven]

I'm also quite sure Napoleon took Moscow in 1812 as well...

Still, rather interesting, at least soviets have only managed to take the part of poland that 'would have been theirs in M-R pact' so far.

[Laurwin]

yep I think Swedish army (a fair bit were Finnish ski troops ) did get to Moscow under Jacob de la Gardie. Russia was getting screwed by usurpers (false Dimitris) with mercenary armies and Polish invaders at the time (time of troubles). When peace arrived, the ancient Rurik dynasty in Russia was replaced with the Romanov dynasty, and the Russians re-gained their cohesion and strength.

One thing is certain however, regarding the game, CptEasy has been lazy on putting the best commanders for his troops, again you see in that battle of Swedish mountain, a skill 2 old guard leading the fight! Same thing happened with British fleets, a skill 2 admiral in command of more important vessels than WW1 era destroyers!

[Cybvep]

He probably turned auto-assignment in order to cut the time needed for such tasks.

[Baltasar]

I haven't played MP myself but it seems to me that "attention" is just as valuable as in-game-resources or units. Considering that having Baltic sea secured might bee a good way to not having to worry about a bunch of beach provinces.

There is no guarantee. The Soviet player could have slipped in additional units, the Pacific fleet springs to mind, being vastly outnumbered and outclassed vs Japan anyway. The Black Sea Fleet as well, being basically cornered on lacking the means to damage the Italians in a significant way by herself. I think there's an additional fleet somewhere near Archangelsk / Murmansk which could be used in the Baltic as well. If nothing else, the sheer numbers of Soviet ships would mean that the Baltic was seriously contested.

[Laurwin]

still, old guard "wiggles finger"

although I do think it's pretty annoying that old guards have like crappy skill levels, the best old guard general in HoI games, land generals that is, used to be Mannerheim, he was a very skilled general in his military career in the Russian army compared to his contemporaries though. I'd still think that a good bit of the old guards could use skill 3-4. I mean, if they're generals for pete's sake!

[Dáin]

Moscow has been conquered many times. On most occasions, it turned out to be a worthless waste of time and resources. Napoleon springs to mind. The Mongols, of course, also held Moscow. Then there's the Poles and Swedes...trying to occupy Moscow is a time-honored tradition in Europe. XD

[TheBromgrev]

If there's any time-honored European tradition, it would be the partitioning of Poland

Good luck CptEasy, you're going to need it!

[FinnishFish]

Crush all the resistance :P

[CptEasy]

Poland did that in XVIIth century, too. It didn't last very long, but it's still a fact.

I'm also quite sure Napoleon took Moscow in 1812 as well...

Moscow has been conquered many times. On most occasions, it turned out to be a worthless waste of time and resources. Napoleon springs to mind. The Mongols, of course, also held Moscow. Then there's the Poles and Swedes...trying to occupy Moscow is a time-honored tradition in Europe. XD

Ha! That will be the last time I make any historical comment from non-ww2 without thorough research. My own ignorance makes me blush… I was really sure that Napoleon got stuck outside Moscow just as the 3rd Reich. Obviously too long since I read history at school….

If Belgium joins the Allies, it will not be the end of the world. The Belgian front is not very wide. Netherlands is another matter, though. That's why you should plan ahead and prepare a defensive line that could cover the whole front from Swiss to the Belgian border. The LP should be spent on Netherlands instead.

Gee man – ure talking like I have an excess of troops My western forces can’t even hold the line. Belgium might not have a lot of troops but whatever they got is more than I can take. Just thinking about Switzerland and Netherlands make me sick…

Not seeing any Naval battles. Has Italy or Japan engaged the British yet?

Nope. Germany is alone against the Allies.

The Russians do have mechanised divisions already? Or is it just again a misleading name to cover a medium tank division?

The latter. I think they use “mechanized” for motorized divisions with only one armor brigade (hence no comb arms bonus). But I might be wrong - and in any case – Daphne might have shifted the brigade compositions.

Interesting fight in the east! The soviets did not break but seems to be giving ground slowly and steadily. That is what I selfishly hoped for since I'm hoping for some cunning move (Paradrop?) to match your Trident operation from last AAR.

How big of an impact is mistakes from stress or under management in the game at this point?

We’ll see what I can do with those paras. As my opponents know they exist it will be hard to surprise them – but in the heat of battle there’s always the chance they open up.

Stress vs the level a micro-management is something you have to balance at all times as we are not allowed to pause. So, when playing big nations you really have to balance your actions so you can handle them all. As I think Cybwep mentioned earlier, you can always use AI to take a little bit of the load but it also takes some time to direct the AI and you also never know what kind of shit it will place you in. As I mentioned before, multitasking is one of my strength – so this kind of game suits me, while some of the other players are dwarfing me with strategic skill, I would think. Still, no matter how clever you are, an opportunity might pass you by if you can’t act quickly enough. So yes – the stress makes us do mistakes of both tactical kind and production/science-wise. It makes it feel a lot more realistic.

One thing is certain however, regarding the game, CptEasy has been lazy on putting the best commanders for his troops, again you see in that battle of Swedish mountain, a skill 2 old guard leading the fight! Same thing happened with British fleets, a skill 2 admiral in command of more important vessels than WW1 era destroyers!

He probably turned auto-assignment in order to cut the time needed for such tasks.

Cybwep is right. I don’t have time to manage leaders on all divisions. I try to, when I have the time, but some falls through – especially infantry. I am more careful with panzer divisions obviously. And for ships in the last game – I was so annoyed with how the AI choses leaders when you merge fleets. Why is it choosing the worst officer of the two possible? I often managed to correct it but once in a while I missed it.

Crush all the resistance :P

That’s the motto which I live by….

[Cybvep]

It's "Cybvep" Why do people confuse "v" with "w" so often?

About the stress level - don't you think that you should allow pausing to some degree? For example, each player could use one pause per month to check all the stuff etc.

[Masta_Mark]

About the stress level - don't you think that you should allow pausing to some degree? For example, each player could use one pause per month to check all the stuff etc.

Its not how often you pause that makes the game unfair but the time spent paused, for example the SU/Germany would be paused for considerably longer than the British/French would be.
When playing MP with my brother we usually use the rule of 30 second pauses and only when things are happening in quick succession. (such as several research/random event at same time)

I would have to say that you're doing quite well agaisnt the Soviet Union at the moment, I'm unsure of why that is. They don't seem to have the troops in the European theatre that they could do.
However as someone mentioned, if he has built a few more transports, he could be looking at having a reserve up for doing a landing behind your lines.
If you're really that stretched then that maybe the final straw.
What are the Allies doing re: influencing other states?
It might give a bit of insight to their plans to know what other countries they are tryingto bring in.

[Cybvep]

CptEasy could really benefit from Hungarian and Romanian troops. Every div counts as long as the Soviets have to face it. Maybe he should have influenced Hungary/Romania more?

[Traks]

Soviet strategy should always be burning of enemy manpower while eluding pockets.
So as long as Soviets are making constant battles, it goes good for them and bad for Germans.
Secondly, German trade with SU is broken and sooner or later (sooner in fact) they will run out of rares and fuel.
In our games even trading with SU until end of 1940, we were basically running on 0 fuel within 9 months.
Somehow all panzers were around 60-80% supplied, and anything over 0% is good enough for org regain.
But still, situation was bad and all planes were landed to conserve any fuel possible.

So, Germany has to capture French/Belgium fuel and rare reserves or face standing panzers.

[CptEasy]

It's "Cybvep" Why do people confuse "v" with "w" so often?

I’m sorry there, mate. Sloppy of me. Think its a linguistic thing. Cybvep is a little bit of an odd set of letters for me and I guess my brain tries to make it easier to pronounce. Depends on what ure native tongue is, I guess.

About the stress level - don't you think that you should allow pausing to some degree? For example, each player could use one pause per month to check all the stuff etc.

Its not how often you pause that makes the game unfair but the time spent paused, for example the SU/Germany would be paused for considerably longer than the British/French would be.
When playing MP with my brother we usually use the rule of 30 second pauses and only when things are happening in quick succession. (such as several research/random event at same time)

Well, SU/GER has a benefit of mostly have ground and air forces to keep track of. UK and Japan have quite massive distances and also plenty of navies to keep track of (and you DON’T want to miss a naval battle). I actually think I have an easier time (time-wise) playing Germany than playing UK.

And about pausing, well, I guess it’s a matter of taste. More pausing, less mistakes… and a little less drama. I just love the massive stress and excitement from an intense game you just can’t stop or take an old save when something bad happens. You have to make quick decisions and live with the mistakes you make. It’s realistic and it gives you plenty of adrenaline. Several of us has serious sleeping disorders after game nights… and I love it

Also, pausing works when you are 2. When you are 7 it would be reeeally annoying if people pause now and then when they feel like it.

What are the Allies doing re: influencing other states?
It might give a bit of insight to their plans to know what other countries they are tryingto bring in.

CptEasy could really benefit from Hungarian and Romanian troops. Every div counts as long as the Soviets have to face it. Maybe he should have influenced Hungary/Romania more?

How do I influence them “more” Can’t do more than influencing them, which I do. Problem in MP is of course that them Allied suckers counter-influence everything you do so not much happens. Both Hungaria and Romania moves slowly towards Allies I fear . Its only Greece and Yunnan that move slowly towards Axis I think, at this point. It might change

Soviet strategy should always be burning of enemy manpower while eluding pockets.
So as long as Soviets are making constant battles, it goes good for them and bad for Germans.
Secondly, German trade with SU is broken and sooner or later (sooner in fact) they will run out of rares and fuel.
In our games even trading with SU until end of 1940, we were basically running on 0 fuel within 9 months.
Somehow all panzers were around 60-80% supplied, and anything over 0% is good enough for org regain.
But still, situation was bad and all planes were landed to conserve any fuel possible.

So, Germany has to capture French/Belgium fuel and rare reserves or face standing panzers.

We’ll, Traks, that issue is on the radar It will pop up in the AAR eventually. Sooner than later in fact

.........

Will try to squeeze in a post this evening