DLC 43 - beta 2: Kiew

[charonjr]

FM - pre-build non-optimised (still 7 Tiger/Panther) core - chess mode - no previous experience with this map

The final battle, let's try to get out of this in decent shape

From the briefing it sounds like the weather will change quite a lot here, due to this I leave 1 Bf 109G and the He 177A at home.

I will use the 4 Tigers to aid in the defense of Kiew while the faster Panther, the Elefant and some Pz IVH will try to flank the attackers of Kiew from the south. The Fallschirmjäger and 2 Pioniere backed up by artillery will defend the city hexes (Wehrmacht Infantrie + Gebirgsjäger as backup). The mobile artillery along with Pz IIIN will try to dislodge the Soviet paras in the south.

During turn 1 I saw the Soviert aircraft too late, so I was just able to destroy the Hurricane.



Depending of the levels of resistance either the southern forces should sweep counterclockwise up north or the defenders/flankers around Kiew should sweep clockwise south after they are done with their initial assignments.

[charonjr]

Depending of the levels of resistance either the southern forces should sweep counterclockwise up north or the defenders/flankers around Kiew should sweep clockwise south after they are done with their initial assignments.

Getting into the flank worked fairly well so far, took out 2 artillery and 1 AAA till turn 3 and am hunting for more.

At turn 5 5+ tanks showed up around the Soviet para positions at Kozyn which was a nasty surprise since my Panzer around there are not able to stand up to Soviet heavies. I will try to move the Panthers and Pz IVH to the south ASAP while the Tigers and the Elefant stay at/around Kiew, in addition I withdraw from Kozyn. As a bandaid the 2 Ju 87G and a fighter fly south, but due to the forecasted weather they will be fairly useless.

Rain and mud at turn 6, just what I needed to quickly relocate troops to the south... Well, some of my units could use some new supplies anyway.

Next wave (both aircraft and ground units) hit at turn 7, but at least the weather is back to clear/dry. 2 Panthers take care of the KV-85 around Kozyn while the 3rd is help up by infantry on the Kaniv bridge.

Up to the end of turn 10 all units in the para landing zone have been dealt with, but suddenly the AI gets the idea that it might be smart to spam IS-1s at Shevchenkove - which is actually right, but still doesn't look right. 2 at turn 9 and another 5! at turn 10. I have to get some units next to the city and with the help of the Ju 87Gs and the fighters I am able to destroy 3 of them and place 3 Tigers right next to the town, but the counterattack will still be hard and I have to leave one of my Ju 87D open to attack. Crossed the Dnieper at Cherkassy and Velykyi Khutir.

In the end only 2 IS-1s fired at my Tigers while the rest just moved to the west without attacking first (the usual AI problem, nothing that can be fixed here I think). Since I had no unit right next to Divychiky 2 new IS-1 and 2 BA-10 did spawn there.

Took undefended Chornobai, Zolotonosha and Stepantsi at turn 12, but had to retreat from Velykyi Khutur due to 1 IS-1, 1 SU-152 and 3 infantry showing up. Since it rains I fall back pretty much whereever my units are too exposed as well.

Clear/dry weather at turn 13 (forecast is snow). Destroyed 3 IS-1s, leaving me with 4 of them unless more will respawn.

Got clear weather instead, but lost a core unit, a Pz IVH which couldnt retreat far enough or be protected by harder units got destroyed by 2 IS-1s (first core loss here). And another IS-1 and BA-10 spawned, this time at Tsybli. 3 IS-1s were destroyed leaving me with 2 of them. Shevchenkove was occupied and I send units right next to Semypolky, Rudnya, Drabiv, Orzhytsya, Tsybli, Lekhnivka and occupied Zhovtneve - getting a bit paranoid now .

Occupied lots of towns at turn 15 and it seems like there has been a new wave from around Zhurivka, mostly guards and a bunch of SPAAs.

At turn 17 I left 1 SU-152 at 4STR and opened up Divychiky for potential respawn. Got a BA-10 and a AT (same on the next turns).

Got the first Knight's Cross at turn 21 (Panther).

DV at 22/22 - 8.3k prestige, but 3k+ will most likely be needed for repairs again.

Statistics and some thoughts tomorrow, but fighting those IS-1s was pretty intense for a while.

[Kerensky]

Judging from that report, the only menacing unit were the IS-1s. Makes it hard to justify their removal, sounds like best to just leave the scenario as is and let the AI buy their IS-1 surprises.

It's interesting I've noticed self propelled AD unit are showing up in player cores. I guess a combination of heavy enemy air presence + seeing how effective the AUX ones provided left a good impression on them.

[charonjr]

Yes, personally I came to the point when I realised that covering my bombers and SP by artillery is simply no longer possible vs the number of Soviet aircraft we are facing, in addition their ability to move their full rsnge and then shoot to soften up enemy fighters saves my fighters from some repairs.

Concerning the IS-1s, as I said in the other thread, I have the prestige to deal with the damage they are dishing out, but I am not so sure that this will be the case for everybody.

[Longasc]

Start Kiev: 3498 Prestige, core in very good shape

First observation: There is a difference between a Yak-1 and a Yak-3. The difference is more than "2" ..., it's a fairly deadly fighter and made me check Wikipedia about this unit.

[Kerensky]

That was one of the oddities we discovered when rebalancing the Soviet Air Force in 1.04.
Yak 1 is meh, Yak 7 is meh, Yak 9D is meh, Yak 3 is UBER, Yak 9U is alright.

It's a bit odd that the Yak 3 is the amazing one, but its historical so we went with it, even though most people are used to 'higher number = better'

[Longasc]

The stats seem to fit the descriptions and reports about the fighters and their performance perfectly.
The surprise effect is there because the two Yaks use the same icon. The La-5 is easily recognized because of her radial engine, the Yak-3 looks like the other Yaks while clearly outperforming them.

But I see no way how to change the art asset to reflect different looks to other Yaks this without major work for the artists.

Consequently, the Luftwaffe issued an order to "avoid combat with Yak fighters without an oil cooler under the nose and with an inclined aerial mast below 5000 m". In fact, most of the Yak-3s had no mast, the aerial wire running from canopy to fin. Luftwaffe fighters in combat with the Yak-3 tried to use surprise tactics, attacking from above.

So watch for the nose and oil coolers below it, guys.


P.S. The battle for Kiev has been delayed because the nose of Herr General is running.

[Longasc]

9 turns in, everything is going well but Prestige is going down. Very interesting scenario.

BUG? - paratrooper transport above airfield 22,30 apparently never jumped/disembarked. Just stood there in the air and waited to be shot?

And something stupid, online-gaming related: Yak is worse than Lag.

[ivanov]

BUG? - paratrooper transport above airfield 22,30 apparently never jumped/disembarked. Just stood there in the air and waited to be shot?

Apparently that's intentional:

viewtopic.php?f=148&t=32084&start=40

[Longasc]

That's the situation after turn 11:

http://s14.directupload.net/images/120227/czmtydql.jpg

Repairing FW-190 isn't cheap, even with normal reinforcements. But I think I will make it through. Progress delayed by a flu. Tatsinskaya was definitely worse than this and I think it's fine as it is. UNLESS A IS-2 SPAM HAPPENS. But we will see!

[Kerensky]

There are no IS-2s in DLC 1943. There are only IS-1s.

[Zhivago]

There are no IS-2s in DLC 1944. There are only IS-1s.

Why not? The IS-2 went into service in April 1944. I just got done watching a documentary ("Greatest Tank Battles") about their use in 1944 on the Eastern Front. Seems they should definitely be included in DLC 1944.

[Kerensky]

Sorry, I fixed the post. We're still talking about DLC 1943 here.

[Longasc]

Will you delete the posts when I fix IS-2 to IS-1?

I am sorry but I am unlikely to finish the scenario even if I am at turn 11 already today or tomorrow, pretty busy.

But I think deducter's summary of 1943 is pretty much spot on:
I agree with Dnipropetrovsk (too easy to win even by accident) and I also run very low on Prestige during Kiev43. It's quite long and lots of units involved, the scenario per se is fine.

[Longasc]

Finished, made tons of Prestige in the final turns and there was NO IS-1 spam at the end.

It's quite fascinating how you turn the tide when attacking in the final third from the south and re-conquer lots of undefended cities.

[deducter]

One thing I thought was very important but forgot until now for this scenario: Why is this not the frozen tileset? This is Russia, in november/december. I very strongly suggest the change for better atmosphere, and for the otherwise sad fact that there is only 5-6 turns of snow in all of DLC43, which is absurd for fighting in Russia.

[ivanov]

One thing I thought was very important but forgot until now for this scenario: Why is this not the frozen tileset? This is Russia, in november/december. I very strongly suggest the change for better atmosphere, and for the otherwise sad fact that there is only 5-6 turns of snow in all of DLC43, which is absurd for fighting in Russia.

Isn't it too late to introduce the changes already? Apparently the DLC is due to be released on 7th of March?

[grabbysnatch]

Just finished the last scenario, the defence of Kiev. I enjoyed this scenario, although it was tough at times. The massed IS-1 attacks near the end of the scenario were a tough addition to the Russian forces, with only my Tigers and Elephant tanks having much success against them. The Russian air force was a constant thorn in my side. My only disappointment in this scenario was the threat of the russian winter, which never materialised. I only had snow one day! and the Ai's mass use of mass produced armoured cars!

thanks again for letting me test the ga,e. i will now restart at a harder level Rommel? roll on 44 DLC