'Tanks, more tanks, Tovarish!' - Red Star Review and Discuss

[Andy2012]

@Spike: I think you need to stick to the few roads and do not attack the northern secondary obj over the river. Instead, follow the road, then move east and south. Part of your force there already continues towards Viipurii. Bring tanks, but not too many.

[MarechalJoffre]

Your main axis of attack should come through the coastal road - with artillery and infantry, flame tanks help as well. You seemingly neglect it in this plan. Put the rest of your armor in the center to deal with Finnish tanks, and then push on north. Secondary objective on far right can be taken eventually, no need to commit major forces there. A tank and 1-2 infantry should do the trick.

[Andy2012]

@MarechalJoffre: I think your plan takes too much time in that terrain. Spikes and brus problems were time management, not taking Viipurii in the allotted time frame. The northern approach may just be the shortest in a straight line, but there are no secondaries on the way. I think a lot of the difficulty in Finland is how to use roads effectively and optimizing movement speed on roads.

[Andy2012]

Rasineiai. No, I did not deploy a heroic single KV-2. I strongly suggest you dont either. MVP here is, believe it or not, 2 Bofors AA without transport. If you lure the enemy tac bombers into their range, you have a decent chance of taking them all out and gaining air superiority. (Ahistorical, but possible)
I'll post my deployment below. But generally, there is no black magic to this. Golden OoB rules still apply:
1. Hide your AT in the forest behind your inf. Let the enemy tanks walk into that trap.
2. Have heavy arty posted, prioritise their fire missions. Either cripple the most dangerous enemy unit or the one you want to devastate in a counterattack.
3. Your T 34s are awesome for quick counterattacks and finishing off weakened enemy tanks. But replacements cost an arm and a leg, so just have 2-3 and dont move them into the range of the Wehrmacht's heavy arty. They should be a bit in the rear when not attacking.
4. Rotate shell-shocked units, dont spend on elite replacements for aux units.
5. Swarm enemy aircraft. Quality is not your thing, quantity.
6. Finish off weakened enemy units so they dont get reinforced the next turn when possible.
7. Killing a light tank counts towards your secondary tank objective, too.
8. Move the light tanks from the rear to your flanks, withdraw the light aux units to a more defensible location behind rivers.

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[bru888]

Andy, I am about to tackle Rasineiai today and if you read earlier, I am "nervous" about it. So thanks for these timely tips.

[PoorOldSpike]

Andy, I am about to tackle Rasineiai today and if you read earlier, I am "nervous" about it. So thanks for these timely tips.

I ahem- got a win in Raseiniai so if I might toss a couple of comments into the playpen-
Firstly time is on your side because the scen is only 15 turns long so it's a tall order for jerry to achieve the objs in time.
Secondly, rivers are on your side too and there are plenty of 'em, so I decided to hurl my tanks at him as he tried to cross this important one (below) and gave his units a bloody nose as they tried to scramble up the banks sopping wet..

[Andy2012]

@PoorOldSpike: Yes, rivers are a natural defense line. However, you are then in range of the Wehrmacht's heavy arty and AA cover instead of them being in your support unit's range. Why not let them overstretch themselves?

[PoorOldSpike]

@PoorOldSpike: Yes, rivers are a natural defense line. However, you are then in range of the Wehrmacht's heavy arty and AA cover instead of them being in your support unit's range. Why not let them overstretch themselves?

Yes, in a longer scenario I'd have played more carefully, but as Raseiniai was only 15 turns long I decided to hit him hard on the river line right from the start, so that when he eventually got across the river his survivors were in a badly battered state and in no condition to make it to the rear objectives as time was running out for him, and I got the win..

[bru888]

Wow, now I'm in a quandary about Rasineiai, like a stunned duck or a deer in headlights.

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What do I do? What do I do?

I'm afraid to proceed, fearing a total disaster.

[Andy2012]

@bru: Mine is more careful, Spikes more aggressive. I guess both work. Your choice.

[CoolDTA]

What do I do? What do I do?

I'm afraid to proceed, fearing a total disaster.

Spike's method is good for standalone, Andy's for campaign (there are battles to be fought after Raseiniai).

[GabeKnight]

What do I do? What do I do?

I'm afraid to proceed, fearing a total disaster.

Spike's method is good for standalone, Andy's for campaign (there are battles to be fought after Raseiniai).

My thoughts exactly. In standalone, you don't have to worry about the state of your core forces after the battle, because you get a ton of cash in every new scenario.
On the other hand, you miss the experience, commanders and spec rewards you'll get within campaigns (no big problem in RedStar, but it makes the Endsieg standalone scens very, very difficult, for example)

[bru888]

Rasineiai

I actually wasn't doing badly and I thought I could salvage a minor victory, but no. The Germans did an end run on Kelme which I foolishly left open while trying to bag the tank on the bridge.

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Lessons learned:
1) I am ceding air supremacy. It's not worth the RP's to do anything with the Soviet fighters available. I'll use those RP's for land unit upgrades and repairs.
2) I made a huge mistake with those KV-1 tanks - I forgot about the Unreliable trait - those are getting cashed in, fast.

My blood is up. I am going to beat this scenario even if I have to set it on baby difficulty to do so!

EDIT: I went back to the last campaign save to start over. You know that KV-1 m1940 they give you at the start of Rasineiai? I just cashed it in. I'll use the +31 RP as a down payment on a real tank.

[bru888]

Rasineiai

Things are looking up right now. I got this objective; I don't think I achieved it last time even though I was looking for it. I must have missed something:

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I have 14 tanks in the field, eight of them core, all BT-7's (quantity over quality, i.e., the KV-2 which costs a bundle). I just used some bonus RP's to purchase and deploy my ninth BT-7. Let's see if I can wear the enemy down with numbers.

[bru888]

Rasineiai

Well I'll be darned. I did it. I stood up like a MAN (on middle, not baby, difficulty), overcame my fears (deer in headlights, indeed ), took them on, and beat 'em! That is, I fulfilled the objectives for 15 turns to earn a victory. Nobody really beats the Germans in Rasineiai.

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Good thing it's only 15 turns even though I was still in good shape around the three primary VP's and could have held them off for several more turns, I think. Again, another finely balanced scenario (I am quite impressed in that regard with the results of these first 9 scenarios - all could have gone either way on middle difficulty; had to play hard; lost twice).

Some interesting points (at least to me):

• As stated, I went without any air units. They have only three bombers and two fighters; I let them do their worst and many times they picked on conscripts and recon anyway.

• I made lots of sacrifices to delay the onslaught; I deliberately advanced AT guns, conscripts, recon, and weak infantry as decoys to hold up the German advance.

• I kept my experienced heavy infantry camped around the three primary VP's. By the time the Germans were approaching them, they were weakened and would have had a hard time taking them.

• We mobbed their big tanks like this one, taking a lot of losses per attack but wearing them down for the kill:

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I goof around here ("What do I do? What do I do?" ) but I really was concerned about this one and I was hoping that I would not have to lower the difficulty or nuke to get past it. I have a feeling of satisfaction that I prevailed and lived to fight another day!

Rasineiai.zip

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[CoolDTA]

Wow, you are The Man! I'm not sure I could've won with what you had. Luckily BT-7s are cheap to repair which should help a bit. And I do love their speed.

Not that it matters, but the enemy has only two bombers (maybe you were distracted by the Me-110). Not deploying any air but only perhaps AA or two saves RPs. Definitely the right choice.

But this imo not:

EDIT: I went back to the last campaign save to start over. You know that KV-1 m1940 they give you at the start of Rasineiai? I just cashed it in. I'll use the +31 RP as a down payment on a real tank.

Yes, it has the the Unreliable trait, but you don't really need to move it much and it is so very powerful in defense. IIRC I moved it two hexes in the first turn and then just let it stay put like a fortress. But whatever works for you is fine in the end.

Now on to Smolensk. Since you got over this hurdle, you will win there for sure.

[CoolDTA]

My field trip in Russia and surroundings has also continued:

8. Viipuri 1940, concludes the Winter War

Your biggest enemy may be the poor movement of all other units but tanks, so consider this when deploying units. Most of my army plowed through in the middle with smaller detachments to guard the flanks. This is a simple frontal assault which should pose little difficulties despite some minor Finnish counterattacks. Wiped the map with the exception of that airstrip NW. I suppose Gabe took even that with an amphibious assault.

9. Rasainiai, first battle in summer 1941 vs. strong German attacks

A lot of RPs will be consumed to buy all the possible upgrades such as the new shiny T-34s. I think the best way to tackle this one is to retreat somewhat beyond the reach of enemy arty, blunt the enemy attacks and then retake the objectives needed for a win. I chose a more forward defense and while I kept even all secondary objectives throughout the scenario, it probably cost too many RPs. Anyway, as usual keep your tanks in the open and infantry in cover. Back the latter up with AT if you have any, but those "little forty-fives" don't help much. Luftwaffe is very powerful. Deploying some AA is worth it.

10. Smolensk, player needs to defend the region of Smolensk

This is a much easier defensive battle because you have good ground to utilize. I placed my defenses along the river lines north and south of Smolensk with the city being the central hub. Mines are probably useful, too. I placed one minefield a bit west of Smolensk in the chokepoint. After the enemy attacks have petered out, you can either calmly wait for the scenario to end or let them have it. When destroying the seven enemy armoured vehicles (secondary objective), it is advisable that two of them are Pz.Kpfw. 38 (t)s.

[PoorOldSpike]

Viipuri falls at last..
This was my 4th attempt, I took the advice of you guys and went the short route up the coast on the left this time, and was in Viipuri city in plenty of time for tea and crumpets.
The two objs on the right also fell easily enough to the smaller advances I had down there.
Well that's it, I've won all 13 Red Star scens at last and nanny is so proud that's she's treating me to a showing of her Mary Poppins video..

[CoolDTA]

Viipuri falls at last..

Good job, Spike! I guess nanny instructed you: "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again." She will surely offer you some tea and crumpets with the video.

[PoorOldSpike]

Now that I've cut my teeth on Red Star's 13 standalone scens and- ahem- won them all, I'm thinking of trying the campaign.
I dabbled in campaigns with some of the other DLC's about a year ago but didn't like the way the computer told me I'd lost the campaign early on, so I had to restart a whole new campaign from scratch, grrrr..
Don't all you campaign buffs mind when that happens to you?
It means you'll never get to play later scenarios doesn't it?