Hitler Launches a Surprise Offensive into the Ardennes Forest!

[jasev]

Do I have your permission to upload it to the Spanish Site, Darthveda?

[DarthVeda]

¡Claro que sÃ!

[our_man]

Went home for a day and played the first two turns... I really, really liked it!

Unfortunately I then had to go back to University, so a detailed assessment will have to wait. First impressions though: look at those stats on the German tanks.

Heh, this is going to be a walkover! Aufwiedersehn Allies! Keep in mind I've only played two turns, so this might be grossly optimistic on my part.

Lots of really neat touches, very polished, a lot of work put in. I'd definitely like to see more like it, which is why I'm sad to here the news that you're planning to retire after Koyjitsu. I do hope you'll change your mind, the community needs designers like you DV!

Congrats on a great scenario!

[Cal]

Originally posted by our_man
First impressions though: look at those stats on the German tanks.

Heh, this is going to be a walkover! Aufwiedersehn Allies! Keep in mind I've only played two turns, so this might be grossly optimistic on my part.

Well, consider two things:

All cities are built on this land called: "urban," which gives a 150% defensive bonus. And, all of the cities have anti-tank defenses (city walls) which ups that by 3...

It's insane.

Of course, if you catch the allies out in the open then there's no contest.

[Boco]

Heh, this is going to be a walkover! Aufwiedersehn Allies!

For Xin Yu. Others may need a little practice.

Like Cal says, you can't count on most German tanks to defeat Allies in cities. On the first turn or so, the defenders have a lot of weaker units. That changes.

[Cal]

Originally posted by Boco
For Xin Yu. Others may need a little practice.

Anything's a walk over for Xin Yu.

And... it's good to see someone finally thought of a way to show where a city had been destroyed, by building them all on "rubble."

[DarthVeda]

Yeah if Xin Yu can completely beat this scenario I'll be impressed.

[Cal]

reports from the front

It's morning on Dec. 18th. After a night of sleep, and limited attacks, the soldiers at the front are ready to continue the assault. In the north, Sloumont was just taken and the drive forward will continue in the next few hours. Damn our enemies for cutting off the choke point at Trois Ponis. They are only delaying the inevitable.

Meanwhile, South St. Vith was taken the evening the day before, and an offensive is planned for today. Surveillance has indicated the east part of the city is within our reach, but only with the sacrifice of a great number of our troops. German High Command has yet to determine whether this falls within the acceptable number of casualties, and for now the enemy occupies both North and East St. Vith.

Meanwhile, after unpexcted delays, a number of tanks and volkssturm are moving toward Clervaux to take that city. Meanwhile, kubelwagons and several mobile infantry are making rounds along the area beyong Wiltz to determine if the defenses along that route are weak enough to cover the cost in time it would take to move troops over the broken roads.

What a great scenario. I wonder if I'm progressing fast enough... Will we be in Antwerp by January?

[Cal]

St. Vith Falls!

As dawn approached, German High Command pieced together the final steps of a plan to take St. Vith without suffering a single casualty! Many units lie depleted, but not destroyed, and East St. Vith fell into German hands at 9 am. Panther and Tiger tanks were immediately brought in to mop up the center of the city, and the North part of St. Vith braced for the worst. Fortunately the Allies will to defend the city was no match for German strategic might, and North St. Vith fell in a matter of hours. At the end of December 18th, St Vith was completely cleared of any remaining allied forces, and our panzers are already pushing beyond the city to continue the assault. The attack will continue as scheduled with little to no delay. As night fell, Clervaux was taken with the aid of what remains of the Luftwaffe, and forces are gathering for a combined thrust from both east and north positions, with the tanks done seizing St. Vith. Bastonge will soon be a stone throw's away, and is expected to fall either on the 19th, or the 20th at the latest. Then the drive to Nemur can continue. Born is untaken, though it is estimated that small village will have to be destroyed, eventually. Forces in the North have encountered roadblocks, and will need to return south so they can be put to better use.

Reports that the allied air force has arrived are alarming, but with luck, the beneficial weather will hold and the cities will remain poorly defended.

This is fun. It's like a mixture of Second Front (with fuel supplies) and Red Front (for huge scale, and units).

Strategy: Your worst enemies are casualties, and time. There are no barracks in the game. Luckily, there is a temporarily solution to running out of steam because your units are all in the red: whenever a unit takes a city, that unit will have its energy bar completely refilled. Exploit this. Otherwise, learn to time your attacks. After 3 pm, it'll be 9 pm, and night will fall. Your tanks should be inside cities resting to recover lost energy when night falls, and infantry become even more useless, because their movement slows down dramatically with the exception of fallschrim and the SS. Try to attack without losing units. Your tanks are invinceable out in the open, but when attacking cities, the allies get a 150% defense bonus, and then 3 times that result because of city walls. Read the guide, it has good strategy on what units to take cities with. Do not fear massive allied counterattacks in the early stages. Do not try to launch all-out attacks at night. Day is the best time for that. Use your kubelwagons both for reconaissance and to attack stranded units. There's nothing in the house rules that keeps you from attacking a unit with a kubelwagon, only bribing it. Go back and waste money to rush build units in your cities with supplies, it's worth it. It's a long journey to the front...

On a side note: After taking St. Vith, I am noticing up to 6 units appear right next to North St Vith every turn! I am very glad I didn't wait too long to take that city!

[kobayashi]

Wasting time and units on St Vith was a fatal mistake.

[FiGu]

Great Scenario! I just got it to work on my computer.

[DarthVeda]

Yeah resistance crops up for quite some time in St. Vith.... until the 23rd. It's not really hard to deal with. I just left a few armored units behind.

[Cal]

Originally posted by kobayashi
Wasting time and units on St Vith was a fatal mistake.

Huh? You mean it should just be bypassed completely?

Well, it's true it doesn't count at all towards objectives...

[DarthVeda]

I was pretty sure St. Vith was counted as an objective city? If it's not then it definately should be...

[Cal]

Originally posted by DarthVeda
I was pretty sure St. Vith was counted as an objective city? If it's not then it definately should be...

Oops, it seems you're right. They are objectives.

edit: St. Vith North isn't an objective.