"All Hitler wants me to do..." - TOAW III AAR

[Stealhead]

Is this the Bulge scenario that comes with TOAWIII?

Mine does not have the mountain/hill icons. Or maybe you are using the optional icons.

Oh this is the Ardennes secnario.Pretty good one.

[Oberon]

I must get TOAWIII one of these days, I had some sort of version of it a veeeery long time ago on a CD with Grigsbys Battle of Britain and...I think Gettysburg. Stupid me lost the damn disc back before I came to realise what I had. It confused the heck out of me back then, and I'm sure it'd confuse the heck out of me now, but the scenarios look fantastic.

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by Oberon

It confused the heck out of me back then, and I'm sure it'd confuse the heck out of me now, but the scenarios look fantastic.

Honestly TOAW does not have an overly complex set of rules.You just have to remember to give each stack their orders(dig in,reserve,that sort of thing).I find it much easier than HOI3 to attack and defend.You can also very easily order units to be in reserve.Also the stacks much more logically support each other.It seems pretty easy to me not to say that wining is easy but I can defend and advance as I want to/need to in order to deal with the developing situation if I begin to loose it is not due to failure to use stacks properly.

[Crécy]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

Oh this is the Ardennes secnario.Pretty good one.

Yes. It seems to be quite well done. I'm not sure how it will handle the fuel and ammo shortage, though. Is it just reduced supplies or is it not represented. Or can it even be accurately represented in this game.

Originally Posted by Oberon

I must get TOAWIII one of these days, I had some sort of version of it a veeeery long time ago on a CD with Grigsbys Battle of Britain and...I think Gettysburg. Stupid me lost the damn disc back before I came to realise what I had. It confused the heck out of me back then, and I'm sure it'd confuse the heck out of me now, but the scenarios look fantastic.

It's not too expensive even now, around £33, but I if you are not in rush to get it I'd recommend waiting for the matrixgames' holiday sales which begins in November. I'm waiting for it to grab WitE, which is way too expensive for me now.

As Steelhead pointed out, TOAW is not too complicated. Basically you can learn the fundamentals in a day but it will take some time to learn to use your forces effectively. I haven't learned to use them effectively. As it might be seen in the updates (and perhaps that's the reason I haven't delved in particular battles but have been only reporting in larger scale )

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by Crécy

Yes. It seems to be quite well done. I'm not sure how it will handle the fuel and ammo shortage, though. Is it just reduced supplies or is it not represented. Or can it even be accurately represented in this game.

It says in the description that the Germans get a temporary supply boost for capturing Allied depots marked with a "*" after the village name.I think the fuel shortage is designed into this particular scenario of course it means low on all supplies.Most of the scenarios use different means to simulate things that the TOAW engine is unable to fully.

The game does have a pretty good supply system except it simulates all supplies.(which is some what realistic typically the most effective army does have all of the supplies that it needs.)

Anyway what said is true about unit types you do have to use them correctly or you will not get the best results.There are many different unit icons but the unit size is important.Page 30 and 31 tell you what the unit cards and all the numbers mean.One thing you should look for is an "E" on an enemy unit card (assuming you have the recon to know his disposition) and "E" means that unit is entrenched and will be very hard to assault.The numbers on the bottom left are the units attack strength and on the bottom right are its defensive strength. For example in the 3rd post the 2nd regiment of the 3rdFJ(near the hill) it has a fairly strong attack and offensive ability.

Page 80 and 81 lists all of the unit icons if you are curious it can be hard to remember all of them.

[Stealhead]

Something else I forgot to mention are HQs they have a control radius that normally is not shown on the map.

In the "radio" section (right hand side of the screen) the 4th button down in the left most vertical row if you cycle that button one shows the command radius of HQ units.It will also show the attack radius of any artillery or air unit as well if you select such a unit.

[Crécy]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

It says in the description that the Germans get a temporary supply boost for capturing Allied depots marked with a "*" after the village name.I think the fuel shortage is designed into this particular scenario of course it means low on all supplies.Most of the scenarios use different means to simulate things that the TOAW engine is unable to fully.

The game does have a pretty good supply system except it simulates all supplies.(which is some what realistic typically the most effective army does have all of the supplies that it needs.)

I suppose it's abstracted to that then. I imagine it would be too hard or even impossible to simulate running out of fuel for a turn or two for this engine.

Originally Posted by Stealhead

Anyway what said is true about unit types you do have to use them correctly or you will not get the best results.There are many different unit icons but the unit size is important.Page 30 and 31 tell you what the unit cards and all the numbers mean.One thing you should look for is an "E" on an enemy unit card (assuming you have the recon to know his disposition) and "E" means that unit is entrenched and will be very hard to assault.The numbers on the bottom left are the units attack strength and on the bottom right are its defensive strength. For example in the 3rd post the 2nd regiment of the 3rdFJ(near the hill) it has a fairly strong attack and offensive ability.

Page 80 and 81 lists all of the unit icons if you are curious it can be hard to remember all of them.

I think I have a decent grasp of the fundamentals of hex-and-counter wargaming as I've played tabletop wargames and computer wargames since I was a child.

I guess what I meant with not having learned to use forces effectively is that I have a feeling I'm not using units as effectively as they could be or not conducting attacks as effectively as they could be. To prove my statement I've been attacking Clervaux with Panzer Lehr and it being a fairly large town and with a battalion of entrenched infantry defending it, attacking with armoured and mechanized units is definitely not that effective.

Originally Posted by Stealhead

Something else I forgot to mention are HQs they have a control radius that normally is not shown on the map.

In the "radio" section (right hand side of the screen) the 4th button down in the left most vertical row if you cycle that button one shows the command radius of HQ units.It will also show the attack radius of any artillery or air unit as well if you select such a unit.

Thanks! Was wondering about that.

[Crécy]

[All screenshots also show the allied turn of December 19th as they got to move at once December 18th was concluded. Arrow styles are outrageously stolen from Raptor1...]

December 18th, 1944


6th SS Panzer army sector

3. Panzergrenadier division reinforced the northernmost sector. The weak gap East of Monschau came crumbling down and the Americans broke through. The gap will be plucked with the newly arrived 246. Volksgrenadier division. I could also send the 2.SS Panzer division there but as I don't expect any real advance made in the Monschau sector I'd rather send it through Losheim gap.

In the breakout the three divisions didn't make any real advances. Peiper and 12SS reached Stavelot and Malmedy but didn't manage to dislodge the engineer companies located there. Perhaps because armoured elements do not excel in attacking across a river to a town...

Also more allied reinforcements arrived from the West. The 82nd Airborne division seems to have settled East of Werbomont while the other units fortified the Malmedy-Savelot sector and Monschau.

1SS pushed towards St. Vith, even though it was meant to be left for the 5th Panzer army, mainly to help it fall more quickly and because allied units had time to block the roads leading there. Taking St. Vith will open a new avenue of approach.




5th Panzer army sector

Führer Begleit and 116Pz division arrived at the gates of St. Vith and it should fall within the next day with joint attack of 1SS division from the North. After taking St. Vith, Führer Bglt and 116Pz will attack Vielsalm with 1SS Panzer division.

2Pz division advanced 25 kilometers West unopposed and took Houffalize. They were stopped by American combat commands near Noville. Aggressive move left an opening for the allied units and they retook Heinerscheid.

Panzer Lehr is still banging its head against Clervaux. I should have ordered them to go around it from the North and bypassed the town or got some infantry regiments to help taking it.

26. VG division crossed the river and headed into American infantry battalions and a regiment from the just arrived 101st Airborne division.




7th Army sector

Ettelbruck finally fell in the attack of the 3FJ division. 276VG and 352VG divisions attacked the Beaufort pocket but the weakened Americans unit slipped past them.

A strong combat command of mixed armoured units showed up from the South and cut the 212VG division from its headquarters in Echternach. 7th Army is just too weak to do anything else but tie up American forces and distract them. In a few days a Führer grenadier regiment should be received as a reinforcement and it will certainly help holding the Patton's vanguard, at least to some degree.





Positions in the morning of the 19th