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Hello all!
Below is the situation, with 4 of 6 Round 1 games completed. The Margit Island/Budapest battle has about 11-12 minutes left, and the Balatonfokajar battle has around 7-8 minutes left. I don't think it is a meaningful spoiler to either side to say the latter battle isn't going great for the Germans. The unit losses may not align with what you may expect, but read on....
The rest of this posting will cover some learnings from the Round 1 battles, and the adjustments that I will be making to TRACK BATTLES in Round 2 to keep the campaign viable and a good challenge for both sides. At this point I do not see a need to adjust the Budapest battles.
What I Thought Would Happen:
Given that the Germans held the advantages of 1) Attack battle type and 2) access to Reserves with better quality units and a +10% QB points bonus, I expected the German team to win a majority of the battles. I understood that some maps (ex: Tolna) would be inherently tougher than others, and that time would be a huge factor. But I thought the Germans would have 1) sufficient points to achieve a quality over quantity superiority, and 2) the ability to gain local superiority at points of attack vs. Soviets having defending multiple objectives on a large map.
What Actually Happened:
The Germans will only win 1 Track victory this round.
3 of the 5 battles were decided within the first half of the allotted 30 minute time.
4 of the 6 German tank units currently on the board have been eliminated, which represents 50% of the total tank force that will be available in Round 2.
Both sides made some mistakes that contributed to the outcomes. Failures to understand the set-up zones, optimize soft factors, and tweak vehicle allocation were noted. There were some questionable choices in how attacks were managed. Some attack plans were inherently “high risk, high reward,” took the gamble due to the time constraints, and ultimately lost. Whether all actually required rushing headlong into enemy fire to beat the clock is debatable, but in some cases it was understandable.
I’ll single out @Aurelius for an adept, delaying defense against @dkchapuis who also had a good plan at Zamoly, and @Brille for a fantastic use of smoke in the first third of the Tokod game to get his forces in position for the main attack.
The matrix below shows the outcomes relative to key map parameters.
Observations:
Lastly:
I believe that the overwhelming German tank unit losses in Round 1 reduces the probability of German success so much as to be “campaign breaking.” As a result of this and understanding that campaign design fueled some of these losses, I have additionally decided to replace some of the lost panzer battalions and instead account for losses by eliminating the alternate battalion in the formation. I rolled a 1D6 for each lost unit, and on a 4,5,or 6, switched out the tank Bn loss with the alternate Bn. 23rd Pz Div (Vertes) and 3rd SS Pz Div (Velence) found extra panzers to maintain 1 Bn. 6th Pz Div (Gerecse) and 3rd Pz Div (Balaton - assuming a loss here) had their Panzer Bn eliminated per the rules. The campaign map reflects this.
Hopefully everyone understands the need for significant adjustments, and can find them palatable. Most importantly, I hope everyone can get on board with each round taking 15 turns longer.
There's always a risk of swinging the pendulum too far the other way; if that happens, I'll adjust again for Round 3.
Thanks all! Soon we will move to team planning for Round 2!
Below is the situation, with 4 of 6 Round 1 games completed. The Margit Island/Budapest battle has about 11-12 minutes left, and the Balatonfokajar battle has around 7-8 minutes left. I don't think it is a meaningful spoiler to either side to say the latter battle isn't going great for the Germans. The unit losses may not align with what you may expect, but read on....
The rest of this posting will cover some learnings from the Round 1 battles, and the adjustments that I will be making to TRACK BATTLES in Round 2 to keep the campaign viable and a good challenge for both sides. At this point I do not see a need to adjust the Budapest battles.
What I Thought Would Happen:
Given that the Germans held the advantages of 1) Attack battle type and 2) access to Reserves with better quality units and a +10% QB points bonus, I expected the German team to win a majority of the battles. I understood that some maps (ex: Tolna) would be inherently tougher than others, and that time would be a huge factor. But I thought the Germans would have 1) sufficient points to achieve a quality over quantity superiority, and 2) the ability to gain local superiority at points of attack vs. Soviets having defending multiple objectives on a large map.
What Actually Happened:
The Germans will only win 1 Track victory this round.
3 of the 5 battles were decided within the first half of the allotted 30 minute time.
4 of the 6 German tank units currently on the board have been eliminated, which represents 50% of the total tank force that will be available in Round 2.
Both sides made some mistakes that contributed to the outcomes. Failures to understand the set-up zones, optimize soft factors, and tweak vehicle allocation were noted. There were some questionable choices in how attacks were managed. Some attack plans were inherently “high risk, high reward,” took the gamble due to the time constraints, and ultimately lost. Whether all actually required rushing headlong into enemy fire to beat the clock is debatable, but in some cases it was understandable.
I’ll single out @Aurelius for an adept, delaying defense against @dkchapuis who also had a good plan at Zamoly, and @Brille for a fantastic use of smoke in the first third of the Tokod game to get his forces in position for the main attack.
The matrix below shows the outcomes relative to key map parameters.
| Map | Outcome | German Casualties | Soviet Casualties | # Objectives Taken | Original Size (m, LxW) | Original Distance from Start Line to Objectives (m) |
| Tokod | German Major Victory | 45% | 61% | 1 of 2; +1 contested | 1248x1008 | 500-800 |
| Tolna | Soviet Total Victory | 51% | 16% | 0 of 1 | 1616x1232 | 1200 |
| Zamoly | Draw | 35% | 51% | 1 of 3; +1 contested | 1056x1088 | 690-740 |
| Osi | Soviet Major Victory | 63% | 42% | 1 of 3 | 1360x1376 | 440-1000 |
| Balatonfok… | TBD | TBD | TBD | 0 of 2 | 1280x1440 | 700-900 |
Observations:
- The two most competitive games for the attacker were on the smallest maps with the shortest distance between start lines and objectives.
- Even when having a 1.6-1.8 QB points ratio due to the combination of 'Attack'-type battles and +10% QB bonus points in some battles, the Soviets were still able to deploy 200-450 troops in multiple companies to defend. In most cases the Germans were attacking into at least 2:1 odds, and as high as 3:1 (excluding Tolna). This proved to be too many Soviets for the Germans to kill or bypass in the allotted time.
- German forces did not have sufficient time to recon, identify centers of resistance, and react while maintaining an advance across the long distances between start lines and objectives. This limited many of the inherent German “quality” advantages. German strategy was effectively limited to “command push,” with little possibility of adjustment to plans. The time limit pushed commanders to “high risk, high reward” play.
- Track battles will be extended to 45 minutes in duration, to allow options for something other than “command push.”
- German offensive actions will be Attacks, not Probes. This change is necessary due to the purchasing imbalance in raw units between German and Soviet forces. My playtesting suggests that Soviet offensive actions are best as Probes, so this will not change.
- The loss of unit for victorious ATTACKERS with a >60% casualty rate will continue to be waived. However, victorious DEFENDERS can still lose a unit if they suffer >60% casualties.
- Map changes:.
- Maps will be “smaller,” either in overall size, or in distance between start lines and objectives.
- More consideration has been given to set a number of objectives that allows greater choice in attacker strategy for which objectives to take/contest, and which to ignore. This will also spread out defenders.
| Map | Original Size (m, LxW) | Original Distance from Start Line to Objectives (m) | Original Number of Objectives (#) | Rd 2 Size (m, LxW) | Rd2 Distance from Start Line to Objectives (m) | Rd2 Number of Objectives (#) |
| Tokod/Dorog | 1248x1008 | 500-800 | 2 | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Tolna | 1616x1232 | 1200 | 1 | 1232 x 1136 | 550-650 | 3 |
| Zamoly | 1056x1088 | 690-740 | 3 | 1072x1088 | 500-650 | 3 |
| Osi | 1360x1376 | 440-1000 | 3 | 1360x1040 | 300-500 | 3 |
| Balatonfok… | 1280x1440 | 700-900 | 2 | 1280x1440 | 200-800 | 5 |
Lastly:
I believe that the overwhelming German tank unit losses in Round 1 reduces the probability of German success so much as to be “campaign breaking.” As a result of this and understanding that campaign design fueled some of these losses, I have additionally decided to replace some of the lost panzer battalions and instead account for losses by eliminating the alternate battalion in the formation. I rolled a 1D6 for each lost unit, and on a 4,5,or 6, switched out the tank Bn loss with the alternate Bn. 23rd Pz Div (Vertes) and 3rd SS Pz Div (Velence) found extra panzers to maintain 1 Bn. 6th Pz Div (Gerecse) and 3rd Pz Div (Balaton - assuming a loss here) had their Panzer Bn eliminated per the rules. The campaign map reflects this.
Hopefully everyone understands the need for significant adjustments, and can find them palatable. Most importantly, I hope everyone can get on board with each round taking 15 turns longer.
There's always a risk of swinging the pendulum too far the other way; if that happens, I'll adjust again for Round 3.
Thanks all! Soon we will move to team planning for Round 2!
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Last edited:
(he did it again last night)
