[WarInEur] RE: WarInEur Digest, Vol 43, Issue 12

[Hansen]

John Pace writes:
Yes, however, while the soviets might be stronger, but so are the Germans.
In my experience, the biggest brake on the german attack on Russia is the
rail hex conversion.  With German able to build what they like, then the
Germans will have 6 RR and 6 Supply Units instead of the Barbarrosa 3 RR and
3 SupUnits.  So, with CWiE-2, the stronger Russian and stronger Axis order
of battle nicely counter-balance each other.

John Hansen writes:
And this brings us to a debate as to the purpose of WIE.

Is it a recreation where historical accuracy is desired? Is it a game where
game balance is desired? Is it a 'what if' simulation where competing 'what
ifs' can be tested? Is it a teaching tool that the evils of Nazi Germany are
to be exposed by seeing Germany consistently lose (I kid you not, that seems
to have been the purpose of one poster her)?

The answer is it can be all of these things. In theory, the 1941 scenario
gives you the most historically accurate simulation. In game terms, it is
also very likely to result in a German loss (probably worse than actual
history). The most common scenario is the 1939 start which lets the Germans
change their deployment and force mix while the Russians remain static.
While not as certain, a German loss is still likely.

Some of the non-historical aspects are built into the map (look at the
actual rail net into the Ukraine and you will see that the map was altered
to channel the German attack into the North in the first year and into the
south in the second year) as a means of trying to recreate the historical
flow. We also see other options (such as severe weather) that try to bring
back some balance to the German flexibility in production (e.g. not chaining
SUP for most of Russia).

One of the puzzling aspects of WWII was Stalin not seeing that he was next
on the hit parade. If you think about the number of divisions moved to the
west for France and then back to the east for barbarosa, you wonder how
Stalin's paranoia didn't go tilt. So the stronger Russia proposed may make
for a better game, but I don't think it is historical. Would Stalin have
instructed his border divisions to fortify because the Germans had 2x the
number of RR and SUP units? I don't think so. Those RR and SUP come at a
cost. It maybe U-boats, panzers or air planes, but something didn't get
built to achieve them.

So I like the idea of an option to have the soviets build up their units on
the border (I think CWIE1 does this to at least some degree). What concerns
me is that it seems to provide not for recreating the starting positions of
the Russian army, but rather something more. While I welcome just about any
option (you can always decline to use an option), I am not as keen for
something built into the standard game that deviates from the standard game.