At first, I thought the new Air CRT with the Heavy Damage and Press was a nice addition.
But after using it, I'm of the belief the revised CRT skews the air-war toward the Soviet side. Even for a lowly -1 attack, there is a 33% chance that your all important Stuka will now find it's way to the Suppressed and Damaged Pile. Previously at -1, there was 0% chance for the Stuka to become Suppressed.
And It carries through. It becomes 50% when you include the Press option at +1 and above. I know I'd gladly sacrifice a Soviet Fighter to get rid of the most potent weapon in the Axis arsenal.
And now that the Stuka is damaged AND Suppressed, it is out till 3 turns later, given the fact that the Axis do not have an abundance of FPs to Rush Recover.
First, we have to accept the Axis Air Superiority at the start of Barbarossa is paramount to get those CAS shifts with their attacks to keep the front moving. More important, the red bolt is even more critical. I also don't think the Soviets need more help.
I would expect that it becomes even worse later in the war, when the Soviet Air Force appears in force.
Anyone else notice that?
Brian
As the Germans you have limited FPs but Rush Repairing Stukas may be Fuel-worthy. During "Free Stuff" you have another chance but it is not free. A damaged and suppressed Stuka could fly the next turn.
I get all that. But the FPs are not there to spend. Can the German afford to Rush recover Stukas all Summer. They don't have the FPs to do that!
10 Steps per turn are definitely overkill - and would spell a game over to the Soviets before the end of the summer. In the first turns, and for 1-2 turns later on there will be similar losses but that's definitely not the norm. Soviets do not replace 10 steps per turn past the first 2 months. In general in September Soviet replacements are relatively low.
I suggested in the past the change that EX sets the attacked to pick both losses, and ST sets the defender to do so. It may mitigate to an extent the panzer-bleed of unlucky rolls.
Also I feel a worthy mechanic the addition of a NE or AL (maybe also AP) result in combat 'spending' the units that attacked, having them forfeit the regular movement phase (The attack conceptually disorganizes them / set them in disarray). That should punish low tier attacks that go wrong.
Last, to mitigate the first turn bad rolls and stuff - Blitzkrieg card on surprise attack allows two dies to be rolled (for both combat AND overruns) and the German player selects which result they favor. - Plus as part of Mute Response, Soviets cannot set in Offensive mode their HQ in their subsequent turn (as per Jun4). This should not affect Soviet losses greatly, more so avoids potential ruinous EX and ST results in T1 for Germans.
Jericho Trumpets card is great btw . it gives an excellent vibe of the Stuka dread in the opening of the war, considering that card may also work for Poland, Yugoslavia, Benelux, etc.
As the Germans you have limited FPs but Rush Repairing Stukas may be Fuel-worthy. During "Free Stuff" you have another chance but it is not free. A damaged and suppressed Stuka could fly the next turn.
Another grand issue that is a game breaking factor (at least for me) is that if in the early turns an amount of EX results are rolled on the ground, it's GG already as Germans lose panzers, thus lose push, and it snowballs from there.
And the EX is also in 4-1 and 5-1.
Funny, but I am encountering the same thing. ST and EX are killing me and I'm attacking at 4-1 and 5-1. That's just not fair to have equal losses at such overwhelming odds. At 5-1, I don't expect these heroic defenses so often. I would hope to get my LW involved to at least have the chance to push it over 6-1, but there are not enough Red bolts or AC available for the number of attacks needed to keep the Soviets off-balance (some say 10 steps per turn ... but that means up to 10 battles per turn), and the Stukas are subject to more Suppression with the new Air CRT and aren't available for 3 turns.
German Airfields should be Average targets.
Soviet Airfields should be Soft targets.
That is quite easy and straightforward.
Yes in '42 - I've not got there but it's really easy math - the VVS will just own the Luftwaffe badly. Math is not an opinion.
The issue has been pointed out already, the VVS will be huge, will recover as much as Luftwaffe in Summer, and twicefold in bad weather.
Plus VVS has FP for rushes. Germany hasn't. (And if they've 12 FP per season for their totality of Theathers, sorry but that won't really work. Especially against Allies that will have matching quality planes, excess of Fuel, and recover adequately).
Germans need more planes (litterally, more air units) - probably also better planes later on.
The combat char can be playtested. Depending on how it goes, maybe the lower columns or so can be altered to a degree. Premature to say. In one of my games the VVS was already giving hell to the Luftwaffe in September '41 with the old table.
In my last 2 games vs Jay - who is definitely a good player, from my perspective - Soviets had a relatively easy life once the first turns of 'panic' elapse.
Another grand issue that is a game breaking factor (at least for me) is that if in the early turns an amount of EX results are rolled on the ground, it's GG already as Germans lose panzers, thus lose push, and it snowballs from there.
And the EX is also in 4-1 and 5-1.
I had a game where in the first two turns I lost 7 panzer steps due to EX results (or maybe ST if only panzers are attacking or being counterattacked at low odds). Ontop of infantries.
That spells the glorious end of a campaign already. With a neat and tidy Soviet victory.
Reiterating, currently Germany has inferior troops, better (but way less) planes, way less resources and in general inferior cards. On the long run who is to play the Axis in a game that screams 'You're the sore loser' since the beginning?
The ETO Rules where updated with an escape. See 352.1
When performing your Aircraft Maintenance Routine (342.1), any of your Air units in the FLOWN box may join (enter) the Air Reserve.
At least you can move planes to Air Reserve and not get the bombed to the destroyed box. Build some FLAK and return to your usual airbases. This should help in the Battle of Britain.
Wow, I wanted the Soft only to apply to the Russians last Spring, though I was new to the Development team and may not have said much. I think there was some larger ETO argument against this expressed recently at CSW. I welcome today's changes, though the Air v Air problems of '42 need to be encountered/tested. The Germans can sometimes get a jump on the Russians with Airfields Attacks for a few turns with their new Air Offensive card, but I really don't think it's enough. I got crazy lucky doing it as Germans vs Jeff and Alan (who rolled badly with theirs) in May of '42, but I remain skeptical. This will likely be sorted out in the near future--whatever the case really is.
In the "0" column a rolled 6 is back to the DA result from DP.
But the H loss is still there? That still puts the Axis under Suppression twice as fast (33% vs. 16.7%). It's good there may be some Card selections, BUT, then they can't use the Cards for the offensives as they try to salvage an air force. I hope that plays out well during play testing.
I regret supporting Airfields as Soft--it's a fiasco, since the VVS can keep the Luftwaffe Suppressed all summer with average luck.
Dave, my thought process was never to make the Axis Soft, but just those nations that have Hindered Air Forces, like the Soviets. If you think about it, Hindered nations are those with poor infrastructure and poor ground crews. They do poor things, like failing to store fuel properly, poor ammunition storage, leaving a/c parked and lined up, etc. Made sense, no?
And it wouldn't even have needed any additional rules, just one line. "Airfield Attacks against Hindered Nations are Soft Targets." All the other rules exist already.
Brian
There was a slight change today in the Air CRT. In the "0" column a rolled 6 is back to the DA result from DP. There was also a return to a earlier ETO set of rules involving plane losses with CAS missions. Together the changes will decrease the flow of air units to the Destroyed Box. It is very true the Germans can not use FPs like the Russians. Card selections can help in the air war. July 41 is a special time that does not return but, some air missions are possible on most turns with the superior recovery the Germans enjoy.
Dave, for the record ... I'm playing with the ETO v042 rules and the 0.4 Update Kit/Cards.
FYI, Jay is "minding the store" on past rules and evaluating playtesting. I'm out in the field forging the additional materiel that ETO will require and I "visit Jay at the store" to address everyone's concerns every day or few. We have addressed this, and I'll let Jay bring you up to speed. :D
These are the views of one playtester (YMMV): Since Sielski and I both perceive a major Russian edge, we naturally agree on this. Until or unless playtesting by others support our view sufficiently, there likely won't be a change, and I understand. I also realize that Sielski and I are not using the exact same rules. There is real trouble, IMO, in '42 with the VVS dominating the Luftwaffe. I regret supporting Airfields as Soft--it's a fiasco, since the VVS can keep the Luftwaffe Suppressed all summer with average luck. There are other problems though. While the VVS Air only recover at 50+%, they have such a large Air Force (most of 23+ Soviet Air end up on the Air Mat by mid '42) that it is almost equal to the number of Axis Air that Recover during ideal weather, and much better during poor weather. The Russians can Rush much more (18 FP per Season vs 7), and the .5 FP cost for most of their Air is a factor. Only the Russians can afford to really Press--which is a cool result. 1941 was okay with this ACT until Army Org'n became unavailable early on, and the advent of Resiliency, Refugees, Leading Strong, etc. Many (but not all) of the new rules are very good for story boarding and fun, but collectively I perceive real imbalance. I hope for balance without losing certain of these new rules I really like. I need to do more testing. If I find that my judgment re balance is off, I will certainly post re that. I keep an open mind.
Glad things get playtested. Sometimes, the original idea was fine. ;-)
Well, that's what playtesting is for. I'm sure the team will be discussing...