Odessa in ETO

How are people defending Odessa? It doesn't start with a garrison (let alone a hardened one) or an IDM. The only way you can get a hardened garrison there is if you play the Medium card that allows you to do it (sorry, forgot the card name, it's the one that allows you to convert 4 IDMs or garrisons to Fortified defenses or hardened garrisons respectively). The earliest and probably the only opportunity to do this is in the August I turn (you can't get a Medium card before then as the Soviets). That would seem to be the prescribed/mandatory play if you are to get anywhere near the historical result of having the city hold out for a 10 week siege. Without a hardened garrison, I don't see how it can hold out that long even with a maximum stack (14 defense) as any retreat result will kill the stack.

6 comments

6 Comments

Gerald Johnson

Jan 28, 2020

If the Russians invest the troops, you will need HQ support and some planes. You might be waiting for a good roll.

rslloyd16

Jan 22, 2020

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I have to agree it is a tough nut. In my campaign the Germans have left it alone until March 1942. It has a fort and a hard garrison so I am thinking it is going to take a major air offensive and HQ support to have a chance. Would also be pleased for tips on this one.

sielski

Jan 22, 2020

I concur with David, I typically leave a covering garrison to bottle up the Soviets. It is just to much of an investment to take. I would not be advancing elsewhere along the front if I had to divert so many resources.

Don't forget, Odessa is a hard city, so the SPs of the attacker are halved ... So you're 14 SPs on defense are like 28 SPs! Plus you get a -1 on the attack, and an IP, so that is -2. ANNNNNNDDDDDDD, there are only two hexes to come from with an Axis attack. How does the Axis even get to 1:1 with only 2 hexes to attack from? You can use a river crossing card, but that is only good for 1 chance to use 3 hexes, so no guarantee you'll get anything out of it either.

So it seems pretty solid even without the -2Fort ... which would make it -3.

My question is HOW does the Axis take Odessa, without stopping his own advance elsewhere? He can't. So this falls short of historical possibilities. The Soviets invest so little there, and can hold out into perpetuity.

Maybe in our game Graham, I'll actually invest the resources, and we can see how it messes up the Axis.

Brian

Gordon Johansen

Jan 25, 2020

Replying to

Did something change with hardened cities? The charts say that only heavy units are halved. While tough, it is certainly not doubled. In most cases, I doubt if armour would be involved in the attack anyway. I will certainly admit that it is unlikely to get more than 3:2 plus HQ support and air on it in most cases. With the -2 shifts and perhaps one for Soviet naval support, this is not a fun attack for the Axis.

David Brown

Jan 25, 2020

Replying to

@Gordon Johansen I missed this error. Yes, only Heavy units are halved when attacking Hard Targets. You will want a Small Heavy at least, so as to benefit from Heavy CS. A Pz Army is helpful when facing a Hardened Garrison during Clement ground conditions, so that an Overrun is possible (24/2 is enough to qualify), or an Airborne Paradrop.

David Brown

Jan 21, 2020

Odessa is not appealing to me as an Axis player early on, so I usually bypass it. It's vulnerable, yet several turns of valuable time can be lost attacking Odessa if unlucky. The Soviets cannot Demobilize or Naval Transport out of there except for Small units, so an 8-4, two Garrisons, IDM and a Battleship.