Presentation and pep talk

When you have the Vassal program showing the map, one of the File Options is Begin Logfile. You will be asked to name the Save File you are now starting. You then do your turn. As you move a unit it will be flagged with a small MOVED flag on the right side. You can reset the moves with the Last tab on the top [MOV]. You can also right click and see the movement trail. When tou are done with your turn, return to the File menu and select End logfile.

You can attch the save file to an email and other player can use it to load the game. The 2nd button under Tools in the Upper Left corner will advance one step with each click. You can type messages in the top window as you are moving your units if items need to be explained. They will be part of the logfile.

I usually connect to roll the battles online. It is the easier way to pick losses and retreat locations. A full turn would be a starting logfile by the Germans ending with the battles marked. On-line battles. The next logfile would be the German Regular move. The Soviet player then starts their turn. If there is combat, maybe a connection is needed. Often it is fine for them to roll the combat if there is one.

For many turn in the summer of 1941, the Soviet player can do their full turn on a single logfile.

Let me know if you have any issues.

About the fuel, I get it that there is almost no way you can cut the fuel supply of the USSR. I realised that when I was looking for a long term objective for the axis, something different then "make encirclements, remove some ennemy steps". Focusing on cities with a PP production also seems a good choice to me, but it takes ages to pay off.

Gerald, I'm not affraid off looking what my opponent may or may not do, help him with supply and so on. I'm more affraid he gets bored during my turn !

I am not sure about how you play via e-mail. " e4xd5" is not enough for Tite, unlike chess :)

The Caucasus is almost impossible to take against a skillful defense with a lot of time. The Don river is quite a barrier for both sides. I have played slowly and really too well much of the time when solo or by email, which favors defense. Another way to play defense is to survey the situation and then follow rather strictly the SOP, and proceed north to south or at least not too slowly. Factor counting with critical battles doesn't take long, and most do it. This approach results in plenty of colorful mistakes, and a greater variety of outcomes. If you want a game to stay close for a long time, you can help a side that seems behind by allowing more time for its moves. I like to help by engineering weather in a variety of ways; roll for weather twice and pick preferred result; reroll extreme weather that favors the winning side; or just call it. For live play, it's possible to give each other breaks on obvious oversights, which makes players more comfortable about playing faster. The Go analogy is interesting. Sometimes large pockets are nearly getting sealed for a while, with desperate counterattacks, and sometimes they close. Of course, the destruction of the units is not instantaneous as in Go. A final observation: this game can really consume a lot of time before you know it. Why does time have to fly when we are having fun and drag during oral surgery? :D

We help each other. Looking out for supply lines, marking odds, etc.

I'm going slowly not because I'm checking the rules every 5 minutes (well..actually, i'm checking them approximately every 30 minutes) but more because during the Special Movement Step, prior to any movement, I plan most of the rest of the turn, including the Supply check Step. How do you manage time when playing against an other person then yourself ?

About isolated units, and keeping them that way, it feels like I'm playing Go, the chinese boardgame. Because isolated units can move 1 hex, they will try to "connect" to other non-isolated units, create a line of supply and "live", just like in Go.

(By the way, did army logistics inspire Go, or was it Go that inspire how we portray army logistics in wargames ? God, the grammar of this question gave me a headache, at least I hope it makes sense and you undestand my "english". 😁 )

EZOC as a requirement for attrition makes perfect sense.

On a complet different topic, something bothered me yesterday : the ultimate supply source.

It's good that friendly map edges are Ultimate supply sources, BUT :

[141.2]

"Soviet: The east map edge of the Soviet Union.

In TITE, also include the South map edge east of the Black Sea."

Well, how the axis player is supposed to cut the fuel income of the soviet player then ?

I havn't reach this far, but I'm pretty sur that any compent soviet player can easely defend the hills and mountains of Caucasus.

I thought Stalingrad was a strategic city because of the fuel/petrol coming south of it (and also because of it's name of course!)

May be i'm missing something here.

Anyway, have a nice day all.

Well, you can't be slower than I have been at times. There are so many ways to learn. I know for some, playing quickly with many mistakes is preferable. I started Barbarossa over so many times early on, each time with more correct rules or better play. Isolated units can move one hex in a Movement Step, so they can join a Supplied unit's hex. The requirement that units be in an EZOC to suffer Attrition when Isolated was to force units to guard. But this means you have to surround a stack with EZOC's, which I, at least, failed to recognize at first. We changed that rather quickly when Germans entirely abandoned an Isolated Soviet Stack near Lwow. It seemed absurd to all of us. LOL

Thanks for your answer ! It makes more sense now.

Isolation rolls did start out as one roll for the hex. You do roll every unit and it might be easiest if you are going hex by hex.

Motorized units in clement ground conditions are able to trace supply through Leg EZOC. It could happen you have a leg unit isolated but the motorized unit in the same hex is not isolated. A harden Garrison does not need supply. They could also be with a isolated unit but not be isolated.

Hi,

Thanks for yours replies !

I tend to play very slowly so yeah, i'm not sure I'll find a gamer to play against me. May be with more practice I will play more rapidely. Right now, the Special Movement phase takes ages for me. Actually, I plan all the rest of the turn during this phase.

Also, I still make mistakes or forbidden moves, but with time there will be less and less of this. Well, I hope.

By the way, I do have a simple question concerning the attrition roll ! Here it is :

Page 39 of the 0-45 version rules, 2. LOGISTICS PHASE:

"Roll for attrition of opponent’s Isolated Ground units per hex (240.5.3) and HQs individually (per 240.5.3)."

Page 82, [240.5.3] :

During your Supply Step, make a single Attrition Roll for each Isolated enemy Ground unit in an EZOC"

One unit = one roll or one hex = one roll ? I am not sure 😐

Still on page 82:

"During your Supply Step, make a single Attrition Roll for each Isolated enemy Ground unit in an EZOC: On a roll of 1, 2, or 3, that unit suffers a 1 Step loss. On a roll of 4, 5, or 6, there is no effect. Non-Isolated Ground units in that hex are unaffected."

I do not see how the last sentence is possible. How can you have a isolated and non-isolated units sharing the same hex during the supply check ?

Thaks, I'm going back to Vassal now, have a good day !

Hi Corentin, Jay is right that playing with others can accelerate learning how to play well, if they are competent. However, as someone who has predominantly played solitaire, for me the point really is to have fun. Some advantages with solo play are that you can add rules when you like, including house rules, and there is no obligation to complete a game, or play on a schedule, or rush moves, etc. I had fun learning TITE, even with rules wrong and little idea of what to do. It is strange how much I have enjoyed feeling connected to the drama and heroism of WW 2 without being too troubled by the enormous tragedy of it. The planning and tactics are fun too. I like mathematics--perhaps there is a connection there.

Yes, even the development team "asks the rules" when we play to make sure they have the right answers, expressed the right way, and for the right reasons. :D

Welcome aboard!

We do that too. Happy Gaming and stay safe.

I am using the "TiTE update kit" 0.5.5 and the "ETO rules vol-2 version 0.45 TMS".

I do have some questions about the rules but i need to make sure to fully grasp the rule book first. Thanks for your answer, i'll be more than happy to play test TMS when I've fully got the Ground, Air, Economics and Moral aspects of this game in my mind. Right now, I often need to check with the rule book.

Thunder in the East is a game that takes time to play and the play is not scripted. Sometimes solo play is the easy option but, interacting with other players will improve your play. Are you using the 1.1 module or the 5.5? The posted newer ETO rules may not have been updated for some time. Helping people to learn the game will always be needed. As you learn the game and improve your understanding, record those sparks of insight and they can help others learn more quickly. The Vassal module posted for The Middle Sea is very outdated. TMS will use the same ETO rules and the naval system and flow to the combats in the Med. will need play testing. A strong understanding of the rules will allow you to adapt to new rules and help in play test play. You can share your thoughts and questions with me at hobbitjay@aol.com. I can share files and newer items that will help you on your gaming journey.