Replay Review Please

[Chancellor]

Hey all, I am a Ranked 1v1 level 11 player and I got beat down by a ranked level 8 player...     I'd like a replay review so that I can improve my play versus the Russians.

Here is the 1v1 replay:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YLPW3S1T [nofollow]

[Zerstörer]

If the translators get the job done with the Locals, we should be releasing the new patch this weekend...hopefully....making any guides a bit absolete, but will have a look anyways and see 

[Chancellor]

Alright thanks!  Looking forward to feedback!

[GodlikeDennis]

Ok mate, first thing to remember is that NKVD conscripts are bugged to do 10 damage when they should do 7. This is a huge difference and is probably the main reason you got owned pretty hard.

While you went volks heavy, as you did those times against me, you didn't upgrade to mp40s as you hit skirmish phase. You had 160 munis but got a shrek instead i think. The mp40s could've allowed you to shred some squads quite quickly. The k98 is simply far too ineffective against those conscripts in cover outside your base, so you were completely unable to remove them. You also took awhile to get that bunker up, a little earlier could've gotten you a couple more free grens. Also, when you built kriegs you built some grens. First unit should've been halftrack. You could've used this to take him by surprise, as he had no tank hunters at that stage. While it does good damage and suppression itself, it could also have allowed you to flank his position at that wall. It's a very good unit against Russians and I get one every game. Second kriegs unit should've been mortar for sure. I'm actually quite surprised you didn't get one, it would've been perfect.

I also think that you threw your volks in at his forces far too much. This caused you to spend huge amounts of manpower reinforcing them. I would've probably just ignored him and loaded into a halftrack and travelled around the left of the map and tried to cut him off while my mortar barraged him.

Any time you wanna have some rematches against me I'm game too.

[Chancellor]

@ Dennis
I thought of getting the mortar too, but for some reason that thing has never served me well as Wehrmacht; always misses the first shell, and after that the other player will simply move...

In regards to the HT, I didn't get it because it costs fuel and it doesn't scale against tank hunters as well as it would scale against American BARs for example...  I am uncomfortable spending resources on something that will get easily owned in a few shots sooner or later.

The bunker...well I wanted it up earlier too, but I think I only had 1 pioneer left, and getting a kreigs barracks up was a priority.  If I get caught with my pants down and a Sherman in my base its gg...  That's the same mentality with getting the shreck instead of the MP40s.  In addition I am quite certain MP40 volks get chewed up badly before they can complete the charge to close range.

No manpower or fuel for vet of course...

However, you are totally right about ignoring him.  I totally should have went left side instead!  I'll try that next time.

[Crezth]

@ Dennis

Thanks for the tips! I've been brainstorming ways to beat Soviets as Wehr in this patch, and I kept turning up empty. I ran into Vet4Cantonese, and as Soviets he trounced me in a 2v2. This game we were in a reverse position to see what weight skill had, if any.

I find it curious that I was able to exert far less effort than he was, to much greater effect. Thanks for posting your review, the info on the Halftrack and Mortar is valuable metagame and I will be sure to keep it in mind. I hope the patch comes soon though because the NKVD bug and PTRD over-usefulness need addressing to make this game worthy in 1v1 again!

[Paciat]

If I get caught with my pants down and a Sherman in my base its gg...

Hate those early Shermans (even if Stugs own them). Soviet base is defended by MGs and with 1.20 retreat there will be no threat of quick PE baseraping. It would be great if Soviets had a 3CP BA-10 or BT-7 call-in. I also hope it will be on the same side of the tree as Tankriders and ISU-152 callins.

That's the same mentality with getting the shreck instead of the MP40s. In addition I am quite certain MP40 volks get chewed up badly before they can complete the charge to close range.

True. MP40 is a wierd gun. Most infantry guns (Stens, BARS and Thompsons too) get 0,5 modifier while moving. M1 have high moving accuracy - 0,8 so do MP44 - 0,75.
MP40 have very low moving accuracy - 0,2 so charging volks is a bad idea. Instead move from cover to cover.

1 thing that MP40 is best at is fighting at medium range.
Allied SMGs have 0,2 medium acc, MP44 0,3 while volks MP40 0,45. This means that at medium ranges (8-17) 1 MP40 is better than 1 MP44 (only when not moveing).
All this means is that MP40 is best at defending from infantry heavy weapons from infantry charges.

[Seeme]

Weird, you say there best for mediam combat, when yet the upgrade says good for close ranged.

BTW Congrates on being a dev, you deserved it.

[GodlikeDennis]

It is still better at close combat, more accurate etc. It is just more efficient at medium range. Most weapons that are good up close aren't very effective at medium range but the mp40 is good at both. Also, since volks are such a weak platform for the gun, they die quite quickly by the time they get to close range. As Paciat mentioned, mp40s have awful moving accuracy and combined with the low health of volks it's best to have them in cover killing enemy infantry as they charge at you (which they will have to do anyway if you have a heavy weapon they need to flank). However, the halftrack negates this by allowing you to drop your volks right into whatever cover you want near the enemy forces. You can also reinforce from it of course and it has excellent suppression and decent damage to boot. In my games it is often the single most important unit on the field until the counters arrive for it. While I would normally agree that I don't like spending resources on a unit that WILL be countered at some point, the halftrack has so many uses to be worth it. It also is quite a bit hardier than people give it credit for.

"I thought of getting the mortar too, but for some reason that thing has never served me well as Wehrmacht; always misses the first shell, and after that the other player will simply move..."

Even if you only got him to move I would say that the unit succeeded no? That wall was the only thing allowing him to destroy you so easily. On the open field your units would've been much more effective than his. An actual hit would've decimated those squads. You could've used it against his mortar as well once it hit the field, but you could'nt have known about that one before you purchased it.

In regards to the preparation for vehicles, you could have easily afforded a Pak had so much manpower not been spent on reinforcing volks. MP40s would've allowed you to force him back and take more munitions to buy shreks in the long run anyway. But I understand your preparation.

And Paciat's just a translator aren't you?

[Chancellor]

Perhaps you are right about the halftrack; I just don't trust it against the PTDR guys.  Regardless I'll try out the MP40 volks + HT tip.

In regards to the mortar, I am aware that they will move from the wall, but my main concern is that it never kills enough enemies to make up for the 270 manpower spent on it.  Yes they will move away from the wall, but this means that you will have to spend 270 manpower less on infantry compared to your opponent, who probably purchased another infantry squad in the meantime.  This means even in the open field, he will have more infantry squads than you, and will probably win the engagement anyways.

IMO the reason why Allied mortars are better than the Axis ones is not because of pure statistics.  Its due to the nature of the factions.  For example USA riflemen are more free-flowing and are harder to get hit by mortars since they are more mobile.  Wehrmacht on the other hand usually needs to fend off attacks from a concentrated area; add PAKs and MG42s into the equation and they are a lot less mobile, therefore much more prone to enemy mortars.  In addition, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the USSR mortar (un-upgraded) already does 1.5x damage in comparison to the Wehrmacht mortar.

Finally, due to the Sherman's ability to circle-strafe, 1 PAK is not enough; there must be at least 1-2 shreck squads to defend it.

[Crezth]

Even if you only got him to move I would say that the unit succeeded no? That wall was the only thing allowing him to destroy you so easily. On the open field your units would've been much more effective than his. An actual hit would've decimated those squads. You could've used it against his mortar as well once it hit the field, but you could'nt have known about that one before you purchased it.

Can we see the flipside to this? What would you do as Soviets and a Wehr player did this to you?

In addition, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the USSR mortar (un-upgraded) already does 1.5x damage in comparison to the Wehrmacht mortar

Correct. The USSR mortar is 120mm and therefore has a larger blast radius + damage over the Wehr mortar. The mortar upgrade further improves this capability.

[Zerstörer]

120 mortar has always been a balance pain (it still is....) but we've changed it once again and is hopefully alot better now

[GodlikeDennis]

Even if you get unlucky with hits, the mortar/halftrack still adds more facets to your game than just infantry spam + 1MG. You put more pressure on your opponent when you vary your playing style. At the point he was camping you in, your troops were honestly much stronger but the green cover of the wall provided him too much of an advantage. If your mortar at least made him move, you would've defeated him on a level playing field.

The wehr mortar also counters his mortar well because it can be remanned in the safety of your base with multitudes of volks you had at your disposal, he can't reman his. As the soviet player, I wouldn't have even bothered going support barracks anyway with that much of a map advantage and would've gone tanks instead.

In my opinion the wehr mortar is the best of all the factions. Soviet can't be remanned, halftrack costs loads of fuel, emplacement can't move and is vulnerable to fire and US requires an extra building and is the weakest. Wehrmacht mortar is also easiest to defend. I thought I heard the soviet mortar while unupgraded was identical statwise to the wehr mortar?