======================================================================================
                  Sturm auf das Reich - Description and Strategy Guide
======================================================================================

User Scenario for Talonsoft's West Front
Version 1.0
by Cord Hartmann

Files:	Germany.map	Basic Map of Western Germany (Rhine River to Oder River)
	Volkssturm.org	Unit Table
	Volkssturm.scn	Scenario File
	ReadMe.txt	The File you are currently reading

DISCLAIMER: 	I do in NO way support any Nazi ideology or any bullshit like it.
		I just like strategy games and hope to have set up a scenario
		that will bring you lots of hours of fun gameplay.		

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table of Contents

1.	Historical Overview and Designer Notes
2.	The Map and Starting Position of Units
3.	Strategy Notes for Allied Forces
4.	Strategy Notes for Axis Forces
5.	Contact Information

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.	Historical Overview

The 'Sturm auf das Reich' (SadR) Scenario takes place in Spring of 1945. I have 
set the starting date to March, 1st. As far as I know the successful capture of 
the almost undamaged bridge of Remagen over the Rhine River was in mid of March,
so it is according to this fact that the American Forces still have to conquer
the Rhine Area around Koblenz in this scenario. 

I'd like to make quite clear that it was NOT my aim to set up a historically
accurate scenario with all the units, commando structures and so on. SadR was
designed to give West Front a bit more of a strategic gameplay. As I've always
been a fan of SSI's Panzer General games, I still stick to those big maps
where I can really see the territorial advance my units have made. Of course I
know that for example three artillery batallions would never be enough to cover 
the whole of Germany with fire (great range of fire! :-) ), and that Talonsoft's
West Front is in fact a game of tactical warfare. Nevertheless, I hope to have
set up a scenario that will bring lots of hours of fun playing it...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.	The Map and Starting Position of Units

2.1	The Map

The Map of SadR (Germany.map) covers the Western part of the Reich from the Rhine
River to the Oder River, so that you Allied players may move as far as Berlin.
I built it using a World Atlas, so all the cities are at the correct locations.
The big city icons represent cities of over 100.000 citizens (I had to use today's
population data as I do not own a map of that time with the historical data). Those
are all operation targets. Some cities like Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne
consist of more than one hex. The village hexes represent smaller cities of over
20.000 citizens. I know there are not all of them displayed, but as I had to divide
the country up into hexes, there were some places where I would have needed three
of them to set them all up on the map.

I used the German names for all cities, which does not mean I consider some of
them belonging to Germany, so leave me alone with bad e-mails, you guys from Praha
or Strasbourg :-) ... The 1937 borders are represented by low hedges, just to make
them visible and for orientation. Switzerland is made unaccessible by big walls, as
it was a neutral state during the war, as you of course know.

2.2	Allied Starting Positions

The Allied forces consist of a British, an American and a Free French strike force.
The British have their forces massed between Arnhem in the Netherlands down to Bonn
at the Rhine River, ready to initiate the attack of Germany's industrial Ruhrgebiet
area. Notice some of them are already located on German soil, otherwise there 
wouldn't have been enough space to place them and I didn't want to set up
reinforcements due to better overview of your forces. The Americans start between
Trier at the Mosel River down to the city of Karlsruhe at the Rhine River. Besides,
there is a contingent of Free French soldiers moving along the border to Switzerland
and facing a Rhine bridge near Freiburg.

The battalions are located at the following starting positions:

	British

	1st Infantry Btn - SW of Enschede, NL
	2nd Infantry Btn - NW of Duisburg, D
	3rd Infantry Btn - N of Monchengladbach, D
	4th Infantry Btn - W of Neuss, D
	5th Infantry Btn - W of Bonn, D
	1st Recon Btn - E of Groningen, NL
	2nd Recon Btn - Around Enschede, NL
	3rd Recon Btn - NW of Krefeld, D
	4th Recon Btn - SW of Bonn, D
	1st Tank Btn - Between Arnhem, NL and Duisburg, D
	2nd Tank Btn - Between Aachen, D and Mulheim, D
	3rd Tank Btn - Between Aachen, D and Erftstadt, D
	1st Arty Btn - SW of Groningen, NL
	2nd Arty Btn - SE of Apeldoorn, NL
	3rd Arty Btn - SE of Aachen, D
	1st SP Arty Btn - SW of Monchengladbach, D
	2nd SP Arty Btn - SE of Aachen, D

	American

	1st Infantry Btn - NE of Metz, F
	2nd Infantry Btn - W of Karlsruhe, D
	1st Armored Infantry Btn - S of Saarbrucken, D
	2nd Armored Infantry Btn - Around Strassburg, F
	1st Recon Btn - NE of Luxemburg, L
	2nd Recon Btn - SW of Saarbrucken, D
	3rd Recon Btn - NW of Strassburg, F
	1st Tank Btn - Between Nancy, F and Metz, F
	2nd Tank Btn - E of Nancy, F
	3rd Tank Btn - Between Mulhausen, F and Strassburg, F
	1st Arty Btn - S of Nancy, F
	2nd Arty Btn - SE of Nancy, F
	1st SP Arty Btn - NE of Nancy, F
	2nd SP Arty Btn - NE of Nancy, F
	3rd SP Arty Btn - SW of Strassburg, F

	French

	1st Infantry Btn - W of Mulhausen, F
	2nd Infantry Btn - SW of Mulhausen, F
	3rd Infantry Btn - SE of Mulhausen, F
	Recon Btn - E of Mulhausen, F
	Tank Btn - SW of Mulhausen, F
	Arty Btn - SW of Mulhausen, F

2.3	German starting positions

Most German forces are located in a line behind the whole length of the Rhine river.
In the North, there are some units behind the Ems River. All over Germany, are the
Volkssturm units defending their home cities. Somewhat behind the front, there are
some Panzer Battalions waiting for moving orders. Hamburg and Munich are held by two
infantry battalions. The last remainders of the SS forces stand to defend Berlin. 
In addition, there are several sniper positions with ATGs and TDs all over Germany.
Some Pioneers are well-positioned to blast the bridges over several Rivers to delay
the Allied advance. Most of the German forces have orders to hold their positions
by all costs and are therefore immobile at the start of the scenario, some are
allowed to move freely and some will become available later in the scenario.

The battalions are located at the following starting positions:

	1. Infanterie Btn - Bremen area
	2. Infanterie Btn - Hamburg area
	3. Infanterie Btn - Osnabruck area
	4. Infanterie Btn - Frankfurt area
	5. Infanterie Btn - Karlsruhe area
	6. Infanterie Btn - Munchen area
	1. Panzergrenadier Btn - Northern Ruhrgebiet
	2. Panzergrenadier Btn - Southern Ruhrgebiet
	3. Panzergrenadier Btn - Koln area
	Pionierkompanie Nord - N of Bremen, NE of Munster, SW of Bielefeld
	Pionierkompanie Sud - S of Offenbach, NE of Mannheim, SE of Stuttgart
	Jagdpanther Abteilung - W of Kaiserslautern, SE of Heidelberg, between
			        Wurzburg and Ulm, SW of Regensburg
	Panzerabwehr Btn - several sniper positions and bunkers all over Germany
	1. Panzer Btn - SE of Hannover
	2. Panzer Btn - Between Kassel and Wurzburg
	3. Panzer Btn - NE of Ulm
	1. Artillerie Btn - NE of Wolfsburg
	2. Artillerie Btn - SW of Erfurt
	3. Artillerie Btn - S of Nurnberg
	SS PSW Kompanie - Berlin area
	SS Panzergrenadier Btn - Berlin area
	SS Panzer Btn - Berlin area
	SS Sturmpanzer Btn - Berlin area
	SS FlaK Btn - Berlin area
	SS Raketenwerfer Btn - Berlin area
	Volkssturm - in every major German city, besides those who are
		     defended by regular Wehrmacht Infantry or the SS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3.	Strategy Notes for Allied Forces

	British		- Try to keep your Tank Battalions out of the fight for
			  the first one or two turns - you'll need them for the
			  later advance to Hamburg and Berlin...

			- Don't even try to cross the River with your Northern 
			  Recon Battalion until they are supported by other
			  units. Otherwise you'll learn a lesson in avoiding
			  Panzerfaust shells...

			- You should expect strong resistance in the cities of
			  the Ruhrgebiet, so move carefully with your infantry.
			  Concentrate your Artillery fire on that area to support
			  your men against those Panzergrenadier units...

			- After you will have fought your way through the Ruhr
		          area (I hope you will... :-) ), you should devide up
			  your units: a Northern force crossing the Ems River
			  at Mnster and moving on towards Bremen, the important
			  harbor cities of Wilhelmshaven and Bremerhaven and of
			  course Hamburg city. The Southern force should move
			  along the main road - try to take Bielefeld, Hannover
			  and cross the Elbe River at Magdeburg to join with
			  the Americans in the fight for Berlin...

	American        - The first severe fighting will take place in your
			  attempt to cross the Rhine River at Karlsruhe. So
			  concentrate your Artillery fire there and be sure to
			  save some firing abilities for indirect assist fire
			  during the first Axis turn...
			
			- The other areas of the front are weakly defended, so
			  it should be no problem for your Northern units to move
			  to the Rhine quickly...

			- Rejoin your Battalions to take the Frankfurt area from
			  two sides. Otherwise your advance could be delayed...

			- After you have secured the Rhine River crossings move
			  on in two or three spearheads. One should move up the
			  main road to Kassel. The second should fight its way
			  to Erfurt, and the third one to Nuremburg. Decide if
			  you leave some units to help the French in the fight
			  for Munich or move them all up towards Berlin...

	French   	- Take Freiburg and split your forces to help the Americans
			  securing the Karlsruhe area and move some around the
			  Black Forest (Schwarzwald). Rejoin them in Stuttgart
			  and move on the main road towards Munich...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4.	Strategy Notes for Axis Forces

	German		- As most of your units are immobile until they are under
			  fire or ordered to join the battle at the front (like
			  your Panzer Battalions) try to hold your dig-in positions
			  as long as possible. Always try to reestablish a line
			  of defence if your troops are scattered. Use your Volkssturm
			  to cripple the Allied Tanks as much as you can. Time is
			  the thing you have to gain...

			- Use your Pioneers to blast the major bridges if you find a
			  position no longer able to resist the Allied push. It will
			  probably delay their drive on Berlin...

			- Decide wether to hold the prepared positions with your
		          Jagdpanthers and the later available SS forces or to move
			  them behind the river bridges to delay the Allies.

			- Try to improve as much hexes as you can in the back land
			  until the Allies come in range. You need all the cover
			  you can gain...

			- If a position is hopelessly pounded by the Allies, try to
			  withdraw all remaining forces to the next position you 
			  can effectively defend or behind the next river...

			- Always remember: This is the fight for your homeland, so
			  try to make the Allies loose as much power as possible,
			  so that you can at least hold the major cities of Berlin,
			  Hamburg and Munich. Otherwise, everything will be lost...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.	Contact Information

	Cord Hartmann
	Ben-Gurion-Ring 48
	D-60437 Frankfurt am Main
	e-mail: cohartma@stud.uni-frankfurt.de
	URL: http://www.rz.uni-frankfurt.de/~cohartma

	Your e-mails with suggestions how to improve this scenario are always welcome.
	I'm looking forward to read about your rating and strategy notes about SadR.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------