My Thoughts Regarding "Historical" Core Forces in Campaigns

[vahauser]

FlashFyre,

Okay, there are generic battlegroups in each nation’s OOB.

But what about when a player doesn’t want the generic battlegroup?

For example, let’s say I want to play Long Long Road. And let’s say I want to be “historical” (a word which nobody has yet been able to define on this thread).

In this example, let’s say I want to base my core on the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion. The 509th was the premier airborne unit in the US Army and was the unit that airdropped all the way from England to capture the French airfield near Oran (i.e., the very first battle of this campaign). In addition, the 509th conducted a variety of other airdrops during the period covered by Long Long Road, and it also participated in a ground role in a number of other battles (such as the Ardennes in 1944).

In other words, the 509th is a real-life actual historical (as opposed to “historical”) unit that actually took part in a number of the battles covered in Long Long Road. As such, the 509th is a very strong historical (as opposed to “historical”) choice to build a core around for this campaign.

Here is the problem:
#1 You are only given 2,000 build points to start the campaign, and 2,000 points is not enough to form the entire 509th.
#2 Wild Bill specifically states that you will need a combined arms force. Now, since the 509th actually fought in a number of battles as a ground unit, then this is still historically reasonable. But 2,000 points is not a lot of points to start the campaign with.

So, how do you build a core for the Long Long Road based on the 509th? How would you personally do it?

[FlashfyreSP]

I wouldn't....because, as you said, the campaign wasn't built with that as a possible core force in mind.

When building a campaign, the designer (or design team) must decide first what kind of core force he campaign will focus on; will it be an all-armour core, following the exploits of a particular tank regiment, or will it be a combined-arms force, along the lines of the Das Reich one, or is it to be mainly paratroops? Once the designer determines this, the scenarios are built accordingly. And a recommended core force is usually listed in the intro text. But that doesn't prevent players from using other forces; however, the campaign may play out easier or harder, depending on the force.

What you suggested about the 509th, that's using an "HISTORICAL" force, one that you will build according to that unit's TO&E. An "historical" possibility would be, and this is purely a suggestion, a company of paratroops and some armour support. As a matter of fact, someone recently started this campaign with a paratroop force; I forget who, but I recall someone posting a DAR about how hard it was to hold the airfield with just infantry.

[Kuokkanen]

Just quick question here: are forces issued to players in Mega Campaigns "historical" or "HISTORICAL"?

[FlashfyreSP]

ORIGINAL: Matti Kuokkanen

Just quick question here: are forces issued to players in Mega Campaigns "historical" or "HISTORICAL"?

I wouldn't know...I don't play them. My guess is "historical", since the core actually canges depending on your selections.