German units to watch

[Klydon]

During the 1941 campaign, probably the greatest fear the Russians have is being encircled on a vast scale. Obviously the German mechanized forces are the thing that make this happen. While all of them are dangerous by virtue of their movement, the ones you must be really be careful about are the ones that have over 85 moral. Why? Units over 85 moral only pay 2 MP's per clear hex in enemy territory while those that are 85 and down a bit pay 3 MP per. (I am not sure what the break is to go to 4 MP per, but its not important for this discussion).

The units that feature above 85 moral are even more mobile and can make even bigger encirclements since they can move through enemy territory better than other units.

Now, there are implications involved in this for both sides. First, since the patches have taken place, it is very difficult to get your moral above the national average, no matter how much fighting (and winning) you do. That means the Germans must be very, very careful with their elite moral units because once they hit 85 moral, they are not as dangerous. That means the Germans should be paying close attention when using these formations in combat and they had better make sure it will be a winning battle if at all possible. On the other hand, it also means the Russians need to paint a big bulls eye on these particular units and be looking for any opportunity to get a winning attack in on them as early as possible. Knock the moral down and while still dangerous, they are not quite as dangerous. Put them out of supply every chance the German gives you. Finally, the German should plan on sending units still over the 85 moral mark back to Germany for the winter to avoid the moral sapping effects of the blizzard. Bringing back some of these elite moral units for the 1942 campaign and using them for your spearheads could be a huge shock to the Russians.

Here is a list of the 17 divisions and what their parent formation is. Note this assumes normal German settings. Giving the Germans a 10% bump in moral would make all their starting divisions be over 85 moral to start except for 20 and 18 panzer divisions.

9th panzer, Wiking (XIV)
20th motor, 14th motor, and 7th panzer (XXXIX)
29th motor (XXXXVII)
Das Reich, 10th panzer (XXXXVI)
3rd panzer, 4th panzer, 10th motor (XXIV)
1st panzer, 6th panzer (XXXXI)
8th panzer, 3 motor (LVI)
LAH SS (1st PG)
Totenkopf (4th PG)

In addition, the GD regiment and the Lehr brigade are 90+ non divisional units.

Note that 2nd panzer and 5th panzer (re-enforcements) are 90 moral units as well when they arrive.

Here is a list of divisions that start with 85 moral.

16th panzer, 11th panzer (XXXXVIII)
12th panzer (LVII)
13th panzer, 14th panzer (III)
17th panzer (XXXVII)
36 motor (XXXXI)

[cookie monster]

http://www.witewiki.com/index.php/Sovie ... Forces_OOB

PRINTABLE! [8D][8D]

[WarHunter]

The following Infantry type Divisions should be considered for special duty on the Eastern Front. Especially for flank protection along the shoulders of a breakthrough.
Nine divisions of hard marching infantry bringing the pain.

Over 85 moral
1st, 7th, 11th, 12th, 21st, 30th, 32nd, 1st Mountain, 22nd Air Landing.

Ten more Infantry and one Cavalry Division are just one lucky battle from joining the special few.

85 Morale
8th, 17th, 23rd, 24th, 28th, 31st, 45th, 50th, 61st, 217th, 1st Cavalry Division.

7th Flieger Division has morale over 85. It comes in as a reinforcement.

Soviet players, keep your eyes out for these formations, while reading the combat reports.

[Klydon]

Not sure what your implication is CM. That is a good section, but the point of my post is to highlight the units that are capable of the highest movement in enemy territory (IE, the above 85 moral mech units).

Good followup WarHunter. Thanks!

*Edit* One other note. First turn, ALL German mech units move as if they are above 85 moral in enemy territory, so the biggest gains can be made on turn 1. Same for the infantry I assume. Turn 2, it reverts back to whatever the moral is for the unit when it moves.

[Farfarer61]

You know I never realized this before. I use one Pz Corps as the breakthrough guys ( lots of SU) and the other Pz Corps as the "Movers" and always thought it was somehow random when a stack moved faster. Dooh! Great gouge on the Infantry formations. Now, lets have the next major patch have a colour or selectable indicato/soft flag for high morale units so this is easier.

[Mynok]

You can use of the display toggles to show morale for units as a colored triangle on the corner of the unit counter.

[Farfarer61]

Double Doh!

[76mm]

Can the Sovs tell from the soft factors which are over 85? ie, what does "green" indicate again?

[randallw]

Bright green is over 85, dark green 71-85. 

Soft factors work for either side.

[mmarquo]

"First, since the patches have taken place, it is very difficult to get your moral above the national average, no matter how much fighting (and winning) you do. That means the Germans must be very, very careful with their elite moral units because once they hit 85 moral, they are not as dangerous"
 
Great discussion, but this statement is not my experience. I find it actually not so hard to have many Axis units with 90 + morale by blizzard time.
 
Marquo