ORIGINAL: navwarcol
ORIGINAL: phoenix
A propos of landing new bases to supply the lost jeeps, navwarcol (and it's not meant to be realistic, Jim, it's meant to be a fix for a part of the game that isn't realistic) ....
Good to hear.. and yes, it is really just a temporary workaround idea, not meant as a realistic end-all solution to the problem. I for one love the longer scenarios, but the destroyed supplies make them impossible after a couple of days.
If it's not meant to be "realistic" then it ought not to be called Market-Garden.
The historical record is that units were dropped at various distances along a single long supply line with the intent that the ground forces were tough enough to break through German resistance and secure a supply line before the isolated force on hand stock and the limited replenishment were overcome by the German forces defending against them.
It accepted the risk that despite sufficient air resources to both deploy and sustain three-plus divisions of air dropped forces behind enemy lines, surprise and the subsequent shock to the German forces being struck by the attack would keep those German forces from reacting effectively before the heavy ground units racing along the lone supply route could reach the air deployed forces.
Bottom line is if a human commander goes into the standard battle without understanding the constraints already faced by his force in terms of supply (he never gets more than 80-percent of what's "required" because of the strategic supply line issues), and ignores addressing those constraints within the bounds of his command responsibilities (be aggressive, but don't use up all your on hand bullets to be so!), he's going to lose sooner than the Allies did in the "real life" battle. If he addresses those constraints effectively (by avoiding the historical mistakes), then he will last at least as long, or perhaps exceed the duration the isolated units lasted in the original battle.
Fighting the battle with airborne "balls to the wall" will result in a failure. Fighting it with some thoughtful tactics to mitigate known issues facing friendly troops, the battle can result in a draw, or perhaps a victory, as the scenario designer intended.
If the constraints of history are too great, then perhaps the alternatives of altering or constraining the Allied / German supply distribution, reinforcement schedule, weather, and orders delay will help balance the game for the human player, just as the scenario designer intended.
