WitE 2

[martinsmit]

will there be a lot of individual battalions and regiments in the game wite2 like witw?

[RedLancer]

ORIGINAL: martinsmit

will there be a lot of individual battalions and regiments in the game wite2 like witw?

Yes and No. There are battalion and regiment sized units available on map, some of them are multi-role but Soviet Tank Brigades are now off map.

[xhoel]

ORIGINAL: thedoctorking

And because of this fact, most players realize quickly that there is no point in putting good generals in those higher HQ's (because they will almost always suffer from range penalties that negate the leaders' abilities). So Manstein and Model and Rokossovsky and Zhukov and Konev, and anybody else you've ever heard of, will stay at the Army/Corps command level and never get promoted. The only reason you'll have anybody good at the Front/Army/Group level is if they have a good morale level (which is not affected by range penalties - for reasons not clear to me).

+1

[thedoctorking]

And even if they have good morale, generally Russian Front and German Army HQ's get overloaded and with the penalty for too many CU's in your HQ, those high morale levels don't have any effect either. Worst thing is to have Zhukov in command of a front that has 125 CU over a capacity of 72. You're wasting him as a potential army commander (Front commanders can't be demoted to Army command) and you're wasting him as a front commander since the overload reduces his effective morale to about 2.

[Telemecus]

ORIGINAL: thedoctorking

And even if they have good morale, generally Russian Front and German Army HQ's get overloaded and with the penalty for too many CU's in your HQ, those high morale levels don't have any effect either. Worst thing is to have Zhukov in command of a front that has 125 CU over a capacity of 72. You're wasting him as a potential army commander (Front commanders can't be demoted to Army command) and you're wasting him as a front commander since the overload reduces his effective morale to about 2.

Actually this point on morale is incorrect. I actually believed this and the manual says that. But KenchiSulla actually tested it and found out that morale is not affected by CU overload either. This was astonishing to me when I found that out. But strictly speaking the manual should say morale is neither affected by CU overload or by distance either.

You can do your own partial test by reassigning units and seeing the effect it has to morale percentage in supply details - it does not change!

[martinsmit]

but Soviet Tank Brigades are now off map

How to form corps from the Soviet tank brigades?

[Hghx-0]

ORIGINAL: Telemecus

ORIGINAL: thedoctorking

And even if they have good morale, generally Russian Front and German Army HQ's get overloaded and with the penalty for too many CU's in your HQ, those high morale levels don't have any effect either. Worst thing is to have Zhukov in command of a front that has 125 CU over a capacity of 72. You're wasting him as a potential army commander (Front commanders can't be demoted to Army command) and you're wasting him as a front commander since the overload reduces his effective morale to about 2.

Actually this point on morale is incorrect. I actually believed this and the manual says that. But KenchiSulla actually tested it and found out that morale is not affected by CU overload either. This was astonishing to me when I found that out. But strictly speaking the manual should say morale is neither affected by CU overload or by distance either.

You can do your own partial test by reassigning units and seeing the effect it has to morale percentage in supply details - it does not change!

But morale is morale - approach of commander to his duty, his motivation, should it really change when HQ have been overloaded?

[thedoctorking]

I think the issue of overloading is that the commander and his staff don't have the time to devote to encouraging/threatening/overseeing all their subordinates. Maybe it makes sense that a leader's contribution to the morale of his subordinates is more about public relations than individual attention, but let me illustrate an alternative point of view with a film

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: martinsmit

but Soviet Tank Brigades are now off map

How to form corps from the Soviet tank brigades?

offmap ...

[oldMarinePanzer]

What does that mean, "off map"?

[56ajax]

ORIGINAL: oldMarinePanzer

What does that mean, "off map"?

off map, like in WiTE1 a artillery regiment; does not occupy a hex on the battlefield but can be assigned to a HQ or other unit....

[Michael T]

Any idea when WITE 2.0 will enter beta testing? I mean are we talking within 12 months or beyond that.

I am getting an itch for WITE again but I am reluctant to bash off rust for WITE 1.0 if 2.0 beta is not so far off.

[RedLancer]

ORIGINAL: Michael T

Any idea when WITE 2.0 will enter beta testing? I mean are we talking within 12 months or beyond that.

I am getting an itch for WITE again but I am reluctant to bash off rust for WITE 1.0 if 2.0 beta is not so far off.

Honestly I don't know. We inadvertently create a big bug and it sets us back weeks. In parallel we are having to add functionality to manage the increased game complexity. The Commmander's Report has just had a big overhaul and we finally have split the code from WitW.

If your eye is on WitE2 testing then you need to be WitW savvy although I appreciate that assuaging the challenge of the Eastern Front is not quite the same.

[Michael T]

Thanks John. I can't get in to WITW. And honestly I would rather approach WITE 2.0 with a completely clean slate, that is no WITW fuzz. I catch on pretty quick.

I think I will leave WITE 1.0 alone too so when I hit WITE 2.0 it will be with maximum hunger.

Happy to join the beta team ranks if deemed suitable when the time arrives.

I think you should not preclude non WITW players from your list, often completely fresh eyes see things others don't.

[thedoctorking]

This game needs a horse mechanic like the vehicle mechanic. Lack of draft animals was a real constraint on the mobility of German infantry units and also limited the Red Army's ability to field cavalry (which in the current game play a remarkably important role in the first winter counter-attacks).

[martinsmit]

The Commmander's Report has just had a big overhaul

show screenshot please!

[RedLancer]

ORIGINAL: martinsmit

The Commmander's Report has just had a big overhaul

show screenshot please!

I've grabbed this screenshot from the Dev Forum - but please don't ask me questions on how it works as my real life job means I've had almost no practice with it. It is really hot off the press and has just entered testing but as you asked here's a preview with the usual caveats given we are still in alpha.

Pavel (Helpless) has starred again by creating an improved system where the CR is now a sorted table which is modular and consists of 5 sections.

1. Functions.
2. Filters.
3. Column header.
4. Table.
5. Footer.

The really good thing as I understand it is that you can configure the tables as you want to present the data you need and this is saved in your preferences. As in old CR, table entries can be linked to some function (eg. go to the map and select air group) or quick filter selection (select all FB in type filter).
It is also possible to colour code particular entries.

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: 56ajax

ORIGINAL: oldMarinePanzer

What does that mean, "off map"?

off map, like in WiTE1 a artillery regiment; does not occupy a hex on the battlefield but can be assigned to a HQ or other unit....

WiTE2 uses the concept of Theatre Boxes - in essence its the treatment of the East Front in WiTW but much better done. Most of these are geographical representations of regions where either the Soviets or the Axis had to allocate a lot of units and resources - Western Europe, the Soviet Far East etc. They are also used to model essentially static regions such as the Arctic or where the scale of combat doesn't really fit with the divisional scale/10km hex (such as the partisan war).

Both sides also have a more generic 'reserve' theatre. You can use this to refit fresh units or those that have had a real battering in combat. It also allows you to model the Soviet model of pulling units into 'Stavka reserve' after an offensive to refit and redeploy.

So specifically, you put your tank brigades into this reserve, form your tank corps (or later mech corps). You can also form a tank corps without first having the brigades but this is inefficient as the unit will have exceptionally low experience etc. Let it refit and train, once you deem it ready bring it to the map.

If you use your tank brigades (and you really need to) you can either assign direct to a combat unit as an attachment or to HQ and then they are parcelled out into combat using the standard support unit assignment routine. An early Soviet cavalry corps with directly attached tank brigades can generate much needed mobility and hitting power in December 41-March 42.

[Dreamslayer]

Is there will be ability to assign such(support) units to Soviet divisions? Or only to Corpse size combat units?

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: Dreamslayer

Is there will be ability to assign such(support) units to Soviet divisions? Or only to Corpse size combat units?

Soviet and Romanian divisions can now get one direct attachment (think Hungarians too). but its the same restrictions as in WiTE1 so you can attach AT, AA, Inf, Mot, Arm support units but not artillery.

Its a good use of the 1941 Soviet infantry brigades as you can attach to a rifle division and effectively stack 4.5 divisions in a hex, gives you an attacking cv of say 12 and that is before you multiply this by using preparation points. Can allow the Soviets to create something with real hitting power, but it degrades quickly as it moves and fights. You can also use the 1941 Soviet AT brigades as attachments and that can really upset an unwary Pzr division as all its Pzr 1/11s are reduced to rubble on the battlefield.

If you have played WiTW you'll be used to the concept of multi-role units, that can be on the map as a combat unit (say a Soviet rifle brigade) or off the map as an attachment. There are some pretty powerful units in the OOB that can have this dual role and its interesting to explore the best use (and how this alters as the game develops) as at times you want as many counters as you can and at others you want concentrated combat power.