WAW 1939-1945 PO Version 62221 Allied Human vs Axis Bot

[thomasharvey]

T13 11/24/39 Finally Narvik was taken by the Bot. Their replacements will be returned to 100%. Narvik denied them some production from T8 to T13.

[thomasharvey]

T13 11/24/39 Here is a picture of the front in France and Belgium. The Bot is getting close to Brussels. Some attacks back and forth there. I have to attack and retake some hexes eventually. That leaves me out of defensive position and then back and forth.

[thomasharvey]

T18 12/29/39 The Axis is slowly smashing its way towards Brussels and may take it this turn. Once I had to retake hexes, that allowed the Germans to have easier targets and again blast their way forward.

[thomasharvey]

T20 1/19/40 The French armored reserve has arrived! They are proud and brave but it does not look like Brussels will be able to hold much longer.

[thomasharvey]

T20 1/12/40 While the Maginot line is solid the line in Belgium is about to give way. All out assaults on both sides.

[thomasharvey]

T21 1/19/40 Here are the Axis infantry squad losses. My goal is 40,000. It appears the Axis Bot is well on its way to that level of loss. There is still much fighting to go in France. After that there is Yugoslavia and Greece.

[thomasharvey]

T21 1/19/40 Here is a view of the collapse of Allied resistance in Belgium. Brussels will no longer hold. This is the start of the Allied turn. I will now try to evacuate back to France and form a new line to hold. As you can see the Bot has broken through in two places. The majority of the allied forces in Belgium is now rabble.

For the BEF, it is time to save the colours...

[cathar1244]

Looks like the design breaks out division artillery as separate regiment-sized units.

I assume this was done to represent the effects of artillery in a more powerful manner?

Is Soviet divisional artillery also broken out, or left in "direct fire" mode?

Cheers

[thomasharvey]

T21 1/19/40 Here is the new French line. Soon the French will stand alone. The Belgians will surrender when the doomed Brussels is taken and the BEF, what is left of it, will attempt to cross the English Channel to England next turn.

[thomasharvey]

T21 1/19/40 Here is the China front. For the Mao units they must block and surround the Japanese forces and keep them off balance. Note the double icon showing partisan for the Mao units. That helps in their style of warfare.

[thomasharvey]

T21 1/19/40 Here are the Nationalist units. There are many more not visible. These units have a little more equipment including the 75 mm pack howitzer and a few mortars. Their double icon helps with artillery firepower. The best method for all Chinese units is to wait until the Japanese units are out of supply before attacking. In addition, they should have all retreat options prevented.

[thomasharvey]

ORIGINAL: cathar1244

Looks like the design breaks out division artillery as separate regiment-sized units.

I assume this was done to represent the effects of artillery in a more powerful manner?

Is Soviet divisional artillery also broken out, or left in "direct fire" mode?

Cheers

I gave a lot of thought and testing to this subject years ago. I came up with multiple solutions. Some units have artillery broken out in a separate unit, others have it stay in for direct fire mode and the third approach is to have a double icon with artillery as the secondary icon. In the scenario briefing here
is further explanation of the double icon:

16. Some non armored, Panzer, Armored Infantry, PGD and Marine units that have towed artillery equipment in the unit have a dual icon assigned. This allows the unit's artillery to have the same artillery operations as does a dedicated artillery unit with nothing but artillery equipment in the unit. However, on occasion they will refuse to attack as infantry. In that situation click on the unit display and reduce the range to zero. Then the unit will attack like an infantry unit but will still have the firepower of the artillery equipment in the unit. These same dual infantry/artillery units will be unable to act as defensive reserves to enter a hex in response to enemy attack. They will fire their artillery equipment in defense instead if dug in or set on reserve status. Without the dual icon the artillery equipment in the infantry unit would not nave artillery operations and therefore be at a big disadvantage. Finally, the dual icon units will act as artillery units and not take the target hex in the combat phase. They will have to take the hex on a subsequent phase. It is recommended non duel icon units be mixed in the attack to take the target hex in the combat phase.

When a double icon unit is broken down into multiple parts the range of the units default to the artillery range even if the parent unit was set at zero. The parts will need to be set back to zero.



As for the Russian units, the Guards Rifle divisions have the artillery broken out into a separate unit but the standard Soviet Rifle Division has the artillery equipment in the unit as direct fire. They do not have a double icon.

The armored units have no double icon and keep their artillery equipment in direct fire mode. They need to take the hex as do the Marine units. The Marine units have a double icon but it is amphibious which comes in handy in shallow water situations like a coral atoll. The Marines also need to take the hex. The double icon with artillery prevents taking the hex as part of the combat phase.

[cathar1244]

Thank you for the in-depth reply.

The double-icon using artillery as a secondary icon sounds like it could become mildly laborious. I also wonder how well the PO uses the double-icon units.

I like how you have the Soviet Guards units with artillery broken out but not the regular rifle units. Seems to reflect the availability of comms gear and trained forward observer personnel.

Side note, I also appreciate the take on the late war French order of battle. Regiment AOF-Somalie? Someone's been DIGGING for information, that one isn't well known.

Cheers

[thomasharvey]

ORIGINAL: cathar1244

Thank you for the in-depth reply.

The double-icon using artillery as a secondary icon sounds like it could become mildly laborious. I also wonder how well the PO uses the double-icon units.

I like how you have the Soviet Guards units with artillery broken out but not the regular rifle units. Seems to reflect the availability of comms gear and trained forward observer personnel.

Side note, I also appreciate the take on the late war French order of battle. Regiment AOF-Somalie? Someone's been DIGGING for information, that one isn't well known.

Cheers

There are relatively few double icon units in the overall order of battle. However, they all start out at a range of zero so they seem like ordinary infantry units. When they get fragmented you notice the artillery symbol for attack. I sometimes just leave it that way rather than change it. I rarely use them as an artillery unit for range fire but one could do that.

I thought like you, the Guards units could handle the skill required.

Alex and I many times use sources from the country of origin to be as accurate as possible. Alex even uses sources in German and Russian which requires translation. I used a French source for their order of battle.

The one source I am most impressed with came from Japan. It detailed all the Kamikaze strikes of WW2, the name of each unit, the actual date of the strike, how many aircraft in the strike and the type of aircraft in the strike. It also gives the base it came from and where the target was. (I have not mentioned this anywhere simply due to being busy with other details.) In the scenario I prefer event driven start dates rather than date driven because the course of the war in a scenario can always be different than historical timelines. So with the Kamikaze forces they start when the Allied player takes a hex in an area that triggered the Japanese to use them. This is only allowed from 1943 onward. They would not have used them early in the war. Once triggered they appear on the timeline the Japanese were able to produce and deploy them.

Thanks for your interest in details.

[thomasharvey]

T22 1/26/40 Stukas on the Channel Coast!

[thomasharvey]

T23 2/2/40 Belgium surrenders!

[thomasharvey]

T23 2/2/40 The Axis Bot is slowly breaking the French line. Paris is next for the Bot

[thomasharvey]

T25 2/16/40 Here is a view showing the Axis Bot closing in on Paris.

[thomasharvey]

T29 3/16/40 The end is near for France

[thomasharvey]

T30 3/23/40 Street fighting in Paris! Note the "French Quit" hex outside the city to save Paris from damage. The German 1st Cavalry Division is in one section of Paris which is now rubble due to fighting.