static British division in UK ports 1944 ?

Gary Grigsby’s War in the West 1943-45 is the most ambitious and detailed computer wargame on the Western Front of World War II ever made. Starting with the Summer 1943 invasions of Sicily and Italy and proceeding through the invasions of France and the drive into Germany, War in the West brings you all the Allied campaigns in Western Europe and the capability to re-fight the Western Front according to your plan.

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Vinco
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static British division in UK ports 1944 ?

Post by Vinco »

Hi,
A quick question as I am trying this game again after a while :
In 1944 preparing for 'd-day', several big English harbours (Weymouth, Southampton !) host a British static infantry division. Does that mean these harbours cannot be used to prepare for amphibious assaults? they can but with a significant penalty to the rate of preparedness it seems.. (for a unit that is not meant to assault :-(). I haven't found a way to move these static inf. divisions out of the way. Thanks in advance for any help !
Vincent
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loki100
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RE: static British division in UK ports 1944 ?

Post by loki100 »

you're stuck with them so yes, best to drop those ports from your planning. They are good for follow on units as they are large.

I've tended to use Glasgow and Belfast as compensation, largely distance doesn't matter too much for an invasion (does for follow on as you pay MP more conventionally).

4 of those fixed divisions unlock in late 1944 - they are not great but can be useful in France to fill out quieter sectors of the front
cfulbright
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RE: static British division in UK ports 1944 ?

Post by cfulbright »

Loki,

My experience is that the farther the port is from the invasion beach, the higher the damage/attrition level when hit the Invade button. For example, in the 1943 campaign the units in Tunis suffer 3-6% attrition, the units in Oran suffer 6-10% attrition.

Is that not your experience?

Cary
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loki100
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RE: static British division in UK ports 1944 ?

Post by loki100 »

in 1943 yes, but in 1944 I tend to find that traversing from say Glasgow to Picardy has much the same consequences as say Plymouth-france.

My instinct is that there is no German interdiction in the Irish Sea so you only pick up hits in the Channel, while the Med is (low level) risky everywhere?

The problem is these static divisions deny you the use of some ports so you need to work around. If you send TF from the Med in very early 44 (prob earlier than usual) then you can prep up a couple of divisions in #4 ports for mid-May, but to use the reinforcement TF you really need the larger ones - and I can find uses for TF in Italy up into Jan 44 depending on where the fighting is.
cfulbright
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RE: static British division in UK ports 1944 ?

Post by cfulbright »

Good to know about the Irish Sea. Makes sense given where German naval interdiction usually is and also likely suppression of it by mid-1944.

Cary
Vinco
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RE: static British division in UK ports 1944 ?

Post by Vinco »

Thank you Loki for your quick reply! I followed (mostly) your advice and moved the assault units preparing in Southampton and Weymouth to.. Glasgow and Newcastle!
I don't remember seeing these static divisions in previous attempts at the big campaign. They must have been added in recent updates. I like to play.'historically', especially this period of the campaign (being located in Normandy probably explains that part), and the workaround of preparing assault units as far as Scotland is ok but somewhat hurts the immersive quality of the game.
Thanks again!
V.
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loki100
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RE: static British division in UK ports 1944 ?

Post by loki100 »

they got added in a patch - not sure when as I was a bit surprised to find them. Think they are also completely redundant and should be removed to be honest.

Someone did a test and the only invasion a German player could do is airborne, even if they get a port their shipping is minimal, its not 1940.

Having said that, be careful about Newcastle (for lots of reasons [;)] ). In game you don't choose your route when you hit invade and I believe it takes the shortest route to target, so it may be that those units will go down the E Coast and then through the Pas de Calais - so they will pick up attrition. I've not tested this as I've always been cautious about the E Coast ports unless its for a secondary invasion either at the Pas de Calais or the Netherlands.
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Laits
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RE: static British division in UK ports 1944 ?

Post by Laits »

ORIGINAL: loki100
Someone did a test and the only invasion a German player could do is airborne, even if they get a port their shipping is minimal, its not 1940.

Did someone ever tried this strategy in multiplayer ? It seems to be a waste of resources as it would be a sacrifice of elite units for little to no gain.
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IslandInland
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RE: static British division in UK ports 1944 ?

Post by IslandInland »

Pretty ridiculous some of these static divisions have been placed in major ports on the south coast. Historically these divisions were holding formations for replacements intended for the actual UK combat divisions.

I'm going to fire up the editor and move them out of the ports.


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IslandInland
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RE: static British division in UK ports 1944 ?

Post by IslandInland »

ORIGINAL: loki100

they got added in a patch - not sure when as I was a bit surprised to find them. Think they are also completely redundant and should be removed to be honest.

I've modified the scenario.

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=5134939
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War In The East 2 & Steel Inferno Expansion
War In The West Operation Torch
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rickwarintheeast
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Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2022 12:48 am

Re: static British division in UK ports 1944 ?

Post by rickwarintheeast »

I know this is a very hold thread, and may be the only one still playing WAR IN THE WEST, but the game is still pretty new for me. :)

I would be interested in unzipping this, but I'm getting a WINDOWS CANNOT OPEN THIS FILE and says it is an INVALID F
FORMAT.

I'm running Windows 10 something or other.

Any thoughts?

Regards,

Rick
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tm1
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Re: static British division in UK ports 1944 ?

Post by tm1 »

rickwarintheeast wrote: Wed Jan 03, 2024 10:48 pm I know this is a very hold thread, and may be the only one still playing WAR IN THE WEST, but the game is still pretty new for me. :)

I would be interested in unzipping this, but I'm getting a WINDOWS CANNOT OPEN THIS FILE and says it is an INVALID F
FORMAT.

I'm running Windows 10 something or other.

Any thoughts?

Regards,

Rick
Send a message to support or PM Joel billings, I am not real good at these things but I am certain some one in support will help.

regards
rickwarintheeast
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Re: static British division in UK ports 1944 ?

Post by rickwarintheeast »

I figured out how to unpack the scenario by using 7-ZIP instead of the native Microsoft product.

I inserted the files in the SCN folder of WITW2, and those divisions have 12 movement points. So, out of the way of the channel ports, and more British infantry formations to help Monty out once he gets to the Belgian border, or taking out all those channel ports after the war passes them by.

Regards,

Rick
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