An old gem: Patriotic War 1942
Posted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 3:58 am
I discovered this old gem by Rick Bancroft: his WIR scenario for an attack by the Soviets in 1942, and I overhauled it....
FlankerLeader helped me out with some important details, thanks Flank![;)]
WIR 3.3 Patriotic War 1942
After the fall of France Germany is ready to take on Britain and starts a bombing campaign in preparation for the eventual invasion.
But in late 1940 -in what can be described as a bloodless coup- Hitler’s generals persuade their Fuhrer to relinquish control of the army as they realize he gets way to short sighted and overconfident in military affairs.
Surprisingly he agrees and takes to his duty as head of the Reich.
Subsequently the plans for an attack on the Soviet Union are shelved and the killing of the people in the camps stops and they are closed. (very unlikely, but I like human stories and hate the atrocities of Hitler -Tom1939)
The Battle Of Britain rages on and is a big succes for the Luftwaffe -Goring doesn’t interfere-, but before the planned invasion the British agree to accept the changed situation on the mainland.
A conditional peace settlement is signed by which the Axis gain control over Egypt and access to some Middle East oil. Spain is more than happy to join the Axis side. Negotiations start with France to allow the authority of the Petain regime over a larger territory of that country so the occupying Wehrmacht units can return to Germany. Following Pearl Harbor in September 1941 Germany and its allies don’t declare war on the USA, as they won’t risk American involvement in Europe.
The role and importance of the Waffen-SS in the Wehrmacht is being toned down; the units being renamed and scaled down but given some shiny new Tiger tanks to keep them happy. – Waffen-SS units will stage a come-back -albeit late in the war- due to a decree by the Fuhrer. (a cheapo solution I admit, in order to avoid too much further editing in units, but I built in a severe delay for all SS reinforcements -Silvanski)
It seems that peace will come over (German occupied) Europe, the size of the Werhmacht is to be cut down and equipment to be mothballed when -in an absolute surprise- on May 1 1942 Stalin sees his chance clear and attacks the demobilizing Wehrmacht, with the aim of eliminating the German military threat once and for all and taking over its satellite states.
Stalin, based on the preoccupation of his potential enemy Germany in the West and North Africa, ordered preparations to begin for a surprise strike to the west. Preparations began in December 1941, with an attack set for May 1942. Due to the requirement to attack with surprise, very little preparation is carried out along the border, leaving the follow-up forces to be created from the call up of reserves. However, readiness and training levels are increased to prepare the front line forces for battle.
The German generals didn’t expect that Stalin would risk breaking the non-aggression pact the two countries signed in 1939. For this reason the Wehrmacht‘s presence on the border isn’t as impressive as would have been the case in June 1941. No German panzercorps are present near the front line, lots of divisions and battalions have been reduced in strength and readiness by the demobilization which started a few months before. Several other corps and HQ’s even have been disbanded completely when the Soviets deal out the initial blows. Remobilization will be a time-consuming effort, even for the efficient German army. Although large German forces still present in North Africa and France can be transferred to the Russian front the build-up will take time. The two sides face a long and bloody war of attrition for control over Eastern Europe.
In this scenario there are two extra cities for the Axis -Madrid and Cairo- with some extra factories and oil and population points. Regarding the tank situation, initial work on a heavy tank began in 1938 or so, but it was put on hold to concentrate on existing tank production.
No 1941 invasion of Russia so the Germans’ need to concentrate on existing production is not present and they could have started producing the new Tiger tank prior to August 1942, albeit in limited numbers (thanks to industrial espionage and/or peace with the USSR the German engineers could have gotten plans of the T-34).
The Panther is more of a stretch, but again without the immediate needs of war, a similar tank could have been put into production earlier than historically.
The Panther does not start production until a few turns in, and then only in small numbers.
The He-177 is also an early starter, giving the Luftwaffe more or less the strategic bombing capcity envisaged by the late Gen. Walther Wever.
The whole basis of the scenario is that the fighting ended in 1941 and the Germans concentrated their efforts on industrial expansion and research rather than producing equipment (even though they did not historically go on a war footing until late in the war anyway). In this scenario they were concentrating on development of new weapons in preparation for the inevitable fight with the Soviets.
The Lend/Lease equipment the Soviets received is absent from this scenario. Flankerleader took care of that aspect of the scenario in Excel running the fabulous editor made by Rich Dionne and Michael Fleshman.
To reflect the conditions in this hypothetical scenario use WirHack (included)to turn off attrition and events on the Italian and Western fronts and USAAF bombing.
The Axis player can now release units from the West and Italian HQ’s and this also gives the Axis a huge boost in the air, both factors which can make a big difference against the massive Soviet army later in the war.
Original scenario by Rick Bancroft for WIR 3.1 or 3.2 (?), beefed up for 3.3 by FlankerLeader with his excellent Surface Tweak icons. Scenario overhaul by Silvanski.
Scenario notes by Rick Bancroft & Tom1939, adapted by Silvanski.
FlankerLeader helped me out with some important details, thanks Flank![;)]
WIR 3.3 Patriotic War 1942
After the fall of France Germany is ready to take on Britain and starts a bombing campaign in preparation for the eventual invasion.
But in late 1940 -in what can be described as a bloodless coup- Hitler’s generals persuade their Fuhrer to relinquish control of the army as they realize he gets way to short sighted and overconfident in military affairs.
Surprisingly he agrees and takes to his duty as head of the Reich.
Subsequently the plans for an attack on the Soviet Union are shelved and the killing of the people in the camps stops and they are closed. (very unlikely, but I like human stories and hate the atrocities of Hitler -Tom1939)
The Battle Of Britain rages on and is a big succes for the Luftwaffe -Goring doesn’t interfere-, but before the planned invasion the British agree to accept the changed situation on the mainland.
A conditional peace settlement is signed by which the Axis gain control over Egypt and access to some Middle East oil. Spain is more than happy to join the Axis side. Negotiations start with France to allow the authority of the Petain regime over a larger territory of that country so the occupying Wehrmacht units can return to Germany. Following Pearl Harbor in September 1941 Germany and its allies don’t declare war on the USA, as they won’t risk American involvement in Europe.
The role and importance of the Waffen-SS in the Wehrmacht is being toned down; the units being renamed and scaled down but given some shiny new Tiger tanks to keep them happy. – Waffen-SS units will stage a come-back -albeit late in the war- due to a decree by the Fuhrer. (a cheapo solution I admit, in order to avoid too much further editing in units, but I built in a severe delay for all SS reinforcements -Silvanski)
It seems that peace will come over (German occupied) Europe, the size of the Werhmacht is to be cut down and equipment to be mothballed when -in an absolute surprise- on May 1 1942 Stalin sees his chance clear and attacks the demobilizing Wehrmacht, with the aim of eliminating the German military threat once and for all and taking over its satellite states.
Stalin, based on the preoccupation of his potential enemy Germany in the West and North Africa, ordered preparations to begin for a surprise strike to the west. Preparations began in December 1941, with an attack set for May 1942. Due to the requirement to attack with surprise, very little preparation is carried out along the border, leaving the follow-up forces to be created from the call up of reserves. However, readiness and training levels are increased to prepare the front line forces for battle.
The German generals didn’t expect that Stalin would risk breaking the non-aggression pact the two countries signed in 1939. For this reason the Wehrmacht‘s presence on the border isn’t as impressive as would have been the case in June 1941. No German panzercorps are present near the front line, lots of divisions and battalions have been reduced in strength and readiness by the demobilization which started a few months before. Several other corps and HQ’s even have been disbanded completely when the Soviets deal out the initial blows. Remobilization will be a time-consuming effort, even for the efficient German army. Although large German forces still present in North Africa and France can be transferred to the Russian front the build-up will take time. The two sides face a long and bloody war of attrition for control over Eastern Europe.
In this scenario there are two extra cities for the Axis -Madrid and Cairo- with some extra factories and oil and population points. Regarding the tank situation, initial work on a heavy tank began in 1938 or so, but it was put on hold to concentrate on existing tank production.
No 1941 invasion of Russia so the Germans’ need to concentrate on existing production is not present and they could have started producing the new Tiger tank prior to August 1942, albeit in limited numbers (thanks to industrial espionage and/or peace with the USSR the German engineers could have gotten plans of the T-34).
The Panther is more of a stretch, but again without the immediate needs of war, a similar tank could have been put into production earlier than historically.
The Panther does not start production until a few turns in, and then only in small numbers.
The He-177 is also an early starter, giving the Luftwaffe more or less the strategic bombing capcity envisaged by the late Gen. Walther Wever.
The whole basis of the scenario is that the fighting ended in 1941 and the Germans concentrated their efforts on industrial expansion and research rather than producing equipment (even though they did not historically go on a war footing until late in the war anyway). In this scenario they were concentrating on development of new weapons in preparation for the inevitable fight with the Soviets.
The Lend/Lease equipment the Soviets received is absent from this scenario. Flankerleader took care of that aspect of the scenario in Excel running the fabulous editor made by Rich Dionne and Michael Fleshman.
To reflect the conditions in this hypothetical scenario use WirHack (included)to turn off attrition and events on the Italian and Western fronts and USAAF bombing.
The Axis player can now release units from the West and Italian HQ’s and this also gives the Axis a huge boost in the air, both factors which can make a big difference against the massive Soviet army later in the war.
Original scenario by Rick Bancroft for WIR 3.1 or 3.2 (?), beefed up for 3.3 by FlankerLeader with his excellent Surface Tweak icons. Scenario overhaul by Silvanski.
Scenario notes by Rick Bancroft & Tom1939, adapted by Silvanski.
