, but it is still here for future reference.Up until now we have done our background study, made our map, set the scenario parameters (the settings, date, etc) and now we come to what I consider the best part.
I have my battleground, but I need warriors. To try to be as accurate as possible, I find the names of the battalion sized groups involved in the fighting and then go to my source books to find out just what units are incorporated into these formations.
For this kind of information, you will need books or other documents that give listings of the contents of military formations for the various countries. For US forces, Gerald Stanton’s “U.S. Army of Battle in World War II” does quite nicely.
For German orders of battle, a number of sources are available including Nafziger’s books of the very well done “Panzertruppen 1 and 2,” by Jentz.
As you know SPWAW allows you to have individual tanks and small squad sized units on a very realistic looking map. You are looking down on them as though you were viewing the scene from an airplane. I like that feel of close-in fighting, and this new game gives a realistic look to tanks and vehicles like they’ve never had before.
Usually in the case of larger numbers of units, I write down in a spiral notebook I keep handy the formation names. Then I figure out what units go under each formation. Once I determined what the units for both sides were as nearly as possible, I went back to the Scenario Editor and began choosing them.
I like this part of the building process. I have the feeling of just having walked into this big, very big supply depot and pointing to this tank, saying, “I’ll have three platoons of those Shermans and two platoons of those M-10 tank destroyers, and…oh, give me about a dozen of those half tracks. No, those over there, the ones with two machine guns.”
Picking units can be a highpoint, but I try to stick within the confines of what I am sure was really involved in the battle.
This process is not as long as preparing a map and is probably more fun. To pick units for both sides requires anywhere from one to four hours, more or less. All of it again depends on the size of the battle I am trying to portray. I have to keep in mind, however, that without that good map, all those units are a wasted effort. So I am building, one step at a time.
In the scenarios I create, I am rarely ever happy with many of the original settings or lower formations as they appear in the game. For that reason I am constantly changing these. For example, I try to show battle losses. In a squad that normally has a complement of eleven, I will change the number to eight. Very few infantry squads that had been in battle very long still had all of its complement. Wounds, death, illness, all take their toll and replacements are not always forthcoming.
The same is true with tank platoons and other formations. Often I will remove a tank from a five tank platoon. Here again, repairs and losses take their toll.
I also enjoy renaming the units to their historical equivalent. The game will not allow me to always type in every detail, but I can put in enough to give a unit its own identity.
It is a simple process. Once the units are chosen, simply click on a unit, then hit the “d” key on your keyboard. This brings up the data screen. By clicking on the space that says name, the ID of the unit can be changed what is appropriate for the battle. Now they begin to take on an identity of their own.
I often vary their fighting capabilities, such as morale and battle proficiency, which affects their performance. This I do in the same way. From the unit data screen, I click on proficiency and type in a number. The same is true with morale. As a guideline, green units have lower morale and proficiency.
More experienced units will have higher numbers. And elite forces, such as engineers, marines, SS and rangers will have even a higher number. I rarely go past 100. It’s easy to recreate Sgt. Rock and his band of hardy warriors with careless use of numbers. Here again, trial and error is the key to the learning process.
Occasionally, I will go a step farther and even go as far as to change the flag in the main editor screen (or simply use the “nationality” button on the pick screen), then replace, say a German tank with a French one and use it as a captured French vehicle.
Another little trick that works in Steel Panthers is to change a unit for another. On some occasions I only want one tank in a formation. A single tank is not an option in the unit choices in the game. So I choose a sniper. Then once all units are chosen, I go back to that sniper. I click on the “Replace” button in the unit deployment screen and choose a tank in place of the sniper.
Once I have done that, however, I must open the data screen and modify the unit’s armor capabilities. He still has sniper capabilities (high infantry proficiency – low armor proficiency). I usually just reverse the numbers. Now I have my single tank unit.
Invariably, I use numerous methods within the editor to accomplish a unique scenario for the player. I am sure that most who fight these battles are never aware of these changes. They are there, however, as anyone who opens the scenario for viewing in the scenario editor will discover.
We'll go over the picking process in more detail next week.
Till then...Wild Bill
[ May 07, 2001: Message edited by: Wild Bill ]
But haven't had time to involve so much 