|
Germany
Tactical Notes : Equipment &
Defense Notes : Troops & Units : Keys The German Army of this period had an efficient
training system and a decentralized command policy which gave enormous
discretionary powers to officers "on the scene." Unfortunately their refusal to
allow non-aristocratic gentlemen to rise through the ranks created a chronic
officer shortage which was never rectified.
Tactical Notes:
German troops were ordered to
stop using close order formations by October of 1914, although some officers
continued to attack in close order for several months more. By late 1915 fully
dispersed assault units were making their appearance, and by 1916 at Verdun,
army level reserves had detachments of specialized "storm troops" available to
battalion and regimental commanders for spearheading their attacks.
Unfortunately some of the officers given temporary control of these priceless,
newly re-trained men were unaware of the newly developed tactical methods and
squandered them on poorly prepared frontal assaults. As the war progressed, the
new tactics practiced by these early pioneers spread to most of the army,
resulting in a blooming of assault-style training at all levels.
Equipment & Defense Notes:
The standard field
gun for German units was the 7.7cm, which is shell size 5 for
game play. Below are the defense values used to establish troop defenses (if
any) to be used during the setup phase of the game. These defensive levels are
meant only as rough averages. Players creating their own scenarios may want to
adjust them for different situations. For example, an "old" battlefield may
have very heavy wire entanglements and many pillboxes. A "new" battlefield
located in an area not previous fought over would have very little or no wire
entanglements and no bunkers. See the Game
Setup page or Advanced Game Setup for more
information.
- Defense Setup:
- 1914 | Trench ½40
- 1915 | Trench ½70 | Wire ½40 | Pillbox ¼
- 1916 | Trench ½70 | Wire ½40 | Pillbox ½ | Bunker ¼ | Stollen 1
- 1917 | Trench ½100 | Wire ½70 | Pillbox 1 | Bunker ½
- 1918 | Trench ½100 | Wire ½40 | Pillbox 1 | Bunker ¼
| Stollen 1
Stollen are underground bunkers whose sole purpose is to
protect assault infantry at their jumpoff point. Each Stollen holds three bases
as hard cover. Bases inside of a stollen may not fire out, and if assaulted
while inside, will fight as hit in rear. Stollen are only available when
the German player is the attacker.
Troops and
Units:
The orders of battle shown below offer a list of average unit
values in order to give 1916 players an idea of how historical formations
should be represented for game play. Real life units varied in type, strength
and quality, depending on their location and readiness level. Overall, there
were a huge variety of units created during the war, from forestry battalions
to assault companies. This prevents us from trying to list them all, and
players are encouraged to use these lists as guidelines for creating other
units they would like to use on the battlefield.
- Engineer Company
- Units:1 | Bases:6 | Morale:Brave | Training:Average
- Mounted Cavalry Squadron 1914
- Units:3 | Bases:3 | Morale:Steady | Training:Average | Note: Guard
cavalry: Brave morale/Great training, Landwehr cavalry: Shaky morale/Poor
training
- Dismounted Cavalry Squadron 1914
- Units:1 | Bases:9 | Morale:Steady | Training:Average | Machine Guns:1 heavy | Note: Same
morale note as mounted.
- Muskete Battalion 1915-17
- Units:9 | Bases:1 | Morale:Steady | Training:Great
- Guard Pioneer Flamethrower Platoon (Army level)
1915-16
- Units:3 | Bases:1 | Morale:Reckless | Training:Great | Special:All
bases are equipped with flamethrowers.
- Assault Detachment (Army level)
1915-16
- Units:1 | Bases:3 | Morale:Brave | Training:Great | Machine Guns:1 heavy | Mortars:1
light | Special:Starting in late
1916, may mark one base as equipped with flamethrowers.
- Assault Detachment (Army level) 1917
- Units:1 | Bases:3 | Morale:Reckless | Training:Great | Machine Guns:1 heavy, 1 light | Trench Mortars:1 light | Special:Mark one base as equipped with flamethrowers.
- Assault Detachment (Divisional level)
1917-18
- Units:1 | Bases:3 | Morale:Brave | Training:Great | Machine Guns:1 heavy | Trench Mortars:1 light
- Pioneer Flamethrower Platoon (Army level)
1918
- Units:3 | Bases:1 | Morale:Reckless | Training:Outstanding | Special:All bases are equipped with
flamethrowers.
- Assault Detachment (Army level) 1918
- Units:3 | Bases:1 | Morale:Reckless | Training:Outstanding | Machine Guns:1 heavy | Trench Mortars:1 light | Special:Mark one base as equipped with flamethrowers. Unit bases may
also (rarely) be SMG equipped.
- Infantry Battalion 1914
- Units:5 | Bases:9 | Morale:Steady | Training:Average | Machine Guns:1 heavy
- Infantry Battalion 1915
- Units:5 | Bases:9 | Morale:Steady | Training:Average | Machine Guns:2 heavy
- Jager Battalion 1914/15
- Units:8 | Bases:6 | Morale:Brave | Training:Great | Machine Guns:2 heavy | Trench Mortars:1 light
- Infantry Battalion 1916
- Units:5 | Bases:9 | Morale:Steady | Training:Average | Machine Guns:3 heavy
- Kavallerie Schutzen Battalion 1916
- Units:5 | Bases:6 | Morale:Brave | Training:Average | Machine Guns:3 heavy
- Infantry Battalion 1917
- Units:6 | Bases:6 | Morale:Steady | Training:Average | Machine Guns:3 heavy, 1 light | Mortars:2 light
- Infantry Battalion 1918²
- Units:4 | Bases:9 | Morale:Shaky | Training:Poor | Machine Guns:2 heavy
- Sturm Battalion B 1918²
- Units:6 | Bases:6 | Morale:Brave | Training:Great | Machine Guns:3 heavy, 2 light | Trench Mortars:2 light
- Sturm Battalion A 1918²
- Units:12 | Bases:3 | Morale:Brave | Training:Outstanding | Machine Guns:3 heavy, 2 light | Trench Mortars:2 light
- Cavalry Regiment 1914
- Units:4 mounted squadrons
- Infantry Regiment 1914-15
- Battalions:3 infantry
- Infantry Regiment 1916
- Battalions:3 infantry | Machine Guns:2 heavy
- Infantry Regiment 1917-18
- Battalions:3 infantry | Machine Guns:3 heavy | Special:May have up to 3 division level assault
detachments
- Sturm Regiment B 1918
- Battalions:3 sturm B | Machine Guns:3 heavy | Special:3
division level assault detachments
- Sturm Regiment A 1918
- Battalions:3 sturm A | Machine Guns:3 heavy
- Infantry Division 1914-15
- Regiments:4 infantry
- Infantry Division 1915-16
- Regiments:4 infantry | Special:For "Big Push" operations, may have one army level assault
detachment and/or Pioneer Flamethrower platoon attached.
- Infantry Division 1917
- Regiments:3 infantry | Special:May have up to three Army level assault detachments
attached.
- Infantry Division 1918
- Regiments:3 infantry
- Sturm Division 1918
- Regiments:3 sturm A or B | Special:May have three or more army level assault detachments and/or
flamethrower platoons attached, unless composed of Sturm A regiments, in which
case no extra assault detachments are allowed.
² - By the start of
1918, 75% of German infantry divisions were considered "trench divisions" and
were relegated to defensive status for holding low risk areas. The remaining
25% became sturm or "assault divisions" which received the newest equipment,
youngest recruits and extensive training in stormtroop
tactics.
- Defense Setup Key:
Each line on the Defense Setup list covers the
setup values for a certain year of the war. These values are approximates only,
and players with special insights are encouraged to adjust these values
according to their own preferences, or for specific scenario elements. Below
are definitions of each basic feature type.
- 1916
The year of the war with applies to the following
defense allotments
Trench ½70 The
player receives game board trenchlines equal one-half die roll (½D6)
multiplied by seventy inches. Other multiples will be forty inches and
one-hundred inches. For example, the hypothetical player who rolled a 5 on this
die roll would be allowed to set up a maximum of 210 inches worth of fire
trenches, slit trenches and foxholes on the game board.
Wire
½40 Same die rolling method as for trenchlines,
but applies to acquisition of barbed wire entanglements. Note that for ease of
play, the length of each barbed wire segment should equal the width of an
infantry base.
Pillbox ½ Values
shown without a second number immediately following will use that final value
to establish the number of those items allowed for that player. For example:
The hypothetical player who rolled a 3 on this die roll would be allowed to set
up two pillboxes on the game board.
Bunker ¼
Same system as for pillboxes, but applies to
acquisition of bunkers instead:
- A ½ die roll means
that a 1 or 2 = One, 3 or 4 = Two, 5 or 6 = Three. A ¼ die roll means
that a: 1 through 4 = One, and a 5 or 6 = Two.
- Troop and Unit Key:
- Formation Type - Year
- Units:number of subunits in the formation ¹ |
Bases:number of bases per subunit |
Morale:approximate formation morale
| Training:approximate training level of the
units | Machine Guns:average number
of machine guns which the formation may possess |
Mortars:average number of trench mortars which the
formation may possess | Towed Cannon:average number of towed cannon which the formation may
possess. | Special:special weapons
or conditions, such as flamethrowers, etc.
¹ — Note
that higher level formations will be composed of companies, battalions or
regiments instead of bases and units.
|
