gatpr
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Posts posted by gatpr
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Not to mention having their fair share of trouble with the Greeks, Albanians, Ethiopians, and Orde Wingate, not necessarily in that order. Replaying the battle of Adowa might be fun.
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Neat translation Epee!
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Jason C I think to some degree we're trying to read a dead man's mind. I've read his memoirs too.I agree Manstein was a great practitioner of mobile defense, and it was surely his intent for VI army to break out of the pocket. Isn't it interesting that it wasn't one of the more offensive minded commanders who believed it the Ardennes wasn't tank-proof. I think it's also telling that when Hitler fired Manstein that it was because the Eastern Front was entering (in Hitler's view) a defensive phase; and that there weren't enough mobile formations to spare for the kinds of operations that were Manstein's forte.
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Manstein was defensive-minded? When he was practically on the verge of breaking the ring at Stalingrad. I think pragmatic is better, after all, he wanted to continue at Kursk. There couldn't be a more pragmatic decision than to orchestrate 1st Panzerarmee's breakout in order to keep a continual front, instead of letting Hube break out south. My opinion is that he was one of the finest commanders in WWII. Even Hitler conceded that much.
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Andreas I should have specified successful, but I thought mentioning Operation Mars and Kharkov made my point that attacks on the Germans in the early period were very rarely tactically successful. I can't believe that the effectiveness was related to better equipment. By that standard, French armor would have crushed the Wehrmacht in 1940. My belief is that simply the concept of combined arms was better understood and practiced by Germans on every front until roughly mid-1943. After that even with some improvements in equipment relative to the Allies, Panther, MG42, Panzerfaust, Panzershreck, their losses of veterans on every level were too great to overcome. This is not even considering the situation of OKH vs OKW with Hitler and his sycophants playing at empire building.
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Mike if he were alive he'd be unhappy that you don't quite spell his name correctly.
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One idea that leaps to mind is the ratio of actual combatants to support troops. I have no figures at hand, but I believe the Russians not only had smaller support (not necessarily less effective) units than any other major combatant with the possible exception of Japan. I think Dorosh is possibly too generous in attributing a significant combat advantage for German squads until late 1944. The freres Dupuy did some statistical research that shows there was an advantage earlier but after late 1943 it was pretty much gone.
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Andreas my contention was not that there were no Soviet offensives in that period. My contention was that the more successful ones targeted the "minor allies". Please reread my original post.
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One strategy the Soviets used to great effect in 1942 and early 1943 was simply defend against the Germans. The offensive operations were launched against the Axis allies, and the general idea was to strike along boundaries betweeen units as much as possible. There were some exceptions that tend to prove the rule Operation Mars and the Kharkov attack. Maybe the prime example would be Uranus when the Soviets targeted Rumanians and Italians to surround the German 6th army. After Kursk the Soviets pretty much had the strategic iniative, so it was a very successful plan of operations.
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Also John A. Armstrong Soviet Partisans of WW2 and Adair ( I think) The Destruction of Army Group Center. Both are worthwhile.
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I'm amused; but it was a serious question regardles of the wording. Ave atque vale!
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One of the ongoing sword of Damocles' things for guerillas is that when their units/bands get large enough to have results, their units have problems with concealment. This is not a good thing for the guerillas.
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Will it be possible to design a scenario where, for example, German and Rumanian troops are fighting against the Russians. I would have used Finns as an example, but everyone knows they wouldn't need the help. And trying it with Magyars and Rumanians wouldn't work; they'd end up shooting at each other. Seriously Geman units were sometimes assigned to allied formations to stiffen them a bit.
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That's truly artful designing if it works that way. Since guerillas do tend to be a tad more fragile, generally, for a number of reasons. All of those features seem to mesh to make CMBB far more realistic than anything released so far.
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thanks for the replies. I can't wait to get my hands on CMBB like everyone else.
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Hitler thought he would recover some oil wells. Anyone know if it's true that Dietrich and some other officers mailed their armbands to Himmler in a chamber pot after Hitler ordered them disgraced for their failure.
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The quickest QB I can launch. I like the early war especially 1943 when I think equipment and experience were the most balanced.
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At the start of Barbarossa there were three army groups North, South, and Center. Army Group South in 1942 split into Group A, and South. Later 43-44 there was much reorganizing that's difficult to track. Erickson does it pretty well in Stalingrad to Berlin. The Arctic theater was controlled by the Norway Command.
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Speaking of 2lber guns, did the Soviets replace 2lbers with 45mm. There's a Valentine III in SPWW2 that has a 45mm. Is that an error?
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Double post but one of the drawbacks of the Lee was that the 75 wasn't in a turret. So as far as the 75 was concerned the 75 was a SP. The 37 was ,in a sense, the main gun.
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Weren't M3s used in Burma until at least 1944? Of course that was the end of the longest supply line.
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Will there be a full supply of lend lease equipment? I think that would be fun. Human wave attacks backed by Valentines, Lees, and Guards Mortars.
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47 but remarkably badly preserved. And ahving issues shooting my age on the golf course!
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In 1942-1950? there were also anti-soviet partisans in the Ukraine and the Baltic states. I'd still be interested in hearing from anyone who's seen them in the previews. The Germans also used some POWS to hunt partisans, and organized other militias( sort of ) to protect their villages, in some areas.
Pre-orders
in Combat Mission Archive #4 (2002)
Posted
Shouldn't we be nearing a date when we can pre-order. Does anyone have any clue about how they will be conducted. Of course, the fairest method would be to email we veterans a week or so before the tard-venus to recompense for our sweat equity and anxiety! Hah!