Ts4EVER

I have a playthrough of that campaign on my channel. It is not terrible, but feels rather generic and uninspired, with lots of samey missions. The final mission is a slap in the face, since the briefing misleads you into thinking that you are supposed to solve the scenario in the historical manner by rushing your forces through it, when in fact that is basically impossible.

That is why I only bought that pack after the battlepack came out. IMO the quick battles do not offer the best CM experience.

Yes, that is my main criticism of the Red Thunder game (as someone who avoids the quick battle system). Many of the scenarios get a bit samey. "Take that bridge with your T34s / T70s"! Sometimes some SU76s as well. I don't think I have seen one of the heavy assault guns or the SU85 ever, and the IS2s only in one campaign scenario.

Hmmm... do you think it is a good idea to do that? It is one thing if you communicate this here and I totally see your reasoning, but if you include these campaigns in an unfinished state, you are technically releasing a faulty or buggy product. Not every customer browses the forums and will be able or willing to get this information. I'd be careful with that from a marketing perspective.

It is almost a running gag on my youtube channel that may snipers always have 0 confirmed kills at the end of each scenario...

In December 1944, the Germans had 179 Infantry divisions. Of these, 56 had 2/3rds of their line infantry platoons equipped with StG44s. A further 10 had a third of their strength re-equipped.

Oh, no, I meant the 1st FSSF.

That was the segregated Division? I never heard about them having unique gear. On the other hand, the FSSF used the Johnson LMG, so that might be a possible addition.

That document is not from 1945, but captured then. You can find this information for English speakers here: http://www.wwiidaybyday.com/kstn/kstn131v1sep44.htm

I never saw the PPS42 ingame either. That being said, at the scale and graphical fidelity of Combat Mission, the difference would be completely unnoticable. I work on the BF2 mod "Forgotten Hope 2" and for reference, this is how the PPS42 and 43 look in our game:

Are you sure about the PPS42? Because I seem to recall one of the Battlefront staff writing in here that it wasn't ingame, but that they removed it last second because they found out it was not used in the central part of the front.

Are you living in some kind of bubble that doesn't allow reading? Nobody is arguing that all rifles should be replaced by StG44s, but as I and others have demonstrated, the Germans did issue this weapon in bulk and by the end of the war, it was a common weapon to see in frontline infantry units. So there should be Volksgrenadier Companies with 2 assault platoons outfitted largely with StG44s. This, btw, is already the case in Final Blitzkrieg, so I am wondering what you are arguing about anyway....

No it wasn't. It was issued to 1 platoon (later 2 platoons) of line infantry. The Handrich book includes the German original documents from the development process which shows that the intention was to replace smgs and rifles with it completely (initially MGs as well, but they decided against it). This is not a point to argue about, since there is actual evidence.

This thread scares me, mostly because of the apparent inability of this forum's members to actually read the post linked in the op. That is the only reason I can imagine why we still hear the old crap of "StG44s were for elite units!" in this thread even though that was debunked in the first post, basically. So, once more for all those non-readers: The StG44 was not a weapon made for "elite" units. It was supposed to arm the standard infantry and while the Germans did not achieve this due to the war situation, they did issue it in large numbers towards the end of the war. In fact, if they issued it to divisions, they usually gave out a large enough number to equip at least 1 platoon in each company, 2 in Volksgrenadier Companies. According to the Sturmgewehr book by Handrich, a little bit less than half of the German infantry divisions were equipped as such by the war's end. (Going from memory here). The Bulge game actually represents this quite well, which is why I am surprised this thread even exist... obviously they will carry over the ToE from Final Blitzkrieg to the Eastern Front, I see no reason why not. Regarding some other topics that came up in this thread: The G41 was a horrible design and had a limited production run, but it was not as rare as people seem to think. If you look at divisional reports, up to and including the summer of 1944 it is the primary automatic rifle issued to German divisions. Only in the autumn of 1944 does the G43 become more common. However, in contrast to the StG44 these rifles were seen as a stopgap measure to increase infantry firepower and were not issued in bulk. Since they used the same round as the MG42 and K98k, this was possible without complicating logistics. Usually they were issued on a 1 or 2 per squad basis, in case of Panzergrenadiers officially as the weapon of the squad leader's assistant. As the StG44 became more common and infantry divisions formed Sturm platoons, they were supposed to be pooled together as a "poor man's assault rifle" to create makeshift assault platoons, in case StG44 deliveries were not possible. Regarding the Tokarev SVT40: This is an excellent rifle, but it is massively overrepresented in Red Thunder. It is true that the Russian produced a lot of them, but most of that production was pre-war, as well as 1941 and 1942. After that, the production of this relatively expensive rifle was reduced in favor of the PPsh41 / Mosin Nagant combo. What this means is that this rifle was basically the weapon of the "first iteration" of the Soviet Army: The one that was all but destroyed in the battles of 1941 and 1942. Not saying there were none at all around by 1944, some certainly were, but it was no longer a standard, mass issued weapon. Instead of seeing the big numbers of this rifle in Red Thunder, I would prefer to have the historical infantry organisation where one platoon in a rifle company is equipped with SMGs and the other two using the traditional rifle squad structure, as was common late in the war. This would represent the situation on the ground better. The SVT40 could show up if you select "above average" equipment.

Hard to do an accurate beach landing with the bunkers available.

That picture is a well known one from Stalingrad. Interestingly, it is also not an SVT40 but an AVS-36, which was still in use this early in the war.

You need to link to an address.

No, Sicily is not right at all, although some where tested near Salerno, apparently. I assume the M9 Bazooka is more accurate, since it has a scope.

Yes, that being said, I personally feel there is a certain disconnect between the level of detail when it comes to vehicles variants (Panzer IV Ausf. H (early)) and Infantry equipment. I wish there was some bigger variety there just for historical flavor, even if maybe the actual gameplay effect would be small. I'd have to imagine that modifying a TOE or making a new type of rifle is ultimately less work than making some obscure tank. I made a thread about this before, but some examples of infantry weapons that in my eyes should be added to the WW2 series: For German infantry set to "ill-equipped": MG26(t) (to replace random amounts of MG34/42) MP Beretta (especially for the Bulge game) MP 28 Luftwaffe Field Division stuff: MG15 / MG81 And the G41(w) as replacement for the G43 on 1943 and early 1944 maps In terms of TOE for the Eastern Front game: A variant of the Grenadier Kompanie with 1 Sturmzug for those Divisions that had the MP43 introduced. Call it Grenadier-Kompanie (Stg) or whatever, just copy the already existing one and change it a bit. If the Italy Game includes old style (1941) Infanterie ToE, port it over to the Normandy game as well. For Russians: Fewer SVT40s for Russian infantry in 1944 / 45. (In fact, I know of no photo of a Tokarev rifle on the front post 1943, although I am willing to be proven wrong on this) A variant of the Rifle Company with an smg platoon. PRTS semi automatic for units set to "Better than average" equipment. For Americans: M9A1 Bazooka and M1919A6 set to proper start date (post Normandy) Springfield grenade launcher in Normandy and Bulge if equipment set to bad. Again, can be ported over from Italy.

The point of my post was to refute OPs argument that Infantry units had no G41s and G43s, only Panzergrenadiers did. According to these numbers, Infanterie Divisions indeed had them, as portrayed ingame.

Since I apparently got nothing better to do I looked at some reports to get more data regarding the idea that "Infantry Divisions had no G41s or G43s". Let's see: 197. Infanterie-Division (01.06.1944) II. Deutsche Waffen 7.485 x Karabiner 98k 94 x Karabiner 98 k mit Zielfernrohr 213 x Gewehr 41 und 43 2 x Granatbüchse 39 1.289 x Pistolen 697 x Maschinenpistole 38/40 30 x Maschinenpistole 44 III. Beutewaffen 25 x Maschinenpistolen (r) 26 x Gewehr (r) 2 x 5,2cm Granatwerfer (r) 3 x Panzerbüchsen (r) 4 x 28cm Mörser (f) 7 x 7,5cm Kanone 231 (f) 256. Infanterie-Division (01.06.1944) I. Deutsche Waffen (in Kriegsgliederung nicht eingezeichnet) 7.106 x Karabiner 81 x Zielfernrohrgewehre 162 x Gewehr 41 360 x Gewehr-Granat-Gerät 702 x Maschinenpistolen (davon 38 = MPi 43) 1.679 x Pistolen 65 x Panzerschreck 1 x Nebelwerfer 35 21 x leichte Maschinengewehre 08/15 8 x leichte Maschinengewehr 13 2 x leichte Maschinengewehr 15 1 x schwere Maschinengewehre 08 (zur Instandsetzung und Waffenreserve) 11 x leichte Maschinengewehre 6 x schwere Maschinengewehre 7 x mittlere Granatwerfer 1 x 7,62cm Feldkanone 288 (r) II. Beutewaffen 499 x Gewehre (r) 83 x leichte Maschinengewehre (r) 3 x schwere Maschinengewehre (r) 50 x leichte Maschinengewehre (f) 19 x leichte Maschinengewehre (t) 1 x leichtes Maschinengewehre (e) 1 x leichter Granatwerfer (r) 3 x mittlere Granatwerfer (r) 9 x mittlere Granatwerfer (f) 9 x 4,5cm Pak (r) 42. Jäger-Division (01.06.1944) I. Deutsche Waffen (In Kriegsgliederung nicht eingezeichnet) 10.678 x Gewehre 68 x Zielfernrohrgewehre 23 x Gewehre 41 2.470 x Pistolen 436 x Maschinenpistolen 64 x Granat-Büchsen 403 x Gewehr-Granat-Geräte 10 x 3,7cm Pak II. Beutewaffen 58 x Gewehre (j) 343. Infanterie-Division (01.06.1944) I. Deutsche Waffen (in der Kriegsgliederung nicht enthaltene deutsche Waffen) 6.211 x Karabiner 98K 84 x Gewehre 98 9 x Gewehre 98a 65 x Gewehre 41 130 x Karabiner 98 mit Zielfernrohr 528 x Gewehr-Granat-Geräte 735 x Maschinenpistolen 1.959 x Pistolen 08/38 1.077 x Pistolen 7,65mm II. Beutewaffen (nur Granatwerfer, Maschinengewehre und Gewehre) 804 x Gewehre (j) 305 x Gewehre (f) 870 x Gewehre (r) 674 x Gewehre 24(t) 41 x selbstladende Gewehre (r) 3 x Karabiner 454 (r) 27 x Pistolen (r) 29 x Maschinenpistolen (r) 264. Infanterie-Division (30.11.1943) 7.751 x Karabiner 98K 199 x Zielfernrohrgewehre 200 x Gewehre 41 (W) 3.557 x Pistolen 38 875 x Maschinenpistolen 40 545 x Gewehr-Granat-Geräte 71 x 8cm Granatwerfer 34 12 x 7,5cm leichtes Infanterie-Geschütz 18 6 x 7,62cm J.H.K. 290 (r) 4 x 5cm Pak (leihweise vom OKH zur Ausbildung zugewiesen) 10 x 2cm Flak I could go on.

These are monthly reports and the one from June might have been destroyed. Also, these don't change that much over a month except for enemy action.

Dunno where this idea comes from that Infantry Divisions had no G41/G43. For instance, the 352nd Infanterie-Division of Omaha Beach fame reported 395 G41s in February 1944. These do not show up in the 43 kstn, but IIRC there was an amendment saying that 2 were to be issued to each squad if available.

Too bad, really not interested in modern warfare. That being said, from what limited experience I have of game development, I get how this kind of mission creep can happen.

He also made the Road to Nijmegen and Scottish Corridor campaigns for the same game. I'm playing the Nijmegen one on my channel right now, btw.