Joel Billings -> RE: historical command changes (5/16/2016 6:52:27 PM)
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ORIGINAL: HexHead Let's not forget that even as late as 1944, something like 60% of Wehrmacht transport was horses. Let's see, let's take a look at the US Army by mid-war, late war: * Artillery out the wazoo - good artillery, too, and plenty of it, arguably the single strongest asset for US ground forces; let's not forget the L5 spotting planes either, they did a tremendous job. Yes, my dad was a US FO in France 44-45 and flew over 30 missions in a spotter plane. US artillery was good, and that is factored in the game by rules that bring more of it into battles in support. * Only army in the world in the 1940s that had a semi-automatic rifle as general issue. I wonder how many Axis soldiers, in the ETO and PTO, got hit with a slug from an M-1 Garand (i.e., 'bang, bang, bang') while they were cocking their bolt Yes, that fact is in the game as well, but remember, Germans had a great LMG, and my father was hit by both a bullet (of unknown origin) in Normandy and an artillery round from German artillery when he was 5 miles into Germany in Sept 44 (near Wallendorf). * Only army in the world that was completely motorized - that's a fact. Well, yes and no. The infantry had to walk, unless they were temporarily motorized (which could be done, but not always). Sure, their guns and equipment had trucks, but they weren't fully motorized. So, who was resource effective? Also, for all of their leadership qualities, the German approach could still be a bit too rigid - on June 6, 1944, a Panzer formation drew to within three miles of the beaches. The CO wanted orders and didn't go any farther. As one historian remarked, no American officer would've done that. Throughout the history of the US Army, individual initiative by officers of all grades has been emphasized. In total, we stand by our ratings, although I appreciate that half the fun of playing a wargame is arguing about the facts versus the game.
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