Andy Mac
Posts: 15222
Joined: 5/12/2004 From: Alexandria, Scotland Status: offline
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There are some small units out there we chose as a deliberate policy not to go nuts in this area - after initial opening deployments units tended to need to be Bn sized to be represented. And if possible we set them up as Bdes as a minimum. However if you dont agree you will have 1,000s of slots to play with !!! The Australian get about 9 Coy Sized Commando Units (Ind Companies) which can form up into Bns if the player chooses and a Para Bn The British get 5 Chindit Bdes, a Commando Bde, a Parachute Division (1 Bde 41, 2 in 45) and an Independent Para Bde (5th British) add to to that lot Lushai Bde, RM Viper Force (Disbands 42) and various other forces. NZ gets several Bn sized forces and a Force N detachment. US gets various forces USMC Raiders etc etc Small 'special' force detachments are not uncommon its just that we tried to keep them to a minimum size after the beginning of the game quote:
ORIGINAL: el cid again quote:
ORIGINAL: Andy Mac Broadly a lot of small company sized forces exist at start especially in SOPAC - i..e 1st BN NGVR is spread out over NG and New Britain Aus Ind Companies are also spread out. Small units and independent forces tended to be formed because there were insufficient full TOE properly constituted forces at Bde and Div level. On the allied side they are a function on the allied inadequate preparations and will probably for th emost part be run over Wren Force, Heron Garrison, RM Viper Force, Black Force various NZ small garrisons and forces are all scattered because the allies dont have proper forces. The only real independent forces that arrive later in the war are the Chindit Bdes (5 of them) and the Commando Bde. I dont like having to many sub Bde sized forces later in the war it leads to issues and exploits and they are not really required so we tend not to add them There is a new book - Australian Special Forces - and it appears that small forces - small enough to be delived by submarine on occasion - were a factor later in the war. And farther afield than I would have imagined. Similarly, an older book, The Alamo Scouts, indicates the US used such forces with effect in the MarArthur area. [They were modeled on the Eskimo Scouts, who during the war were special recon elements: today two different kinds of units claim their liniage: Alaska National Guard claimed all but one of its battalions were "Eskimo Scouts" until they were required to reform as support battalions - but a few small elements were retained anyway; The Alaska State Defense Force - which stills wears the ATG (Alaska Territorial Guard) patch - claims its three light infantry battalions are also of the same liniage (a fourth battalion - newly formed up - is Military Police).] The Aleutians campaign involved a lot of learning - including why you should NOT send in a landing without current assets on island. In a strange battle, US and Canadian forces landed on opposite ends of a valley - but the enemy was not present - so when they met - in the near perpetual fog of the area - they engaged each other - somewhat vigorously! The other big land battle didn't go so badly - because the enemy was actually there - although they did spook us by a kamakaze charge at the end that nearly overran a firebase. The engine seems to work well if you put ANY small unit in the hex - you get good intel.
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