Froonp
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Joined: 10/21/2003
From: Marseilles, France
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Borger Borgersen
I remember from the European map thread that Patrice has made a list of possible map changes for the European map that will be discussed with ADG. Is it possible to post this list here and get comments from the forum members if other parts of the European map could be changed as well?
Suggested European Map changes :
Suggestions, Algeria
• Add Constantine (114k inhabitants) in Algeria (Froonp).
• Extend the S going railway spurs in Algeria to their real length (Froonp). Draft map done.
Suggestions, Czechoslovakia
• Slovakia became an “independent” country (capital Bratislava) and a German minor ally in March 1939 as Germany invaded Bohemia-Moravia (what is now the Czech Republic). If the Sudetenland warrants a border, so too should Slovakia with Bohemia-Moravia (marcuswatney).
Suggestions, Denmark
• Make Bornholm Danish, and move it SE of Malmo. It was 'liberated' by the Russians in 1945, and they gave it back. Should be in the hex SE of Malmö (marcuswatney).
• The connections between the Denmark islands in the NW were questioned. This mostly has to do with the hexes being larger than the islands so some hexes contain 1 and a half islands.
• The connections SE and SW from Copenhagen's island are shown as straits, and that was questioned too.
• And I have questions about the rail lines that cross between islands. I am unhappy that there isn't a clear statement of what a rail line crossing the open sea means (Steve).
• Should be there a straits crossing between Lubeck and the Danish island hex to the NE? I checked on the German invasion of Denmark and German troops crossed on the mainland border in Schleswig, landed from ship in Copenhagen, and took the air base in the north of the country by paratroop. They did not attempt to use the crossing from puttgarden (Lubeck hex) to Lolland and Falster islands, probably because there is a bridge between those two islands and yet another crossing after that, to Sjaelland/Zealand. it would have taken too long on the timescale the Germans were working to, with risk of delay if any of the ferries and bridges were disabled. if so they would need Kriegsmarine support and if they had that they may as well go straight to Copenhagen. Which they did, as this operation was part of the larger 'operation Weser' invasion of Norway. But that does not mean there is not a ferry from lubeck/puttgarden to lolland island. it is about the same distance as the Odense-Sjaelland and Lolland-Langeland straits, and shorter than the Copenhagen-Malmo strait, all of which have crossing arrows (Mike Fisher).
Suggestions, Finland
• Rename Hanko (Finnish Spelling) as Hango (Swedish Spelling) (English spelling?). Keep Hanko (ahlner).
• Add Mannerheim Line as an on-map fortification.
• The border with the USSR in the SE of Finland, including the lakes and the river (Svir?) that connects them. Possibly also the Finnish borderlands just north of this area. The reality was not as well modelled by the MWIF map as it might be, partially because of the movement ability of the Finnish units to penetrate deep into the USSR, cutting off Leningrad from the east (Steve). My 1942 atlas shows the Finnish Borderlands around Lake Ladoga is far too big. The problem is that Lake Ladoga is badly drawn: it is more rectangular than square. Along the north cost of the lake, the Soviets annexed only a corridor varying in width between 10 and 20 miles. All they wanted was the railway line that comes up from Leningrad, and which skirts the lake (marcuswatney).
Suggestion, Ireland
• Cosmetic : Lough Neagh is 25 km long and 15 km wide. This is not large enough to be relevant in a WiF FE hex (marcuswatney).
Suggestions, Hungary
• The NE hexes of Hungary (Ruthenia) were actually a part of Slovakia until autumn 1938 - at the time of Munich, Slovakia had a border with Romania. So these hexes should be shown as negotiable, just like the Sudetenland (marcuswatney).
• Add Lake Balaton (jcprom). 77 km long 14 km wide. It is on the NW hexside of the resource hex.
Suggestions, Italy
• Add Lake Garda, halfway between Milan & Venice. It is about 50 km long and 16 km wide at its largest. A WiF map hex has an average diameter of 89 km, which means that a hexside has an average length of 51 km. These figures say that this lake would be long enough to be added to the map. I would place it on the W hexside of hex 60,37 (the hex NW of Venice).
• Add Lake Maggiore. 66 km long, extending from within Switzerland into Italy. It can be placed on the W hexside of hex 60,35 (the hex NW of Milan).
Suggestions, Mediterranean Sea
• Add Lampedusa (hex 76,37, position 15) and Pantellaria (hex 74,37 position 18) islands (West Med).
• Elba Island (NE of Corsica) should be moved over to the hex adjacent to the Italian coast there, or move that part of Corsica out of the same hex with Elba (marcuswatney, jcprom).
Suggestions, Morocco
• Add a railway going south from Casablanca, and then eastwards to Marrakech (North Africa - Morocco 1941 - 1.jpg) (Froonp).
• Shift Casablanca & Mogador a couple of hexes southwards (Froonp).
• Add Marrakech and Fez (144 inhabitants) as cities (Froonp).
Suggestions, Netherlands
• The hex west of Dusseldorf should be Dutch... and yes the rail-line from Dusseldorf to Antwerp really does go through the Netherlands! Note that Aachen is right up against the Dutch border (marcuswatney).
Suggestions, Poland
• Make Danzig a free city under the League of Nations and not part of the Polish Corridor. After all, the Polish Corridor was a corridor owned by Poland leading to the sea at Gdynia (marcuswatney).
Suggestions, Russia
• Volga is very wide between Stalingrad and Astrakhan: warrants something more than mere river status?
• The entire stretch of the Volga north to Saratov and to some distance south of Stalingrad is pretty much a lake hexside rather than just a river. It's not really passable. You can run ships across it, and the Russians had ferries that ran across it, but to rate it the same as all other rivers is a bit misleading.
• There's a piece of land called the Okhosha (sp?) land bridge, which is basically what Kiev sits on. Both side of that, north and south, the Dneiper is pretty much impassable. I'd rate the 2 hexsides N and 2 hexsides S (and a few others to the S, check Google maps for example or an atlas, the geography hasn't changed much since 1945) as lake hexsides. This is what makes the defence of Kiev so important, as it's the only way across the Dneiper in that area.
• The Dneiper river hexes south of Dnepropetrovsk should also be marked as Lake Hexsides.
• Vilna was given to Lithuania on 10 October 1939 by the Soviet Union, as a sweetener for allowing Soviet forces in. It is now the capital of Lithuania. Since this happened at the time of the annexation of the Baltic States, and before the occupation of Bessarabia, an alternative border should be delineated (marcuswatney).
• Leningrad is not a major port. The major naval port is Kronshtadt, an island about 50 km W of Leningrad, I'd put it one hex west.
Suggestion, Sweden
• There could be Strait crossing arrow from Oland Island, to the hex that Kalmar would be in (Mike Fisher).
Suggestions, Switzerland
• Add Lake Constance (jcprom). 64 km long 14 km wide. It is on the NE hexside of Zurich hex.
• Add Lake Geneva (jcprom). 73 km long 14 km wide. It is on one of the hexsides of 59,32.
Suggestions, Tunisia
• There are several rail lines in Eastern Algeria and Central Tunisia which should be added. They all existed pre-1938. Draft map done.
o From Sousse through Kasserine Pass is a railway that continues all the way past Gafsa to Tazeur in the salt marshes. This would run from Sousse on the coast 1 hex W, then 1 hex SW, then 1 hex W again then 2 further hexes SW to the far western swamp hex. This rail line was one of the major reasons for the Battle of Kasserine Pass, as it would have allowed the Germans to outflank American positions in Algeria to the west, and they in fact attempted this very thing resulting in the well known Battle.
o On the Algerian side of the border is the line that runs from Bone to Tebessa and another from Algiers to Tebessa. Again this rail line was of importance as it outflanked German positions in Tunisia, and was the reason for the American push into the interior of Tunisia. This line would run from Bone to Tebessa (hex 77,32). A second line would split off half way between Algiers and Bone and head SE towards Tebessa. Tebessa was the main American railhead for the attacks on central Tunisia and was the launching point for their attacks towards Kasserine Pass (Norman42). Are these railways all able to be used by armies? (Froonp)
• The entire Eastern and Western Dorsal Ranges are missing completely from Algeria / Tunisia. They are currently empty desert hexes when in fact they should be a mountain range. Kasserine Pass was really a *pass* through the Dorsal Range and is what made it important (which is why the railways went both there and to Tebessa on the far side of the pass). Control of the passes (there were 3, but only Kasserine was considered an all weather road) equalled control of Central Tunisia. If the railroads cannot be added, perhaps at least look at adding 4 or 5 mountain hexes (not all desert mountain, the northern Dorsals often had torrential rainfall during turning the area into 5 foot deep mud) to the area with Kasserine as a gap between them. Then at least the terrain is accurate and the value of Kasserine on map makes some sense instead of being one of 15 hexes of empty Tunisian desert. Note: my suggestion would be to make hexes 76,33 and 76,34 mountains, label hex 77,33 as Kasserine, and make the line of 77,31, 78,32, and 78,33 desert mountains to represent the Western Dorsals (Norman42). Draft map done.
Suggestions, Turkey
• My 1936 map shows Turkish rail-lines going from the Soviet border to just a little bit beyond Erzerum, rail-lines going up from Aleppo as far as Malatva (3 hex SW Erzerum) and the line from Samsun going as far as Sivas (2 hex SE 1 hex E Samsun) as shown on the game-map. But the 1942 map shows not only the Erzerum to Aleppo line completed as shown on the game-map, but also the Erzerum to Ankara link via Sivas completed. That's to say, the Samsun rail-line should continue 1 hex SE 1 hex E from Sivas (the valley) to connect with the existing line.
Suggestions, United Kingdom
• Add Isles of Scilly (marcuswatney).
• A forum member from Scotland was quite annoyed by the rendering of his homeland on the map..
• Surely, Scapa Flow, the base for the main battle fleet had rail supply. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_North_Line there is a railway that ended at Thurso on the coast opposite, with a ferry to the islands and "The line did become strategically important during WW1 and WW2 as part of a supply route for Scapa Flow, Orkney: Jellicoe's Express linked Thurso directly with London (Euston) and Portsmouth". There is probably a case for putting in the rail line from Inverness to Thurso and a crossing arrow Strait from the mainland to Scapa Flow / Orkneys (Mike Fisher).
Suggested for new terrain types :
For MWiF product 2.
Hexside
• Create a "Coral Reef" hexside type. Invasion is impossible across a Coral Reef hexside. Designed for NW Australian coast (Froonp).
• Create a new “Grand Canyon” hexside type. Similar to an Alpine hexside (impassable except by Mountain troops) (Froonp).
Hex
• Create an “Atoll” terrain type. Stacking is 0 land units and 0 air units (except Flying boats when playing Option 8) (Froonp).
• Create a “Shallow Water” terrain type. Invasion would be impossible on coastal hexsides that are only adjacent to Shallow Water (Froonp).
Suggestions for non Europe :
Africa West Suggestions
• Saint Louis is not the capital of Mauritania, Nouakchott (96,8) is since 1960. But during WWII maybe there simply was no capital city (Wikipedia says that 90% of the population was still nomadic in 1960), so keeping Saint Louis may be better (Froonp).
America South - Brazil Suggestions
• Is the Mupuera River missing? (South British Guyana)
• Should the Paru River go up to the Amazons?
• Does rail to Campo Grande from the south really stops at Asuncion (Paraguay)? Confirmed “yes” by Forum members.
Suggestions, Australia
• The Swan River runs south of Perth, not north of it (delatbabel). The port is south of the river and some of the city, so I think its ok if the city is south of the river (Mike Fisher).
• 3 hexes SE of Mackay is a hex with a crossing arrow to an island hex to its E. That hex is where Airlie Beach & Shute Harbour are, and the island hex should contain Cid Harbour. During WWII these were important marshalling areas and supply ports for the Australian and US Navies and should rate minor port status at least (delatbabel).
• Add the contours of Eyre Lake, as RLS entries (Froonp).
• Make Rockhampton a Minor Port (on Rockhampton, it is not right that being inland it was not a port. the fitzroy was a navigable river allowing Rockhampton to function as a port from the mid 19th C, mostly supplies in and cattle out - until the river silted up and the port was transferred to the river mouth (port alma), a process completed in the 1960s. see http://www.rockhampton.qld.gov.au/rccnet/showarticle.aspx?id=9630. there were 70,000 US troops stationed there in WW2 and it was a trans-shipment point to north and south. Rockhampton was a larger port than Mackay and Cairns though. If you have Townsville, cairns and Mackay you should have Rockhampton (Mike Fisher)).
• The Snowy River should probably also lose its furthest inland hex-edge (Mike Fisher).
Suggestions, China
• Rename Peking to Peiping.
Suggestions, India
• Rate Goa as a minor port at least.
Suggestions, Burma
• Make the Delta area south of Rangoon a bit swampy. (trees trees). No, only the very southern tip is swampy (Froonp).
• Modify the Arakan range so that there is a corridor in the mountains through Imphal & Kohima using Alpine hexsides (marcuswatney).
Suggestions, Malaya
• Maybe the Minor Port that is in the Kuala Lumpur hex should be named George Town instead (hex 113,129). Or leave it where it is and say it is Port Dickson (Froonp).
Suggestions, Siam
• Remove Phuket railway (Froonp).
Suggestions, Persia
• Rename Teheran to Tehran (Froonp).
Suggestions, Alaska
• Remove the Oil from Alaska (Froonp).
Suggestions, Manchuria
• Add Antung on the coast & the Korean border (92k or 315k in 1940)
• Add Yingkow 2 hexes SW of Mukden (119k or 181k in 1940)
• Rename the Harbin MIL to Changchun MIL, and make it appear in Changchun.
Suggestions, Russia - Urals & East Urals
• Add Saransk (city between Kazan and Penza, 300k inhabitants). North and very slightly to the east of Penza (along the rail line) and where the rail line meets the north south going side river to Volga (Borger). No, it would be on the European Map (Froonp).
Suggestions, Russia - Urals & East Omsk
• Add Kurgan (W of Petropavlovsk, 335k inhabitants) (Borger). I prefer Petropavlovsk, and I'm not sure we can add 2 new cities (Froonp).
• Add Pavlodar (Northeastern Kazachstan, alongside Irtysh south of Omsk, 4 hexes south east of Omsk, hex 47,103, 300k inhabitants) (Borger). I just added the name (Froonp).
Suggestions, Russia - Urals & East Novosibirsk-Krasnoyarsk
• Add a city west of Novosibirsk, for supply between Novosibirsk & Omsk. Found no cities to add (Froonp). Wife born in Omsk, no city to add east of it (Borger).
• Add Tannu Tuva Territory, in the Sayan Mountains, near Mongolia. This was an independent country at the time (Froonp).
Suggestions, Russia - Urals & East Other
• Add one rail from 35,61 (3 hex N Vologda) to Kotlas (32,73), and from Kotlas (32,73) following the river at first, going through 22,86, following the western slopes of the Urals mountains up to 11,91 (Vorkuta – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorkuta), and then turning to the NW straight to 6,89 (Khabarov – No port here) (1941 map, Look at the World Atlas p36-37) (Froonp).
• Add one rail from Tomsk to the Trans Siberian (1941 map, Look at the World Atlas p36-37) (Froonp).
• Add one rail from Guryev to 51,85, and from there to 48,87 (Orsk) (1941 map, Look at the World Atlas p36-37) (Froonp).
• Add one rail from Karaganda to 58,103 (Balkhash) on Lake Balkhash (1941 map, Look at the World Atlas p36-37) (Froonp).
• Add one rail from Baikonur (55,93) to 54,102 on the previous railway (1941 map, Look at the World Atlas p36-37) (Froonp).
Solomon, Coral Sea, Papua, New Guinea Suggestions
• Northern part of Papua should be a separate Territory named Territory of New Guinea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territory_of_New_Guinea). It goes from 123,170 to 125,175 (125,174 stays Papua) that would include Admiralty Islands, New Ireland, New Britain too (marcuswatney).
• Bougainville should be part of the Territory of New Guinea (marcuswatney).
• Papua : Retain the hex S of the River Fly’s mouth as clear (127,171) and convert the other two to marsh / swamp (127,170 and 126,172) (The three clear hexes at the mouth of the Fly River are inaccurate, even today that area is mostly lowland swamp. At most I would only retain the hex south of the river mouth as clear and convert the other two to marsh/swamp. It is debatable whether the remaining clear hex oughtn't be swamp as well, it would have been mostly swamp in the 40s. You don't want to attract activity to an area that in WW2 was very difficult, unhealthy and remote country (Mike Fisher)).
Pre-1939 Map changes :
Map changes that could be done for a game start that is before S/O 39.
Europe
• Memel was a part of Lithuania until annexed by Germany on 23 March 1939 (it had been annexed by Lithuania in 1923). Since the game includes such features as the Sudetenland, implying a pre-war start, Memel should also be noted as able to change hands.
• Slovakia became an 'independent' country (capital Bratislava) and a German minor ally in March 1939 as Germany invaded Bohemia-Moravia (what is now the Czech Republic): if the Sudetenland warrants a border, so too should Slovakia with Bohemia-Moravia. The northeast hexes of Hungary (Ruthenia) were actually a part of Slovakia until autumn 1938 - at the time of Munich, Slovakia had a border with Romania. So these hexes should be shown as negotiable, just like the Sudetenland.
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Possible changes to the European map - 
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