Lightning War, Tutorial 2

Tutorial 2 introduces the full complexity of WWII land combat. You will need to coordinate communications and supply for whole Divisions and learn to use the many different troop types; the Germans having armored infantry, tanks and self propelled artillery: the French having largely infantry, heavy weapons and regular field artillery. Both sides have engineers and anti-tank gun companies.

Supply, Communications and Chain of Command

Supply and communications are dealt with automatically within the game but you need to know how they work to avoid fowling them up, and to take advantage of them properly. The quick version: companies need to have good communications with their immediate superior - based on distance - otherwise your orders may not get through. A company needs to have good communications right to the top of the chain of command to allow it to draw supplies from supply sources over long distances. A later tutorial will introduce the effect of air power interdiction on communications and supply.

The first step is to understand communications between companies and their immediate superior and the communications between an HQ and its superior in the chain of command.

Company Comms and Supply Range

Companies draw supply from their immediate HQ, companies in a battalion from their battalion HQ, companies directly subordinate to a division from their division HQ. The companies trace a path to their HQ and the length is determined by company type.

• Recon and Cavalry units: 10
• Motorized or armored engineers, field and self propelled artillery: 6
• Other motorized units and paratroopers: 4
• Infantry units: 2

Recon units only use their range value when calculating supply, they are always considered in communication, allowing them to operate independantly. Other units are in good communication, and will always receive their orders, if within their Communications & Supply range of their HQ. The units can be in poor communications up to 6 hexes (3km) beyond that, with a good chance of receiving their orders, and in bad communications beyond that with a minor chance of receiving their orders.

Standard supply and communication line rules are that the path may not run through enemy units, and may move adjacent to enemy units only if sufficient friendly units are present to ensure the safety of the supply vehicles.

There is also a communication path between each HQ and its superior in the chain of command. Top level HQs, with no superior in the scenario, are always in complete communication and never have trouble receiving your orders. The rank of the superior HQ determines the maximum communication distance to their subordinates.

• Army : 100km (200 hexes)
• Corps : 30km (60 hexes)
• Division : 10km (20 hexes)
• Brigade : 5km (10 hexes)
• Regiment : 2.5 km (5 hexes)

Batallions do not appear in the list because their subordinates can only be companies, covered by the rules above.

Headquarters may maintain poor communications up to twice the distance shown. Beyond that communications are cut and orders do not get through to the subordinate HQ. The distance in hexes is not the only constraint on the supply path, the system will also look at how well the path can be traversed by trucks or horse drawn wagons, so roads become very important for communications and supply.

What effect does communication status have? The first effect is determining wether the orders you give to each company get through. If a non-hq company has poor communications with its HQ, or an HQ company has poor communications with its superior then there is only about a 50% chance your orders will get through. If communications are cut then there is only a very small chance that orders get through. If orders are not received then the company may carry on with previous orders, defend in place or try and close the distance to its superior.

Supply comms, line of supply, supply sources

The next effect of communication is to determine how far a company may trace a line of supply to a supply source. The actual level of communications, to supply sources, is that of the worst communication level found when tracing communications from a company up the chain of command to the top. So for example a battalion may have good communications to its regiment but the regiment has poor communications with its division, so the battalion's supply communications are poor.

The max distance to a supply source is determined by the supply communications level as follows:

• Good comms: 15km (30 hexes)
• Poor comms: 7.5km (15 hexes)
• No comms: 1.5km (3 hexes)

Supply sources are marked on the map with star symbols and may be good or poor in quality. If any enemy units are within 2 hexes of a map supply source then that source becomes innactive until the enemy troops leave. Various HQs may be designated as supply sources. Such HQs will get their supplies from the map sources and may then pass the supplies onto subordinates.

There are three types of supply in lightning war, fuel, ammunition and artillery shells.

Fuel is used to allow armored and motorized troops to move. A company usually has enough fuel to last a bit over a day of continuous moving about. If the fuel runs out then the unit cannot move, assault or probe until it gets some more.

Ammunition is used by companies for small arms and heavy weapons fire. A company usually has enough ammunition to last a little over a day of continuous fighting. If the ammo runs out then the unit can no longer perform fire combat and is at reduced strength in close combat.

Artillery Shells are used by artillery units for barrage and supporting fire and artillery are only resupplied once a day, at the end of the nite turn. Artillery use a lot of shells for barrage fire, and less for screening and final protective fire. Artillery companies usually have enough shells for two turns worth of barrage and for a little over a day of continuous supporting fire. If the artillery shells run out then the artillery can no longer fire.

Unit Types

Infantry	Back bone of the army. Motorized by trucks, jeeps or motorcycles. Armored in half tracks and armored cars.
Paratroops	Once on the ground these guys are mutch the same as infantry on foot.
Heavy Weapons	Heavy machine guns, mortars, bazookas, panzerfaust and so on. Gives extra strength to attack or defence in close combat and may fire at longer range than infantry, indirectly if required. May also be motorized or armored.
Engineers	Act as infantry and may be motorized or armored but with the following special abilities. Cause defending troops in the same or adjacent hex to entrench, rather than develop improved positions. May blow up bridges on the edge of their current hex. May build makeshift bridges over rivers and streams on the edge of their current hex. Reduce the effects of enemy entrenchments or fortifications when engaged in close combat against those positions.Increase the chance of neutralising enemy minefields in the same or adjacent hexes.
Reconnaissance	Act as infantry and may be motorized or armored. Recon units are always in good communications so may be given orders while well beyond their chain of command. Recon troops increase the chance of neutralising enemy minefields in the same or adjacent hexes.
Tanks	Armored units with artillery, usually on a turret, and often with heavy machine guns. Most commonly with track rather than simple wheels. Used in generally open terrain tanks can give a hefty punch in close combat attacks and their speed can allow them to break through or circumvent enemy positions. Against entrenchments or in constricted terrain, such as cities or forest, tanks are less powerful and become vulnerable to infantry close combat unless they have other units supporting them.
Anti Tank	Direct fire artillery primarily used for attacking armored vehicles.
Anti Air	Direct fire artillery primarily used against aircraft passing over head but also capable of playing an anti tank role.
Artillery	Artillery must be emplaced to fire. If artillery move they become unemplaced and it will take a complete turn to emplace them again. If artillery have enough shell supplies they may perform an artillery barrage, which will fire the maximum number of shells at a designated hex within range. Artillery barrages can be devastating but beware, if your own troops move into the target hex they may become victims of "friendly fire". Artillery may also be given support orders. When supporting a designated company the artillery will use screening fire or final protective fire against enemy units that can be observed by the supported company. Support fire is less powerful than a barrage, but will not produce significant friendly fire casualties. The target of supporting fire may change during the course of the turn, as desired by the supported company's observers. To be able to supply supporting fire the company observers must successfully communicate with the artillery via a mutual superior HQ.
Self Propelled Artillery	All the abilities described for Artillery apply, but unlike artillery, self propelled artillery does not need to be emplaced in order to fire.
Cavalry	Yes, guys on horses. These troops act as fast moving infantry.

The Equipment List

Not all tanks, artillery or vehicles are the same. Vehicles can have different speeds, armored units can have different armor thickness, artillery can have different ranges and direct fire artillery may have different anti-armor effectiveness. The equipment list for a scenario, found under the "Show" menu, will tell you about the different abilities of the equipment. The company description will tell you what equipment each company has.

Hints for play of tutorial 2

Germans Use your tanks to attack infantry in the open, and in combination with your panzer grenadier motorized infantry the rest of the time. If possible avoid attacking into woods, towns, and entrenchments. Consider bypassing strong defences, leaving a small guard to protect your supply lines. Be warry of enemy barrage attack when you are held up in front of enemy defences. Best to keep moving and draw the enemy out of their trenches. Use artillery barrage against enemy strong points but not in combo with assaults or you may suffer from friendly fire losses.

French Choose positions to make a stand and do your best to entrench before the Germans get too close to prevent it. Blow bridges to slow the Germans down. Concentrate artillery fire on massed enemy in front of your defensive positions. If enemy tank units appear next to your positions without support you should consider attacking them. Remember not to abandon your carefully developed entrenchments if you do. Leave at least 1 company behind.

Playing against the A.I. The solo game alows you to fight against the French under the command of an artificial intelligence. Try playing against the rank 1 A.I. first. Once you have learnt to beat it convincingly try playing against the next rank of A.I. Once you can beat the highest rated A.I. you are definitely ready to take on human players if you haven't already.