Tanker wrote:Here is another thought. Why do the same squads always fly on the same side (Axis/Allied) time after time? Why not mix up squads? Some of the GCT could be on the same side as some of the 102nd etc, etc. I know that there is a language barrier and that squads like to fly together but what I see is an "us versus them' dynamic that has crept into things. Mixing things up could create some appreciation of each others perspective and who knows, maybe even some new friends.
+1
I totally agree with this statement and feel that it is THE way forward.
Going back to additional rules for future campaigns I think another matter for discussion should be units in forests, and units in large towns/cities. I know some campaigns have a blanket rule against any units in forests but I feel that is going to far as it denies the planner a tactical option, particularly if one side enjoys air superiority.
Whilst I think it is a very valid tactic to camouflage or hide units in forests I think we should rule out placing artillery (howitzers) and anti-aircraft artillery in forests. I will agree that artillery and AAA certainly did use small clearings in forests but the key to those positions was they had a very limited field of fire (as dictated by the trees surrounding the clearing). This is particularly true for small calibre AAA weapons which would most likely be engaging low-level a/c and therefore the guns would not be elevated to fire high. But in IL2 the forests do not block the line of fire and all artillery and AAA fire out of the forests in all directions. This creates a poor situation where a/c are left to try and fire blindly into forests at the source of the AAA. I would suggest that all units apart from artillery are allowed anywhere in a forest. Artillery and AAA must never be deployed in a forest, they can of course hide in a forest but to do that they must be carried by a cargo unit, such as a supply column.
Another option that perhaps a campaign designer may like to consider is using factory plates over a forest, if a commander hides a lot of units in a forest naturally his enemy may attempt to carpet bomb that forest (if a/c available of course) if this is the case then the carpet bombing is unlikely to achieve anything spectacular in game but with the use of factory plates a proportional value of losses vs factory plate damage could be applied to the units in that forest.
Another idea I had was something that would only really apply to the pacific theatre. In every SEOW scenario where US forces are to take islands we see cruisers and battleships move upto the islands and bombard them destroying everything in sight. This to me creates a situation which is too easy for the attacker. As we all know the surface bombardment during the war was never that effective because most of the japanese forces would be underground in bunkers and caves and only really come out to fight when the marines were on the beaches. So I propose that each island should have a number of supply points (number of depends on the size of the island) these supply points represent caves and bunker complexes and therefore the defending commander can withdraw most of his forces to the safety of the supply points. Once marines are ashore he can deploy forces out of those supply points and start a fierce combat with the invaders. Of course these supply points would need some rules about them such as;
1) the invaders cannot capture them until they are empty or reduced to a small group of infantry which would be flushed out by grenades or flamethrower
2) Only infantry, light artillery and perhaps a couple of AA weapons would be allowed into the supply point (unless we can prove that the IJA hid tanks in caves as well)
I think the above would create a much more authentic island hopping campaign in the pacific as we would get the bitter close combat fighting experienced by the marines.
EDIT: forgot to write about large towns/cities
Due to the poor AI handling of grd units such as tanks coupled with the very low framerates that most players will experience over heavily built up areas such as large cities I think that grd units inside towns and cities should be limited to infantry which can be easily destroyed by high/med level bombing. Placing tanks and bunkers in towns is very difficult for players to deal with as we cannot rely on grd units to do the fighting and we cannot rely on jabos as most players will suffer poor frame rates when trying to make an attack. Also when hard targets supported by AAA are placed in large cities frequently because of the poor frame rates the attacking players cannot see that small calibre AAA is firing at them.
Whilst I realise street to street fighting took place it is not something that we can accurately represent in game so we should look to bypass the problem. A possibly viable alternative is driveable tanks with which a player could take command of on a mission before it enters the town.
