seowhq.net

I was curious about the C&C HQ ranges.

Vhf radio range is line of sight. This is equivalent to distance to the horizon. The formula for line of sight is d(in km)= 4.124 * sq root of the antenna height in meters.

A google search showed a German WW2 tactical radio, KIFuSpr D, with an antenna height of 1.6m.
This would give a theoretical range of 5.2km.
I don't know if this particular radio was available in winter 1943 but the antenna height sounds reasonable for any tactical radio.

The HQ range of lower HQs currently in the MP is around 3km (versus a theoretical range of 5.2km).
The HQ range of higher HQs is currently around 7.75km. This equates to an antenna height of about 3.5m.

Line of sight range is additive therefore;
Combining the two ranges, 5.2 + 7.75 = 12.77 or 12.8km.
The combined ranges of two tactical radios with a 1.6m antennae would be 2*5.2=10.4 or 10.5km.

It seems reasonable that German transportation, artillery, and tank units would be at least equipped with a tactical radio with a small antenna of 1.6m. I'm not so sure how well equipped German infantry units were with radios. I'm also unsure about Soviet distribution of vhf sets.

A long story short, I suggest increasing the HQ range of higher HQ and lower HQ to 12.8km and 10.4km respectively to simulate the theoretical combined vhf radio range.

Thanks Tanker, that's great data, I never knew the 4.124*sqrt(antenna_length) equation!

In the current OOB, all tanks, scout cars are autonomous, which simulates those vehicles having good quality comms and being tactically oriented in their roles. Indirect fire artillery is not autonomous, simulating the need for senior coordination of barrage orders, positioning etc. Trains are autonomous - they have a mind of their own anyway!

That leaves infantry (squads, mortars, MGs), flak/AT guns, and transports (trucks, columns, horse-drawn carts). On the Soviet side, historically speaking, I am not confident that VHF radios were widespread and reliable for such units in late 1943. Maybe for supply columns, almost certainly not for individual supply trucks or AT/flak guns.

On the German side, the situation may have been better, but not overwhelmingly so I suspect. There is ample evidence in the source book (Zhitomir-Berdichev, by Barratt) from the German field reports of even Division-level and Korps-level comms falling silent for a day or two every now and then!!!! Our campaign will only stretch for about a day, so it could be realistic to provide very limited CC for some formations (eek), but higher CC for others.

I googled some really interesting training manuals for the US Army (check out https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/re ... FM24-5.PDF, sadly not much mention of effective range values but check out p.112 & 113 regarding hostile interference). I also read the memoir of a US Army radio operator in combat in Germany in 1945 who wrote "... the Germans continued to jam the radio transmission, so our radio equipment was fairly useless.", and "Though my radio was functioning intermittently..." (see http://www.76thdivision.com/dcweber/Mem ... weber.html). I feel that the US Army probably had the best radio signalling infrastructure of all contemporary armies, but even in 1945 it seems that it was unreliable.

Be all that as it may, in terms of the campaign we are abstracting many different historical units and functions into a relatively small set of units around Korosten and Zhitomir. I don't know of any way to reliably assess the effective range of control exerted by Company, Battalion and Regimental HQs, so the CC numbers in the OOB are my best guesses made in 2013 for Korosten.

It is tempting to think of an MG42 on the map near Zhitomir as two guys and a gun, but really it is representing something like 10 guns, e.g. a Machine Gun Company, since the scaling factor I am using for this campaign is roughly 1/10th historical scale. Nevertheless, the MG42 will act as an individual gun in IF missions, so the reality is that we need to provide it with CC support somewhere between Company level and individual soldier level. I am certain the current CC numbers are not perfect, but I am not sure that using the theoretical radio ranges is the answer either. Probably somewhere in the middle would be best.

What does everyone else think?

Cheers,
4S