PZC System not much being said

[JonS1]

Fury
The motor pool. It would solve the problem of the 101st and 82nd airborne divisions being motorized infantry in B44. I think it would also be good in EA42 too since I don't think the commonwealth infantry (or axis for that matter) had to hoof their way across the entire desert. I highly doubt we'll see it ever though since B44 on its own was not strong enough motivation.

Heh, the 82nd and the 101st in B44 was what got me thinking hard about the issue, but it isn't limited to just them. Another particular example is the MOT-ing of US 1st Inf Div for COBRA. For most of the camaign in Normandy this was a typical leg infantry division, but for that particualr Op it was completely mounted on trucks. How do you model that with the exisiting engine? The truck pool would be especially valid for Sic43, Sal43, MG44, N44, B44, and any other future module focussing on the Western Allies from mid-war onwards. But it is applicable to the other modules too, though perhaps less so.

Furthermore, the same routine could be used in Fulda Gap or North German Plain to give a more ... useful and flexible implementation of helo-mounted airmobile ops. Instead of having a few units capable of being choppered about, any unit that meets the requirement (ie, is on foot) could be allocated helos from a limited pool, lifted to another location, then the helos flutter off back to the pool. A slightly modified version could be used to represent a pool of APCs too (incl, for example, the Kangaroo Regts in 21AG in N44 and MG44, but also in FG and NGP).

Dog Soldier
The motor pool idea simulates the American Army in 1944 France, but I would be careful with it in the desert. the idea needs refinement along national lines. Many Italian units were left to their fate at EA42, when the Germans decided to bug out for Tunisia. Only a couple of Italian units were motorized and could keep up with the German's flight in that retreat.
Other examples would be the Axis satellite armies in Russia. Even the German Army in F40 was not motorized to the degree many previously thought they were. In Poland, 1939, the Panzers did not even operate as a separate arm but moved with the infantry.

Late in the war the German reliance on horse transport came to haunt them in the Soviet Summer offensives of 1944. Many German infantry divisions, or what was left of them, disintegrated. Having a transport pool there would seem very unrealistic.

The Soviets, never had enough transport to supply a breakthrough for very far, let alone dedicate any to moving "foot" units.

It especially simulate the UK and US armies in the second half of the war, but it can alos be used for other armies and other times. All your other points are valid, and all are easily handled by 'my' system. For example:
1) EA42 - you are the highest level Axis commander. You have enough trucks in your pool to lift a divisions worth of infantry. You can rescue a divisions worth of German inf (eg, Ramke and some others), or a divisions worth of Italians (eg, Folgore) or some of each. The choice is yours, but either way some of your force will be left behind. Who's it going to be? The decision is yours, which is why you - as commander - get paid the big bucks ;)
2) Axis Satelites in Russia - again, as Axis commander you have a limited pool of trucks. You can use them to move a couple of German divisions up to where the fighting is, or you can move a couple of Hungarian divisions. Which would _you_ choose? Given that, why would you need any further constraints?
3) German armies in F40, and other times/armies with very limited truck resources - yup, agree, but it's a non-issue. The size of the truck pool is something that would be entirely in the hands of the scenario designer. In the case of late war Western Allies, enough trucks to lift about 1/3rd of the infantry sounds about right. For other scenarios there might be no trucks at all, on one or both sides.

Recall that the truck pool would _not_ entirely replace the existing MOT/on-foot capability. That existing capability within the game engine is perfect - more or less - for the German PzGren regts, the US Armd Inf bns, and the UK Motor bns. The truck pool would be a complement to the MOT/on-foot capability, applicable to the other grunt units.

Other possible tweaks to the truck pool that come to mind:
* Units that disembark from the trucks are automatically - or have some %age chance - of becoming disrupted. If you've ever seen grunts hop off trucks they tend to mill around for a while until some SNCO starts doing his prunes. The bigger the mob disembarking, the more likely this temporary confusion. The idea here is to discourage short hops in trucks.
* The truck pool could either be a discrete pool of trucks for each side which can be added to and subtracted from per the normanl reinforcement routines as the scenario progresses, or it could be a simple PDT setting. For example, in N44 the PDT line might read < 33 5 >, which means that 33% of the Allied force on-map can be truck mounted at any one time, while only 5% of the Germans can be. I'd prefer the discrete pool, by the PDT approach could work.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS

1) Enable time dependant PDTs. For some parameters, and especially in longer scenarios or campaigns, having a single set PDT is a bit limiting. The idea here is to have a couple of PDTs, which would become active on certain dates.

2) More national selectiveness in the PDT file. Currently a single setting applies to all forces on either side. For example a single reinforcement %age applies to both the Germans and the Italians in EA42, or the US and UK in N44.

Regards
JonS