More detailed information on the latest VM updates for EA42 & MG44.

[Mr Grumpy]

Great to see Ed updating his _alt scenarios again using player feedback to improve a range of issues, I would like to expand on the updates in the two titles I suggested changes in.

Compass ’40 (EA42 add-on)
As the Allied player I found a nasty Achilles heel to the otherwise all powerful Western Desert Force in that that at most times in the game they have only 3 or 4 companies of engineers to clear the mines and blow holes in the AT ditch’s (actually representing walls of sand/rock), while clearing the smaller forward camps this was not an issue but when I reached Bardia the sheer amount of Italian arty (some of it not bad quality) could reduce a engineer company (obviously more vulnerable to fatigue than a battalion) to tatters in a single move, as it was impossible to enter Bardia or Tobruk without the AT ditches being breached it was possible to end up in a very strange impasse where the powerful WDF forces simply could not get at the Italians hiding in their bunkers! :rolleyes:

To solve this Ed has removed the AT ditch’s in a couple of areas at both Bardia and Tobruk where roads penetrate the perimeter but as compensation to the Italians he has increased the strength of the minefields from 1 to 2 and made the bunkers covering these gaps up to BUNKER level, he also updated the notes to impress on the Allied player how vital the engineer units are.

MG ‘44
I came late to this title and was struck by the fact that against a competent German player it was impossible to get any of the Brit AB forces into Arnhem unless you used the motorised arty/AT gun units as blocking forces in a very unhistorical way, I was convinced there had to be a way of achieving more historical movement over the first couple of turns after the AB landed. By much trial and error it is now possible to slip 500-1000 men of the 1st Para Bde into Arnhem using the historical Lion route along the northern bank of the Rhine (see below)


...the motorised AB units (apart from the Jeep recce) have also been fixed on landing to prevent them from being used initially in an unhistorical manner, also the Allied supply source in Arnhem was increased to 40.

That just leaves the decision of whether it is a good idea to seize the Arnhem bridge? I have doubts if (against a good German opponent) it is possible for these units to hold out for 35 moves as Frost’s men did historically, only playing that strategy will make that clear but at least the Allied player now has such a decision to make! ;)