Bolt out of the Blue 5.3

[Elxaime]

Taz, wonderful work as always. I had one other possible house rule to suggest (in addition to SSM not laying mines). I have broached this as well with my esteemed opponents as we plan to give 5.2 a spin. To wit:

The second potential house rule is as regards the Elbe River from Hamburg to the North Sea (Hex 250,102 north). Although it isn't always the case, sometimes either side will attempt to lay a bridge across the Elbe along this stretch (usually the Pact trying to outflank the NATO line to the north).

I am not a hydrologist, but even as a lay person and amateur military history enthusiast this struck me as iffy. The reason being that the Elbe River north of Hamburg is directly feeding into the North Sea. This results in high tidal surges which are exacerbated by industrialization. Here is a nice link:

http://www.northsearegion.eu/files/repos...stuary.pdf

As noted "tidal waves enter[s] the Elbe at the mouth of the estuary and move[s] far inland. It is then stopped by a weir at Geesthacht, upstream of Hamburg. The tidal cycle is twice a day, with a flood period of 5 hrs 5 min and ebb period of 7 hrs 20 min. The tidal range is:

2.9 m at Cuxhaven
3.6 m in Hamburg
2.3 m at Geesthacht

I am thinking it would be very dicey to lay a long military bridge across a river like this. While the game allows the Danube to be bridged, this seems OK since the Danube, although subject like most major European rivers to flooding if rains are heavy (like what happened last June 2013), the Danube isn't subject to twice-daily sea tides. I would also note that while the Danube does have several peacetime bridges across its broad width, the Elbe north of Hamburg does not - I suspect this may also be due not just to North Sea tides but also the fact that large sea-going vessels ply the waters on the way to Hamburg.

I am happy to be shown I am wrong, particularly if any readers are Europeans who live or have lived around those parts. But if you think this house rule is reasonable, I would suggest adding it as a second suggested house rule to 5.2.