Serbia '14

[Volcano Man]

Generally the discussion is good, but I dislike the speculative theory based observations. Even though you might "judge" one way or another, that will not change the fact that I think the Chetnik representation is perfect ***for what is available and possible within the rules.*** Someone might disagree and split hairs about the actual number of Chetnik companies in the 1915 campaign though, but I will explain this below.

In general though, yes, it is true that there are quite a bit of abstractions in partisan/deception unit rules, especially with the deception range in that it ignores front line trace, but the same is true for patrolling rules. You can have a Chetnik unit one hex behind the front line, and an A-H unit adjacent to the front line can patrol and suppress the Chetnik unit. You can also have units on the front line execute "patrolling" and spot unseen enemy units behind the front line, so its a two way street for the abstractions. I don't mind this. The only difference here is that the Chetnik has the +1 radius, which exists for the reasons I described above. I don't see a major change in the game engine there, so I have to work with what I have, and I am happy with the results.

Also, in the 4th invasion, sorry but doesn't make sense to me that there are too many Serbs Chetniks units. In the first phase of the campaign where the Central Powers are attacking from one direction, perhaps, yes, but once the Bulgarians get involved later, and the conflict opens up into a three front all out war (north, east, south), then there aren't enough Chetniks to go around. At that point we are talking about 8 Chetnik companies per front, which is 50% less the number of Chetnik companies available for the single front in the 3rd Invasion (16 companies on a single front). Yes the Chetniks can concentrate on the sole threat at first (from the north), but that is historical, and historically the Central Powers were slowed quite a lot initially in their early advances. Anything they can do to slow the advance the better. Also, at any given time the Central Powers outnumber the Serbians by at least 100,000 troops and over 1,000 guns in the 4th Invasion.

I have personally played all campaigns in S14 (either in progress or to completion) and sorry, but I don't see what all the hullabaloo about Chetniks is about here. There are a grand total of +8 additional Chetnik companies in the 1915 campaign than in the 3rd Invasion, which is the previous campaign where all Chetnik units are available/in use. Personal experience in the 3rd Invasion has shown that the Chetniks are a significant headache, but they aren't over powered, especially because its rare that columns of units are moving rapidly down roads in places. Also, I have seen Chetnik units get in behind the front line to disrupt the VST supply network which is effective, but those were always hunted down by cavalry squadrons (who normally have nothing to do), and eliminated in every case. Then there are other cases where the Chetnik is forced to delay the enemy alone, and they almost always get over powered by the advance, once the advance catches up to them (they can easily be assaulted when alone, regardless of if they are disrupted or not).

Although there are indeed +8 Chetnik companies (+250 men per detachment) in the OOB in 1915 campaign, where they expanded over the 10 month period between the two campaigns, the frontage they are required to cover is exponentially greater than required of them in the 3rd Invasion. Certainly someone could argue that the Chetniks should be +4 companies in 1915 rather than +6 companies (as the size of the expansion was not clearly defined in texts), but I think this would be hair splitting detail at that point and I opted to give them the benefit of the doubt since I think the Allies probably need the favor for the later stage of the campaign when they are being invaded from Macedonia. Spoiler: Chetniks will be needed primarily in Macedonia to slow the Bulgarian juggernaut that is moving in from behind, versus the ad hoc Serbian forces.

So while I welcome all observations, I just don't see the irregulars/Chetniks as an issue in S14 - both from personal experience, and given how the rules work. Again, I just don't see the game engine changing much there either, so I have to work with the tools that I have, and I think that although the representation might not be ideal, it is sufficient enough that I don't have any regrets or doubts. Certainly though, maybe in time it will prove that I should cut the number of Chetniks in the 1915 OOB by -4 companies (at most!), but that isn't a decision I will make based on theories or a whim, and honestly I don't think it would matter that much given the scale of the campaign.