Artillery problems in Bulge '44

[Steel God]

Playing the Alt 1601_s campaign in Bulge, and my German opponent is successfully using his artillery to knock out the Allied artillery. I was surprised that the Germans were winning the artillery duel, until my opponent pointed out that the Parameter data gives the Germans a 150 percent counterbattery value compared to 100 percent for the Allies, and a 125 percent indirect fire mod compared to 100 percent for the Allies.

This might make sense for the Eastern Front, but not the West in 1944, where even the Germans admitted the efficiency of Allied artillery. Is this a mistake, or should the Germans get an artillery bonus in Bulge? Also wondering about the counterbattery values in other PzC games.

Michael

The only other PzC game I have installed at the moment is Sea Lion which shows Counter-Battery Values of 50% for the Allies and 100% for the Germans, and Indirect Modifier of also 50/100% Allies/Germans respectively.  For what that's worth I don't know.  I used to know Ed Williams pretty well and I do know he had a method and a reason for everything he did, so he had some reason why he switched the values in B44 from what they were when Greg Smith did the original design to what they were in the ALT scenarios that he did. 

Now, from what I have read on the subject, the Germans were quite technically proficient with artillery, and maybe their counter-battery skills were better (as their other tactics tended to be on a 1 for 1 basis) but the over arching opinion that American Artillery was so dominating was based on the shear volume of it.  Whatever technical advantages the Germans may, or may not, have possessed, the Landsers in the field would have dealt with the reality of the volume of fire.  Every American regiment had a battery of 105 Howitzers organic to it, their Divisional level assets were generally 4 full battalions, 1 of 155s and 3 of 105s.  Then the Corps level assets are another 6,7 or 8 battalions, usually almost all heavy (155s or larger), plus extra 105s and a battalion of SP 105s to boot.  Even early war German divisions rarely had access to that many tubes, and by late 1944 some "battalions" were in reality only battery strength. 

None of which explains Ed's thinking on the matter, but is merely a way to understand that American Artillery in the ETO could have been considered a war winning arm while within the parameters of a game, their enemies are given a technical proficiency advantage.