Sunday, July 18, 2010

Gefechtsaufklarung - German Reconnaissance Units in Achtung Panzer Kharkov 43

I regard reconnaissance units as military elite. In WWII they went ahead of everybody, in nimble vehicles, armed with just a stick and skill ...  looking for trouble.

In Achtung Panzer Kharkov 1943 (APK43), reconnaissance units are important assets during the 2D turn-based phase. They will spot enemy units at a larger range than other regular units. The moves and spotting done by reconnaissance units during the 2D turn based phase are the last throws of what the Germans called tactical reconnaissance (link opens a pdf written by me and stored at Matrix Games). Any type of reconnaissance done during the 3D phase would have been called "battle reconnaissance" by WWII German doctrine .Battle reconnaissance came in different flavors and sizes, being more of communal endeavor of line and reconnaissance troops. With a wise mixture of armored car patrols, 4 men battle patrols and squad-sized combat patrols, the objective was to gain detailed information in order to plan the battle accordingly.


It all depends on your commanding skills!


"While scouting a woods, a favorite German ruse is to drive the leading car toward its edge, halt briefly to observe, and then drive off rapidly, hoping to draw fire that will disclose the enemy positions." Quote from this book.


Fight the good fight, but bug out if the odds are against you.


By the way, why is this guy's wingman not providing mutual support?


Don't be shy and mix your platoons!

Cheers,

3 comments:

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

you touch on a good tactic. A good commander will always task organize his uints to create the affect he wants. Pity the game wont allow you to task organize and reset a groups commander as well.

I break down my recon units and spread them amongst my mobile force. Inf and tanks always work well together and a recon unit compliments these groupings.

Wish there was some more battles and mods for this game it begs to be developed further.

Singleton Mosby said...

Thanks for the great article. For further reading on the practical use of reconnaissance tactics I advice "Small unit actions during the campaign in Russia".

@ Stephen.

It won't be long before we'll see the first expansion of AP:43.