Cavalry

From three cavalry divisions in 1933, the cavalry arm saw its fortunes sink to a single cavalry brigade by 1939, as its other cavalry forces became reconnaissance troops for the infantry or motorized troops for the light divisions. The 1st Cavalry Brigade had 6,700 men (all active personnel) and consisted of two cavalry regiments, a bicycle battalion, an artillery battalion, and various support troops. Each cavalry regiment, however, was in effect a strongly reinforced battalion.

The brigade participated in the Polish campaign. In the autumn of 1939, the brigade became the basis of the 1st Cavalry Division, with each of its regiments expanding to two full battalions. A 2nd Cavalry Brigade was also forming, to round out the division. The division became operational in early 1940.

Artillery

The Germans deployed 74 battalions of artillery as corps and army troops. The battalions were all independent, being attached to HQs of artillery regiments and commands as the tactical situation demanded. With this in mind, it makes little sense to portray the regimental attachments at the start of the campaign, as these did not remain constant over the course of the campaign.

Instead, the regimental structure reflects, to the extent possible, a Europawide treatment of the German artillery. All battalions are accounted for, and regimental strengths are as consistent as possible from game to game. Differences in regimental strengths among the games reflect organic changes in the German artillery. For example, a number of 5-3-8 artillery regiments in Fire in the East are weaker in First to Fight because the earlier regiments lacked the 21cm artillery battalions of their later incarnations. (Multiply cm by 10 to get caliber in mm; multiply cm by .39 to get caliber in inches.)

Owners of Case White may notice that its German artillery brigades are missing in First to Fight. These brigades were the Arkos (Artillerie Kommandeure, Artillery Commands) and functioned like artillery regiments, by having battalions attached to them as needed. Europa standardized on the regimental HQ, since there were enough of these HQs to absorb the artillery battalions without needing the Arkos.

The regiments account for most of the independent artillery battalions. (One regimental HQ, the 704th, was formed in late September 1939 but is backdated to the start of the war to account for existing battalions.) Artillery battalions were mostly equipped with 10cm guns, 15cm howitzers, and 15cm guns, along with some 10.5cm and 21cm howitzers. (The 21cm piece was called a Morser, which usually translates to "mortar," but was actually a special class of howitzer.)

The siege artillery is shown in separate battalions and comprises 21cm guns, 24cm guns, and 30.5cm howitzers.

The Germans organized their railroad artillery in independent batteries, attached to RR artillery battalion and regiment headquarters as needed. In the OB, the 2-1-R RR siege artillery battalions contain 24cm and 28cm batteries, while the 2-1-R artillery regiment contains various smaller-caliber batteries

The Germans started the war with several nebelwerfer battalions. Although "nebelwerfer" became synonymous during the war for the German rocket artillery, the word meant "cloud thrower" and was originally applied to the 10cm chemical mortars, which were used to throw smoke rounds.

While chemical smoke units per se don't qualify for depiction in Europa, these large mortars also had high-explosive rounds and could thus be used for artillery support if the situation demanded. The three battalions with the field army are grouped under a nebelwerfer regimental HQ (back dated from its October 1939 formation to account for the battalions).

Engineer and Construction Troops

The Germans began the war with nine engineer regimental HQs, and a tenth was formed in September 1939. These HQs are used to account for the independent engineers battalions (the tenth HQ is backdated to the start of the war for this). Each regiment contains the equivalent of 2 to 2 1/2 combat engineer battalions, plus two construction battalions (to give the regiments construction capabilities).

The Germans fielded two groups of assault engineers, each group with two battalions, against Poland: Group Medem in the north and another group (name unknown) in the south.

Of the four battalions, two (the 43rd and 48th) were from the field forces, one (Lehr) from the training establishment, and one (Dresden) from the SS. The groups were only ad hoc formations, dispersed after (or even during) the campaign, so the battalions are shown separately.

German railroad engineers started the war as a regiment (the 68th) with three organic RR engineer battalions, plus separate regimental and battalion headquarters used to control a number of independent RR engineer companies. This has been rationalized in the OB to reflect German capabilities without introducing needless 0-strength counters.

Thus, there are three regiments Ost, 2nd, and 68th) and one brigade Ost) of RR engineers, representing the 12 RR engineer battalions (11 initial and one raised later in the year). The three regimental headquarters all existed at the start of the war, but the brigade headquarters is backdated from its mid-war formation to absorb the extra RR engineer battalions. (This was the actual role of the brigade HQ when it was formed in December 1942, so no real distortion is introduced to the game.)

The construction engineers were not officially part of the Army when the war started. Instead, they formed their own service, the RAD (Reichsarbeitsdienst, Reich Labor Service). The RAD drafted Germany's 18-year-old males for six months of service in the RAD before their induction into the Wehrmacht.

The RAD had a militarized structure, with the laborers organized in battalions and controlled by the equivalent of regimental and brigade HQs. In wartime, the RAD cooperated closely with the Army, and, in fact, was officially absorbed into the Army before the end of 1939. Due to its close cooperation with and absorption into the Army, the OB makes no distinction between RAD and Army units.

At the start of the war, the Germans had at least 221 RAD battalions. Of these 10 were assigned to assist the Luftwaffe, which eventually absorbed them, and the OB attached 20 to the combat engineer regiments. Of the remaining battalions, 42 were disbanded by the winter of 1939/40. Most of these presumably were working on the German fortifications, with their personnel being absorbed into the Army as the fortification work concluded.

These too are deducted from the OB, leaving about 150 battalions to parcel out to the regiments. The Germans formed 57 regimental HQs at the start of the war, but soon disbanded nine or ten of them. The OB shows the remaining HQs, each of which thus has approximately three battalions. The OB allows brigades to be formed out of the regiments. The Germans mobilized 17 brigade HQs, but then disbanded seven in 1939; the OB shows the ten remaining brigades.

Inside Europa First to Fight Designer's Notes Part II, Section B Germany [Europa 24]

German Army Divisions and Panzer Troops
Mountain Troops and Infantry
Cavalry, Artillery, and Engineer/Construction Troops
Security Troops
The Replacement Army
Luftwaffe
Kriegsmarine
Brandenburgers
SS and SA
Table 1: 1939 German Tanks
Table 2: 1939 German Divisions: Authorized Organizations
Table 3: German Divisions: Authorized Strengths
Table 4: German Aircraft

Inside Europa First to Fight Designer's Notes Part II, Section A Germany [Europa 23]

Introduction
Army Re-armament and Manpower
Strategic Situation
Germany-Allies Strength Comparison
German High Command and the Government
Volksdeutsch Resettlement 1939-1942
The Wehrkreis System
Frontier Defenses and Border Regt Commands