Rick Gayler here. Due to serious personal time constraints, I lifted most of the material for this issue's installment directly from John Astell's order of battle work. Therefore, I felt it fair to recognize him in the byline of this article. However, I will take a few moments to provide a thumbnail sketch of where the production effort stands at present (4/1/93).

GR/D is now very close to going to the printers with the Second Front maps. The two northern-most maps (16A and 17A) have been approved, and the last two maps (26 and 27) are now under final review by John Astell and A.E. Goodwin.

Counter artwork is proceeding at a furious pace in Grinnell, with Winston Hamilton shouldering the bulk of this endeavor with assistance from Victor Hauser. Most of the decisions relative to the box artwork have been reached, and now GR/D is turning its attention to the box text. The poster art selected for the box cover is from an American war bonds poster showing a G.I. with a Thompson submachinegun in the foreground, and paratroopers hitting the silk in the background. Good stuff!

The ground order of battles are "done" for all practical purposes, although last minute tweaking is always a possibility. (For example, there is some sentiment that the U.S. artillery units should be kicked up a point to reflect their truly awesome power.) John is now wrapping up research on the naval 0Bs, and will soon be turning his attention to the air OBs and ratings. In conjunction with this he intends to make a comprehensive review of the Europa air system.

I am trying to get the playtest up and running and to produce a working draft of the rules set. If the planned acquisition of my full-time company is completed, I just might be able to put together a respectable block of GR/D work time and make some meaningful progress. At least, hope springs eternal!

I will now turn you over to John Astell, and let him tell you how you may be able to turn the already potent Panzer Lehr Division into a 24-10 behemoth.

Panther Detachments

With the advent and success of the Panther tank, the Germans intended to reequip their panzer divisions with Panther battalions. With few exceptions, the panzer divisions were to be organized around a panzer regiment of two battalions, one of Panzer IVs and one of Panthers. As Panther production geared up, panzer divisions often converted to Panthers by detaching a panzer battalion and sending it to the rear to equip and train with the new tanks. In practice, as the Panther battalions became combat-ready, they were often thrown into action wherever needed, rather than returning to their parent divisions. (Divisions lucky enough to get their Panthers often later had them grabbed by corps or army HQs, for use as fire brigade troops.) For large parts of 1943 and 1994, many or most Panther battalions were used as independent units or attached to divisions other than those they came from.

This whole situation is very difficult and confusing to sort out. For game purposes, things are simplified as much as possible, while allowing the important elements of this situation to be represented.

First, a general system of detaching Panther battalions is used, rather than trying to track which division detached which battalion when and to where.

Second, only the cases where a panzer division is in one theater and its Panther battalion is in another need to be accounted for. (If a panzer division and its detached battalion are in the same theater, then for play purposes it doesn't particularly matter whether they were together or not.)

A German Army panzer division with a rating of 15-10 or stronger has a Panther battalion and may detach it. For each division that detaches a battalion, place a (-4 PzG) marker on it: thereafter, for all game purposes (including when at cadre strength and for replacement purposes) its strength is reduced by 4 and it is treated as a panzergrenadier division. To show the detached battalion, place a (4-2-10) Pz II in the hex of the detaching division.

A detached Panther battalion can operate independently, the same as a non-divisional unit, or attached to a panzer division (maximum one per division). If a detached battalion is in the same hex as a panzer division, it may be attached to that division. While attached, the battalion is considered part of the division: it contributes its strength to the division but neither counts against stacking nor increases the RE size of the division.

Example: A 14-10 panzer division with an attached (4-2-10) battalion is treated as a 18-10 panzer division, while a 16-10 panzer division with a (-4 PzG) marker is treated as a 12-10 panzergrenadier division.

A division that detaches a battalion and then has a battalion attached to it (or vice versa) resumes its original strength and status. For example, a 16-10 panzer division with a (-4 PzG) marker that then has a (4-2-10) battalion attached to it resumes being an 16-10 panzer division again.

A division may have a total of only one battalion detached and only one battalion attached at a time.

Panzer Detachments

The Germans also detached/attached ordinary panzer battalions as well as Panther battalions. For the most part, this occurred on the eastern front in 1942-43, and thus we really don't have to worry about it in Second Front. However, there is one (2-1-10) detached panzer battalion in Second Front for part of the game. This battalion can be attached to any German Army panzer division, just like a detached Panther battalion can be. Remember, however, that a division may have a total of only one battalion attached to it at a time.