Combat Effects

The other special ability that some construction units have is their increased strength and combat effectiveness when attacking certain types of fortifications and major cities. These abilities are shared by Combat Engineers (Eng) and Assault Engineers (Aslt Eng). (It will be helpful, at this point, if you have a copy of the Terrain Effects Chart JEC) to refer to.)

For certain terrain types and features, Eng units are not halved in attack strength, although most other units are. These are noted on the TEC with the notation, under the heading "Combat Effects", as "Attacker (exc. art, eng) halved". Unlike most other non-art units, Engineers are not halved when attacking partial and full city hexes, port fortifications, improved fortified hexsides, and improved fortresses. (Note that even Eng units are halved when attacking Improved Ouvrages.)

For the above, Aslt Eng are considered to be Eng. In addition, when attacking Major cities and/or Improved Fortresses (including Port Fortifications) Aslt Eng have their attack strength doubled for that combat. For example, a US 4-8 Aslt Eng X attacking enemy units defending in a Partial City Hex would have an attack strength of eight.

Eng units may, if used in sufficient numbers, also provide the attacker with a positive DRM (die roll modifier). Referring again to the TEC, note than some Fortifications include the notation "Eng modifier". When Eng units attack these features, or any major city, calculate the number of Eng REs and the number of non-art REs participating in the attack. Compare the number of Eng REs to the number of non-art REs involved as a ratio, if the number of Eng REs is 1/7th or more of the total REs involved, then modify the combat die roll by +1. For example, if two Inf XXs, one Eng III and one Art III were attacking a major city, there would be a total of 7 REs involved for figuring the Eng proportion; 3 REs each for the two Inf XXs and one RE for the Eng III (the art RE is ignored when computing Eng proportions). Since I RE out of 7 is an Eng, the combat die roll will be modified by + 1.

Note that if the combat die roll is modified through the application of this rule, then the Attacker must suffer Required Losses (Rule 9J) for any Eng units involved in the combat.

Assault Engineers are considered Eng for the above rule, and have even greater abilities with regard to some terrain types. When attacking a major city or Improved Fortress (inc. Port Fortifications) an Aslt Eng is considered to be double its actual RE size, when figuring the Eng proportion. For example, the US 4- 8 Aslt Eng X above would be considered to posses two REs for the Eng proportion. Therefore, if one Aslt Eng 11 (1/2 RE) attacked a Port Fortification, along with two Inf XXs and an Art XX, the attacker would receive the +1 DRM. The Aslt Eng would have its RE size doubled to one RE, thus there would be one RE of Eng out of a total of seven REs involved (again, ignore all art REs). Note that the size of the Aslt Eng is doubled both for the calculation of Eng REs and the total REs involved in the combat.

Note also that these special abilities of Aslt Eng depend upon the terrain and/or fortification type and are not universal. For example, since a fort counter is neither a major city nor an improved fortress, an Aslt Eng would not have its attack strength nor its RE size doubled. To get these special combat effects, the Aslt Eng must be attacking units in either or an improved fortress or major city.

In the game FitE/SE, there are even more special rules concerning engineers. In these games (only) an engineer is considered self-supported when attacking or defending in a major city, fortress or fort. If you like this rule you can always consider it as an optional house rule for other games as well.

Special Considerations

In addition to the construction and combat effects listed above, there are a few special, unique rules associated with particular games. Three we will look at are railway regauging, railway building, port rebuilding, and punitive units.

Regauging Rail Lines.

In some games, rail gauge is not only a concern but can be changed. In FitE/SE, there are two gauges of rail lines, Soviet broad gauge and standard gauge. For the most part, each side can only use rail lines of the proper gauge. Changing one gauge to another is a special task that can be performed by Railroad Engineers (RR Eng). A Railroad Engineer may change the gauge of all rail lines in a friendly owned hex by expending one additional MP in the hex, two MPs in poor weather. The RR Eng must be in supply. Only RR Eng may perform this task, and only RR Eng units may be used to decrease this cost through quick construction.

Upgrading (Building) Railroads.

Railway building occurs in some games. In this process a railroad engineer converts low capacity rail lines into high capacity rail lines. (Since FitE/SE was published before the new capacity rules were introduced, in that game roads (except in the Arctic) may be converted into high capacity rail lines.) Note that you can only upgrade an existing rail line, you can't just go off and start building railroads across the local countryside!

This task has the same costs as if the RR Engineer were building a fort in clear terrain, that is, it takes one turn and costs one resource point per hex upgraded. Only RR Engineers may participate in this task. (This is an official change to the printed rules, published in John Astell's "Rails through the Russias" article in TEN #7)

Rebuilding Ports.

In SF, the Germans possess the special ability of port demolition (Rule 30M), whereby they not only apply maximum damage to the port in question, but destroy it completely, such that those hits of damage may not be repaired unless and until the port is rebuilt. The only engineers that can rebuild a destroyed port are Allied Port Construction Engineers (Port Cons). The Port Cons unit rebuilds a port in a manner similar to building a fort in non-clear/non-rough terrain; that is ' it takes two turns (irrespective of weather), the unit must be in supply, a resource point is expended, the task begins and ends in friendly initial phases, etc.

While destroyed, the port is not considered a port for any game purposes and none of its hits of damage may be repaired. Once rebuilt, it again functions as a port and its hits of damage may be repaired. (Note that a port may only be destroyed through application of SF rule 30A3, simply having maximum damage does not destroy a port. Note that quick construction may not be used when rebuilding ports.

Punitive Units. Finally, let us look at one optional rule concerning engineering functions. In both SF (44C.2) and FitE/SE (39D.6), there is an optional rule for Punitive units. In both cases the rules state that these punitive units should be treated as construction engineers for all game purposes. If you are looking for realism, I highly recommend this option. Due to their nature, these units often had to perform hazardous, hard labor, both at the front and in rear areas. Indeed, considering that these units were worked much harder than comparable engineer units, I might even recommend that they be treated as double their actual RE size, for construction purposes. After all, the fate of a member of a punishment unit was not very pleasant, whether in the German or Soviet Army.

Common Complaints

Europa puts much more into engineer units than most wargames, so engineers have been bound to raise discussion.

The rail regauging rate is always a bone of contention with some (see Jason Long's "Counterbattery" in this issue). John Astell himself revised it extensively in TEN #7. Rest assured that it will receive his attention in the next version of FitE.

Another point sometimes debated is the ability of engineers with 8 MP, representing semi-motorized assets, to move by air. There are arguments for and against this and space precludes us from fairly discussing this subject here.

Some people have proposed the "final solution" to engineers: removing construction units altogether, giving each player abstract construction points to use. As entrenched as construction is in the system, it is doubtful that this will happen outside of optional rules, such as those in Sudden Storm of TEM #34.

In all probability, however, engineers and construction units and rules are in their final form in recent issues.

If you wish, photocopy the template below and make your own convenience markers. The markers labeled "1/2 MP Available" are useful to show units that have benefited from finishing a one-turn construction task using quick construction. The "Airbase Under Construction" can remind players which engineers started airbase construction in the same way as the "Fort Under Construction" markers do.

More Engineers

Europa Engineers: Introduction
Europa Engineers: Types of Engineers
Europa Engineers: Construction: Damage and Repair
Europa Engineers: Combat Effects, Considerations, and Complaints