Just prior to going to press, I received an update on the proposed Second Front treatment of the Divisions z.b.V. and a few other special units from Mr. Stanton. In the interests of keeping our readers on the cutting edge of Europa design, I share this information with you; however, understand that nothing is carved in stone at this point!

The Divisions z.b.V. will be placed in their duty station hexes in the appropriate Wehrkreise as part of the Second Front initial forces. (Note: There were fifteen Wehrkreise (WKs): Germany comprised WKs I throughXIII, and Austria XVII and XVIII. Numbers XIV through XVI were not used.) These units will be triggered based on the proximity of Allied forces to their garrison hexes. These formations (See? I was paying attention!) will be deployed as follows:

WK 1: Div. z.b.V. 401 in Konigsberg Div. z.b.V. 461 in Bialystok

WK II: Div. z.b.V. 402 in Stettin

WK III: Div. z.b.V. 433 in Frankfurt on the Oder Div. z.b.V. 463 in Potsdam

WK IV: Div. z.b.V. 404 in Dresden Div. z.b.V. 464 in Chemnitz

WK V: Div. z.b.V. 405 in Strassburg Div. z.b.V. 465 in Ludwigsburg

WK VI: Div. z.b.V. 466 in Bielefeld Div. z.b.V. 476 in Wuppertal

WK VII: Div. z.b.V. 407 in Augsburg Div. z.b.V. 467 in Munich

WK VIII. Div. z.b.V. 408 in Breslau Div. z.b.V. 432 in Kattowitz

WK IX. Div. z.b.V. 409 in Cassell Div. z.b.V. 469 in Eisenach

WK X: Div. z.b.V. 410 in Hamburg Div. z.b.V. 480 in Verden Div. z.b.V. 490 in New Munster

WK XI: Div. z.b.V. 411 in Hildesheim Div. z.b.V. 471 in Hannover

WK XII: Div. z.b.V. 462 in Metz

WK XIII: Div. z.b.V. 413 in Nurnberg

WK XVII: Div. z.b.V. 417 in Vienna Div. z.b.V. 487 in Linz

WK XVIII: Div. z.b.V. 418 in Salzburg Div. z.b.V. 438 in Klagenfurt

Other Special Forces handled similarly: Gross Deutschland (GD) HQ in Cottbus; Feldhermhalle (FHH) HQ in Danzig

(Note: The above two HQ could provide the capability of raising emergency panzer units.)

Hiller Youth Units in Berlin
Nazi Political Police in Berlin

Note: The special qualities of the lovable Soviet NKVD will be extended to other nationalities. Thus the generic unit type "political police" will ascribe "no retreat" characteristics to any unit bearing its symbol (which appears on the inside back cover of this issue)., This should guarantee that the Battle of Berlin will be a bloody one!

The strengths of the Divisions z.b.V. are still under consideration. It is possible that other assets, such as fortress machinegun battalions, antitank brigades, and other Military District Emergency Resources may be factored into these formations, thus making them some of the strongest units in the game. Contrarily, they might represent only their historical composition and in some cases be extremely weak. There is much to be worked out yet, but that is some of the current thinking on the subject.

Other Tidbits of Interest: The handling of the many German "divisions" raised in the latter days of the war will be flexible based on the amount of territory still in German hands and how the war in general is going. The worse the Reich is faring, the weaker the unit when activated. In cases where their training grounds have been lost, certain units might not be raised at all. Historically, many of these entities, nominally designated as divisions, often were no larger than brigade size and were without even the most basic equipment. Properly representing these forces will require much work and help from playtesters to finalize.

Finally, the current bench mark for the start of Second Front is July 1943.