Defending the Reich:Tips on Scraping the Bottom of Manpower Barrel

[Q-Ball]

I am approaching 1945 in a cracking game vs. Meklore, and wanted to share some tips, and collect some too, on how to manage the Wehrmacht in the last year of the Reich. As the Allies wear you down, you will run short on two things; AFVs and Manpower. There are spot shortages of a few armaments that are not produced, like 122mm Howitzer, but overall Armaments are not going to be a problem.

AFV:With AFVs, the only thing you can do is try to limit losses to air attack, and the best advice there is to attach extra FLAK SUs to all Panzer Divisions, and keep them parked in cities with flak as much as possible. I would also not use Panzers on the front line where they can be seen unless absolutely necessary; use them on RESERVE. You can't produce more, so just limit losses to those suffered in ground combat.

MANPOWER, however, there are ways to stretch it. Here are some tips, and I welcome more:

--Make sure you evacuate all airbases before they are captured; you do not want the grounds crew captured cheaply. This will be a manpower drain if you allow this.
--FLAK DISBANDS: Flak units that are attached to cities are a key source of Manpower. If you do not move them, they will surrender and the crews will become POWs. You should try to avoid this.
--Instead of paying APs to move FLAK units, however, I would disband them. Here is the approx. manpower you get back for each unit:
--Flak Regt: 3900
--Mixed Flak Bn: 1650
--Heavy Flak Bn: 805
--Light Flak Bn: 680
When do you disband them? I would hold off as long as they are in a position to be useful as Flak units, and they can be quite useful close to the front. There are some that right away are probably not useful, like the Flak Regt in Narbonne, in Languedoc; that one is a waste. The ones in Bordeaux are also probably of limited use. You probably do not have the APs to disband every single unit, but you can prioritize from top down. In my game vs. Meklore I lost some Light Flak to capture, but only those. (BTW, don't bother saving Italian Flak units; let them be captured). Also, don't disband off-map SUs that are flak; attach them to units, you will need them.

--REFIT: As you REFIT units, try to use your replacements where they will do the most good; that is clearly in Elite/Panzer units. Prioritize SS Panzer, Para, and Wehrmacht Panzer/PzG to all REFIT. Once you prioritize those on-map units, you will likely not have any left for the Infantry.
--For INFANTRY, you probably can't use any replacements after mid-1944. As they become UNREADY, I would use the MERGE function to merge them with another Infantry unit. I never used MERGE in WITE, and you need to think carefully in WITW because you can't un-do it, but I would rather have 1 OK Division than 2 Unready ones. You also as Germany will get alot of Infantry divisions, more than you can handle with the available Army/Corps HQ in late 1944, so you will also simplify your command structure by culling some weak ones. You still need units available as diggers, but I would selectively MERGE some infantry
--For SUs: SU's usually will not rebuild unless they are in an HQ, and preferably on a National Supply source. I tend to park OKW or OB West in Frankfurt, and transfer SUs I want to rebuild to those, before rotating them back.
--For OST units, I tend to hold them in OB West until the invasion; then, deploy them to all INF DIV near the beachhead as quick reinforcements. OST units are weak, and a tempting source of MANPOWER, but save the APs; instead, deploy them to the front, but don't pull them back for any REFIT; let them whittle away in combat. They are OK after some experience, but you don't want them absorbing replacements to replace losses.
--The only SUs I typically have back for REFIT are Panzer, FJ, and some Artillery units. Germans do not get enough Artillery early, so you have to rebuild those SUs, until Sept 1944, when suddenly you get piles of new Artillery SUs. At that point, there is no reason to rebuild Artillery SUs other than clearing the slot in an HQ.
--The WBef HQs are a source of extra Manpower; each has 20,000 men, and a crap leader. You may want to keep 1 or 2 as a rear guard, but once you get the extra Army HQs in Sept 44, get rid of them. You need the Manpower.
--Toward the end of the Reich, you maybe can disband Security Regts; they do have a purpose as diggers and last-ditch defenders, and you may need the APs for FLAK, but it's something to consider, as they have 1400 men or so, and not a ton of combat value

Anyway, in summary, I would look to disband the WBEF HQs and Flak units in France. Those 2 will probably squeeze upwards of 125,000 more men, which is very helpful. I would MERGE infantry units that are UNREADY and have no hope really of finding replacements for. That's most of the tips I have.

Any others?

[JeffroK]

Interesting thoughts.