Hoplomachia
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Joined: 12/2/2006
From: Denmark
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NARVIK 1940
Designers Notes
The Battle of Narvik
This battle started with the German occupation of Norway 9 April 1940 and ended with the capitulation of Norway and the evacuation of the Allied forces 9 June 1940. Narvik had strategic value as the main outlet of iron ore from Sweden and both the Allies and Germany planned to take control of this town, but Germany eventually got there first. During this period the Allied has slowly concentrated troops around the Narvik area and started to push back the defensive perimeter of General Dietl's 3rd Mountain Division. Strategic considerations, logistical difficulties and not least horrible weather and ground conditions prolonged this campaign, and when at last the Allies were ready for the final attack, the German attack on the low Countries and France suddenly changed the overall situation overnight.
Installing Narvik 1940
I recommend using the Generic Mod Enabler to install Narvik 1940 as it contains files that will replace some of the standard COTA files. If however the files are moved manually to the respective folders, remember to backup your original files.
I regard these files as important to create the look of Norwegian mountains and Winter landscape on the game map, so I recommend using them.
COTA and Norway 1940?
In COTA estabs there are no Norwegian, French and Polish units that could readily be used for this campaign. So I have chosen Greek units as Norwegian, Australian units as French and British units as Polish. I have also changed the unit and commander capabilities to my perception of the respective national unit at that time and place in history.
The Game Map
The map is combined from four Russian topographic maps of the area together with historical knowledge of the Narvik area from 1940. Map names are ofcourse in Norwegian, but I have replaced some of the unique language characters with generic ones.
Long scenarios?
Narvik 1940 has 3 scenarios:
Midnight Valley 01 May 1940 to 12 May 1940
Burning Snow 13 May 1940 to 27 May 1940
Lost Cause 28 May 1940 to 09 June 1940
I thought it was necessary to have fairly long scenarios to more accurately recreate this campaign. In addition the overall purpose of the Allied campaign was to slowly push back the German defensive perimeter and this was not done in
just a few days. It will be an important aspect to take good care of your troops and not to waste them in unnecessary attacks. Always keep the current weather in mind when planning your operations.
Movement
As the map in certain areas confines the operational movement of units care should be taken to select the appropriate order for the situation at hand.
No nighttime?
Narvik is in the land of the Midnight Sun and that fact is also reflected in the scenarios, so in most scenarios there is no nighttime at all.
German reinforcements
German reinforcements would either appear by paradrop, by seaplane or by train from Sweden and all appear within their historical timeslot and area. To create some uncertainty around the apperance of reinforcements I have mostly set the schedule of arrival somewhere between early morning and late evening.
Scenario Balance
A fair amount of time has been used in an effort to create a force balance in each scenario. If you feel that either side is too weak or too strong in a given scenario, then do not hesitate to use the reinforcement schedule variants included.
References:
A valuable source on this battle has been the War Diary (Kriegstagebuch) of the German General Alois Dietl of 3rd Mountain Division as it is fairly accurate in both events and weather conditions. But to get information of the respective national armies operations at Narvik in 1940, it has been necessary to search the respective national resources. So the research of Narvik 1940 are based on many sources to recreate more accurate historical scenarios.
Narvik: Die Kämpfe der Gruppe Dietl Im Frühjahr 1940. Buchner, Alex 1958.
I Kamp Om Narvik 1940 by Brauteset Steinar 1987.
Narvik 1940 by Bjørnsen Bjørn 1980.
The Norwegian Campaign Of 1940 by Moulton J. L. 1966.
Norway 1940 by Francois Kersaudy 1987.
Kampene Om Narvik by Johan Waage 1962.
6. Divisjon by Lindbäck-Larsen Odd 1946.
The French Army 1939-45 (2) by Sumner Ian 1998.
En alpejegers beretning fra 1940 by Pounhet Jean-Francois.
French Foreign Legion 1914-1945 by Windrow Martin 1999.
The French Foreign Legion a complete history by Porch Douglas.
General Dietl by Dietl Eduard 1951.
Kampene I Norge 1940. Bind 2 by Andreas Hauge 1978.
Operasjonene til lands i Nord-Norge 1940, bd. I by Sandvik Trygve 1965.
Operasjonene til lands i Nord-Norge 1940, bd. II by Sandvik Trygve 1965.
Forsvarsstudier Forsvarets Høgskole Forsvarshistorisk Forskningssenter 1987. The French Army 1939-45 (1) by Sumner Ian 1998.
Various Internet sources.
Leonidas, February 2007
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Leonidas
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Narvik 1940 (patch now available) - 
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