Panzer replacement Battalions

[vinnie71]

Reading the manual with great interest. These formations kind of attracted my attention... The manual says the following -

The Axis player receives a number of Panzer Replacement
Battalions in the National Reserve. These can be assigned
to Panzer Divisions and the component assets will be
absorbed into the host unit.
At that stage the Support Unit will be removed from play.
In effect, these provide the Axis player with a tool to
allocate replacement tanks either to the Panzer divisions or
to keep as Support Units and allocate to other formations
as conventional Support Units.

So basically they are dual role? Can they be for example added to Motorised or Infantry divisions like any SU (and do not disband)? Are they a sort of precursor of the reserve panzer divisions or are they similar to the panzer battalions deployed before Kursk (the Panther battalions I mean)?

Thanks in advance!

[loki100]

yeah. you can use them as attachments to a non-Pzr division and they perform like any SU.

But, you'll find that getting replacements to the front is really hard for the Axis player from say Aug 41 to about May 42 when usually your logistics improve. So they are a means to get fresh tanks into the Pzr divisions at a critical stage. The alternative is to pull the Pzr formations well back from the front to refit.

They are not, as such, akin to the 1943 Panther battalions, that switch is handled via the usual TOE upgrade routines.

[MechFO]

During what period do these show up? How many are there? Are these "fake" units?

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: MechFO

During what period do these show up? How many are there? Are these "fake" units?

no they reflect real practice. Many 19 and early 20C used the concept of a 'march battalion' to bring men to the combat formations and they got dispersed into the main formations. The Germans created these as a tool to move replacement armour.

quick search of the reinforcement screen and I can find 20, spread over the period early Jan to the end of Feb 42. That is a period when the Pzr divisions will be in a mess from the 1941 advances and the winter rules, so you have a choice, use these battalions as quick replacements and you may have the tools for a late winter counter-stroke, or keep them as SU and take your time over the refit of the main divisions.

They arrive in the reserve as empty shells, so each will take 2-3 turns to grab the tanks they can use.

As an aside, this also shows some of the functionality around the reinforcement screen. its possible to set up all sorts of filters and logic rules to mean you can readily focus on something of interest. The new CR uses similar tools.

[vinnie71]

Thanks! This is very interesting. The concept of march battalions is quite old and one practiced by quite a number of armies. So this will be limited to Panzer units or are there infantry equivalents?

[loki100]

specifically its these units that behave in this way.

But you can make wider use of the basic concept. Have a look at the Soviet AAR I posted, I did a lot of merging Rifle Brigades into Rifle Divisions to bring them up to strength on supply poor sectors (where the normal reinforcement system tends to fail).

Its probably a bit harder for the Axis player as they lack the inter-changeable parts the Soviets have. In TOE terms a rifle brigade/division/corps all share a similar layout so you can merge them to repair under-strength formations

[OberGeneral]

How does this merge process work exactly? I can't seem to find the exact mechanism to do this, they allways end up as support units!

[Wild]

I just attach 1 battalion to each of my panzers and the next turn when I check they are gone and have been absorbed into the unit.

[56ajax]

How does this merge process work exactly? I can't seem to find the exact mechanism to do this, they allways end up as support units!

Correct. You assign them as a support unit to a Panzer Div and within a turn or two the tanks are absorbed into the Div and the replacement battalion is auto removed from the game.

[OberGeneral]

I just attach 1 battalion to each of my panzers and the next turn when I check they are gone and have been absorbed into the unit.

Thanks. That worked.

[OberGeneral]

How does this merge process work exactly? I can't seem to find the exact mechanism to do this, they allways end up as support units!

Correct. You assign them as a support unit to a Panzer Div and within a turn or two the tanks are absorbed into the Div and the replacement battalion is auto removed from the game.

Yes! I never went into the next turn to check if that was the case!

[AbeMuc]

Thanks! This is very interesting. The concept of march battalions is quite old and one practiced by quite a number of armies. So this will be limited to Panzer units or are there infantry equivalents?

March battalions were also used by Infantry and other units.

[hei1]

Hi, Soviets also have numbers of "independent tank battalions / regiments". In a StB campaign many Tank Corps are rather empty and refill very slowly (on depots ...). Is there any similar technique to absorb these SUs to refit TCs faster? Disbanding units is not needed - the (active) pool for tanks is full. Sending TCs to NSS is ok, but cost time. Any other ideas welcome.
Thanks.