The main issue I see is the in the ground war at least the gun-armor race was driven historically by events on the Eastern
front and in that time line you don't see that. So while the Soviet's get the T-34 and KV-1 into production and deployed as they did in 1941 you wont see that ongoing conflict and the developments that came out of it.
Exactly. It also means a later entry of the U.S. into the European war (don't know if the Japanese will strike south if they are busy setting up administration along the Siberian coast.) We do know that the U.S. historically was working on very heavy tanks during 43, which were never needed because there was never a invasion threat from Germany.
A successful knock out of the Soviet Government would have to occur in 1941, because by 42 their reorganization would be in place, and a lot of BT-7's would have been replaced by T-34's. On the other hand, the Germans and their Polish, Hungarian, Romanian and Japanese allies would not have the advantage of lessons learned in Poland, the Low Countries and France. Parenthetically the Japanese would have some preparation from the Nomohan compaign. Their extensive after action study indicated that the spirit of their troops never failed, but they needed far better logistics to support an offensive, as well as a larger earlier commitment of artillery.
See the Leavenworth Papers on Nomohan, one of the best reads available in English on the Nomohan battles.
I prefer the long war. Secret Weapons, with Panther 2's and German Ospreys up against allied heavies is fun. I do think that there is too much of an emphasis on heavy tanks. The Russians and the Americans were more likely to have a better medium in response. Still it's fun.
I don't know if there is a scenario where the Soviet AK infantry fights Germans, but there should be.
The Red Gambit series does have some interesting turns of events. In that history, Stalin invades the west in late 1945, the Japanese ally with the Soviets in exchange for captured German weapons for a new China offensive. It has a lot of fun combat descriptions, and the characterization of the generals and world leaders is on point. Surprise: Konev is still arrogant, Eisenhower is still a politician, and
I don't know if there is a scenario where the Soviet AK infantry fights Germans, but there should be
GrossDeutschland 1946 has several scenarios with Soviet Guards who could easily be replaced by AK units
Secret Weapons: scenario #15: Tank Battles has Soviet AK units against German GREN units. I played this one a long time ago. Secret Weapons has a lot of cool matchup, like: Soviets vs. British and so on!
In fact, the AK units shows up in 47 scenarios total when you look them up in the PG-HQ units.
AK-47's even show up in abandoned suitcases at Belgian train stations!
I'd be willing to guess that the first Long War mileau PG supplement will appear as a pleasure inducement after the first or second of the Long War books is released by Avalanche, just as Land Cruisers waited for 2 volumes to be in print for 2GWAS.
With the background for the Long War, I'd expect to see both heavier tanks on the British and American side, the first jet ground support bombers, and early American and British armored personel carriers present, some of which are to be found in the Secret Weapons and Red and White supplements, others from the Iron Curtain books. This is a great time to look at vehicles and artillery types that were tested but not fielded in 1946-53, the era into which the Long War fits...coincidentally the section that our esteemed colleague Jay is mining for the Korean War series of games.
Unfortunately I missed GD '46. Going to have to ebay it.
I've gotten pretty familiar with late war Germans from RtB, which was my first game. I'm surprised they haven't given Hungarians with late war armor. There were some using it.
I want to be careful I do not come off the wrong way. I'm genuinely curious about the following. I respect that others do like alt-history games.
I wargame for the mental challenge but also to learn something about history. Without a true historical context a wargame loses its appeal for me. If I want to play a game with a science fiction theme, I go for something that really embraces the theme. I suppose some would say it's interesting to try tanks that might have been, but to me the hardware is secondary. Just give me a set of scenarios by a good designer. It's the interaction of the hardware and the challenge of solving each tactical puzzle that is interesting, not the pieces of the puzzle themselves.
That make since t1M0t8yk.
Alternative History is not for everyone and is only a small sub-category of Panzer Grenadier. None of the base games or boxed games have it so you can find ton of historical scenarios and avoid the other by reading the descriptions of the product before you purchase it.
For me I like historical scenarios first but like to play alter-history & Cold War scenarios every once in awhile for a good break from the real world.