Latest News «
Submit News «


Articles «
Comics «
Journal Entries «
Squad Reviews «
Rat Profiles «


Infantry Bootcamp «
Creating A Squad «
Maps & Radio «
FAQ «
Dictionary «


Official Forums «
Chat Room «


Previews «
Screenshots «
Book Listing «
Equipment Specs «
Links «


Feedback «
Site Info «
Link to Us «

What Will the Virtual WWII Bring Us?
by Pete

Gamers have been waiting for this day for a long time. They have been dreaming of the day a game can approach simulating the adventure of a battlefield, a house to house shootout, or a sniper attack without all the death and gore the real thing would cause.

A major issue of interest will be how the war will turn out. Can history repeat itself or will the Allies be able to push the Germans back to Berlin on the first day? To understand what will happen, one must examine the real war and determine what's most likely to repeat itself or not.

At 0535 hours on 10 May 1940, Operation 'Yellow' began and 2574 tanks and a total of 120 German divisions flowed into Belgium and Luxemburg on their way to France (and the English Channel). To face them 3,600 tanks and 115 divisions were in their prepared positions. Most of these tanks were of superior quality to the German and assorted captured Panzers facing them.

To keep it short, the two things that gave the Germans the advantage was the organization of their tanks and the daring of their plan to advance through the Ardennes forest, which the Allies had grossly overestimated as impassable. As this plan will not be a secret in WW2OL I will go into no further detail than to say that this daring attack was able to completely flank the Allied forces that were advancing to meet the expected German attack.

The Greatest two problems the Germans will expect to reproduce this condition is the lack of surprise and the eventual restructure of the scattered Allied tank units to form a large cohesive unit.

There is no way to avoid lack of surprise in this case, as all other routes involve attacking the Maginot line, which would cause massive delays in the German attack and confine Germany to a slow defensive death.

As for the reformation of Allied tanks, most historians say that the French campaign was won on the 6th day. This is because of the position the Germans had by then, and the already beginning collapse of enemy forces. It will take a hell of a lot longer to organize a cohesive tank brigade/division/etc than 6 days.

In the end Germany could still win on its old timetable if the Allies totally mess up on their planning, or the Germans find some other innovative way to attack France. 

But hey, its just a game. If we mess up on the virtual war field there's always next time!