Corps of Engineers?

[TheDeadeye]

Hey Cal,

Just throwing a random idea in here.....regarding the broken railway lines after capture. Why not (if the all knowing makers and rules of the boardgame agree) create a special unit (built via the building options) of engineers whose purpose is to have more MPs (to allow them to move farther and repair more railway lines) and a minimal combat stat of maybe 1, so they can still defend themselves marginally if attacked.

As it stands now, in my opinion others might object, it is too much of a micromanaging hassle to have one or more infantry corps frantically try to convert railway lines at a VERY slow pace while the front is moving at an advanced pace....especially on the Russian front where movement is fluid even in Trench Warfare Doctrines in effect. The corps of engineers would help a lot since they can move farther and repair more and not deplete corps needed badly at the fronts for front advancement and defense.

Besides it's not a pretty sight seeing all those broken railway lines on the map....you just know you are supposed to convert them but....

What do you guys think?

[PhilThib]

The idea is good, but the number of such RR Engineers should be limited...offensive bottlenecks in 1914 were indeed the rail conversion...we should not go back to a Blitzkrieg-like situation...

IIRC, the old boardgame Guns of August from AH had these units. Germany & France had a pool of 2 for the whole game/war. Other powers had one only...

[Oyvind]

Converting rail line (especially in Russia) was a huge undertaking. You are basically laying a new track, and it takes time. I often use cavalry counters to convert the track, since they move a bit faster. :-)

It is a lot of micro management though, a better solution might be to have the rails automatically convert after a certain number of turns. This would be interrupted when an enemy unit entered the area. You could still use units to convert the rail if you wanted to.

More annoying to me is having the rail broken by using the wrong nationality to convert the railroad. (i.e converting the rail with an AH unit, when the area is controlled by Germany). In that case the rail road is considered broken, and unusable.

[patrat]

having special RR troops sounds like a good suggestion. i believe the germans had such specialized RR troops in real life.


but as far as repairing rr goes at the moment, i almost never bother with it (in the west anyway). because as the supply rules stand now, its just easier to capture two nearby enemy towns to satisfy your supply needs.

sorry for bringing it up again, its one of my pet peeves.

[06 Maestro]

Germany & France had a pool of 2 for the whole game/war. Other powers had one only...

I suggested some similar numbers a month or two ago-never seen the board game, it just seems reasonable. Using corps for RR repair seems too much of a waste of power. I think it would be better if there were RR engineers which could be the only units allowed to conduct RR repair.

In the previous thread in which this issue came up a board game veteran thought the current system was good enough. He maintained that the corps involved in RR repair could also be viewed as securing the rear areas. I am not aware of any great requirements for keeping occupied territory subdued in WW1.

[calvinus]

I think the better way is to trigger an automatic conversion during the Interphases. A job for this is scheduled.