Slitherine

the_iron_duke wrote:I've been making a U.S. vs Germany scenario set at around the time of the Ardennes Offensive, so late 1944/early 1945. One problem I have with it are the Sherman graphics.

FYI, I made a write-up for a modder a while ago. And yes, the Shermans don't make much sense from a graphical perspective. BTW, there is one additional Sherman icon, the Firefly.

Also, what are your interpretations of the unit graphics? Here are mine:

The "M4 Sherman" graphic has a welded hull and a rounded 75mm gun turret.

Yep. It's also the early type welded hull, which can be seen by the two protrusions on the front plate.

The "M4A1(76)W" graphic has an angular 76mm turret and it looks like a smooth, rounded hull although it's difficult to tell.

It seems to be the rounded hull.

The "M4A3(76)W" graphic is huge. It has an angular 76mm turret and angular welded hull.

It also has the HVSS suspension.

The "M4A3E2" graphic has a 75mm turret and a welded hull. It's difficult to tell, but it could indeed be a Jumbo tank with 75mm gun. The gun mantlet seems to have some extra armour, similar to a photo in the website above. It also looks like it's got some extra, thicker armour at its front between the tracks.

It looks a bit like the 'Jumbo', although the turret isn't quite the right shape, and the bogies look out of scale.

The "M4A3(105)" graphic does indeed have an appropriate slightly shorter barrel length for this gun.

This also has the late type welded hull, and a late production turret (or a retrofit), because it has a cupola.

It would be easy to alter the graphics to make them more appropriate as it's a simple edit to lengthen the barrel of a depicted gun.

I've been working occasionally on unit icons and switching barrels is usually quite easy.

I am not sure what happens during multiplayer, but the other player will receive a warning that his opponent uses modified content. I believe the battles are resolved locally on your system, so any changes will affect your own game, and the results are simply sent over. I am not sure what happens when a unit is used that is not in another players equipment file.

Thanks for the Sherman info. I seems you know your Shermans and would probably have no trouble sorting your M4A3(76)W (VVSS)s from your M4A3(76)W (HVSS)s.

I've asked in the technical support section about the MP implications of altering the equipment file.

I've posted the Germany vs Soviets game in multiplayer as the Eagle & The Bear [Beta v2] so if anyone wants to play a game then please take it. I've set up games as both Axis and Allies sides as I don't mind which side I play as. I've put passwords on the games so people who have read parts of this thread and have an idea about the scenario can access it. If I don't get any takers I'll set the games up again without passwords. (Also note, the scenario may show up in the listings named as "The Eagle").

The passwords are:

- if you want to play as the Germans: playasgermans
- if you want to play as the Soviets: playassoviets

I don't know if both players need to have the scenario file on their computers to play, so in case they do, here is the relevant version of the file (which is different than one I posted earlier in the thread):

http://www.sendspace.com/file/wimy9u

Here's a picture of the final map and forces deployed:

Thanks to the player who has accepted my scenario challenge(s). I hope it's going to be a fun scenario! I just want to play one game to begin with, so would you mind if I resigned one of the games, I don't mind which one? (You don't seem to be a forum member so I can't message you directly).

Also, does anyone know why the scenario is only showing up as The Eagle? Does the game not like the '&' symbol?

I sometimes find that when I draw roads, they don't show up when I generate tiles and nothing I can do can make them appear. Any solution to this?

If not, if I used road overlays would that work? The roads are there on the base layer, just not on the finished graphical overlay.

I shall soon have finished the Normandy scenario map.

Press the space button.

Carius wrote:Press the space button.

That's a handy key for quickly switching between the layer views so thanks for that, but it's not doing anything to solve the issue at hand, I'm afraid. There are two hexes that have a road on the simple graphic layer but whatever I do I can't get them to generate onto the fine graphic layer tiles.

Okay, Then try this approach.

Go into the menu that has all the road tiles. Left click on the areas that there should be roads. Then try generating the tiles again. If that does not work it is because the roads are not connected.

Carius wrote:Okay, Then try this approach.

Go into the menu that has all the road tiles. Left click on the areas that there should be roads. Then try generating the tiles again. If that does not work it is because the roads are not connected.

The issue may be solved - I think.

I played the scenario and the roads weren't graphically depicted but units were moving along them at road movement rates. So I put on a couple of appropriate road overlays in the editor.

However, I can't locate the problem place at all now so it may have resolved itself (perhaps a reboot may have helped). Or I've got lost in the myriad of roads in a 2,500 hex map which is also quite possible.

Here is the map for the Normandy scenario with preliminary deployment. There may be a minor alteration here and there still to come, including fine-tuning the recons' locations for scenario balance reasons.

I looked at Google Earth and topographical contour maps of Normandy for inspiration. They revealed Normandy to be very flat with expansive farmland interspersed with small patches of woodland, so that is how I have drawn the map.

I've been thinking I might make a scenario set during the Battle of France (1940), between France and Germany.

I'd like to try a slightly different approach and introduce Infantry Divisions. So each army will have an Infantry Division flanked by an Armoured/Panzer division. To level out points differences, the French may also get a Light Mechanized Division. The French units aren't significantly worse than the Germans except for in infantry quality, so an added Light Mechanized Division would give extra infantry numbers.

The scenario would be called The Rooster and The Eagle.

After doing some research, this is how I understand a 1940 French and German infantry division would look:



French Infantry Division

9 x French Inf

2 x 75mm mle 1897 (w/Truck) towed artillery
2 x 105mm mle 1913 (w/Truck) towed artillery

1 x Light cavalry
1 x 25mm SA 34 (w/Truck) towed anti-tank
1 x French Eng (w/Truck) engineers

Total: 16 units, 2,013 points

German Infantry Division

9 x Wehrmacht Inf

3 x 10.5 cm leFH 18 (w/ Opel Blitz) towed artillery
1 x 15cm sFH 18 (w/ Opel Blitz) towed artillery

1 x Kavallerie cavalry
1 x 3.7cm Pak 36 (w/ Opel Blitz) towed anti-tank
1 x Pioniere (w/ Opel Blitz) engineers

Total: 16 units, 2,724 points

EDIT: After reading more, I think that the French divisional artillery should be 3 x 75mm and 1 x 155mm. A corps-level artillery regiment (attached in the game) would be 2 x 105mm, 1 x 155mm.

This page is very good on the organisation of the French Army in 1940:

http://www.cgsc.edu/CARL/nafziger/940FEAX.PDF

2ND EDIT: Actually, it might be a 105mm within the division rather than a 155mm or a mix of the two.

I have come up with a couple of armies for The Rooster and The Eagle. The French have one Armoured Division (Division Cuirassée), two Light Mechanized Divisions (Division Légère Mécanique) and one Infantry Division (Division Infanterie), along with attached units (Rattachee) and aircraft (Armée de l'Air). The Germans have two Panzer Divisions and one infantry division, along with attached units and aircraft.

It's as faithful to historicity as I've been able to research. The French armoured and light mechanized divisions were apparently smaller than the equivalent Panzer Divisions - around 6,000 men and 10,000 men respectively to a Panzer Corps' 12-15,000 men. This is reflected in the size of these formations in the game.

There's always a bit of shoehorning going on with the final 1% to get points parity and game balance. So this scenario's slight ahistoricity is to use two D.520 fighters as they were not introduced in time to field large numbers of them during the Battle of France, but it's needed for game balance reasons. Also, the armoured division had a battalion of motorised chasseurs (light infantry) so I've used a chasseurs alpins unit with a truck for this unit.

FRENCH FORCES





1. Armoured Division (Division Cuirassée)

1 x Char B1 heavy tank
1 x Hotchkiss H39 light tank

1 x Chasseurs alpins (w/ Truck)

2 x 75mm mle 1897 (w/ Truck)

2. Light Mechanized Division (Division Légère Mécanique)

1 x Somua S35 cruiser tank
1 x Hotchkiss H35 light tank

3 x French infantry (w/ Truck)

1 x 105mm mle 1913 (w/ Truck)
2 x 75mm mle 1897 (w/ Truck)

1 x Panhard 178 recon
1 x French Engineer (w/ Truck)

3. Light Mechanized Division (Division Légère Mécanique): Same as other Light Mechanized Division.

4. Infantry Division (Division Infanterie):

9 x French Inf

1 x 105mm mle 1913 (w/Truck) towed artillery
3 x 75mm mle 1897 (w/Truck) towed artillery

1 x Light cavalry
1 x 25mm SA 34 (w/Truck) towed anti-tank
1 x French Eng (w/Truck) engineers

Attached units (Rattachee):

1 x 47mm SA37 (w/ Truck) anti-tank

1 x 155 C mle 1917 (w/ Truck) towed artillery
2 x 105mm mle 1913 (w/ Truck) towed artillery

3 x 25mm CA mle 39 (w/ Truck) anti-air

3 x Chasseurs Alpins infantry

Aircraft (Armée de l'Air):

2 x Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 fighters
2 x Dewoitine D.520 fighters

3 x Potez 63.11 tactical bombers

2 x LeO 451 strategic bombers

Total: 60 units, 10,620 points.

GERMAN FORCES





1. Panzer Division:

1 x Panzer IIIF
1 x Panzer IIC
1 x Panzer IB

3 x Wehrmacht Inf (w/ Opel Blitz)

1 x 15 cm sFH 18 (w/ Opel Blitz) towed artillery
2 x 10.5 cm leFH 18 (w/ Opel Blitz) towed artillery

1 x SdKfz 222 recon
1 x 3.7 cm Pak 36 (w/ Opel Blitz) towed anti-tank
1 x 2 cm FlaK 38 (w/ Opel Blitz) towed anti-air
1 x Pioniere (w/ Opel Blitz) engineers

2. Panzer Division: Same as other Panzer Division

3. Infantry Division:

9 x Wehrmacht Inf

3 x 10.5 cm leFH 18 (w/ Opel Blitz) towed artillery
1 x 15cm sFH 18 (w/ Opel Blitz) towed artillery

1 x Kavallerie cavalry
1 x 3.7cm Pak 36 (w/ Opel Blitz) towed anti-tank
1 x Pioniere (w/ Opel Blitz) engineers

Attached units:

1 x 21 cm Mrs 18 (w/ SdKfz 7) towed artillery
1 x 3.7 cm FlaK 37 (w/ Opel Blitz) towed anti-air

Aircraft:

3 x Messerschmitt Bf109E fighters

2 x Junkers Ju87B tactical bombers

1 x Heinkel He 111H2 strategic bomber

Total: 50 units, 10,638 points.

Here are the Battle of France armies in stylised deployment layout:

I will soon be looking for an opponent to play-test The Bulldog and The Eagle. They will have to play as the Germans, though, as I want to play as the Brits.

The scenario will be set in July 1944. The weather will be set at 10% cloud, 5% rain. Prestige per turn will be set at 50 points, for the play-test at least (there are more flags to capture this time).

These scenarios take the approach that a game unit represents a battalion of around 500-1,000 men or 40-80 tanks.

I am therefore wondering what one can extrapolate from this regarding game scale, both spatial (in terms of what size of area a game hex represents) and temporal (in terms of what period of time a turn represents).

Here's something I found elsewhere on the internet, apparently from a WWII German army manual:

c. MARCH DISTANCES. The infantry division normally can march about 20 miles in a day; under adverse weather or road conditions the rate of march may fall to 10 miles a day. The motorized division can maintain an average daily march of between 90 and 150 miles; the armored division from 60 to 90 miles a day. In the near vicinity of the combat zone, road movements without motor transport average 10 to 15 miles a day, while movements by motor transport approximate 30 miles a day.

If one game turn counted as a day then these would be the hex sizes:

Infantry move = 3 hexes = 10-20 miles = one hex is 3.3-6.7 miles
Tank movement = 5/6 hexes - 60-90 miles = one hex 10-18 miles
Motorised road movement = 8 hexes = 90-150 miles = one hex is 11.2-18.7 miles

They don't quite match up but things work better if we take the second set of figures for "in the vicinity of the combat zone":

Infantry move = 3 hexes = 10-15 miles (16-24 km) = one hex is 3.3-5 miles
Motor transport = 5-8 hexes = 30 miles (48 km) = one hex is 3.75-6 miles

These figures match up pretty well.

However, a battalion represents 500-1,000 men so it is illogical that the space they occupy (one hex) is somewhere between 3.75 and 5 miles (6-8 kilometers) wide in both directions. The solution must be that each day represents several turns of play. So how many is it for one unit = one battalion?

I am trying to think of what sort of space 500 to 1,000 infantry would take up. I am thinking that they could make a width of 500 to 1,000 metres, and that's being generous.

If each hex was a 1,000 metres then a day would be 6 to 8 turns, going by an infantryman's movement rate. If a hex was 500m then it would be double as many turns.

So I'm therefore thinking I might make these scenarios something like 8 turns a day.

I have also been wondering about creating scenarios at difficult formation scales. It might be possible to make a game where each unit represents a company so one's forces in the game would represent a single division.

One could also take it the other way and say each unit represents a brigade or regiment and so one's forces would represent an Army of several Corps.

To this effect, I have condensed a 1944 Panzer Corps (which is around 50 game units if a unit is taken as a battalion) into a formation of 16 game units:

1st Panzer Division

1 Tank
2 Motorised infantry
1 Artillery

2nd Panzer Division

1 Tank
2 Motorised infantry
1 Artillery

3rd Panzer Division

1 Tank
2 Motorised infantry
1 Artillery

Corps-level units

1 Heavy artillery
1 Heavy anti-aircraft
1 Recon
1 Engineer

There's obviously going to be more squashing and stretching units to get the game to work at this scale but I think it could be done.

Here are three formations made using the regiment/brigade as the basic game unit. So basically the scale has zoomed out by a factor of around 3 and a game unit represents around 1500-3000 men.

From left to right: a German Panzer Corps of three Panzer Divisions and corps-level units; a German Corps of three Infantry Divisions and corps-level units; and a Soviet Mechanized Army of three Soviet Mechanized Corps and Army-level units.

I have been studying the organisations of the German Type 1943 and 1944 Panzer Divisions from the Records of Headquarters, German Army High Command and am trying to recreate a Panzer Division using the game scale of one unit representing one company. I have copied the relevant details from the archive documents and posted them below. I have included staff companies in brackets with the annotation '[STAFF:]' as I think they are too small, or too mixed, to include in the game.

Division Headquarters:

[STAFF: 1 (mot) Panzer Division Escort Company
(organization as of 1 February 1944)
1 Heavy Platoon (4 HMGs & 6 LMGs)
1 Self Propelled Flak Platoon (4 20mm guns)
1 Motorcycle Platoon (6 LMGs)]

1 Armored Regiment:

[STAFF: 1 Regimental Staff & Staff Company
1 Flak Platoon (8 - 37mm Flak 43)]

1st Battalion:

[STAFF: 1 Armored Battalion Staff Company (fG)
(12 LMGs & 3 quad 20mm self propelled guns)]

4 Armored Companies (fG), each with
22 Mk IV Tanks

2nd Battalion

[STAFF: 1 Armored Battalion Staff Company (fG)
(12 LMGs & 3 quad 20mm self propelled guns)]

4 Armored Companies (fG), each with
22 Panther Tanks

[NOTE: the 1943 document says the 2nd battalion is "not present in all divisions. If present, organized same as 1st Battalion".]

1 (Half Track) Panzer Grenadier Regiment:

[STAFF: 1 Panzer Grenadier Regimental Staff & Staff Company
(2 LMGs)
1 Signals Platoon
1 Motorcycle Platoon (6 LMGs)]

1 Panzer Grenadier Battalion

3 (mot) Panzer Grenadier Companies
1 (mot) Heavy Company

1 Panzer Grenadier Battalion

3 (halftrack) Panzer Grenadier Companies
1 (halftrack) Heavy Company

1 Self Propelled Infantry Support Gun Company:
(6 Self Propelled 150mm sIG & 7 LMGs)

1 (mot) Pioneer Company:

1 (half Track) Platoon
(6 flame throwers & 6 LMGs)
1 (mot) Mortar Platoon (2 HMGs & 2 80mm mortars)
1 (mot) Engineer Platoon
(8 LMGs & 12 flame throwers)
1 (half track) Engineer Platoon
(12 LMGs, 1 20mm gun & 6 flamethrowers)

[NOTE: the 1943 version also includes:

1 Self Propelled Flak Company:
(12 Self Propelled 20mm Flak Guns)]

1 (motorised) Panzer Grenadier Regiment:

[STAFF: 1 Panzer Grenadier Regimental Staff & Staff Company
1 Signals Platoon
1 Motorcycle Platoon (6 LMGs)]

2 (mot) Panzer Grenadier Battalions, each with:

3 (mot) Panzer Grenadier Companies
1 (mot) Heavy Company

1 Self Propelled Infantry Support Gun Company:
(6 Self Propelled 150mm sIG & 7 LMGs)

1 (mot) Pioneer Company:

1 (half Track) Platoon
(6 flame throwers & 6 LMGs)
1 (mot) Mortar Platoon (2 HMGs & 2 80mm mortars)
1 (mot) Engineer Platoon
(8 LMGs & 12 flame throwers)
1 (half track) Engineer Platoon
(12 LMGs, 1 20mm gun & 6 flamethrowers)

1 (self propelled) Panzerjäger Battalion:

[STAFF: 1 (mot)) Battalion Headquarters Company (1 LMG)
1 (self propelled) 75mm PAK Platoon (3 StuGs)]

3 Assault Gun Companies (14 StuGs each)
1 Panzerjäger Copmpany (motZ) (12 75mm PAK & 7 LMGs)

[NOTE: the 1943 version instead uses 3 companies of Marder I/II and has the motorised 75mm PAK company as a platoon rather than company]

Armored Reconnaissance Battalion:

1st Armored (Luches) Reconnaissance Company

2nd Armored (Half Track) Reconnaissance Company
(2 75mm, 280mm & 44 LMGs)

3rd Armored (Half Track) Reconnaissance Company
(2 75mm, 7 20mm, 2 80mm mortars, 3 HMGs & 30 LMGs)

4th Armored (Half Track) Reconnaissance Company
1 Staff (1 LMG)
1 Half Track Support Gun Platoon (6 75mm, 2 LMGS)
1 Mortar Platoon (6 80mm mortars & 2 LMGs)
1 1 Engineer Platoon (13 LMGs)

[NOTE: the 1943 version has either:

1st Armored Reconnaissance Company (normal organization)
(24 LMGs & 18 20mm guns in 18 armored cars)

or:
1st Armored Reconnaissance Company (formed only on special
order)
(6 armored cars with 1 75mm gun & 1 LMG)
either:

2nd Armored Reconnaissance Company "C"
(18 armored cars with 18 20mm & 18 LMGs, plus 6 LMGs)

or:
2nd Armored Reconnaissance Company (Luchs)(formed only on
special order)

(25 LMGs & 16 20mm guns in 16 Luches tanks)

3rd Armored (Half track) Reconnaissance Company
(2 80mm mortars, 1 37mm PAK, 4 HMGs & 56 LMGs)

4th Armored (motorcycle or Volkswagen) Reconnaissance Company
(2 80mm mortars, 4 HMGs, 18 LMGs)

5th Heavy (Half Track) Company)
1 Pioneer Platoon (13 LMGs & 6 flamethrowers)
1 Heavy Panzerjäger Platoon (3 LMGs & 3 75mm PAK)
1 Infantry Gun Platoon (2 75mm leIG)
1 Artillery Battery (6 75mm field guns & 8 LMGs) ]

Armored Artillery Regiment:

[STAFF: 1 (mot) Armored Artillery Regimental Staff Company (2 LMGs)]

1st Battalion:

[STAFF: 1 (self propelled) Battalion Staff Company
(2 LMGs & 3 20mm mountain flak guns)]

2 Light Self Propelled 105mm Batteries
(6 Wespe 105mm howitzer carriages & 4 LMGs ea)

1 Heavy Self Propelled 150mm Battery
(6 Hummel 150mm howitzer carriages & 4 LMGs)

2nd (mot) Battalion:

[STAFF: 1 (mot) Battalion Staff Company
(2 LMGs & 3 20mm mountain flak guns)]

2 Light (mot) 105mm Batteries
(6 105mm leFH & 4 LMGs ea)

[NOTE: the 1943 version has three batteries]

3rd (mot) Battalion:

[STAFF: 1 (mot) Battalion Staff Company (2 LMGs)
(2 LMGs & 3 20mm mountain flak guns) ]

3 Heavy (mot) 150mm Batteries
(4 150mm sFH & 4 LMGs ea)

Army Flak Battalion:

[STAFF: 1 (mot) Flak Battalion Staff & Staff Battery (2 LMGs) ]

2 (mot) Heavy Flak Batteries
(4 88mm, 3 20mm & 2 LMGs ea)

either:
1 (mot or self propelled) Light Flak Battery
(9 37mm Flak 43 & 3 quad 20mm Flak guns)

or:
1 (mot or self propelled) Light Flak Battery
(11 20mm Flak guns)

[NOTE: the 1943 version has:

2 (mot) Heavy Flak Batteries
(4 88mm, 3 20mm & 2 LMGs ea)

1 (mot or self propelled) Light Flak Battery
(12 20mm Flak guns & 2 LMgs)

1 (mot or self propelled) Light Flak Battery
(9 37mm flak guns, 2 quad 20mm self propelled gun carriages, & 4 LMGs) ]

Armored Pioneer Battalion:

[STAFF: 1 Pioneer Battalion Staff & Staff Company (14 LMGs)]

2 (mot) Pioneer Companies
(2 HMGs, 18 LMGs, 2 80mm mortar

1 (half track) Pioneer Company
(2 HMGs, 43 LMGs, 6 flamethrowers,
& 2 80mm mortars

1 (mot) Light Panzer Bridging Train ( LMGs)

This is how I have intepreted the Panzer Division (1 August 1944 Type) in game terms, using a company as the basic game unit.





1 Armored Regiment:

1st Battalion:

4 x Panzer IV Tanks

2nd Battalion

4 x Panther Tanks

1 (Half Track) Panzer Grenadier Regiment:

1 Panzer Grenadier Battalion (mot.)

3 x Wehrmacht Inf (w/ Opel Blitz truck)
1 x Panzergrenadier (w/ Opel Blitz truck)

1 Panzer Grenadier Battalion (mech.)

3 x Wehrmacht Inf (w/ SdKfz 251/1)
1 x Panzergrenadier (w/ SdKfz 251/1)

Regimental assets:

1 x Self Propelled 150mm sIG [NOTE: There are two sIG 150mm units in the game - sIG 33 II (Sf) or sIG 38(t) M. Production numbers were 370 and 383 respectively.]

1 x Pioniere engineers (w/ Opel Blitz truck) [NOTE: two of the four platoons were in trucks and two in half-tracks so one could argue either way] [EDIT: I've decided to make the pioneres in the Mechanized Regiment use halftracks and those in the motorised one use trucks]

[1 x SdKfz 10/4 self-propelled anti-air, according to the 1943 type]

1 (motorised) Panzer Grenadier Regiment:

1st Battalion

3 x Wehrmacht Inf (w/ Opel Blitz truck)
1 x Panzergrenadier (w/ Opel Blitz truck)

2nd Battalion

3 x Wehrmacht Inf (w/ Opel Blitz truck)
1 x Panzergrenadier (w/ Opel Blitz truck)

Regimental assets:

1 x Self Propelled 150mm sIG [NOTE: There are two sIG 150mm units in the game - sIG 33 II (Sf) or sIG 38(t) M. Production numbers were 370 and 383 respectively.]

1 x Pioniere engineers (w/ Opel Blitz truck) [NOTE: two of the four platoons were in trucks and two in half-tracks so one could argue either way]

1 (self propelled) Panzerjäger Battalion:

3 x StuG (III) self-propelled anti-tank
1 x 7.5 cm PaK 40 (w/ Opel Blitz truck) towed anti-tank

[NOTE: the 1943 version instead uses 3 companies of Marder I/II and has the motorised 75mm PAK company as a platoon rather than company]

Armored Reconnaissance Battalion:

The identity of the exact recon models for the 1944 version is more difficult to ascertain. One of the four companies is a Panzer II Luchs. We can try and learn more about the other three by looking at the weapons described. These are the main weapons of the recon units depicted in the game:

Sd.Kfz. 222 = 2 cm KwK 30 L/55 autocannon
Sd.Kfz. 231 (6-Rad) = obsolete
Sd.Kfz. 232 (8-Rad) = 2 cm KwK 30 L/55 autocannon
Sd.Kfz. 233 = 7.5 cm KwK 37 L/24 gun
Sd.Kfz. 234/1 = 2 cm KwK 38 L/55
Sd.Kfz. 234/2 = 5 cm KwK 39/1 L/60

There is no mention of a 50 mm gun so we can discount the Sd.Kfz. 234/2 "Lynx".

The second company says "2 75mm, 280mm & 44 LMGs" so I'm not sure what this one should be, although the "75 mm" probably refers to the SdKfz 233, the only recon to use this weapon. I'm not sure what the "280 mm" refers to, but I suspect it refers to 280 mm high explosive rocket launchers of the type found on the Panzerwerfer or Wurfrahmen. So I suppose one could use one of them but it won't have recon capabilities, of course.

The third company has (2 75mm, 7 20mm, 2 80mm mortars, 3 HMGs & 30 LMGs). The 20 mm gun is the main designation so that could be several of the recons.

The fourth company says:

1 Staff (1 LMG)
1 Half Track Support Gun Platoon (6 75mm, 2 LMGS)
1 Mortar Platoon (6 80mm mortars & 2 LMGs)
1 1 Engineer Platoon (13 LMGs)

Several 75 mm suggests a Sd.Kfz. 233 is the most appropriate unit.

So that gives us one Luchs, one Sd.Kfz. 233. For the 20 mm I am assuming an Sd.Kfz. 234/1 8Rad, as they were being produced in the hundreds at this time. For the mystery second company I have arbitrarily gone for an Sd.Kfz. 232 (8-Rad).

1 x Panzer II Luchs
1 x Sd.Kfz. 234/1
1 x Sd.Kfz. 233
1 x Sd.Kfz. 232 (8-Rad)

Armored Artillery Regiment:

1st Battalion:

2 x Wespe self-propelled artillery
1 x Hummel self-propelled artillery

2nd (mot) Battalion:

3 x 10.5 cm leFH 18 (w/ Opel Blitz truck) towed artillery

3rd (mot) Battalion:

3 x 15 cm sFH 18 (w/ Opel Blitz truck) towed artillery

Army Flak Battalion:

2 x 8.8 cm FlaK 36 (w/ Opel Blitz truck) towed anti-air

1 x 3.7 cm FlaK 37 (w/ Opel Blitz truck) towed anti-air
or
1 x SdKfz 10/4 self-propelled anti-air

Armored Pioneer Battalion:

2 x Pioniere (w/ Opel Blitz truck)
1 x Pioniere (w/ SdKfz 251/1 half-track)

1 x Bridge engineer (w/ Opel Blitz truck)

This is the primary source material for the above translation:

http://www.cgsc.edu/CARL/nafziger/944GXAG.pdf
http://www.cgsc.edu/CARL/nafziger/943GXAD.pdf