Axis Volksgrenadiers? What?

[GenNikolaj]

Ok guys, the game is very good, I spent some really nice time defending and Breaching Bastogne a hundred times and sending Gerries one way or another back to Berlin (and sometimes back to Paris, in tanks), but please explain to me one simple thing.

Why the hell am I playing a historical game with general biographies, division names and detailed glossary, where every goddamn time I hear about AXIS???

Seriously, this game acknowledges Germanys existence NOWHERE, and stating that SS are the elite of Axis troops is complete bollocks. Not that I heard about japaneese volksgrenadiers, too, or any Axis troops other than german taking part in the battle.

The Allies would be less absurd, if not for the appearence of separate British troops. This game straitforwardly states that there were too side of the conflict, with Axi on one side and Allies AND Great Britain on the other, which is, obviously, a complete nonsense.

Seriously, is there any actual explanation for that?

[IainMcNeil]

I'm not sure of the exact force composition but the usual reason is that the Axis forces are made up of Germans, Italians, Romanians, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Finns, Austrians, Czechs and host of other minor nationalities that joined them as they occupied various territories. Many games refer to the "German" side as Axis. This is technically the correct term.

If you notice the Elite units are not all SS, though they could be. Elite units are usually Whermacht that are well trained or equipped. SS units may have been fanatical but they were not the best combat units. Elite and SS are two totally different concepts. Hope that clears it up!

[GenNikolaj]

I don't think we uderstand each other corectly, which may be due to, I must admit, quite an erratic and a tad emotional statement of mine.

To give you some examples, I made two screenshots from the game itself, presenting a rather absurd usage of word "Axis" in terms of aformentioned Volksgrenadiers and SS





I by no means intended to compare SS to an elite unit as such, I only stated that presenting it in way as it is presented in this game seems to me as an example of absolutely devastating historical misconception.

[IainMcNeil]

OK I see and sorry I don't know enough to comment on the accuracy of those statements. The research was pretty extensive but that doesn't mean they didn't get something wrong.

[jorisgeens]

Volksgrenadier
From wikipedia


The strategic emergency and concomitant manpower shortage resulting from the losses in mid-1944 required the creation of infantry divisions that economized on personnel and emphasized defensive strength over offensive strength. The Volksgrenadier divisions met this need by using only six line infantry battalions instead of the normal nine for infantry divisions — already a common reality for many existing divisions. The units also had a higher proportion of submachineguns and light automatic weapons and thus relied more on short-range firepower than in standard German Army infantry units. Automatic weapons like the new "wonder weapon" Sturmgewehr 44 and anti-tank weaponry like the single shot panzerfaust were also used by Volksgrenadier units.
They were organized around small cadres of hardened veteran soldiers, NCOs and officers, and then bulked out with anything the Replacement Army could supply: "jobless" personnel of the shrinking Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe, wounded soldiers from broken formations returning to duty from hospitals, older men who would have been considered too old or too unfit for the peacetime army and teenagers were recruited into the ranks.

Volksgrenadier divisions participated in the Battle of the Bulge, the defense of the Siegfried Line and Eastern Front, and in the final battles in Germany. Some divisions acquitted themselves very well and fought tenaciously while others were rushed into battle with a minimum of training and thus performed very poorly

[SergeantMitchell]

Actually I wonder that whether Panzer Lehr division isn't a elite unit . It's a really a cream of Panzerwaffe.