7th. Panzerdivision, Germans Northag Reserve

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Hallo Kommandeure, willkommen zurück!

After the recent Tropical adventures, back to Germany for a second wave coming in with new ideas, traits and game mechanics.

After the recent fictional divions, the latest 3rd PzDiv got my attention again. After the very very good or as you know excellent Concepts of https://www.reddit.com/user/MustelidusMartens/search/?q=warno
I began to ponder, would the German army have their prototypes all in Lehrbrigade 9, like the 3rd Pz Div concepts, per chance when war breaks out or is there maybe a another solution to it (to get even more German prototypes comprehensive into the game even if it's not 100 factual). And thinking about it, I thought when would you use your highly innovative(but unfinished or untested prototypes) directly at the start of a war or if the favor shifts and you get more desperate and had time to make the prototypes a little more battle ready. My solution to this problem is the 7th panzer division which is the sole west German division in Northag which didnt had a spot on the inner German border but was held in reserve by Germany and NATO.

to begin with i know its ready like It's a Christmas wish list but as we all know even if we didn't hear it recently... West Germany suffers and it suffered enough ;) 

Flavor Warno fictional division background lore

Unlike most NORTHAG divisions committed to defined national corps sectors of the forward battle, the Westphalian division formed the immediately available German armoured core of the Army Group’s operational reserve. It was not tied to one permanent Gefechtsstreifen or one fixed section of the Vorderer Rand der Verteidigung (VRV). Its operational value lay precisely in remaining mobile and available for several contingency missions until NORTHAG could identify where a Warsaw Pact attack was developing its decisive Schwerpunkt.

 This reserve existed inside one of NATO’s most complicated command environments. NORTHAG combined Dutch, German, British and Belgian corps, each with its own national tactical traditions, planning assumptions and interpretation of Forward Defence. COMNORTHAG was traditionally also Commander-in-Chief BAOR, giving the Army Group’s operational thinking a strong British influence, but commanded through the multinational NORTHAG headquarters and within CINCENT’s overall design for AFCENT. SACEUR and SHAPE provided the wider theatre-strategic framework; the conduct of the Army Group battle itself remained NORTHAG’s responsibility.

 German commanders generally interpreted Vorneverteidigung comparatively literally and sought to fight as far east as possible, while British operational thinking increasingly emphasized manoeuvre, vital ground and the possibility of allowing enemy forces to penetrate sufficiently far to expose themselves to a mobile counterattack.

 

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The resulting multinational ‘layer cake’ of corps sectors could therefore create dangerous Korpsnähte if neighbouring formations fought fundamentally different battles.

 The resulting concept can be understood as three connected phases: the retrograde battle, the corps defence battle and, if the first two failed to stop the attack, the Army Group Battle.

 The principle was Schwerpunktbildung at operational level: avoid dissipating every available armoured formation across the frontage, preserve powerful mobile reserves and commit them only after the main enemy axis had become sufficiently clear.

 Panzerbrigade 21 at Augustdorf occupied the eastern part of the division’s peacetime stationing area and had historically maintained a comparatively high readiness under the requirements of Vorneverteidigung. Its relatively concentrated disposition around Augustdorf made it the first major component of the division capable of moving east after short warning. But moving first did not necessarily mean fighting first.

 As tensions accelerated, Panzerbrigade 21 began its Aufmarsch(assembly) toward a forward Bereitstellungsraum (concentration area ) while the division remained under NORTHAG’s operational Führungsvorbehalt (command and control restriction).

 The brigade could reinforce a threatened Korpsnaht, occupy blocking positions, secure important Schlüsselgelände (key areas), support a neighbouring corps or form the leading element of a later Gegenangriff (counter strike).

 Then the timetale began to collapse. The fundamental weakness of Forward Defence had always been time.

 Covering and Verzögerungskräfte(Deceleration forces) were expected to identify the enemy Schwerpunkt (main effort), impose losses and gain enough time for the main forces to complete their Aufmarsch and Herstellung der Gefechtsbereitschaft(combat readiness). Yet contemporary exercises and simulations suggested that forces expected to delay for roughly twenty-four hours might under a full Warsaw Pact attack remain effective for only a fraction of that period.

 (for Warno Novices: In WARNO’s March-to-War scenario, this planning nightmare becomes reality.”March to War” means that the political crisis and military mobilization preceding the outbreak of hostilities lasts long enough to accelerate readiness, procurement, trials and selected modernization programmes, but not long enough to fundamentally redesign NATO’s entire force structure.)

 Panzerbrigade 21 is therefore committed prematurely. It is not sacrificed as a pre-planned covering force. Instead it becomes an emergency counterpenetration elemen treinforcing a threatened seam, blocking important movement corridors and preventing local penetrations from immediately becoming operational breakthroughs.

 The main body of the 7. Panzerdivision is nevertheless still retained. NORTHAG needs it for the larger battle, be it defense or a possible counterstroke.

 Operational Manoeuvre Groups and other highly mobile exploitation formations were expected to bypass or penetrate exhausted forward forces and transform a tactical breach into a rapid advance into NATO’s operational depth.

 The danger was therefore no longer simply the loss of several kilometres of German territory. The real danger was losing the ability to reconstruct a continuous defence before Warsaw Pact exploitation forces reached the operational depth.

 Behind NORTHAG’s fighting area also lay terrain that could not simply be exchanged indefinitely for time. NATO _(and especially WestGermany) planning explicitly regarded the Ruhr industrial region and the approaches to the Rhine between Wesel and Bonn as vital zones whose abandonment was not envisaged.

 Prototype and pre-series systems already physically present had undergone increasingly operational trials and more money had been funneled into these projects

 A second category consisted of programmes that historically reached prototype maturity only after 1990. This does not mean entire future production series suddenly exist; only prototypes, Versuchsträger and small experimental batches are brought forward or a slightly enhanced/bigger in capacity.

 The German Federal Ministry of Defence issued an emergency release order allowing developmental systems judged sufficiently mature for field employment to be made available for operational use. The German Federal Republic determined which national equipment and experimental systems it was prepared to release; COMNORTHAG, within CINCENT’s overall operational design, still determined when and where the Army Group reserve would be committed.

 The purpose of these Prototype and pre-series systems had changed from evaluation to combat reinforcement: restore the losses already suffered by the prematurely committed elements of the division and selectively increase the combat power needed for NORTHAG’s eventual counterstroke.

 NORTHAG temporarily reorganized the division into two operational groupings: a holding force built around the less mobile elements, and a heavily armoured mobile counterstroke force. The 7. Panzerdivision was not stripped of its infantry, wheeled vehicles, headquarters or supporting services. Instead, the force was task-organized for the forthcoming operation.

 .one holding force: A Sicherungs-, Holding- and Support Echelon retained those elements needed to protect divisional, brigade and battalion Gefechtsstände, artillery firing positions, Nachschubachsen, maintenance areas, crossing sites and the divisional rear.

 one a manoeuvre group; The latter is the formation described here and what is called ingame the 7th division, representing the bulk or almost entirely the heavy equipment. The operational striking echelon was different. It concentrated the formations needed for the counterstroke around a heavily armoured and highly mobile manoeuvre core. Most infantry and motorized/wheeled vehicles are removed to make the division almost entirely mechanized/tracked.

 Tracked mobility does not mean that tanks are faster cross-country than trucks. It means that the fighting echelon remains capable of manoeuvring through artillery-damaged terrain, crossing soft ground, following the Panzer spearhead; even when bridges, roads and settlements have become bottlenecks.

 Wheeled vehicles therefore do not disappear from the division. They remain indispensable for command and control, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, specialist support, logistics and rear-area transport. But they no longer define the combat echelon.

 Traditional Panzeraufklärung and reconnaissance patrols are supplemented by reconnaissance in force, reconnaissance by fire, ground-surveillance radar, electronic support measures, SIGINT, UAV reconnaissance and airborne reconnaissance.

 The purpose is to shorten the chain from Feindaufklärung (Recon / Recce) to Entschluss (decision-making) and Schwerpunktbildung... Information becomes manoeuvre.

 By the late 1980s Follow-on Forces Attack (FOFA) and conventional deep attack were intended to disrupt Warsaw Pact follow-on forces before they could reinforce the first echelon... The 7. Panzerdivision attacks the other half of the problem. It destroys what has already broken through.

 Selected American assets like aviation, reconnaissance, artillery or specialist elements earmarked for NORTHAG can be placed temporarily under OPCON or TACON for the counterstroke while their parent formations are still completing Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration.

 The resulting operational concept becomes almost the mirror image of the Soviet exploitation method. A soviet Operational Manoeuvre Group seeks to turn tactical penetration into operational collapse. The 7th exists to prevent exactly that: Find the penetration. Determine the Schwerpunkt. Disrupt its reconnaissance and command system. Delay the exploitation force. Fix it against blocking forces, terrain or another NATO formation. Concentrate the armoured reserve. Then counterattack violently...

 Functionally, its striking echelon resembles a German division-sized interpretation of the armoured-cavalry idea: a heavily armoured operational counterpenetration and counterstroke force optimized for aggressive reconnaissance, security, delay, rapid concentration, Schwerpunktbildung and offensive manoeuvre.

 The OMG exploits the breakthrough. The 7th hunts the force exploiting it.
And the 7th carries with it a cross-section of Bundeswehr equipment that, in another timeline, would have belonged to the 1990s. (The March-to-War crisis has forced that future into limited service early.)

 For NORTHAG, it is the transition from the Corps Defence Battle to the Army Group Battle — the counterstroke intended to prevent a tactical defeat from becoming an operational collapse.

 For West Germany, it is increasingly becoming the battle for the Rhine-Ruhr industrial heartland and the western gateways behind it. Beyond the 7th lie the Rhine crossings. And beyond them, ultimately, the road toward Bonn.

 

 

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7 PzDiv Division catalog

  The division has nearly everything their standard orbat had(at least tracked) fitting the lore plus M2W equipment and lore alternative equipment.  

Slots and Units

 

LOG

 

A decent category

German command and logistics units would include

 

• M577GA2  
• M113A1 MUN.  
• LKW 15 t mil gl KAT I A1 (8×8).  
• CH-53G MUN.  
• FELDDEPOT

 

INF

A bad category  

 German units would include foremost inf out of tracked vehicles:  

• PZ.GREN. FÜH.  
• PZ.GRENADIER  would be available.

 

 Both units arrive in MARDER 1A3 MILAN  

A few

• PZ.GRENADIER (M113) in MTW M113A1G MILAN

 

  There could be a lone prototype card  of a PZ. Gren variants in Marder 2 and even ACV Puma  

ACV Puma: An industry-funded concept for an anti-tank vehicle, including a vehicle family. A total of five prototypes were built, two of which were accepted by the BWB. The Marder 2 program was derived from the PUMA.

https://www.reddit.com/r/warno/s/Q1xXrbBgp1  

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Marder 2:    The Marder 2 was a late-Cold War prototype infantry fighting vehicle developed as the intended successor to the Marder 1. The Bundeswehr wanted an IFV capable of keeping pace with the Leopard 2 while providing substantially greater firepower and protection. Requirements included a seven-man dismount squad, effective engagements out to 2,000 metres, and at least partial protection against 30 mm autocannon fire. Krauss-Maffei was selected as prime contractor in 1988, with the first vehicle completed for trials in 1991.   At over 44 tonnes, the Marder 2 was exceptionally heavy and well protected for an IFV. Its most distinctive feature was the stabilized Rheinmetall Rh 503 dual-calibre autocannon, normally firing 35×228 mm ammunition but convertible to the much more powerful 50×330 mm calibre by changing the barrel. A 1,000 hp MTU diesel gave it mobility intended to match Leopard 2 formations, while modern thermal sights, laser rangefinding and a full fire-control system provided effective day/night and on-the-move engagement capability.   The Bundeswehr originally planned to procure around 1,000 Marder 2s between 1997 and 2001, but German reunification, the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and subsequent defence-budget reductions brought the programme to an end before series production. The surviving Marder 2 therefore represents what could have been one of the most powerful Western IFVs of the early 1990s

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• Personally I would like both very much.      
• Only a small batch of Engineers would be available as  
• PIONIER (CarlG) in Tpz Fuchs)  
• PALR MILAN 2  
• PALR MILAN 2T coming straight from the research bureau. The MILAN 2T is an improved wire-guided anti-tank guided missile featuring a tandem shaped charge designed to defeat reactive armor. It has a penetration capability of over 800 mm of armor steel.Both Milan's arrive in SPz Marder

 

They don't even have   * FELDJÄGER. They are deliberately omitted from the playable roster. They may exist in the wider divisional/rear-area structure, but they contribute little to the tracked manoeuvre concept and would only dilute the division's intended infantry weakness.  

The division deliberately lacks a broad pool of cheap motorized infantry. Its frontline infantry is only secondary and is expected to move and fight with the tracked manoeuvre force rather than race ahead in inexpensive wheeled transports.          

ART

 

  Excellent category  

  Bundeswehr artillery systems are mostly standard  

• PANZERMÖRSER  
• M109A3GA1  
• M110A2G  
• LARS 2  
• MARS MLRS  
• Artillerie-Raketen System Lance

 

The Corps supplys this system—naturally, with conventional munitions: cluster HE warheads. Alongside nuclear warheads, cluster warheads (containing submunitions) were the most widely deployed type. The first warhead of this kind was the M251. It contained 836 circular M40 fragmentation bomblets. Weighing 0.47 kg each, these bomblets had previously been used with the MGR-1 Honest John. Next came the M251A1 warhead, featuring 860 BLU-63 fragmentation bomblets weighing 0.45 kg each. Both of these warheads were developed as interim solutions. From 1978 onwards, the later Lance series was equipped with an M251A1 warhead containing 580 M74 fragmentation bomblets, each weighing 0.59 kg. There was also the M251A2 warhead, containing 300 M74 fragmentation bomblets. These cluster warheads were activated at a predetermined altitude by a dispersal charge, scattering the submunitions over the target area. The bomblets fell within a circular area with a radius of 410 meters and detonated upon impact with the ground.  

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  This ammunition is not anti tank but ultra deadly fragmentation against soft skin/unprotected vehicles and infantry. But even slightly armored vehicles should be only damaged not destroyed. range would be ridiculously 3x MLRS by a 2x as big hit radius as the MLRS radius within total destruction for infantry.  

• PzH 2000 PT

 

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Although to be honest not necessary in this category for impact, but an order is an order(under MtW lore circumstances). The Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH 2000) development followed the cancellation of the joint SP70 project in 1987. Competing design teams built initial test rigs, and by the early 1990s, the winning consortium, led by Wegmann and MaK/Rheinmetall,delivered four prototypes for extensive trials before serial production was approved in 1996.

TNK

 

A very good category    

German armored units would be plentiful  

• JAGUAR 1(HOT2)

 

a unit we should have seen already

And even better fresh from mtw grounds:  

• JAGUAR 1(HOT2T)  The HOT 2T is an improved version of the Franco-German HOT anti-tank guided missile. It features an improved shaped charge designed to defeat reactive armor and achieves a penetration capability of over 1,200 mm of armor steel.
• JAGUAR 2

 

Tank wise this division has their original ORBAT and the M2W or accelarated production inventory so "old" tanks mix with news ones

• PZ.BEF. LEOPARD 2A1  

• LEOPARD 2A1 unupgraded base model; in very low numbers

• LEOPARD 2A3 usually the bulk, buta few giving some to the recon department, so also in very low numbers

• LEOPARD 2A4 m2W this division also got their fair share of 2A4s with time replacing orcomplement the older models , but it didnt get their full rooster  

• LEOPARD 2 TVM to close the gaps beeing opened by the losses of the 21^(th) PzBrig and bolster the already strong armor capabilities.

 

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The Leopard 2 TVM (Truppenversuchsmuster troop trial model) is a prototype and trial series of the German Leopard 2 main battle tank from the 1990s. It served as a testbed for the combat capability upgrade (KWS) program that led to the development of the subsequent Leopard 2A5. This model would be a bridge between a 2A4 and 2A5. Sometimes even surpassing the 2A5. The prototypes featured add-on armor modules on the turret and hull, bomblet protection on the turret roof, sliding hatches for the commander, driver, and loader, spall protection in the fighting compartment, modified hydraulic end stops, and increased torsion bar preload. A thermal imaging sight was provided for the commander. The vehicle also utilized GPS instead of an inertial navigation system and enhanced electro-hydraulic turret drives. Additionally, it featured armored wheel hub covers, a commander's sight, and a fire control system that did not ignore the first laser return.

REC

A excellent category  

• German recon units include:

 

Heavy armored recon starting with the history accurate and going from there to mtw/doctrine changing  

• Aufkl. LEOPARD 1A1A1  
• Aufkl. LEOPARD 1A5  
• Aufkl. LEOPARD 2A3 the historically planned Leopard 2 re-equipment of the heavy Panzeraufklärer is accelerated by roughly two years and fits this divisional orbat well.  
• SpPz LUCHS A1  
• TPz FUCHS RASIT       Specified recon:  
• TPz FUCHS HUMMEL an unarmed jammer variant of the Fuchs

 

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• TPz FUCHS Peiler an unarmed sigint variant of the Fuchs

 

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Hummel/Peiler are both not amphibious  

• PzSpW Zobel Prototype;

 

amphibious very stealthy and fast recon vehicle, m2W sees the modular prototype fitted with a TOW 2 launcher for operational evaluation     In 1985, the German Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) developed a requirements profile for a light, armored, and highly mobile reconnaissance vehicle. Two vehicles were tested in response to this tender: the Panhard VBL and a German-developed vehicle from the company GST. The specifications included amphibious capability, a top speed exceeding 100 km/h, a crew of three, and air transportability due to a relatively low weight of approximately 5 tons. Testing of the vehicle began around 1989. Due to the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in the early 1990s, procurement was no longer considered. However, the insights gained from the development were incorporated into subsequent projects, such as the Fennek reconnaissance vehicle. ZOBEL can lift or delift it's chassis to be more stealthy.     In 1989, the Bundeswehr acquired an improved version of the Véhicule Blindé Léger (Light Armored Vehicle) developed by MaK-Krupp to conduct comparative tests with the Zobel experimental vehicle. The goal of these tests was to identify a suitable reconnaissance vehicle for the armed forces.  The significantly larger and heavier Zobel reconnaissance vehicle emerged as the winner of this test.  

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• RADKAMPFWAGEN 90

 

The Radkampfwagen 90, also known as the Radpanzer 90, is an eight-wheeled combat vehicle prototype created by Daimler-Benz at the request of the German Federal Ministry of Defence. In the early 1980s, the German Federal Ministry of Defence tasked Daimler-Benz with building an armoured wheeled combat vehicle in response to the success of other countries' wheeled armoured vehicles, such as the French AMX-10RC.  The prototype was finished in 1986. Due to budget cuts and a deteriorating defense market, the Radkampfwagen 90 was never developed beyond the prototype stage. The turret is a prototype version of the Leopard 2 main battle tank's. This prototype would be used to enhance the Luchs capabilities with more firepower. The real 1986 experimental chassis was never completed as a fully operational combat system in the configuration displayed today. In the March-to-War timeline, the programme is pushed through the missing weapon-integration stage and a functional turret is installed for operational trials. M2W is a real big if though. First prototype to strike out imho     Out of the air :  

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• Out of the air :  
• BO-105-S1 Ophelia   an experimental programme, sponsored by the German Ministry of Research and Technology (BMFT) was carried out by MBB using a Bo 105 as flying test bed. The OPHELIA experiment was performed to test a mast-mounted observation platform installed above the rotor head. The platform houses the CALIPSO FLIR, a TV camera and a laser range-finder.     This system is ideal to find the advancing warpact armor spearheads first for defense or find gaps to exploit in counter attacks.

 

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• Alouette II  
• CL-289

 

Least but not last the few infantry recon in this heavy tracked formation but with a twist  

• Panzeraufklärer to arrive in ** AUFKPZ. FUCHS** or ** SPz Marder** to make it more expensive; 8 man, 5x G3, 1x MG3, 1xMilan 2, they would move at 18km/h

 

  But German high command gave orders for more airtransportable Jagdkampfkommandos especially for Ambushes in rough terrain like wooden areas or against HVT Targets.  

• JAGDKOMMANDO (AT) Shock Trait, Resolute(the existing Jagdkampfkommandos should also gain resolute), 16man, 13x G3, 3xMG3, 2x1 Carl Gustav in 2 slots

 

This very expensive unit Arriving only in CH53  

AA

 

A medium category    

The few Organic divisional AA assets would include:  

• FLIEGERFAUST arriving in Tpz Fuchs transports  
• GEPARD 1A1  
• GEPARD 2 PT

 

The Gepard 2 was the prototype configuration of an ambitious German-Dutch combat-value upgrade developed from 1984 onward. Rather than replacing the proven twin 35 mm guns and radar architecture, the KWS fundamentally modernized the vehicle's fire-control and sensor suite. Its centerpiece was a new digital control and fire-control unit combined with the stabilized ORFIS day/thermal sight, allowing automatic electro-optical target tracking and greatly improved operation against fast and manoeuvring low-level aircraft while reducing dependence on active radar emissions. The program also incorporated data-link integration with HFlaAFüSys, improved IFF, new ammunition, cooling, ergonomics and maintainability measures. Eight engineering test models were included in the German-Dutch development program, two intended for the Netherlands, with complete vehicle trials beginning in 1992. The full upgrade was cancelled in December 1992 due to cost and the changed post-Cold-War security environment. Selected elements were later incorporated into the cheaper Gepard 1A2 service-life extension, but the complete ORFIS-equipped Gepard 2 never entered service. Because of mtw and money not beeing a problem the 7th receives these prototypes early and incorporate them into their SHORAD concept.  

• Waffensystem Wildcat

 

Krauss-Maffei utilized the proven basic design of the 6×6 Fuchs wheeled armored vehicle as the carrier platform. The suspension, basic chassis, and engine system of the Fuchs were retained. The top entry hatches were removed and replaced by a turret. The chassis retains the standard Fuchs armor, while the turret features composite armor. However, the armor cannot withstand attacks by modern armor-piercing weapons.     Unlike the Gepard, the Wildcat does not use the proven 35mm anti-aircraft guns, as the smaller turret cannot support the weight of the heavier weaponry. Instead, they were replaced by smaller 30mm anti-aircraft guns (MK 30-F) manufactured by Mauser. The system carries a ready-to-fire load of 340 rounds for anti-aircraft engagements and 40 rounds for ground combat, with additional ammunition stowed within the hull. The maximum engagement range against aerial targets is 3,700 meters. The system fires HEI (High-Explosive Incendiary) rounds against aerial targets, and API (Armor-Piercing Incendiary) as well as APDS-T (Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot-Tracer) rounds against ground targets.  

This industry demonstrator also would be requisitioned and released for troop evaluation under emergency conditions.  

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• FlaRakPz Wiesel 1 PT

 

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The father of the later Ozelot.   The Wiesel was originally developed as a highly mobile, protected and air-transportable replacement for the Bundeswehr's ageing Kraka as we see it in the german airborne brigades. Its exceptionally small chassis also made it an ideal testbed for numerous weapon configurations, including an experimental short-range air-defence version armed with two RBS 70 missiles. Unlike conventional IR-guided MANPADS, the RBS 70 uses laser beam-riding guidance. It therefore does not depend on an infrared seeker locking onto the target and is inherently highly resistant to conventional IR countermeasures such as flares. The price for this resistance is that the operator must continue tracking the target throughout the missile's flight rather than simply firing and forgetting. Mounted on the tiny and highly mobile Wiesel, this creates an unusual frontline SHORAD system: difficult to spot, capable of accompanying the manoeuvre force across terrain and particularly dangerous to helicopters that rely heavily on countermeasures against conventional MANPADS. In the March-to-War setting, the prototype is pushed into operational trials as an early predecessor of the later Ozelot concept. It does not provide the range of a medium SAM system, but instead gives the 7th a mobile, countermeasure-resistant ambush weapon perfectly suited to its reconnaissance-heavy and aggressive manoeuvre doctrine.

The units give a very strong organic SHORAD, but almost no organic medium-/long-range SAM capability. despite getting everywhere else only the best stuff, the good medium/long range Corps AA was already deployed elsewhere    

HEL

  poor category  

• BO-105 PAH-1A1   The Tandem Option is used here too.  
• BO-105 PAH-1A1 (HOT2T)

 

 

Additionaly Here we got the Reforger units come into play, 2nd Armored Division (Forward) send their forward deployed aviation to help the Germans  since the division's main force was still en route as part of REFORGER anyway, and the helicopters could be utilized in the interim.  

• AH-1F TOWCOBRA  
• OH-58C/S

 

AIR

a very good category  

Germany sends their Panavia Windstormpack  

• Tornado IDS  [LGB]  
• Tornado IDS  [AT]  
• Tornado IDS  [HE]  
• Tornado IDS  [HE2]   7x Mk81 bombs, 2 AIM9L  
• Tornado IDS  [CLU]   Not a new unit but swap the MK-20 Rockeye II for historical correct equipment with the bl 755 and reducing 5 to 4

 

Also the Tornado MW1 should be changed and we need a second variant as KB 44 is a small anti-armour bomblet using a shaped-charge/ fragmentation effect, intended mainly against vehicles and light-to-medium armour. Its effectiveness depends largely on landing directly on or very close to the target, where the focused charge can attack the armour. MUSA is a larger fragmentation bomblet(NOT A MINE) designed primarily for area effects against personnel, soft-skinned vehicles, equipment and exposed components. Unlike KB 44, MUSA relies on blast and fragments rather than a dedicated armour-penetrating shaped charge, so it is far less effective against MBTs. Both KB 44 and MUSA are bomblets, not mines: they detonate shortly after delivery rather than remaining in place to await a later target     So existing * Tornado IDS  [MW1] with KB44 should get a makeover and  a Penetration value that this thing could can reliable kill (lightly) armored vehicle columns if it hits directly but the radius outside eof hit is low.  

And then we get * Tornado IDS  [MW1 2] with 668 MUSA warheads/bomblets which should have a way bigger HE value than MW1 ,no pen, but a huge huge huge radius to absolutely fucking delete inf and thin skin vehicles even if the hit is not perfect but it gets a delay before detonating (iRL 20secs/in-game should be lower).  

Right now the MW1 is strong against inf yes , but every light apc vehicle and sometimes even soft skin survives it. As the MW1 has also a maximum field of impact of 2500x400m IMHO I would adjust this also because right now its more like 600x150.  

To support the Tornado IDS force, Germany brings another Tornado into the fight: the Tornado ECR. First flown in 1988, it was designed from the outset as a dedicated SEAD/DEAD platform. In our accelerated March-to-War setting, with the ELS fielded early, the ECR represents NATO’s most advanced and fastest-reacting radar-hunting aircraft around 1990. Its decisive advantage is the extremely short bearing-to-weapon chain. The ELS provides passive 360° detection, automatically identifies and classifies hostile emitters, determines their bearing and position to weapon-quality accuracy and feeds this information directly through the digital avionics to the AGM-88B HARM. The ECR can therefore proceed from first detection to a usable firing solution with exceptionally little crew interaction, even launching HARM before the missile itself has acquired the emitter.  

https://preview.redd.it/cv5qsm0ohzjh1.png?width=945&format=png&auto=webp&s=9bf1beae02c6ce6bd96eb040aefef931416706c4

In terms of reactive radar-hunting and bearing-to-weapon speed, in our setting, this makes the ECR the fastest-reacting NATO radar hunter.  

The F-4G Wild Weasel comes second: its APR-47 could also automatically locate emitters and provide bearing and range to HARM, but the older Phantom-based system lacked the ECR’s newer digital architecture, tighter sensor-to-weapon integration and exceptional low-level penetration capability.  

The EA-6B Prowler follows behind in direct radar hunting. Its much greater jamming capability made it an outstanding electronic-attack platform, but it was slower and optimized primarily for suppressing entire radar environments rather than achieving the shortest possible locate-to-HARM engagement cycle.  

The contemporary F-16C SEAD is far behind in this comparison. Without HTS, it possessed no comparable autonomous emitter-location and weapon-cueing capability at all; its dedicated HARM Targeting System only arrived later.     Back to the Tornado ECR; moreover in contrast to the IDS there were the following Modifications done to the Tornado ECR:  

visible:  

-cannons removed; Space used for stronger air conditioning and ELS electronics.  

-FLIR optics (ball at the front left below the nose).  

-IIS shutter (bulge in the middle of the fuselage below the rear cockpit).     -HARM missiles under the fuselage (also found on Marine Tornados)  

not visible:  

-DVRS (digital video recording system for mission evaluation)  

-CEDAM (Combined Electronic Display and Map) large, central computer display in the front cockpit)  

-CSG (additional computer for expanded displays on the monitors)  

-ELS (Emitter Locator System for finding radar devices and determining their position)  

-HUD display of the FLIR image (also in CEDAM) for the pilot  

-Weapons Bus (computer bus system=data lines for the weapons)  

-Air conditioning (increased air conditioning for the additional heat producing devices)  

-Mk 105 engines (more powerful than Mk 101 and Mk 103)  

-Missile Control System (MCS) (see table below)  

-Stores Management System SMS 90 (see table below)  

-Radar warning receiver ERWE II  

-Software and computer formats (Main Computer MC, MIssile Control System MCS, Radar Warning ERWE, Stores Management System SMS ...)     Furthermore the ECM of the ECR has better Systems than the Standard Tornado IDS, because he has the enheanced CERBERUS IV/ TSPJ (TORNADO Self Protection Jammer, successor to Cerberus III).  

• Tornado ECR [SEAD1]   armed with 4x HARM AGM-88 in 2x2 configuration so 2slots a 2 harm. IMHO I would go for 4x1 and do a each missile fights a unique target, but this isn't mechanical or gameengine technical possible to my knowledge.     And!  
• Tornado ECR [SEAD2] armed with 2x HARM AGM-88 in 2x1 configuration and 2x AIM-9L Sidewinder.

   

IMHO I would like if the Tornados IDS ( except for LGB/maybe AT atleast ) could all fly in with a new trait Terrain-following radar which would reduce SAM system range or give them the helicopter target stats; to simulate their “automatic terrain-following flight at roughly 60 m; manual flight could be lower (30m). This trait would go to other super advanced TFR using ultra low-flying aircraft as well. But the Sidewinder missiles can't be used against deliberately against planes because of height/flightplan difference.  
Furthermore plane characteristics should change :  
Because Two further disadvantages arise: the agility of the aircraft at low altitudes suffers, making it impossible to fly such tight turns, and secondly, evacuation would no longer be carried out by climbing up as before, but by deliberately flying low to the edge of the map. However, the user should be able to specify a preference for this.     Also the aerial plane recon is with this division to find the enemy  

• RF-4E [HE]

 

Or * Tornado IDS Recce [Recce Pod/CLU]  

Tornado IDS in TFR configuration with 2xBL755.  

The Tornado IDS with the MBB/Aeritalia Recce Pod, originally operated by German Marineflieger Tornado IDS, combined automatic terrain-following flight down to roughly 60 m with high-speed low-level penetration.  

Its navigation and TFR systems allowed reconnaissance missions at very low altitude, at night and in poor weather, with reduced crew workload. The pod provided two Zeiss optical reconnaissance cameras plus an RS-710 infrared line scanner for photographic and thermal strip reconnaissance. Together, the system was optimized for fast, survivable low-level penetration, target-area overflight, wide-area reconnaissance, and rapid egress.  

  So Germany takes care of the air to ground business themselves in a defacto all-in carte but for ASF Germany has no own assets and gets other mission units.  

At last The US lends a hand again in AA wth:  

2 cards a 2x  

• F-15C Eagle  [AA2]

 

Germanys own asset could be the F4 ICE, but while the other Prototypes are only supporting/additional assets ASF is a key problem-where a established weapon system has to be in place to guarantee mission success.  

I know it's a lot of what-ifs, prototypes and mtw but it's fitting IMHO. I didnt even include all prototypes of Westgermany like the Panther(EPLA (Elevierbare Kampfplattform)) or DAR-Drones. If I would do a ranking and from the rule of cool this would be my go to ranking and you could scratch the prototypes from bottom(unit variations should be included by default;)):

 

• Tornado ECR, it's not a prototype and it's not even really mtw, just give it to us already.  
• Fuchs Peiler/Hummel both were active duty in the timeline;just not ingame  
• Milan 2T/HOT2T armament  
• PzSpW Zobel  
• FlaRakPz Wiesel 1 PT  
• BO-105-S1 Ophelia  
• Waffensystem Wildcat  
• Leopard 2 TVM  
• Tornado IDS Recce  
• Gepard 2 PT  
• PzH 2000 PT  
• Radpanzer 90

 

Summary

 

This division made the alternative fact transition to what effectively amounted to a German division-sized interpretation of the armoured-cavalry concept.  

A NORTHAG operational reserve that has suffered losses in its forward elements, is temporarily task-organized into a holding force and a heavy mobile counterstroke force, and uses unusually dense reconnaissance to find and kill Warsaw Pact exploitation forces before they can turn a tactical breakthrough into an operational collapse  

The division should also work without the prototypes but the setting should be fine or perfect to include them for lore reasons in contrast to the ideas of prototypes for German 3rd panzer div. The division could work without the US Reforger involvement,too, although very good AA or a very good  ASF is needed in replacement of the Eagles atleast.  

TRACKED MANEUVER CORE gameplay in the focus.  

The 7. Panzerdivision has deliberately poor access to inexpensive wheeled fighting and infantry transport. Its maneuver elements rely overwhelmingly on tracked vehicles capable of accompanying the armoured counterstroke cross-country. Wheeled vehicles remain available primarily for reconnaissance, electronic warfare, specialist support, command and rear-area logistics. Limited M113-mounted Panzergrenadiere provide a historical budget alternative, but there is no broad pool of cheap motorized infantry.  

That is one of the central design rules of the final 7th-PzDiv concept, the prototypes are just chefs kiss.  

From a balance perspective 7. Panzerdivision has almost no deliberately bad units or categories except explicitly for medium/long range AA. Its weakness is that its limited very good units compete with one another for scarce deck space, while the battlefield punishes it severely if the very expensive forces are dragged into attritional fighting or if its short-range air-defence screen is broken.  

From a pure gaming perspective and After some time thinking about it I have another idea for AIR and the TFR. 7th Division could come as 2 divisions in one, the standard division is a described without TFR. The second division gets suitable Tornado IDS with TFR active and all TFR planes have the target structure of a Helicopter but you lose all other Ground Air attack planes without TFR. So no Tornado ECR (but for balance reasons), no Tornado IDS LGB and no RF-4E as it get swapped for the Tornado IDS Recce Version.  

The Eagles stay and are letting kept as the sole ASF.  

The TFR division will get a lettering in their division logo with TFR. This way you have a unique 2-in-1 division.

P.S.
Thanks to Solarne21, DFMRCV and MustelidusMartens for feedback and inspiration!

You wished for it

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Was, das hätte ja niemand gedacht?!

For flavor and for more "realism"

The three heavy tanks of NATO should be more unique IMHO: I am talking the base models:

Challenger 1mk2, leopard 2a3and and base m1a1 (not talking HC or HA)

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We have aspects of it right now but it should be more distinct.of course you can always have outlier's. All changes would come with pricing adjustment as well of course.

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The challenger , as the nation inventing chobham, should be the most Armored one but slowest on and off-road.

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M1a1 having chobham as well being second in armor but getting the best penetration die to uran ammo.

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Leopard should be the most accurate because of the most advanced FCS and the only one having a commander sight with hinter killer capabilities. Also getting the fastest speed off-road because beeing the lest armored one. Beeing designed as a hard hitting accurate fighter who retreats into ambushes.

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We have many aspects of that already in-game as I am aware, but it would room for some nerfs/buffs.

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So my adjustment would be roughly as follows:

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German leopard could lose 1 armor but gaining 5%points in accuracy both stationary and stabilized and/or or some other buff for sighting systems.

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M1a1 would stay in armor but would lose 5% general points in accuracy.

This is already an extreme strong tank without any vulnerabilitys IMHO.

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Challenger 1mk2 would gain 1 more armor.

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All following "better tanks" like Leo 2a4 , m1a1 HA or chally mk3 would be derived of this update of course.

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So hate away ! And give me the shtick for only nerfing the m1a1 (even if it could be price or availability buffed).

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3rd Armored, 9th inf and 24th inf are the only 3 divions WITHOUT AT RECON INF. This is a real disadvantage. And all American or NATO. is this an oversight?

Die Union bearbeitet die SPD und die Bevölkerung jetzt seit Tagen mit Arbeitszeitgesetz und wie dringend nötig es ist und wie toll und flexibel es alles machen würde.

Warum wird es dann so ausgestaltet, dass es eben auch deutlich zum Nachteil für Arbeitnehmer sein kann.

Gleitender dauerdurchschnitt von 48h pro Woche und isoliert 60h max klingen nämlich gar nicht wie mein heißer Traum.

Wenn man einzelnen Mitarbeitern wie Außendienstlern, Schichtmitarbeiter oder ähnlichem "helfen" will wäre ich doch eher für folgende Lösung:

Das Gesetz wird als Opting-in Modell aufgesetzt, ergänzend zum bestehenden Modell.

Jeder Mitarbeiter entscheidet daher per Opting-in selbst ob er sich vom bestehenden Gesetz UND Schutz in das neue Konstrukt für Flexibilität begibt, dieses Opting-in hält nur 1 Jahr und muss dann erneut werden.

Weiterhin kann das Opting-in erst nach der Probezeit und bei einem unbefristeten Vertrag angeboten und unterschrieben werden um Druck seitens des AG bereits bei Einstellungen zu vermeiden.

Würdet ihr das sinnvoller finden? Oder gibt es noch weitere Faktoren die ihr ändern würdet?