Heinz57
03 Aug 06, 10:02
There are six different types of engineer icons in TOAW - Engineers, Armored Engineers, Motorized Engineers, Ferry Engineers, Airborne Engineers and Airmobile Engineers. All include a blocked "m" as part of their icon, for specifics reference the manual page 41. Here, we'll focus on the first five...airmobile engineers are a more modern unit type. We can add the Rail Road Repair icon to this group, though it is not specifically represented in 2WiN.
All engineer units, providing they have engineer squands and/or equipment with engineer capability (tracked earth movers, combat engineer vehicles, etc.) have two primary capabilities:
1. Their presence assists other units in digging in - for example, normally units digging for their first time will go from mobile to defend status. In the presence of engineers or heavily fortified positions (represented by % of fortification) units may go from mobile to entrenched status on the first attempt, and usually reach fortified status in their second consecutive turn. This isn't guaranteed, but it is known that engineers help considerably.
2. Engineers can repair blown bridges. This ability is represented by their engineering % - which may be modified by the type of terrain and type of river. Rebuilding a blown bridge across a super river in muddy terrain may take several engineers several turns to complete...you just never know. Readiness and supply probably play a role, too.
Engineers, however, cannot repair rail lines unless their TO&E (Unit Report) includes Rail Repair Crews. Usually, rail repair units are modelled as separate units - but where rail lines are important, you should examine the TO&E of your different engineer groups to see what abilities they have.
Nor can an engineer unit be guaranteed of entering a super river hex with a blown bridge if it doesn't have some ferry engineers present. Sometimes, but only sometimes, ferry engineers are modelled as their own units - more often some ferry engineering assets are included with regular engineers. Their presence reduces the cost of units moving across rivers in which there is no road or bridge, or in which the bridge has been destroyed.
Frequently, a number of engineer squads and ferry engineer squads may be found in other units - including headquarters, infantry or any other significant sized unit. Their presence in the TO&E will aid that unit - in crossing a river or even attempt to fix a bridge (albeit at a low % rate) - but is unlikely to provide the benefits of dedicated engineer unit...by virtue of # of assigned squads, if nothing else.
The other advantage of Engineers is their capacity to put up what may be called a stubborn defense. Though this doesn't happen every time, engineer units have enough of a reputation for causing "run-on attacks" (attacks that last potentially several rounds more than your opponent intended) to give your opponent second thoughts about attacking that seemingly innocuous 2-3 Engineer battalion early in a turn. Frequently enough, too, it seems as though engineers are more inclined to hold a hex better than other units. This is by no means a guarantee, but it weighs heavily enough to treat your engineers much differently than other units.
They should be treated as specialist units - they are effective force multipliers for the defense in being able to provide your units better foritified positions faster and by rebuilding bridges to increase supply to your frontline units. Also, when a hex absolutely, positively must be held - including an engineer in the mix is a healthy addition.
The final note for the engineers is that they appear to have a tendency to be highly susceptible to partisan/guerilla attacks. Engineer units which might withstand a few rounds against overwhelming numbers of armor have been known to retreat before combat in the face of partisan units. So, while engineers are frequently behind the lines building bridges or setting up fall-back positions, they are not the best units to rely upon for rear area security.
All engineer units, providing they have engineer squands and/or equipment with engineer capability (tracked earth movers, combat engineer vehicles, etc.) have two primary capabilities:
1. Their presence assists other units in digging in - for example, normally units digging for their first time will go from mobile to defend status. In the presence of engineers or heavily fortified positions (represented by % of fortification) units may go from mobile to entrenched status on the first attempt, and usually reach fortified status in their second consecutive turn. This isn't guaranteed, but it is known that engineers help considerably.
2. Engineers can repair blown bridges. This ability is represented by their engineering % - which may be modified by the type of terrain and type of river. Rebuilding a blown bridge across a super river in muddy terrain may take several engineers several turns to complete...you just never know. Readiness and supply probably play a role, too.
Engineers, however, cannot repair rail lines unless their TO&E (Unit Report) includes Rail Repair Crews. Usually, rail repair units are modelled as separate units - but where rail lines are important, you should examine the TO&E of your different engineer groups to see what abilities they have.
Nor can an engineer unit be guaranteed of entering a super river hex with a blown bridge if it doesn't have some ferry engineers present. Sometimes, but only sometimes, ferry engineers are modelled as their own units - more often some ferry engineering assets are included with regular engineers. Their presence reduces the cost of units moving across rivers in which there is no road or bridge, or in which the bridge has been destroyed.
Frequently, a number of engineer squads and ferry engineer squads may be found in other units - including headquarters, infantry or any other significant sized unit. Their presence in the TO&E will aid that unit - in crossing a river or even attempt to fix a bridge (albeit at a low % rate) - but is unlikely to provide the benefits of dedicated engineer unit...by virtue of # of assigned squads, if nothing else.
The other advantage of Engineers is their capacity to put up what may be called a stubborn defense. Though this doesn't happen every time, engineer units have enough of a reputation for causing "run-on attacks" (attacks that last potentially several rounds more than your opponent intended) to give your opponent second thoughts about attacking that seemingly innocuous 2-3 Engineer battalion early in a turn. Frequently enough, too, it seems as though engineers are more inclined to hold a hex better than other units. This is by no means a guarantee, but it weighs heavily enough to treat your engineers much differently than other units.
They should be treated as specialist units - they are effective force multipliers for the defense in being able to provide your units better foritified positions faster and by rebuilding bridges to increase supply to your frontline units. Also, when a hex absolutely, positively must be held - including an engineer in the mix is a healthy addition.
The final note for the engineers is that they appear to have a tendency to be highly susceptible to partisan/guerilla attacks. Engineer units which might withstand a few rounds against overwhelming numbers of armor have been known to retreat before combat in the face of partisan units. So, while engineers are frequently behind the lines building bridges or setting up fall-back positions, they are not the best units to rely upon for rear area security.