Concerning the "Supreme Force" unit in the OOB: I always take the supreme force unit as one tier above the highest tier unit I'll be using in the scenario (so the onmap boss/the player). So for a brigade the supreme force would be a division, for a division it would be a corps and so forth... Most of the time I also use the supreme force commander as the one that gives the player the briefings.
Yes, this was my latest conclusion also with how it seemed the best.
Side-matter: I generally like having that fancy signature a General/Field Marshal has at the end of a mission. So I did want to have it as you suggested, but the generals that I want to have doing the briefings do not have a signature to be found on the internet (as far as I have been able to look into it).
Concerning the allies: the highest tier force on the battlefield is a division. So the Corps commander is the tier above it, and the supreme commander for my briefings as you suggested. In my case:
Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds
For the Axis it is about the same tiers more or less. It would probably be the 88. Armeekorps (
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Korps/LXXXVIIIKorps-R.htm), lead by General der Infanterie
Felix Schwalbe. But yes, it would be total chaos, low morale, low cohesion, not at full strength etc.
Once you have completed a whole unit, a brigade or division or anything really, you can export that unit if you plan on using it in later scenarios. Just right-click on the unit HQ, select export and export sub-units as well. The whole unit will be put into an xml file for later use. You can import by right clicking on the Axis or Allies part of the unit tree and selecting import force list. By now I have a whole library of divisions that I made and as you would imagine this cuts down on scenario creation immensely.
Thanks, handy to know this.
As for the OOB for you scenario: If you need any more Allied units, take a look at the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division in my Goodwood scenario. It should be quite complete, though I don't know in what way it would have changed between August '44 and April '45. If need be you can export the division and use it in your scenario.
I've managed to take a look at your scenario for inspiration already. The allies side is basically complete in my eyes. As far as I gathered, not much had changed for the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division between those months. The structure was the same. Only thing I changed, was they had a Kangaroo unit too at this time of the battle. The 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment.
As for the German side of things. I can imagine that by April '45 most of the Germans forces would be a spent force and mostly be a ragtag group of defenders, which indeed would make it hard to get a decent OOB from. I'll take a look into this and see if I can help you.
Yes, I gathered from one commander in the area who spoke about it after the war, that during the retreat from the Netherlands there was basically no communication. Hermann Plocher, Generalmajor of the 6th. Fallschirmjäger Division said all they could do was retreat, retreat, retreat, as there was no communication with the Army Corps above it. Couldn't be reached. Which is kinda strange, because a whole division like that (even if not at full strength, the 6th. Fallschirmjäger Division were no pushovers) would surely have been more capable of giving proper defense for the city of Groningen. Instead, they were split in half and eventually regrouped somewhere in Northern Germany where there was the 1. Fallschirmjäger-Armee.
Sometimes you just have to make your best estimate. Don't be afraid to say so either. The fact is that in 1945 Germany was disintegrating and along with it the German Army and the political structures in the various regions under direct threat of Allied invasion. It was chaos and command structures under chaos don't fare to well. What the German's were at though is forming battlegroups under various leaders - the so called kampfgruppen or KGs. The Germans at this stage were also attributing a scale several levels up to a particular force. Their so called armoured brigades were often a half strength battalion. But you get the idea. Use what info you know, particularly around recognisable leaders and don't be afraid to craft a hodge-podge of units into a temporary KG.
That's a very good and adaptive suggestion. I'll go a bit deeper into the fray and figure out the best way to do it. Alternatively, I considered a fictional "what if" element. The fallschirmjäger division I mentioned, what if they did have formal communication and actually were sent in the area to aid the defense later during the battle?
