Panther War College
Welcome to LESSON 1, Tactical Reconnaisance. Below are a
series of links to the tools you'll need to complete this lesson, including
a detailed article with the history use of tactical reconnaisance, a link to the discussion forum to discuss the topic,
and the game maps and scenarios that will allow you to apply the principles
of reconnaisance first hand.
Scenarios: Recon Game & Map
Files - NOW POSTED!(5.2 MB Zip)
Article: Tactical Reconnaisance (91 KB PDF)
Scenario Support File: Map Images & OOB (333 KB Zip)
Forum: PWC at Matrix Games
The following are excerpts from the lesson article and images of the scenario maps:
"The pages of military history are full of examples displaying the importance of reconnaissance. From the deployment of exploratores (mounted scouts) in the ancient Roman army to unmanned aerial vehicles in today's armies, commanders have always strived to know the most about the enemy's location, resources and intentions. In this edition of Panther's War College we will explore the importance of reconnaissance through a series of readings and two fictional COTA scenarios..."
"Following a centuries old tradition on how to wage wars, the Germans emphasized aggressiveness in their reconnaissance missions. Rather than passively observing the enemy, the reconnaissance battalion was required to fight for information. Moreover, the reconnaissance battalion was required to "attempt to obtain superiority in the area to be reconnoitered..."
"A WWII reconnaissance battalion leader commanded his force with an overly simple and relatively un-reliable communications network. Information about enemy and friendly forces or the commander's orders did not instantly reach all units of the battalion. The slower the speed by which information spread out within a force, the bigger the chances a portion of this force could not be reinforced in time to take care of a crisis or an opportunity. Thereby, for a WWII battalion commander, the chosen method was to keep a reserve force near where all information was most likely to flow into and come out first: his command post."
