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Hi,

i played rarely older TOAW version. I got TOAW III.

I tried the Western front 44-45 scen as Germany.

1)So how can I defend a fortified line ?
It seems quite impossibble.

<Not sure what the question here is.  You have to move units onto the fortification hexes, and dig-in. The fortification hex gives you a headstart.>

2)And how can a get retreated units to withdraw or
better do retreat to save area ? They can´t be moved
and the next turn the enemy attacks again and most
time those units got lost.

<You basically lose control over retreated units, which is probably realistic.  A broken unit is merely a nuisance to the attacker, who transitions into "pursiut" mode.>

3) Do have units that are digging in lower combat power
(due to working soldiers or so?)

<No, combat power is not lowered.>  

Quite impossible to fight a historic delay/defend in Italy...

<OK, that's a fair question.  You have to "pull back" selected units, before they are in "retreat" or "routed" status.  Leave other units in place, to delay; they are sacrificed.  If you find it impossible to pull units back in good order, that's because of the significant "disengagement penalty" in TOAW.  Some units disengage more easily than others:  esp, HQ's, artillery, and recon units.  So, you can put (or leave) one of those in a hex, move out the other units, then finally, pull out the HQ, arty, recon unit.  Also, the scenario designer can help this situation, by putting more recon assets into any or all units.  This is what Bob Cross has done, in his excellent Campaign for North Africa scenarios; you'll see there aren't any "regular" infantry squads on either side; they're all "recon sqds" or "recon asslt sqds".  This is to help units to not only disengage, but also to "slip through" gaps in the enemy lines, and better simulates mobile warfare. Other recon-type assets have a similar effect:  scout cars, etc.  

The basic idea of a disengagement penalty is good; it would be unrealistic to be able to ignore "zones of control", because at this level (operational/strategic), you'll rarely have enough actual game units to cover every inch of a continuous front.  But the side-effect is that it's hard to do a "fighting withdrawal", or likewise, a clean panzer-penetration, where you burst far into the enemy's rear areas.

Hope this helps!>

Thanx
Frank