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CMAK
Kampfgruppe Richter in Budel. Dilemma, fight the allies or retreat?
A Very British Civil War
Note: this is clearly a “what-if” scenario, loosely based on the bustling miniatures war gaming off-shoot of the same name. Outstanding work has been done by Solway Crafts and Miniatures, and I credit them with the brilliance of this war gaming theme.
Background
England, May 1938 (designer note: note the in-game calendar notes “1944”; this is only to create the optics of lush green environment of the British Isles)
Weather: overcast, mild, dry
The very social fabric of Great Britain was torn during the apocalypse that was The Great War. The mightiest empire on the globe ended victorious, but at what cost? The rigid social hierarchy was shaken, and the world wide waves of social change did not stop at the English Channel. Class structure, worker’s rights, regional animosities have all brewed in the decades following the Great War. This has all been exacerbated by the crippling economic crisis of the 1930s, to which the ever cautious government responded to by constricting public spending ever more.
In May 1937, King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom married Wallis Simpson. The marriage to Wallis was not supported by Stanley Baldwin, the British Prime Minister; and King Edward refused to abdicate. This marriage left the British government, and most of the people, alienated; and public hatred for King Edward and Queen Wallis rose. Parliament was torn, and in the general election of 1937, Baldwin was defeated. The Conservative party, ripped by the issue of King Edward’s marriage, as well as economic and regional tensions, broke apart, and a large segment of the Tory support went to the British Union of Fascists. Oswald Mosley’s promise to ensure public order, and shore up the Empire, resonated with a public tired of public disturbances, strikes in essential services, and the economic malaise. The Labour party too split, with the more radical sections forming their own splinter parties which ran their own candidates. The 1937 election results saw a fractured parliament, and although only winning slightly over 200 seats, and less than 30% of the vote, the BUF formed the largest caucus in the House of Commons. King Edward VIII asked Oswald Mosely to form a government. Mosley did so and almost immediately issued “Orders of Council”, outlawing strikes, restricting collective bargaining, and establishing new offences for unauthorized public gatherings, and publishing “any article intended to alarm the public”. Any opposition was swiftly responded to, if not by the police, then by Mosely’s own BUF Blackshirts, the BUF’s paramilitary wing.
In January 1938, a protest by Dockyard workers in Liverpool was brutally crushed by the BUF and elements of the Regular Army; and violent clashes began across the country; between the Kings troops and those of several other factions. The British Civil War has begun!

Factions: The outbreak of conflict led several groups to attempt to seize the country or their own personal goals. Major factions included:
On the Right (Axis in this scenario
* The Edwardian Army – elements of the professional Army, bound to King Edward VIII.
* The Royal Navy and Royal Marines – bound by tradition and culture to remain loyal to the reigning monarch, and the majority have done so.
* The British Union of Fascists (or “BUF”) – the dominant political party, led by Oswald MOSLEY and heavily backed by German and Italian interests. Mosley has garnered considerable support in his efforts to restore order internally and restore the status of Britain’s Empire
* The Mosley Youth – a “social club” of young men, who have been drilled and armed by unknown sources, and have formed para-military units to push the BUF agenda.
* Foreign Volunteer Units: after the recruiting of numerous foreign elements to fight in the Spanish Civil War, similar detachments have been formed to back those with similar agendas in the British Civil War. Contingents from other fascist and imperialist sympathizers have been formed. Here we will see the presence of the “Hanoverian Legion”, volunteers from Germany, who are backing the Edwardian and BUF efforts
On the Left (Allied in this scenario)
* The Albertine Army – elements of the regular forces, plus most of the “Territorial Army”, backing the young Prince Albert’s claim to the throne.
* The Anglican League - A large army led by a group of bishops and archbishops, they were aligned with the Albertine Army. Many are veterans of the Great War.
* The People’s Party Army - Made up of disillusioned Labour party supporters, disgruntled workers and Spanish Civil War veterans, they are seeking to turn Britain into a Socialist state based upon Lenin's Russia.
* The Farmer’s Union: radical small plot farmers and farm working hands, seeking better pay, price subsidies, and land redistribution. They are heavily influenced by Marxist doctrine.
* The Student’s Union: like students before and after them, the university students have ramparts to thwart whomever they view as authoritarian,
* Foreign Volunteer Units: after the recruiting of numerous foreign elements to fight in the Spanish Civil War, similar detachments have been formed to back those with similar agendas in the British Civil War. Groups of Americans, Canadians, and ANZAC units have been formed; here we will see the Lafayette Battalion, formed of French volunteers, many fresh from the savage fighting in Spain.
This scenario occurs in the West Coast port town of Twaddlemore. Twaddlemore is the home base for a small Royal Navy destroyer flotilla, as well as being a mid-sized port for international commerce. Given that the United Kingdom lives or dies based on this freedom to trade overseas, the port is vital to all in this conflict. The Royal Navy, which for the most part has remained loyal to King Edward VIII, dispatched the flotilla two days ago to join the rest of the fleet, tasked with stemming the flow of foreign volunteers coming to fight for their faction of choice. Many of these foreigners have come directly from fighting for the Nationalists or the Republicans in Spain, who have endured two years of their own brutal Civil War already.
Yesterday the dock workers, who are heavily influenced by communist agents and are affiliated with the People’s Party, refused to move armaments stored in the dock warehouses. Instead, they armed themselves and fighting broke out when security staff sought to control the situation. Who opened fire first is both in dispute and a moot point at this juncture. A company of the Army’s Provost Corps was rushed to Twaddlemore by train, but a bomb was used to derail the trail just outside of town. Multiple factions are either in town currently or rumoured to be headed this way. The Telephone Exchange is the key to communicating with the rest of the country, and is clearly a goal to secure. Likewise, the docks and the armaments stored there in are also of immense value. Lastly, the mysterious new Wireless Tower being built on the south shore is of unknown value, as the work crews are from “away” and appear to be quite Teutonic in manner.
This battle will surely prove that the term “Civil War” is clearly a misnomer.
A historically fictional 'what if' look at the events leading up to the Deutsche Afrika Korps capture of Tobruk in June 1942.
SCENARIO DESCRIPTION
A meeting engagement played out in the wooded terrain of the Ardennes at the beginning of the Bulge. 60+ turns.

The Germans are trying to seize important territory: bridges, cross-roads, and towns to allow breakthrough armored thrusts. Central to this map is the village of L’Shone and its surrounding road network.

The Americans are trying to occupy the same terrain to prevent its use by the Germans.

Best played as: H2H
Second Best played as: H2H
(Not designed for vs. AI play due to mounted units)

Map edge friendly to Axis: East. Map edge friendly to Allies: West.

It is hard to believe that it was only a week ago when we first heard of “The Outbreak”. Initially it was thought to be a terrorist biological attack, with outbreaks in large cities overwhelming medical facilities. But soon it was apparent it was much more… the more we hear, the more we realize that we know very little – the cause – the prognosis – or the scale of this crisis. All remain unknown – at least to the general populace. What the “government” knows may be something else again.
You are Jack McCann, police chief in the small coastal tourist town of Shady Acres, Maine. Normally by this time of the year, your town is overrun with loud tourists from the cities of the East Coast. If only that were the case.
Four days ago a large staff of the Center for Disease Control showed up at the Town Hall, and brusquely informed the Mayor, Chuck Zeto, that the Federal Government was immediately taking control of “Shady Island”, a favourite picnic spot in the bay. This was all one-way communication, you don’t know much more other than soon thereafter a convoy of sealed trucks arrived and barbed wire was being strung across the access bridge to the island.
The National Guard has been mobilized, and your own police force has been placed under the command of the governor’s office.
And yet even now, you are not sure why. A strange illness has swept the globe, but what little news was initially released was like something from a bad movie. Now that trickle of news has stopped altogether. The official story is that a Chinese cyber attack has shut down the Internet, but this being Small Town America, there are a lot of conspiracy theories floating about.
The Mayor, Chuck Zeto, who also is the local bank manager, has asked that citizens assist in securing the town from whatever threats may arise. Given that the local National Rifle Association sponsored Chuck’s last campaign, their members were eager to show their affinity for the 2nd amendment and reaffirm their ownership of large capacity magazines and assault rifles. With some hesitation, you agreed to deputize these men, but have asked them to stay at home until they may actually be required. Their training and experience doesn’t necessarily match their enthusiasm.
You were at your office all night. You had a call from Doctor Jacobie at the hospital. Dr. Jacobie, a Vietnam war draft dodger who only returned from Canada in the 1990s, is determined to ignore what he considers a “fascist edict” that all patients in suspected cases of the “outbreak” be turned over to the C.D.C. immediately and quarantined on the Island. “It reminds me of the interment of the Japanese in 1942!” Jacobie ranted, and he said he would treat all patients as “patients, not criminals”. At that, you sent two teams of part time deputies to the hospital to deal with any issues that may arise.
The town is an important transportation hub, in that the coastal railway runs through the town. The Railway has deployed their own security at the train station, as if there is an epidemic, it is important to prevent those infected from traveling. Hopefully they have enough staff to do the job.
You remained in your office all night, and it seemed that things may be calming down, but then with a complete news black out, and the mute C.D.C. guards by the island Park, who knows? You did receive several calls from citizens overnight, reporting screams and other noises from the areas near cemeteries last night; typically the local teens will go there to drink and smoke up. Although you usually will send a Deputy to put the run on them, there are more important things to do now.
The sun is coming up, but a heavy thick fog has blankets the town. A convoy of C.D.C. relieve staff are expected in from Bangor any minute; hopefully they have some news. To allow your exhausted staff get some needed rest, two detachments of National Guard troops will be arriving, one is about 5 minutes away and a second convoy from the east in another 5 minutes after that. It will be good to get home and hit the sheets. You are so tired you feel like the walking dead.
Your phone rings. It is the security detail from the train station. Old man Codger, a elderly farmer who lives north east of town, has just shown up at the Rail station, out of breath and terrified. He is rambling about being attacked at his home, and that the only way he could escape is by setting the buildings on fire. You had better send a Deputy to go interview him. It sounds bizarre.
The phone rings again… it is Deputy Boomhauer at the hospital. He sounds quite distraught. Apparently the hospital was overwhelmed with patients overnight, and now he reports the motion detector alarms in the morgue have gone off.
At that second the switch board lights up, and several simultaneous “10-78” calls are received – “officer need assistance!”… What the?????”

This scenario is
1) Meant strictly for play against the AI. Although it one player wants to try playing the Axis/Zombies, please feel free.
2) The scenario is meant to be strictly for fun.
3) Watch you ammo loads. Shoot for the head. You only have the ammo you brought into the fight.
August 12,1944. France. SE of Argentan.
Married platoons of U.S. 5th Armored Division
night out-posts.
France, 1940 - Case Red.

Heavy Tanks of the 4th DCR must smash a hole in the advancing German line - but there are complications.
At Dornot, the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps' first attempt to establish a bridgehead on the Moselle River south of Metz met bloody failure. Two and a half miles south of Dornot the XX Corps' 10 Infantry Regiment is trying once more to establish a permanent bridgehead across the Moselle at Arnaville. Since the first U.S. troops crossed at Arnaville on the night of 8/9 September, the Germans have been launching increasingly vicious counterattacks in an effort to destroy the bridgehead and repeat what happened at Dornot.
This is an Aug 44 meeting engagement between Brit and German mech forces in Belgium. The map is based on a satellite photo of Neubruck just southeast of St. Vith.
Cassino town was destroyed by Allied Airforces on Wednesday, March 15th, along with the abby known as Monte Cassino. "The town was blown assunder and beaten into heaps of rubble, the official British history reported. Yet hundreds of bombs and thousands of shells failed to pound the town to powder, contrary to Allied expectations, nor were the surviving defenders 'rendered comatose', as planned." --The Day of Battle
CMBB
The Axis launch a major attack on the Allied defenses.
Soviet vs. German Meeting Engagement. 60+ turns.
Best played as: H2H (Not recommended for vs. AI play due to mounted infantry.)

In recent weeks, this industrial center has been the scene of increasingly sharp clashes between recon units and regular forces. Both sides have traded jabs over this important airplane fabrication city. Both have moved into the town and then been forced out again. No one seems to be able to hold it. The landing gear assembly plant on the edge of town was occupied by the Red Army a few days ago and then burned and destroyed as the Wehrmacht forced them out. Much of the town lies untouched, but the workers and residents know it is just a matter of time before a major battle rages through the streets of their city…

After another bloody engagement, both sides have backed off. Again, in the still of a Sunday morning under the cover of a pounding rainstorm, both sides push forces forward to gain possession of the city.

No one is sure where the front lines lie. Is the enemy in front of you? Or is he gone?

Push forward, as so many before you have tried, and hold this town once and for all!
This is a CMBB scenario, modelling Plan Yellow in France in May 1940.
It is a "dynamic flag" scenario, on a large map that will provide many options in attack and defence.
July 1941, a german advance detachment, composed of motorized infantry with Stug support, attempts to cut off retreating russian forces.
Russians attack three German-held villages in an attempt to secure the flank of a future offensive.
July, 1944. Operation Bagration already going on since one month. The german north front runs danger to be cut off. Setting down of german troops in western direction
runs among constant attacks of soviet armoured shock forces...
43-02-01, South. SS commandos save Kleist's troops from encirclement. Fictional.
42-07-10, South. Axis forces in Group A cross the Donits to secure northern flank in the beggining of Fall Blau Operation. Semi-fictional.
October, 1942
In the northern Caucaus, along the Terek river line, the battle has been raging brutally for nearly two months. Germany's 13.Panzer-Division tasked with taking the key junction city of Vladikavkaz (Ordzhonikidze) has been stymied in it's every attempt to breakthrough.

But now, at the end of October a break has been achieved through the first mountain range and panzers are rolling along the valley near Ardon, on a back route to Vladikavkaz.

The Russians, somewhat disorganized, are withdrawing to new positions. A desperate stand is ordered to slow the German advance and buy time to set-up the new defensive positions.

Russian breakout from a Kessel against a German blocking force.
CMBO
German infantry dawn attack during the Battle of the Bulge. American infantry caught off-guard whilst lining up for chow.

VPs for casualties and German exit points only.
Before dawn on D-Day the British airbourne must destroy the gun batteries at Vierville.
Koen - A Town to conquer
*****************************************

a Couple of weeks ago the Allies have conquered one of the major towns in France.

Now the Germans broke through the American line of defense in the Ardennes and are advancing rapidly towards this town.

Can the Allied commander hold this town?
November 1944, the French 2nd Armored Division is tasked to breach the German fortified line of the Vosges mountains. This battle takes place on the second days of the attack. The different French Task forces are competing with each other in order to be the first to reach the plain of Alsace. The company team Minjonnet (part of the Task Force Massu) blocked close to Voyer in a narrow valley by German remnants of the 708. ID has to bypass quickly this resistance. The French can be sure that their old enemy is not about to ease their action !
An American WWII GI's dream come true- a "what if" American assault on Berlin AND a chance to personally bag the ol'Führer himself!
Arnhem Bridge battle. British airborne against armoured SS.
Updated Scenarios
CMAK
A Very British Civil War
Note: this is clearly a “what-if” scenario, loosely based on the bustling miniatures war gaming off-shoot of the same name. Outstanding work has been done by Solway Crafts and Miniatures, and I credit them with the brilliance of this war gaming theme.
Background
England, May 1938 (designer note: note the in-game calendar notes “1944”; this is only to create the optics of lush green environment of the British Isles)
Weather: overcast, mild, dry
The very social fabric of Great Britain was torn during the apocalypse that was The Great War. The mightiest empire on the globe ended victorious, but at what cost? The rigid social hierarchy was shaken, and the world wide waves of social change did not stop at the English Channel. Class structure, worker’s rights, regional animosities have all brewed in the decades following the Great War. This has all been exacerbated by the crippling economic crisis of the 1930s, to which the ever cautious government responded to by constricting public spending ever more.
In May 1937, King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom married Wallis Simpson. The marriage to Wallis was not supported by Stanley Baldwin, the British Prime Minister; and King Edward refused to abdicate. This marriage left the British government, and most of the people, alienated; and public hatred for King Edward and Queen Wallis rose. Parliament was torn, and in the general election of 1937, Baldwin was defeated. The Conservative party, ripped by the issue of King Edward’s marriage, as well as economic and regional tensions, broke apart, and a large segment of the Tory support went to the British Union of Fascists. Oswald Mosley’s promise to ensure public order, and shore up the Empire, resonated with a public tired of public disturbances, strikes in essential services, and the economic malaise. The Labour party too split, with the more radical sections forming their own splinter parties which ran their own candidates. The 1937 election results saw a fractured parliament, and although only winning slightly over 200 seats, and less than 30% of the vote, the BUF formed the largest caucus in the House of Commons. King Edward VIII asked Oswald Mosely to form a government. Mosley did so and almost immediately issued “Orders of Council”, outlawing strikes, restricting collective bargaining, and establishing new offences for unauthorized public gatherings, and publishing “any article intended to alarm the public”. Any opposition was swiftly responded to, if not by the police, then by Mosely’s own BUF Blackshirts, the BUF’s paramilitary wing.
In January 1938, a protest by Dockyard workers in Liverpool was brutally crushed by the BUF and elements of the Regular Army; and violent clashes began across the country; between the Kings troops and those of several other factions. The British Civil War has begun!

Factions: The outbreak of conflict led several groups to attempt to seize the country or their own personal goals. Major factions included:
On the Right (Axis in this scenario
* The Edwardian Army – elements of the professional Army, bound to King Edward VIII.
* The Royal Navy and Royal Marines – bound by tradition and culture to remain loyal to the reigning monarch, and the majority have done so.
* The British Union of Fascists (or “BUF”) – the dominant political party, led by Oswald MOSLEY and heavily backed by German and Italian interests. Mosley has garnered considerable support in his efforts to restore order internally and restore the status of Britain’s Empire
* The Mosley Youth – a “social club” of young men, who have been drilled and armed by unknown sources, and have formed para-military units to push the BUF agenda.
* Foreign Volunteer Units: after the recruiting of numerous foreign elements to fight in the Spanish Civil War, similar detachments have been formed to back those with similar agendas in the British Civil War. Contingents from other fascist and imperialist sympathizers have been formed. Here we will see the presence of the “Hanoverian Legion”, volunteers from Germany, who are backing the Edwardian and BUF efforts
On the Left (Allied in this scenario)
* The Albertine Army – elements of the regular forces, plus most of the “Territorial Army”, backing the young Prince Albert’s claim to the throne.
* The Anglican League - A large army led by a group of bishops and archbishops, they were aligned with the Albertine Army. Many are veterans of the Great War.
* The People’s Party Army - Made up of disillusioned Labour party supporters, disgruntled workers and Spanish Civil War veterans, they are seeking to turn Britain into a Socialist state based upon Lenin's Russia.
* The Farmer’s Union: radical small plot farmers and farm working hands, seeking better pay, price subsidies, and land redistribution. They are heavily influenced by Marxist doctrine.
* The Student’s Union: like students before and after them, the university students have ramparts to thwart whomever they view as authoritarian,
* Foreign Volunteer Units: after the recruiting of numerous foreign elements to fight in the Spanish Civil War, similar detachments have been formed to back those with similar agendas in the British Civil War. Groups of Americans, Canadians, and ANZAC units have been formed; here we will see the Lafayette Battalion, formed of French volunteers, many fresh from the savage fighting in Spain.
This scenario occurs in the West Coast port town of Twaddlemore. Twaddlemore is the home base for a small Royal Navy destroyer flotilla, as well as being a mid-sized port for international commerce. Given that the United Kingdom lives or dies based on this freedom to trade overseas, the port is vital to all in this conflict. The Royal Navy, which for the most part has remained loyal to King Edward VIII, dispatched the flotilla two days ago to join the rest of the fleet, tasked with stemming the flow of foreign volunteers coming to fight for their faction of choice. Many of these foreigners have come directly from fighting for the Nationalists or the Republicans in Spain, who have endured two years of their own brutal Civil War already.
Yesterday the dock workers, who are heavily influenced by communist agents and are affiliated with the People’s Party, refused to move armaments stored in the dock warehouses. Instead, they armed themselves and fighting broke out when security staff sought to control the situation. Who opened fire first is both in dispute and a moot point at this juncture. A company of the Army’s Provost Corps was rushed to Twaddlemore by train, but a bomb was used to derail the trail just outside of town. Multiple factions are either in town currently or rumoured to be headed this way. The Telephone Exchange is the key to communicating with the rest of the country, and is clearly a goal to secure. Likewise, the docks and the armaments stored there in are also of immense value. Lastly, the mysterious new Wireless Tower being built on the south shore is of unknown value, as the work crews are from “away” and appear to be quite Teutonic in manner.
This battle will surely prove that the term “Civil War” is clearly a misnomer.
A historically fictional 'what if' look at the events leading up to the Deutsche Afrika Korps capture of Tobruk in June 1942.
France, 1940 - Case Red.

Heavy Tanks of the 4th DCR must smash a hole in the advancing German line - but there are complications.
Axis and Allied forces clash for a town and large hill.
This is an Aug 44 meeting engagement between Brit and German mech forces in Belgium. The map is based on a satellite photo of Neubruck just southeast of St. Vith.
At Dornot, the U.S. Third Army's XX Corps' first attempt to establish a bridgehead on the Moselle River south of Metz met bloody failure. Two and a half miles south of Dornot the XX Corps' 10 Infantry Regiment is trying once more to establish a permanent bridgehead across the Moselle at Arnaville. Since the first U.S. troops crossed at Arnaville on the night of 8/9 September, the Germans have been launching increasingly vicious counterattacks in an effort to destroy the bridgehead and repeat what happened at Dornot.
Normandy - known for its rolling fields, orchards, stud farms and a good glass of cider. Sheltered from the elements which can pound the coastline this is a landscape is carpeted in apple blossom. It is here, at the heart of one of the best designated cider producing areas that you will find the Chateau les Bruyîres, an Empire period residence and 18th century manor house - run by the Wehrmacht. It is your task to put an end to this inappropriate ownership.
US Army invades an island defended by Italian Troops.

Map is 1200x1200.
Non-Historical.
20 Battles 10 Turns each.

Play HtH (Preferred), or Allied vs. Axis AI.
Allow AI to setup units, there is no pre-planned setup for the defender yet.
Two Reinforced Infantry Companies with Armor Support clash in this typical Meeting Engagement.
engineering company attacks dug in german positions somewhere near monte cassino to capture wine stash for captain hosehead
CMBB
Soviet vs. German Meeting Engagement. 60+ turns.
Best played as: H2H (Not recommended for vs. AI play due to mounted infantry.)

In recent weeks, this industrial center has been the scene of increasingly sharp clashes between recon units and regular forces. Both sides have traded jabs over this important airplane fabrication city. Both have moved into the town and then been forced out again. No one seems to be able to hold it. The landing gear assembly plant on the edge of town was occupied by the Red Army a few days ago and then burned and destroyed as the Wehrmacht forced them out. Much of the town lies untouched, but the workers and residents know it is just a matter of time before a major battle rages through the streets of their city…

After another bloody engagement, both sides have backed off. Again, in the still of a Sunday morning under the cover of a pounding rainstorm, both sides push forces forward to gain possession of the city.

No one is sure where the front lines lie. Is the enemy in front of you? Or is he gone?

Push forward, as so many before you have tried, and hold this town once and for all!
The Axis launch a major attack on the Allied defenses.
Russians attack three German-held villages in an attempt to secure the flank of a future offensive.
Russian breakout from a Kessel against a German blocking force.
43-02-01, South. SS commandos save Kleist's troops from encirclement. Fictional.
42-07-10, South. Axis forces in Group A cross the Donits to secure northern flank in the beggining of Fall Blau Operation. Semi-fictional.
October, 1942
In the northern Caucaus, along the Terek river line, the battle has been raging brutally for nearly two months. Germany's 13.Panzer-Division tasked with taking the key junction city of Vladikavkaz (Ordzhonikidze) has been stymied in it's every attempt to breakthrough.

But now, at the end of October a break has been achieved through the first mountain range and panzers are rolling along the valley near Ardon, on a back route to Vladikavkaz.

The Russians, somewhat disorganized, are withdrawing to new positions. A desperate stand is ordered to slow the German advance and buy time to set-up the new defensive positions.

a product of HDCS

3rd SS Totenkopf arrives back at the front after its Hiatus from the front in France and is immediately thrown back into action.

Follow the swift Donet's campaign the IInd SS panzer Korps stands poised for the final push too retake Kharkov and restore the pride of the Waffen SS, but they have too cross the Mzha river first.

Alternative History : Moskow Decision
This the first of a series of fictional scenarios based on the hipotetic decision by Hitler to attack Moskow instead of Kiev during the august 1941.
The german offensive to Moskow is starting, the first task is to take the bridge over the Dnjepr between Smolensk and Viazma.
Alternative History : Moskow Decision
This the first of a series of fictional scenarios based on the hipotetic decision by Hitler to attack Moskow instead of Kiev during the august 1941.
The german offensive to Moskow is starting, the first task is to take the bridge over the Dnjepr between Smolensk and Viazma.
CMBO
German infantry dawn attack during the Battle of the Bulge. American infantry caught off-guard whilst lining up for chow.

VPs for casualties and German exit points only.
An American WWII GI's dream come true- a "what if" American assault on Berlin AND a chance to personally bag the ol'Führer himself!
Newest Maps
CMAK
a fictional Town in North Africa.
Fictional City in North Africa. Best played as a meeting
engagement.
Fictional City in North Africa. Best played as a meeting
engagement.
Version 2, church size and orientation adjusted to be in village center. Minor adjustments such as villages, small hills and ridges around the wheat fields.
Mixed terrain, woods, open fields, villages, church, river, bridges.
This is a huge (actually 5 x 4 km) map representing a piece of French countryside west of the town of Arras. It is flat (gentle slopes) and moderately populated with villages, forests, orchards and the like. It is suitable for a massive battle of regiment-sized forces (15,000 points or more).
Fictional Map, Crete, An almost compleatly dried up river bed with a ruined bridge across, 2 small hamlets on either side
The axis forces have captured the ridge east of Lieso. It´s been quiet over a month, so they have had enough time to dig deep in the ridge.

Allied forces are attacking with brutal force from east. Tuomari-Laurila has already been taken.
The axis forces are about to assault a little town called Lieso in aim to capture a road that leads through a ridge to deeper east. The allied forces are dug in somewhere around the old elementary school.
A small river splits a large map, with lots of roads and 6 bridges to control and a town also to control. This map is for meeting engagements and no side has a terrain advantage. Hopefully this will boil down to your choice of units and your game play.
CMBB
Beautiful and challenging map perfect for direct or flank approach. Fight in the woods, the streets, the buildings or inside a small factory! Great for infantery with some armor and artillerie support and IDEAL for a quick motorized assault in the middle of a foggy night.
This was a work in progress for the cancelled CM Campaigns. Maps are both operations and battles. Four maps included. One is large version (75% accurate scale) of the entire fortress of Brest Litovsk and immediate area. Others are 2 km x 2 km maps of the north and south portions of the fortress. You are welcome to use these maps as long as your credit "Bannon DC" for map creation.
1600x1600m, middle eastern front,
3 big victory locations in the middle of the map,
4 additional small flags,
medium settlement with surrounding rural areas,
some hills, woods and farmland,
a small river crossing from N to S,
prepared setup-zones for both sides,
therefor I call it battlefield-map.
Germans advance easily untill they find... A speed bump on the road to Leningrad
This Map is designed for Meeting engagements, it is set in a fictional City.
A medium town lying crosswisely to the advance direction. In and around the town gardens and fields, some bush and tree rows.
2 small rivers with some fords.
Only 1 large victory location.
Best used for meeting engagements.
Damaged large town/small city divided by a river. Contains several bridges, an old fortress, stadium, factories, railway station, and an old manor. Flags spread pretty evenly out on the map, made for a QB axis attack. IMPORTANT: ONLY FOR USE WITH UMLAUTS STALINGRAD MODS. You most use the scenario with these three mods found at www.cmmods.com:

FULL_telephonepole_umlaut
rubble_spray_umlaut
stalingrad_buildings_umlaut
Stalingrad-ish map made for Umlaut´s Stalingrad-mods.
29 2x2km maps. Various terrain; city, village, farmland, deep forests ...

They all quite beatuful ;)
I know it was UK and not USSR! but i didnt own CMAK when i made the level and i dont want to do everything over again so USSR must equal UK! its a fun level with the FJ troops in the greatest air invasion prior to D-Day.
CMBO
This CMBO map is built from a topographical map of the little town of Seville, NE of Melbourne, Australia. My idea was to lauch a Brit brigade (3 btns) across it at a German static defence screening mobile reserves.
Desiliens is an ancient Roman town. The map features the ruins of the town, an aquaduct, and the ruins of a villa on a low central hill.

The eastern side of the map is mostly woods, the west is hills and farms. It is most suitable for an assault on the town, but if the focus is shifted to the ruined villa it would be good for a meeting engagement.
Updated Maps
CMAK
Ideal for a QB ME
CMBB
This Map is designed for Meeting engagements, it is set in a fictional City.
axis winterattack on a Russian City
Please feel free to download, use or edit the map.

Screenshots can be found here:

http://worldatwar.eu/index.php?entity_sess=512x00db4fede3b24a34db2c5e9d283f162c&lang=3&location=boardshownode&boardid=51
A town with a river and lake surrounded by grainfields
Map is based on a sketch in the book > Die guten Glaubens waren< the history of the SS Polizei Division and shows a hard-fought area south of Leningrad. The Observatory was not reached by the Germans although they really tried it
This is part of a series of maps on the so-called Ladoga
Front
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Scenario discussion area for OK2E-Rendulic the Ready

NAME MESSAGE
JOHN BUFORD
Supreme Tester

Member #3014
Joined: Dec 2005
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Post #19   5505 days, 7 hours, 10 minutes, 57 seconds ago        
here is the end shot...



Thank you very much for the effort of creating the scenario. Your effort is very much appreciated.
--------------------
"...and we will attack valiantly and be butchered valiantly, and afterward men will thump their chests and say what a brave charge it was." (Brig. Gen. John Buford in The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara)
JOHN BUFORD
Supreme Tester

Member #3014
Joined: Dec 2005
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Post #18   5505 days, 7 hours, 13 minutes, 53 seconds ago        
OUTCOME:Draw
STATISTICS:
Axis
Allied
Player Name:
KenF
John Buford
Experience Bonus:
0
0
Play Balance:
0
0
Men OK
135
744
Tot. Casualties
144
354
Men KIA
41
82
Men Captured
Mortars Dest.
1
Guns Dest.
2
2
Pillboxes Dest.
Vehicles Dest.
3
Aircraft Dest.
POINTS:
Axis
Allied
Flags Held:
300
300
Enemy Casualties:
1606
1322
Prisoners Taken:
Exited Troops:
Scenario Bonus:
FINAL SCORE:
54%
46%

Well, Jason. Interesting. This scenario brought me to the edge of despair, and yet I eked out a Draw. Sounds right to me.

I agree the Soviets have ample resources to win this, and easy! If they play it right. I did not.

I used all my pre-planned bombardment for smoke to advance my infantry. All of them went "left" right up the left flank. I lost tanks to the guns fast. My opponent said I should have used HE to make craters for cover, and he was 100% right. I moved my troops up the left flank and they got clobbered by 105 mm arty. With all the Green troops, they all went into panic and with long range HMG fire, they never rallied.

The only thing I disagree with, is that with an assault of this magnitude, I would have SOME intel. Some recon. I wrote this to Ken, around turn 11.

"But this scenario has one other fatal flaw. Now, you have beat me fair and square. A Solid win, no doubt. But I have thought about this a lot over the last couple of days, and I am in such bad straits because my plan was so bad. In particular, my smoke was in completely the wrong place for moving my troops up close to your trench line and my armor got flanked and annihilated (flanked by a static trenchline???). Why? Because I had no information about your positions. NONE at all. I have decided that this is just not realistic in the slightest sense. This is supposed to represent a major attack. I would have at least known where the first trenchline is.

I really like the designers who use the opponents trenches, so both sides can see the trench right away during the setup. Or Jason should mark the front line with blue text "labels" to give the Allied some idea. Let me give you an example. I spent a lot of time on the setup. Getting everything just right, planning attack lanes, phase lines, etc. I get it perfect, hit go Then and only then can I magically "See" the barbed wire to my front. Crap. All my attackers are aimed at the wrong place. Could I not see that wire 10 seconds ago? Would that NOT have changed my plans? Of course it would. I just have to believe that I would know SOMETHING about where the enemy was. This attack was 100% blind. No briefing info, nothing. That is just not realistic I have decided. So my abject failure is explained, and I feel better. IT was a horrible attack plan, but it was a plan constructed in the complete absence of ANY information the enemy's disposition. This is basically just guessing! Would you expect it to work? I wouldn't.

I think there is something called "recon" that allows you to find out where the enemy is roughly! :)"

So basically I take complete and utter responsibility for my ineptitude on the attack. no blame at all for the designer with regards to that. But my attack would NOT have been so bad if I had known ANYTHING about what I was going into. There are some scenario design "tricks" that would have augmented this, and I really feel this scenario needs them.

Would that make it unbalanced? Don't know, but definitely more realistic.

--------------------
"...and we will attack valiantly and be butchered valiantly, and afterward men will thump their chests and say what a brave charge it was." (Brig. Gen. John Buford in The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara)
JDR DRAGOON
Junior Tester

Member #2429
Joined: Aug 2005
Ratings: 0 / 0 / 0
Discussions: 62
Post #17   5888 days, 20 hours, 57 minutes, 20 seconds ago        
Quote:
Originally posted by: jasonc:

Many thanks for the detailed report. That is exactly what I was after in the design! lol. Always great to see that...

I will consider the extra time recommendation, I know green directing can take forever. I do worry a bit about how the German ammo (especially HMG team ammo) is hurt by that. Even with plus ammo settings, they can't literally fire forever, or even for most turns at full rate. And when they go dry, little else will contest the fields, open or not.



If the game is extended by 5 turns, HMG ammo won´t be the problem imho. By turn 45 the german HMGs (and artillery) will either have won outright by delaying the soviet attack by fire in the minefields and wire or the fight will have moved into the trees and thus out of the areas where german HMGs will play a decisive role. In the latter case they will have to preserve ammo for self defence once (or if) the soviets break through though. Imho. the problem with extending the game for 5 turns will be Squad Infantry ammo, since their ammo usage rises astronomically once called upon to fight at their most effective ranges.

Another way to even up the odds if the game is extended for another 5 turns is to give the german squad infantry a wee bit more "staying power" by sprinkling a few Veterans among their numbers (1 squad pr.platoon or so) and perhaps bump up the platoon HQs with a bonus or two where applicable.
JASONC
Senior Tester

Member #3156
SUPPORTER
2008
Joined: Jan 2006
Ratings: 0 / 0 / 0
Discussions: 133
Post #16   5889 days, 8 hours, 19 minutes, 13 seconds ago        

Little designer's note details -

The German reinforcements are meant to show their doctrinal answer of instant counterattacks, and represent forces moving laterally along the front from areas where the attack failed earlier, to the more heavily pressed ones. They are deliberately not mentioned in the German side briefing, because the local commander could not count on such things and would not know of them beforehand.

On the amount of Russian armor, it is basically right for the unit sizes and frontages engaged. Historically the Russian assault was supported by 3 independent heavy tank regiments - while the tank corps forces of the mech arms were initially held out of the battle, planning on release only after breakthrough had been achieved. The Russians lost most of the supporting tanks on the first day, as they nowhere achieved sufficient local odds over the ready German Pakfront to just overwhelm in with numbers. They were the heaviest types available, and the Russian expected that to be critical - but KVs in July 1943 weren't what they had been a year before, and the Germans weren't limited to "army doorknocker".

The immediately following scenario set on the east face shows what happened when the Russians did finally commit their mech arms force...
--------------------
JASONC
Senior Tester

Member #3156
SUPPORTER
2008
Joined: Jan 2006
Ratings: 0 / 0 / 0
Discussions: 133
Post #15   5889 days, 8 hours, 28 minutes, 30 seconds ago        

Many thanks for the detailed report. That is exactly what I was after in the design! lol. Always great to see that...

I will consider the extra time recommendation, I know green directing can take forever. I do worry a bit about how the German ammo (especially HMG team ammo) is hurt by that. Even with plus ammo settings, they can't literally fire forever, or even for most turns at full rate. And when they go dry, little else will contest the fields, open or not.
--------------------
JDR DRAGOON
Junior Tester

Member #2429
Joined: Aug 2005
Ratings: 0 / 0 / 0
Discussions: 62
Post #14   5890 days, 12 hours, 36 minutes, 59 seconds ago        
Here is the comments of my opponent:

Here is the text. Pics are posted @ MCSH!

DO

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Rendulic the Ready'
Overman (German) vs Rune (Soviets)
Soviet Assault, 45 turns
(Custom scenario for CMBB)


I really enjoyed this one. I honestly thought this was my best defensive effort yet. It helps that I was commanding the

Germans on a defensive mission. I'm far more comfortable with German defensive tactics vs Soviet.

My original intelligence estimate of your forces:
3 X Rifle Coys (full str)
2-3 X Pioneer Pltns
2 X 75mm IG
9 X T-34
3 X T-70

You had twice as much infantry than I had anticipated, but much less armor. Turns out you had ~2 Batallions of infantry, 2

ATG, ~Coy of Pioneers, several arty FOs, and 5 X KV-1s.


Map: My impression was that you'd have lots of tanks swarming around, supporting the infantry. I agree on your assessment of

the map. A classic reverse slope defense, which would be difficult to capture for any attacking army. I wonder if the Soviets

could defend the slope as adequately? ;)


Setup & Progression: I spent about 4 hours on the set up phase, longer than any other scenario to date. I basically knew

three things of importance during the deployment phase. #1 - I needed to concentrate the bulk of my infantry in the wooded

depression to make a last stand there; #2 - I would need to carefully coordinate my MGs, mortars, and FOs to delay the

advancing infantry as long as possible; and #3 - I needed to concentrate my limited AT assets (2 x 75mm paks) into a limited

range of fire in order to enhance their effectiveness, as I was expecting about 12 pieces of armor total.

Pic #1 is the overhead view of my setup, circa turn 6.

Pic #2 depicts the ominous view of the MG42 nest near the tree line on the reverse slope.

As four tanks appeared on the horizon on turn 6, I could get a glimpse of the infantry sneaking up from behind. My

well-placed bunker (#3) had excellent LOS on the south side of the reverse slope, and later proved to be a valuable asset to

my defense. I waited until both of my PaK 75s had at least two tanks in their LOS and I opened fire, quickly KO'ing both of

the advancing KV-1s on my south flank (pics #4,5). Afterwards, I had a visual on two other tanks reversing on the north

slope.

By turn 10, massive MG and mortar fire had destroyed one of my PaKs (#6); the second was destroyed two turns later by the

same concentrated fire.

The Soviet advance was moving slowly, partially delayed by my MG and FO fire around the crest of the slope. I pulled back my

forward squad on the north flank on turn 15, after a brief firefight (#7). On turn 17, my 150mm FO had been dropping rounds

in the same area, especially as two Soviet KV tanks were spotted sitting right next to each other. Lt 'Hammer of Justice'

Weil managed a direct hit on one of the tanks, forcing the crew to abandon it (#8). Meanwhile on the south flank, the

destruction of the armor, and the support of the well-placed bunker (#3) left the advancing infantry little cover and

support. Smoke was being popped, and the infantry headed to the nearby gulley, which happened to be infested with AP mines

(pic #9). :)

Two turns later, the smoke began to mature, which provided some cover for the attacking force to regain its momentum on the

south flank. The south bunker's view is distorted (#10), and the attacking infantry open fire (#11) next to the gulley. On

the north flank, a single KV-1 fired on bravely, supporting the advancing infantry. Another could be seen sulking in the

background. I assumed it was 'gun damaged' and relatively useless.

By turn 30, the situation had begun to shift in favor of the Soviets. Masses of infantry were now on the north and central

slpes, slowly proceeding in to the treeline at the bottom (#12). Interestingly, the assault on the southern flank had

dissipated. The northern flank continued to delay against an overwhelming Soviet infantry assault (#13), and in the central

slope German defenders were joined by a reinforcements (#14).

By turn 35, things started going downhill for the Germans. As you can see in the overhead view (#15), Soviet infantry had

succeeeded in penetrating the treeline in the depression, and were slowly and methodically moving inward. In the north, where

the Soviet infantry had made good progress, we see the weakened Jager pltn hiding in ambush for the approaching infantry

(#16). In the central area, the veteran Jager platoon was ordered to repel the advance of Soviet infantry which had leaked

into the scattered trees (#17). The pltn successfully engaged and routed a green platoon attempting to drive a wedge between

the central and south Flags. Around the southern flag, advancing infantry had reformed and were pressing down the (de-mined)

gulley. I had left the 75mm IG quiet until now (#18). It opened fire, managing 15-16 shots on incoming infantry before being

destroyed by concentrated mortar fire two turns later.

On turns 40-41, The Soviet infantry began their relentless assault into the woods, quickly routing my battered Jager squads,

as they easily outnumbered them 3:1. Some of my squads were easily destroyed, as they were too close to the treeline and

easily spotted. By turn 42, both the north (#19), central (#20), and southern sectors (#21) were overrun by Soviet infantry.
Even the cenral flag on the back slope was threatened by a lone rifle platoon which managed to slip through the depression

unnoticed (#22).

The end of the game (turn 45) left the Soviet infantry spread out on the map. Pic #23 shows huge pockets of Soviet infantry

not visible to the German player (marked by red circles).



My Forces:


Infantry: (1 Coy of Jager Inf)
My infantry were to hold the forested area in the depression at all costs. I used a single split-squad from each pltn in a

forward position to try and delay the oncoming infantry. After they would come under heavy fire, I would withdraw, using

MG/mortar fire to cover their retreat. The remainder of the pltn was holed up around the flags.


MGs: (4 X MG42 [reg], 2 X MG42 [vet])
All four reg MGs were placed on the north flank, two on the back slope, and two on the forward (reverse) slope. I couldnt

decide on a better placement for the vets, so I split them between two positions (one on central rear slope, and other with

ATGs).

Guns: (2 X 75mm PaK, 1 X 75mm IG)
Both paks were placed relatively close together in the wheat field overlooking the southern flag. This was to provide a

limited range of fire which would overlap. Since I dont trust the accuracy of IGs (especially the 75mm variety), I chose to

place the IG near the rear of the southern flag. It was intended to provide direct fire support (@ less than 300m) to

infantry defending the area.

Armor: NONE

Obstacles: (Lots of barbed wire, AT/AP mines, and trenches)
Mines were largely left as the default setting had placed them. Barbed wire was partially formed around two of the flags, in

hopes of a delaying action. Trenches were manipulated slightly in order to give forward split-squads better LOS.


Bunkers: (2 x wooden bunkers)
I've never had luck with bunkers; especially the wooden variety, so I was surprised by the outstanding performance of the

south unit. Norht unit was placed close to the flag, in hopes of limited LOS on advancing infantry. I was hoping tanks would

maneuver into position to get a shot on it, thereby risking a side shot at the hands of my skilled Pak gunners on the

southern side of the map. This of course, never happened, as both Paks were neutralized after firing on armor in teh souther

sector. South bunker was placed in the best spot possible...the slight dip in the wheat field on the south side of the rear

slope. It lasted until turn 41, when it was KOd by a Soviet 45mm atg sitting back in the rear.


Reinforcements: (1 X Pltn of vet Jager inf, 1 X Pzschreck)
I was quite surprised (and delighted) when I received reinforcements on turn 15. I definitely wasn't expecting them.
I had marched them from the southern edge of the map to the central flag area (took about 11 turns). By this time, I decided

to leave the Jager pltn in the central area to defend, as I estimated them to be too slow to reinforce the north flag sector

(Soviet troops were already pouring down the slope). The pzschreck was also ordered to lay low and provide support for the

pltn guarding the central flag, as only one tank was visible and firing...and to risk a shot at it (best range would be

~150m) would also mean discovery by the approaching infantry.

As for 'crack' units, I had only one in the entire battle. It was a jager squad (part of teh vet pltn) that was surrounded

and surrendered around turn 42.


WHAT WORKED WELL:
-South BUnker provided suppressive fire for the first 40-41 turns of the game. Expended 186/250 of its ammo! Achieved only 15

casualties, but the infantry delays it caused are immeasurable.
-Delaying attack with split squads. Works much better with German firepower, as opposed to splitting Soviet squads in the

past.
-MG42s on rear slope providing covering fire.
-Paks achieved 1:1 kill ratio before being destroyed.
-Mines in the gulley in the southern area helped to delay southern attack.
-Vet/crack pltn reinforcing the central area
-Heavy FO (150mm) caused significant casualties and KO'd a tank.

WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
-Infantry placement in forested areas was ineffective. Squads were routed too easily. Should've placed them farther back from

the barbed wire, perhaps near the back line of trees.
-Pzschreck was ineffective; never had an opportunity to fire on armor, as it entered the map from the opposite side of

surviving vehicles. Schreck ended up being wasted by infantry.
-MG42s on forward (reverse) slope too close to oncoming infantry. Were overrun after only using 50% of ammo.
-Placement of 75mm IG was poor. Probably should've put in on the rear slope with MGs, and sacrificed accuracy as a result.
-Barbed wire within the forested areas was poorly placed. Should've placed them on reverse slope, or at the initial treeline

in order to delay penetration into wooded areas.
-Obstacles and their placement always seems to be a large source of frustration for me!
-North bunker's placement was ill-advised. Would have been better off placing it next to the south bunker in the subtle dip

for double the firepower!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your PLAN: You seemed to have used the classic 'human wave' strategy with your massed infantry, aided and supported by masses

of MGs and mortars, copious artillery, and infantry support tanks. I could tell by the map that the only way for a Soviet

victory to take place would be a massed infantry advance to the treeline, supported by heavy arty bombardments and tank

support.

Infantry:
Most of your troops appeared to be Green, as they were easily pinned and suppressed by enemy fire. The real stregnth here is

simply in numbers, which you had (2 Batallions!). With even a company less in manpower, the battle could have ended much

differently.

Support:
Mortars and MGs were effective, if only becaused they were massed together. Pioneers removed obstacles as needed.
ATR were worthless as usual. I noticed that you expended all ammo for most of your ATR crews, and they didnt cause any

discernible damage to my forces.

Artillery: You had multiple spotters, some of which chose to lay down smoke through parts of the battle. I dont really think

this did much good, especially as my MG42 were still firing on delegated areas of interest. The actual HE shells that were

dropped on me did little damage. IIRC, the initial barrage scored like two or three casualties.

Guns: I assumed you had two IGs in the rear. Several turns later, they appear on an entirely different section of the map,

and fire on my south bunker (which was eventually KO'd as a result).

Armor: With only 5 X KV-1s, you definitely had less armor than I had expected. You lost three to my forces, and a fourth was

seen sitting in the rear, presumably damaged. Still, the only 'fit' unit you had left basically acted unmolested for the

second half of the game, as I had only a pzschreck left, and it was ~500m away.


WHAT WORKED WELL:
-Massed infantry assault on forested areas.
-Concentrating mortar/mg fire to destroy gun placements.
-Infantry and support unit coordination was exceptional; you managed to move both bodies of units together smoothly.


WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
-Armor pltn was crippled early on, and rendered largely ineffective.
-Lack of fire/suppression on my rear slope positions allowed me to sustain fire on your advancing units w/MG42s and mortars.

You didn't start targeting the northern rear slope around turn 40.
-Artillery barrages were largely ineffective, including smoke screens on the rear slopes. Even the south bunker was

prohibited from firing for just two turns.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

German Kills:

298 total casualties forced

Jager Inf: 111 (37%)
--North Pltn: 26
--Cntrl Pltn: 25
--South Pltn: 10
--Vetrn Pltn: 50

150/105 FOs: 71 (24%)
MG42s: 48 (16%)
Mines: 28(!) (9.4%)

Bunkers: 18
Sniper: 6
75mm IG: 6
82mm(2): 5
75mm Pak(2): 4
Pzschrek: 1
JDR DRAGOON
Junior Tester

Member #2429
Joined: Aug 2005
Ratings: 0 / 0 / 0
Discussions: 62
Post #12   5890 days, 22 hours, 52 minutes, 50 seconds ago        
OUTCOME:Minor Victory
STATISTICS:
Axis
Allied
Player Name:
Him
Me
Experience Bonus:
0
0
Play Balance:
0
0
Men OK
78
807
Tot. Casualties
195
291
Men KIA
63
80
Men Captured
6
0
Mortars Dest.
1
3
Guns Dest.
3
0
Pillboxes Dest.
2
0
Vehicles Dest.
0
3
Aircraft Dest.
0
0
POINTS:
Axis
Allied
Flags Held:
200
300
Enemy Casualties:
1356
1921
Prisoners Taken:
0
53
Exited Troops:
0
0
Scenario Bonus:
0
0
FINAL SCORE:
41%
59%



Played this PBEM with me as soviets. Here are the remarks I made to my opponent after the game:

Heh, what did you expect. You got hit full on by the first 2 battalions of a
regimental attack!

I also thought the game good. I honestly didn´t expect to be able to pull
ahead after taking such debiliating losses to my first battalion. But the
second battalion persevered and got the job done, taking the 3 nearest
objectives and even contesting one of the farther ones.

Nice about the full AAR. I am going to settle for my "standard" written
briefback though ;-).

From the attackers perspective the terrain was a nightmare. It presented a
perfect "reverse slope" defensive setup for the defender. The terrain was
almost perfectly open, except for the odd crater, untill you got to forest
at the bottom of the reverse slope which was conveniently held by the
germans. The only possible covered approach route was a little brush covered
gully which was both easily mined and covered with fire. On top of this the
soviet support weapons could only do "support by fire" from he soviet setup
area against parts of the arther hill, which meant that the soviet support
weapons would be moved up with the attack and thus not immeditely able to
suppress discovered german positions with fire. No mean task!

The lenght of the game was probably OK, although another 5 turns would have
been nice and likely allowed me to "polish off" one or two of your rearmost
positions, nabbing or contesting 1-2 more flags. Still, I was able to scrape
out a narrow win with what I had so not too bad I suppose. Still, it is the
only factor I can think off that might need "twirking".

The correlation of forces was of course massively skewed in favour of the
soviets with regard to pure numbers. The germans were outnumbered between
2:1/3:2 in machineguns (14:8 with 2 of the german MGs in Bunkers), 10:1 in
onboard mortars (21:2, with 12 of the soviet mortars being light 50mm
stuff), 3:1 in artillery (2 german 105/155mm FOs vs. 3 soviet 122mm, 1 120mm
and 2 76mm FOs), 7:1 in infantry (6 soviet infantry coys and 1 engineer coy
vs 1 defending german coy and 1 platoon showing up later as reinforcements)
and 5:2 in Tanks vs. Heavy AT guns. In the german favor was the fact that
almost all soviet units were "green" (except the tanks and the engineers
plus some of the HQs). All german units were at least "regular" with a
sprinkling of "Veterans". Some of the german reinforcements were even
"Crack"!. The germans thus had an edge in quality here. Furthermore, while
the soviet artillery park might seem impressive, but fully half of it must
be fired as "preplanned map fire" plotted in turn 1 and thus liable to hit
nothing depending on how good the soviet player is at guesing. The german
player thus has an edge in the responsive artillery department, both of his
modules being heavier and firing more heavy shells than their russian
counterparts. The german player also has almost equality in the machinegun
department, 2 of the machineguns even being situated in bunkers and thus
harder to ake out untill the soviet players brings up the appropriate
counters (ATRs, tanks, towed guns). All of he defenders heavy weapons,
machineguns and squads also had their ammo loadout enlarged by 50%. The
germans also have more fortifications, barbed wire and mines than you can
shake a stick at! This means that the german player must capitalize on his
ranged weapons, fortifications and artillery to keep the soviets away. If
the masses of soviet infantry are allowed to close it is "Game Over"! The
ideal is of course for the heavy weapons to hold the soviets pinned down in
the wire/mines while the squad infantry deals with any soviets that manages
to penetrate he fire and advance down the reverse slope proper.

I started the game with 2 companies of infantry, the engineers company, the
lead battalion weapons company (82mm mortars, Maxim Machinguns, AT Rifles
and 2 45mm AT guns), all the FOs plus a company of KV1 heavy tanks (5
vehicles) on board. The last 4 infantry companies were supposed to show up
as the game got going.

MY plan was relatively simple: The support company was split up into
"support weapon groups", each consisting of 1-2 Maxim MGs, 1-2 82mm MT or
FO´s and 2-3 AT rifles. THe rifle companies each got assigned a different
objective to attack, with the leftmost company attacking parrallel to the
brush covered gully and aiming for the forest to the right of the leftmost
victory objective and the rightmost company aiming to attack the forest to
the left of the rightmost objective. The plan was to punch through and keep
on going "Stosstruppen style" towards the rearmost objectives. he
reinforcing rifle companies would then follow in the trace of the initial
companies, relieving them, widening the breach and taking objectives as
applicable. Each of the foremost companies got assigned 2 of the above
mentioned heavy weapons groups and 2 KV1 heavy tanks. The remaining heavy
weapons groups and the 45mm AT guns screened the areas where the rifle
companies didn´t attack and some were also set up in the space of my
deployment area (towards the left) where they could actually see onto parts
of the farther hill. The last KV1 tank was my maneuver reserve. The
engineers got split up and a section of engineers followed each of the three
groups of tanks, since I reasoned that the tanks were such a force
multiplier they needed to have uncurtialed manuver (infantry can, after all,
just sneak" through AP minefields, chewing down the losses of a few men..)
Well, off we went. AS the game started I noticed barbed wire on the nearer
hill near the map edges. I tasked each of my 122mm FOs targeted wide on one
of the nearer flags in the forested valley bottom, figuring that you were
bound to try to hold at least one of these areas with troops. I set the
barrage to start at the beginning of turn 2, figuring that I could probably
catch any of your men trying to move around or relocate that way. (After the
battle I could see the prep barrage only killed about 1-2 men pr. module,
but I am willing to take what I can get).I also figured that I could cross
the nearer hill and be in small arms range of the forest around turn 7-9
when the shelling would stop due to the paucity of barbed wire. How wrong I
was....

True to doctrine my advance started with the tanks leading the infantry
towards the crest of the nearer hill. AS the preplotted artillery started to
fall everything looked swell as I crested the nearer hill. Then all hell
broke loose...

The leftmost company started taking machinegun fire from the farther hill,
pinning down the infantry and only getting sound contacts in return, except
for one masterfully placed bunker on the far hill sited to fire enfilading
fire across the farther hill. A platoon tried to press down the brush
covered gully but found it spiked with AP mines. Eventually enginners
arrived and started to clear the mines. The tanks tried to pres on in order
to gain LoS to the bunker and hopefully gain "solid" IDs on the firing
machineguns. This was answered by 2 heavy PAK opening up, knocking out both
KVs supporting the leftmost company. I was now left with only AT rifles to
nail the bunker, and hurriedly began to manhandle the 45mm guns into
position to deal with the bunker As this took place my leftmost company
stalled on the crestline, as casualties mounted due to artillery and
machinegun fire and elements began to pin or outright flee back across the
crest. I was eventually able to silence the guns before hey did any more
damage by firing the 82mm mortars at the gunpits. It took quite a lot of
shells though (about 50-75 82mm shells to knock each out) but it was ammo
well spent. Now I only needed to get he infantry back up and going again....
On the right it went somewhat better. One of the KVs hit an AT minefield
short of the crest and were thus effectively out of the fight. Almost 60% of
my armor taken out within a matter of minutes. The engineers speedily
cleared this impediment, and since I banked on there only being one chain of
AT mines, I sent the two surviving KVs through this a and across the crest
(after the AT guns had been knocked out). Meanwhile the infantry pressed on
alone and crested. Unfortunately the crest here was covered by an AP
minefield and I also started to take fire from both artillery, hidden
machineguns and another bunker near the rightmost victory flag. On top of
this a german outpost position of 1-2 squads in trenches just beneath crest
delivered point blank fire into the cresting soviets. The advance here also
duly stalled as the men either died, ran for cover or wallowed around in the
minefield.


(modified 03/16/2008 03:40:43 by JDR Dragoon)

(modified 03/16/2008 03:45:58 by JDR Dragoon)
JDR DRAGOON
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Post #13   5890 days, 22 hours, 53 minutes, 13 seconds ago        
Again my ramblings run afoul of the 5000 pt. charcter limit! Here is the rest:

My first move was to get the support weapons group into position to fire at
identified enemies and call for smoke from onboard 82mm and 76mm FOs in
order to screen my further advance (the 76mm Fos effectively sent their
entire ammo loads on this). 82mm mortars also delivered HE against
identified positions. My first reinforcemnt company also arrived and since
it arrived closest to my rightmost company, I sent them to this area since
this looked most promising for a renewed advance once the mines cleared.
Under the cover of smoke the leftmost company was ale to resume it´s advance
fitfully, but due to the fire from the intact bunker (in spite of several
ATR penerations) and still hidden machineguns it was a ragged out company
that finally began to approach the forest. On the right things went somewhat
better. Once the AT guns were positively dead the KVs simply crested and
started to pour fire into the german outpost and siliencing the bunker with
a flurry of shells. The germans fled or died. Engineers got going and lifted
the AP mines. Infantry started to flow through the breaches and follow the
KVs. Then disaster struck again. German artillery called for effect and hit
the breaches with a flurry of heavy shells. My men broke, covered or
died.One of the KVs was gun damaged, immobilized and abandoned in short
order. Only 1 tank out of 5 now effective!. The artillery even hit the
reinforcing company as it was forming up on the friendly side of the crest.
Everything was pendemonium and if it hadn´t been for the Battalion HQ being
present (with its meaty +2 command +2 morale) the attack here would have
been stopped in its tracks. But I rallied through and the attack on the
right (now with the combined strenght af only a large company) went forwards
again.

Over on the left my lead company began to encounter outpost positions in
trenches in the brush on the outskirts of the forest with mixed results. In
one firefight a soviet platoon was routed, while another firefight saw the
soviets triumph and clear the germans from their trenches near the leftmost
victory flag. Another reinforcement company arrived. As artillery was still
falling on the right and they were nearer to the centre I sent them in on
the heels of the leftmost company.

On the right I also started encountering more outposts as I neared the
forest. This time it was squad infantry in trenches interspered with HMGs.
The last KV was able to chip in and they were forced to skulk back into the
interiors of the forest. The same was the case on the left. Meanwhile some
of the infantry had pressed on close enough to get solid IDs on german
positions on the farther hill. The KV, 82mm mortars aand Maxim guns took
these under effective suppressive fire. Another company arrived, which I
sent towards the center Victory flag on a course parallel to my two
otherleftwards companies. In order to "ram" these companies over the crest
and across the fireswept hillside to the forest below I resorted to a rare
use of the "Human wave". This would accomplish two things. 1: It would leave
you with the choise of shooting up the closer and more threatening troops or
the leaving those alone and shooting at the vulnerable "Human wavers".
Either way I get troops jumping down your throat. 2: Human wave gets the
troops where they were needed quicker than Advance but with less
vulneability than a pure Run or Move.

On the right the composite company succesfully closed with and began to
firefight your troops around the rightmost objective. A notable boon here
was the fact that I was able to close with and kill some of your HMG teams
at close range. The advance of the companies on the left against the centre
and leftmost victory objectives also seemed to be gaining ground as I
succesfully either assaulted or lapped around and flanked each position in
turn. Each victory flag appeared to be held by about a reinforced platoon
each. A mini disaster then struck: A platoon sized counterattack (I later
discovered this was led by the reinforcing german platoon of Veteran/Crack
troops) began to develop in the forest between the centre and leftmost V
flag. This shattered a sovoet platoon and began to drive my assault back in
places. Fortunately the german attack overextended and ended up in range of
1½ company of angrey soviet infantry. The german counterattack simply melted
away under this kind of firepower. Meanwhile the fourth and last company had
arrived. Since they arrived on the left I sent them directly towards the
leftmost V-flag, also using a Human Wave order to ram them in. Once there
they got taken under fire from a 75mm infantry gun near the leftmost flag,
but due to the effeiciency of their accompanying 50mm mortars (which I had
kept up with the advancing companies) they were able to take it out quickly
after it had killed a "mere" ½ dozen men. The company then closed in on the
V-flag, routed the last defenders and took possession. Meanwhile the 45mm AT
guns had been hauled into position and proceeded to take out the last bunker
on the left as a revenge for all the damage it had caused (15 casualties).
In the patch of forest between the left and center V flag the last german
defenders either surrendered or died to the lements of 2 companies here. The
center V flag also fell. The company sent for the center v-flag were able to
almost breeze through the last of the german defenders and send 2 platoons
into the depth of the defence, aiming for the right rearmost and centre
rearmost v-flag respectively, hoping to contest those. In the process even
more german positions were revealed and the 120mm mortar FO, which had so
far lacked a good target finally swung into action, knocking out an empty
mortar and killing a few men near the right rearward flag, suppressing the
rest of the position and helping the platoon sent here to contest this flag.
Not the best of results for such a powerful tool, but livable. The composite
company took the v-flag on the right and didn´t really have the power or
ammo to contest beyond the forest. The game then ended in a minor victory.

AS for my own play, I don´t feel there was much I could have done
differently. I was stuck with a hard task (advance across open, fireswept
ground covered with obstacles using green troops). At times it felt like I
was herding a bunch of cats around as green troops broke, rallied only to
break again, but even cats will claw if they get close enough. Those of my
HQs with morale bonuses really held me going here. . And once got there I
simply outshot you by sitting still, pulling triggers and applying oodles of
firepower. I was typically able to apply upward of a platoons worth of
firepower against each of your squads! Most of my squads typically killed 1
-2 men on average each. Still, some of my squads either died outright or
spent the entire game broken without firing a single shot! The support
weapons also did OK, killing about a man each on average but more
importantly allowing the rest of my force to close. I consciously spared the
50mm mortars for close in firepower during the last 1/3 of the game, which
paid big dividends as they proved very adept at pinning your men. The only
thing they killed was the 75mm INFGUN, but that was also timely! The "Man of
the match" award must surely go to my sole surviving KV, who not only
silenced a bunker before it become really irritating, but also took out 15
men and suppressed anything directed at. MY most glaring error was probably bunching up too much, especially when trying to cross the breaches in the minefields. IN my defense I will say that it is quite hard to ensure the proper spacing of each and every squad in a 2 battalion force and quite often I was simply scooping up a bunch of men at a time and giving them orders to move forwards. Mea Culpa! ;-)

As for you, I see quite a few things you could have done differently:

-Your AT mines were positioned on my part of the slope. Even though it
assures that any AFVs stopped will be stopped in a useless place, it also
insured that I could lift the mines at will and pour through the breach with
the rest of my vehicles. Obstacles like this need to be covered with fire!

-You essentially used your artillery and mortars too early. The artillery
was partially justified due to the fact it did a lot of damage (each FO got
about 35 men!) but the mortars were mostly wasted firing ineffectually at
individual targets (or even at my supporting weapons, which is a vaste,
since only stopping the squad infantry will stop the attack). Even if your
heavy artillery was effective you still expended it too early, running out
about midways into the game. Imagine what a doze of heavy shells could have
done to my reinforcing companies moving up using "Human waving"!

-Your placement of bunkers was good. Especially the one on my left caused my
attacj untold woes. I simply couldn´t get at it before I got a 45mm AT
hauled into position and that only happened about 10 turns before the game
ended!

-Your placement of trenches in the open was also good. Thereby you avoid
devastating treebursts. On the other hand I was often able to wrest the
trenches away from you after just minor firefights, allowing me to use them
as bases of fire. Which put you in the paradoxical position of having to
defend using worse cover (foxholes/scattered trees) than the attacker!

-Your placement of obstacles was strange. You had wired in both flanks and
extended the wire with AP mines on my right and covered the gully on the
left with AP mines. Yet the center was totally devoid of obstacles allowing
my inantry there to simply advance and close with you. instead you had spent
obstacles in setting up "mini alamos" around the left and rightmost V-flag.
As you found out to your cost, I either flanked and bypassed each of those
through the forests or simply drove stright through using superior close
range firepower. The obstacles used in these "alamos" should have been used
on the crestline in order to insure ideal targets for long range MG and
squad rifle fire against argets hung up on the wire and mines. Remember:
obstacles and firepower is all that keeps Ivan from closing in, and once
Ivan closes in Fritz dies!

-In the same wein you also tried to firefight me inside the forest. Again,
this is a loosing proposition since I can simply throw enough men into the
fireight to settle the issue in my favor. Your use of the counterattacking
"elite" platoon was actually the only time you managed to achieve a positive
result in a firefight inside the forest.

-For some reason I was often able to open fire before your defending forces
were once the fighting got up close. I don´t know if you were trying to hide
from me or your troops were broken. In any case the advante of the first
shot often proved decisive.

-Your counerattack was well timed and used the best troops for the job.
Unfortunately you got overextended and died messily.

-You didn´t get enough mileage out of your squad infantry. many of the
squads (unlike the MGs and mortars) ended the game with ammo left. Remember:
Fire from trenches, fire from the reverse slope and fire against soviets in
the open or on barbed wire. Following these maxims should have allowed your
squad infanry to spend their ammo to better effect. remember, the ammo in
your guns and the obstacles is all that keeps me from closing in with
superior numbers. As it was, your "elite" reinforcement platoon was the only
squad infantry outfit to ounch above their weight. The rest essentially died
without having killed enough Ivans to justify their deaths.

-Compounding this was the fact that you often tended to leave your squad
infantry split up into halfsquads and apparently also out of command. This
makes your inantry much more vulnerable by an order of magnitude. Only ever
use halfsquads for outpost duty and patrols. If you inend to fight, do so
using full squads that are in command of a HQ!

- You essentially wasted 2 of your MG42 HMGs on my right by allowing them to
be engaged up close and personal. Instead they should have been back on the
farther slope with the rest of your firebase. I suspect they died before
fire off their entire ammo load: a tactical crime for the defender and
easily preventable. If you look at the MGs further back, you will see they
were perfectly effective from where they were.


I don´t really think any modifications are necessary since the scenario
looks balanced (albeit a bit huge and stretching the scale of CMBB a bit). I
think it conveys the soviet way of attacking quite well and also how the
germans dealt with such attacks. If I should change anything I would propose
to either:
1: Extend the game with 5 extra turns to give the soviet player more time to
develop his attack in.
2: This scenario seems to lack a scenario bonus for the german side in order
to offset the VPs the soviets score for "dead" german fortifications due to
a game bug. This is possibly intentional in order to make the game more
balanced (as otherwise I would have lost). If the game is extended with 5
turns pr. above the germans ought to get some kind of scenario bonus.

But the scenario is still eminently playable "AS is"
LEEW
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Post #11   6049 days, 14 hours, 6 minutes, 53 seconds ago        
To tell you the truth, it never even crossed my mind to do the human wave. I was giving the assult order more towards the end to give a moral boost to the squads, but had forgotted all about the human wave order doing the same thing. I wonder how the two commands compare in the amount of moral boost they give. One is individual squads, the other the platoon?

With over 900 men left at the end, I think the russians would have lost a lot more against a prepared position. The 150 FO will bring the casualty rate up some, but I'm not sure it would break the attack. Probably bring more into line with what would have happened. What amazed me was how the AI used the FO's. A few shells here and then adjust to a new location. I thought you had several FO's with just 4 rounds each and the AI was using them that way, but I guess it is smart enough to adjust fire.

I should have held the KV's behind the ridge until the guns were all KO'ed. That way there would have been two or three to make the thrust to the back flag. I just remembered how I'd read about the russain tanks pushing out ahead of the inf and often breaking through. That was what I needed to get close enough to the HMG's at the back of the map to be able to get them fixed in position so they could be shot at. It was a desperate measure, but worked this time. Not the way I would have normally done it, but it sure could have happened that way.

You might want to max out the pioneers with charges for mine clearing. For me that was a kind of side show which had it's own challenges and gave me something to do besides chasing after green troops.

I felt that it was important to take the high ground, that little hill on the right and I new you would give it special attention. Also the draw coming up the ridge was a natural focal point, so knew it would be defended as well. Most of the casualties there were caused by AP mines. The leaders had the double stealth bonus, so just kept them crawling down the draw. They made it past the first line of trenchs before getting spotted and shot at. If I would have had a tank over on the left flank to help with that front trench line, they might have made it clear to the flag without being caught.

The map worked really well for what you were portraying, as well as the green troops in showing how hard it is to advance against a well dug in defense.

lee Smile

--------------------
JASONC
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Post #10   6049 days, 17 hours, 29 minutes, 38 seconds ago        

Thanks for the report.

I think the +2 helps the Germans considerably, as it makes the Russian overwatch fire pretty much irrelevant. Other than a tank continually firing HE at a point target, most of the rest isn't going to do anything to led regulars to veterans in trenches at range, bumped to crack-elite morale.

Two ways to keep the attack moving until you get large forces of infantry in the wooded valley between the two ridges - (1) human wave orders to ram through the space between the front crest and the edge of the woods and (2) smoke barrages by the smaller Russian FOs (76mm e.g.) to cover the same.

Spots of the HMGs at the back of the map are a lot easier if you first have men in the middle woods. Getting out of the middle woods, on the other hand, is often a serious problem to near impossible, especially if the Germans drop their arty on the woods after men accumulate inside them.

As for how the Germans were spotting your MGs when you didn't get more than sound on the reverse, they are dug in, you are not, you moved to position, they did not, and last it is dawn and you are coming from the east, so the sun is behind you as you crest the ridge. In game mechanics terms I think moving vs. stationary is actually the biggest of those.

On the comment about it getting tedious to shepherd so much green infantry trying to attack over open ground, I do appreciate it. Normally I avoid battles this big for control reasons. But one simply can't get the scale of this fight right with a subdivided piece, since things like German PAK coverage, MG range, and the way multiple MGs all support each other and are not easily avoided silenced or overwhelmed, only appear up at this scale.

Thanks again for the report. On balance issues, I might consider removing the 150mm FO from the German OOB if you think the Russian task would be undoable head to head, with it present.
--------------------
LEEW
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Post #9   6049 days, 20 hours, 59 minutes, 50 seconds ago        
OUTCOME:Draw
STATISTICS:
Axis
Allied
Player Name:
AI
LeeW
Experience Bonus:
+2
0
Play Balance:
0
0
Men OK
214
960
Tot. Casualties
65
138
Men KIA
19
29
Men Captured
Mortars Dest.
2
Guns Dest.
3
2
Pillboxes Dest.
2
Vehicles Dest.
4
Aircraft Dest.
POINTS:
Axis
Allied
Flags Held:
400
Enemy Casualties:
1081
1387
Prisoners Taken:
Exited Troops:
Scenario Bonus:
FINAL SCORE:
52%
48%

AAR

Turn 28-32:

The trenchs on the ridge, which the russians occupy now, are still under enemy mortar fire off and on. There are four enemy mg's firing from the AT gun trenchs at the back.

Plenty of mines, but then this is a well prepared position.

The tank is now helping with the next trench line on the right flank, firing HE at whoever shows themself.

The pioneers on the right flank are out of charges, so they won't be able to their job any longer. They did get some holes opened up in the mine field. A couple of squads of them are in the draw on the left center clearing out mines. These will not have enough charges to complete the job either.

There are six enemy mg's firing now, with one face down from tank HE. A few squads are routing now and again.

Lining up platoons to start the push through the right flank now.

Starting to move up on the second line trenches on the right flank. The tank keeps their head down. Another inf sound contact behind this trench line, so the enemy must be reinforcing here.

The rest of the front is pretty well stalled, just short hops under enemy mg fire.

Turn 33-39:

A couple rounds of enemy mortar rounds land in front of the hill on the right flank.

MG fire from the enemy rear area is enough to keep the green troops from advancing past the ridge. Will try some smoke and see what happens, but the attack is fairly well stalled.

Have a few MG's in position to fire, but as soon as they do enemy mortar rounds put them down. Strange how the AI can pinpoint my MG's at range, but I only get sound contacts.

The smoke doesn't last long enough to do any good. You hardly move forward before a closer enemy position is spotted and everybody goes to ground. Trying to keep control of so many green units is getting rather tiring.

Turn 40-45:

Decided to do what I've read. Sent my HQ tank to the back in a break through move. He made it to the back flag by going through the scattered trees on the right flank and was able to neutralize it, plus spot a HMG and mortar team. This allowed me to zero in with my mortars and of course the tank HE.

Was able to neutralize the valley flag on the right flank as well.

A better player with green units would have been able to do better against the AI, but I'm happy with getting a draw.

Was a good challenge and had fun playing the battle. I'm glad the AI had a +2 CEB, as it played reasonably well. The green troops did get a little tiring to manage with their continual sneek commands that had to be canceled and new orders given when they settled down.

What a slaughter this should be H2H, with the 150 FO shooting live ammo instead of smoke.

lee Smile
--------------------
LEEW
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Post #8   6053 days, 11 hours, 20 minutes, 32 seconds ago        
Turn 21:

The expected mine was found in the head of the draw by one of the AT rifle team. Will try and go around to the left and see if there is more than one.

One of the KV's and the AT gun is having a dual again through the smoke.

There are at least two HMG's in the trench with the AT gun. I guess they could be LMG's gaurding the gun.

From the center to the right flank inf has moved forward, but nothing more has revealed itself. Of course anybody in the valley probably can't see them yet, and it will take a few minutes for any arty to start falling.

Turn 22:

The KV takes a hit and disengages from the dual. The AT gun starts shooting HE again, but gets confused with so many targets popping up. Another mg sound contact shows up in the center. Probably the guards for the destroyed gun in the trench back there.

Interesting, when the mine showed up at the top of the draw, so did three more on the left flank, across the canyon. Some kind of bug I suppose.

Inf has jumped forward a bit and drawn mg fire from 3 mg's so far. Also a sound contact has shown up in the three trenchs in front of my right flank.

Just noticed that my other KV that has been setting there has come up immobile. Down to one tank now.

Turn 23:

The smoke has cleared up and the immobised KV has been KO'ed.

A couple more mines have showed up off the end of the wire on the right flank.

More reinforcements have arrived.

Turn 24:

Another mine in the draw. Also another one at the trenches. The pioneers took one out in front of the hill on the right flank, so should be a fair hole there now.

Axis are using a mortar against the men in the trench on the right flank now. It isn't hurting to bad as yet.

Turn 25:

Targeted the AT gun again with 4-50 and 2 82 mortars. Also a 76.2 FO is starting to rain down on him. Maybe he will give up now I hope. I need the KV to move up and help with the next trench line.

Heavy enemy arty is falling just in front of the hill on the right flank. Just short of the inf. I hope it keeps coming and get it used up, but the AI hardly ever fires more than a minute in one spot it seems like.

Turn 26:

Finally the enemy AT gun on my right flank has been KO'ed, but in return he KO'ed my hidden 45 AT gun on my left flank with some mortar rounds.

The heavy enemy arty has moved a little more to my right and has routed a isolated squad, which ran towards the enemy lines crossed the fence and then turned around and is running back now. He is only drawing fire from the next trench line from the enemy unit that has been spotted already.

The mgs in the back on the right side are still busy shooting at anything that moves.

Some more reinforcements.

Now to move up the last KV and see if there are any more surprises waiting.

Turn 27:

The enemy arty still falling on the right flank. A stray round of the heavy stuff hit behind the trench line and broke a couple units. Mortar fire still falling on the trench. I noticed that some of the fire was falling behind his trench as well. Spotted one enemy inf unit moving up from the trees to the trench area.

The KV has moved up through the wire on the right flank and has spotted the enemy inf moving up.

When the heavy arty stops falling will start moving up some more inf on the right side. They are waiting behind the ridge.

lee Smile


--------------------
LEEW
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Post #7   6053 days, 16 hours, 2 minutes, 43 seconds ago        
I suspect that this gun crew is fanatical and thus the hits that would normally take it out have failed. The first two guns to be KO'ed went fairly quickly, this one defies all effort.

The AI is using smoke on my right flank thus helping or hurting, LOS to and from the AT gun now.

My two lighter FO's were used some against the trenchs on the right flank. They had the gun targeted on the right, but the enemy smoke has blocked LOS for one of them, so had to cancel.

I think that a couple of the 82 mortars were destroyed at the start from the heavy arty.

The rest have all been active working on the guns.

There are HMG's in the back enemy trench line, as one has shown as a sound contact a couple times.

I think it is probably time for the first wave to go over the top and start drawing the enemy force out of hiding.

lee Smile

(modified 10/05/2007 10:36:05 by LeeW)
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JASONC
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Post #6   6054 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 46 seconds ago        

Again useful, especially the report on the trouble the Russian mortars have hitting the German guns at range.

Have you used any of the Russian FOs, beyond the consript prep fire ones? Also, how many 82s have your been able to get into action? Last, with range an issue, have you considered the other standard counter to a known gun position? (I'll avoid blurting that out in case you don't want any tips...)
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Post #5   6054 days, 11 hours, 27 minutes, 38 seconds ago        
The green mortars are proving to be a little frustrating, but some good fun trying to advance.

Turn Thirteen and Fourteen:

Enemy heavy arty is still landing in the center of the map, just a little over the ridge from where my men are at. Strange how it is coming down, just a few a shells in a spot, then a few in a new place. I haven't figured out how that is happening so quickly.

Have brought the far left AT gun under mortar fire this turn. Also the far right mg bunker has come under attack by two KV's. One penetration so far.

Some more reinforcements have arrived.

Turn Fifteen:

The AT gun on the far right has finally been brought under mortar fire. Now it is a matter of time before they are taken out. The inf have crawled into a mine field on the right flank, in front of the enemy trenchs on the ridge. Bringing up the pioneers to clear this area, as the inf will probably all go through here.

Turn Sixteen:

The mg bunker on the right flank has been KO'ed now. The mortars are having a hard time getting the range on the AT gun. That AT gun is giving the squads that found the mines a hard time of it.

Some more reinforcements.

Turn Seventeen and Eighteen:

More reinforcements. The mortars still haven't gotten the range on the AT gun, but he is being suppressed some now. Hunting the KV's up a little, maybe they can get a shot before all the mortars run out of ammo.

Turn Nineteen:

The mg bunker on the left flank has been KO'ed. Still haven't been able to get the AT gun on the right flank. The axis are dropping smoke again on my tanks, so many of the mortars have lost LOS. The tanks are going to try and get the gun, hopefully I don't get to many lucky hits against the armor.

The pioneers cleared one mine so far.

Also some more heavy enemy arty landing a little closer to the right of center, but still on his side of the ridge. That would really ruin the green inf. If he would have fired HE instead of smoke both times he would have taken out alot of inf, but then the AI probably hasn't spotted inf yet, just tanks.

Turn Twenty:

Pioneers cleared another mine. Lost another KV to the AT gun. Just can't seem to get him with anything. Two KV's left. Have a feeling that won't be enough HE to finish the job. Time will tell.

Starting to move the front line of inf across the ridge now with the advance order. They will bring out all the HMG's that are lurking on the back of the map and the rest of the arty that has been dribbling down for several minutes now. Time for the red to flow to drain off the rest of the arty support before the reinforements start arriving.

Moral is still around 94%.

The left flank squads have been sneeking towards the draw and are about there. One AT rifle team has entered it already and is starting down.

lee


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LEEW
Junior Tester

Member #5800
Joined: Jan 2007
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Discussions: 58
Post #4   6055 days, 8 hours, 36 minutes, 34 seconds ago        
I was tempted to play with no CEB, but I wanted the AI to play well, so decided to go with the standard +2. You only get to play it blind once, and I want the AI to do a good job and not waste any of the fun built in by you.

And yes I'm really glad it is smoke and not HE. He would have really ruined my inf on the right. He could see the tanks and not the inf I would suspect and did the pre-planned strike from turn one.

Turn Seven:

Some big axis arty is falling in the center towards the back. One platoon shattered and several support weapons.

One of the axis mg's in the trench was captured and then got loose again. So there must still be some enemy in the trenchs or close by.

Three axis AT guns on the hill towards the back have opened up on two of the KV's. One was hit at a weak spot and KO'ed. The other is returning fire.

Turn Eight:

The KV managed to get back out of LOS of the AT guns and in the process KO'ed one of the guns. Two tanks KO'ed so far, only three left. They continue to work over the trenchs.

No arty fell this turn, but it is big enough it probably takes a minute to reload.

Turn Nine and Ten:

Some reinforcements arrive on turn nine.

Another mg bunker is spotted on our right flank towards the back. The axis AT guns continue to shoot HE at whatever moves on our ridge. Also another trench has shown up over the ridge behind the two trenchs I've been fighting for.

Still trying to get some mortars moved up to start working on the AT guns.

Turn Eleven:

Got a couple of 50mm mortars up, but the range is to great. Will have to continue moving up the 82's.

Some reinforcements arrived.

Turn Twelve:

Some more big arty is falling a little to the left of my center and up closer to the ridge where I'm moving to. Right now it is falling in an open space, but plenty of bodies on both sides. Have found a keyhole for one of my tanks. He will move there and try and take out the left flank enemy mg bunker. Still trying to get mortars in position to get the guns. Hope the enemy arty doesn't take out a bunch of them again.

It has turned out to be another three trenches over the ridge from the first bunch. I have one of the tank crews in the trench on the ridge. It must be empty. I'll sneak him along it to be sure. The AI set him to sneak up there when he bailed his tank, so just let him go.

What will be the next surprise??

I have several squads in jump off positions at the draw and the hill. Would like to at least take out the guns and bunkers before advancing the green inf into the unknown over the ridge.

So far is playing out pretty realistic. Would be a slaughter H2H I'd think, because of the big arty, but then it is a prepared position and they know you are coming.

lee Smile
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JASONC
Senior Tester

Member #3156
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2008
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Post #3   6055 days, 9 hours, 13 minutes, 46 seconds ago        

Thanks for the report, I eagerly await the sequel.

On the AI's use of smoke, I find they often do that when they can see enemy armor, which they seem to think is a high enough priority to fire at, but also seem to think HE won't hurt. Doesn't make much sense, but not much I can do about it as a designer. The AI is poor with FO arty, that is all.

Count yourself lucky in that respect. I suppose you are "paying" for it in higher morale enemies. Personally, I'd try this one without AI bonuses, but it is your fight.
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LEEW
Junior Tester

Member #5800
Joined: Jan 2007
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Discussions: 58
Post #2   6055 days, 11 hours, 51 minutes, 39 seconds ago        
Setup:

Finally decided to go with the AI +2 CEB, attacking with the russians. This might make it to hard as the russian inf at the start are basically all green troops.

After looking the map over went with two attack forces. One on the russain left, probing the draw that comes up the hill on the axis side. The other attack will go for the high ground that is on the russian right side. The attackers are strung across the map from the draw probe to the russian right flank. Have sent Anti tank rifles forward across the entire front to see what they kick out. All the KV tanks are on the russian right flank, going for the high ground.

Turn One:

The AI is firing smoke at my right flank!! Maybe need to use a spotter that doesn't have smoke? or mortars instead with no smoke rounds? He would have done some series damage to my attacking force if that would have been HE instead. Of course in H2H they would have been HE.

My AT rifle on the left flank has come under fire from a axis mg bunker on the hill at the back of the map on my left.

The three conscript 122mm arty spotters, did a pre-planned to the valley on the russian right flank.

Turn Two:

One of the tanks has hit a mine and killed two of the crew. The rest are getting out. The axis have trenchs and mgs on the high ground on my right flank. The tanks have taken them under mg fire now, as well as several mgs and a few mortars. Put the rest on hide to keep their heads down until this problem is taken care of. This must be were the arty spotter is located as well.

The smoke is helping the russians on the right flank by blocking them from the enemy mg fire.

Turn Three:

Had the tanks start shooting HE at the two trenchs that have shown up with mg's in them. This made them duck down and disrupt their shooting.

Turn Four:

The pre-planned strike has finished now. The KV's move up a little more. The mg's in the trench both have their heads down, with a new sound marker showing up this turn.

Turn Five and Six:

The sound contact in the trenchs is a sniper. Tanks still hunting forward. His mg bunker shot at the AT rifles again, as they hurried forward a few meters and then hid. All the inf have been sneaking forward so as to move a few meters even while we wait for the trenchs to get taken care of.

lee Smile


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JASONC
Senior Tester

Member #3156
SUPPORTER
2008
Joined: Jan 2006
Ratings: 0 / 0 / 0
Discussions: 133
Post #1   6064 days, 9 hours, 12 minutes, 31 seconds ago        
Scenario discussion area for OK2E-Rendulic the Ready
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