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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.
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This Map is designed for Meeting engagements, it is set in a fictional City.
axis winterattack on a Russian City
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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
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JDR DRAGOON
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Post #8   5923 days, 7 hours, 13 minutes, 8 seconds ago        
Here is the comments of my adversary, albeit 2 months late:

Sorry I never responded to this. I had a great AAR to post, but the files got lost. :(

I agree that the Germans had the advantage. I had waaay too many toys to play with in this one. ;-)

I had predicted you were going to bring your armor (around 6-8 T34s) up your left side and use the wheat field flag as a perch from which to harrass my placements along the sunken road. Amazingly, that never happened...tho near the end you brought your armor up to the north of it and met disaster.

I strategically placed most of my units in the areas along the road, as it kept them safe from enemy LOS, and guaranteed first shot capabilities. This map reminded me alot of the 'Sunken Lane' map in the original CMBO. Similar theme and terrain.

I was quite impressed with all the reinforcements I kept receiving, which made me think you were getting more armor as well (not). I received some PzIIIs and a full-strength veteran pzgren platoon as late as turn 26-27, which I found to be 'overkill'.

Many of the halftracks were KOd before firing a shot....especially my flame HT positioned about 100m behind the northern most flag, as it took a direct mortar hit. OTOH, the armored cars all performed quite admirably, delaying the infantry first along the road, then blazed near the northern flag to prevent it from falling (even when their ammo was depleted - and as you mentioned...impervious to ATRs).


-"Needless to say, this set up favours the party with the longest ranged weapons and the tactical defensive (ie. the germans)."

Exactly, which is the problem I see with playing as the Soviets in some of these scenarios. Using the terrain to their advantage often means belly-crawling across open fields...which takes a frustratingly long amount of time.


-"With the benefit of hindsight (and knowing the german reinforcement schedule) I can now see, that I should have started to close in with my armor much earlier and more aggressively (using the 5 turn windown from turn
20 to 25). But since I only had those 3 T34s at that point and I didn´t know whether I was going to get more, I decided to await further developments instead."

Yes, I was wondering why you were playing so conservatively. As in the second scenario we played, it seemed your great mass of troops waited too long to advance properly. I think I even made a comment about you taking the town and the wheat field by turn 15 if you had just pressed an attack. But then my reinforcements would have caused a big showdown, and you wouldve been forced on the defensive.


-"Here are my suggestions as to what you could do to improve your play:
-You essentially wasted your powerful 75mm PAK. That thing is fully 1/3rd of
your long range AT firepower and it died without accomplishing anything. "

Yes, I agree. In hindsight I shouldve placed the gun on the northwestern hill and had a nice selection of side shots on your advancing armor.


-"You also fired off a lot of your mortar and artillery ammo to very little
effect apart from delaying me a few turns. "

Yes, my strategy was to delay as long as I could. I was thinking along the lines of the previous battle when you had two batallions marching at me. I knew that once your armor moved up to support the infantry, the town flag would fall quickly. Mortar and arty was dropped sporadically to delay and pin your advancement. I figured by the time they reached the town, they would be battered and prone to breaking under fire from my entrenched jager pltn.


-"Your bunker was very easily knocked out once spotted (and would still have
been even if I had only had my infantry heavy weapons to do it with). A more
enfilading position (hard to find on this map though) would probabaly have
been better. "

I thought the bunker placement was good. Spent alot of time on it. I wasnt expecting armor to be bold and come down the pavement. IIRC, it got off about 1/4 of its ammo and helped suppress your advancing infantry during its short lifespan. So not a total loss (unlike the gun).


-"You were very brash with your light armor. If the marginals had been
slightly more on my side, it would have cost you. "

Yes, I like using light armor aggressively with the Germans. It was a calculated risk, and it seemed to have paid off. I only sped my PzIIIs to the front when I was certain your AT capabilities were insignificant.


-"Your counterattack in the cornfield seems a bit premature to me. Only my
inferiority in armor prevented me from finishing off the remnanats of your
counterattack force terminally. AS it was, nixing these fellows was easily
one of my bigger sources of kill points (1 halftrack, a light tank and
2/3rds of a platoon)."

My early 'counterattack' was not as such, and was simply me reinforcing the position. I wasnt expecting your infantry to advance so quickly on that position. As stated before, I half-expected you to bring a pltn of armor up along the southern edge, utilizing the cover of the depression, and take the flag. Instead, a pltn of SMG infantry and a few ATRs showed up. The single 'split' squad that was originally assigned to defend the flag held out for an amazing amount of time on their own, testament to the tenacity of the German infantry.

I agree that the reinforcements were half-assed, but they were a response to the absence of advancing armor in that sector. I misjudged LOS, and believed that the 75mm HT and PzIIL (btw, what a rare unit to play!) would be more than enough to repel the infantry assaulting the position.


-"I often noticed your infantry firing at ranges where they were unlikely to
cause any real damage "

Yes, there were instances were I left infantry units without orders, so they opened fire at visible targets. Other times it was purposeful, and as the game progressed and time elapsed, I figured I could use it to supplement the other fire that was being unleashed on your men...as they obviously werent advancing as rapidly as I had predicted.


(modified 09/04/2008 02:19:40 by JDR Dragoon)
JDR DRAGOON
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Post #7   5960 days, 6 hours, 8 minutes, 37 seconds ago        
Quote:
Originally posted by: jasonc:

It sounds to me like your German opponent simply beat you fair and square by making better use of his long suits. With some help from what you yourself admit was poor luck on your part in the armor war, in the critical exchanges of fire.



Well, he did play well and I am willing to admit, that it might very well be a bad case of sour grapes and "Colonels fallacy" on my part. I still think that an extra 1-2 SU 76s for the soviets would be appropriate (alternatively 1-2 towed 76mms or a mix of an SU and a Gun). Either on map at start or arriving as reinforcements during turn 10-12. I still think it is quite a tall order to expect the soviets to close in and overcome a german player on the tactical defence with the odds being what they are (4:3 in the heavy long range AT department). Not impossible, but definetely difficult.

Quote:
It is generous to give them even a lone KV here, and meant to even the armor war.


Isn´t it also supposed to represent the fact that 1 GTC was still understrenght from its drubbing at the hands of Manstein during february and march (each Tank Brigade only having 2 battalions of the 43 Shtat variety). Thus the corps had several hvy tank regiments attached to make up the numbers (at least my available OOB information tells me so).











(modified 07/29/2008 03:24:11 by JDR Dragoon)
JASONC
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Post #6   5975 days, 21 hours, 29 minutes, 31 seconds ago        

I cannot agree with the thrust of your balance comments. It sounds to me like your German opponent simply beat you fair and square by making better use of his long suits. With some help from what you yourself admit was poor luck on your part in the armor war, in the critical exchanges of fire.

Yes the 70mm front Pz IIIs can bounce rounds at medium range. Many of their own will bounce from the T-34s though, as well. They have little APCR, and the short 75 one little HC. Moreover, the Russians have one KV-1S, which dominates all the IIIs utterly.

Yes the Germans also have 2 Panzer IVs which can kill anything, but they are in turn killable through the turret front at all ranges, and outnumbered on their own. Yes they also have a heavy PAK, but the Russians have massive on map mortar support to neutralize it quickly.

For the German armor to dominate, therefore, requires a quite skillful use of the IIIs and IVs, each for their longer suits, in taking fire and dishing it out, respectively. Your opponent clearly did this well, and he deserves massive advantages as a result.

Armor is the German side's only long suit. (Yes their individual infantry quality is also higher, but not be enough to make any decisive difference against the Russian's numbers). The Russians are superior in infantry, artillery, and time on the map for their better armor.

The operational situation being depicted is exactly that the German armor reserves were historically able to stop the Russians in open country, by the mechanism you experienced. The Russians were unable to get much out of their superior infantry numbers. They were late to use their main tank forces to break through, and that lateness allowed the German reserves to get to the back of the German defensive zone in time.

As for the Russians getting more KVs up front, no, they lost most of their supporting heavy tanks in the earlier fighting - over 60 KVs KOed on the first day of Kutuzov, east face, alone. It is generous to give them even a lone KV here, and meant to even the armor war.

I also think the SU-122 is underrated in your assessment, but that is a quibble.

The only balance items I would consider changing are -

more AP for the T-34s - which I deny are a big deal, 25 or so rounds each being sufficient, but I have no problem upping that to 33 or so each.

a few more MMGs with the second company.

possibly, a few more turns between the arrival of the T-34s and the arrival of the German panzer main body.

As for the usefulness of the last Russian infantry company, it depends on the state the Germans are in by that time. If they still have tanks with MGs covering the fields, sure they can slow them down. But they can also be double-timed right up the roadsides, if the Germans are weaker by the time they appear. The intended effect is that the Russian infantry manpower edge never disappears, no matter what has happened previously - but whether that matter is exactly suppose to turn on the armor war, previously.

As for the suppose invulnerability of the German lights to ATR fire, I think you underrate the skill required to always show only front facing, to potentially a dozen ATRs. If your opponent was able to keep his PSWs 300 meters or more from all your ATRs and facing each threat ATR with frontal arc only, then he "drove" quite well, and your ATRs didn't get to terribly useful positions. He fully deserves any benefit that gave him.

But your 45mm towed and your tanks could readily have torched his light armor anyway, and by your own account nearly did so - got some, and only luck saved others. Similarly, in the heavy armor war, you missed repeatedly in key passages and got poor behind armor effect in others.

So, um, just when are the Germans supposed to win? Their only long suit is armor, they drove well, your T-34s went cautious before his heavies arrived, your KV did nothing spectacular, he got your tanks pinging his IIIs while he IVs got kills, or cowering, and he got lucky in the duels to boot. If that isn't enough to win this as the Germans, nothing would be.
--------------------
JDR DRAGOON
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Post #5   5986 days, 14 hours, 14 minutes, 31 seconds ago        
And the final (couldn´t be bothered to transcribe the format from wordpad to this, so you will just have to live with the strang spacing)

With only a dozen turns or so left, my last company showed up

and I sent it straight forards towards the last point on the map wher I

might dredge up some VPs: the Gully to the north. Even though hurrying along

in a brazenly untactical way, they still barely managed to make contact by

games end. By their fire they did aid me in contesting the objective there

though

The game thus ended with most of my armour destroyed and the germans

possessing 2 large and 2 small V-flags. I got the single V-flag on the

hillock to the north and managed to contest the one in the gully.

Here are the points where I think I could have improved:

-With the benefit of hindsight (and knowing the german reinforcement

schedule) I can now see, that I should have started to close in with my

armor much earlier and more aggressively (using the 5 turn windown from turn

20 to 25). But since I only had those 3 T34s at that point and I didn´t know

whether I was going to get more, I decided to await further developments

instead.

-I should proabaly have used a rifle or mot. rifle platoon instead of the

SMGs for my attack against the trench in the cornfield.

Here are my suggestions as to what you could do to improve your play:

-You essentially wasted your powerful 75mm PAK. That thing is fully 1/3rd of

your long range AT firepower and it died without accomplishing anything. If

the armor confrontation had just gone slightly better in my favor, you might

have found yourself wanting the firepower of that gun. As the game went, it

was probably no biggie (although it scored me some nice kill points).

-You also fired off a lot of your mortar and artillery ammo to very little

effect apart from delaying me a few turns. In a long game like this it might

often pay off to leave a firepower reserve untill the finishing stages of

the game or untill an excellent target presents itself.

-Your bunker was very easily knocked out once spotted (and would still have

been even if I had only had my infantry heavy weapons to do it with). A more

enfilading position (hard to find on this map though) would probabaly have

been better.

-You were very brash with your light armor. If the marginals had been

slightly more on my side, it would have cost you.

-Your counterattack in the cornfield seems a bit premature to me. Only my

inferiority in armor prevented me from finishing off the remnanats of your

counterattack force terminally. AS it was, nixing these fellows was easily

one of my bigger sources of kill points (1 halftrack, a light tank and

2/3rds of a platoon).

-I often noticed your infantry firing at ranges where they were unlikely to

cause any real damage (200 meters and above against men in cover). IN the

end, this was not really important, if your tanks hadn´t been there, your

infantry would have needed that ammo to fend for their lives. I find the use

of a 125-175 meter cover arc appropriate form most forms of rifle/MG armed

infantry in order for them to better conserve their ammo untill when it

counts.


The scenario as such is balanced enogh points wise, but the german player

simply has too much of an edge in the armour war. MY proposed balancing

measures would be these:

-Change the ammo loadout on the soviet tanks to a 66% HE 33% AP mix instead

of the present 75% HE 25% AP.

-Delete the last arriving Green soviet infantry company and their attached

ATRs. They arrive too late to be of much use anyway and the soviet player

has enough infantry as it is already (if he can´t win with 9 platoon

equivalents against 5 german platoons, he won´t win with 12 either). That

frees up about 366 points for the russians to use in improving their

situation. I propose three solutions:

Solution 1: 63rd Army supports its forward formations with the remnants of

KV1 tanks and SU76 SP guns from Front Reserve and the lead rifles formations

are supported by additional towed AT units in a direct fire role. Add 1

Regular KV1S to the soviet forces starting on board (147 pts). Add 2 Regular

SU76s (128 pts) to the first batch of reinforcements on turn 10 or 12 (or

allow the SU 76s to start on board and let the KV 1 come on as a reserve).

The SU76s will be vulnerable to even the german armoured cars, but can punch

well above their weight with their 76mm guns. The correlation of "Hvy AT

killers" thus shifts to 7 vs 3 in the soviet favor, but 3 of the 8 soviet

systems will be eminently killable by every heavy weapon in the german

arsenal, including the 20mm armed ACs and the 75mm gun HT. In the overall AT

scheme, the correlation will shift to 9 soviet AT systems (plus ATRs/THs) vs

7 german ones (Plus Schreck/Infantry). A much more appropriate match imho.

Solution 2: 1st GTCs forward detachment is present in much greater strenght.

Add another platoon of Regular T34s (304 pts) to soviet OOB (sceheduled them

to appear around turn 32 or so). This will give a correlation of 7 "Hvy AT

killers" on the soviet side vs. 3 german (in this case all of the soviet

heavy hitters are immune to everything but german "long" 75mms at range).

The overall correlation will shift as per above (9 vs. 7). Due to the clear

superiority of the soviet armour in this scenario, this is my least

preferred solution.

Solution 3: 8th Panzer has rather fewer tanks than they would like, due to

the divisions Panzer Regiment only having a single battalion at the time.

Leave the soviets as is. Delete the two PZ III "Long" from the german OOB.

THis takes away the german players option to use these as "shield" and

"bait", but still leaves the german player with almost parity in "heavy"

guns (3:4 in soviet favor). It also means that even if the soviet player

still loses the armor war, the german player has less vehicles to use in

capitalizing on this windfall (this solution does go against the composition

of 8th Panzers strenght just before Kursk, according to which the majority

of vehicles should be PZ IIIs. 8th Panzer on the 5th of July 43: 17 Pz II,

25 Pz III kz, 30 Pz III lg, 4 Pz IIIn, 8 Pz IV kz, 14 Pz IV lg. Total 98

tanks.). Another possibility would be to reduce all german MK IIIs to 50mm

armor levels instead.

In a nutshell the german armor either needs "dumbing" down or the soviet

player needs more pieces to play with (so that he might conceivably form 2

groups of armor for instance, and use one in an outflanking move)

The soviet player might also benefit from 1-2 extra Maxim MMGs. Either as a

part of the initial setup or as part of the first batch of reinforcements

(around turn 10-12).

(modified 07/02/2008 19:18:17 by JDR Dragoon)
JDR DRAGOON
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Post #4   5986 days, 14 hours, 16 minutes, 11 seconds ago        
Here is the last part:

The german 75mm PAK might, or

might not, take out 1 or more of the T34s. 5 turns later the german main

body of armour arrives. A couple of turns after the german tanks show up the

remaining soviet armour puts in an appearance. The soviet player is now at a

disadvantage: The german player can both use the depression near he large V

-flag to the west as a safe haven for his armour from where he can control

most of the map AND dominate the soviet infantry at will with his

invulnerable MK IIIs (even Coax machineguns will pin Green infantry outright

at the 500-750 meter mark). The soviet player thus has to close in to the

500 meter mark in order to have a chance of getting his advance going again,

by destroying or scaring away the german armour and he has to do this

advance into the teeth of a german tactical defence (they start essentially

"on" the victory flags) at an overall disadvantage in points and numbers of

tanks and AT weapons and at 1:1 odds in heavy long range AT guns. THe soviet

player is also disadvantaged by the fact, that the ammo loadout of his tanks

is a 25/75% mix of AP/HE shells with the balance being HE. He thus cannot

afford to engage in long range gunnery duels from an ammunition POW. About

12-14 turns before the game ends another green infantry company shows up,

but its effect is marginal due to the time it takes to march it into action.

MY plan was centered around the fact that I started the game with a single

green infantry company plus support. I knew for certain I would get another

Coy within 10 minutes or so. I didn´t have the infantry strenght to try an

advance in the open country to the north, so I settled for a company attack

in column, straight up the road, scouting detail in front, 1 platoon on each

side of the road and coy HQ w. lt. mortars and 2 extra squads trailing. A ½

platoon ran flank security to the south while aiming for the small v-flag in

the cornfield. Heavy wepons (including AT gun and the FO) were set up on

both sides of the road in cover, where they could support against either the

village or the open terrain on both its sides. I didn´t really know what the

german force might be (I was expecting tanks at some point though), so I

chose to keep my options open. I plotted The 132mm Rocket FO and one of the

122mm FOs on the central village timed to fire "wide" at the start of turn

2. I plotted the remaining 122mm gun spotter on the forest to the north of

the westernmost V-flag and set him to commence firing "wide" around turn 20

or so, figuring that I would be in firefight range when the barrage let up

around turn 25 if all was going well. So my merry men set off and a turn

later the shells and rockets started to demolish the (supposedly) german

held village, raouting some infantry which were taken under fire by my

Maxims in order to prevent rally (finally an opening barrage that

accomplishes something!). During this approach march I started to take some

ineffective ranged fire from mortars, 105mm artillery fired as harassment

fire and machineguns (mere sound contacts) that delayed my troops somewhat

and caused a few losses but didn´t stop them. Around turn 10 my troops were

nearing the outskirts of the village, and the scouting patrol had discovered

an occupied enemy trench smack on top of the small v-flag in the cornfield.

I began to concentrate heavy weapons fire (mortars, MGs, Sniper and an

infantry platoon supporting by fire), which allowed my infantry ½ platoon

advancing on that axis to eventually take the trench and the flag. MY

reinforcing company started to arrive. Since the platoon leaders of this

company was pretty naff, I chose to give most of their squads to the Coy Hq

and send it, the mortars and the sole good platoon up along the road as

well, hoping to exploit further onwards when my first company ran out of

ammo and men. Of the two ½ platoons left of this company, I sent one (plus 2

ATRs) to hold the hill w. small v.flag close to my start line (and hopefully

use it as a base of fire for the ATRs and any further heavy weapons I might

get). THe last 1 platoon was sent scouting towards the brush lined gully to

the north, hoping to secure the v-flag there.

MY lead company had now reached the outskirts of the village, and I was

preparing to deliver my deliberate assault against the forces within

(apparently the rest of your initial platoon as I was later to discover).

Then the german lt. armor showed up and proceeded to pin down my infantry

with fire from a distance of 500-750 meters. I didn´t lose many men, but a

pin is a pin. I happily started to bang away with my ATRs (only later was I

to discover that your ACs were the 30mm armoured variety and thus

invulnerable to ATR fire fired from more than 250 metres away). The 45mm gun

also joined in, but amazingly failed to hit with even one shot and the ACs

retreated to keyhole positions where they could still target my infantry,

but the gun couldn´t target them. Part of the german force (later discovered

to be the PZ II, the 75mm gun Halftrack and a platoon of recon infantry)

then started a counterattack through the cornfield, aiming towards the small

v-fag and the newly conquered trench. The 45mm AT un managed to hit the

flank of the PZ II a couple of times as it raced in to position, but the

german clunker just shrugged it off. After a short firefight they booted out

my ½ platoon, although losing the halftrack in the proces to a combination

of ATR fire and 82mm mortars. The recon infantry was also pretty badly

mauled. As this was going on, my T34s showed up. THey drove up the road and

immediately spotted and engaged a bunker down the road, knocking it out.

They then began a firefight at the 1000 meter mark against a german MK III

at the oposite end of the road. Since I quickly discovered they couldn´t

penetrate, I sent the T34s back in to defilade and then turned left,

intending to use them to maul the german counterattack. This they did,

promptly brewing up the PZ II and mauling the recon infantry some more. They

also managed to hit one of the ACs, but amazingly it just shrugged off the

penetration

BUt just as the recon infantry was about to be evicted by the T34s fire,

more german tanks were spotted taking up positions in the distance. MY T34s

were now decidedly outnumbered by a number of gun armed unspecified enemy

tanks, so they withdrew down in to defilade. AS they did so, one german

vehicle identified as a "light tank" actually proved to be a MK IV. It fired

succesfully from more than 1000 meters through scattered trees and hit with

its first round. Scratch one T34. MY remaining tanks had less than 20 AP

rounds left each, so a long range gun duel was out of the question, since I

didn´t have the ammo to spend to ensure succes. AS this was going on, the

rest of the german armor was pinning and area firing my infantry into pinned

and panic status causing them to congeal around pieces of cover. German

artillery then came down again, but concentrated this time. The company HQ

of the lead company (w. +2 morale bonus) copped it quickly with no

survivors, as the shellhole it was hiding in took a direct hit. Pandemonium

then set in, with men fleeing through the shellfire as they broke pursued by

fire. As the smoke lifted, 2 platoons had been cut in half and the lead

company had decisively stalled. The 2nd company following moved up as the

shellfire stopped and prepared to continue, but was in turn pinned by fire

on the outskirts of the village. MY remaining armor reinforcements (plus the

infantry accompanying them) then arrived.


I now had to do something radical in order to get the offensive rolling

again against the superior numbers of the german tanks. I thus had no other

option left but to try and get my armor into range to firefight the german

tanks effectively. THis would entail closing to 500 meters or closer, both

in order to be sure of knocking out the MK IIIs and in order to conserve AP

ammo. I ordered a smokescreen laid by one of the 76mm batteries and ordered

my tanks to advance in a tight formation to the left of the road, passing

through the brush covered piece of land between the village and the

cornfield to the south. THe SU 122 would meanwhile begin shooting up the

germans in the village and the cornfield in preparation for my attack to

continue. The smoke started to fall and the tanks started to roll. As they

did so, they spotted a german "gun" in a trench to the west (I don´t know if

it opened fire or if they just saw it). This was quickly despatched by

concentrated mortar fire. AS the smoke started to lift, my tanks were at

ranges of between 600-500 meters from the german tanks and commneced firing.

While the MK IIIs had taken up hull down positions in the "bowl" near the

westernmost large v-flag and proceeded to soak up my fire, the MK IVs

started to do shoot n´ scoots from within the bowl at my distracted tanks.

Rotten luck then began to set in. First of all, I failed to penetrate even

one of the MK IIIs, even at 500 meters. All shots bounced. I even failed to

knock out one of the scooting MK IVs, although I landed two hits on it (one

glanced off the upper hull, another hit the gun but failed to dent it). This

cat and mouse game continued for a few turns, untill the MK IIIS had

exhausted their AP ammo supply and withdrew. MY tanks now had single digit

numbers of AP shells left. The MK IVs then advanced into full view. Rotten

luck then set in again. My KV 1 fired ½ dozen shot at one without even

hitting, despite being stationary. Needless to say it got taken out for its

troubles. The last 2 T34s went in pretty much the same way, even though they

were stationary and getting off the first shot against the moving germans.

AS this was going on, the SU 122 supported attack by 1½ platoon against the

deplted recon platoon around the v-flag in the cornfield failed. Despite

being pelted with 122mm shells and the fire of a platoon firing from the

flank, the germans remained up and firing (I suspect they were fanatic) and

thus cut down the attacking SMG platoon. With the loss of the last T34, the

SU 122 was forced to skulk out of view of the german tanks, which then

proceeded to charge into the village, firing all around with their coax guns

and collapsing houses with their main guns. Most of the german infantry

further back charged along with them, but I had been saving my 120mm FO for

just such an occasion and proceeded to drizzle in forty fat shells. This

decimated two german platoons and served to uphold at least a shred of my

honour. Meanwhile the german tanks drove off my infantry and proceeded to

camp on the large V-flag in the village. To add insult to injury, my 45mm AT

gun was smashed by 20mm autocannon fire from 750 meters away as it was

positioning itself for a flank shot at the german tanks.

AS this was going on, my ½ platoon probe in the gully to the north had run

into opposition near the v-flag in the gully. I sent the other ½ platoon

down to help them out and also proceeded to support them with a 76mm battery

(which managed to knock out the lurking flamethrower halftrack with a top

penetration!).
(modified 07/02/2008 19:16:07 by JDR Dragoon)

(modified 07/02/2008 19:16:37 by JDR Dragoon)
JDR DRAGOON
Junior Tester

Member #2429
Joined: Aug 2005
Ratings: 0 / 0 / 0
Discussions: 62
Post #3   5986 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes, 50 seconds ago        
OUTCOME:Tactical Defeat
STATISTICS:
Axis
Allied
Player Name:
Him
Me
Experience Bonus:
0
0
Play Balance:
0
0
Men OK
195
408
Tot. Casualties
93
156
Men KIA
30
44
Men Captured
0
0
Mortars Dest.
1
0
Guns Dest.
1
1
Pillboxes Dest.
1
0
Vehicles Dest.
3
4
Aircraft Dest.
0
0
POINTS:
Axis
Allied
Flags Held:
800
100
Enemy Casualties:
1064
875
Prisoners Taken:
0
0
Exited Troops:
0
0
Scenario Bonus:
0
0
FINAL SCORE:
66%
34%

Well, that went rather less well than I could have hoped for....

This was essentially another meeting engagement, with both sides essentially escalating as the scenario goes on. It is probably balanced enough on pure points, but the german has an undeniable advantage due to their superior armour (in quality and points, but not in pure numbers). In the end this was my undoing, since the german armour could take up a tactically defensive Stance while I had to close in with my 76mm armed vehicles in order to be effective against the 70mm fronts. I think this scenario (like the preceeding one) needs some pro-soviet adjustment in order to work. But more about that later.

The terrain was essentially open. Both the eastern (my start line) and western (your start line, w. 1 large and 1 small V-Flag) ends were dominated by forests. Between these points lay a tree lined road with a village (w. another Large V-Flag) placed almosT equidistant from both table edges. To the south of the village lay a cornfiled (w. another small v-flag) and to the north of the village, running parallel to the road, was a brush covered gully (w. small v-falg) running between the german table edge and a small hillock close to the soviet table edge (also with a v.-flag). Apart from the gully, the trees along the road, the village and either table edge, the map contained precious little cover for either infantry or armor. Needless to say, this set up favours the party with the longest ranged weapons and the tactical defensive (ie. the germans).

Game lenght seems OK. It gives enough time for the soviet player to develop his attack slowly, rallying through the fire thrown at him, and for the german player to respond and develop his own counterattacks.

The soviet force consisted of a Green Infantry Battalion (3 companies of 3 platoons each plus a lt. mortar section and an ATR section of 2 rifles) with only a part of its Heavy weapons company present (3 82mm Mortars plus 2 Maxim MGs, a 45mm AT gun). This force was supported by 2 76mm Regular FOs (for plotted fire during the game) and 2 122mm plus 1 132mm Rocket Fo (Conscripts, for preplanned fire). Only 1 Infantry company plus the reduced heavy weapons company and all the FO´s minus one 76mm FO was present at start, with the rest appearing later (One company plus remaining FO around turn 10-12 and the rest around Turn 36-38). Also making an appearance is the Advanced element of the 1st Guards Tank Corps. In order of appearance: Platoon of 3 Regular T34s w. Veteran SMG riders (Turn 20) plus a KV1S, an SU 122 SP Gun, a Platoon of Mot. Infantry and a Platoon of engineers, a brace of ATRs plus a 120mm mortar FO (all regular except for the ATRs which were Vet, arrived around turn 28). THe russian force is thus a bit of a
"bastard": a castrated infantry battalion without its heavy weapons supported by a mini detachment of armor.

The german side intially consisted of a very depleted infantry company (1 platoon plus 2 MG42s, 1 MG bunker and a mortar)
supported by a 75mm PAK and a 105mm FO (all regular except for the MGs which were vets). Enough trenches were present to dig everybody in properly. oN turn 14 the vanguard of the 8th panzer arrived. This consists of a platoon of Pz Recon infantry, a Section of SPW 232s and a single PZ II. All are Vet except for the SPWs. On turn 16 the last of the vanguard arriveS. This consist of 1 Pioneer platoon (including flamethrowers), 1 PZ III "Short" (w. 70mm armor though) and 2 armed Halftracks (1 "short" 75mm and 1 Flamethrower). The mainbody arrives on turn 25. THis being 2 MK IV "longs", 2 MK III "Longs" (w. 70mm armor). 1 Pz Grenader platoon plus a PzSchreck (all Veterans!). On 27 the last of the main body arrives, consisting of Company Hq (vet), 1 PzGrnd Platoon (reg), 2 MG 42s (vet) an 81mm MT (reg) and a 105mm FO (vet). The "bastard" element of the german force is less visible, with only the starting infantry force being "odd men out". The german Panzer battlegroup was well equipped and self sufficient in its own right and unlike their soviet counterparts, could have fought and won the battle on their own.

The overall correlation of forces is thus one of soviet numerical
superiority in infantry (12 platoons to 5) but overall inferiority in
quality (9 out of 12 soviet platoons are "Green"). Points wise the
correlation is 1.7 to 1 in the soviet favor (Green soviets are cheap...). In the support weapon category, the germans lead in machineguns (5 to 2, one of them in a bunker). Soviets have the edge in mortars (3 82mm plus ½ dozen 50mm vs. 2 german 81mm). In the infantry AT department the edge also goes to
the germans (1 75mm Pak plus veteran Schreck vs. 1 Green 45mm and about 8 ATRs and a few THs). The german have the overall quality edge again, but points wise it´s pretty equal (408 vs. 409 in soviet favor). Artillerywise, the number of tubes were heavily in soviet favor w. 6 FOs (4 heavy 2 light) against 2 heavy german FOs. THis was curtailed somewhat by the fact, that 3 out of 4 of the heavy FOs were Conscript quality meant for preplotted fire. The two parties were thus almost equal in the reactive artillery department (240 soviet shells, 200 of them light 76mm in 3 FOs vs 120 german 105mm in 2 FOs), with the german FOs being of marginally higher quality and throwing only half as many (but heavier) shells as their russian counterparts. Points wise the score here was 1.6:1 in favor of the soviets, but if we count only the reactive modules, the points ratio favors the germans (344 vs. 276 or 1.25:1 in german favour). IN the AFV department, the straight numbers count favors the germans. They have five MBTs (3 MK IIIs and 2 MK IVs) plus some lt. armor (a halftrack w. a 75mm "short" gun) and a 75mm PAK against 4 soviet MBTs (3 T34s and a KV), a 122mm SP Gun and plus a 45mm AT gun. Both
sides also have some infantry AT weapons (Schreck plus an oodle of asserted magnetic mines and grenade bundles for the german infantry. 8 ATRs and a few THs plus MOlotovs for the soviets), only usable at short ranges. This gives a german superiority in long range AT systems of 7:6.A lot of those long
range systems on both sides are pretty marginal though (the german 75mm
"Short" gun essentially needs flank shots against opposite MBTs. The same is true of the soviet 45mm and german 50mm "short", unless very close (below 500 meters) and using APCR ammo. The soviet SU 122 is also pretty marginal in this department. Its HEAT ammo will kill a Tiger, but its accuracy is abysmal at anything but point blank). The german PZ IIIs w. "long" 50mm guns are an intermediate category. Using APCR, they will reliably penetrate the turret of T34s out to at least 500 meters. Due to the games very generous modelling of german layered armour, they and their 70mm armoured fronts are essentially immune to the soviet 76mm gun above 500 meters range. IN order For the MK IIIS to be effective and for the soviets to have any chance of
knocking them out, both sides need to advance to within qt least 500 meters of each other. The straight up count of "heavy hitters" thus slightly favors the soviet player, who has 4 MBTs capable of killing every german tank at 1000 meters (with exception of the MK IIIs). The germans in turn have 3 weapon systems capable of knocking them out at the equivalent range (2 MK IVs and a single 75mm PAK). The german players MBTs are qualitatively better though, giving them the advantage in any long range gun duel (both the MK IVs are Veteran as are the MK III Longs) which means that the odds are more like 1:1 in the long range heavy hitter department. The german player also
have the advantage in overall points in the armor category at 688 points vs. the soviet 563 (1.2:1 odds). The german player also have some lt armor (2 ACs w. 20mm guns, 1 PZ II w. 20mm gun, 1 flamethrower halftrack) only usable against soviet infantry and lt. armor (the latter of which none were present) and frontally vulnerable to every soviet weapon heavier than an ATR
(and the halftracks are even vulnerable to those). The overall points Correlation slightly favors the soviets (2650 vs. 2509 in soviet favor) but is probably close to even all things considered.

THis sets up a game of "ping-pong" as each sides force introduces a new

element in order to gain the advantage. The soviets start out with the

advantage (1 company plus heavy weapons vs. 1 entrenched german platoon with

heavy weapons) and gets another company after the first 10-12 turns. The

soviet player thus has enough forces (even of brittle green troops) to close

with and overcome the intial german force. THe arrival of german lt. armor

around turn 15 will stall the soviet infantry advance (only the 45mm AT gun

can reliable knock out the ACs and lt. tanks at ranges above 250 meters).

The german lt. armor will have dominance over the soviet infantry for a few

turns untill the arrival of the T34s on turn 20, which should send the

german "lights" that manage to survive scurrying for cover, allowing the

soviet infantry to begin advancing again.

(modified 07/02/2008 19:13:58 by JDR Dragoon)
LEEW
Junior Tester

Member #5800
Joined: Jan 2007
Ratings: 0 / 0 / 0
Discussions: 58
Post #2   6237 days, 14 hours, 40 minutes, 21 seconds ago        
Played this against the Axis AI with a +2 CEB.

This one was a tough go. The Axis AI did good with it's arty and stopped my advance twice by routing the lead platoons.

It felt like the forces were pretty even, but the burden was on the russians to take the flags and with green infantry to start with, it is a slow go. Got a few regulars later on towards the end and they can take more punishment.

I didn't do well in the armor battle and had to replay a couple turns, just to be able to finish the attack.

Should make a really interesting H2H game.

lee Smile

--------------------
JASONC
Senior Tester

Member #3156
SUPPORTER
2008
Joined: Jan 2006
Ratings: 0 / 0 / 0
Discussions: 133
Post #1   6268 days, 15 hours, 50 minutes, 54 seconds ago        
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