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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
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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
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MAD RUSSIAN
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Post #1   7274 days, 15 hours, 32 minutes, 18 seconds ago           

Scenario Building Tips
Maps
By Steve "Mad Russian" Overton



Making maps for me is a serious business. I feel if the map is bad the scenario will be bad too. So I often put as much time into making my maps as I do in any other part of the scenario building process except research and a lot of my research goes into my map building.

Enough talk, let's get started working on a map.


Location:

I only do scenarios based on historical events. So for me a location is a given when I start. I know where the fight took place at least within 50 miles. As I will explain later, that can be close enough.

The first thing I do is try to find ANY photo references to the area in question the more detailed the better. I prefer a battle map, but if that isn't available a search through Mapquest.com will usually give me some kind of an overall idea of the battlefield layout.

Once I have the battle site I have to determine the size of the fight. For me, smaller is better. I like smaller fights, not that I haven't done, or won't do, larger fights, but smaller is definitely better.

A quick look at the documentation on the fight often gives you an idea of the size you are looking for.

If for instance the text says. " we worked out way to within 500 meters of the enemy positions before the attack began." You know that you have a position that needs at least a 30 meter buffer around it. Add another 200 meters for deployment room and you have a 700 meters deep battle.

But how wide do we want to make the map? If the battle is 700 meters in depth usually at least a 1:1 ratio of height to depth works out. You want enough room for the attacker to maneuver, unless, there is a reason, for them not to have that room. Some terrain reasons for restricted space are; streams, gullies, cliffs, forests, etc?

In our example we are assuming a normal terrain layout so we now have a map of 500 x 500 meters. The editor won't give you exactly 500 meters per side, so, you decide which setting fits your fight the best. Once you have a map size (whatever your map size may be for the fight you are working on) then it is time to draw the map.

My next consideration is how much fighting has previously been done in this area. If there has been fighting here previously, I go to the Generate a Random Map button, and enter that section. You can choose any number of options here: Map Type, Tree Coverage, Hilliness and Damage.

The only option I use is Damage. The options for the map damage are: none, light, medium, heavy, and massive. Depending on how much fighting has already occurred in the area determines which of these settings I will select. Usually that is anything from light to heavy. I reserve massive damage for areas that have been in combat for months or subjected to extremely heavy fighting. Once I have selected the battle damage I select okay.
Now that I have a computer generated a map, I wipe it clean of terrain and elevations. What I am left with, is a blank, battle damaged map.


Template:

I save the scenario at this point and leave CM. It's time to make a template for my map. I go to mapquest.com and open it. I ask for maps, go to the country in question, ask for the town or village and see what the site tells me. Sometimes, especially in Russia, you won't find out much. You may have to keep going to larger and larger towns that are close by to get to the correct area of the country that you are looking for. Use the zoom and centering keys on and around the mapquest map to do this. After a couple of times this will become second nature to you. Once I have the area I zoom down to the level I want which is normally at the 200 meter level on the scale bar. I save the picture to a file so if I need the picture later I don't have to go through all of these steps to get it. I also take pictures of the two zoom levels above this one to allow me to see where roads and rivers go for use in making map labels.

Once I have the map level set at 200 meters zoom I get a clean piece of paper lay it on the map scale. I mark out the correct size of the map down two sides and connect them in the middle. Then I cut out my template. Now I have a template the same size as the map I have in CM. I move the map around on the screen to a spot that allows me to lay my template over it and draw the road net and river lines on it. Trees, buildings, ravines, hills, orchards, all go on the template. I read the text carefully looking for any map details that I can use to personalize the template with.

The same process can be done with any map that has a scale on it.

I mark the map scale to my template so that I can see where everything is in 100 meter increments. The CM map is made up of 20 meter blocks. These are surrounded in a yellow border of 100 meter increments. That is why I try to wok on 100 meter map scales.

Now, I go back to CM and open my scenario, I simply transfer what I know about the actual terrain, to my CM map. Once, I am finished, I have painted a picture of the battle area. All the areas of our map are what I call blank spots and we will get to those in a minute.

Now it is time to put in my elevation. I should know where the major hills are if there are any in the area. I put those in. If the terrain is rolling hills but nothing special I put a few hills in at plus two levels to whatever level I am making the flat land. I usually use the default of level 7 as flat. So gentle hills would be at 8-9 level. I usually put a very small hilltop at 10. Somewhere, here in our battle area, there is a hill that will be higher than the others. I like saddles and ridgelines in my scenarios so I put them as well. I let the terrain speak for itself. If you have the capability of knowing what type of terrain is in the area it helps to fill in those blank spots in the picture.

Take a look at your map and try to "see" the battlefield. Rarely will you get a map that shows you every detail. All the trees, buildings, ponds, fences and changes in elevation. I have never seen a map like that yet. So you are going to get to make that map yourself. The reality of any battle, no matter how historically accurate you make, it is that there are thousands upon thousands of details you will never know. So don't sweat it. Do the best you can. After all this is for fun not torture.

After getting all the details, that I know go on the map, I apply elevation. If there are hills, streams, draw or any other terrain feature that has an elevation difference other than level I put them in. If there aren't I start looking for elevation features that should be there. That you know are there whether you are standing there looking at it or not.


Elevation:

Here is what I know about elevation on the surface of the earth. It comes in folds, bumps and dips.

1. Folds like mountains, ridges, valleys, and draws.

Mountains are natures largest upward fold. They have a smaller cousin that are ridges. Either of these can be of any size on your map. You need to size them according to the battle at hand. Obviously you aren't going to put a mountain in the middle of Normandy. The highest elevation around was Hill 112. Not Mountain 112. So for certain areas a mountain would be out of place. There are plenty of references in the Normandy fighting that mention ridges though. In Germany, Italy, Russia and parts of Africa there are real mountains and they are hard to model. Ridges can be anything from a three of four block link of higher elevation that is one block wide, to a string that goes across your entire map and ten or more blocks wide. Normally, as a rule of thumb, my ridges are considerably smaller than whatever hills I have on the map.

Valleys and draws are the reverse of higher elevation folds. They are lower elevation folds. Normally, these types of elevations are less extreme than the higher elevation ones are.

Where you are going to find one you are going to find the other one. That is what makes folds. A series of elevations that are higher and lower one after another. Or along side one another or in some combination to each other. Bumps are hills. Hills come in varying sizes. Once again you need to fit the size of your hills to the area you are fighting in. There are no hills dominating the terrain in the Russian steppes like Hill 112 does around Caen.
Everyplace on earth has hills. You put them where you need them. For instance. I have a map and the road comes out of town and makes a bend to the right and then back to the left. Why? There is a reason. People are busy. They didn't just go out there and build that road with bends in it because they were bored. Something made that road take a bend. If you don't know what it is then you get to put something there. BUT you HAVE to put something there. You can't just leave the bend in the road for no reason. Maybe the bend in the road goes over a saddle between two hills. (A saddle is a low spot between two hills but still higher than the surrounding countryside.)


2. Pockets are dips in the ground. A place that the ground is just below the level of the surrounding terrain. If you ever go out and look at a section of ground and lay down you will see these pockets. They are anything from a large depression to a very subtle dip in the earth. These are used just as bumps in reverse.
3. Combinations. I work in combinations. For instance, let's say we are going to do a battle that covers fighting around Hill 112 near Caen, France. The terrain will be on the rise in that area so I will have at least one side of my map (probably the south side of the map since the British and Canadian forces landed on the north shore) rising. Around it will be smaller ridges radiating from the hill. You may not have any idea of where they actually are but you know that they are there. That is the way the earth is formed. Hills have small ridges going up their sides. Around the base of the hill there are more than likely other smaller hills or just a small bump. There will also be small depressions. So the key to the whole thing is to scatter your elevation changes in a rationale but random manner over your map. This will give the troops places to hide LOS/LOF (line of sight/line of fire) advantages and disadvantages over the face of the map and give it a personality. A map that takes place in Normandy, North Africa, the Bulge, near Kharkov, all have one thing in common, they are a local unto themselves, and the fighting there will often be like no other, anywhere else on earth.



Painting in the Details:


Now that we have our road net, rivers and hills and valleys in it is time to fill in the blank spaces. I am not a big fan of open maps with nothing on them. I don't see that in nature. I see weeds, or brush in fields, I see scattered trees or tall grass. There is cover there, if you look for it, and if somebody is shooting at you you'll be looking for it.

I want to know where I am fighting, so, I get as many photos of the areas as I can get my hands on. The public library has books on places from all over the world so you have no excuse for not seeing what the place looks like. The internet is also full of pictures go to the travel sites and look up the areas. Some get very specific and have maps of the area.

Now that I know what I am looking at I begin filling in the blank spots. Or painting in the details.

1. Buildings:

It depends on which part of the world you are fighting in what kind of buildings you have available to you for use on your map. In Russia you have everything from peasant houses to factories. In Africa, Italy and NW Europe single family homes to multi-level houses. There are large buildings and small. The one thing that doesn't change no matter where you are in the world is a church.

There are normally buildings scattered along roads or through the countryside. I have made scenarios without any buildings but normally I will have at least one or two. A farmstead of some sort. Or a church on the hill. That sort of thing.


If your battle takes place in town then you are going to do a town. Building by building. You are going to construct this town a tile at a time. If you can get the street diagram from Mapquest.com that will help tremendously. Of course there are things you can't do in CM. You will have a hard time making a traffic circle, the fences around the house takes up more area than the house, etc. But that's okay. Don't sweat it. Do your best.


A Town:

If you are doing a town there are several things to remember.

Lay out your streets first. Do not make a town that is square! Ever seen the street layout of the town you live in? I'll bet it isn't square. If you can get the street layout off the internet for your battle fine. If you can't that's fine too. Make a street layout where the streets run along and make bends and splits.

Set your buildings to match the streets. Here you are free to place buildings any way you like. As long as they don't have a building edge sitting out in the street. There is usually no rhyme or reason to the way that towns are constructed so yours will look realistic if it portrays that same effect. The houses are normally along the road but not always.

Everybody likes privacy. If the town has space for it there MUST be fences around the yards. Also, most European homes have small gardens in the back. Use the crop tile for a garden plot. Fences can be made out of whatever tiles are available BUT you should keep in mind where the fighting is taking place. I wouldn't make stone fences for a Ukrainian village. Where are they going to get the stones from? A fence from hedges yes, a fence from stones no. In France and Italy I would use exactly the opposite. A hedge fence maybe but a stone fence more than likely. Stone fences absolutely must go around the larger houses. These people have money and they will want a stone fence around their house.


2. Trees:

Is this area forested? Fine we use quite a few woods and pine tiles on our map. One thing you should know is that most of Europe equates to a location in North America somewhere in Canada. That means pine trees are found almost everywhere. The further north your battles take place the more pine trees you should have.

There are some impenetrable forests in the world. Most are in Russia and Finland. The forest should have open spots and scattered tree trails through it and around the outside. There are few stands of trees that you couldn't drive a tank into the edge of for some type of cover.

If the terrain has some trees but not a solid forest as do most places on earth other than the Ukraine and parts of Africa, then you should scatter trees across the map in a random but controlled manner. By that I mean that hilltops and the bottoms of draws should have some sort of trees but not a grouping of 4 pine tree tiles each. Also link groups of thicker trees with scattered trees. It takes a real patch of trees to stop a tank. That is what we are looking at here LOS/LOF and the ability of armor to traverse the terrain. If there are no vehicles in the game you don't need to worry about making terrain traps. (A terrain trap is a place that, a vehicle can get caught in and not get out of, on the map.)

There are few places on earth that have no trees. Above tree line on mountains is one of them. The Ukraine is not. There are trees in the Ukraine. Sometimes in the form of orchards sometimes just a few trees on a hill. I have put a tree in the middle of a crop field before.

In all parts of the world rural roads are tree lined. Make sure that yours are too. City streets are lined with trees too. Use the scattered tree tile for that too. I use scattered trees for secondary roads in a village as well. Most of them are little better than dirt lined wagon ruts. I also use scattered trees for dirt lined wagon ruts in the country. Not everybody agrees on the use of scattered trees to show rural roads, but this is my guide, and that is the way I use them. See what works best for you, what you think looks right, and reacts right in the game, then go with that.

Orchards are a very specialized form of trees. I have used just plain scattered trees for most of the orchards I have created. I wasn't happy with the resulting LOS/LOF/movement issues, that simply using scattered trees, caused. LOS/LOF was uniform in all directions and movement wasn't slowed any more than if I was moving through small scattered trees of any kind. Go figure. So I began experimenting with different layouts for orchards and what I came up with that works the best for me is a checkerboard. You put a scattered tree tile, and then a woods tile. This is alternated across the area that I want to portray as an orchard. In the next row the tiles are alternated. That means that if the square above it has a woods tile in it this square gets a scattered tree tile. The resulting pattern of every other one being woods/scattered trees looks like a checkerboard. The results to game play are interesting. The LOS/LOF is now very unpredictable through the trees, movement is not as fast as it was but you can move through the orchard.


Water:

Most of the earth's surface is covered in water. It just goes without saying that water will be somewhere close by in Europe, Italy or Russia. It may not be close enough to make it into your battle but it will be close. Africa is the exception to the rule there may not be water anywhere near your battle there.

Availability of water is a prime consideration. The factors that determine availability are:

1. Season - Is it the rainy season? That can make a big difference.

2. Location - Are we in Russia, on the steppes of the Ukraine, or up near the Baltic Sea, in the swampy northern forests? Are we around St. Lo in France in August or at Carentan near the coast in June?

3. Once you determine if water is available you have to see if it affects your scenario. Obviously if there is a river in the battle area that impacts it. You are going to get to put a river in your battle. Otherwise is there a pond or small lake on the map? Is the area prone to flooding in the low spots, where there may be a dry bridge at the moment? Or a small stream that has many fords to show shallow water?

4. Russian rivers have a peculiar feature to them. ALL major Russian rivers have banks that are higher on the west bank than the east bank. I have found this statement on several occasions while doing research.

The river or stream may be either deep or shallow. If it is deep it will not allow crossing except at bridges or fords. A shallow steam can be crossed at almost any spot and this can be created by using the ford tiles.


Roads:

There are only two types of roads in the editor that you can add to the map. They are paved and dirt roads. I use scattered trees to show farmers lanes on my maps as well.
You have to determine if the roads are paved, dirt or farm tracks.

1. Paved roads in Europe in the 1940's were rare. Cobble stoned streets would count as a paved road for my maps. I only use paved roads sparingly. The more I read and do research the more amazed I am at how rare paved roads were. Especially in Russia. I read somewhere that there were only four paved roads leading east from the border into Russia.

2. Dirt roads are the normal road in Europe during the time periods we are portraying in CM. At the least there is more than likely a single paved road with numerous dirt roads leading off of it.

3. Farm lanes are the small one lane wagon ruts you find in the country where the farmer drives his wagon to and from his fields. These are found between fields and I often use these for the streets in small villages.


Railroads:

Railroads are usually built up higher than the surrounding terrain. This is because they want them to be above whatever water is in the area. In the Ukraine the railroad embankments are often 10 to 20 feet above the surrounding countryside.

When a railroad is going across a large hill or larger terrain feature it may go through below the level of the hill. This is called a cut and it is designed to keep the tracks as level as possible.


Bridges/Fords:

Bridges go over water if the road goes over. A ford can be a useful tool instead of a bridge at a dirt road crossing of a river or stream.


Eye Candy:

The rest of the map making process for me entails putting on the eye candy. Or the detail work if you will.


Fences:

Fences are a continuos enclosure of a particular area. Fences are not a wall. A wall is a single line between two points. It doesn't have to be a straight line but it is not a complete enclosure of an area like a fence is. I see lot's of walls in CM scenarios. That puzzles me because you see walls in the real world only rarely. Either way there must be a reason that the fence or wall is there.

1. People around the world like their privacy. They put up fences. So fences are a must if you have buildings.


2. Farmers plant their crops for a living. They don't want all of their hard earned work eaten by just anything that can walk into their fields. So all crops have fences.

3. Walls are normally something I put between buildings along a road or between to stands of trees. Somewhere that a fence is not needed but that also separates an area. Why would you put a single wall in an open ground area that is attached to nothing? Why would any real person build such a structure?


Ponds:

Most farmers want water on their land. They will usually make a pond if they don't have one. Not always, but it is a little extra that you can throw in, that will look like it belongs to the setting. If the area receives a lot of rainfall there could be more than one pond on the map.


Rubble/Fire:

This is different than the amount of damage that I set for the map in the beginning but it goes hand in hand with it. The more damaged the area, the more damaged and rubbled, the buildings in the area.

Fire is a recent event item. You wouldn't have a fire in an area that hasn't had combat in it over the last couple of hours. Nobody is going let a fire burn. You can and should make some of your rubble burn too. Not just full buildings burn but collapsed ones do too. Just place a rubble tile and then put a burning tile on top of it.


Country Church or graveyard:

I can't stress enough the presence of churches small or large in your scenarios. The lone church on the hill or the cemetery on the hill adds to the character of your work. It also gives the scenario something to attach itself to. Soldiers don't like to be in the open. So give them a place to go.


Finishing up the Map:

When you are done making your map review it. Go down on the ground level and see what it looks like. You may find things like wavy roads or buildings that have corners that extend into the streets. Easily fixed but an annoyance to you if you are playing the scenario and the terrain isn't right. Just as a good map can intensify the CM experience a bad one can detract from it.


PLAYTEST:

Once your map is done and the rest of the scenario finished playtest the MAP!! Does it do what it needs to? The historical text that covered the battle said the Germans had a line of sight for 600 meters from the farmhouse. Do they?

When I am in my starting positions am I starting in LOS/LOF of the enemy. Are my reinforcements going to enter the fight in LOS/LOF. Make sure that this doesn't happen. This can ruin a scenario for other players faster than anything you can do.

After you have given it a playtest and are happy with the map you can go on to other issues like play balance and your map is finished.


(modified 04/07/2007 19:31:52 by Mad Russian)
GJK
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Post #2   7273 days, 20 hours, 6 minutes, 8 seconds ago        
test reply
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CHRIS "FERROUS"
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Post #3   7248 days, 3 hours, 55 minutes, 5 seconds ago        
Very hard to follow Mad Russians superb summary of map and scenario generation but here's my tips:-

1. READ

Read Mad Russian's tips and use them.

2. MORE about MAPS

Always make the map first.

I recommend you make-up the map in full daylight without rain etc, so that it's easier to see. Also start with summer conditons. Adjust to the conditions you want later.

To check for inelegant bumps and weird looking terrain I 'drive' down all the roads and tracks at view level 1. Then i go back to the 2D map and correct it, and check again. If i can't easily identify the exact tile i need to change i'll use the colours of the set-up zones to mark the area of the 3D map under test. Then when i'm back in 3D i can see the exact tile i need to replace.

Be aware that the editor automatically changes some elevations that it can't cope with, especially near wet features (soft, swamp, water, ford) which, if adjacent, it levels to the lowest elevation represented by this group of tiles.

NB This only happens after the map is viewed at 3D, then the game is saved, and then reopened !!

If you want wet features at different levels, and i see no reason why not, you'll have to separate them by something else (eg brush, rocky, scattered trees). A similar problem plays havoc with rail lines - check them and be prepared to modify adjacent heights till it looks ok. Also check bridges still fit the surrounding terrain heights.

NB The type of terrain tile can affect this auto-levelling process so place terrain before adjusting heights.

Seasons can also modify maps. Not only is the terrain tile represented differently in some cases (which is ok) but whole sections of a map can be 'wiped' by snow and ground freeze. ALWAYS save your initial map in summer mode !!!! Swamp, soft, steppe (in CMBB), and maybe others, can be converted to plain open space if saved, and reopened in a frozen state. All that work that went into the detail of naturalising your map can be lost. So, i repeat, save in SUMMER, and keep this copy.

Terrain skew can also affect buildings so that they disappear on the 3D map - i've no idea whether the building is still there in the game offering cover but invisible - i suspect not. So again, unless the ground is totally flat, mark all buildings with a setup colour, view in 3D and make sure they're all there !! Remove those that aren't. Put simply, the editor can cope with a building next to a 1-2 step elevation change, but it can't cope with a building both sides of an elevation change - one will have to go.

Check lines of sight (LOS) before you even make the order of battle. I use a handful of infantry and armour which i can move about the map in the editor to see if they can spot each other.

Finally, having made your beautiful map, be ruthless. After a full assessment of the scenario, cut-out anything that's not needed. Retain enough to avoid 'edge effects' but don't have huge tracts that are never going to be used.

I'm sure i could go on... and on.... but i reckon that's more than enough for now.



PANZERMAN
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Post #4   7246 days, 3 hours, 40 minutes, 54 seconds ago        
Maps can make or break a battle and the points made by MR and Chris are great. A battle, even with the most accurate OOB, is wothless without a map that is well made. The type of battle you are making has a huge impact on the map. A battle in some parts of Russia will have large areas of open, and seemingly flat ground while a battle in Italy can have cliffs that are unclimbable in game terms.
All the ideas presented here are good, but before you thinking about designing a map (if you haven't done so at all, or very often) is to play around with the editor and see what different terrain and elevations look like together. The worst thing to have happen is to put an entire village together and find out that none of the buildings will show up because the slope you have created is too great.
For myself if I am designing a Normandy battle for example, (such as CSDT-To the Beach!) I want to think about the area in question. I know from reading text and seeing film that the area in which the Canadians fought the 12th SS Panzer Division was a mixed bag. Some of it was in flatter farmland while others were through ridgeside villages. When designing this map in question I used the ridge as a starting point. I then created the village and worked my way out from there. Roads, farms and forested areas came next. I also consider, since its a fictional battle, where I want to setup my defending troops positions and the attackers starting point. I do not want my defenders forced into being out of command range unless the player chooses to do so. Also I don't want my attacker in view on turn one, in most cases anyway.
Another thing you may want to play with is putting down crators yourself. Sometimes the random layout that is set by damage levels is just not enough to cause the damage done to a given building etc. If a building is knocked down show some missed tank shots or a bunch of short fallen 81mm mortar shells etc. Maybe the reason your men are not at full platoon size is due to artillery strikes... show this!

(modified 07/04/2004 09:25:46 by Panzerman)

(modified 07/05/2004 16:59:54 by Panzerman)
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"The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war."
General Douglas MacArthur
SIMOVITCH
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Post #20   7243 days, 12 hours, 46 minutes, 48 seconds ago        
Excellent stuff here. my favorite editor tip, simple but recently discovered quite by accident:

Adjusting your screen resolution to 800X600 before getting in to edit a map sure makes all them little squares look a whole lot bigger and easier to work on. Especially during town detailing.

(previous map making sessions filed away now in the needless suffering department)
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MAD RUSSIAN
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Post #22   7243 days, 12 hours, 14 minutes, 25 seconds ago        
On a very large map it can take a long time to scroll from one side to the other. I found that if you turn off the height levels and go to the setup zones you can zip around the map in no time.

It is the fastest mode I have found for getting around and not having the editor seem like it is moving through molasses.

MR
CHRIS "FERROUS"
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Post #31   7232 days, 4 hours, 3 minutes, 38 seconds ago        
Ok, so now you've this great map. It's checked for weirdness, and for auto-elevation changes that you didn't expect or want. You've even played around with a few units on it, and checked a few lines of sight; maybe shot a few rounds off to get some feel.

Now you realise that your intended setup zones are far too near the enemy and you've run out of space.

AN OFTEN OVERLOOKED FEATURE is that the map can be cut back or extended from ANY of its edges. Using the +/- trim-extend button will increase or decrease the map by 80m steps on the Right (east) edge or the Top (north) edge. BUT to change the Left or Bottom sides SIMPLY PRESS 'SHIFT' to change these edges instead of north or east.

In this way, you can cut a piece of detail from a larger map, maybe for a single battle in a series fought over a larger area. Or maybe use it for a QB.



BANNON DC
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Discussions: 64
Post #132   7136 days, 9 hours, 48 minutes, 18 seconds ago        
A point to stress

Test your map!

Isolate the problem in the lab... one factor at a time.

I discovered a problem with one of my maps recently in playtesting. On a road up a hill, the AI was constantly diverting my vehicles off the road and through scattered trees and soft ground. The road had a slight uneveness about it, but did not look problematic.

Since this map was largely hilly, I set up a playtest with mostly trucks and drove all of my roads. Thankfully, just the one section was flawed. But this was a key area of the map and would have been a game killer if not fixed.

The AI will do wacky things sometimes. If you see a problem which you can isolate to certain units or a certain part of the map, you don't need to run your entire scenario over and over. It is much easier to load your map, insert a few units in the problem area, and run a playtest from there. Saves a lot of time!


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