Carl F

My experience shows that there is a reduction in effect from indirect fire weapons (mortars and off-board artillery) vs infantry in buildings as compared to open ground. While there is a risk that a building may collapse around you while under heavy offboard artillery attack, you're most certainly going to be worse off in the open if the building doesn't collapse. Carl

A while back I was able to find ASL maps (and scenarios) translated into CM. The URLs seem to have become defunct. Anyone with info on where the site(s) went or where I can get ASL maps in CM format? Thanks! Carl

To me, the best briefings would be something that represents what a company commander would expect in getting his assignment from the battalion commander. In many respects, the scenario designer is acting like the battalion or regimental commander in handing out the orders and the player is the company commander receiving those orders. As such, a force overview is appropriate. If reinforcements have been requested and the request granted, then they can be identified (perhaps not in detail since the company commander may not have control over those forces until they enter the battlefield.) Opposing force knowledge can vary from detailed to none. My reading of personal accounts shows that there was a wide variability to the knowledge of what to expect prior to a battle. In some cases, the intelligence may be outdated and may under-estimate the opposing forces but just as well may over-estimate the opposing forces. A good book that I am reading now that provides descriptions of how the briefings were provided in the US Army during WWII is "If You Survive" by George Wilson. He was a platoon and then a company commander during the campaign through northwest Europe. Carl