The Battle for Hamel Vallee - an AAR

[Broadsword56]

To recap:

The armor-infantry assault encountered no initial opposition. It ripped through the orchards, roared up the sunken road, and bore down on Hamel Vallee like a tornado.

But their smoke cover was mis-targeted, and a friendly-fire tragedy started to throw the plan off kilter. The attack plan depended on a speedy advance to the highway and a lightning breakout. But instead, the suppressions, pins and shaken morale of several units wasted a full turn while they rallied and tried to get moving again.

I knew the Germans would try to stop the attack with mortars and artillery. But if the attack moved quickly enough, the Germans didn't know the exact direction of the attack, and if and no German FOs could get eyes on the column, the shells might well fall on empty ground behind them.

But the delay was a fatal one -- the first HE rounds landed squarely among the advancing infantry:

At that point the attack was effectively over. All those Shermans would be helpless without advance infantry to screen them.

And then, suddenly, three tanks brewed up in a single turn. All I had to show for this entire battle so far was one Marder. A few more minutes of this armor battle and German shelling would certainly push US losses beyond the critical 40% threshold, triggering a step loss to the unit in the operational game.*

So, very reluctantly, I broke off the attack and ceded the battlefield to sburke and KG Lang.

I'm sure that in a standalone battle, a US player almost certainly would have continued this attack because it would have been fun to see how it turned out, and because the developing armor battle around Hamel Vallee would have been cool to watch.

But here we see the ways an operational layer affects the tactical one -- I need this battalion to be able to fight another day. I need these armor assets because the division only has so many Sherman companies available. And, in an operational game, there are other ways to achieve goals -- airpower, maneuver, etc.

Many, many other things were happening in the XIX Corps area while this battle was going on. So, stay tuned as we return to the bigger picture and see happened on the rest of July 16, 1944, after KG Lang and the 3/320th Infantry met in this valley of death...

*For those curious about how we apply this, here's the relevant section of the op-tac coversion rules in use for this campaign:

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7.3 Cohesion step losses and strengths

Combat losses have a greater effect on a unit’s ability to fight than just the loss of personnel. Each CMBN battle scenario imposes overall loss thresholds, representing the cohesion “breakpoint” for the type of mission the unit is doing. Losses are the total of KIA + WIA +POW.

7.3.1 Battalion breakpoints: At the end of CMBN battles, players check who occupies the objective, and whether any participating units should take a step loss. Based on the overall losses (KIA + WIA + POW), at the end of the battle, any battalion or company that lost over a certain percentage of personnel strength should go back into the boardgame with a step loss or other penalties, as follows:

7.3.1.1 Attacking battalions:

Each 40% in personnel losses per attacking battalion (average for the entire battalion at the end of a CMBN battle) triggers the following:

*1 step loss;

*Permanent reductions in leadership (1 level lower than standard);

*Permanent reduction in motivation (1 level lower than standard).

Attacking battalions that lose 33%-39% of personnel in a single battle suffer no step loss, but they do suffer the permanent reductions in leadership and motivation.

7.3.1.2 Defending battalions:

Each 80% casualties per defending battalion (average for the entire battalion at the end of a CMBN battle) triggers 1 step loss.

Defending battalions that lose 50-79% of personnel in a single battle suffer no step loss, but they do suffer the permanent reductions in leadership and motivation, as in 7.3.1.1.

7.3.2 Company and asset unit breakpoints:

7.3.2.1 Attacking companies and assets:

If total size of a player’s starting force was less than battalion, each 35% casualties per company or asset triggers one step loss (elimination) of that company or asset.

Attacking companies or assets that lose 26-34% of personnel in a single battle suffer no step loss, but they do suffer the permanent reductions in leadership and motivation (as in 7.3.1.1) long as they remain a separate company. [if they later “builds up” with its fellow companies to reconstitute its parent battalion, these penalties end and the company carries the ratings of its parent battalion.]

7.3.2.2 Defending companies and assets: If total size of a player’s starting force was less than battalion, each 70% casualties per company or asset triggers one step loss (elimination) of that company or asset.

Defending companies or assets that lose 50-69% of personnel in a single battle suffer no step loss, but they do suffer the permanent reductions in leadership and motivation (as in 7.3.1.1) as long as they remain a separate company. [if the company later “builds up” with its fellow companies to reconstitute its parent battalion, these penalties end and the company carries the ratings of its parent battalion.]

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[dieseltaylor]

Pictures are either an arty montage or they are broken!

[sburke]

Pictures are either an arty montage or they are broken!

Mind explaining that?

[Childress]

But with smoke, one always has to factor in the wind. The wind arrow was pointing left, and I forgot that the arrow points to where the wind is FROM, not the direction it's blowing.

Yep, one of the little things that merits, imo, a tweak by BFC. Even when one's aware of how it functions it's still ,in the heat of battle, all too easy to get confounded and mess it up. Because it's counter-intuitive.

[sburke]

Yep, one of the little things that merits, imo, a tweak by BFC. Even when one's aware of how it functions it's still ,in the heat of battle, all too easy to get confounded and mess it up. Because it's counter-intuitive.

LOL this is one of those things that cracks me up as I think it is also some what generational. I fully get what you mean by feeling it is counter intuitive. However this is exactly how wind direction is defined and weather vanes designed. This isn't BFC, this is the definition of wind direction. BFC is just applying the common standard to how it is defined. The fact that we may not get it is ignorance, not a mistake on their part. Not that knowing that helps me when I make the same dang error. If they were to do it differently imagine the howls of "how could you get 180 degress wrong on what is a very commonly understood standard globally?!" And make no mistake, we 'd hear it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_direction

Perhaps a happy medium might be a wind sock instead of a weather vane type?

[Broadsword56]

And now we can better understand how even trained artillery spotters can sometimes transpose a map coordinate, or accidentally call fire down on their own position -- all of which has happened on real battlefields.

But you can bet I'll never make the tree-branch or wind-direction error in a CMBN battle again! (Like a virus, I grow more deadly after each battle...mehheheheh)

[Newa]

howdo you play those ema files?

[sburke]

howdo you play those ema files?

Load them into your incoming mail folder under the game files in CMBN. Launch game, go to saved games select the save you want to play. No password required (nor tie or jacket, heck not even shoes, shirt or underwear)

[mjkerner]

So how did you "unpassword" those ema files? I always get asked for one when I'm setting one up for hotseat play. And of course, pebm always appears to require one.

[sburke]

So how did you "unpassword" those ema files? I always get asked for one when I'm setting one up for hotseat play. And of course, pebm always appears to require one.

Just hit enter. It is only asking, it isn't requiring you to have one. Broadsword and I don't partly just because why bother, we trust one another and it makes it easier to share once we wrap up.

[mjkerner]

Just hit enter. It is only asking, it isn't requiring you to have one. Broadsword and I don't partly just because why bother, we trust one another and it makes it easier to share once we wrap up.

LOL, I've been putting in a one letter password now for several days, since I first started to play a hot seat battle for the first time to test a scenario! I never thought to just press enter!

[StoneAge]

Well done Broadsword and sburke great battle. I hope we get to see the next battles too and how the complete operation is going. Keep up the good work.

[Broadsword56]

Thanks StoneAge -- your HTML Mapping Tool is likely to get a real workout in the later stages of this campaign, since we will soon have fought our way off the south edge of my original XIX Corps master map.

The US progress in our op-tac campaign is running about 1 day behind the historical results -- in reality the 35th Infantry Division captured Hill 122 by the end of July 16. In our game it looks like July 16 will end with US lines still quite a bit north of that.

[sburke]

You know I could almost hate you modders. Now that this effort is wrapped up I am creating a unit folder and assigning all the Uniforms, Portraits, Helmets etc into Individual Unit folders so I can just copy and paste when I want specific forces in a battle. I pulled my entire z folder and am reorganizing it to make it easier to track and alter. You know you could create unit based sound mods too.... 29 Let's Go!

Yes my own little bit of vengance

[mjkerner]

You know you could create unit based sound mods too.... 29 Let's Go!

Mord, you busy?

[Zatoichi]

Just wanted to thank you guys for your efforts in writing up this AAR - it's been an excellent read, and really did a great job of highlighting the game's abilities in full.

Oh, and give Molek a medal!

[dieseltaylor]

Broadswords picyutres are severely messed up in my Firefox browsing, and also in Opera. And just to confuse the issue not all of his.

This one is messed and even when I open photobucket

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz225/broadsword56/CMBN%20Game%20Shots/USfinalsequencecolumnenterssunkenroadfindingitclear.jpg

This one is fine in Opera and in Photobucket but is a mess in Firefox

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz225/broadsword56/CMBN%20Game%20Shots/USfinalsequencepreparingtosurgeoutofsunkenroad.jpg

I am kind of curious why it should be happening and apparently only to me!! Weird.

[dieseltaylor]

One of pictorials shows a SHerman hit on the turret by a &%mm shrugging it off and firing 2 seconds later to kill a Marder driver. Fortunately the commnader leaps down into the driver position and reverses the Marder away. Which does raise that question of behind armour effects which I think BF does need to address.

PS I downloaded the first nineteen files when I saw the sig change. : ) I do really think this is a great service to the community. Perhaps the concept could /should be extended to "How to" series for those areas where people have problems. I know there are many good YouTube videos but for potential buyers and noobies why not provide the "made Simple" approach by indexing etc.

[Wicky]

Pics in the thread work fine with Firefox 12 and Safari 5.1.5 (Mac & PC)

Have you installed an over eager ad blocker extension/plug-in?

[dieseltaylor]

In Firefox have ad blockers etc but not in Opera. And curiously does not have a problem with sburke only with Broadsword. And no other pictures have ever suffered on BF.

I am using latest versions of both browsers. Curious.

[sburke]

One of pictorials shows a SHerman hit on the turret by a &%mm shrugging it off and firing 2 seconds later to kill a Marder driver. Fortunately the commnader leaps down into the driver position and reverses the Marder away. Which does raise that question of behind armour effects which I think BF does need to address.

No complaining here. This is a "celebration of a great game" thread. We have had a month playing this game for this scenario and loved every minute of it. And just to set the record straight

Excellent and know with movies too : )

If this is not an ideal advert for CMBN I would despair. The fans yet again do BF proud. I often wonder that without the people who ran/run the Scenario Depots etc . who do the mods etc, and act as unpaid beta-testers, how BF would survive! : )

You got it backwards. Scenario depot, the modders etal would have nothing to work on if it weren't for BFC and frankly I doubt BFC is at all dependent on us for their sales. I don't think we hurt sales (one does have to wonder sometimes) but with no data it is presumptive to think we somehow keep BFC hobbling along despite themselves. Sure we present a community to enjoy it together, but I was buying BFC products for years and never even visited the forum. I had all the CMx1 games and all of CMSF and posted once. It wasn't until CMBN came out that I got really involved on this forum and started checking out all the modder's material. If this AAR somehow does help sales, great. Personally I don't think it will as anyone who sees it is probably here because they bought it already. This was more intended to make the forum a nicer place for them to be, and maybe make folks feel like they could jump in here and not worry about if they knew the air speed velocity of an english sparrow tied to an APCR round and it's splatter effect.

We are just really thankful that a small team of folks understand what a very small niche community wants in a tactical wargame and tries their very best (which is damned good) to deliver. They put up with our bitchin and moanin and occasional good idea, they listen to the problems we uncover in the game, spend innumerable hours trying to nail down cause and effect and fix them without breaking everything else, many of them working for free. They tolerate us inquiring into their business model and telling them how they should run it despite us having no access whatsoever to their sales data (nor probably any experience running a business). They support us troubleshooting crappy PCs that we refuse to upgrade and insist they try and make a very computing intensive game run on 10 year old laptops. They teach us how to correct our anti virus programs to stop blocking the game instead of saying- "it is your anti virus software, go call their 800 number". They even put up with folks making negative comparisons of their products to their competitors on their own site. And just so I don't forget them, the crew of beta testers who take a ton of abuse that suggests they sit around doing nothing and how could they miss such an obviously glaring error that is totally ruining the game for me!!! I don't envy you guys, yeah you get to play the game first but geez talk about under appreciated.

I deal with a lot of vendors in my business and when I come across ones that obviously love their product and will take this much time assisting me with problems that aren't really theirs, I have to be impressed.

Don't get me wrong, I love the modding community. Well .. maybe like is more appropriate. They have me worrying about helmets now, God help me. But as much as I love Mord, Aris, Juju and EZs work (and Vein's and....), they didn't make the game good nor even great for me. They simply made it better. Without this game engine all the modding in the world wouldn't matter.

Yes BFC this AAR is for you. Thanks

[dieseltaylor]

I had all the CMx1 games and all of CMSF and posted once.

sburke

I am impressed you have posted 1860 times on CMBN then : ).

Actually I think the modders are in fact the least needed part of the equation and the most important are the scenario designers and the people who provided repositories prior too BF noticing the need. Also very important are the clubs run by volunteers who sustain interest by running tournaments etc. I was surprised by the number of people I have met who actively avoided the forums because of the likes of JasonC in squelch mode so existing in a vacuum apart from what clubs provided. You mention the unpaid beta-testers and that is a community activity. As it is a celebratory thread I will not bother with anymore comments.

I just wonder if any of the filmmakers in our community, and I know of one excellent one will feel the urge to go for a feature film for Vimeo and YouTube based on this battle : ). Getting the fun further out into the marketplace is exercising my mind.

PS A fix of sorts. I use the Firefox add-on to auto-load the pictures to my Photbucket account and they are fine to view there using FF and Opera.!

[fatehunter]

No complaining here. This is a "celebration of a great game" thread. We have had a month playing this game for this scenario and loved every minute of it. And just to set the record straight

You got it backwards. Scenario depot, the modders etal would have nothing to work on if it weren't for BFC and frankly I doubt BFC is at all dependent on us for their sales. I don't think we hurt sales (one does have to wonder sometimes) but with no data it is presumptive to think we somehow keep BFC hobbling along despite themselves. Sure we present a community to enjoy it together, but I was buying BFC products for years and never even visited the forum. I had all the CMx1 games and all of CMSF and posted once. It wasn't until CMBN came out that I got really involved on this forum and started checking out all the modder's material. If this AAR somehow does help sales, great. Personally I don't think it will as anyone who sees it is probably here because they bought it already. This was more intended to make the forum a nicer place for them to be, and maybe make folks feel like they could jump in here and not worry about if they knew the air speed velocity of an english sparrow tied to an APCR round and it's splatter effect.

We are just really thankful that a small team of folks understand what a very small niche community wants in a tactical wargame and tries their very best (which is damned good) to deliver. They put up with our bitchin and moanin and occasional good idea, they listen to the problems we uncover in the game, spend innumerable hours trying to nail down cause and effect and fix them without breaking everything else, many of them working for free. They tolerate us inquiring into their business model and telling them how they should run it despite us having no access whatsoever to their sales data (nor probably any experience running a business). They support us troubleshooting crappy PCs that we refuse to upgrade and insist they try and make a very computing intensive game run on 10 year old laptops. They teach us how to correct our anti virus programs to stop blocking the game instead of saying- "it is your anti virus software, go call their 800 number". They even put up with folks making negative comparisons of their products to their competitors on their own site. And just so I don't forget them, the crew of beta testers who take a ton of abuse that suggests they sit around doing nothing and how could they miss such an obviously glaring error that is totally ruining the game for me!!! I don't envy you guys, yeah you get to play the game first but geez talk about under appreciated.

I deal with a lot of vendors in my business and when I come across ones that obviously love their product and will take this much time assisting me with problems that aren't really theirs, I have to be impressed.

Don't get me wrong, I love the modding community. Well .. maybe like is more appropriate. They have me worrying about helmets now, God help me. But as much as I love Mord, Aris, Juju and EZs work (and Vein's and....), they didn't make the game good nor even great for me. They simply made it better. Without this game engine all the modding in the world wouldn't matter.

Yes BFC this AAR is for you. Thanks

Goddamit Sburke, you got it right. When people claim the game is ruined due to some minor issues, I can only imagine that person as a 12 year old with little life experience. Having played wargames since 1985, this is the best iteration yet. Minor frustrations in the games are just like life, you deal with it, find a way to work around it and make it work for oneself.

Now I am off to work, which is not always what I want it to be, but I make it work, and I love it.

Michael

[dieseltaylor]

Having played wargames since 1985

Can we call you Jnr. ?

: )

[sburke]

sburke

I am impressed you have posted 1860 times on CMBN then : ).

Yeah imagine how I feel. Never thought I'd spend this much time here, but the beauty of the internet and computer games is now I don't need to wonder if there is anyone nearby I can enjoy these with (and wonder if that will be the only thing we have in common and I'll regret it). Halfway around the globe is no more distant than across the street. For those of you who are just lurking, this really is a very cool place to find gaming partners and to join in with a group of people who share your interest. Spoken as a former lurker.

I was surprised by the number of people I have met who actively avoided the forums because of the likes of JasonC in squelch mode so existing in a vacuum apart from what clubs provided. You mention the unpaid beta-testers and that is a community activity. As it is a celebratory thread I will not bother with anymore comments.

The beta testers I was referring to are the ones with BFC under the NDA. They to me are not part of the "community activity".

As to JasonC, I look forward to his contributions. Granted my knowledge base is crap and not really qualified to determine whether anyone else knows what they are talking about, but it certainly seems to me the guy is pretty well informed and when he comments he does so in a straightforward rationale manner.

Now no more negativity please. Positive comments only or I will ask BFC to lock the thread to keep it as it was intended.