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New file at the Repository: Joe's Bridge (2014-11-11)


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  • 5 months later...

10th September, 1944 just south of the Dutch-Belgian Border. The Irish Guards launch a hasty assault on a bridge to make Market Garden possible. British vs AI, H2H only. Stronger player should play Germans.

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Just played this last few days as British versus the AI. Excellent battle with quite a few surprises - plenty of flipping between attacking and desperate defence.

 

I was only able to grab a minor victory. I lost too much armour - funnily enough to Panzerfausts, Panzerschrecks and AT grenades rather than enemy armour or AT guns.

Edited by niall78
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Exactly as intended. Glad you enjoyed it. ;)

 

 

Sadly a true hard historical version of these two engagements (which were squished into one for this scenario) would have been a little too boring and easy for the British player.

 

It was a very enjoyable engagement. It's not too often you get that seat of the pants feeling during a battle where attack turns into desperate defence where you have to hold a counter-attack in one area and quickly transfer your forces to prop up another sector. Two of the objectives on the map turned into meat-grinders where attack and counter attack turned the objective into a shell cratered moonscape littered with dead and wounded and burning tanks.

 

The light fading was also another deft touch. It added to the tension of the battle - "if I can just get to nightfall with the objectives secure it'll be a win". The failing light also added to the effectiveness of the German infantry AT weapons which took a heavy toll on me as I pushed my armour forward to try to support my very heavily engaged infantry.

 

Hats off mate - super battle.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

SPOILERS - and not for your eyes Bob Willett

 

 

 

 

I'm in the middle of playing this as Allies as a PBEM. It is great fun. Really well made - and a first class map.

One question: the engineer and its HQ that you need to guide to the exit, where exactly is it? It is hard to tell with ALT+J turned on. Also, will other units in that square exit?

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SPOILERS - and not for your eyes Bob Willett

 

 

 

 

I'm in the middle of playing this as Allies as a PBEM. It is great fun. Really well made - and a first class map.

One question: the engineer and its HQ that you need to guide to the exit, where exactly is it? It is hard to tell with ALT+J turned on. Also, will other units in that square exit?

Yes they will so be a bit careful. Purposefully put it 'out of the way' as much as possible to avoid that. Look on the north east side of the bridge there should be one green objective tile on it's own right alongside the bridge. Exit the engineer and it's HQ team. Don't worry about any keeps that may be attached.

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Right, now I see it. I got confused by the shadows of nearby houses. It was easy to see from camera level 6. Good to know to keep away from it. I have a squad who is retreating awfully close to it though. Maybe in an eventual update, put barbed wire near it. Since the engineer has demo charges he can get near, and no units will exit by mistake.

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SPOILERS - suggestion for design change

 

 

 

 

The reinforcements that the Germans get with some 25 minutes left are "beamed in" straight in view. It seems that the German player doesn't spot until their first move is activated and so thinks that the coast is clear. It caused massive confusion in the PBEM I play now (Allies). Maybe you should add some trees or buildings and add to the map on that edge, so there is at least one full turn before contact is made.

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SPOILERS - suggestion for design change

 

 

 

 

The reinforcements that the Germans get with some 25 minutes left are "beamed in" straight in view. It seems that the German player doesn't spot until their first move is activated and so thinks that the coast is clear. It caused massive confusion in the PBEM I play now (Allies). Maybe you should add some trees or buildings and add to the map on that edge, so there is at least one full turn before contact is made.

 

Which set of German reinforcements?

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I was wrong, it was at about 35-40 minutes left. The ones that deploy on the south edge, on the road that leads up to the bridge. The main concern was the tank, but also infantry that on a side road had one of my tanks right ahead of him.

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I was wrong, it was at about 35-40 minutes left. The ones that deploy on the south edge, on the road that leads up to the bridge. The main concern was the tank, but also infantry that on a side road had one of my tanks right ahead of him.

Yeah it's meant to be a 'shock.' As the allied player check your briefing. ;)  I thought it maybe gamey but all the testers reported back they thought it was fine. Can't really say anymore or will be disadvantaging the German player.

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Actually the main problem was for the German player (I didn't mind the shock as I neglected to pay notice to that part of the brief) who said he saw none of my units when the reinforcement arrived, despite som 5-6 tanks on the road to the bridge. So he plotted his first turn of moves with the belief that he could attack the bridge. Once he started the turn, all my tanks appeared and ruined his plan.

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  • 2 weeks later...

When I start the game it says I have version 2.20.  I have the 3.0 upgrade installed.  I see there is a 3.11 patch so I assume that is why the scenario is not appearing.  However I am currently playing a PBEM game so will wait to finish before installing.  Thanks for your reply.

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  • 4 weeks later...

My friend and I were thinking of trying this scenario by PBEM.  I have the Germans and was looking at the unit set up to see what sight lines the three 88's have with the intent of moving them if the sight lines were poor.  All three as set up in the scenario do not have a sight line to the side of the bridge that Allied armour will be advancing from and I cannot move them from their current positions.  They can only spot a small area on the "friendly" side of the bridge so I would have to catch Allied tanks after they have crossed the bridge.

 

To me the above set up of the 88's renders them almost ineffective.  I am wondering what the experience is of those people who have tried out this scenario.  Thanks.

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My friend and I were thinking of trying this scenario by PBEM.  I have the Germans and was looking at the unit set up to see what sight lines the three 88's have with the intent of moving them if the sight lines were poor.  All three as set up in the scenario do not have a sight line to the side of the bridge that Allied armour will be advancing from and I cannot move them from their current positions.  They can only spot a small area on the "friendly" side of the bridge so I would have to catch Allied tanks after they have crossed the bridge.

 

To me the above set up of the 88's renders them almost ineffective.  I am wondering what the experience is of those people who have tried out this scenario.  Thanks.

Scenario author. :) Tip - check the ammo layout and experience level of the battery and the briefing. The 88's are not the main part of your force and shouldn't be expected to do the heavy lifting. Also the guns are actually in their historical locations judging by a few reports of the engagements maps I dug up. Probably part of the reason why the 88 battery only got one round off as the Irish Guards charged the bridge. (A miss). Yeah it's a harder mission as the Germans as you really need to know when to 'make your move' but most of your fighting force isn't on the map at the start.

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@CanuckGamer: Do play it as PBEM - it is a ton of fun. As the German side - all I can say, your time will come :)

I was on the receiving end of it :(

 

My intention is to compile an AAR of this battle with screenshots, but haven't had the time just yet.

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Having recently finished this scenario with Rocketman and won with the Germans I found that the key to the success of the Germans is to get a kill of an Allied tank on the bridge because it will block the bridge from further British tanks from coming across "Joe's Bridge"..to help the Allies to hold that side of the bridge.  As for the 88's, they are basically useless and just a target for the Allied forces early in the scenario.  I was lucky and got a kill with one of the 88's having got a shot off under the bridge to an unsuspecting Allied tank diagonally away from the bridge.  It took about 5 attempts of some shots hitting the bridge but one got between the bridge supports and killed the tank.  Once that happened the Allies also began shooting under the bridge too to repay for their earlier loss!

 

This battle starts heavily one-sided for the Allies and in the beginning the Germans only seem to be a target and get pushed back or eliminated from their side of the bridge and subsequently lose control of both sides of the bridge.  But folks don't leave the theater yet!  When German reinforcements start arriving, and eventually from both distant sides of the bridge they arrive, things start getting very interesting.  With a few key kills the Germans can start regaining what they had originally lost to an eventual re-control of the bridge but not with a Helluva battle.  The key for the German side is to be PATIENT and try not to get completely wiped out on your side of the bridge but try and retreat to a safe location away from the bridge and stay alive til your reinforcements arrive so you can get back what you first lost!

 

I give this scenario a 5-Star rating!

Edited by Bob Willett
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Cheers Bob, much appreciated. Though your post does include spoilers. :)

 

The scenario is semi-historical - in that the storming of the bridge was a very quick and virtually bloodless affair. The German counter attacks were the real fight. The counter attacks took place the following morning at dawn, I've simply squashed the timing together for a more interesting battle. The forces involved are largely historical (especially on the British side) though given the poor record keeping in this pre Market Garden period it's a little bit of educated guesswork. The German OOB was actually redesigned virtually from scratch near the end of the process following the discovery of another academic paper on German forces pre Market Garden trying to form a defensive line post the Normandy retreat.

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  • 1 month later...

Yes they will so be a bit careful. Purposefully put it 'out of the way' as much as possible to avoid that. Look on the north east side of the bridge there should be one green objective tile on it's own right alongside the bridge. Exit the engineer and it's HQ team. Don't worry about any keeps that may be attached.

Playing this scenario now by PBEM as the Brits.  Which unit is the engineer?  So far I haven't been able to locate it.  Thanks.

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Playing this scenario now by PBEM as the Brits.  Which unit is the engineer?  So far I haven't been able to locate it.  Thanks.

 

Should see a breach team and it's HQ. The jeep doesn't count. It's as close as I could get to a recreation of what occurred. They were in such a rush to take the bridge and feared the Germans would blow it that the one Engineering officer on site was given a handful of guys (lorry and jeep drivers IIRC) and told, disarm any demolitions on the bridge.

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