Kampfgruppe Peiper Campaign

[sandman2575]

Without wanting to have too much given away -- can anyone tell me how many missions there are in total for the KP campaign? (I know the campaign terminates early at certain junctions if a mission turns out a failure -- so I'm talking max. number of missions if the player succeeds throughout?)

[sttp]

1 hour ago, sandman2575 said:

Without wanting to have too much given away -- can anyone tell me how many missions there are in total for the KP campaign? (I know the campaign terminates early at certain junctions if a mission turns out a failure -- so I'm talking max. number of missions if the player succeeds throughout?)

Eight, I believe. 

Die spitze   Command Decisions    Bridge Over the Ambleve Pt. 1    Bridge Over the Ambleve Pt. 2    Storm on Stoumont    Lifeline    To the Meuse    To the Meuse!(with the !)

Anyone played Lifeline yet? It just looks really interesting -- huge, mountainous map --  and I'm thinking of playing it as a standalone mission.

[GhostRider3/3]

Nice, just got done with Stavelot... HOLY SHIZA!!!

***** Spoiler Alert*********

 

 

Went with the option to not rest and take Stavelot quickly....

Just got done capturing the North part of town, the Square.. or basically where Hotel La Maison is?  I have to admit its a beautiful map and if you look at pictures of Stavelot town.. there are massive familiarities.  One word of caution save your game a lot if attempting to take the Square.  The Pathfinding in and around the buildings is sort of buggard as the elevation does not match the doorways to the building you probably want to get in.  Looks like we have fuel for our King Tigers now.... Onward to Stoumont!

[GhostRider3/3]

On ‎4‎/‎24‎/‎2016 at 7:01 AM, Placebo said:

Well unfortunately I have been very disappointed with the Stoumont map, I had a good start and advanced quickly but as soon as my troops started crossing the bridge, they decided it was better to hide under the bridge and would not budge.  I am used to some pathfinding issues on bridges and my two panzers made slow progress but made it across, but hardly anything else did, effectively ending the battle for me.  Very frustrating!!

Did this happen at Stavelot, the bridge there also caused some of my Pz IV's to get stuck under the bridge.  Its why I save a lot.. most likely this can be fixed with some map editing.  The Stavelot Map is very pretty but yes there was an occasional issues with the bridge and buildings as far as pathfinding.  Its all about Map Elevation.. doorways and such.  No big issues.. just save a lot.  I actually had to restart that mission because I blew up a allied truck on the bridge... bad move.

[sandman2575]

13 hours ago, GhostRider3/3 said:

 Looks like we have fuel for our King Tigers now.... Onward to Stoumont!

 

Is taking the main city square of Stavelot the only way to get access to your Koenigstigers in later missions?

Edited April 26, 2016 by sandman2575

[Anthony P.]

Overall I liked the campaign, at least as far as I got on it. I enjoyed being given the command flexibility of choosing some courses, it really felt a lot more immersive in the sense of commanding a Kampfgruppe.

 

Spoilers ahead!

What I did dislike was how some of these decisions were to be made, especially in Rushing Stavelot, the last mission I played. I get that taking/bypassing some objectives was the way used to determine what choices the player made, but the Square made no sense at all to be honest, and especially the units placed to defend it felt very meta-gamed, an impression that has been voiced previously in the thread. I get that they might have been defending the square and thus temporarily prevented you from getting to the fuel depot in time, but then I really feel that all that should've been required would be for the player to fight through and get to an objective only accessible that way, as opposed to clearing out the entire Square objective.

Pet peeve: In the briefing of Rushing Stavelot, it was stated that this was the last mission in which I'd command the Spitze, but in the subsequent mission I was rather dismayed to see that I was still commanding some units from it, at least the 75mm support halftracks. I had run these especially into a pitiful state believing they would've effectively served their purpose. Nigh on destroyed tracks from running through hedgerows and who knows what else (couldn't outrun an infantryman) and with only 4 smoke shells left per vehicle.

The engineer unit at the start, is it possible to make them any other sort of unit (whilst of course keeping the historical name)? Only asking because one of my fireteams was badly mauled when one of the engineers tossed a satchel charge at them (meine armen Jungen!), I'm guessing these would not be issued for use in defence?

Otherwise I much enjoyed the campaign! The first mission saw me coming across some unoccupied foxholes in front of the American defensive position, it made me snicker at the undisciplined, amateurish Amis much like I would assume the real Kampfgruppe did a few times before their luck had completely run out! And if only you could award medals to your pixeltruppen! In the same mission, the armour commander's tank was hit by a bazooka, slightly injuring the driver. The crew bailed out, with the TC firing his SMG like a madman possessed while his crew sought shelter beneath their tank, even taking a prisoner or two until I could persuade the crew to mount up again in their tank (which turned out to be in a nearly perfect state) before suffering any casualties!

Edited April 26, 2016 by Anthony P.

[GhostRider3/3]

9 hours ago, sandman2575 said:

 

Is taking the main city square of Stavelot the only way to get access to your Koenigstigers in later missions?

*****Spoilers******

 

Not sure, but the way they worded the text... it sounded like it might be.  However I am sure someone here who just kept going without taking the square could answer that question.  I will say I have 2 King Tigers for the next mission at Stoumont.

[Frederico]

GhostRider3/3

What number mission is that?

[GhostRider3/3]

2 hours ago, Frederico said:

GhostRider3/3

What number mission is that?

I believe it begins on the second Mission.  'Command Decisions"  You basically opt to either rest and refit, or charge onto towards Stavelot.  I cant remember off hand but I thought it said something to the effect of that when you do enter Stavelot, you will have the option to capture the square thus grabbing vital fuel.... or forget about the Square in Stavelot and keep the speedy charge going.

[sandman2575]

Taking the Square is... not easy.  You *will* lose precious vehicles and men, no matter how well you 'prep' the area with bombardment. (This was one mission where I really felt more time -- 30 minutes or so -- would have been appropriate.)

[GhostRider3/3]

15 hours ago, sandman2575 said:

Taking the Square is... not easy.  You *will* lose precious vehicles and men, no matter how well you 'prep' the area with bombardment. (This was one mission where I really felt more time -- 30 minutes or so -- would have been appropriate.)

Just wait till you get to Stoumont.. if your not there already.. damn its pretty violent and bloody.

[GhostRider3/3]

I wanted to add a special thank you to the Scenario-Campaign designers for your hard work.  I thoroughly am enjoying this Campaign and its challenges.

I thought it was really cool to approach Stoumont in somewhat the same way as Peiper may have done so... all be it with some Hindsight.  It was really cool seeing the roads and landscape as it may have been back in the day.

1. The first bit with the Panther must have either been in the fields south of Stoumont or on the Hill East of Stoumont.  There was a knocked out 76mm ATG.

2. at 00:15 just to the left of the Panther you can see the Robinson House, and just to the right of that is the Church.  Most of the footage here is around the Robinson House.

3.  here is another video

 

[GhostRider3/3]

I meant no offense with the video's, I thought the footage was pretty much on par with Final Blitzkrieg.  Also the last video shows some of the late model Panthers with the upgraded chin mantle armor... as well as some other vehicles.

 

 

Edited April 29, 2016 by GhostRider3/3
Double post.

[sandman2575]

14 hours ago, GhostRider3/3 said:

Just wait till you get to Stoumont.. if your not there already.. damn its pretty violent and bloody.

 

Yeah, I'm in the thick of Stoumont now. It is indeed a hornet's nest.

A Koenigstiger or two would definitely have come in handy...

 

[morgan]

On 4/26/2016 at 9:29 PM, sandman2575 said:

 

Is taking the main city square of Stavelot the only way to get access to your Koenigstigers in later missions?

I got access to Koenigstigers during the lifeline mission without capturing the square.

[Combatintman]

On ‎29‎/‎04‎/‎2016 at 3:28 PM, GhostRider3/3 said:

I meant no offense with the video's, I thought the footage was pretty much on par with Final Blitzkrieg.  Also the last video shows some of the late model Panthers with the upgraded chin mantle armor... as well as some other vehicles.

 

 

I'm sure no offence will be taken as the map designer will almost certainly have used them as points of reference - the map and missions for this campaign IMHO are bang on the money - I have walked that ground on at least 6 occasions and like all of the master maps ... they are superb.

[Kronolog]

I'm playing "Storm on Stoumont", and according to the briefing I should have two batteries of 105mm howitzers available from the beginning, but in fact I only have one. Does anyone know if this is intentional or if it's an error?

[Atago]

On 4/25/2016 at 4:40 PM, sttp said:

Anyone played Lifeline yet? It just looks really interesting -- huge, mountainous map --  and I'm thinking of playing it as a standalone mission.

How do you play a campaign mission stand alone?  There are several throughout the CM series I'd like to do that with.  Sorry - off topic.

I am getting myself psyched up to start the storm.  I made it through the first couple missions with very few losses and took one look at what I was up against in Storm and decided to take a break.  I just know I'm gonna totally get my butt kicked!

[sandman2575]

I'm still working on Storm! -- it is a *huge* scenario -- battalion strength vs. battalion in terms of numbers of units.

Not sure how many hours I've poured into it so far -- easily 20 or more. A real test of endurance.

Protip -- if initially everything seems a little too quiet, that's because it is. 

[GhostRider3/3]

7 hours ago, Kronolog said:

I'm playing "Storm on Stoumont", and according to the briefing I should have two batteries of 105mm howitzers available from the beginning, but in fact I only have one. Does anyone know if this is intentional or if it's an error?

You should get another battery a bit later.

[Erwin]

Yes, one does receive a 2nd 105mm battery later.  However, the briefing says there are two 105mm batteries at setup.  But, as noted there is actually only one.  Am about halfway through Stoumont. 

The missions in KG Peiper get better and better so far.  Stoumont is a great scenario.  I appreciate the large map, large number of units (so one can keep a reserve) and the opportunity for maneuver, rather than being forced into a frontal assault on a short frontage.

[Kronolog]

49 minutes ago, Erwin said:

Yes, one does receive a 2nd 105mm battery later.  However, the briefing says there are two 105mm batteries at setup.  But, as noted there is actually only one.  Am about halfway through Stoumont. 

The missions in KG Peiper get better and better so far.  Stoumont is a great scenario.  I appreciate the large map, large number of units (so one can keep a reserve) and the opportunity for maneuver, rather than being forced into a frontal assault on a short frontage.

Yes, from the briefing it seems that you should have a total of three batteries: two at start, and then receive one additional later. It would certainly help to even the odds a bit.

 

[sttp]

8 hours ago, Atago said:

How do you play a campaign mission stand alone?  There are several throughout the CM series I'd like to do that with.

There's a tool you can use to extract the individual campaign missions / scenarios. It's at cmmodsiii, and is by Mad Mike: http://cmmodsiii.greenasjade.net/?p=229  Beautiful piece of work.

[GhostRider3/3]

Hello everyone... say do any of you know the equipment and number of troops in Schnelle Gruppe Knittel?  I know the Germans are not supposed to win the Peiper Campaign  but hey.... why the hell not try.

Anyways was just looking for some good info on the amount of forces he had.

 

Cheers

[Atago]

15 hours ago, sttp said:

There's a tool you can use to extract the individual campaign missions / scenarios. It's at cmmodsiii, and is by Mad Mike: http://cmmodsiii.greenasjade.net/?p=229  Beautiful piece of work.

Thanks!  Not being particularly computer savvy this may be interesting to figure out.  Was hoping someone had the scenarios already 'unboxed' to download somewhere (hint hint).  An old board gamer here (SL and ASL) - know now to work cardboard pieces on maps pretty well, but pixelgruppen and files and mods... typically afraid I'll screw up the game.  Should change my handle to PChicken