JonS

There is a saying about the British Army: they tend to lose evey battle, except the last one.
 
Of course, it's only the last one that really matters.

Something really peculiar to me is the major fixation on arms and hardware that these analysis have. Like don't get me wrong arms and production were crucial but like, there's never any mention of the problems like the mass famines that broke out everywhere or the politics behind apparently irrational decisions that were none-the-less entirely rational to impress coalition partners, keep alliances together, or push neutrals off the fence. 
Absolutely none of the powers could afford to completely disregard their civilian economy or war production would just halt. Yet because so few historians have sought to highlight the importance of this we're stuck with all those awful English histories of the war emphasizing battles and tanks over nations and people and then yeah you get stuff like this. I guess Tooze's book is hard to digest for most. 
 
 

cross posted from another thread:

Geoportail can be set to present with an English interface as an alternative to French. I think it also has German (and/or Spanish?).

There is also an online copy of the 1947 Air Survey done in France. It is quite detailed and a great improvement on any map you will find in books. Scale is roughly 1:25000.

http://loisirs.ign.fr/accueilPVA.do

Put the name of a location in the 'Commune recherche' box on the first page and click 'ok'. It gives you all the matches to that name. Be warned it does not go down to the very smallest villages so best to stick to the nearest big town and then find the exact hamlet when you get to the map.

Click on your choice from the list you are given and it goes to the location on a map window.

The scale box is on the top R/H side and if it is set too high then the Air Photo numbers do not appear in the box on the bottom L/H side of the window. If you do not see a lot of code numbers on the left then shuffle the 'echelle' down to 'Ville' and they will appear.

Go to the L/H box and click on the 1947 numbers. They are right at the bottom for most but it does have earlier photos for the large towns. Paris has a 1933 set you can get for free. Sometimes there are 2 sets of 1947 numbers and if one does not show up on the map click the other and that will.

Once you click on the code (eg: 1947_F1613-1413_0381 ) then on your map small green squares will appear.

If you are too close in to see them all you will want you can zoom out a bit on the scale but not to far up. Halfway between 'Dept' and 'Ville' seems to be the best.

Hold your mouse on the green square and the area on the photo appears.

Click on the square and a new window opens where you see 'Telecharger la photo' (download it) and 'Voir la phot' (view it in java). 'annuler' closes the window.

The preview is really slow and it is much better to download and view it as one of your own pictures.

When you click 'Telecharger la photo' it then gives you the standard options to save the files.

They are JP2 Format and if you do not are not able to open them then you can download Infanview for free. Click on the JP2 photo icon, open it with Infanview. Save it as a JPG or Bitmap and work on it from there.

The files are quite big - 10-35 mb - but the detail is amazing considering it is all free. There is a blow up of one here:
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtop...58686#p1558686

There are also 1945 photos available, but they cost 90 Euros each.

It sounds complicated but once you get the first few over it really is quite simple.

Yeah ... nah.
Rolling barrages worked like a treat, as long as the gunners and divisional staff knew their business. Recon was vital, as it was in WWI, as well as retaining a degree of flexibility in execution, which was realised by having batterys 'superimposed' on the firing lines. That way, if a target of opportunity arose then the superimposed battery could be lifted off the barrage and given an immediate neutralisation target on the MG position ... or whatever the holdup was that just appeared. Obviously(?) good comms between the forward observers and the gun line was also crucial.
Incidentally, a rolling barrage was really resource intensive, and it wasn't really rolling. Imagine three batterys, each firing their own linear 100m long, with 100m between each line. They would all start together, then after a certain amount of time - as the friendly infantry approach the nearest line of fire - the battery ceases fire on the first line and starts again on a new fourth line 100m beyond the third line. The guns keep banging away for another 20 mins which gives the infantry time to close up on the next line, then the second battery ceases fire and switches to another linear 100m beyond the fourth line. And so on. If you want more width then add more batterys to the left and right on each line (each battery can cover about a linear about 100m long). If the enemy position is particularly strong - or if the position hasn't been recce'd very well - then add more lines in depth so that each line gets beaten up for longer. If the infantry are able to advance quickly then shorten the interval before shifting to the next line, and vice versa if the infantry are unable to move quickly then lengthen the time that the guns dwell on each line.
Examples of use in WWII are legion - Alamein is the obvious first example (although there was at least one in France in 1940, IIRC), including several by the Aussies during their 'crumbling' operation on the northern flank. There were more at Tebaga Gap, Enfidaville, Cassino, and points further north. They were also fairly common in Normandy, and Op VERITABLE opened with a famously huge one. On 11th July 1944 2nd US Infantry Div used a rolling barrage to (successfully) take Hill 192^. In fact, the break in of all of those examples were successful. Coincidence? No, not really.
 
^ LtCol Donald C. Little "Artillery support in the capture of Hill 192" Military Review vol. XXVIII No.3 March 1948 pp. 31-37 reproduced here
See also Bailey, Field artillery and firepower, multiple pages but especially p.204-206

Yeah ... nah.
Rolling barrages worked like a treat, as long as the gunners and divisional staff knew their business. Recon was vital, as it was in WWI, as well as retaining a degree of flexibility in execution, which was realised by having batterys 'superimposed' on the firing lines. That way, if a target of opportunity arose then the superimposed battery could be lifted off the barrage and given an immediate neutralisation target on the MG position ... or whatever the holdup was that just appeared. Obviously(?) good comms between the forward observers and the gun line was also crucial.
Incidentally, a rolling barrage was really resource intensive, and it wasn't really rolling. Imagine three batterys, each firing their own linear 100m long, with 100m between each line. They would all start together, then after a certain amount of time - as the friendly infantry approach the nearest line of fire - the battery ceases fire on the first line and starts again on a new fourth line 100m beyond the third line. The guns keep banging away for another 20 mins which gives the infantry time to close up on the next line, then the second battery ceases fire and switches to another linear 100m beyond the fourth line. And so on. If you want more width then add more batterys to the left and right on each line (each battery can cover about a linear about 100m long). If the enemy position is particularly strong - or if the position hasn't been recce'd very well - then add more lines in depth so that each line gets beaten up for longer. If the infantry are able to advance quickly then shorten the interval before shifting to the next line, and vice versa if the infantry are unable to move quickly then lengthen the time that the guns dwell on each line.
Examples of use in WWII are legion - Alamein is the obvious first example (although there was at least one in France in 1940, IIRC), including several by the Aussies during their 'crumbling' operation on the northern flank. There were more at Tebaga Gap, Enfidaville, Cassino, and points further north. They were also fairly common in Normandy, and Op VERITABLE opened with a famously huge one. On 11th July 1944 2nd US Infantry Div used a rolling barrage to (successfully) take Hill 192^. In fact, the break in of all of those examples were successful. Coincidence? No, not really.
 
^ LtCol Donald C. Little "Artillery support in the capture of Hill 192" Military Review vol. XXVIII No.3 March 1948 pp. 31-37 reproduced here
See also Bailey, Field artillery and firepower, multiple pages but especially p.204-206

Yeah ... nah.
Rolling barrages worked like a treat, as long as the gunners and divisional staff knew their business. Recon was vital, as it was in WWI, as well as retaining a degree of flexibility in execution, which was realised by having batterys 'superimposed' on the firing lines. That way, if a target of opportunity arose then the superimposed battery could be lifted off the barrage and given an immediate neutralisation target on the MG position ... or whatever the holdup was that just appeared. Obviously(?) good comms between the forward observers and the gun line was also crucial.
Incidentally, a rolling barrage was really resource intensive, and it wasn't really rolling. Imagine three batterys, each firing their own linear 100m long, with 100m between each line. They would all start together, then after a certain amount of time - as the friendly infantry approach the nearest line of fire - the battery ceases fire on the first line and starts again on a new fourth line 100m beyond the third line. The guns keep banging away for another 20 mins which gives the infantry time to close up on the next line, then the second battery ceases fire and switches to another linear 100m beyond the fourth line. And so on. If you want more width then add more batterys to the left and right on each line (each battery can cover about a linear about 100m long). If the enemy position is particularly strong - or if the position hasn't been recce'd very well - then add more lines in depth so that each line gets beaten up for longer. If the infantry are able to advance quickly then shorten the interval before shifting to the next line, and vice versa if the infantry are unable to move quickly then lengthen the time that the guns dwell on each line.
Examples of use in WWII are legion - Alamein is the obvious first example (although there was at least one in France in 1940, IIRC), including several by the Aussies during their 'crumbling' operation on the northern flank. There were more at Tebaga Gap, Enfidaville, Cassino, and points further north. They were also fairly common in Normandy, and Op VERITABLE opened with a famously huge one. On 11th July 1944 2nd US Infantry Div used a rolling barrage to (successfully) take Hill 192^. In fact, the break in of all of those examples were successful. Coincidence? No, not really.
 
^ LtCol Donald C. Little "Artillery support in the capture of Hill 192" Military Review vol. XXVIII No.3 March 1948 pp. 31-37 reproduced here
See also Bailey, Field artillery and firepower, multiple pages but especially p.204-206

Then you might like a book I am just now finishing: Anatomy of a Battle by Kenneth Macksey. If you are not already familiar with it, it is a fictionalized account of the opening day of OPERATION BLUECOAT, and is probably one of his best. It focuses on the personnel on both sides of a battalion-sized engagement in hedgerow country. The thing that fascinated me was how he shows how personality traits of individual soldiers played out in the fighting. They definitely have an effect, but there are so many of them that they kind of balance out, so you don't get a phony situation where one soldier or commander causes the battle to swing one way or the other. They all have their effects, which grow out of a brew of strengths and/or weaknesses. The book truly lives up to its title.
Michael

In the 1990s Atomic Games released the "V for Victory" series of games (Velikiye Luki, Utah Beach, Market Garden, Gold-Juno-Sword), later sequeled in the "World at War" series (D Day: America Invades, Operation Crusader, Stalingrad). They were set in WWII, and used the same WEGO system that CM uses (simultaneous planning phase, followed by simultaneous execution with no player interference), albeit in 2D and at the grand-tactical/operational level rather than 3D in the minor-tac realm.
I loved and played the hell out of those games, and have been deeply disappointed that no one has yet picked up the 2D/Operational/WeGo mantle. HPS' Panzer Campaigns was a poor and pale imitation.

I can't recommend Battle (also released as Anatomy of a Battle) by Kenneth Macksey enough, for stuff like this. Macksey fought through the Normandy campaign himself, and this is a thinly fictionalised account of a generic battle in Normandy from multiple perspectives, from soup to nuts, and spends quite a lot of time on the pre-battle preparations; liaison, movement, fire planning, logistic arrangements, along with reconnaissance and planning. It's quite old now - it was released in about 1974 - but a good mil-hist library, or university library should(?) have a copy. Alternately try interloan, or second hand book places (meatspace and online).
The putative battle that Macksey describes would make for a pretty good CM scenario. I know that because I made one several years ago

I can't recommend Battle (also released as Anatomy of a Battle) by Kenneth Macksey enough, for stuff like this. Macksey fought through the Normandy campaign himself, and this is a thinly fictionalised account of a generic battle in Normandy from multiple perspectives, from soup to nuts, and spends quite a lot of time on the pre-battle preparations; liaison, movement, fire planning, logistic arrangements, along with reconnaissance and planning. It's quite old now - it was released in about 1974 - but a good mil-hist library, or university library should(?) have a copy. Alternately try interloan, or second hand book places (meatspace and online).
The putative battle that Macksey describes would make for a pretty good CM scenario. I know that because I made one several years ago

I would recommend against adding branching just for testing. Either test the individual scenarios or the fully compiled campaign - with branching as designed.

Here was me thinking I was going to read an interesting thread about the complexity of Heinz Harmel … 😉
Bloody good find though mate, you must be chuffed to bits.

>when you can't afford a one-bedroom flat but you somehow control what the film industry decides to make
Loving this millennial life

Ephemeris
CM:BN Normandy, France, 1944


Day Dawn Sunrise Sunset Dusk Moonrise Moonset Phase[/B] June 6 0439 0606 2155 2307 2130 0552 Full 7 0438 0605 2155 2308 2242 0634 … … … … … … … … 26 0435 0601 2157 2319 1144 0103 27 0435 0601 2157 2319 1246 0131 28 0436 0601 2157 2318 1348 0157 1st ¼ 29 0437 0602 2157 2318 1452 0223 30 0438 0602 2157 2318 1557 0247 July 1 0438 0603 2157 2318 1659 0312 2 0439 0603 2156 2317 1802 0327 3 0440 0604 2156 2317 1908 0343 4 0441 0604 2155 2316 2015 0424 5 0442 0605 2155 2315 2121 0506 6 0443 0605 2154 2314 2227 0609 Full 7 0444 0606 2154 2314 2312 0713 8 0445 0606 2153 2313 2357 0825 9 0446 0607 2152 2311 None 0937 10 0448 0608 2151 2310 0029 1050 11 0449 0609 2151 2309 0055 1203 12 0451 0610 2150 2308 0122 1320
* These times record when sun/moon events actually occur in CM:BN.
*Dawn and dusk times are approximate, and fairly subjective. First light is probably somewhere around 1 hr before ‘dawn’, and last light something like 1 hr after ‘dusk’. The summer days in Normandy are VERY long.
* Full Calendar here: http://www.sunrisesunset.com/calendar.asp?comb_city_info=Carentan;-1.2553;49.2969;0;2&month=7&year=1944&time_type=1&use_dst=2&want_twi_civ=1&want_twi_naut=1&want_mrms=1&want_mphase=1 Note that this has time offset by approx 1 hr compared to the above table. I believe this is because CM:BN takes into account the Allies working on Double-Daylight Savings time.

The le Norey scenario is coming together nicely, and is currently being playtested. It should be ready for release in a week or two.
 
While nosing around today, I came across accounts of another two Canadian, company-level attacks, along the Verrieres Ridge in late July. One is Troteval Farm, and is here (two reports):
http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol20/iss3/7/
http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol14/iss4/7/
(note that the second one is actually for a different attack on the same location, conducted a couple of days earlier.)
 
The other is St Martin de Fontenay, here:
http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol15/iss3/9/
 
Both of those would make good company-level CM scenarios, and the files there provide a good basis for developing from. I'm not going to do anything with them, so grab them and crack into the scenario editor yourself
 
Jon

from a physics perspective; I call bull****. But soldiers are a superstitious bunch, so from a behavioural perspective; maybe?

If you are referring to the extra straps I think that is intended.  It is to keep the helmet on the paratrooper's head when making a door exit at altitude.   We also had extra helmet straps in the 82nd Airborne in the 1980s.  They were different and came around from the back and velcroed around the normal chin strap.  In WWII I think they had the Geronimo helmet which also had additional straps. 
Its windy up there, making the door (or ramp) exit!!      

The noise of time, Julian Barnes
It's the summer holidays here, some I'm doing a bit of off-reservation reading before varsity starts again.

That is not, as far as I know, true, and hasn’t been for quite some time. In many (most?) militaries these days the issues created by dumping guys and girls straight out of combat back into their home environments is well know. Policy is now to extract them, do any post tour admin (hand in ammo, clean stuff for customs, etc) then have a deliberate period (at least several days, and often a week) in a closed environment to decompress. Ready access to alcohol, no programme or timetable except a scheduled session with the psych. Fight, get drunk, yell at each other, sing stupid songs loudly out of tune, talk, sleep, etc.
 
Now, you can argue that a couple of days - or even a week - isn't nearly long enough, but that's quite different to the military just ignoring the issue.

Army uses Cyprus in the Med for Psychological decompression
The Use of Psychological Decompression in Military Operational Environments
 
 

That is not, as far as I know, true, and hasn’t been for quite some time. In many (most?) militaries these days the issues created by dumping guys and girls straight out of combat back into their home environments is well know. Policy is now to extract them, do any post tour admin (hand in ammo, clean stuff for customs, etc) then have a deliberate period (at least several days, and often a week) in a closed environment to decompress. Ready access to alcohol, no programme or timetable except a scheduled session with the psych. Fight, get drunk, yell at each other, sing stupid songs loudly out of tune, talk, sleep, etc.
 
Now, you can argue that a couple of days - or even a week - isn't nearly long enough, but that's quite different to the military just ignoring the issue.

I thought that that SLA Marshall study has been found to be highly flawed? If so it completely dismantles this guys opening premise if he's basing it on the book. BTW I like this dude I watched him one day for about an hour talk about a "white cannibal". He has interesting vids.
 
Mord.

Wrong Homer, you cheese making Philistine!
 
Mord.

I am reading this thread.

Chapter Three of the full RAND report discusses wargaming and wargames including commercial board and PC games. The link to the report is at the bottom of this article.
https://warontherocks.com/2018/12/the-will-to-fight-and-the-fate-of-nations/
The report mentions Combat Mission and a ton of other games we are all familiar with.
I will not try to summarize the massive report. It has 10 authors for goodness sake. But I know some folks here will be interested in the findings.
Kevin