George MC

Yeah being a mountaineer I prefer wide open spaces Nane oh this jungle/tree bashing stuff!! <shudder>

Grand Are the infantry moving or stationary? Do they binoculars? Re the AFVs - were they set to hide at set-up as that’s where in my understanding you get a camouflage bonus. Are the tanks hull down relative to the spotters? With tanks though I always assume if they can see out, then the enemy can see back…

Bit more context would be useful: What sort of cover/weather/conditions? Spotted by what? Did you have the AFV 'hide' at set-up?

Excellent There might be some scenarios coming out soon where this mod would be useful!

You mean the towns? No. They are mentioned in various briefings but I did not create any scenarios with the actual places on map.

The action the Ogledów covers is very specific to in and around Ogledow. There was a great deal of fighting in the whole sector but the campaign focuses on a few square km around Ogledów. Numbers were hard to pin down as both sides do not tally. However the following extracts from the designer notes and their source I've listed below: From the designer notes: "One of these units, the 501st Heavy Tank Battalion, commanded by Major von Legat, was a source of German great expectations. After being destroyed in fighting during the earlier stages of Operation Bagration, it had been reconstituted at Ohrdruf on 14th July 1944 and equipped with the new Tiger IIs. On the 5th August 1944, the 2nd and 3rd companies totalling 31 Tiger IIs (the 1st company with an additional 14 Tiger IIs did not arrive at the front until the 12th August 1944) of the 501st entrained bound to join Army Group North Ukraine. Their combat debut proved very inauspicious, as after detraining, most suffered final drive breakdowns while on a 50 km road march. After a supreme effort by the mechanics twenty Tiger IIs were available for immediate combat. This mechanical unreliability was to plague the unit throughout its future combat operations ." ‘Tigers in Combat I’ by Wolfgang Schneider "For this operation 16th Panzer Division, with the 501st and 509th Heavy Tank battalions attached to it, was divided into two main kampfgruppen - Kpf.Gr “Bloemecke” (reinforced Pz.Grn.Rgt 64 – I Bat (mot) and II Bat (gep)); and Kpf.Gr “von Busse” (reinforced Pz.gren. Rgt. 79). " Source ‘Fire Brigades: The Panzer Divisions 1943-1945’ by Kamen Nevenkin "The 501st Heavy Tank Battalion (consisting of 2nd and 3rd companies) was now down to only eleven operational Tiger IIs out of the twenty it went into action with twelve hours before - due to on-going mechanical issues with the new vehicles.2 However this did not affect the morale of the Tiger crews of the 501st who were very confident that their new Tiger IIs would be more than a match for the Soviets in their lighter armoured and armed T-34s. " Source: ‘Germany’s Tiger Tanks – Tiger I & Tiger II: Combat Tactics’ by Thomas L. Jentz At this point I should stress and note that when reading through these accounts there are some discrepancies that can be troublesome to reconcile with other sources (although detailed German accounts of this action are scarce to non-existent it would appear). The key one is the date in the Battlefield.ru account is incorrect – this is then repeated in other versions/retellings of this action. To confirm - the action/ambush occurred on the 12th August 1944. This is confirmed in several Soviet sources, including Guards Junior Lieutenant Oskin’s commendation for ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ which states that the date of the action he was famously involved in was the 12th August 1944. The reference you mention most likely pertains to this action on the 13 August 1944. At 0900Hrs on the 13th August the 2nd TBn, the 2nd Tank Company of the 71st Independent Guards Heavy Tank Regiment, and the 289th Rifle Regiment from the 97th Guards Rifle Division3, began moving toward ZARAZ (just over 1km north west of OGLEDOW). King Tigers which were positioned west of Ogledów, blocked the attacking infantry with gunfire. A platoon of JS-2 tanks, led by Lieutenant Klimienkov, advanced and joined in the battle. Soon one of the German tanks was on fire, and another one was knocked out. The infantry, without opposition, then moved into Ogledów, where tanks of the 3rd TBn were already eliminating the remaining Germans. Later in the day seven Tiger IIs moved in from the direction of Mokre. An IS-2 belonging to Guards Senior Lieutenant Udalov opened fire at 800 meters, destroying two Tiger IIs, one of which also caught fire. The German tanks retreated, regrouped, and advanced on PONIK. Lieutenant Belyakov's IS-2 was in ambush in that direction. Opening fire at the column from 1000 meters, he set fire to one Tiger II. The rest turned back. Thats most of what i found. As I said reconciling numbers of tanks etc at specific times and places was nigh impossible. So educated guesses were made where exact/differing numbers were given. Hope this helps? Cheery!

My pleasure Enjoy!

Whew! Aye there was an issue with off-map mortars (from the core file) not appearing. i fixed it by adding em as on-map assets. My pleasure - the fix I just PM and emailed you should work for you and get you back on track. Cheery!

Excellent! Many thanks @Bootie yer a star!

Aye... at the risk of me sounding like a complete cock... Convention with version control is later versions address issues found in previous versions... So I'd suggest junking the older versions cos reason i put out other versions was to fix issues/errors players kindly told me about. So at the moment version 6 is the best there is. IMO

Hhmmm...thats really odd. I double checked and the on-map mortars (in their tracks) are in campaign version 5. I recall there being an issue with earlier versions using off-map mortars so i 'fixed' that by adding the on-map mortar tracks (251/2). This seemed to fix the issue. I just did a ceasefire in cam_v6 and though i ended up with mission 2b (its the same one as 2a just with date change and more assets) the on-map mortars appeared. So at the moment I'm not sure what caused the issue you are seeing but I'd tentatively (i say this as I checked 2a in the editor and it defo has on-map mortars) and then checked 2b in the actual campaign as noted above) say it appears fixed in cam_v6... As said if you don't have the assets in your 2a I'd be hesitant about battling through and taking casualties (or leats heavy casualties). In truth the way the campaign is designed if you ceasefire in your current 2a that'll take you onto an alternate timeline but with same missions just different times and Soviet oppos. Alternately you could restart using the cam 6. One other option is I could create a quick short cut so you don't have to replay mission 1 and go straight to mission 2a. I'm happy to do that and I'd send you it via PM to avoid confusion! That way you keep on the campaign track you won out on. Obs you'd have taken no casualties in this replay, but if you won Mission 1 I suspect you did pretty well cas wise. Let me know what ya think please? Cheery!

I've checked through the scenario files. It.s a mistake on my part with the briefing map. Mission 2a has KG von Schroif capitalise on their previous success. So given the desire to do so means no off-map arty support. However the organic company mortars should be there as they are. I've amended the incorrect briefing tac map (which seems to have cause the confusion) and updated the master briefing document PDF accordingly. So Mission 2a sees no off map additional arty support, you should have your organic company mortars - but you face a less prepared and weaker opposition. @Bootie would you be able to update the zip file and campaign title at this link please? please? https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tsd3/cm-red-thunder/cm-red-thunder-campaigns/kampfgruppe-von-schroif-cmrt-campaign/ I'm on version 6 cam file Many thanks! 873500575_CMRT_KGr_vonSchroif_v6.rar

In short no objective account. I found numerous on-line accounts of this action. Many of them would appear to be based on, or heavily reference, an account published on Battlefield.ru which could be found at the link below though it appears its now broke... The Soviet view of the Ogledow action referencing primary sources: http://www.battlefield.ru/royal-opponent.html A slightly more detailed overview of the Ogledow engagement and includes some original sketch maps showing the locations of KOd tanks. It appears to be heavily based on the original Battlefield.ru account http://tankarchives.blogspot.com/2013/07/king-tigers-at-ogledow.html Discussion querying loss rates in this action: https://www.feldgrau.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11435 This link takes you to an account which attempts to debunk the whole action, I’ve added it here for err, ‘interest’: https://elgri.livejournal.com/10845.html What happened to the captured Tiger IIs from Ogledow http://www.battlefield.ru/was-tiger-really-king.html My own notes and summary: German tank losses in this action – three Tiger IIs destroyed - on the 12th August are confirmed by German records, but further losses in the next day or so are more challenging to reconcile with Soviet claims. That’s not to say the Soviets did not KO or capture the tanks they claimed they did, just from my research it is difficult to corroborate these claims. Thomas L. Jentz (‘Panzertruppen Vol 2’) states that 501st had 45 Tiger IIs on strength by 7th August 1944 and in ‘Germany’s Tiger Tanks – Tiger I & Tiger II: Combat Tactics’ page 153 gives a situation report that shows by the 21st August the unit had ‘only’ lost six Tiger IIs as total write offs, whilst 12 were in need of repair. Schneider in ‘Tigers in Combat I’ on page 46 confirms that the 501st lost three Tiger IIs on the 12th August 1944 and indicates that on the 13th August – “Heavy fighting and further losses. 1 tank – Tiger 002 – is captured intact by the enemy.” The German losses are noted and challenged in the Battelfield.Ru article where the author notes –“Jentz's figures are doubtful. On the battlefields near Ogledów, Mokre, and Szyldów, twelve King Tiger tanks were left behind. From the [Russian} archive records currently available, it appears that the 501st Battalion was routed…” It is worth noting that the German records for the 501st would appear to be contradictory as several authors provide slightly different numbers for the 501st for the end of August 1944. For example, Dennis Oliver in Dennis Oliver (‘Tiger 1 and Tiger II’ page 5) gives 501st as having 41 Tiger IIs on strength with 26 combat ready by the end of August 1944 having lost 4. Whilst Thomas L. Jentz (‘Panzertruppen Vol 2’) states that 501st had 45 Tiger IIs on strength by 7th August 1944 and in ‘Germany’s Tiger Tanks – Tiger I & Tiger II: Combat Tactics’ page 153 gives a situation report for the 31st August 1944 as 13 complete write-offs; 14 operational; and 18 in need of repair for total of 32 Tigers. Reconciling kill claims and operational tanks is always a challenging (futile?) exercise given the various factors common to both sides such as over inflated kill claims, incorrect reports, vehicle accounting systems combined with different definitions of when a tank is ‘knocked out’. What is clear is that the combat record of the 501st during this and subsequent actions in the Sandomierz bridgehead was generally unimpressive. Possibly due to the original battalion being all but destroyed attempting to hold back Soviet attacks during Operation Bagration. Such catastrophic events would mean few of the experienced crews would survive to help form the cadre for the new unit to be rebuilt around. The 501st was reconstituted on the 14th July 1944 with the new Tiger IIs but this only gave the whole unit around a month to reform and train on the new vehicles, and as a combat unit, before being sent into action – perhaps therein lays the reasons for the lacklustre performance of the new tanks and their crews through August 1944: • after the heavy losses in June 1944 the reformed 501st consisted mainly of new recruits without combat experience and lack of thorough training due to the short time between being reformed and sent into combat; • serious technical problems with the new Tiger IIs (final drives in the vehicles being especially prone to failure, especially if the driver was inexperienced); • lack of experience with the new tanks and their strengths and weaknesses combined with overconfidence and overestimation of what the weapon system could achieve, especially the thick armour, often resulted in poor reconnaissance measures and a resultant poor tactical handling. The 501 st’s record through August 1944 was so poor that on the 22nd August 1944 Major von Legat was relieved of his command. It is also reported that he had links to the 20th July 1944 conspiracy to kill Hitler. On the 21st December 1944 the battalion was redesignated as schwere Panzer-Abteilung 424. It is worth mentioning that the Soviet 6th Guards Tank Corps did not have significant numerical superiority during this action. Referencing Battlefield.ru’s account – “It had the following operational tanks to face the German III Panzer-Korps assault: nine T-34-76's from the 53rd GTBr (GMc Note: Oskin’s tank appears to have been a T34-85 according to most accounts), and nine T-34-76's and ten T-34-85's from the 52nd GTBr. The 51st GTBr, positioned to the north, had eleven T-34-76's and four T-34-85's. At Staszów there were eleven JS-2 heavy tanks, and one JS-85 heavy tank from the 71st Independent Guards Heavy Tank Regiment.” Crucially and in marked contrast to their German opponents from the 501st all their crews were seasoned and experienced armoured combat veterans. The high level of professionalism of the Soviet tank crews ensured they made excellent use of reconnaissance, took full advantage of the terrain and the tactical opportunities it afforded and ensured excellent tactical handling at all levels of the unit. Hope this helps?

Looks like it’s a briefing Tac map error - my fault. 2a appears to have no arty support BUT you should have the organic company mortar tracks. I’ll check out why I didn’t allocate arty support - I must have had some reason!! Cheery!

Just had a look - I'm assuming you are on Mission 2a?

The setting The setting - Ogledow a view looking east - Ogledow is rear, left of centre. Looking west - Ogledow is rea, centre right. Action shot!

Hi Hilts Ah not sure why that is. I'd have to double check. They should come on. I know there were some issues with core unit arty modules. TBH I'd have to go and double check this in Engine 4. Not much help for you though in your current playthrough... Hope it goes well for you. On the plus side you don't get booted out but just go onto an alternate path (which you can then rejoin the main path) so if things get tight don't blow your men - ceasefire and head into the next fight. You can convince yourself that support promised was foobarred by the higher ups who couldnae organise a piss up in a brewery! Thanks for the heads up though I'll check it out. Cheery!

Neither can I!

I saw that - I'm well impressed Really works at this level. I'm dodging about amongst your village. Interesting tactical challenge - though some of the close combat scenes are grim and reflect footage from the war. All kudos to you mate.

I'm in - map is impressive - weel done sir!

Ah - I’ll hunt down the patch. That’s an older vanilla test install no idea why it wasn’t patched. My bad. Thx fir checking though. Cheery!

No yet.

I downloaded the file and shifted the btt file into my CMBS scenarios folder - but can't see the scenario file to open. I'm using 2.13 game engine 4, so not sure why I'm not seeing this. I see the file in the editor but again when i open it I just get a blank map. I'm wondering if you used elements unique to the battlepack in this? As I see battlepack scenarios are greyed out.

What @Combatintman wrote - the battlepack will become an integral part of the game exe download. In the short term a patch will be created that includes the battlepack. This might all complicated by work to create patch = other stuff might be considered (e.g. PBEM+++) then its going on Steam (my understanding) so you have all that additional stuff. It'll come out for sure