George MC

Hi Cooter Welcome to CMBB - kiss good-bye to the rest of your life You can download the training scenarios (Jason C's Russian Training Scenarios) at www.blowtorchscenarios.com Cheers fur noo George Mc

A bit of a generalisation there - maybe if the CM battlefield is a small one say a kilometer or so, or perhaps a QB map rather than a scenario designed map - then arguably the SPW borne panzergrenadiers may have dismounted to tackle/clear the objective. As David I has pointed out though, even on a small battlefield (such as Railyard Blues) SPW with a bit of care can be used to good effect. SPW units did take casualties, heavy at times in both SPW and grenadiers. Some AARs from the late 43/44 period talk about SPW companies that only have a handful of SPW and thirty men. In Agte's biography of Peiper (lot's of great accounts of how SPW were used - many and varied) Guhl (the company CO of 11th Company) ordered that only six men were to ride into action in an SPW as there ws not enough room for a complete squad. Re the ATR issue and small arms fire - all the SPW in Guhl's unit had extra armour welded onto the front, other companies reinforced the front part with by mounting track links there. Also many crews reinforced the inside of the SPW with tree limbs to reduce the effect of shell splinters in the open compartment. Cheers fur noo George Mc

Whilst David was zipping about the railyard my Ivans were running themselves ragged attempting to get into position to support their mates. A few times they ran head on into some armour... Cheers fur noo George

Hi I think Jason Cs post gives a good overall tactical doctrine for how SPW were used. I read Agte's biography of Jochen Peiper and the SPW battalion of LSSAH which has a great deal of combat reports regarding how SPW were used operationally and tactically. In Peiper's SPW battalion hey day (winter 1943) they were used as a fast hitting mobile reserve, then as the spearhead of the German counter attack for LSSAH. At this period they were supported first, by Stugs from Rettlinger’s battery (as it appears the Stug crews were more aggressive than their panzer counterparts who’s CO at the time had a thing about losing panzers!), then towards the drive for Belgorod by Von Ribbentrops panzer company and some Tigers from the 4th Company. Soviet AT assets were in evidence (and Peiper did lose SPW to them) but Peiper also made use of fast hitting night attacks on defended Soviet villages - an innovation for it's time but one which used the good comms and mobility of the SPW unit, and which reduced the effectiveness of nay Soviet AT assets. Plus used the speed of his unit to outflank or avoid Soviet defences before they could react or even be set-up. When it gets to a pitch battle, like Kharkov, they fought dismounted, and that is where their casualties were pretty high, as you’d expect being involved in street fighting. When attacking during daylight it does seem like they picked their battles - there are several accounts where the unit hits strong AT defences, pulls back and lets the supporting armour deal with it, then go in fast and hard to mop up what is left. Or, alternatively outflanking the defence in a big sweep to take it from the rear - an option not available on the generally small maps the average CMBB action takes place on. It also appears the SPW used lots of smoke grenades to cover any mobile assaults, a technique unavailable in the CMBB battlefield. A key element to their use was having space to manoeuvre, thus taking advantage of their ability to outmanoeuvre the enemy. Also the SPW battalion had a lot of mobile HE firepower, which could allow it to suppress infantry AT assets. Of course by mid 1943 this was all changing... I guess the new CMBB campaign engine will allow SPW to be used more to their advantage at an operational level, and hence their true usefulness might be seen. To summarise I agree with Jason Cs view, as Peiper's SPW unit pretty much always operated (a few exceptions but they were in the early stages of the Kharkov action where they were used to quickly garrison, dismounted, outposts in the German line) in battalion strength, with at least half dozen tanks/SP for dealing with AT nasties. If you are interested in seeing how they could be used check out the Peiper series of scenarios at my website (link below). Cheers fur noo George

Hi Abbott check this; http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/x-ussr/ukraine.html Cheers fur noo George Mc

As J2D says you can't change the colours of the unit bases i.e. the red and blue, but you can alter the scale of the units to make them larger so you can see them on the map. That might help. Go to the hotkeys box when in a scenario, open it and you should find what you want there. Cheers fur noo George

Hi David I Cheers for that Emailed you the last turn. Off to Norway for a week, see you when I get back Cheers fur noo George

Just checked Amazon.co.uk and they still seem to have copies for sale, both new and 2nd hand price around £8. Cheers fur noo George mc

Cheers Guys! Real credit is down to the guys who did all the hard modding work - David I, MikeyD and AndrewTF, and Gurra. Me? I just pratt about with Paintshop and swear a lot Cheers fur noo George ps for some reason I can't edit/update the mods at CMMODS to change the credits to add Gurras name - any possible answers, apart from the obvious which is I'm being PC dumb?

These mods of the Sdkfz 251 series, and the 250/1 were done based on David I’s mod which used MikeyD's excellent camo and AndrewTF's excellent mod as the base. See these puppies here All I have done is add baggage and other stuff hanging off the vehicles (with the exception of the 250/1 in which David I added the jerricans and camo net); the Grossdeutschland Divisional symbol, tactical symbols and vehicle number were done from scratch by myself. There are alternative BMPs which do not have the GD symbol, nor the number on the vehicle. To use these BMPs you will have to unzip the mod and renumber/rename the appropriate BMP. As always mind and back up your originals. Note: I’m afraid I am unable to locate the original artists of the bits and bobs hanging off the vehicles. If you recognise your work please let me know and I’ll ensure you get the appropriate credit. You can grab them at CMMODS

Hi Excellent news regarding the new Scenario Depot -and what a great job has been made of it. Re uploading scenarios from the 'Old' Depot. I would prefer if none of my old ones were re-uploaded. A few have had changes since then, and I am working my way through uploading the newer versions onto the Scenario Depot Ver 2. If you anyone needs to contact me re what is what you can do so through mt email address in my profile or via my website (link below). Again many thanks to all those giving up their time to make the Scenario Depot II a great resource for the CM world. Guid New Year tae ane an a' Cheers fur noo George Mc

Hi Just answered my question re the CMAK SPW 251C - Yes it can be used straight 'out of the packet' so to speak. After looking at the BMPs I strongly suspect you can't swap the bmps around for the 251D amd C such that you have 251Cs in the summer of 43 for instance. I'm willing to stand corrected though Cheers fur noo George

Hi Does anyone have or know where I can lay my grubby hands on a plain (non camo) gelb 251D and C (I guess the desert yellow 251Cs from CMAK can work/renumber for CMBB?). With the 251 series, the polygons will only support the relevant skins? I ask as I was wondering as to whether I could re-don the 251C so it appears in the summer of 1943, rather than it's 251D cousin. Thanks for any help Cheers fur noo George

Hi Glad you like em - enjoy Cheers fur noo George

Hi Nidan1 Thanks for that - I've amended the link - should work now. thansk for letting me know Merry Christmas Cheers fur noo George

Peiper's "Blowtorch" Battalion A CMBB combat history of the III. (gep)/ SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt. 2 commanded by Jochen Peiper, following its actions from the 3rd Battle of Kharkov in the winter of 1943, to the conflagration of Kursk in the summer of 1943. Researched and designed by Charlie Meconis and George McEwan. About the “Blowtorch Battalion” scenarios The legend of the Blowtorch Battalion was born in the battles around Kharkov in the winter of 42/43. The nickname “Blowtorch Battalion” was worn with some pride by this unit as many of its vehicles eventually sported a blowtorch symbol painted on their bodywork. Peiper developed armoured mounted infantry tactics that were for the time extremely innovative, and which made best use of the SPWs mobility and firepower. Jochen Peiper is quoted in the biography by Agte as saying the nickname came about due to their innovation of successfully attacking tough Soviet positions in villages with high-speed night assaults, mounted in their new halftracks. The thatch in the houses roofs caught fire due to tracer rounds etc - hence the nickname. This nickname was then given different connotations after the war with the allegation, denied by Peiper, that the unit deliberately set fire to houses with blowtorches. After the war this allegation formed part of the case that was made against Peiper for his being tried for war crimes. Given the total and brutal nature of the war in the East, it is likely that Peiper and his troops both committed and were the victims of war crimes in terms of international law. No one came out of that apocalypse called World War II with their hands really clean. We do not condone those actions. This series of scenarios recreating several of the actions involving Peiper's unit were born out of a desire to recreate some rather audacious, courageous and ultimately bloody actions that were fought by both Soviet and German units during the winter of 42/43 around Kharkov, and latter in the summer of 1943 during the epic Battle of Kursk. Both authors have been very meticulous to research the Soviet side and give the Soviets their own identity rather than a faceless 'Red Horde' - as the bravery shown by the Soviet units during this fighting was exceptional. Although it should be borne in mind that to date, Soviet sources are still not as detailed and complete as German ones are. It is to be hoped that through time these sources will become more available in English, so that the efforts and contributions of the Soviet soldiers to the victory over Nazi Germany will become as well known. You can download them at www.blowtorchscenarios.com Merry Christmas Charlie Meconis and George McEwan [ December 26, 2005, 03:44 AM: Message edited by: George Mc ]

Peiper's "Blowtorch" Battalion A CMBB combat history of the III. (gep)/ SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt. 2 commanded by Jochen Peiper, following its actions from the 3rd Battle of Kharkov in the winter of 1943, to the conflagration of Kursk in the summer of 1943. Researched and designed by Charlie Meconis and George McEwan. About the “Blowtorch Battalion” scenarios The legend of the Blowtorch Battalion was born in the battles around Kharkov in the winter of 42/43. The nickname “Blowtorch Battalion” was worn with some pride by this unit as many of its vehicles eventually sported a blowtorch symbol painted on their bodywork. Peiper developed armoured mounted infantry tactics that were for the time extremely innovative, and which made best use of the SPWs mobility and firepower. Jochen Peiper is quoted in the biography by Agte as saying the nickname came about due to their innovation of successfully attacking tough Soviet positions in villages with high-speed night assaults, mounted in their new halftracks. The thatch in the houses roofs caught fire due to tracer rounds etc - hence the nickname. This nickname was then given different connotations after the war with the allegation, denied by Peiper, that the unit deliberately set fire to houses with blowtorches. After the war this allegation formed part of the case that was made against Peiper for his being tried for war crimes. Given the total and brutal nature of the war in the East, it is likely that Peiper and his troops both committed and were the victims of war crimes in terms of international law. No one came out of that apocalypse called World War II with their hands really clean. We do not condone those actions. This series of scenarios recreating several of the actions involving Peiper's unit were born out of a desire to recreate some rather audacious, courageous and ultimately bloody actions that were fought by both Soviet and German units during the winter of 42/43 around Kharkov, and latter in the summer of 1943 during the epic Battle of Kursk. Both authors have been very meticulous to research the Soviet side and give the Soviets their own identity rather than a faceless 'Red Horde' - as the bravery shown by the Soviet units during this fighting was exceptional. Although it should be borne in mind that to date, Soviet sources are still not as detailed and complete as German ones are. It is to be hoped that through time these sources will become more available in English, so that the efforts and contributions of the Soviet soldiers to the victory over Nazi Germany will become as well known. You can download them at www.blowtorchscenarios.com Merry Christmas Charlie Meconis and George McEwan [ December 23, 2005, 05:57 AM: Message edited by: George Mc ]

Hi Pat Nice one - glad you enjoy em - they look all the better thanks to the graft modders like yourself and Dey put into the work you do. Cheers fur noo George Mc

Hi Dey Many thanks for that! Nice wee Christmas present Cheers fur noo George Mc

I have - you can see for yourself Philippe - at the above link. It is a very specific mod for these scenarios. I agree with the issue you outline above though. Cheers fur noo George

Hi I'm looking to see if you will agree to my releasing the mods (which model SPW from Peiper's Blowtorch Battalion) based on your whitewashed SPW 251 and 250 series. I orginally did them for my own amusement, but I'm looking to make them more public to accompany the Blowtorch scenario series. I've also used bits and pieces from others mods, but as i did this a while ago with no intention to make em public I'm afraid I can't mind who's bit is who's - so if you see something and go hang on! My apologies and would you mind please? Link to them is here , you can either post here or email me at my address (in my profile). Thank you Cheers fur noo George Mc

Hi Mike Don't know if you've tried out my site www.blowtorchscenarios.com Cheers fur noo George Mc

Hi For the newbies to this thread looking for the training scenarios you can get em here at www.blowtorchscenarios.com Just click on the Russian Training Scenarios link and all will be revealed Cheers fur noo George

Nae bother Cheers fur noo George Mc

I've a load of my own stuff, plus I'm hosting JasonC's excellent Soviet training scenarios over at www.blowtorchscenarios.com You can also check out The Proving Grounds where scenario designers upload their scenarios for testing. www.the-proving-grounds.com Cheers fur noo George Mc