George MC

Ready to run forward and re-crew the wrecks of their guns?

I use quick (movement point placed at each action point) with a 10s pause at each action point. When I know I'm going to make contact I split of a scout team and use hunt with hide attached. Advancing to contact I use the above but have the pauses further spaced BUT this is happening behind a scout screen. I'm hoping that the scouts draw the fire but the follow on units are just close enough to a/ at least get a sound contact b/ even better engage the enemy. I'm not sure we need more commands IMO.

Hi Mark Yeah this action was against all the odds - he was awarded the Knights Cross for this action so it's not going to be run of the mill. FWIW all these battles were played H2H and are winnable as either side. Although the Germans have the harder time of it in the Knights Cross actions (as they did in RL). Our main aim was not balanced H2H ladder games but to recreate as best we could within CMBB the actual events. Whether they are winnable H2H did not mean any compromises in the design decisions just we worked hard within the design limitations using lot's of playtesting to come up with victory conditions that gave one side or the other a chance of winning regardless of what the actual RL result was like. Anyway - Viel Glück!

It's not meant to be balanced - the action itself was not. But you also get points for KOing enemy armour. If the Germans KO the Soviets then they win. It's been played H2H (played it myself) and it's winnable. But hey ho...

Hi Marc Hhmm that's odd. Can you PM your email address or email me georgemc at blowtorchscenarios dot com please and I'll fire over the briefings. It's been out for years and that's the first time I've heard of this. I no longer have CMBB on my PC but at least can send you the briefings. Great to hear someone is still playing em though

Hhmm it's not usually known what the enemies aim is though eh? If that was the case well yeah it's easy to win. I'm not a fan of giving a complete breakdown of what points are gained for what. I'd rather give a mission and let the player use their judgement. If the enemy has a different agenda well - that's war!

You've posted this in both forums. Care to elucidate which game you are playing or are you just having an anger wank?

Hi Euri I believe you need a positive ID to get points for the recce missions. These are the harder missions to do I think. In one as Blue you have to spot the enemy without being blasted. In the counter recon the enemy are looking to encourage you to reveal your assets. Be keen to hear how you get on? Good luck! @Paul - hope you are still deep in the fighting? Cheery!

Jeezo mate! Disnae leave many options!

Stick to mirrored battles if you want balance.

... slowly dissolve into the ground as small trains puffed their way merrily up her arms which appeared to have developed golden scales. As she slowly dissolved a passerby stopped...

He! You clicked the cultural reference

Typical engagement ranges are around 800m to 900m in CMBN - although in one playtest the Canuks took out a Tiger (shot it in the ass) rolling down RN158 at point blank range i.e. less than 50m! The question about the Canuks is where exactly they were facing. Rad Walters states they had lines of fire to the south and south east. So I've set them up like that. However they spot and are spotted by the Tigers pretty quickly. If you stuff the Canuk Shermans away and out of site then the Tigers can happily trundle past. The issue I have is that the Canuk Shermans appear to be better placed to engage stuff coming down the RN158 or of to it's west - and they stay out of LOS/LOF of the Tigers. The closer they are to the RN158 the more easily they are spotted by the Tigers and then it's an unequal fight - due to the long LOS at that point. If the Canuks sit tight, let the Tigers roll past then sneak around so they are firing to the NE then they can get the flank shot but that in RL would put you directly into the LOF of the Bits shooting from the otherside. You can do this in-game with no worries generally about taking friendly fire but would that happen in RL. Also the Canuks LOF to that side is hampered by walls, tress and a farm. That aside I did have to make some compromises with the map in the CMBN editor as I am constrained by straight or diagonal lines when designing the map so some elements on the CMBN are a little but skewed compared to RL. So I'm a bit loathe to base to many conclusions at to what actually happened in RL compared to what happens on the CMBN battlefield. Still I hope (think) it gives a good flavour of the actual action. Guess though I'll have to wait and see what players think!

Hi LLF - thanks for the kudos much appreciated coming from yourself Some of the issues are related to the game engine e.g. trees are bushy things on poles. I've been playing about with various bocage type features within woodland which has helped concealment. The Tigers do spot and engage stuff - interestingly they spot the Canadians first but don't do well at getting hits (Canuk Shermans are behind a high wall). This causes the Tigers to rotate their turrets left letting the Brits get flank shots. A couple of Canuk Fireflies also get kills but the Brits seem to do most of the killing. I can get the Tigers pretty much imitating what Wittmann's unit did on the day but if you have the Brits etc hold fire for too long then the Tigers spot em and start getting kills. Overall though whichever way you cut it these Tigers following the route they did all die and pretty much in the same timescale as happened in RL. In a way though the Tigers driving to their deaths are a sideshow as the main attack consisted of PzIvs and they did inflict heavy casualties in what was effectively an armour knife fight in the area of la Petit Ravine - I've included this part of the action in the scenario. I've got one basic German AI Plan in place so if ya fancy a look just PM me and I'll fire it over. Cheery!

From what I've read Polish armour were moving up but arrived into the AO after Wittmann's unit were burning wrecks. It does appear though that they did then attack and engage Tigers and KOd one - but that was further east. Also they lost a lot of tanks to German tanks and AT guns on that flank - possibly from KG Waldmüller's PzIVs which had were working their way forward and had a clear field of fire to the east. Tout in his book "A Fine Night for Tanks" witnessed the Poles charge forward. So from what I've read the best contenders are the Brits (NY with Ekins as gunner) and Canadians (Sherbrooke Fusiliers) but actual tank/crew not known. The Canadians seem to have a good case BUT there is little or no direct evidence to suggest Wittmann was one Tiger they killed. I'm sure they took out Hoflinger's Tiger on the RN158 and some follow on PzIVs and a SP (JgpzIV?) but whether they actually shot and killed Wittmann is still open to debate I think. It's worth noting at the time no-one on the Allied side had even heard of MIchael Wittmann. All they knew was that Shermans had bested a clutch of Tigers. The interest in Wittmann is very much a post war thing.

Cheers mate! Just noted my post up above - err Scandinavians should be Canadians - hope that did not confuse anyone... Bloody spell check and err my poor proof reading skills!

Glad you enjoyed the Ost front stuff. Must admit I'm looking forward to heading back there with CMX2. The Normandy project is the action outside Cintheaux during KG Waldmüller's counterattack when Wittmann led his unit into disaster. Theres a sort of thread - under villers bocage. It has some screenshots of the map I was working on. Cheery!

Amen bru!

I've got a small scenario languishing on my hard drive. If anyone wants to take the orphan on (map done and OOB done) then happy to fire it on. Just needs briefings and AI Plans. PM me. Time been taken up with my Normandy project so this went on back burner... Cheery!

Bastardos! They listen - nae listen to customers! Never!

Thanks for the link. Some fascinating stuff there. Re the Cintheaux action. I've finished the map, units deployed, briefings written, op maps done. Just finishing on the tac maps for both sides. The onto AI Plans. I've been playing the opening section over and over. Given the limitations of CMBN and my map recreation of the battlefield the Brits nail the Tigers most times. The Scandinavians get some shots at the Tigers - enough to distract them or cause the Tigers to traverse left thus the Tigers are nailed in their right turret sides/rear. The Tiger going down the N158 (and the PzIVs on the next road) are all taken under fire from the Canadians in Gaumesnil and KOd. What I've found limits the Canadians engaging is the high wall around the château (although I have made gaps in it, as the Sherbrookes did) which gives limited fields of fire and the cluster of farm buildings and orchards across from Gaumesnil. These were there in 44 and up until 47 nut nowadays only one red roofed building is left of the original structures. The orchards are long gone. If anyone fancies having a go with this H2H I'd be happy to email a copy for a bit of playtesting. I think this one will shine more as a H2H, allowing ambushes, sniping and small unit manoeuvring. In saying that playing out stuff against the AI it's still rather challenging.

Back under yer bridge :cool:

They are all very, very busy boys. Not sure what on.

Cool I've used the PzIVs for long range shooting in this. Still accurate but they are not as happy when they get hits in return. The Panthers and Stugs seem to be good at both getting long range hits and shrugging off any return fire (up to a point - I did find these becoming damaged if you leave em still for too long so stuff get's the range). Ammo does become an issue in this for both sides - assuming you keep your armour alive for long enough! Let me know how you get on. be keen to hear. Cheery! George ps there is a thread on Fire Brigade in the scenario section of CMBN if you would not mind posting any comments there please? Ta!

Yup - me too