George MC

Agree - does appear the Typhoon is a red herring (also no aircraft claimed any tank ills that day nor we they flying in that area. Guess that morning there had been the incident where the RAF had bombed some of the advanced Allied elements (that's where the Sherbrooke Fuslieirs lost their half track with the radio logs etc) so reckon all flying over the area (given close proximity etc) was stopped. Also the bombers were due to make another run about the same time as Wittmann set out (one of the reasons the Germans brought their attack forward as they thought their rear lines were about to be plastered). As to who killed Wittmann - without actually walking the ground I'm sure both parties could have KOd the Tiger. The thing that gets me is that in 1944 on that east side of Gaumesnil there was a farm and further south a load of outbuildings - all set within what appears to be orchards. Rad Walters does state their firing lines were facing south and south east. I'm sure they engaged the German armour coming down the RN158 but where Wittman and the other Tigers were KOd puts them on a/ a slight down slope (the ground rises just at Gaumesnil) b/ behind a lot of cover (orchard, hedges, buildings). What is possible is that there was a small keyhole position or a Sherman from the Sherbrookes moved into a better firing position (maybe even crossed the road and into the other buildings and took the shot. Risky thing to do though. Still I've become fascinated with this battlefield archaeology. I think at the end of the day chances are Wittmann's unit was taken apart by both NY and SF Shermans. As I said playing this scenario out for the opening moves it's surprising Wittmann's unit got as far as they did as you can take out the Shermans from further out. If you hold fire until they are wel in the kill zone - well no chance...

Oh yes Had a great time - superb weather and six routes in the bag. Was only scared for some of the time as well!

No worries. I'd have to set it up as it's difficult getting the same sequence of events as in RL. One thing playing this out makes clear though is that the Sherbrookes did have a narrow LOF to the Tigers BUT where Wittmann's Tiger was KOd is behind an orchard which the Sherbrookes did not have LOF through. Assuming I have the ground correct (and no reason to think I've not as X-ref against both maps and google earth and the documentary Ekin's nails the Tigers most of the time. Hardly definitive I guess. What the Sherbrookes Shermans do though when they fire is have the Tigers traverse their turrets to the left hand side to enagage them. Then Ekin's Firefly gets flank shots into either the rear turret or the side of the Tiger. It's possible though that one of the Sherbrooke Shermans took out Hoflinger's Tiger - this happens all the time in playtests. Firefly covering the RN158 has a great LOF straight down the road. I've got the OOBs all sorted and set-up. Now I just need to create AI plans. I'm hanging fire till the upgrade for CMBn comes along to micromanage the AI plan for Wittmann's lot. In my scenario the action goes on to cover the German attack through la Petite Ravine. So it rolls into a larger armoured engagement. I might consider releasing it first as a H2H only (that negates the initial need for AI plans) on a limited release i.e by email request conditional on feedback

I was gobsmacked as well. Got me wondering if you can arrange to visit it? I'm surprised no-one else has ever mentioned he had that stuff stashed away. Of all the accounts I've read I've only seen a couple of references to a dog tag and a small pistol - not the bits of the tank! I've got my own Tiger visit in March as booked onto the Bovington Tiger I 131 VIP day. Looking forward to crawling around the beast!

At about 1240Hrs the Tigers come under fire and Ekins bags the first kill - the rearmost Tiger. Which brews up. Wittmann radios "MOVE! ATTENTION! ATTENTION! ANTI-TANK GUNS TO THE RIGHT! - BACK-UP!..." At about the same moment it appears Wittmann's Tiger is hit and he goes 'off the net'. At the same moment Höflinger's Tiger is hit and brews up with all the crew managing to bail out.

Gordon's Sherman (Ekins was the gunner) concealed in an orchard had a good field of fire across the route of Wittmann's advance. Radley-Walters A Squadron (Sherbrooke Fusiliers) had taken up position in the the ground of the walled chateau of Gaumensil.

I've made some screenshots using the scenario to illustrate the sequence of events when Wittmann's attacking Tigers were nailed by the Northamptonshire Yeomanry - and/or the Sherbrooke Fusiliers. 1230Hrs Tigers move out in column - Dollinger's Tiger leading; Wittmann on the front left. Höflinger follows driving parallel to Wittmann's Tigers along the RN158 Dollinger's Tiger is in the lead as the unit advances.

Yeah I've seen this. What irked me is the Black Baron thing is a post war invention. None of the Allied tankers had even heard of him at the time. However, re the programme the producers gloss over or ignore some key facts about the event. One I found very odd was the view facing east was restricted, in 1944 by several farms/outbuildings and orchards (Ref 1944 aerial photo pre battle). In saying that when play testing on the map it is possible to get some keyhole positions facing east and engage the Tigers moving north. My own view, FWIW is that the Tigers were caught in a crossfire and it's entirely possible that some of the Tigers were hit from multiple sources. So the same Tiger was killed by multiple Allied Shermans - Yeomanry or Sherbrooke. Still it's a fascinating piece of battlefield archaeology just a bit overshadowed by too many assumptions and maybe a wee agenda?

Some sneak previews of the area where Wittmann's attack was stopped. Above: View looking south towards Cintheaux. Below: view looking south east towards. A Squadron's position was the right hand tip of that jutting out section of woodland (orchard). Below: View looking north from approx. position of where Wittmann and his crew were killed. This is the same view as is shown in the well known photo of Tiger 007 with it's turret off.

Just a wee update. I've finished the map and started placing units on it. The map was a real challenge mostly due to shaping the CMBN scenario terrain tools to 'fit' the real world layout. I had to make a lot of compromises but after playing about with it and driving around it reckon it does the job. Although guess it'll be down to players to pass judgement on that aspect.

Fire Brigade has lots of tank on tank action at 1800m + huge map on open terrain.

Hi Hister Thanks for the feedback. I think your comments possibly highlight a couple of aspects of designing AI Plans for attacking sides. One is the AI will continue to follow it's plan regardless of what danger is ahead. In this case the column will just keep right on marching into your guns. Hence the frequent call for 'triggers'. The bunching up is a side effect of this following the AI Plan. I also suspect if you are quick of the mark and aggressive you can outfox the AI very easily. Which means latter in the scenario you may well have a very easy time - again the AI will follow it's plan and not adapt due to the situation. This is one scenario that I think works out better playing H2H as there is far more cat and mouse - and I do mention this a H2H. Any ways I much appreciate the feedback and I'll keep an eye on this. Might be with the forthcoming option of more AI groups that I can fine tune what the AI does? Thanks for the comments about the map - glad ya liked it. Cheery!

Yup. Crap.. Sorted out images but not showing up here. Heck. Just do what I did and google German Panzergrenadiers in google images and work your way through mate. Good link that hsows heaps of images is this over on http://forums.gamesquad.com/showthread.php?81255-The-faces-behind-the-cardboard

It's the section below style of play e.g. Elte/Warrior etc - just scroll down these options and it's at the bottom. It's definitely there

Hi Paul 1/ when you deploy troops the view you exit is the view the player sees on starting the scenario (side specific). 2/ yup they are - especially the US ones. Been threads about it on-line here. 3/ scenario author mode when you open the scenario to play (can only be done when you select single player RT or WEGO). Trust this helps? Cheery!

Sorry mate but this link leads to advert hell. Also several of the links appear to not be working now...

I reckon this boils down to old men who are control freaks wanting to know everything about everything before they even plot a move. Oh and I'll fess up. I'm 49 but I've never felt the need for this. Like others have stated if positioning is so crucial I get down in the weeds and check it out. Reckon this is donw to total control freakery vs ah what the **** let's see what happ...

Yup - should all still work. Stuff that in the past has caused issues are mods. Patch when it comes along will have full instructions on what to do etc.

Wee bit yet.

Play larger scenarios - that way pissy wee situations occuring with two gunners don't matter

Errrm... Yes. You can factor in what they may or may not do to 'deal' with that situation - it's called designing

Even easier is plot a vehicle movement then run the waypoint up and down the length of the water course you are searching for fords. If you can cross it'll let you place the waypoint if not well it won't. Way quicker.

Inverkeithing High school eh? So did I I left in 1979 though - although I'm sure chnaces are some of my teachers were your teachers! Sma' world eh? Oh meant to add - I stayed just up from the railway station. My folks still live there. I was just back on Sunday there.

Best stay in wi him. The first Hector MacLean met his end just along the road from where I'm from - Inverkeithing. Years ago, when I was wee we were on holiday at Aultbea. One old local asked where we were from and when told said 'Och t'was a terrible place for Clan MacLean'. When asked what that thing was and he then said, you'd think it just happened the other week rather than over three hundred years before.

Emailed ya back