George MC

This series of three missions are based on the concept lessons contained in a period German manual titled “Combat Instruction For The Panzer Grenadier” created by Major Helmut von Wehren who was the commander of a training unit and also some principles contained in the 5 August 1944 Manual ‘Panzer Grenadier: Instruction Manual for the Panzer troops: Leadership and fighting of the Panzer-Grenadier’.
Whilst direct translations of the exercises don’t translate that well to a CM environment, I used the concept to create three ‘lessons’ to help players use German armored personal carriers (or as the Germans themselves referred to them - SPW (Schützenpanzerwagen, or armored infantry vehicle) in a more doctrinally ‘correct’ manner within the limitations of the Combat Mission game engine. 
Each Lesson has a ‘Tactical Top Tips’ at the end of each briefing (under ‘notes’) which may help the player new to using SPW in Combat Mission get the most out of them..
The issues you highlighted and the top tips in the briefing are meant to help you avoid em. In truth if you were frustrated in this one the others won't be much better so might be worth applying the old Kolb learning cycle to your playthroughs.
Just in case you missed em:
Tactical Top Tips for Lesson 1
In this first lesson the player starts off with one SPW and associated gruppe (squad) on the map as the ‘point’ element, closely followed ten minutes later by the rest of the zug (platoon). Good practice would be to send at least two vehicles on such a mission. If one breaks down the other can at least take it under tow; if moving tactically the other vehicle can at least provide ‘overwatch’.
In Combat Mission SPW gunners are prime targets and if ‘opened up’ will attract fire. At anything under around 500m this incoming fire will stand a high chance of killing the gunner. Having the gunner (and hence all occupants) keep their heads down reduces the chances of them coming under fire and suffering casualties. However, having them buttoned down comes at the cost of them having reduced spotting ability.
If moving through close terrain consider dismounting the squad, split off a scout team and send them ahead to scout ahead. If ambushed, then you ‘only’ lose two riflemen. However, the ‘scout team’ lack binoculars. If you split the squad into an assault configuration the A section will have the squad leader and the binoculars so may be a better option if scanning the terrain at distance is desired.
Panzer-grenadier squads often have smoke grenades. Whilst you cannot use them from the vehicle, they are useful for when they are dismounted to provide cover.
With practice you will find you can position a SPW hull down where the gunner is less exposed and using a short cover arc means they will not engage a target and less likely to be spotted and in turn be engaged. This only works at distance – 300m plus being ‘safe’ against rifle fire but up to around 500m against MG fire.
If attacking with SPW and infantry mounted you MUST ensure that you suppress the enemy. Launching an attack against unsuppressed enemy forces in Combat Mission will not end well for the attacking SPW. So, ensure enemy/defenders are SUPRESSED. Not firing back but cowering and hugging the dirt. SUPRESSED!
If you want a deeper dive then check out the attached PDF. These two videos give a CM-specific view which might also be of interest?
“Tactically Correct Driving with the Armored Personnel Carrier” by @Bil Hardenberger
https://battledrill.blogspot.com/2020/02/tactically-correct-driving-armored.html
Combat Mission Units: Summary and overview of German Halftracks SKDFZ 251 in CMRT and advice on their pros and cons in game by @Usually Hapless  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQrOjrJKoJI
 Hope you find it clicks but feel free to ask questions here.
Cheery!
 
 
     
 
     
 
 
SPW Training Missions Tactics and Lessons_FINAL.pdf

Roger that.
I opened the mission 3 yesterday. Yes, it is very open, I am thinking to advance in a column formation to the right then make a 90 degree turn change into the line formation, just like the good old Frederick era.  I will need a lot of smokes to ensure the safety of this maneuver.

You see it right here.  Even people on different sides are just people.
I am indigenous.  Cree and visible enough to get pinged on the street.  And I think this trend of white guilt is incredibly harmful and in some case just plain wrong - it is a topic of hot debate around The_Capt family table I can tell, especially with my daughter.
It is relevant that you mention it because it is exactly what we are wrestling with at the staff college right now: Are we teaching future senior officer "how to think" or "what to think".  I am in that first camp, deeply.
The reality is that racism exists in just about every culture on earth since the dawn of time.  Native Americans had a slave trade long before white men even showed up.  It was broader then economics but it definitely was there.  To lay all the modern ills on the White Man's table is nothing more than a convenient excuse to avoid dealing with internal social dysfunction goin back generations.  White men have got sins, there is no doubt about this, but they do not give me license to abuse my wife and family or lean on substance abuse.
Now where we likely differ is on the "so what?"  Our aim moving forward is to stare all that bad directly in the face and say "Ya, ok. But not me and mine."  I could give two figs about white colonialism, my son is going to be a lawyer and master the system at its own game.  I can be proud of my heritage (good and bad) and still be better at this world.  And make damn sure my kids are even better than me.
I am not pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian.  I am pro "let's stop acting like a bunch of insular and scared primates and evolve to the bigger game and better natures our ancestors really had in mind."  It is hard.  It is not fair.  But we can be better than them...that is what they really wanted for us in the first place.     

Sorry for tardy reply - been busy few weeks. 
Aye nicely done - I’m proud of that part of the battle
Yeah the later part of this action does become very CQB. Will be a contrast to mission 3 for sure. 
 
thx for sharing the AAR much appreciated thank you  
Tìoraidh!
 
 

Even doing things ‘correctly’ bad stuff still happens. I thought I’d eliminated all enemy units in this vid clip. Moved up a BIFV to dismount some guys to clear woods. A key holed unsupressed, unidentified RPG 29 team did their job. 
sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. Doing saves to eliminate poor decisions or unlucky events teaches bad habits IMO - which will bite you on the arse the first PvP game you play. 

Even doing things ‘correctly’ bad stuff still happens. I thought I’d eliminated all enemy units in this vid clip. Moved up a BIFV to dismount some guys to clear woods. A key holed unsupressed, unidentified RPG 29 team did their job. 
sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. Doing saves to eliminate poor decisions or unlucky events teaches bad habits IMO - which will bite you on the arse the first PvP game you play. 

Even doing things ‘correctly’ bad stuff still happens. I thought I’d eliminated all enemy units in this vid clip. Moved up a BIFV to dismount some guys to clear woods. A key holed unsupressed, unidentified RPG 29 team did their job. 
sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. Doing saves to eliminate poor decisions or unlucky events teaches bad habits IMO - which will bite you on the arse the first PvP game you play. 

Sad......
 
on the bright side, ATR can be fired when mounted on the SPW. 🙂 Now I have a brilliant idea, I can 5 x ATR team on the SPW and turn my SPW into a fearsome large caliber Anti tank weapon station 
The question is, where I can capture the Soviets that willing to fight on a German SPW?

 

 
 

Finished mission 2
Assault into the town center turned into a very confusing close quarter battle
Spoiler
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

At "A Few Good Men" I am hosting my 5th and 6th Tournament and sign ups are now.
A person will need all modules of CMBN or CMSF2
 
You would be commiting to play in a Tournament that requires you to play one battle at a time, 
they are generally 30 turn battles and require you to have a turn rate of 5 turns per week.
These battles are scenarios and are locked, you will be playing them blind, your forces are selected for you.
You will be competing against those players playing the same side. The top 50% of the players receive 
points for each round as to how they did vs the other players playing the same side.
 
This is a 5 round Tournament, five scenarios, each lasting two months approx., So the Tournament last 10 months.
We only want Mature players, you are expected to finish all rounds, keep communications going when your away for more than a few days.
Handle being beat in a battle where you might have a terrible situation handed to you. Play with all sorts of different forces, play both defence and offence.
Be ready to handle the unexpected.
If you do not hold up to being a mature player, You are removed from the Tournament  and I blacklist you from my events for life, So dont bother to join if you cannot 
handle these things. I dont need you on my wall of shame list.
 
 
 

At "A Few Good Men" I am hosting my 5th and 6th Tournament and sign ups are now.
A person will need all modules of CMBN or CMSF2
 
You would be commiting to play in a Tournament that requires you to play one battle at a time, 
they are generally 30 turn battles and require you to have a turn rate of 5 turns per week.
These battles are scenarios and are locked, you will be playing them blind, your forces are selected for you.
You will be competing against those players playing the same side. The top 50% of the players receive 
points for each round as to how they did vs the other players playing the same side.
 
This is a 5 round Tournament, five scenarios, each lasting two months approx., So the Tournament last 10 months.
We only want Mature players, you are expected to finish all rounds, keep communications going when your away for more than a few days.
Handle being beat in a battle where you might have a terrible situation handed to you. Play with all sorts of different forces, play both defence and offence.
Be ready to handle the unexpected.
If you do not hold up to being a mature player, You are removed from the Tournament  and I blacklist you from my events for life, So dont bother to join if you cannot 
handle these things. I dont need you on my wall of shame list.

Two JS2 get ripped apart as they switch their position in the scenario "Cat and Mouse". One even received a catastrophic hit in the ammo racks.
 
 

 
 


Anything else is really frightening: My Panthers roll forward and get shot up by hidden JS 2.

The struggle at Ogledow continues in the fog.


The steel beast

That's how I'm seeing it right now, being in the middle of it.  Green crews and falling victim to their own propaganda.  Still, the King Tigers are very cool to play with and to see.  I haven't used them in any scenario in such a long time, I'm amazed at how fast the turret rotates!  I was expecting heavy and slow but that's not the case at all.  Maybe it's just really noticeable in this one because it's nice to have when you are pretty much blind.  Maybe it's a little advantage?  
In respect to your last point, it is true that history is full of examples of leaders of certain units making horrible decisions, to not only their own detriment, but usually also leading to horrific casualties of their men who have to carry out those orders.  I can think of many.
I like scenarios like this as you get to really be in the heads of those who were there and then have to determine what to do with the lousy circumstances.  Good times.

Oh aye for sure. That was a key reason for creating this action. Great to see it being appreciated
Oh yeah - the 501st’s record through August 1944 was so poor that on the 22nd August 1944 Major von Legat was relieved of his command. It is was also reported that he had links to the 20th July 1944 conspiracy to kill Hitler. I can't find out anything else about him post event, though guess somewhere there might be his service record if it was not destroyed during the war. Oh the 501 was later reformed as  sPz. Abt. 424 45 Tiger IIs and some Tiger Is, and was under the command of Major Saemisch. he led his whole unit into an ambush at Lissow in January 1945 most likely due to poor prior recce and/or misleading intelligence. The village was already occupied by JS-2 tanks and anti-tank guns. The result was that the majority of Tigers were either destroyed or lost to bad terrain. Terrible of echoes of the action in and around Ogledow four or so months earlier...

Yeah 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?
Oh and overconfidence in the new vehicle...
Its worth noting that whilst this event figures highly in Soviet reports - due no doubt to meeting the Tiger II for the first time and giving the wunderwaffe weapon a kicking - German accounts are very scarce. there are reports from other units but nothing specific to this event from the unit involved - least as far as i could find in available English sources. The Soviet side has loads of versions based on the original Soviet reports (all of which repeat the incorrect date change so assume no-one repeating this has bothered to doubel check....).
Why did they attack? Well at the tactical level it is an odd decision for sure - no recce prior so they drove straight into an ambush. Some infantry support but they seem to not figure at all in Soviet reports and would appear did not even engage in any patrol activity. Its an interesting event which poses more questions that it answers for sure
 

My scouts are killed before they can even do their jobs.

The scenario should be called "The Fog at Ogledow".  😂

@George MC  I will say this, the map is amazing!  That being said, the ground is horrible!!  The fog makes it even worse!  George, why in the 9 hells would the Germans attack blind, over this ground, in the fog!!!  Arrggghhh!!  What a cool historic scenario to recreate.  😎
It's super fun so far, @FlammenwerferX jumped me at about, ohhhh, 200 meters or so?  It was a nice little ambush.  We traded one King Tiger for one T-34.  I'd say that's gonna work out super well for the enemy if this continues...
Now I'm all super jumpy as the other spotted T-34 just rammed it into reverse and disappeared into the fog.  It's like a freaking horror movie!
 

I wish I knew!  The fog is playing havoc with EVERYTHING.  I'm guessing IS-2 though.  I'm getting contacts in the fog but no spots.  @FlammenwerferX was just lying in wait for that one.
 

Thanks, I know excatly what you mean!
Ladies and Gentlemen, the "invincible" King Tiger.  
Just like you said Dan, the reality sets in pretty quick.

Great pics as usual.  The Great King Tiger2 emerging from the smoke.  I still love these beasts.  I remember when I was young & foolish and thought these things were nearly invincible.  Then I played CM.  Oh, turns out 60 tons of steel is a lot more fragile than one would think.  Also at some point read how mechanically unreliable they were.  Kinda wish I could go back to my starry-eyed ignorance and idolize these things like I used to.  

What new sorcery is this?
@FlammenwerferX and I have engaged at Ogledow.

With this I agree, perhaps quarterly would be good enough.  The only problem (which I have first-hand experience of 🫣) is if all you can say after 3 months is 'there has been no progress'.  But that's something you can manage.
I think this already happens for some developments.  As you say, @George MC 'involves' the community, and so does @Ithikial_AU.  Perhaps the problem with the CMFB module is we don't know who (if anyone) is working on it.   As it's bringing in new forces etc. I imagine it will involve Charles as well as 'outsiders'.
Play-testing is often done by more than a limited number of BFC play-testers.  By invite or by volunteering.  But of course this needs the communication you referred to above.
And I can't help but mention the current work of @Mr.X on RT campaigns.  Frank has done absolutely great work but has also involved a lot of people to play-test by requesting it on the forum.  All for a free user-made release.  Love it ❤️.
Anyway, the more I think about it I'd just be happy to know that the FB module is still part of 'the plan', and that it will arrive at some point.  I would happily pre-order if that would help, but I doubt it.