Bannon DC

Take the advice of General Patton... fire at every suspected ambush location. All your guns should be blazing. Don't wait for the enemy to shoot first. Shermans typically carry a lot of ammo, both HE and MG ammo. Fire away at bends in the road, fire some smoke and rush a position with your infantry. A gamey manuever is to speed a jeep through and area and see what is around the corner. Be sure to keep moving so you don't end your ordered moves in a suspected enemy position. Very game but also very fun, especially with a .50 cal jeep.

How about now?

You naive fools! Do you know what you are getting yourselves into? That is a 20 battle operation! :eek: Put down the keyboard and move away from the computer. This is for your own good. I should know... I'm on battle 8 playing head-to-head. This is a PBEM game that started about 4 months ago. It will be cold again by the time I finish.

The pointy end of the gun and the long stick-like thing on the tanks is the dangerous part. Keep these in the direction of the enemy. If you do this, you should be fine.

Ho-ray. It has finally turned its first corner. Someone was quick to pull the United States' current war in Iraq into the thread. Let the ill-logic flow. Freakin' predictable.

The timeline doesn't hold for this. Pest (the eastern side of Budapest) was evacuated by January 18th. The last breakout from Buda occured on Feb 10th. I think organized resistance in the city was over by Feb. 13. The relief operations to breakthrough to Budapest were Konrad (I, II and III). The last effort fizzled out sometime around Jan. 27/28. I'm not familiar with the operation in question, but the relief of the garrison would have been long since past. [ May 17, 2006, 03:48 PM: Message edited by: Bannon DC ]

Oh man, we are off and running. This thread will really l-e-n-g-t-h-e-n when Jason C chimes in. Let me summerize... Nazi Punks F'Off.

I recived your last mail at 06 May. Is this it? If not, please send me the latest again! Thanks! I'll check it! </font>

Bardosy -- Did you have a chance to take a look at my revised Margit Island map? As a Budapest native, your opinion would be helpful. I emailed it to you. if you need me to resend let me know. Can also be dl'ed here: Link to Margit Island at TPG Thanks, Bannon

Keep your drool bucket handy. Have a towel handy for the day it finally happens

Badenov was canned because he was a no-goodnik. When he should have been concentrating on fighting the Germans, he instead focused on the destruction of Moose and Squirrel. His second and command, Natasha Fatale, also suffered demotion at the hands of The Fearless Leader. Oddly, they were both to resurface in the Khrushchev era and played an important role in the Cold War.

Thanks for the links. I saved them in my CM resources file.

But thank anyway.

Bardosy -- Just finished Zuruck on Chainbridge. I had a great fight... lots of fun. I was very surprised at the number of Soviet tanks I was able to knock out... and thank goodness I did knock them out. I got a "minor defeat"... 39% to 61%. == == == SPOILERS == == == == == == SPOILERS == == == Quick AAR -- I delayed a turn or two before starting to retreat my men... I wanted to see what was out there before the firing started. Great fight on the Hungarian right (line held by unfit Hungarians). I was able to get maybe less than half of these guys back. On the left, I did much better... I got most of the Germans on the left flank back. Closing in on turn 20, I was still leap-frogging my men on the left back. The middle was starting to develop into a MAJOR fight. I brought in the reserves I had and held the Russians back until the last few turns, but I crumbled as I ran out of ammo. I had a company+ still leapfrogging and holding the fallback positions in the buildings nearest the bridges. I had two Zbrine (sp?) left. I lost the "crack" (or "elite") to a T-34 that got into the bridge area on the last turn! So, on turn 30, I had to deal with that rogue T-34 and the infantry that had just started to break through the last block. The T-34 was knocked out by one of the other SPs. After he was dead, the plan was to turn on the infantry and pummel them, cover the dash of the last infantry with some smoke and then reverse the SPs over the bridge. Comments -- Excellent map! Well done historical scenario! As you mentioned, you do have a lot of burning buildings. This was not a problem for me, but could be for others. You could lose some of the smoke without losing the atmosphere... especially along the edge of the map. It all blends in along the edges anyway. There are two major problems... but they should be easily fixed. The first become obvious early in the game... not enough time. I was enjoying leap frogging in my retreat... one platoon covering another and then taking a new position while the first pulls back. This takes some time. Then, the long trip across the bridge, across the square, up a brush covered slope, aver a wall and then out. Once at the bridge, it is at least 500m (and hopefully no one is shooting at you). That last 500m takes at least 6 minutes. Longer if tired. I had about a company and a half moving toward the exit on the last turn. For the time issue, I suggest making the scenario at least 35 minutes... no longer than 40. Plus, cut off most of the Buda side of the map. It looks great, but does not add anything to the play of the game. (If you are not aware, you can edit the size of the map on the right and bottom (W and S) in the editor by holding down the "shift" key when clicking on the height and width buttons. You can adjust it back and forth and not lose any of the buildings, etc. Be careful -- once you leave the editor, the map will stay as it was when you left... you can't get the buildings back at that point.) The second major problem was the location of the flag. The path the AI chooses to get to the flag made it collect all its units in the middle of the map (somewhere near the Basilica) and then move to the flag. This resulted in MASSIVE Russian infantry all moving in one huge unit. Maybe if you used two flags on either side of the square in front of the bridges it might break up the AI attack better. (You could also give a point adjustment to the Axis side for the value of the flags.) Small suggestion, the AI attack on the Axis left flank was weak. You could place some of the Russian infantry on that side... maybe coming down the river from Margit bridge. Who is Zuruck?? I don't think it is mentioned in the brief. This is a very good scenario. Well done! Bannon

Or the manual... J/k... glad to see new players.

Bardosy -- I sent you an email at the address in your profile. I am hoping you can help me out with some of the details of Margit Island based on the 1940 map you linked. Hopefully you can help. thanks, Bannon

Mein Weg mit der 45. Infanterie-Division, by Rudolf Gschöpf Does anyone have this book? It is a history of the German 45th Infantry Division. I believe it is in German only. If you have it, are there any good pictures of the battle of Brest-Litovsk and the battles of Barbarossa? Maps? thanks, Bannon

Are you talking about "Bogged" vehicles or ones that have gone beyond bogged to "immobile?" I have wondered if you pushed an immobilized vehicle out of the mud (with crew still on board) onto a road if it would be able to move again. But the AI seems definative -- NO GO.

If you are interested in Budapest battles, I just updated my Margit Island operation. For those familiar with the battle, I could use some advice on the placement of the buildings on the island. I know the way I have them now, they are probably too large... and I may be missing other features. The operation is in playtesting and located at The Proving Grounds. Margit Island, Budapest This is a ten battle operation, 20 turns each. Plays as Russians vs. AI or 2-player. -- -- -- -- -- Bardosy, I'm playing your (or your friend's) "Zurück on Chainbridge". Good battle and good map. I was thinking of doing this battle myself. No need now. :cool: The other maps look terrific as well! Bannon

Billy -- I see you're new around here... "welcome to the forum" and all the stuff. How rude of us not to say "howdy." Equally, you have had to ask your question three times. This thread seems to have struck a few nerves. Thanks to everyone who has posted, great to hear your views. I believe that many of the opinions expressed are irreconciliable in that they are expressions of philosophical differences. On a practical level, I've learned I never want to play 'Wittmann in the East'. Any other scenarios out there that are so unbalanced AND ahistorical that I should avoid them? Thanks in anticipation

From John Erickson, Road to Stalingrad (which I'm reading right now and just happen to have handy) -- The only mention of any of those locations is Andreapol which was on the rail line. From page 305 of the soft cover edition I have: "... because the 3rd and 4th Shock Armies were becoming seperated by a gap of some magnitude as Purkayev approached Kholm and Yeremenko drove through Andreapol to a point north of Toropets, the Western Dvina and to Neilidove. After an attack from three sides, Andreapol was stormed on 16 January, Major-General Tarsov's crack 249th Rifle Division scooping up the German stores as it went along..." The reference to lakes and the capture of a town on the 15th makes sense. There are a number of large lakes in the area along the rail line east of Andreapol. By IR -- are you refering to Infantry Regiment? If so, that is a small formation for reference in most sources. Do you know the brigade, division or army it was part of?

Bardosy -- Thanks for the maps. Good stuff. Szedrencs -- thanks for the review link. Here's one you might be interested in: http://lazarus.elte.hu/hun/digkonyv/szakdolg/mihalyi/mihalyi.htm#_Bevezetés This is in Hungarian and was provided by a helpful person from another WWII web forum. I can't read it, but it appears to be a detailed account of the fighting. What I have been trying to find is a detailed topographical map of the Buda area. The hills over there are amazing. Most street maps just don't give you an idea of the increadible terrain. Bannon

Thanks for the scenarios guys. I've been very interested in the siege of Budapest. I recently made an operation based on the fighting on Margit Island (currently in playtesting at The Proving Grounds web site). I am wondering if you can share any of the sources you used for maps. I've been looking for a good source for months... especially of the Buda side of the city. The numerous hills makes if difficult to make historically accurate maps. I plan to buy "The Siege of Budapest" by John Lukacs soon. Are you familiar with this book... if so, are the maps in it any good? Thanks, Bannon

Long, You didn't provide the web site where we can see this footage. It is doubtlessly available somewhere. ;- )

DEY -- I see you posted some of your scenarios to TSD. I was looking for "Panfilovic" (if I have the name right). That commander's name has come up in my recent reading and I was hoping to play your scenario. Do you consider it "finished?" If so, please post it. Thanks, Bannon