Bannon DC

Jab. Jab, jab, jab! Are you down yet? Good... jab, jab, jab.

You've experienced Tank Terror first hand!

I have one of those Vanguard books about the KV series. Excellent battle descriptions and pictures. One KV has at least one hundred "scratches" on it from where German shells bounced off it. Finally an 88 knocked it out. Lucky for the Germans, that the KV was a mechanical piece of junk suffering from many breakdowns and difficulty in repairing it. Plus a lack of the correct ammo. If you are fighting 4 KVs... you are in bad shape. If you can't get your infantry close, you are out of luck with your own armor.

Hard choice... CMBB has the Russian tanks, T-34's, KV's, etc. which will give the German armor a real work out. Fighting only American and Commonwealth equipment is fun... but you miss so much of "the big picture." To my knowledge, there is no patch for CMBB to add the enhancements made with CMAK. When you start designing your own, start small. You may have already visited The Scenario Depot (site hosting most of the user made maps) and The Proving Grounds (site dedicated to playtesting and aiding scenario designers). Other good sites are around as well.

True as discussed. But - you can go from heavy building to rubble without exiting. You can go from heavy building to light (2 story) building without exiting. Good to know.

Before you embark on this massive, massive, massive operation... do some smaller scale maps, battles, and operations. Nothing is worse than to spend a great deal of time designing a battle or op and finding out it is flawed. I know first hand! A few suggestions: First, if you want to build this fortified town... conduct a test on a small scale. Design one side or approach to the town. Design the defenses then figure out what force will be needed to beat that defense. This will give you an idea on how to scale the larger battle. Second, Operations are much tricker to design than battles. You need to figure out if you want your map to scroll (advance and assaults) or be static. The map may not scroll like you want it to... do a small test and figure out how it works. The action on most maps that scroll is along a single front, instead of a three sided attack. Between battles, you need to have an idea about the new set up zones will be... for example, the enemy may grab large amounts of ground that he did not earn... they were just unoccupied by your forces and now he can set up there. Third, learn the limitations of the AI. The AI is rather stupid on a larger scale. Sometimes it will not attack at all. Sometimes (usually, really) it will leave perfectly defensible position to walk out into the open. Forth, as mentioned -- most computers will have a difficult time handling a large map. The more graphic elements you have, the bigger the drain. Urban maps are particularly draining. Fifth, will it be fun to play? If one side is pure defense, barricaded in a static defense even, there isn't much for that player to do other than watch and see how well his plan worked. Will that be fun for a number of battles? As far as points per battle go... when you hit 10,000 (total for both sides), that is a pretty big battle. That is a lot of units to worry about. Try to keep in this range. Start small, test parts of your idea as battles, figure out how ops work on the design level, figure out how to get the AI to attack and how to defend, scale down the "big" idea to something playable. As far as battles on Crete go, I'm sure you could come up with some sources with a quick internet search. Books... must be a thousand of them. Have fun and good luck!

I would think you will be disappointed with the zook. Don't rely on it as a main weapon in your attack. Rather hope to get the lucky shot. They are slow and vulnerable. Urban combat will rely on firepower. Bigger squads to lay down cover as fire and advance. If you can have armor, bring a tank in there in just blow the building down and move in with your infantry. Protect that tank... scout with infantry, id targets and pound. The 4.2's will do a good job... but damn deadly to your own troops when the enemy is right across the street. Light mortars are practacly worthless... you'll need LOS for direct fire if you plan on catching anyone making a dash across a street. Even if under command and hidden in a safe spot, it will take a lot of effort to even suppress an enemy in any larger building. I would go with a selection giving you larger squads, armor (a sherman with a big gun...105mm... is that the right size?), HMG's... and of course some sort of flame unit.

If you don't know this aleady -- when you increase the % of units in an exit scenario -- the bonus units DO NOT have the "exit for points" button toggled. So, you have extra units, but only the original units are eligible to exit for points. This is my experience... let me know if you see otherwise. Bannon

I too was wondering what it would take to knock out a pillbox. As with the rest of you, taking them out an AFV is a bit too easy. I designed a scenario that would include no AFVs, no artillery, no smoke, etc. Just infantry and their support weapons. I was thinking of the battle of Kursk where the Russians had 5-6 heavily defended lines. What would it take to fight through these lines, one at a time? Scary. My scenario was a test case for one day designing a much large fortified zone. The goal is to take out one wooden machine gun bunker. In CM, the best infantry support weapon for taking out bunkers is by far the ATR. It can do it within 10 shots. Same disappointment as the AFVs. (So I did not include any). As a suggestion for you to include tanks, but not have them be able to fire directly on the bunker... maybe you can keep them back by placing a river in between them and the enemy line. You can narrow their field of fire with trees or "rough" terrain. Infantry can cross a river at a "deep ford" but tanks can not. For set up, you can place the infantry much closer than the tank which would be far to the rear. Yankee Dog's suggestion of protecting the bunker with AT guns works of course. (Might make for a very deep map with both the river and the AT guns in the rear though :eek: ) Please pardon a little self-promotion. Here is my infantry only bunker attack if you want to take a look -- Steppe Pillbox. Hosted at The Proving Grounds. http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/scenario_details.html?command=search&db=scenarios.db&eqskudatarq=527

The Russians would have gone down in flames. They would most likely have taken much of Poland but their poor operational ability would have made THEIR blitz move at relative glacial pace. The Germans would have been able to chip pieces off this iceberg bit by bit as the Russians charged headlong into German defensive positions. They might come close to Berlin, but never enough to actually threaten. Poland would become a cratered landscape as the Germans formed a defensive line. Ultimately, the Germans would turn to the offensive and stab through Poland by way of Carpathian passes in Slovakia and bag the bulk of a massive routed army. Politically, for the United States, this would relieve any pressure to go to war against German as Germany full attention immediately turned from Britain to defending themselves. Support of Britain may have become less secrative as the fear of provoking a war with Germany was significantly reduced. Indeed, the shoe would be on the other foot... German would be afraid to provoke the United States. In Britain, the likelyhood of a true alliance would loose steam. Churchill despised Communism as much as he despised Facism. Remember, Churchill seriously considered war with the Russians when they invaded Finland. He wanted to send men and supplies by way of Norway and Sweden. With the pressure off on almost all fronts as German turned to fight in Poland, the Brits would have been able to get off their knees and rebuild their forces. Their defense would eventually stand firm and they could take some cheap shots at Germany in France and eventually return to the continent in some limited fashion. Italy is a tough question. The Germans had to jump in and save them in Greece. Do the Germans throw the ball back to them and let the get chewed up in the mountains of Greece? Probably. And the German "minors"? The probably prepare themselves for war. What if German takes a beating -- the Russians can turn on us. They sit on the fence until the steam has gone out of the Russian offensive and when Germany is able to take the offensive, they eagerly sign up to pick the bones of the corpse. Germany would have offered them very nice deals to get their armies into the fight. Would the Germans have been able to eventually reach Moscow? If the Russian Communist govenment survived, I doubt the Germans would have been able to go that far. The Russians would have been mobilized, their factories cranking out weapons, they would have increased production of T-34s and modern aircraft, they would have gained battlefield and operational knowledge, plus they had massive resources of manpower to support loses. The Russians did have prepared defensive lines prior to the war they could have fallen back on. But -- they would have to do it alone -- no lend lease. And only allies of convience as the British would have given them tepid aid. It certainly would have been a different war. The Soviets may have suffered similar losses materially and in manpower, but I think they could have spared much of their heartland and industrial areas the obliteration suffered in Barbarosa. They would have no obligation not to make a separate peace with the Germans.

Hello all MOST RECENT UPDATES AT BOTTOM OF THREAD. :cool: Due to some issues at the Scenario Depot, some of my scenarios appear to be un-downloadable. The following have been up for a while at The Proving Grounds. Check them out there if you are interested. All are CMBB so I'm cross posting here. Steppe Pillbox http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/scenario_details.html?command=search&db=scenarios.db&eqskudatarq=527 This is a tiny battle with a simple objective... destroy a single Russian pillbox. This is the final version. Earlier version proved too difficult. Made some minor tweaks and it is much better. Rear Guard (AI) http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/scenario_details.html?command=search&db=scenarios.db&eqskudatarq=528 Another small battle. German rear guard units must set ambush for approaching Russian armor. Very few lightly equipped Germans make for a challenge. Setting is the Carpathian Mountains in Romania. A separate head-to-head version available is available. Combined Arms, South to Kiev http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/scenario_details.html?command=search&db=scenarios.db&eqskudatarq=534 This is an operation 6 battles, 20 turns each. Early war – August 1941. German combined arms group is attempting to reach important crossroads town. Action takes place in the mostly open country on approach to town and finally outskirts of town itself must be breached. Spirited Russian armor and infantry try to stop the German advance. Starts as a Panzer prowl and gets tougher as infantry positions are encountered. Bendery Bridgehead http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/scenario_details.html?command=search&db=scenarios.db&eqskudatarq=545 Russians must breakout of a narrow bridgehead and secure high ground. This is a very tough start for the Russians (hopefully) as the bridgehead comes under artillery bombardment. This is a bigger battle as Russian forces are feed into the bridgehead in the opening phase. Historical situation based on the opening phase of the Russian campaign to clear the Southern front and break into Romania. Meant to be played as the Russians. Czech Uprising, Dukla Pass XX removed old link XX Semi-historical, based on Czech uprising in Sept. 1944 that was supported by a Russian airdrop (of a Czech Airborne group). One of the goals was to take a heavily defended strategic mountain pass from the rear. This was a main route for the Germans supporting their troops in Poland. The action takes place in the area behind the pass as partisans and airborne attempt to seize towns and block the path of German reinforcements destined for the front. German Security units must hold the towns and clear the roads. Fights are broken down into a series of smaller unit actions at first. Both sides regroup (depending on success of German defense) and a larger action develops. Certain German troops must exit for victory points. Designed for Axis vs. AI, will work as head-to-head but I have not tested it. Keeping with the spirit of The Proving Grounds (www.the-proving-grounds.com), any and all feedback on my scenarios (and everyone else’s!) is greatly appreciated. Thanks to the crew of TPG for the valuable input on the above scenarios. Have fun! Bannon DC [ May 27, 2005, 01:05 PM: Message edited by: Bannon DC ]

Patrocles -- When did you upgrade the driver? I'm in the same boat. I've upgraded drivers about 3 times since owning my machine which is about 3 years old (same card). Same old story -- sometimes if fixes a problem with a certain game and causes a problem with another. My plan is to just get rid of ATI and get a new card.

Also -- make sure you actually held the flag instead of just clearing the enemy off it. You must occupy the flag with a unit in order to get the points at the end. If you capture it and press on, the flag will revert to neutral once you leave the area. If you have fog-of-war turn up, it may appear you own a flag, but it actually may be contested if enemy units are hidden nearby. But as said above -- you probably lost too many units. If the scenario is designed such that you are most likely to loose many units to win the ground, a weighted bonus should be given to the player. What scenario was it? I've seen discussion before on holding flags -- do crew units count for a flag actually being held? I play CMBB. Anyone know?

Hello all MOST RECENT ADDITIONS AT BOTTOM OF THREAD :cool: Due to some issues at the Scenario Depot, some of my scenarios appear to be un-downloadable. The following have been up for a while at The Proving Grounds. Check them out there if you are interested. Steppe Pillbox http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/scenario_details.html?command=search&db=scenarios.db&eqskudatarq=527 This is a tiny battle with a simple objective... destroy a single Russian pillbox. This is the final version. Earlier version proved too difficult. Made some minor tweaks and it is much better. Rear Guard (AI) http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/scenario_details.html?command=search&db=scenarios.db&eqskudatarq=528 Another small battle. German rear guard units must set ambush for approaching Russian armor. Very few lightly equipped Germans make for a challenge. Setting is the Carpathian Mountains in Romania. A separate head-to-head version available is available. Combined Arms, South to Kiev http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/scenario_details.html?command=search&db=scenarios.db&eqskudatarq=534 This is an operation 6 battles, 20 turns each. Early war – August 1941. German combined arms group is attempting to reach important crossroads town. Action takes place in the mostly open country on approach to town and finally outskirts of town itself must be breached. Spirited Russian armor and infantry try to stop the German advance. Starts as a Panzer prowl and gets tougher as infantry positions are encountered. Bendery Bridgehead http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/scenario_details.html?command=search&db=scenarios.db&eqskudatarq=545 Russians must breakout of a narrow bridgehead and secure high ground. This is a very tough start for the Russians (hopefully) as the bridgehead comes under artillery bombardment. This is a bigger battle as Russian forces are feed into the bridgehead in the opening phase. Historical situation based on the opening phase of the Russian campaign to clear the Southern front and break into Romania. Meant to be played as the Russians. Czech Uprising, Dukla Pass XX removed old link XX Semi-historical, based on Czech uprising in Sept. 1944 that was supported by a Russian airdrop (of a Czech Airborne group). One of the goals was to take a heavily defended strategic mountain pass from the rear. This was a main route for the Germans supporting their troops in Poland. The action takes place in the area behind the pass as partisans and airborne attempt to seize towns and block the path of German reinforcements destined for the front. German Security units must hold the towns and clear the roads. Fights are broken down into a series of smaller unit actions at first. Both sides regroup (depending on success of German defense) and a larger action develops. Certain German troops must exit for victory points. Designed for Axis vs. AI, will work as head-to-head but I have not tested it. (This is still under development – although extensively tested myself -- and playtesting feedback appreciated. ---> PT'ing DONE -- THIS IS FINAL 3/05... would still like to hear of any H2H games, should be a good match.) Keeping with the spirit of The Proving Grounds (www.the-proving-grounds.com), any and all feedback on my scenarios (and everyone else’s!) is greatly appreciated. Thanks to the crew of TPG for the valuable input on the above scenarios. Have fun! Bannon [ May 27, 2005, 09:52 AM: Message edited by: Bannon DC ]

HAhahhahahahahahah. :eek:

Is this something authors really want? Although it is easy to implement, what would the authors want to do with the data? Sure, the authors can get a list of people who downloaded your scenario, but do the authors want to then begin pestering players for reviews? Even if there is simply a list of usernames and download counts ratioed to review counts, that's a feature that might cause many people to stop downloading and playing altogether. This will really have to be justified by the authors and approved by a large number of players prior to implementation. </font>

Good discussion. A few points I would like to add or reiterate. * True -- few people do submit reviews. I like the idea of encouraging people to submit reviews, but making it manditory on a 1-1 basis will be a total nuisance and most users of the site will howl with complaints. * To sort out the crack pots who submit lame or bogus reviews, you may institite some sort of "rate the review" system much like you would see on Amazon.com. A simple 1-5 scale works. A user who accumulates enough "low" votes that the reviews he submits are worthless would suffer some sort of sanctioning. Maybe all his future rating are "null" and simply are not counted in the total. Maybe his future posts carry some sort of red flag or a clown face icon. Maybe something else. * An important point for ANY rating system for reviews or scenarios -- don't disclose ALL the rules or factors that go in to the ratings. This way, you make harder for crack pots to "game" the rating system. Using the example above, don't disclose that it might take 20 (or whatever number) "low" votes before a user's ratings are null. This way, this crack pot can go right on being a crack pot but not know that his lowball rankings are not having an effect. * A "top #" list is a good idea. Maybe a "top downloads" or "top rated". Is there a way to not count downloads more than once from the same user? (Once again, if some crack pot wants to keep hitting the download button in an effort to jack his numbers up, don't disclose that the system only counts one per user. Let him waste his time.) * Whatever you do, keep it simple! Getting a couple of moderators to help is a great idea as well.

I sometimes have a harder time taking out a 45mm AT gun in the woods than I do taking out a bunker. If you have multiple tanks, hit it similtaneously. You may loose a tank or two, but you should get it. Smoke it. Get your tanks in better firing positions while it is blind. Probe for blind spots. Sometimes you can get "underneath" the gun. A "hull down" gun can't fire... kind of like your tank's machine gun is blocked when it is hull down. The old rope-a-dope. Offer a target on one side of the map, move forward just enough to be seen and reverse. Draws the guns attention. Then do the same on the other side of the map. This may give you a few more seconds to get an accurate shot. Use your less experienced tanks as bait while a veteran tank sits and fires. If the terrain is right, you can get "inside" its line of sight (effectively out of the range of the gun to traverse). Speed and offering the gun multiple targets similtaneuously will help. Obviously, an 88 in a pillbox should be treated with great respect. A 75, you can take on directly at range.

Page 129 of my manual. I use the commander method often. Especially with small caliber mortars. I group them up in a battery. 3 or 4 small mortars firing together will stop a wave of infantry and cause them to panic. One will never to this. Don't expect to inflict many casualties with smaller mortars. You'll get a few, but the best use is for suppression. A small mortar can go through about 20 rounds in a minute. That's alot especially when the default set up gives you about 30 rounds (more for the Russians). Make sure you have a good target. If the unit you are targeting is suppressed (MG for example), but your mortar on hide for a turn or two and then hit it again. This will save some ammo. When you get up to the 81mm (medium), now you can start doing some damage. Don't forget Target Reference Points. Mortars can use them. A narrow cover arc (depending on your situation) also conserves ammo and can target a few select units as them become unsuppressed.

Yes, exactly. The link above is a "MUST READ!" Information is specific to use in the finish army, but much of the equipment was captured from the Russians or supplied by the Germans which makes it of general information to the Eastern Front. (I did not see anthing on the ampuloment however). Thanks, Sergei

The ampulomet is one of my favorite Russian early war weapons. I've used them in a couple of scenarios I've designed. Good range. They can take out Pzr III and Pzr IV... I guess they are getting engine cover shots. (This based on playtesting the scenarios). Great to use against bunched up infantry as well. Will tend to panic them. Great against HMG's... they will be sure to panic after a few shots from the ampulomet. Also good for starting areas on fire in dry conditions to provide your defensive positions with some cover by way of smoke from the fires. On the subject of homemade... I came across a site recently about Finish Antitank weapons and the Molitov was extensively mentioned. (The site might be posted in the "research" section of The Proving Grounds... or it might have just been in someone's post). The Finish Molitovs were factory produced and contained a concoction of combustibles... like gas and tar or some other substance to make it stick or burn longer. They mentioned a triggering device other than the old burning rag. Good info on satchel and grenade bundles as well on the same site. I'm sure many were homemade as well. [ October 14, 2004, 11:37 PM: Message edited by: Bannon DC ]

Excellent utility!! Thanks for creating this!! I was having a little trouble converting a CMBB op to a CMBB battle. I was getting a map with no terrain and the elevation was coming out as all "1." One time, I call all of the units as they were placed on the op... but no terrain. I eventually succeed and got the terrain. I may have been because I turned off "show elevation", but I'm not sure.

True... and not true. For MG bunkers, you can not alter ammo. But for gun bunkers you can. Similarly, you can not alter the ammo level of vehicles which are armed only with machine guns (HT's and some armored cars). EDIT: I'm referring to CMBB... I no longer have CMBO installed.

PC Patton -- I emailed you a CMBB map that I picked up from one of the fan sites (most likely SD). I searched for this map on Scenario Depot but did not see it there. I don't recall who the author is but they did a great job. You may be able to do a seach of the forums here and find an old thread regarding this map. This is a CMBB map, but you can use the CM Map Converter and convert is to CMAK. If you are not familiar with it: Pyewacket's map converter program is available at his webpage http://www.pyes-ct.de/mc.html The thread about it at BFC is here: http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=003038 Good luck

If you haven't tried designing a scenario you need to tread lightly. The tools available for designing are very weak. The behavior of the AI is incredibly stupid. Getting the AI to attack where and when you want is like taking a cat for a walk on leash. It is a wonder that so many good scenarios have been developed. I suggest you make your opinions more valuable by providing constructive criticism and reviews at the Scenario Depot and other sites. Even the scenarios that came on the disk have a place for a review. I have designed a few battles and ops and it is not easy to get things exactly as you want them. Reviews and AARs (After Action Reports) are highly valuable and greatly appreciated. If you want to get in on playtesting scenarios under development or have someone take a look at your designs, check out The Proving Grounds site. http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/ Have Fun! Bannon