Kingfish

Jason, I also thought of the III Flak Corp, but considered it a less likely candidate for several reasons. First, the sector assigned to the 192nd PzGr regiment, the Colombelles factory and Caen south, was predominately urban, or at least built up to a much greater extent than the towns and villages surrounding Caen. This strikes me as terrain unsuitable for the deployment of an 88 battery, be it for air or ground defense, since these weapons work best when engaging at extended ranges. Secondly, there is no mention (that I can find) of 88s engaging the British armor from this sector. Reynolds made it a point to mention the 4-gun battery at Cagny, and what a thorn in the side it was for the Guards armored during its advance on Vimont. An 8-gun battery in the Colombelles sector would have been smack dab in the path of the British 29th armored brigade, and would have caused considerable loss and delay, yet the lead regiments did not encounter any opposition until they had advanced as far as the Caen-Vimont road. Now, it is possible that this unit was one of those caught in the carpet bombing attack, but from what I read the targetted area was further east.

On a somewhat-related-note, Reynolds describes the German defenses on the eve of Goodwood as including the 192nd PzGr regiment and an attached Luftwaffe panzerjager battalion deployed in and around the Colombelles factory area and Caen south. My question is - what was the ID of the Luftwaffe unit? Part of 16th Luftwaffe div, and if so which Kompanie?

Go here

On a related note, was the 200th StuG ever referred to as "Becker's Circus"?

An alternative strategy, and one that has worked for me, is to send your entire force minus the tanks up and over pink hill to come up from behind the village. The allied player gains two advantages from this approach: a) you place your force between the Germans and their friendly map edge, something the AI does not like. the buildings on the back side of the village mask those on the front, meaning you've cut the defender's firepower in half. The tanks should be held back and in cover, with short covered arcs. As soon as the main assault begins the tanks should race up to a position where they can cover the main road and prevent the Germans from redeploying. It takes a while to get your force into position, so once the assault begins it must be carried out aggressively. One company on overwatch / fire support while the other advances, then leapfrog forward again. The Germans will put up a spirited defense, but the combined firepower of over a hundred Lee-Enfields plus Brens will slowly grind them down.

What scale? squad or division? What type? Airborne, armored or infantry?

Back when Der Kessel was still around they had a section devoted to small scenario which they called "Byte battles". I forget the parameters, but I think it was a max of 1500 points total for both sides. Great for a Sunday afternoon of death and destruction.

This is assuming of course that the enemy is only going to hit you from one flank. Besides, turning 90 degrees to face an enemy on the flank exposes your own flank to the FLOT. Not on line, but in depth. 2 up, 1 back is a classic example. If your lefthand force gets flanked, you still have your reserves to a) reinforce your LH force -or- flank the flankers -or- c) provide a fallback position. Attacking in column does not negate the danger of getting your flanks rolled up. In fact, it increases it since your depth is only as wide as your column.

But that contact may come, not from a fixed defensive position to your front, but via enfilading fire from enemy forces that have flanked your column. That said, you are right that terrain has the final say.

No worries, I've been at it far too long to let it bother me.

Advancing across a broad front certainly does lack depth, but allows the opportunity to flank any strongpoint encountered while protecting your own flanks. The best approach is a combination of broad and depth.

Thank you. That was the feedback someone gave to one of my scenarios. Can't win them all...

Not sure what language it is, I'm assuming French: Nul à chier.

FT-17

D-Day

Thank you both. I did some surfing on my own and found this Marders / Wespe it is.

Does anyone know the actual OOB of this unit during Goodwood? Zetterling shows 4 batteries, each a mixture of 4x 75mm and 6x 105mm armed assault guns. However, Reyonolds describes the unit's OOB on the eve of the attack as being divided into 5 batteries, with a total of 30x 75mm and 20x 105mm assault guns. Also, I understand these vehicles were field modifications built atop French chassis. Would they be closer in comparison to the Marder / Wespe line, or StuG / StuH? Thanks

Damn Romulan PzIV TD

Yes, because CM does not add 'under the hood' modifiers for specific formations or time periods. A regular VG platoon in May '45 will perform the same as a PzGr platoon of June '44. Assuming the same bonuses from HQs and/or terrain, the two will only differ in the firepower rating, and that is due only to the different TO&E. As Vergeltungswaffe pointed out, it is up to the scenario designer to simulate the historical modifiers.

Not always. Note the last sentence in the Wiki quote: It certainly is possible that those hardened veterans would have had 4+ years of war under their belt by the fall of '44. Granted, the likelihood of seeing a full battalion of crack volksgrenadier is very slim, and chances are these would have been parceled out to the newer formations to serve as 'backbone', it isn't entirely out of the question. Just prior to the launching of the Ardennes offensive Field Marshal Manteuffel ordered the creation of special inflitration units composed of the best men from each of the divisions assigned to the opening assault. These men were all handpicked, and would have easily fallen in the 'veteran or better' category.

I looked at it, and agree the map is very nice, although the combination German / Spanish landmarks seem odd. One other thing I found odd about the map is the general arrangment of the craters, which seem a little too evenly spaced. This is just an observation based on personal preference. This would no doubt be a challenge for the German player in a H2H, but I would recommend removing the padlocks and allowing freedom to deploy as he sees fit. Perhaps two versions of the scenario - H2H and against the Axis AI.

IIRC, the forces in question begin not dug in. This was the designer's intention.

Unlike the smaller guns, such as Pak 40s or 75mm IGs, the 88s are immobile the moment the carrier unloads them. Therefore, the best thing to do is deploy them at setup, where the LOS tool can be used to scan the terrain for the optimal location. If the first spot is not to your liking simply pick up the gun and redeploy, something you won't be able to do with an embarked 88.

Excellent indeed, thanks to all. One follow up question - Would the KTs in 1 company be of the early Porsche variant, or Henschel, or a mix?

Reynolds describes a German armored counterattack hitting the 2nd Grenadier Guards as they advanced on Cagny. This comprised remnants from both the 22nd Pz Regiment and 503rd Schwere Pz Abt. Does anyone know what tank types (TigerI, Tiger II or both) from the 503rd participated in this action?