Kingfish

Yes, its time once again to play 'What if" On July 31st Patton's forces crossed the Selune river bridges at Pontaubault, and entered Brittany. As we all know, his 6th armored was then ordered to Brest, while the 4th armored headed for Rennes. Some forces did head east, and it would be these elements that would come up to form the southern perimeter of the Falaise pocket, but the pressure exerted northward (and southward by the CW) was not strong enough to close the bag. Now, lets imagine that instead of heading into Brittany, Patton is given free reign to strike eastward using his entire 3rd Army, including those two armored divisions. What affect would this have had on the campaign in Normandy? Would the Falaise pocket have actually been closed? Would the retreating Germans suddenly discover American forces waiting for them on the east side of the Seine? Would such a rapid advance by Patton give him priority to supplies, effectively nixing Monty's Market Garden?

Actually, there was a nibble on the line, although on someone else's rod. I hope to have both signup sheet and updated ROW winner section on the B & T site by this weekend.

Read the first paragraph in Pheasant Plucker's post to get an idea of what a Cruiser tank is (or suppose to be).

Sorry, I meant to say only CW and Polish units in NWE europe (apart from the Canadians as Michael pointed out).

Es Tiempo par un Update... Last night and this morning we tested the online signup system, and for the most part it worked beautifully. A couple of very minor bugs are being squashed as we speak, so its looking like signups for ROW V will happen this weekend. When the signup page is ready I will announce it here, and provide a link. It is very easy to fill out; basically full name, nickname, e-mail address and number of ROW tournies under your belt. The program is designed to accept a max of 90 applicants (72 + 18 reserves). When you enter the site you will see in red text how many slots are still available. Having said that, keep in mind that I have final say as to who is in the tourney and who is a reservist, so if you log on and it says "all regular slots are filled, we are now filling in reserve slots" or somesuch do not assume that you will be a reservist. Also, please make sure that the e-mail address you enter will be the one you will use for the tourney. The program is designed to send out a confirmation when you sign up, and to be double sure I will send one out myself. Do not sign up again if you do not receive a confirmation!!! Just e-mail me and I will let you know if application took or not.

Only the Brit 7th armd. div was equipped with Cromwells in its armoured brigades. All other armored divisions were equipped with Shermans. In addition, the CW and Polish armored recon regiments were equipped with Cromwells.

This is the best I could find on Italian forces in East Africa.

Going on foggy memory, but I seem to recall a map in Liddel Hart's "History of the second world war" showing the 1st S. African division being one of three that advanced on Mog, then turned NW to drive on Addis Abbaba(sp?). I guess it would be safe to assume that SA airpower was in support.

Scroll down to Feb '41

David, Click on my sig, then click on the "ROW" tab. After reading the intro go to "Tournament manual" to get a more detailed description on how the tourney is organized, scored, etc. BTW, the total number of players for ROW V is still to be determined, but it still will be organized on the basis of the 6-man sections.

Magic 8-ball says.... Last week in Feb, give or take real life

For me, I look at each scenario individually, and adjust accordingly. Some changes are unavoidable due to the differences in the two games. For instance, CMBO scenarios that featured Cromwells may get Shermans or Churchills in CMAK. A 4-gun 25pdr spotter in CMBO may be substituted with a 4-gun 4.2" spotter (ROF and blast values are roughly the same). Other changes may be because you feel they would make the scenario more realistic. A good example is my conversion of Wild Bill's "Aachen". The CMBO version featured both sides at full strength (only option available in CMBO). However, the briefings describe how both sides were locked in bitter urban fighting for several weeks. To make the CMAK scenario more realistic I chose to lower each side's troop levels to reflect losses.

Timber pointed that out to me in his second post. You just wouldn't know it by looking at the unit info screen in CMBO.

In the arid wasteland that is the Egyptian desert any terrain feature is considered important from a tactical point of view, and the El Mreir depression was no exception. Located about a mile south of the Ruweisat ridge, this 50 meter deep depression resembled a short, stubby finger when viewed from above. During the month of July it was the scene of several battles between the Commonwealth forces, mostly New Zealanders, and the combined German / Italian forces of the Afrika Korps. Now, it was to be the scene of yet another clash. By the end of August British intelligence warned that Rommel's renewed assault on the Alamein line would begin soon, and most likely in the southern sector where the New Zealanders were deployed. Armed with this knowledge 8th army ordered 28th (Maori) Battalion, of 2nd (NZ) Division to launch a raid on the Axis position in the El Mreir depression. This raid had two objectives; to identify the occupants of the El Mreir and to disrupt their preparations. During the night of August 25th the infantry, guided by a troop of engineers, silently worked their way forward to their jump off positions. At precisely 0400 hours the prepatory artillery barrage opened up - 106 guns total. As soon as the guns lifted the engineers went in and blew open gaps through wire with their bangalore torpedoes. Right behind them went in the Maoris of the 28th Battalion. Kiwis night out attempts to recreate the night raid by the Maoris on August 26th, 1942. It is designed to be played against the Axis AI, and is not balanced. It also is a scripted scenario, meaning you will have to follow the instructions described in the allied briefing in order to recreate the opening moves of the battle. Once the actual attack begins the player is free to direct his attack as he sees fit. The challenge is to do as well as the Kiwis did in the time alloted. Special thanks to Jon "JonS" Sowden, Chris "Ferrous" and the boys at Boots and Tracks.

[shameless endorsment] and if you would like to play what would have been the eighth and final scenario in the tournament, then I recommend you also d/l Battle for the Reichstag. IMO, the best Berlin scenario out there [/shameless endorsment]

Krasny Octyabr is now available for d/l at the depot. This was the fourth scenario used in the Rugged Defense CMBB tournament. Large, 45 turns, roughly 3500 points total. It depicts the German assault on the Red October factory in Stalingrad, but not any one particular battle. Instead, it is designed to represent the fighting and conditions over a 5-month span.

I have 1.29 and on occasion I too have encountered the same problem. I find that by closing both cm games and then restarting I get it to work. However, I have CMAK patched to 1.03, so your problem may be there. Just a guess.

I would rethink your choices for support units. The Hetzer, while a decent AT platform, sucks big time in the infantry support role. It's ROF is painfully slow. For a few points more you can get StuGIIIs, which have decent armor and higher ROF. The 251/9 or 250/8 (I assume that is what you mean by HTs with 75mm guns) is a better choice, but again the ROF is too slow for stopping an onrushing attacker. Their one good attribute is the cannister round, which would shred any infantry force caught in the open. The downside is the few rounds each HT carries, and the need to get close in to use them. It is in the 81s that you should really reconsider your purchase. The price of a reg 81 is 33 points. With that you get an average of 25 HE shells. You could trade 3 of the on boards for a 81mm spotter (93 points) which will give you double the ammo and ROF (150 rounds and 6 tubes). That still leaves you 5 on boards to deal with point targets. Or you can trade all 8 for 2 spotters, again doubling your ammo and ROF, and still have 80 points left over to buy trenches, AP mines or TRPs. Likewise, I would dump the 105mm spotter, as you are the defender and aren't looking to soften up a target. I would instead buy as many MG42 HMG teams as possible. For the price of one reg 105mm spotter (148 points) you can buy 5 MG42 HMG teams (145 points). That is some serious stopping power. [ January 17, 2005, 04:45 PM: Message edited by: Kingfish ]

I am fond of Oberdorfer in a tall frosty glass. Pen data for the Panther 0 degree - 173 / 160 / 145 / 114 30 degree - 138 / 122 / 111 / 91 60 degree - 62 / 59 / 54 / 46 King Tiger 0 degree - 220 / 205 / 188 / 157 30 degree - 176 / 164 / 150 / 120 60 degree - 79 / 75 / 70 / 60

This site may be of interest.

Lone Sentry has a somewhat decent map of the area around Bardia. Scroll down to "British capture of Bardia"

Man, this is going to cost you a beer... Pen data at 60 degrees: M2 - 69 / 63 / 56 / 43 M36 Jackson - 65 / 61 / 57 / 49 M26 Pershing - 68 / 65 / 60 / 52 "T" rounds - 66 / 60 / 53 / 40 T26E4 Super Pershing - 78 / 74 / 69 / 60 "T" rounds - 75 / 68 / 60 / 46 Not sure which guns these are. Is the 7.5cm the same one used on the Pak40, or the shorter version mounted on the Pz IV(G)? Is the 8.8cm the Pak43?

Feldgrau has a detailed ORBAT for the division in May '41 I also have the following, which is not of the 1 SS, but the 2nd Pz (Heer) during the Balkan campaign: 2nd Panzer Division On 5 April 19 41, during the invasion of Greece, the 2nd Panzer Division had a total of three command tanks, 45 PzMk 11, 51 PzMk 111 and 20 PzMk IV. The division was organized and equipped as follows: 2nd Panzer Division o Divisional Staff (2 LMGs) o 82nd Motorcycle Platoon o 82nd (mot) Mapping Detachment  3rd Panzer Regiment o 1 Panzer Signals Platoon o 1 Light Panzer Platoon o 1st and 2nd Battalions, each with  1 Staff and Staff Panzer Company  2 Light Panzer Companies  1 Medium Panzer Company  1 (mot) Replacement Platoon  1 (mot) Panzer Supply Column  1 (mot) Panzer Maintenance Company  2nd Schutzen Brigade o 2nd Schiitzen Regiment  1 (mot) Staff Company  1 Signals Platoon  1 Pioneer Platoon (3 LMGs)  1 Motorcycle Platoon  1st and 2nd (mot) Battalions, each with  3 (mot) Companies (18 LMGs, 2 HMGs, and 3 50mm mortars ea)  1 (mot) Machine Gun Company (8 HMGs and 6 80mm mortars)  1 (mot) Support Company o 1 (mot) Infantry Gun Platoon (2 75mm leIG) o 1 Panzerjager Platoon (3 37mm PAK 36 and 1 LMG) o 1 Pioneer Platoon (3LMGs)  1 (mot) Infantry Gun Company (2 150mm. s1G and 4 75mm leIG)  1 (mot) Light Supply Column o 304th Schutzen Regiment  same as 2nd Schutzen Regiment  16th Motorcycle Battalion o 3 Motorcycle Companies (3 50mm mortars, 2 HMGs and 18 LMGs ea) o 1 (mot) Heavy Machine Gun Company (8 HMGs and 6 80mm mortars) o 1 (mot) Reconnaissance Company  1 (mot) Infantry Gun Section (2 75mm leIG)  1 (mot) Panzerjager Platoon (3 37mrn PAK 36 and 1 LMG)  1 (mot) Pioneer Platoon (3 LMGs)  38th Panzerjager Battalion o 1 (mot) Signals Platoon o 3 (mot) Panzerjager Companies (12 37mm PAK 36 and 6 LMGs ea) o 2nd Company/47th Self-Propelled Heavy Machine Gun Battalion (10 20mm guns)  5th Reconnaissance Battalion o 1 (mot) Signals Platoon (2 LMGs) o 1 Armored Car Company (10 20mm and 25 LMGs) o 1 Motorcycle Company (3 50mm mortars, 2 HMGs and 18 LMGs) o 1 (mot) Heavy Reconnaissance Company  1 Panzerjager Platoon (3 37mm PAK 36 and 1 LMG)  1 Pioneer Platoon (3 LMGs)  1 Infantry Gun Section (2 75mm leIG) o 1 (mot) Reconnaissance Supply Column  74th Artillery Regiment o 1 (mot) Support Detachment  1 (mot) Signals Platoon  1 (mot) Weather Detachment o lst and 2nd (mot) Battalions, each with  1 (mot) Calibration Detachment  1 (mot) Signals Platoon  1 (mot) Batteries (4 105mm leFH and 2 LMGs ea) o 3rd (mot) Battalions  1 Calibration Detachment  1 Signals Platoon  1 (mot) Battery (4 100mm. K18 and 2 LMGs)  2 (mot) Batteries (4 150mm sFH and 2 LMGs ea)  320th (mot) Panzer Observation Company  38th Signals Battalion o 1 (mot) Panzer Telephone Company (2 LMGs) o 1 (mot) Panzer Radio Company (13 I-MGS) o 1 (mot) Light Signals Supply Column  38th (mot) Pioneer Battalion o 1 Armoured Pioneer Company (35 LMGs and 2 PzBu39) o 1 (mot) Pioneer Companies (9 LMGs ea) o 1 (mot) Bruko B o 1 (mot) Bruko K o 1 (mot) Light Pioneer Supply Column  38th Supply Troop o 1/, 2/, 3/, 4/, 5/, 6/, 7/38th (mot) Light Supply Col-umns o 8/, 9/, 10/38th (mot) Heavy Fuel Column o 1/, 2/, 3/38th (mot) Maintenance Company o 38th (mot) Supply Company  Administration o 38th (mot) Field Bakery o 38th (mot) Butcher Company o 38th (mot) Divisional Administration  Other o 1/, 2/38th (mot) Medical Company o 1/, 2/, 3/38th (mot) Ambulance Companies o 38th (mot) Military Police Troop o 38th (mot) Field Post Office  Attached o 76th Flak Battalion o 1/(H) 14th Panzer Observation Squadron

There are several ways to do it. You can adopt the same method used in ROW III, or a side-swap system that is used on other tourneys. Keep in mind that in the side-swap method FOW is compromised once the scenario is played, which may affect the score. If you choose the ROW method then I would suggest using all 5 of the ROW III scenarios in the regular round, plus 1 from the finals. This will allow all 8 players to play each opponent once, and each scenario once. To ensure FOW you'll need to send out each scenario already started, and briefings removed. Make sure to use the actual ROW III versions of these scenarios, rather than the ones available at Boots and Tracks, which are modified for general use. E-mail me and I can send them to you with the briefings already removed. Once all scores are in you can run them thru the scoring program and calculate the winner.

CMBO does not give info on different AP shots, nor is there an 90mm M3. There is a 90mm M2 AA gun, and the 90mm guns on the M36 Jackson, M26 Pershing and T26E4 Super Pershing. The penetration data is as follows: M2 - 117 / 104 / 89 / 71 M36 Jackson - 114 / 107 / 97 / 92 M26 Pershing - 146 / 136 / 124 / 99 "T" rounds - 235 / 218 / 124 / 99 T26E4 Super Pershing - 173 / 162 / 148 / 124 "T" rounds - 266 / 240 / 212 / 164 All values are at 30 degrees, and signify penetration at 100m / 500m / 1000m / 2000m. BTW, which weapon are you referring to? I show only the M2 90mm AA gun being available for the Americans in CMAK, and it has a pen value of 87 @ 30 degrees @ 1000m, and 85 @ 30 / 2000m. It also has 87 @ 0 for 1000m.