Gpig

You know what I'm thinking? Maybe it was because your tanks (Firefly and Sherman) were hiding? Were they on HIDE? I've seen some wacky behaviour among HIDEing tanks, and this actually sounds like something that happened to me once. The only difference being that I observed SOUND CONTACTS for the enmey tanks moving around before *BLINK*, a tank appearing near my HIDEing tanks and then leveling the boom boom, as it were, apon my lads without them even returning fire. (Now I NEVER hide my tanks. Never.) Did you have any SOUND CONTACTS prior to the materialization of said Tiger? Either way, it's annoying as hell. Gpig

I've never seen that happen. I know that sometimes, a sound contact can turn into a "tank" contact. These "tank" contact graphics look just like the sound contact graphics. The boxy gray 3D tanks. *THESE* "tank" icons you CAN target. AND destroy them. I've KO'd "tank" contacts before. But Sound contacts aren't really there (of course). If this isn't what you're getting at, it also might be a difference between your Line Of Sight tool/order, and your Target tool/order. Your LOS tool will "stick" to a sound contact (I believe) when you move your pointer to it, just like it would one of those last known enemy location flags/stars. But the Target order will not let you target sound contacts (I believe) or those little enemy location flags/stars. Hope this helps. Gpig

Away we go again with Captain Reimers Panzergrenadier company. SPOILERS!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This time, it's during the battle of the bulge. Reimers company of (mostly) Veterans is now tasked with attacking through the snow, and taking a village sitting astride a road to Bastonge. I'll keep this AAR short, as it was a messy melee. It's a nice winter map, with three objective flags along the width of the village. The possibilites for advance are many. Rolling hills, and moderate tree cover (mostly tall pines). Enemy Intel tells of a reinforced company of G.I.'s and maybe a couple of tanks and guns. Swell. Attatched to my company are a Stug, and a StuH 42. Plus, Lt. Kollman of the heavy weapons platoon, has managed to scrounge up an 81mm mortar team (in addition to his armored 251/2 mortar carriers). I have a feeling that this dismounted mortar will help with any enemy guns. I decide to leave all my platoons mounted and behind cover except for Lt. Laudiens. His platoon will split up, and advance through the central low ground acting as a fixing/recon force. Hopefully misleading the enemy as to my real intentions. On my left flank, I send a 251/1 to scout out the terrain. Hoping to draw out any AT guns. Cover is fair for him to dart about, to and from. He eventually makes it to within 200m of the left VL. No AT guns fired on him. Only a lonely MMG opens up, near the VL. My Stug, in overwatch in the center, soon silences this pest. With the left flank approaches apparently unobserved by enemy AT assets I have the confidence to race up my other two platoons, my StuH, my heavy weapons platoon (including two 251/2 mortar tracks) and my CO (everyone mounted on 251/1's) to a nice piece of cover within 250m of the Left VL. They are in a fine jumping off point to assault the left most VL. My plan is to overwhelm one portion of the defense line (and I've amassed enough force to do it, surely), and then roll the defenders up from Left to Right. There will be much good cover along the way. My plan pretty much goes off as planned. Except the G.I.'s mount a stiffer than expected defense of the left most VL. I lose many men to a deadly accurate 60mm mortar who's tree bursts account for over 8 casualties! Also, an enemy Stuart has reinforced the line at this point, taking my one crack squad under fire (from Lt. Detmers platoon), and causing a casualty with each shot. By the end of the turn, their squad is down to 3 men. Another Stuart appears on some high ground far to the Right. My Stug has no LOS on this threat, as he's behind some tall pines. The far right Stuart takes out one of my halftracks, as all the rest reverse into cover. I order my StuH to engage the Stuart who is a bit quicker on the draw. But the Stuart misses a couple of shots, while my StuH manages a gun hit. The Stuart reverses out of sight. But I feel I won that little engagement, and thank my lucky stars for the efforts of the Veteran StuH crew. I pull back most of my infantry on the left flank and then move a platoon towards the center in an attempt to take out the enemy mortar team. I order my StuH to Hunt forward to try and take out the Stuart. A gamble indeed, as in the next turn, they come to blows. The Stuart let's off a shot that sails overhead my Hulldown StuH. My StuH let's one go over the Stuarts head. Then, when I'm sure the next quick shot from the Stuart is going to finish my StuH, the amazing happens. The 37mm shell breaks appart on the hull! I feel like I have another chance, but as the turn counter ticks past 40 seconds the little stuart takes 2 more shots before my StuH crew has closed the breach for their second round. Both of these shots ALSO bounce of the StuH's armor!! I'm stunned and amazed! Then, my StuH gunner (who's been waiting patiently for the slow loaded 105mm C round) let's fly with a dead-on turret hit, blowing the Stuart sky high. Whew! That is one lucky StuH. I think they must have piled some Ardenne pines on the front of their tank before going into battle. With the Stuart's out of the way, I rush my infantry forward and secure the left VL. Wiping out that deadly mortar crew. My platoon in the center, has now gotten within 200m of the center flag. They have uncovered an emeny infantry position. But it appears to be only one squad, a 60mm mortar and an MMG. The platoon takes them out easily. The rest of the enemy platoon are in the heavy buildings 100m further forward. My Stug helps supress them from his overwatch position. Now the left flank has a general route of americans occuring. My 251/2 mortars are letting fly at G.I. postions. Also, the americans are rushing reinforcements from the right side of the map, and these same reinforcements are getting caught in the open by all my HMG's and 251/1's. Then while they are suppressed, my StuH and the mortar carriers let em have a wallop. That breaks them and they head for the hills. Then I start uncovering the guns. Mostly by losing a 251/1. The guns are in good positions. 57mm AT guns. I'm carefull about where I move my mortar tracks/tanks. But I manage to lose one of my 251/2's despite caution. There appears to be more than a "couple" of guns. My center platoon now rushes the center flag, and kills the enemy platoon leader, hiding in the top story of a heavy building. Then, as they advance into the town, one squad comes under fire from what has to be an enemy 105mm howitzer. They are devastated. I run my left most platoons from cover to cover, and manage to take out one of the 57mm AT guns. Then, having watched in anger the loss of a squad of good men to the enemy 105mm howitzer, my CRACK squad of Pnzgrndrs (down to 3 men - K98/MP44/MG42) decide to take things into their own hands. Despite having LOW ammo, They sprint across some open ground all the way to the enemy's gun pit. Here a feat of arms occurs as the howitzer crew desperatly attempts to wheel the gun carriage around through 90 degrees, all the while under close assault by my Crack troopers (who are within 15 m). After the gun crew loses 4 members to grenades, bayonets and rifle butts . . . they surrender! The third gun (57mm) is tougher to approach. He has some good ground to watch over. But Lt. Kollman and his dismounted 81mm mortar crew make short work of him. Kollman directs his mortar crew to a thrid round KO of the enemy gun. Impressive! Mopping up, comes next. My StuH proves invaluable. One shot = broken enemy squad. Axis Major Victory. Axis 39 casualties (9 kia) 5 vehicles KO'd men OK 129 Score 82 Allied 163 casualties (53 kia) 7 captured 3 mortars destryd 3 guns destryd 2 vehicles KO'd men OK 21 score 18 Nice battle. Lot's of fun. As I'm playing these battles, the only thing I'm noticing that is a bit of a downer is that the A.I. is never up to the task. In the introduction to the battles, the designer states that these battles are designed to be played without bonuses for the A.I., and the the A.I. should be placed on "Free to Place Units." This is due to the fact that the enemy forces are already out of balance. In other words, the designer already has given the allies bonuses in manpower, reinforcements and what have you. But I think that they could possibly be a tad more powerful. Maybe. Or, at least the enemy set-up zones could utilize better defensive ground. As in battles 3 and 4, the set-up zones for the allies were NOT in the best places, terrain-wise. Where I expected to encounter stiff resistance (or, at least where I would have set-up, being the allied CO), there was nothing. Just a thought. Overall, I'm still LOVING the little bits out of this mini campaign. The feelings I have for my men has grown in leaps and bounds. I'm already on a first name basis with all the squad leaders. On to the next one! Gpig

Heh heh Actually, I had given the first two a review, but the reviews were lost during the "troubles." I just have not gotten around to it. Gpig

Hey JasonC please hook me up. jon@pixar.com Thanks

I've been playing the swell Axis mini-campaign I found at the Scenario Depot and having a gas. These are 8 linked battles, with nicely done briefings holding them all together. Like a theoretical campaign game. Some units gain in experience from battle to battle. Some are lost. Some leaders excel, while others become bitter and resigned. The breifings really are the heart of this mini-campaign. You are the German Commander of a fine Panzergrenadier company. Starting on D-Day, where you were tasked to capture two hills from the british, your company next saw serious action attempting to hold a bridge in the Falaise pocket. Battle number 3 takes place in the Netherlands, 2 days after the Airborne landings of Market Garden. So, Hauptmann Reimers company is thrown once more into the fray . . . SPOILERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Map | = roads X = Whillemina Canal + = swamp/polder ____________WEST_____________ _____________________________ ______|_________________----- ______|________________/_____ ______|___________----_____XX ______|__________/_________X_ ______|_________/__________X_ _______\_______|___________X_ ________\__B___|___________X_ _________------|___________X_ _______________|_A____D____X_ ________C______|___________X_ _______________|___________X_ _______________|___________X_ _____++_______/____________X_ ____+++++____|____________X__ ___+++++_____|______+++___X__ ____+++++____|___++++++___X__ ____++++_____|____+++++___X__ ____++++_____|_____++_____X_ _____________|_____________X_ ______________\____________X_ _______________|___________X_ ___________EAST____________X_ The map for this battle was very good. Very much what I imagine Holland should look like. Mostly flat, with raised roads above polder fields. This map was pretty much rural, with only a couple of small wooden houses for the whole map. There were some tiny quibbles for me, with the map. Mostly fine-tooth terrain thingys, like water "bumps" in the canal, marsh on hillsides, etc.. Like I said, minor. The tactical possiblities for this map were many. As the commander, I know my mission is to remove the roadblock set up by American paratroops at A. I've got a company of Pnzgrndrs (bloodied and experienced from battles throughout europe these past 3 months). I lost one of my excellent platoon leaders in Falaise, but have recieved another good replacement to command B platoons' veterans. Detmers is his name. C platoon still has the steady Lt. Laudien. But they've picked up a squad of Green replacements. D platoon's Lt Keczmar has become bitter and no longer feels a final victory is possible. (Thus losing his Morale modifier.) His men have noticed. I also have Lt. Kollman's heavy weapons platoon back under my command. (They went missing in Falaise.) Along with their trusty 251/2's (Mortar) which were so useful on D-Day against the Brits. And last but not least, I've recieved a platoon of CRACK pioneers under Lt. Stienmann. An impressive bunch. Reinforcements will arrive in the form of "a couple of recce vehicles, 10-15 min." And armored support in half an hour. These are in response to reports of XXX corps sending armored support to the roadblock withing the immediate future. First thing I do is decide to dismount and move all my platoons abreast, towards the objective. The Pioneers I place in B platoon's halftracks (getting some grumbling from Lt. Detmers), to act as my quick reaction hammer. Once I fix the Amis Paratroops positions, I plan to flank them if possible with the pioneers. There is reasonable cover along the approach. But I have no illusions about being unobserved during our advance. The enemy have some slightly elevated positions, covered in woods, all along the objective line. They've picked thier spot well. Heavy weapons I leave mounted, in order to set up at a nice piece of land (once secured by infantry) I think will help the final assualt. Now that all of my platoons are dismounted, that leaves me 2 251/1's to act as recon vehicles just ahead of my infantry. The road is raised a good 6-8m above the surrounding countryside. I advance Lt. Laudien's C plt to the South of the road. Lt. Detmer's Veterans in B plt. I advance just to the North of the road, using what cover there is along the way. Lt. Kreczmar's D platoon flanks far to the North, around the polder field. Backing them up are the 251/2's from Kollman's heavy weapons platoon. There is some good highground over there to the North, near the dike. I think the Mortar tracks may once again prove decisive from this location. The advance goes well. No dreaded Jabos (overcast). No artillery. Yet. First contact is from an enemy MG at C. Taking the lead squad of Laudien's platoon under fire. One man is hit. Damn. This is never easy on the commander. There will surely be more brave men down soon. My recon tracks take the MG under fire. They also continue to advance in bounds. Staying to either ditch, along the main road. One of them eventually identifies, and comes under fire from two Jeep MG's. So far no AT guns. I'm now confident that there won't be any, since my two tracks have been tasty targets, on and off the pavement. I get my reinforceing recce vehicles. A PUMA and a 251/9. (YAY, 75mm direct HE support!) Both are veteran. I race them up along the pavement and slightly into the ditches to provide HE support to Laudiens platoon. As he is now in good position/cover, East of C. Laudien's plt. has also engaged what appears to be a platoon of Paratroops at C. Luckily, the A.I. commander did not pick the BEST possible position to place his troops. Laudien's casualties are still slight. Lt. Detmers' Veterans are now ready to jump up and into the woods, just to the North of the roadblock. There is some deadly open ground between them and the objective. So I order him to wait until the heavy weapons plt is in place (which they are doing). Lt. Kreczmar is still running Right (North) and encountering occasional long range MG fire from D. Kollman's 251/2's set up position and start lobbing 81mm shells onto the (now) 2 enemy MG positions at D, and one enemy Mortar. I lose a 251 to .50 cal fire, but Laudien's troopers take out the jeep, the next instant. I decide to rush up my Pioneers along the pavement, to support B and C platoon. They are there in under a minute. I leave the flameteams and one squad mounted and disembark in the woods, to the left of the roadblock. Laudien's troopers have found these vital woods to be uninhabitted by the enemy. Detmer's platoon faced with unusable terrain to the North of the road, charges over the top of the raised pavement to the South ditch in a very brave action. Under fire along the way, they sustain only one casualty. They now move up into the woods South of the roadblock also. I intend to recross the road again, with Detmers plt. Into the woods on the North side of the roadblock. So far it looks like there are no Paratroopers in that stand of woods either. Meanwhile, on our left flank. Direct HE from the 251/9 and PUMA have forced a withdrawl of the enemy on the hieghts at C. They suffered the loss of at least one squad, plus an MMG. Bazooka fire starts raining down on my parking lot of halftracks. YIKES! Luckily, the Paratroopers must not have had their chocolate ration today, as at least 8 bazooka rounds miss their target. One round does however score a hit, immobilizing one of my lead 251's on the road, in front of the roadblock. My heavy weapons platoon now is fully operational. Kollman has done well to set up his 3 HMG teams in scattered trees, and somewhat high ground. The 251/2's continue to supress the enemies North flank. Kreczmar's platoon engages the paratroopers 2nd platoon at D. I order them to withdrawl back through the woods, and over and into the dike canal (on the North side of the dike). There they can advance unseen another 100m and hopefully flank the defenders even deeper. The dike is quite a heavy slope, however. Soon, D. plt. is quite tired after negotiating 100m of canal. I order them to hide and rest, before assaulting the Paratroops on the Right. They will enjoy a good covered approach once they come down from the dike. My Pioneers and Laudiens platoon, now secure the woods to the South of the roadblock. This is a good position. I disembark a flameteam and move it up to hide in the Western treeline among my Crack Pioneer squads. Laudiens Platoon I order to move South, hoping to turn West again to B. Covered by the Pioneers. Lt. Detmers Platoon again crosses the road at a Sprint. Into the woods to the North of the roadblock. Under fire all the way, I can just picture them leaping from the blacktop, down into the welcoming cover of the woods. They now angle towards D. Maybe they can sandwich the Paratroops between themselves and Kreczmar's platoon. The Paratroopers suddenly counter attack from B. Catching me off guard. At least a platoon of quality troopers leave me scrambling to hold the line. Half of Laudiens platoon is caught in the open. One of his squads ends up down to a man! Also, I'd been moving up one of the Pioneer squads (still in thier halftrack) to a position West of the woods, now under counterattack. First the gunner aboard the track has his face shot off, then an enemy Rifle grenade knocks it out. This results in 6 casualites among the embarked Pioneer squad!!! (The 3 survivors flee back into the woods, and the calming influence of the excellent Lt. Steinmenn.) At the end of the turn however, the Pioneers have balanced the playing field. They've managed to turn back one enemy squad, and there is another within range of my CRACK flameteam (still hidden). Next turn, the flame team expends ALL of his ammo on the enemy Paratroop squad. Routing them into the LOS of the CRACK Pioneers. They make it back to a low wall before they are cut down to pieces. On my right, Detmers and Kreczmar's platoons march resolutely towards each other, through the woods. Cleaning up resistance along the way. Finding shocked MMG teams, mortar teams and HQ units. Then they uncover the meat of the enemy paratroop platoon. Thier leader must have been well trained in camoflauge techniques, since they were hard to find. Casualties are piling up among my platoons on the right flank. Then, Detmers's platton wrestes control of a VL from the paratroops, only to discover a counter attacking 3rd platoon of paratroopers. This counter-attack, though ill-coordinated, halves the manpower of B platoon. They do manage to hold onto the flag, but have very LOW ammo. I order my PUMA up and around the Right flank to support Kreczmar's platoon. Also, I mount up my heavy weapons plt. in their halftracks with a mind to reinforceing the VL captured by Detmers. Then things change again, with the arrival of enemy armor. Looks like a Stuart and a Sherman. Plus a platoon of British infantry. Laudiens battered platoon comes under fire from the sherman. I order them to withdrawl to cover. the poineers, now the dominant force at C. I order to hide in the woods. Maybe they'll be able to close assault the sherman. Detmers is also ordered to hide. Kreczmar pursues some broken squads and MMG teams. Mopping up on the extreme right flank. A quick and brutal gun battle erupts between my 251/9 (now hulldown, in the ditch, next to the roadblock) and the brit stuart. They both knock each other out. The enemy Sherman, not having any targets to shoot at, blunders about West of B. Then my PUMA, which has been steadily moving to the Right, spots him. He stops, trains his gun on him, and let's fly with a first shot kill at about 500m. The Sherman explodes in a nasty fireball! Things now become a mopping up operation. The brit infantry succumb quickly to my reinforcing Pz IV's that have raced up to support my VL's. My Pioneers rush and secure the VL at B. The rest is over. Major victory. But a costly one. B and C platoon are at half strength. Good men lost. I'm beginning to wonder if there is any point to it all. Maybe Kreczmar is right? . . . On to the next one!!

I'm not sure what you're asking for . . . I'm sure you know already that you CAN take prisoners in CM, so maybe your asking something else? Are you saying you'd like to see a unit order added, like "take prisoners?" "Go get me some prisoners, sarge!" Or are you just asking for valuable info on enemy positions/OOB/strength to pop up on your "Intel/briefing" screen, once prisoners are taken? Ah HAH! That must be what you're asking. Hey, that is a pretty neat idea! If you manage to capture the enemy company commander on one of his A.I. inspired banzai rushes, you could get REALLY good intel. (Assuming it wasn't just the company clerk who survived from the HQ unit.) Hmmmm. Neat. Gpig

Nope. Managed to find a way through the brush and scattered trees, avoiding the enemy infantry. I'd scooted the kublewagon and 2 trucks off the map, when the Poles surrendered. I just finished "Against All Odds (3)" last night. This was the toughest one yet! I'll try and post an AAR soon. Gpig

Thanks Gordon. It was excellent! There was some grumbling along the way (some justified), but overall . . . I had a gas. I think you deserve a long rest. Or maybe you'll just lay-off all the trained monkeys that you had inputting our moves. I can't imagine you'll be creating a detailed AAR, like the first Rumble. Or can I? Gpig

Polder bridge, and Hit the Coast are good battles to have a go as the Canucks. (Actually, Hit the Coast is an operation, I believe.) I think they are meant to represent the type of terrain you're looking for. (Though Hit the Coast is a bit less so.) I'd recommend Hit the Coast as a PBEM, if you have the time. Polder Bridge is a good one against the A.I. Go Canucks! [ 11-12-2001: Message edited by: Gpig ]</p>

I've been playing this swell mini-campaign and it's been a real blast so far. SPOILERS!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This battle-pack consists of 8 battles, all revolving around the same Pzgndr company, commanded by cpt. Reimers. The battles span the time from the D-Day landings to the bitter end. Each battle starts out with a nice recap of the costs of the previous battle. Experience gained. Leadership qualities attained (or lost). Makes for a very nice "family" feel, as you go along. Made me want to take special care of each squad/team/commander through the fight. (Of course, the results may differ. If you get captain reimers killed in the first battle, he'll be back again for the next. ) Against All Odds (2) takes place in the Falaise pocket. It involves Reimers' company helping to defend a bridge across a river. The Polish armored will be attacking from two directions. The map for this battle is a bit odd. Water/marsh on high ground always "takes me out" of the experience a bit. The map could just have used a fine-toothed look over, before finishing. Minor things, really. Another interesting thing about the map, is that the attack comes from the North, and the North West. Whereas the bridge (and river) are oriented North South. So as the german commander, you have to set up for a bridge defence on both banks. Map X = river , = high ground . = low ground T = town = = bridge , , , , , , , , , , , , ,A, , , ,XX, , , ,B, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,XX, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,XX, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .XX, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . . . . J ,XX, , , , , , , , , , , , , , . . . . . . . . , , ,XX, , , , , , , , , , , , , . . . . . . . . , , , ,XX, , , , , , , , , . . . . . . . . . . . . , , , ,XX , , , , , . . . C . . . . TT. . . . . . , , , ,XX, , , , , , . . . . . . . .TTT. . . , , , , , , ,XX, , , , , , . . . . . . . . .TT. . . . . , ,D, , ,XX, , E , , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , , , ,====, , , , , . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . , , , ,XX, , , , , , , , . . . . . . . . . . , , , , , , ,XX, , , , , , , . . . . . . . . . . , , , ,F, , ,XX, , , , , , , , , . . . . . . , , , , , , , , , ,XX, , , , , , , , , , . . . , , , , , , , , , , , ,XX, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,XX, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,X, , , , , G , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,, , , , , , H , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Briefing on enemy intentions states arrivals from A, B, with potential attack along C. I set up my best platoon of Vets in the woods, at D. Nice reverse slope, in the Woods. With a nice and tasty LOS on probable approach routes. My 2nd platoon is set up also, in the woods south of 1st platoon. 3rd platoon is East of the bridge, at E. A small wooded knoll there provides good defence against an attack from the North. Reimers company has been tasked to reinforce existing forces at the bridge, which consist of 2 Pak 50mm AT guns, and 2 AA guns (37mm, and QUAD 20mm) all commanded by a spit and polish FJ Lt. I set up my AT guns at D, and F. Also, my FLAK battery is on the high ground South and East of F. All my halftracks are hidden in scattered trees, in the river bank. Save for two, which I plan to use as scouts to find the advancing poles. As I have no idea about where their attack will be the strongest. My mission is to hold the bridge, as in about half an hour a convoy will be arriving that has to make it across the bridge for exit points to the East. Reinforcements may come in the form of 3 PzIV's. I hide everyone except my Quad 20mm, and the two 251/1' picked for scouting duties. My scout tracks move West into the village then, having seen nothing for 3 minutes, head north to the high ground. Suddenly a fighter bomber appears and blows one of my halftrack scouts to smitherenes. No survivors. My FLAK plt scares off the Fighter bomber next turn, with intense fire under good combat leadership. (At the end of the battle, I discover that my 37mm AA gun has shot down a fighter bomber! I had no idea that had happened, and spent the rest of the battle in constant fear of the skies. If only I'd had known.) My other scout track comes across an amazing scene. He comes to a rise in the river bank at J, and sees at least 2 whole platoons of polish infantry in the ford, crossing East to West! Such a plethora of targets obviously leaves my gunner stunned, as he targets no one for the full 10 seconds remaining in the turn (despite wide open LOS). Next turn, I decide to target a mortar team crossing in mid stream. Seeing as I have no friendly artillery for this battle (not even onboard mortars), I figure the enemies mortars will have to be targetted first. Amazing sight. My gunner spraying away. Enemy squads panicking and turning back to the far shore. In real life it would have been a horrible scene. My gunner remained overwhelmed when, after finishing off a mortar team in the river, he could not decide for the life of him, which one of the juicy targets to fix on next. He didn't have to wonder long, as if from no where a tank round destroyed him. Also, with no survivors. They HAD given me valuable intel, however. I now planned to move my 3rd platoon across the river to the woods on the West side, since the Poles now seemed to be centralizing in the valley. I check all my ambush sites. Check all my LOS's. Prepare for the Polish infantry that is approaching my 1st platoon. It's going to be a nasty ambush. Across the valley, at C., a force of tanks and infantry appears. They are taken under fire by my 50mm AT gun, and my FLAK platoon. Both tanks are K0'd but I lose my 50mm AT gun, and 3 members of my QUAD 20mm crew. The one remaining crewmember of the QUAD, finds and targets the Sexton that's been shelling his position. Soon the Sexton is up in flames. Next turn, two Shermans appear West of J., and deal the final blow to my Quad 20mm. One of these shermans is KO'd by my remaining 50mm AT gun. The other retreats to a nice hulldown position on some high ground. This remaining sherman will prove to be a burr in my side for quite some time. The polish infantry attack commences with disastrous results. My 1st platoon cuts them to pieces. After two turns, 40 Poles lie dead and dying in front of their positions. I pull back my bruised platoon, to second platoons positions. Then another wave of Poles attack from slightly more to the South. They too are cut down at the tree line. I estimate the Poles lost two platoons of infantry in 3 minutes. They don't get any HE support from their Sherman, as he's hiding from my AT gun. The only support they are getting are from onboard mortars, and .50 cal armed halftracks. Now feeling confident, I bring my 3rd platoon up to the front line, replacing 1st platoon. I also bring up all my halftracks to add their MG's to the anti-infantry pushes. The enemy still seems to have about two plts of infantry left. Then, I get reinforcements at location G. Two Pz IV's and a StuH 42. PERFECT! I love those StuH 42's and eagerly approach some high ground at H. Hoping to get some direct fire HE on the Poles reorganizing West of the woods at D. Just as my StuH crests the hill, it explodes into a massive fireball. Never even saw what hit it, but I'm guessing it's the remaining Polish sherman. My two IV's play hide and seek with the sherman, and manage to take out many of the halftracks that arrived with the Poles at C. Then add their HE loads to anti-infantry shelling. The sherman remains elusive until late in the game when my "Exit" column arrives at H. This column consists of one PSW armed with 20mm. And a kublewagon, plus 5 trucks. I imagine the trucks to be filled with wounded, trying to get out of the Falaise pocket. The road between them and the bridge goes through decidedly unfriendly territory. With many infantry units, broken and battered, but still functioning. I'd be sure to lose some trucks, and I'm determined to lose none. I hide them and wait for an opportunity to dash them out. My PSW however I move forward to scout out the enemy infantry strength. The remaining Polish Sherman just can't resist targetting this PSW of mine, and almost succedes and nailing him. But those PSW's have a fast reverse gear. Just as he extracts himself from danger, he has managed to draw out the sherman into the LOS of my two Pz IV's. KLANG! No more Polish armor. The rest of the battle pretty much goes my way. A late charge of Polish infantry, supported by White scout cars goes no where. Despite the Polish company commander bravely leading the charge. I wondered about lack of enemy artillery surpport, until after the battle I noticed a dead FO amongst the first wave. Apparently he was a tad too far forward. Battle ends. Allied attacker: 234 casualties (47 KIA) 42 captured 5 mortars dstryd 11 vehicles dstryd 1 airplane shot down! Men OK 17 score 13 Axis Defender 49 casualties (14 KIA) 2 guns dstryd 4 vehicles KO'd Men OK 139 Score 87 Allied surrender Axis total victory. Good ambushes go a long way to securing a victory. Nice battle. Lot's to think about. Different ways to set up the defense. Difficult terrain to defend. Difficult mission to achieve. Fun battle. Gpig I'll post an AAR of each of these battles, if'n anyone wants to read about them. [ 11-12-2001: Message edited by: Gpig ] [ 11-12-2001: Message edited by: Gpig ] [ 11-12-2001: Message edited by: Gpig ]</p>

Hey there PvK, Yes, cut and paste could be useful. As for map direction enlargement, you CAN do this in the editor. You have to hold down the SHIFT key (I believe) if you want the map to extend in a different direction. Anyhoo, it's in the manual there someplace. And YES! I'd love to be able to design a scenario with wrecks, building damage, and squads with casualties, etc. That'd be super swellish, like. Gpig

Heh heh . . . Yeah. I recreated my old neighborhood. But it was a bit of a downer. I grew up in a city, so the suburbs are a bit flat and repetitious. It was fun trying to recall all the detials of streets, back alleys and corner stores. Outdoor hockey rinks, community centres, schools and playgrounds. Liquor stores, shopping malls, gas stations and friends houses. Once I had it finished, I played a meeting engagement PBEM with a childhood friend who grew up in the same area. We fought over Carmelle Kossawan's house. (She was a total babe!) 300 pt flag for sure! Also, we took pains to blow up anyones houses that we remembered as being lame-wads. Like Ida-Mae Wards house. (I used my Flammenpanzer on that one.) Or Kelly Nichols house. (What an ass, he was! Used my StuH 42 to blast his place.) It was good fun. Gpig

Hey Fred! Just played battle 1 from "Against all Odds!" Nice! Great atomsphere. Makes me feel like roleplaying the units. You know? Getting to know the platoon leaders/squad leaders, since they are going to be around for the next battle. Trying to look out for them, as if I really was the company commander. SPOILERS!! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nice map. the two hills near the back of the map are my objectives, and I've got a company of Panzergrenadiers (including heavy weapons plt), and some attached units, to accomplish the task. (Two Stugs, two French coffins, and two mortar halftracks.) Intel tells me it's going to be a meeting engagement. Enemy movement about a klick north of us, so we've got a bit of a head start. I decide to attack the western most hill objective first. It is also the closest. I'll use my two platoons of dismounted infantry for the assualt force with the french tanks in support. My other platoon of Veteran Pzgrndrs will stay mounted in their Vet. 251/1's. They will be my "extraordinary force." As I intend to use them on the assualt of the second hill, hopefully from the East. (There is plenty of cover available to race mechanized forces around on this map.) Bocage, woods and terrain undulations make approach to objectives relatively safe. My two Stugs I place in overwatch positions near my map edge. They have LOS to both hill top objectives. I have no intention of adding them to the attack. Also back, and hiding behind woods, are my two mortar carriers. I have a feeling these will be very important assets for my attack. Weather is clear. I have no AA assets. I'll just have to hope for the best, in regards to enemy Jabos. My plan is to move the heavy weapons platoon, with the two french tanks to my extreme left flank, with an eye to covering the left most hill. While they are setting up, I run and walk my two assault platoons North, finding much cover along the way. My veteran platoon waits for further orders, hidden behind a copse of woods. After 6 minutes, my heavy weapons platoon is in position (along with the two french tanks, or "franks"), and my assualt plt's are within a short sprint of the 1st hill. My overwatch stugs have detected no enemy movement on either hill. I had used two of my weapons platoons 251/1's as recon vehicles after they dropped off their loads. These two tracks now have gotten to within 40m of objective one. There appears to be no one home. One of my French tanks spots a Brit White scout car at the far Northern edge of the map. This one piece of intel tells me the first objective is mine for the taking. As the enemy has just arrived on map. I charge the hill with one platoon and take it uncontested. Remaining reverse slope I can see enemy activity on the other hill to the North East. Looks like the fight is about to start. Since the first hill is now taken, I decide to bring up my heavy weapons platoon (to that same hill). My second platoon I leave in reserve behind the 1st objective. (In case artillery starts falling on the hill I've just taken.) I also order my Vet. infantry to start winding their way to the centre of the map, just north of the small village in some low ground. This will be in preparation for the assault move on the North East hill. Meanwhile my stugs begin lobbing shells at Infantry? on the North East hill (2nd objective). Suddenly, out of the northern woods, a Veteran platoon of Brit infantry starts charging the 1st objective. They mostly charge across open ground, and my boys on the hill, plus an HMG and a squad from 2nd plt, pretty much take care of them. One of their squads makes it all the way to the hill, and manages to nearly wipe out one of my squads. They too are repulsed eventually. One of the supporting White Scout Cars is taken out by one of my "Franks," and my lone Panzershreck on the hill top takes out the other. The Brit attack on the first hill is repulsed, with minimal casualties to my 1st platoon. (They are down to 75% strength.) The next objective becomes a beehive of activity. I wish I had an FO. That hill is crawling with Brits. I can spot infantry, carriers, armored cars, tanks . . . TANKS!!!??? My veteran stug sights up a cromwell, and they take each other out with one shot apiece. Sigh. Then a sherman (later identified as a cromwell) pops up, and my second stug puts one through it's turret. Now I feel like I can move up my 81mm mortar halftracks and get a good LOS on the hill. Each of these babies carries over 50 HE rounds for lobbin'. Guess I've got my FO after all. Now, on my left flank, my troops and HMG's take up some long range firefights with the enemy on the second objective. Some light mortar fire starts falling on my 1st platoon. I start moving my 2nd platoon forward with an eye towards an eventual assault from the West, on the 2nd objective (as the 1st objective is now secure). Maybe 2nd and 3rd plt's can make a British sandwich between them? My 3rd, mounted platoon (all Veterans) have now been sitting in the village for about 3 minutes. I decide to move them FAST, farther to the East, past some BOCAGE/fields and then head North in a flanking move to the East of the 2nd objective. It turns out my decision to move my 3rd platoon was a good one. For the very next turn, 4.2 inch (or larger) artillery starts slamming into the ground north of the village just 15 seconds after they had left. All's I can say is Shwew! But I also realize that this mounted platoon of mine is in the sights of some F.O., and will be for a while. I decide to keep them on the move, FAST, for a while. Still heading East on a WIDE flanking move. Hopefully they'll draw out all the enemy artillery, while remaining ahead of it. (Not too worried about the A.I.'s anitcipation of my movement.) the next 4 turns really are costly for the Brits. on the second objective. I'm raining down 81mm mortar shells with impunity. Also, my remaining stug is firing at targets of oportunity. I have the feeling that i'm going to win this one. A Stuart V makes an appearance on my left flank. Guess he was late for the attack on the first objective. Still, he does well for himself, knocking out one of my "Franks," and one of my scouting 251/1's. I move my second platoon up through the woods north of the 1st objective, hoping maybe to take him out in a faust ambush. Soon, the Stuart get's buttoned up as he passes some of my 2nd platoon fellows, but they are out of range for a faust shot. The Stuart moves forward to an unexpected (and good) position between the two hills. Right along my planned assault route for 1st and 2nd platoons. Hmmm. Gonna have to take that bugger out. I move my remaining "Frank" up around the left flank while I continue to scout north with 2nd platoon. They find no more enemy resistance North of the first objective. I move 1st platoon off the East hill objective and into the woods, towards the Stuart. I leave the heavy weapons plt on the hill. A near disaster happens when the company commander's 251/1 (that's me!) wanders dangerously into the gunsights of the Stuart. My 251/1 is KO'd immediately, resulting in 2 casualties to the HQ unit, one casualty to the HMG team, and one casualty to the crew. We all scamper into a nearby heavy building (small). I had thought, that the 30m to cover would have been easy. But the command track moved slower than I thought. And the Stuart, even while buttoned up, seemed to react very fast. The next turn, my Pzgndrs from 1st platoon start lobbing grenades at the stuart from the tree line. They immobilize it. Why they aren't using their fausts, I'm not sure. They are within 20m. Then, "KLONG!" My remaining "frank" has rounded a corner and shot the Stuart in the ass. Killing it. The crew is massacred seconds later when they emerge from the tank. Not a pretty picture. Meanwhile, my 3rd platoon is ripping around the country side heading East and North. Artillery is following them in a large cloud. I loose a couple of MG gunners from my 251/1's as I forgot to order them buttoned up! But they are still all intact. And I'm eager for the assault with this platoon, as their leader has a +2 combat bonus. It seems the Brits don't want to leave their hilltop location, so I keep pouring on the mortar fire. 1st platoon now runs to the woods about 100m South of the 2nd objective. 2nd platoon is now directly West of the 2nd objective, and turning East. They've found a good approach with trees, bocage and rough terrain offering cover. They've also got my "Frank" in support along with a 251/1. I load my Company HQ and their HMG team friends back into a reserve 251/1, and race them towards 1st platoon. 3rd platoon is now heading West to join in on the assualt. Artillery cloud close behind. Turns out, 1st platoon sees an opportunity to assualt up the South face of the 2nd objective, and I order them to do so. With HMG support and direct HE from my Stug (plus the last few shells from my mortar tracks), they claw their way half way up to a good spot. 2nd platoon I order to hold fast, as they are covering the retreat of british from the hill. It looks like a general rout is now on. With broken and leaderless squads heading for the coast. Many men are cutdown here, running for their lives. It's difficult to listen to the shouts of pain. 3rd platoon finally dismounts and moves through some scat. trees, adding firepower to the mix. Suddenly, a flamethrower pours burning hellfire onto my lead squad from 1st platoon. Yikes! The squad breaks and runs South. By the end of the turn, the flame team is dead. Targetted by no fewer than 6 squads/teams. I'd hate to be a flamethrower man. Luckily for my striken squad, it's just soiled underwear. No casualties. My Frank moves forward and takes out another scout car. Then two carriers. He's done well for himself. I order my stug up, but I'm sure I won't need him. For the next couple of turns, it's general mopping up. Total victory for the Axis. Only 8 KIA. The brits lost 38 KIA. Plus most of their vehicles. The best units for my side (other than 1st platoon, which did all the heaviest fighting), were the 251/2 mortar carriers. First time I've ever gotten them to do any good. Great battle. On to the next one! Gpig

YO! Lemme have it, eh? jon@pixar.com Thanks, Gpig

I'd say check out all those COMMANDO SKORZENSKY scenarios. A Platoon of ELITE FJ's wander all over europe having adventures along the way. LOT's of fun! Gpig

Ahhh . . . speaking of the Canadian CMHQ . . . Last update was almost a year ago. Any news as to where Jason and Brian went? I downloaded that scenario and played it. Does this mean I've got that nasty bugger of a virus on my machine? Guess I'll go a looking for it. Gpig

I just had some great success with MkIV's working together. SPOILER . . . . . . . . . . . I was playing Merry Christmas at Hourmuelle (off the disk), and as the Axis you get about 8 pz IV's and 2 Panthers. It's a winter scenario with a bunch of crisscrossing roads, along the tops of ridgelines. Staying on the roads paints you as a big fat target against the sky. So racing to the small depressions along their length becomes very important. I moved a platoon of MkIV's to the top of one of these ridges (all on the road) and set two of them up in HULL DOWN overwatch as I prepared to leap frog the plt. Then the greatest sequence happened. As I moved my first panzer at FAST down the road and to the nearest gully (about 250m away), a pair of Sherman "Easy Eights" popped up, about 800m down range. They both sighted my racing Mk IV to take him out. But soon after that happened, my overwatch panzers lit 'em up, one of which blew sky high. Nice team work is fun to watch. I could only just imagine the great dust/snow cloud billowing out behind my racing MkIV and the HUGE target it must have looked like. Suckered them poor shermans in GOOD. Gpig

Just played Merry Christmas at Hormuelle (or somthing like that). GREAT battle by the way. But . . . I almost went blind. (Don't have any winter mods.) (Actually, I don't have any mods at all. Too much of a hassle for my mac/brain.) And I discovered somthing interesting. It was a LIGHT SNOW day, and not one of my tanks ever bogged. I was driving PzIV's and Panthers. Light Snow is not much different than grass, I reckon. SPOILER!!! . . . . . . . . . Sticking to the roads was SUICIDE in this scenario (if'n youz the Axis). All the roads are on the the tops of ridges, thus leaving you painted against the sky in painfull outline. FUN, though. Nice map, too. Gpig.

So I've only played 2 battles EVER, that took place with snow. Mainly due to the fact that I cannot look at all that whiteness, for long. My brain begins to hurt. I can't tell elevation differences unless I'm right down at ground level. (I usually DO go to ground to check elevation while plotting over GREEN ground, but in winter, I have to plot my whole force's movements from the ground when I'm trying to use elevation to my advantage. I just can't cope with all the mousing and camera positioning. The back and forth from unit to plot point. I'm a gamey bastard.) What have you all done to cope with the white-washed ouchy-eye factor of the winter scene? Gpig

I think that CM models this to a certain degree. When an unbuttoned tank crew suffers a crew casualty, it never actually specifies which crewmember bit it. It could easily have been the driver, who's noggin is also stickin' out of a hatch. But I think you may be wondering about hitting crewmembers while the tank is buttoned up. By firing a round through a vision slit? Is that right? I know that CM does NOT model crew casualties to buttoned up tanks, from MG or small arms fire. But everything else (from fausts to Artillery) can cause casualties to crew members (of a buttoned vehicle) through a variety of means. Penetration, internal flaking, etc. Gpig

Thanks for all the great recomendations! He's going to love beating me. (Hopefully, he'll be able to beat me.) Gpig

Hmmm. Lot's to chew on. Thank you all. Good responses. I think, in my case . . . I'll accept the cease-fire but only after I've secured the main VL. For two reasons; 1) I like playing this fellow and want to start a new PBEM with him. 2) Even though I'm winning, He has enough forces left to make a "mop-up" a potentially costly operation. I want to save my lads some bloodshed. The main VL is already pretty much in my hands. This leads me to another question. If he requests a cease-fire, will I know about it? (Despite him already telling me his intentions by email.) Does a window pop up saying, "your opponent has requested a cease-fire?" Or will I only know about it once I, myself, select "cease-fire?" (By the game suddenly ending in a cease-fire.) Thanks, Gpig P.S. I suppose that by not accepting a cease-fire, you could turn an opponent into a rabid, cornered animal. Thus end up losing in a bitter scrap preceeded by overconfident moves and assumption about remaining enemy forces.

A PBEM battle I'm in seems to be well in hand for my side. My opponent tells me he's going to ask for a cease-fire with the next turn. I feel like "sure," why not. We'll start another battle. Then I start to think, will this cost me a victory? Since the VL's are contested by both sides. Should I push on to complete victory? He still has some fight left in him. Could be costly. My question is really about how the "Cease-fire" effects the AAR. I've just never dealt with the cease-fire function before. Any ideas? Gpig

Ooooh. I LOVE that story. Makes me sad, too. I was playing Wiltz PBEM and I had set up a .50 crew in the woods, covering the open clearings in front of my Victory flag. Around turn 10, those clearings fill up with 3 german halftracks and 1 PUMA. I'm practically peeing my pants, waiting for my turn to come back, as my orders for my .50 crew were simply to "un-hide." Hee hee hee . . . Well, over the next two turns my boys fire off about 10 bursts at two of the tracks, plus the PUMA, but to NO EFFECT. Ugh. The PUMA and tracks then proceeded to kill off my entire crew. (Sniff) I had already pictured a clearing FILLED with abandoned tracks. Alas, I was extremely unlucky. Or so it seems. Gpig