PIATpunk

Hi everyone! I've put out a new video where I compare a combat mission scenario to both the historical events that are portrayed and the actual real-life location. I thought I'd post this on the General Discussion board as it's also kind of about Combat Mission scenario design and research in general.
As it's about a Market Garden scenario, I've slept a quite few hours less the past few nights in order to get this video done in time for Operation Market Garden's 78th anniversary on saturday the 17th of september. I hope you'll find it interesting; spending the day basicly giving myself a battlefield tour and filming the locations of the scenario that I just played was amazing. Geeky, for sure, but amazing 😁.
Props to @Pete Wenman who is the author of this scenario for his excellent research and scenario design.
 
 

goodness gracious!  Any word on the Engine 5 update Steve?  cheers

goodness gracious!  Any word on the Engine 5 update Steve?  cheers

Aye hopefully it will be 'all good fun'  thanks Steve.
Aye, this battle pack is set during the fighting between the German and Soviet armies in eastern Poland during the summer of 1944. This fighting was some of the heaviest on the Eastern Front during the entire war. This battle pack presents a series of actions recreating key moments in this fighting through the perspective of the forces involved during July and August.
It’s been a real labour of love. The genesis of this battle pack was the  series of images in the photo book Kampfgruppe Mühlenkamp published by RZM and authored by Douglas Nash and Remy Spezzano. On the back of this I started work on what became the Five Days One Summer campaign which is the key campaign of this battle pack.
This battle pack would never have got anywhere without the help and support of a whole bunch of others. I would like to give a huge shout out to all those including the BFC beta testers for all the playtesting, feedback, advice and support. I am also indebted to Mr Douglas Nash for his freely given help and support in clarifying some of the details involved in several actions involving ‘Wiking’, notably the fighting around Tluszcz in mid-August 1944. If you’ve not checked out his recent trilogy “From the Realm of a Dying Sun” its well worth doing so for the background to this battle pack. Also worth having a look at is the “Operation Bagration 23 June-29 August 1944” by the Soviet General Staff which gives a ‘big picture’ view of the Soviet operations in this period.
I hope you all, as the players enjoy these scenarios and campaigns as much as I did researching and creating them. As always, I’d appreciate any comment and feedback and I look forward to seeing how this collection of scenarios and campaigns plays out for yourselves.
Cheery!

goodness gracious!  Any word on the Engine 5 update Steve?  cheers

goodness gracious!  Any word on the Engine 5 update Steve?  cheers

Some Red Thunder vehicles with War Thunder decals added. ( I don't play that game.. btw).

I'm trying to produce a campaign for Berlin, i'm building the ,maps and have completely updated and redesigned the mod buildings so now all buildings can be entered and fired from, I found a new solution to do this and it seems to work well, I made a template of where the windows appear on the mod builds, then i either use the default windows with my graphics in them rather tan the other way round, also if cut out I also make a window that fits the space so I can use either, also i have copied the window default window space on the BMP them pasted into the window files, this works really well especially when the window is space is black so as long as the window fits all i have to do is convert the default window into black or dark grey and they hardly notice on the bmp, so this gives the impression of having the glass and frame completely gone and and looks bombed out which is the look I have always tried to achieve before. If anyone with campaign experience want's to join with me and build an amazing campaign then DM e. I've chose a campaign as this will eliminate any need for my complete collection of modded items which is huge. I've made several maps including the suburbs, the Molkte bridge, Kroll Opera House, The Reichstag, Unter der Linden, The Museum Island, Alexander Platz and the New Reichs Chancellory with plans to produce more. This is work in progress and I have to convert more buildings to allow for more window firing positions. Cheers for viewing and would love to see what you think?

Download my mod here
 
https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/cm-mod-warehouse/combat-mission-red-thunder/cmrt-scenery/cmrt-battle-for-berlin/

Testing the AI plan continues. Made a few tweaks to the Soviet OOB and associated AI plan. Its getting there. Takes a while to test the thing though.
Some close ups from the Soviet side.



From the German side I decided to recreate Fleugal's counter-attack, supported by a SPW company from III./ "Germania" at Jasienica.

 

An unhorsed Panther crew picked up by an SPW get in on the action!

Not so good for one unlucky Soviet defender/attacker...

 

jonS never fixed the errors pointed out in the Amiens Tonight campaign. It''s a shame because campaigns can't be fixed by the community due to the non inclusion of the campaign script file.

Well one Soviet AT attack plan done (Alpha version). This version is the bare bones attack framework. it does not take into account what the enemy (German) player may do. The Alpha version is mainly to check co-ordniation and timings. I always seek to attempt to get the AI plan to 'beat' the other side but running through it but not giving the other side any orders. If my AI plan can rinse the static player its a good indication the human player will have to 'do stuff' to prevent being beat. Now thats not always the case (depends...) but its a useful indicator to the AI plan effectiveness.
This shows the infantry echelon going into the attack. The assault group is somewhere up ahead...

The assault group dying their thing.

The German grunt's eye view of impending doom...


I'm now playing against my own AI plan to check how it copes with the other side throwing a spanner in the works. This will give me some insight into how I'll need to either adapt the Alpha AI plan to take into account likely COAs by the enemy player and/or provide suitable encounters - which mat mean tweaks to the overall framework. The constraint in this scenario given its a historical one (and one I have a lot of granular detail about) is making the scenario work but remaining true as much as i can - usual caveats apply - to the actual course of events. In truth it'll always be a compromise as the actual fighting and the Soviet attacks lasted a day. I'm focussed on an initial 2 hour slice.
Now me attempting to screw up my own AI plan.

Yes, well nothing to see here. Must be hot in the tank...

Right lets try sneaking up on them.

“Over!”

That's better!

On a roll now!

The above attack I'm using as its basis the actual initial German countermoves. Which saw a swift armoured counterattack by Wiking Panthers which KO'd 12 Soviet tanks and KIA a lot of attacking infantry in the vicinity of Hill 107n just outside Jasienica. In RL this was a very short lived success.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M_PGMSZSrHteC72A_9YPfqy8kfvGUBxs/view?usp=sharing

This announcement is a little dated since I posted the map a few weeks back. It is posted as a scenario '6th Green Howards to Villiers le Sec'. The map is historically correct and measures 3 km x 4 km. The Green Howards fought across this area from noon to late afternoon on D-Day.  Another wide open map, ideal for tank engagements. On D-Day the Germans were a little thin on the ground at this location. The counter-attack during the afternoon struck the Brits a few kilometers to the west. In the scenario I have imagined that a portion of the German counter-attacking force has drifted onto the map.  Another 'adjustment' is the need to eliminate the German battery in Crepon rather than bypass it and take it out on D+1 as happened historically.
I recommend Falaise's new Caen stone church skins for the correct look as well as building skings by TaL, Umlaut and my own Hauts Vents building skins. The latter have been renumbered so that they can be added without overwriting the modded skins of other modders.

Beena while... Apologies been my busy time of year with work. I've been noodling away mainly adding battle damage, which is a slow process. Some screenies - I'm using heavy haze as the condition backdrop. In this action the Soviets had just fired a massive barrage, so reckoned with the dry weather you'd have heaps of dust etc. See how this pans out when it comes to adding units for LOS etc.
So first up view NW to Jasienica

View bit more west.

Battle damage in Tluszcz

Battle damage in Jasienica

One of my ongoing side projects (aimed, mostly, at the new influx of Steam Players) is to host an 'All in One' for every CM game here.
This is my initial effort for CMBN & its primary feature is a large collection of weathered vehicle & guns mods (almost entirely by @Aristoteles & @umlaut). It also features terrain mods by @SeinfeldRules, @Falaise & @patboy. UI mods by @Juju, @Marco Bergman& @Mord alongside loading screens by @umlaut. Infantry mods by Vincenzo21, @Damian45, @Vein, Jacquinot, @EZ, @mjkerner,  @Jorge MC, @nik mond& @Aristoteles. Building mods by @Tanks a Lot & @Juju as well as the ME effects package, ME soundscape, subdued @Taranis& HQS voices plus many others.
It has integrated & default early summer & early autumn (using the [holland] tag) options as well as a couple of zip files which can activate a late autumn & late summer look.
Additionally it comes with a vast quantity of content (hundreds of scenarios, scores of maps & 20 odd campaigns).
Here's a taster of some of what you can expect...
 







Here's the link for the CMBN 'All in One'...
https://www.mediafire.com/file/bplqhvfkl4da5pq/CMBN_Initial_%27All_in_One%27.7z/file

Here is a church pack in Caen stone and brick numbered 301 (00) and (01); 302 (00) and (01); 303 (00) and (01)
attention!!
 for technical reasons the numbering is different. This it replaces the old ones
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3kkc9g57fzffdha/AACZYbHjE8-zWwOhO62NSS1pa?dl=0


*  did you know guys !

The Caen stone was used to build monuments everywhere in france but also elsewhere

   UK

        Tower of London (89,200 concrete blocks delivered by 75 ships in 127811)

        LondonTowerBridge

        St. Paul's Cathedral in London

        Westminster Abbey

        Canterbury Cathedral

        OxfordCastle

        Durham Cathedral

        Rochester Cathedral

        Chichester Cathedral

        Norwich Catholic Cathedral

        BuckinghamPalace

        EtonCollege
    In Belgium

        RoyalPalace of Brussels
    In Germany

        Cologne Cathedral (decor elements)
    In the USA

        St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York

        Elements of interior decoration of buildings (e.g. New York customs chimney).

        Washington National Cathedral (main altar)

        St. Andrew's Cathedral Honolulu12
    In Canada

        Osgoode Hall Atrium

Our Belgian friend seems happy to go home !      @JM Stuffreturning from the deep south  
  I see that there is a lot of waiting on the brick church ant that I'm done fighting with the variations of scales that @WimO evokes
so here it is
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3kkc9g57fzffdha/AACZYbHjE8-zWwOhO62NSS1pa?dl=0
I also planned one in limestone of Caen
I'll give the set to @Bootie when he's ready

You had to ask!! @Warts 'n' all
More seriously I recently looked at churches after @kohlenklau post
And I decided to rework the churches maybe even make castle type skins
and i'm currently working on it

I am still gnawing on this years bone, CMCW!
But any news about the engine 5 upgrade and the CMCW module are welcome

Well they can just keep their opinions to them selves. I am reminded of a developer I once knew who responded to his manager trying to book a performance review "unless there is money in it for me you can keep your damn opinions to your self" - yes he was a grumpy guy but we loved him
 
Anyone doing this can just **** off.
@Bootie is a great supporter of this community. He has helped me (and countless others) many, many times. I am amazed at how well he does at keeping himself accessible.

Getting close to the end of the year.  Any chance of a Christmas sneak peak of Engine 5? 😀

Hi all,

So you;ve might have seen this elsewhere but in the spirit of the holidays I'm giving away some Combat Mission titles December 23rd. I'm going to raffle off the games on the Official CM discord: https://discord.gg/KFwm9exfDr All you need to do to enter is be a member.

Happy Holidays,
Geist

 

Progress been painfully slow past while due to RL stuff. Still getting there albeit rate of terraforming is equivalent to that post last ice age...
Overview of progress - the top RHS is all that was left to be done. But a lot of that is the outskirts of Tluszcz... so may take a while.

This is the bit been working on.

View along the Soviet AOA - follow the road into Jasienica.


Other attacks went to the right of this and into Tluszcz.
So this is all that is left to do now. Again still the centre top and top right. Then damage then flavour objects, though I may go light on flavour objects on this one! Key objects would be telegraph/phone poles/lines.

Great work from our man (and men)  on the ground.