handihoc

Oh lordy, those are hot looking flames! Magnificent!

Couldn't agree more. I love a battle that allows time to scout and recce for enemy positions/optimal friendly position etc before launching my attack. Some players find that style of play tedious as little or nothing tends to happen for the first few minutes or more. Me, I get a thrill every time a new hidden enemy unit pops into view and I can make plans accordingly, even if I'm not yet going to open fire on that position. So Blow56's campaign should be right up my alley. I've no objection to battles with tight time restrictions. They keep me on my toes and force me to respond accordingly, but the versatility of the CM game engine enables a wide variety of design and play approaches, and the more the merrier! So go for it, Blow. I look forward to checking out the finished product.

I also helped playtest this campaign and I got thrashed more than once, which only persuaded me to go back and try again. PT doesn't give the player an easy time, it's true. What he does is give you a real challenge, and (usually) the forces to make beating that challenge a realistic possibility. Misuse the forces at your disposal and you will likely suffer the consequences. Assume the AI is a dumbo and you'll get the same. But hey, if a player expects to win every time and is going to complain if he doesn't, I can't help but think he's missing the point. This is a wargame/simulation with a strong emphasis on realism. It isn't meant to be particularly easy. And before anyone complains that the betatesters are ganging up here, no, we're not. I, and other testers, let PT know when we believed a scenario didn't work, for whatever reason. We didn't always agree. PT took our feedback and made adjustments accordingly. And it often happened (as you will probably discover) that the forces that were giving me such a tough time were surprisingly small in comparison to mine, which to me is a measure of how well the scenario is designed and how effective the game AI is overall. And really, does losing a battle make that battle unenjoyable? I'm currently getting my butt kicked in a PBEM. I'd much prefer it was the other way round, but I'm not complaining. I'm having fun, and learning that some players may have tactics that are more effective than mine. Same goes at times against the AI. By any standards CMN and CW is a great wargame, and this campaign is a very finely crafted one. It's not unbalanced (with possible exceptions where the designer wanted to stick as closely as possible to historical fact) and, win or lose, provides helluva good entertainment. I can only recommend that anyone who's getting a thumping rethinks their tactics and goes back in and tries again. It's winnable. You just have to find the way.

That is great news, and certainly more than well-deserved. There's nothing else out there that comes close to this game.

This is the map that just keeps giving! Really fine work, LLF!

Excellent work, LLF. I'm really looking forward to the final, problem free release of this one, and have just ordered a new monster rig which - I hope! - will give me problem free, mighty map performance when it is released. Stay on it, dude!

Dave 85, Welcome to Combat Mission! Glad you found it, and that you enjoyed The Road To Montebourg. It's a fabulous campaign, and there are loads more great battles included with the game plus new ones, as well as mods, available on the Battlefront Repository. New Normandy modules and CM full releases are scheduled, too. I think you are going to be having a lot of fun these days! :)

Actually, I think the majority of campaigns start with a relatively easy opening and progressive difficulties and challenges in later battles. Without that, as you pointed out, you risk putting off newer players. So it makes sense from a commercial point of view, apart from anything else. An example is Paper Tiger's magnificent Road to Montebourg. The opening scenario can be won with zero, or at least very low, casualties. Which isn't to say it's easy. Get it wrong, use unwise tactics, or simply run into a bit of bad luck, and you will be punished. Later battles are far more demanding - some of them killers, but immense fun at the same time. We all know, I think, that CMx2 can be devilishly hard if you rush a battle. And it's oh so easy to push forward without taking the time to recce, and subsequently get reamed. But on the whole I'd say that the campaigns I've played have been pretty well structured, whether I won or lost.

LLF, I just pm'd you with email address.

Update: *****Spoilers!****** Battle 3: I continued to make steady progress, though US 60mm mortars put down some accurate fire and caused me a good few casualties. Well-placed infantry in buildings also upped my casualty rate, but my guys generally kept the upper-hand as they infiltrated the village. Very nicely designed village, btw, and resistance stiffened the further I advanced, which I guess was to be expected. There was a nasty surprise at one point - I think you'll know what I mean, FMB! - which turned out to be far more of a threat than I at first realised, and again took down a significant number of my men. Once I'd fully determined it's nature, though, I was able to tackle it with the appropriate forces, at which point I gained a Tactical Victory. So on to Battle 4. Again, a lovely map, and although it was another village the layout was significantly unlike the previous, so it didn't feel at all repetitious. By now I was having to think very carefully about how to deploy my Kampfgruppe. A couple of quite severely reduced platoons, and the earlier loss of two tanks and three armoured cars, plus two ACs almost crippled with wheel damage, meant a very cautious approach was required. I hit the village around the intersection with arty to begin with, then commenced a somewhat tentative advance on the left flank, keeping my right flank in reserve, apart from a few observers. The battle was pretty hard won, with the loss of another MkIV, and numerous infantry biting the dust as they made their approach towards locations that wrongly appeared to hold no enemy. Again, your positioning of enemy units is quite masterful at times, enabling them to spring very effective ambushes, but my three remaining Panthers and two MkIVs were able to provide heavy duty support to the infantry teams, and I won through to another Tactical Victory. So now I'm about to start Battle 5. Only one AC left in my Recon group, and he has wrecked wheels so can't do a lot, and the main group that has just followed on is not in the best of shape. We shall see what we shall see...

Great to have a new German campaign, and so far, three missions in, it's sheer delight. Love the maps. Very challenging and each one very different. And the battles to date have been a blast. ****SPOILERS**** Battle 1: I did really well, more by luck than judgement I fear, although I did take a fairly cautious approach. When I eventually located the first of the US forces my brave troops were able to hammer them in force from three angles, which caused them a lot of pain. Later I lost one MkIV to a 57mmATG, a Puma to mines and six men dead in total. Scored a tactical victory, though I had taken all VLs and the surviving enemy were few and far between, and all cowering in fields. Lots of fun rooting them out. Battle 2) I chose the 'split kampfgruppe' option. Another great map - brought to mind the Ardennes with the dense forest, undulating terrain and winding roads. Also, the positioning of the US defenders. They were very difficult to dislodge at times, and I got the impression they had pre-set fallback positions, as my advance was frequently stalled: after moving over one position I'd often find them lying in wait a little further on, which was pretty effective, especially against my infantry. My inf took a mauling here. I lost a Panther, too, as well as another Puma. Some very nasty encounters. I took the map but got a minor defeat. Seemed I hadn't quite taken out enough of the enemy, although those that were left were on the run and in a bad way. Great battle. Battle 3). I'm halfway through this one. I appear to be making good progress, though nothing is certain - minimal casualties so far and indications are that I've inflicted quite a lot of damage on the defenders. Another superb and very atmospheric map. So, loving this campaign. Thanks for creating it, FMB!

Can't find a thread for Carbide Carbide so I'll post here. This is one of the most enjoyable single missions I've played in CMN. The map is just superb, and presents so many challenges for the US attacker. A quite different battle to the original, largely due to the increased size of the map, and the extra detail you have added. The Germans put up one helluva fight. Stubborn to the end and very cunningly and effectively positioned. They ambushed me again and again and caused me a LOT of pain! I managed to secure the village and bridges after some very punishing skirmishes. My guys didn't have the heart to try and breakout after that, though. They were too badly mauled to risk further encounters - and I knew there would be some on the way out. So I called a ceasefire with 30 min to go and managed to scrape a Minor Victory. Thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this. A very fine battle indeed, George!

Well, George, your Bocage has busted me again, damn you! I did better than last time - damn well should have, too, as I knew better what to expect. Made a fair bit of ground with relatively minor casualties. But then, in quick succession, lost two Sherms, with a third losing its main gun, and a whole bunch of men. What impresses me is the fact that the German defenders don't really appear to be particularly strong in terms of numbers, but they are exceptionally well-placed for ambush, and monstrously effective. Even when I find and eliminate a unit, I then discover it has backup lurking close by all ready to punish me for any advance I make. And dudes in feldgrey hiding behind bocage, particularly in foxholes, are very resistant to HE or any other kind of fire. I'm going to go off and lick my wounds for a while, then attempt this again at a later date when I hopefully my memory will not provide me with too many advantages. It's a tough one, no doubt, but I like the challenge of being thrashed by the AI in a well-designed scenario. So next up is Carbide Carbide! (I must be a glutton for punishment!). I tested this one when it was in it's earliest stage, a far smaller map. It's an absolute beauty now, so I'll report back on progress as and when. V much looking fwd to the experience.

Childress, that's fine. Pics show it all and it's easily reproduced. I've reported it.

Childress, do you have a save of that? If so please attach it here and I'll make a bug report.

You are right, Michael Emrys. Absolutely right in every respect. Spot on, in fact. You have nailed it. On the head. As right as right can be. And of course, I knew it, and am experienced enough not to have blundered into such a trap. But... a momentary lapse of concentration, possibly engendered with the help of a certain Mr J Beam, a false sense of security (again, all JB's fault), and the insupportable idea that George Mac wouldn't have thought of me coming through that gap... Only myself to blame. Now, time to write those damned letters...

Well George, I started Busting the Bocage, or more accurately it started Busting me! And carried on! I thought I was doing okay for a while. Took out several enemy inf units and a 75mm ATG with only one of my men down. Then... ... oh lordy! Six casualties in a single squad, in one turn. My stupid fault. Sent the poor lads through a gap in the hedgerow, and what a surprise! The enemy had it covered! Four other casualties elsewhere in the same turn. Next turn, two Sherman's taken out by fausts or Shreks, and another loses it's TC. Back to the beginning, methinks, with me bloody tail between me bloody legs. Very nice map, and a ferocious battle. One of these days I will learn that this game is very unforgiving of commanders like me who often assume that just because I've taken out a couple of enemy units behind a hedge, doesn't mean there aren't others skulking nearby. I'll report back after my next endeavour.

Childress, is it the huge glaring sun that is 'migraine producing' or the straight line artefact? Either way, I agree the sun/glare is oversized and obviously that artefact just ain't right. I've reported it in the tester's forum.

I've spotted that artefact occasionally too. I've got Nvidia, but I don't know if it's the card, the game or what. It hasn't bothered me too much, though .Usually it goes away when I change camera angle. btw Fredrock, that's a really nice looking map. Hope to check out the battle in the near future.

Hi Snake-eye, I take all your points on board, and it's very obvious you gave a hell of a lot of thought and planning to this scenario and the possible variations of tactics available to the German player, whilst also doing all you could to stay true to its historical background. My review was based purely on a single run of the battle. I did think briefly of launching a counterattack in the last hour, but decided against it because I just couldn't be sure there wasn't a TD or two, or a hidden bazooka team, still lurking somewhere out there. I had taken a fair amount of casualties, lost my MkIV and a Stug, suffered some damage to the Panther and another Stug. I also didn't have a large enough number of infantry to feel confident enough to risk them. Nor was I really certain until the last twenty min or so that you didn't have yet more US reinforcements coming on at any moment. So I played safe and simply hung on to the victory locations. In light of your explanations, I can agree that my Minor Victory was probably a fair one. It just seemed at the time to be counterintuitive to my own assessment of my win. Yes, the noise of the Nebelwerfers pouring in, and the subsequent explosions, is literally earth-shaking. The sound of hellfire and thunder pounding down upon you! And I too was impressed by the US artillery AI. It spotted and hit me several times with a high degree of accuracy, and caused numerous casualties. The AI generally has improved in leaps and bounds and I've no doubt will continue to be worked on and improved. Triggers would definitely be a big plus - we can but wait with bated breath... OK, thanks once again for you dedication to making such great scenarios for these Combat Mission games.

Hi Snake-eye. I've just completed Die Amis Kommen! and wanted to give you some feedback. Firstly, a superb map. You must have put a lot of hours in on that one, and it's a real beauty, with some very challenging terrain features. I've played some of your earlier scenarios for Shock Force, so I figured I was in for quite a treat here, and I wasn't disappointed - although I do have one or two reservations. I was intrigued by the challenge you have set yourself in single player mode, having the AI attacking (a difficult prospect in itself) AND having it attacking over a river, forced to negotiate numerous bridges and fords. AI limitations being what they are, even though in CM they are far superior to any other wargame I'm familiar with, putting it on the attack in a long, complex battle and an extremely detailed, large map really does test it's capabilities. ***** SPOILERS BELOW!!!***** Well, for the most part I was impressed and pleasantly surprised. The first two hours of gametime were really pretty tense and challenging. The US forces advanced in a quite intelligent manner and, towards the left side of the map in particular (Fords 1 - 4) mounted a convincing crossing and aggressive attack (although a Stuart rather oddly sat himself smack in the middle of Ford 4 and refused to move for the remainder of the battle, effectively stymying any further advance there. I assumed he'd been immobilised but the map review shows him to be in pristine condition, so I'm not quite sure what he was playing at). So the most effective attack came over Fords 1 - 3, and headed for Wierderstandnester 2 and La Croix Pochon, occupying the former for quite a while before being repulsed by my brave pixeltruppen in the latter stages. The US almost took La Croix Pochon too, and made a push for La Ronde but by then they were too weak to have any real hope of succeeding. The advance over the main bridge into the railroad station was a US disaster, though. My armour and ATGs had no problem picking off the US armour as it approached, with artillery severely punishing the infantry as it made its way in the open towards the bridge. A few forlorn infantry did manage to cross that bridge but were then systematically chewed to hell by my MGs and arty as they attempted to hunker down wherever they could find shelter. So, up until this point, a huge amount of fun and a lot of tension as - although I expected to be able to win against an attacking AI - I was never fully certain, given the numbers set against me, and their ability at times to spot and engage my units. Fantastic fun, too, putting those Nebelwerfers into action! It was the first time I've used them in the game and boy, they might be lacking in accuracy, but they are devastating! I actually felt sorry for the guys caught in their fire. Three hours, though, was too much IMO. For the last seventy minutes the battle dragged. The AI was pretty much out of effective heavy weapons by now, and the vast majority of its infantry were in a severely bedraggled condition, whereas I was pretty much able to sit back and polish them off as they continued to come forward in dribs and drabs, twos and threes, etc. The AI just kept on sending them to their deaths - M20s carrying HQs, chewed up squads in dreadful condition... it showed no sense of command. Eventually, with about an hour left, I was able to retake Wierderstandnester2, and although a few US TDs and Sherms remained and put me to the test, my Panther, backed by a STug and some 120mm arty, got the better of 'em with minimal damage to me. But the US refused to give up, despite the fact that I now occupied all zones and the enemy had nothing useful to fight with. I was obliged to play on to the very end, including four min extra time. And as a reward I got only a Minor Victory! Pretty stingy, I reckon, given the massive damage I inflicted, which I think you can see on the attached AAR. My overall assessment: A fantastic map and challenging battle. Very enjoyable for the first two game hours, but too long after that. And I would suggest tweaking the victory conditions to enforce a US surrender much earlier. At the end they were useless as an attacking force, occupied none of the Victory Zones, but simply would not admit defeat. One other point: it has no real effect on gameplay but the artillery for both sides comes in from the wrong direction. If you observe the streaks of falling shells, the German arty comes from behind US lines, and vice versa for US. It looks as though you have incorrectly designated friendly map edges. I'm also sending you an email on a related note, so please take a look. Good work, and many thanks for putting it out there for our enjoyment.

Ha! I remember Hell in the Hedgerows was pure hell when we tested it! PT made a few tweaks, and added some AI plans since then, so I don't know exactly how it has changed, but I sure got torn to shreds first time around. It started off deceptively easy, and then all proverbial hell broke loose. I think I may have managed to get a minor victory in the end, but with my guys very badly mauled. Good to see this scenario, and the campaign, are keeping you folks entertained.

Wonderful stuff!

Sergei, that's a really excellent piece of footage you've put together there. Very atmospheric, tense, exciting - and the music was perfectly timed for the major action sequences. Really enjoyable. And I hope Wilmott got a medal! Look fwd to Part Two.

Really looking forward to this!