Alsatian

By coincidence came across this description this weekend. It sounds like an example of Hodges's preference for dependable simple & basic tactics rather than flash and risk. "Hodges was hoarding ammo to make an exploitable breach in the West Wall. He would make his new attack to the north of Aachen... "The attack opened on October 2...German commanders were slow to realize what was happening. They couldn't believe that Hobbs's two-regiment attack on a 1,500-yard front was the First Army's major effort. They assumed it was only a diversion for somehting bigger. The 2nd Armored Division shot though the gap the infantry opened. By October 8 Hodges had a solid bridgehead six miles north of Aachen... "Hodges had no intention of pushing deep into Germany without taking it. No bypasser he, but the most conservative tactician, forever worried about his flanks. As a rule, he tended to rely heavily on the advice of Collins and regarded his VII Corps as the spearhead of the First Army. On this occasion, Collins preferred to leave Aachen alone. He didn't think it was worth a street fight, but Hodges ordered him to take it (f.n.16). The Germans agreed to let the civilian popluation leave; then the two armies got down to fighting for the city." From Geoffrey Perret's, "There's a War to be Won," (1991), p. 374-5 of the Ballantine pb edition 1996. f.n.16--from: J. Latwon Collins (Sperow interview)USAMHI Archives.

Foamy, Scary how timely your post was for me. Burning the midnight oil to post an AAR on the Fellowship of the Newbie thread, my wife flipped out about me playing too much CMBO. The immediate results of our conversation, in order were: me sleeping on the couch, her hiding my CMBO cd, and me realizing she was right. The aforementioned AAR was Exhibit A. With my new found perspective, we came to some agreements about me limiting my CMBO time. Or maybe I just learned a lesson about the importance of making a backup copy of my cd.

After Action Report Scenario: Sword Point Type: Meeting Engagement Turns: 40 Key Turn: 27 Winning Side: British Paras Losing Side: German Heer Final Score: 62-38 (Allied Minor Victory) AAR Point of View: British Paras -------------------------- Setup & Battle Plan The most important line of the briefing was, “If Gerry gets some guns up on [Pont d’Epee], then the tank chaps will be having a bit of a dog’s breakfast.” I’m still not sure how that British idiom works. Despite my puzzlement however, I still got the message loud and clear: clear and hold the Point until relieved. Overall, the map is centered on a city of six super-blocks (Map) . One of the city’s roads extends westward through a band of woods, connecting to a long bridge over a river (This road will henceforth be referred to as “Bridge Road”). To the southwest, Pont d’Epee (Sword Point) is a spit of land that commands a dangerous position and overlooks the entire length of the bridge. Since the British mission is to hold the bridge and get reinforcing armor across into city, this battle will be won and lost in the city, on the Point, and the woods in between. The farmland to the east of city and the rural land west of the river is inconsequential. A typical city super-block is a mini-fortress with several large buildings enclosing an interior courtyard. There are two exceptions. The northwest block is a triangle of woods with large buildings forming a right angle on the city side. The southwest block is Church Square, an open plaza with a church at its center. Two parallel rows of large buildings anchor the west side of Church Square and lead to the Point. Southwest of Church Square is Sword Point which juts into the river. Two dirt roads service the Point; one down its spine connects a scattering of buildings and the other snakes through its heavily wooded south shoulder. I strongly agreed with the briefing’s warning. If Gerry established AT guns or armor on Sword Point, he would have an unobstructed field of fire over the entire length of the bridge. No amount of smoke or cover fire would offset that advantage. Therefore, my plan was to concentrate most forces on capturing and holding Sword Point, fully abandoning the city and western bridge approach if necessary. I started with 3 platoons of paras, and 1 of glider troops. Infantry was augmented by 2 AT guns (locked setup), 4 two-inch mortars, 3 Vickers MGs, and—God love’em—7 PIATs. I expected to first encounter a company of Volkssturm, light armor and serious AT elements with reinforcements consisting of an armored infantry company and scary panzers. To achieve my plan (see map), C and B platoons would use the cover of the large buildings on the west side of the Church Square to advance south and reach the base of Sword Point. Once there, they would criss-cross; C platoon would wheel west and clear the Point of AT elements, while B platoon would continue south into the woods and block the southern road to the Point. E Platoon would approach the Point along the river and link up with C Platoon at the large building at the tip of Pont d’Epee. With the Point cleared, C, B and E platoons would set up a perimeter along the west side of Church Square and the edge of the woods of the Point to hold until reinforcements arrived. To buy time, D platoon, an MG, PIAT, mortar and Company HQ, set up to execute a delaying action around the northwest corner of town; falling back as necessary to the AT guns in the woods west of town. With the bulk of the company on the move, most support elements (4 PIATs, 2 MGs, 2 mortars, and one of the AT guns) took positions to make Church Square a kill zone for enemy armor and infantry alike. -------------------------- Turns 1-5 The first minutes went according to plan, which was good news for everybody except the poor souls of D platoon. D platoon engaged elements of eventually 8 Gerry squads. The firefight was close fought and cost D platoon 23 of its 34 men. Gerry also enjoyed support from a light field gun, the 20 mm gun of an SPW 250/9, and 2 Lynxes, (Turn 5 screenshot) . The one bright spot was that D platoon’s PIAT knocked out the SPW 250/9 and forced the Lynxes to back off before being killed himself. Enemy infantry took some casualties. Meanwhile, the building-to-building leapfrog approach on the Point by B and C platoons, and the river approach of E platoon, successfully identified all enemy positions on the Point: a full Volkssturm platoon, 3 field pieces, MG, barbed wire and mine fields. B and C platoons overwhelmed and eliminated one German squad, as well as what turned out to be the enemy platoon HQ. This proved very fortunate because it dramatically reduced the fighting ability of the remains of the enemy platoon. Also on this flank, Jerry lost a second 20mm halftrack to another PIAT. Additionally, 3 Pumas appeared in city at unthreatening positions. Effective Platoon Strengths Reduced to: B—74% C—97% D—32% E—60% Adjustments to Platoon Orders: B: with C platoon, eliminate enemy infantry and 1 field gun at base of Point. C: with B platoon, eliminate enemy infantry and 1 field gun at base of Point. D: Withdraw to new defensive positions within woods in northwest block. E: Press assault; eliminate two field guns and enemy infantry at tip of Point. -------------------------- Turns 6-10 D platoon managed to withdraw 10 men to a new position inside the woods of the northwest city block. Company HQ withdrew with them but fell farther back to a second floor position overlooking Bridge Road. D Platoon left its dead behind: a PIAT, Vickers and one full squad. At the end of the 10th minute, the last remnants were in hand-to-hand fighting with an estimated 4 or 5 Volkssturm squads of various strengths. A 37mm flak gun, which had been shooting through the length of city into D platoon’s original position, was spotted on the south side of Church Square. B, C, and E platoons cleared all significant enemy opposition from the Point. B platoon captured the surviving crew of a 20mm flak gun, while Sergeant Ormsby’s squad of E platoon single-handedly destroyed two 88mm guns, (Turn 9 screenshot) . Other area enemy losses included two light MGs and the remainder of the Volkssturm platoon. Two Pumas skirted Church Square and traveled through the scattered trees south of town to reinforce the enemy on the Point, but the effort was too late. The earlier success of PIATs forced caution on the enemy. He kept his 2 Lynxes north of town well distant of D platoon’s firefight in the woods. A third Lynx, also holding back, took position at the center of town along Bridge Road. A fourth Lynx was not so lucky. It took a cautious position in the southeast corner of Church Square, but remained stationary long enough for a PIAT to fire two shots at 125 meters and brew up the Lynx. The 6-pounder AT gun guarding Bridge Road was lost to a Lynx, but not before it killed a Puma at the center of town. Effective Platoon Strengths Reduced to: B—47% (one squad panicked) C—94% D— 9% E—56% Adjustments to Platoon Orders: B: form eastern half of defensive arc in woods south of Bridge Road. C: form western half of defensive arc in woods south of Bridge Road. D: Fight to last man in woods in northwest block. E: 2 squads+(HQ and PIAT) hunt into woods south of Point. Remnants plus Vickers set up defense in large house on Pont d’Epee. -------------------------- Turns 11-15 The next five minutes consisted mostly of movement with few casualties on either side. It also ended with the arrival of the much-anticipated armored reinforcements: 12 Sherman Vs and 4 Fireflies. While the assault on the Point had been very successful, the swiftness of D platoon’s collapse in the northwest corner of town was disappointing. The enemy lost one of three Volkssturm platoons on the Point, but still had at least two platoons at estimated 75% strength. These were mopping up D platoon and nearly out of town and into the woods around the east end of the bridge. Intelligence confirmed a typical Volkssturm company includes a complement of up to 12 panzerschrecks. A large number of these were probably advancing with the enemy infantry. If they were allowed to take position near the east end of the bridge they could give the reinforcing armor a rude welcome. Accordingly, B and C platoons shifted to defensive positions south of Bridge Road. The line was an arc from the large building at the foot of the bridge, to just off the northwest corner of Church Square. The entire line was within the woods and included the last remaining AT gun. D platoon was entirely overwhelmed with 100% casualties. Company HQ’s final position was also overrun as enemy infantry supported by 3 Lynxes pushed into the woods north of Bridge Road. The surviving crew of a knocked out 2” mortar was able to spot the advancing force and confirmed it included a significant number of panzerschrecks. E platoon hunted cautiously into the south woods on the Point, but did not encounter resistance. The Shermans and Fireflies arrived in a jammed pack. Before they could be brought across the river to firm up the bridgehead, they had to be organized. They were divided into 3 platoons. The tank platoons consisted of 4 Sherman Vs and 1 Firefly each. The reserve tank platoon included an extra Firefly. The lead tank platoon, under the command of Sgt. Waters, fanned out to take positions covering the east bank of the river. The other tank platoons would wait until Waters’s tanks reached their positions, then leapfrog ahead over the bridge. As the first Sherman reached its overwatch position it fired up a Lynx that had crossed the bridge to reconnoiter the west side of the river, (Turn 15 screenshot) . Effective Platoon Strengths Reduced to: B—68% C—94% D— 0% E—56% Adjustments to Platoon Orders: B: Hold woods. Clear area in preparation for armor reinforcements. C: Clear woods north of Bridge Road of enemy AT elements. D: * eliminated * E: Continue to hunt forward in woods south of the Point. -------------------------- Turns 16-20 B platoon’s task to clear the west side of town was made easier, but not painless, by the enemy’s aggressiveness. Enemy infantry advanced from the city buildings into the woods, perhaps spurred by the pounding their buildings were taking from Shermans on the other side of the river. During the ensuing close quarters combat in the woods, B platoon was able to reduce this enemy platoon significantly at the cost of 14 casualties. C platoon rushed over Bridge Road into the woods on the north side. There they found the expected nest of panzerschrecks: 4 schrecks protected by half a platoon of infantry. C platoon took its first significant losses, but was able to eliminate all effective opposition north of Bridge Road. C platoon’s action came none too late as Sgt. Heverly’s tank platoon was just then making it across the bridge onto the east side of the river. The whole of Heverly’s platoon crossed safely behind a smoke screen set up by Sgt Waters’s overwatch tank platoon. This smoke was centered on the first city intersection east of the bridge along Bridge Road. As Heverly’s tanks reached the first city intersection they split; half went north to chase down the remaining Lynxes while the other half turned south to shore up defenses at the northwest corner of Church Square. The only loss was the lead Sherman. It used reverse to advance south so as to shield itself from a rear-shot from the Lynxes to the north. Unseen infantry hiding in building rubble knocked out this Sherman with a panzerfaust as the tank reversed directly at them. All of Heverly’s other tanks were able to turn out of the first city intersection and into the cover of buildings just as the enemy’s first significant armor appeared. One Panther of unrecognized type appeared on Bridge Road at the far opposite east side of town. To the south, another Panther approached the northeast corner of Church Square. The first Panther was rendered ineffective by Waters’s heavy smoke. When the smoke did clear it engaged in a 500m+ duel with 5 tanks of Waters’s and Sgt. Eddings’s platoons. The Panther succumbed to a lethal shot from a Firefly, (Turn 20 screenshot) . This Firefly had previously knocked out a 20mm flak gun that had been manhandled into the woods across from the northwest city block. Other enemy losses included a Lynx to Waters’s Shermans, a Puma in Church Square to the 6-pounder AT gun, and in the scattered trees to the south a Puma was knocked out by the PIAT accompanying E platoons hunt into the woods. Sound contacts indicated additional tank and light armor movements by the enemy, particularly towards the woods south of the Point and into Church Square. Effective Platoon Strengths Reduced to: B—38% (one squad panicked) C—65% D— 0% E—56% Adjustments to Platoon Orders: B: Advance eastward into first city block. C: Advance into woods of northwest city block. D: * eliminated * E: Withdraw from woods into scattered buildings of the Point. Eddings: Cross bridge; pursue Lynxes north of town. Heverly: Advance to defensive positions on Point in support of E platoon Waters: Continue covering smoke and fire along Bridge Road -------------------------- Turns 21-25 The immediate threat from Volkssturm and panzerschrecks had been eliminated by this time. Yet remaining paras were not strong enough to press forward seriously for fear of an imminent enemy infantry counter-attack. C platoon advanced through the woods in the northwest city block and reached the original positions of ill-fated D platoon. They encountered no significant resistance. On the left flank of this advance, Eddings’s tank platoon--having successfully crossed the bridge behind Waters’s continued smoke screen--hunted down the last surviving Lynx, brewed it, and took positions to await an enemy armored counterattack. One Sherman survived a front turret penetration from an unseen high-velocity gun, most likely a Panther across town in Church Square. B platoon finished clearing the woods south of Bridge Road and advanced into the city-block north of Church Square. They spotted enemy movement several buildings ahead indicating the arrival of at least a platoon of motorized infantry. The two forces did not exchange fire. In the 22nd minute friendly infantry reinforcements arrived at the far western edge of the battlefield. It consisted of a mounted rifle company (F platoon in halftracks, and G and H platoons in trucks). Also included were 4 Vickers MGs, 3 mortars (2”), an artillery FO spotting for 4.2” tubes, assorted PIATs, and several Bren carriers. Like the tank platoons before them, the rifle reinforcements had to be unjammed and assigned crossing times. G, H, and F platoons crossed in that order at 90 second intervals. G platoon, immediately upon crossing, disembarked south of Bridge Road with orders to continue south through the woods to the Point. H platoon took Bridge Road all the way into town and dismounted just northwest of Church Square where they could backup B platoon. F platoon held their position west of the river. Two Panthers, from positions east of Church Square established cover fire on the two western exits out of the square. A third Panther moved in and out of range at the far eastern end of Bridge Road. Additional tank sounds were id’ed, but could not be spotted. Heverly confirmed that Church Square was a no-man’s-land by killing an SPW 251/1 that tried to race to cover behind the church. The 2 Panthers guarding the square from the other side made any Sherman advance to the Point equally risky. To offset this, Heverly’s tank platoon covered both western exits of Church Square with smoke, (Turn 24 screenshot) , then charged behind that screen (minus Heverly who stayed behind to support B platoon) to safe positions on the Point. There, they joined E platoon among the scattered buildings of the Point. Previously, before E platoon began their withdrawal, they spotted evidence of a motorized infantry platoon advancing into the area. Effective Platoon Strengths Reduced to: B—50% C—65% D— 0% E—56% F—100% G—100% H—100% Adjustments to Platoon Orders: B: Delaying action against enemy motorized infantry platoon. C: Establish east-facing defense in northwest city-block; wait for F platoon. D: * eliminated * E: Establish south-facing defense on the Point; wait for G platoon. Eddings: Support left flank of B and H platoons; engage enemy armor. Heverly: Support E and G platoon on the Point; guard Church Square. Waters: Continue smoke screen; cross bridge. F: Cross bridge; join C platoon in northwest city-block G: Advance southward and join E platoon on Pont d’Epee H: Join B platoon in city-block north of Church Square -------------------------- Turns 26-30 This proved to be the pivotal time of the battle. What had been a battlefield of recent quiet as both sides shifted forces and brought up reinforcements, exploded with serious armor losses on both sides and deadly door-to-door fighting. Enemy armor shifted from Church Square to the north side of town in the direction of C platoon and Eddings’s tanks. Waters’s Firefly killed the Panther at the east end of Bridge Road (his second Panther of the day), but 2 other Panthers were literally knocking on C platoon’s front door. The Panthers were soon joined by a platoon of panzergrenadiers. While bad for C platoon, the enemy’s shift was good news for Heverly’s Firefly. He nosed into now unguarded Church Square and surprised a convoy of 5 enemy halftracks. He killed 4 in quick order and scattered their passengers: 2 MG teams. Heverly also had time to help B platoon. B platoon, north of Church Square, clearly identified its opposition as an SS panzergrenadier platoon. G platoon was promptly rerouted to the buildings west of Church Square where it could lend a hand to B platoon’s right flank. H platoon firmed up B platoon’s left flank just as its point squad was overwhelmed by the panzergrenadier platoon. The enemy pressed its assault without realizing he was now outnumbered almost 3 to 1. After only 3 minutes, the SS platoon was reduced to only a few of troops. The absence of G platoon from the Point was desperately missed. E platoon rushed into a debacle. Instead of bunkering in the scattered buildings, they hunted into the woods. Shortly, they were cut down to the last man by unseen enemy infantry, most likely the third platoon of the SS panzergrenadier company. The enemy also brought up 2 Panzer IV-Js from the southeast and a Panther through Church Square to pincer Heverly’s 3 Shermans and 1 Firefly on the Point. In the first exchange a Panzer IV-J was knocked out and both sides backed into cover. Then 2 Shermans charged the surviving Panzer IV-J while the other Sherman used the wooded road on the Point’s south shoulder to try to gain the enemy’s rear. All 3 Shermans were killed, partly due to a previously unseen Tiger (?). Another PIAT triumph was scored when the Panther in Church Square was put out of commission. This left the sole survivor of E platoon, a Vickers, and one Firefly as the only defenders of the Point. To help the shorthanded defenders on the Point, the 4.2” FO called in artillery on the woods south of Pont d’Epee suspected to be full of panzergrenadiers. On the city’s north side, with 2 Panthers banging on their door and a platoon of panzergrenadiers across the street to the east, C platoon withdrew south across Bridge Road. While the Panthers focused their fire on the fleeing paras, F rifle platoon snuck into C platoon’s recently vacated position. Eddings’s tank platoon here consisted of 5 Shermans and his Firefly. An approaching Panzer IV-J brewed up the east-most Sherman. But the 2 Panthers, in their hunt for C platoon had exposed their full sides to Eddings’s tanks with nothing but smoke between them. Eddings and 2 Shermans closed to less than 100 meters on the Panthers through smoke, but the Panthers realized the threat and turned to face. The 2 Shermans were knocked out as Brit shells pinged off the Panther fronts, but in Eddings’s last earthly act his final shot knocked out one of the lead Panther, (Turn 29 screenshot) . The 2 remaining Shermans quickly succumbed to a vise formed by the surviving Panther and 2 Panzer IV-Js that turned the corner into view to the east. With all forces across to the east side of the river, Waters’s tank platoon crossed as well. One Sherman was left behind on the west bank to take position across from the Point to ambush enemy halftracks using the road along the river. Effective Platoon Strengths Reduced to: B—29% C—35% D— 0% E— 4% F—88% G—97% H—97% Adjustments to Platoon Orders: B: Occupy church C: Suppressive fire support from F platoon’s right flank D: * eliminated * E: Defend Pont d’Epee Eddings: * eliminated * Heverly: Hunt Church Square and guard the Point Waters: Advance east along Bridge Road to support C and F platoon F: Engage against enemy platoon in northwest city-block G: Double time south to the Point H: Mop up remnants of enemy platoon north of Church Square -------------------------- Turns 31-35 Advantage in the battle was tipping back and forth. The morale-boost of killing 3 Panthers, 1 Panzer IV-J, and 5 SPW 251/1 halftracks was sobered by the loss of 8 Shermans and a Firefly. The enemy still had on the field 1 Panther and 2 Panzer IV-Js north of town and a pair of tanks east of the Point, one of which was thought to be a Tiger. Opposing them were 3 Shermans and 3 Fireflies. The battle would come down to infantry. H platoon had already done its part north of Church Square. With one last bit of help from G platoon, the final panzergrenadier position here was surrounded and assaulted. All opposition was neutralized and the enemy’s platoon HQ was captured intact. While H platoon wheeled about and double-timed over to the Point, G platoon continued to mop up north of Church Square. Success was nearly equaled in the northwest city-block. F platoon--with the support of Waters’s Firefly and one of his Shermans, C platoon, and company HQ--overwhelmed the enemy. Only a half-dozen were able to retreat to the east. F platoon withdrew west in good order to beef up bridge defenses. Enemy armor north of town limited itself to targeting buildings trying to suppress F platoon, but the buildings targeted were vacant. Back in Church Square, B platoon successfully occupied the church. They were supported by an M5A1 halftrack. Heverly’s much reduced tank platoon borrowed a Sherman, and a PIAT in the southwest corner of Church Square to engage enemy armor east of the Point. The misidentified Tiger turned out to be a second Panzer IV-J. Both were quickly eliminated without loss, (Turn 31 screenshot) . With no other armor opposition Heverly’s Firefly and the Sherman entered Church Square to support B platoon. They continued their fine firing effect killing 2 halftracks, a 37mm flak gun, and 2 SPW 251/2 mortar carriers. With Church Square secure, Heverly turned his Firefly and accompanying Sherman to the north to start the hunt for the enemy armor north of town. Heverly was successful at his own expense and traded death blows with a Panzer IV-J. At Pont d’Epee, the requested artillery barrage arrived and churned up the woods to the south. Although enemy losses were high, surviving panzergrenadiers emerged from the woods and ejected the remnants of E platoon from the large building at the tip of Pont d’Epee. An enemy halftrack traveling in support along the river road was exploded by the Sherman left on the west bank of the river. With the river road now blocked by the flaming hulk, the Sherman prepared to cross into town. Effective Platoon Strengths Reduced to: B—21% C—35% D-- 0% E-- 0% F—74% G—91% H—94% Adjustments to Platoon Orders: B: Hold church C: Hold position near northwest city-block D: * eliminated * E: * eliminated * Eddings: *eliminated * Heverly: * eliminated * Waters: Take command all remnants (3 Fireflies, 2 Shermans). Engage Panzers. F: Defend north side of bridgehead. G: Hold in reserve and reinforce bridge or Point as needed. H: Recapture Pont d’Epee. -------------------------- Turns 36-40 Victory was finally in sight but whenever there’s a Panther on the field nothing can be taken for granted, and enemy infantry was in possession of the Point. H platoon reached assault positions on the Point with 3 Vickers, a 2” mortar and a Sherman in support. With overwhelming firepower, H platoon was able to retake the Point with only one casualty. To the north, the Panther and Panzer IV-J hunted for a route between trees to make a final attack on the bridgehead. This gave Waters time to position his remaining armor in positions northwest of Church Square, just east of the bridge, and on the north side of town. Water’s Firefly was shot out from under him, but as he bailed out he witnessed the explosion that marked the death of the last Panzer IV-J, (Turn 38 screenshot) . The Sherman north of town, because the Panther was hunting away from him, turned east on a hunt of his own. He turned the corner on the east edge of town and surprised a park of 4 halftracks. All were knocked out in short order. The Panther survived to knock out one more Sherman, but without infantry support of any kind, and wary of PIATs that had been deadly all day, he could do no more. The Volkssturm company had long ago been destroyed and the only survivors of the panzergrenadier company were half a dozen troopers hiding out on the east side of town. Dozens of scattered crews were not capable of fighting. F platoon held the north side of the bridgehead. G platoon held the quiet east side of the bridgehead with the help of one 6-pounder AT gun. H platoon was having tea on the Point. Only two Shermans were left operational, but His Majesty’s troops won the day. Final Platoon Strengths: B—21% C—35% D-- 0% E-- 0% F—74% G—91% H—91% Allied Minor Victory, 62-38 Axis 319 casualties (70 KIA), 6 captured, 5 guns KO’d, 35 vehicles KO’d 79 men OK Allied 227 casualties (59 KIA), 1 mortar KO’d, 1 gun KO’d, 18 vehicles KO’d 225 men OK Medals: Sgt Charles Ormsby, E platoon: 14 infantry, two 88mm guns destroyed. Sgt John Heverly, Firefly 7: 5 infantry, one 37mm flak gun, 4 SPW 251/1 halftracks, 2 SPW 251/2 halftracks, and 1 Panzer IV-J Sgt Nicholas Waters, Firefly 12: 10 infantry, one 20mm flak gun, 2 Panther A’s, 1 SPW 251/1 halftrack.

I liked the grass, loved the grass, but didn't like the way I couldn't tell tree cover from open ground. The grass also slowed down my system too much. So I played around with the MOD and eliminated its affect on tress, making it a grass-only MOD. Fits my preferred taste very nicely now. See profile and email me if you want it for your CMBO. Of course the mod is still credited to Strontium Dog. [ December 02, 2002, 06:27 PM: Message edited by: Alsatian ]

Click here for an excel chart of the scenarios that ship with the CMBO CD. If it doesn't work, that's because I'm new at designing websites. If there's a problem, let me know, I'll remove this link, and I'll go back to html kindergarten.

Since domestic policy requires diplomacy on your part, go ahead and make the concession of buying CMBO only. You won't miss CMBB and you can always buy it later. Remember though, your wife has to know that you could have bought two games. That's the only way she'll understand what a sacrafice you're making;)

Fire-at-Will, First off, great name. About 40 scenarios come with the CMBO cd. Half are historical. The earliest one simulates British paras capturing Pegasus Bridge 5/6 June '44. The scenario editor in the game allows people to design their own scenarios, so the gaming community has created hundreds more scenarios that you can download off the 'net. To get a flavor of all the scenarios, go to Scenario Depot. At that website you can browse these many scenarios. Personally for you, even though all you need to do is take the Chunnel to Normandy (instead of the airfare someone like me would need), CMBO is still cheaper than the trip. If you were only a historian, with no interest in the Eastern Front, maybe than you could get away with only buying CMBO. But since you list your gaming résumé, you'll get hooked on the game play of CMBO and CMBB is inevitable. You might as well save time and money and buy the bundle pack. Make note of my email (see profile) and look me up when you want to play some PBEM.

Order to target an ambush marker set far away from the Hetzer. That should have them hold their fire, but the downside is that they may not react to any other targets that might present themselves.

Welcome Easytarget. I've had CMBO less than a year, and love it so much I'm one of the freaks who hasn't bothered with CMBB yet. Someday, but why rush through all the CMBO fun, right? That would be like swallowing a steak whole just to get to the cheesecake. Play the AI a couple times to get used to commands and tactics. Don't expect much of the AI when it's on the attack, but it'll do a very decent job on the defense. Then jump into PBEMs. Lots of fun. Put me on your CMBO playlist, and I'll walk you through a PBEM and answer all your questions as we go. Unless you start beating me, then I would have to crush you.

Speaking as a slow poke from the first round, your sternness is appreciated CplCarrot.

Right, basically the star means your guys can't see the unit clearly, but stars pop up for a varitey of reasons. It's possible the unit, if in good cover, has gone into hide mode and isn't far from the star. (The AI is more likely to do this than a human opponent). More likely, especially if you've fired on the unit, the unit has withdrawn back deeper into cover and is seeking a better approach route outside of your LOSs (Lines of sight). If your opponent is good, you won't see the unit again until he's halfway closer to your position. Another possibility is that your unit(s) that had LOS either moved to another position outside of LOS--or even worse--panicked or have been killed. Any of those three means you no longer have LOS and that's why the Americans have turned into a star. Try flushing out the unit by putting some area fire on the star. If the unit is still near the star, that might get him moving and better spotted. [ November 20, 2002, 08:43 AM: Message edited by: Alsatian ]

Rob, I'm no expert by any means, but I've been wrestling with applying CMMOS 4.0 to CMBO. I had one email exchange with Gordon which was helpful. That aside, I think you should leave your CMBO, pre-4.0 bmp's where they are. CMMOS 4.0 will still be able to find and use your mods. The "CM Mod Option Selector" window you're probably familiar with--with all the tabs at the top and thumbnails in the window--is still there in 4.0. The new 4.0 feature you won't be able to use for CMBO (MOST times) is the new "Configuration" window. That's the one that allows you to "add" new mods without unzipping them, and has the super big preview of the mod. I said MOST times, becuase sometimes I'm able to download (save, not unzip) a mod's zip file, use the 4.0 "Configure" window and it works the way it should. That's because the zip package includes necessary .txt files telling 4.0 what to do. One CMBO mod that worked for me in 4.0 was... GEM_MarderIII_&_Wespe_Tricolor_CMMOS_hr.zip. Problem is, of the mods available at combatmission.com, there is no way to tell which will work for 4.0 and which have to be downloaded the old-fashioned way of unzip and paste. If you really want to gain the advantages of 4.0 for your old CMBO mods, you have to do it manually. Instructions on how to do this are in the User_Readme.rtf file that came with CMMOS 4.0, but I haven't been succesful yet. Color me stumped for now. Another reason to buy CMBB I guess.

I got the hang of the last CMMOS last weekend just in time for CMMOS 4.0. OK, so I started over. DL 4.0, made sure I had all the rulesets, and DLed some mods. I follow the steps and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I'm only successful with German vehicle mods, but not all German vehicles. When it works, I hit configure my cursor whirs, and the new mod pops up very nicely in its preview. (Then I'm able to pick the mod, launch CMBO and there it is in the game). When it doesn't work, I hit configure and all I get is "dink." No preview and still slashed out on the selector window. Why do some work, and others don't?

one *bump* for good measure

I'm close to my first CM-birthday and witnessed something for the first time in a PBEM off of Scenario Depot. My question is whether my experience is highly unusual (I get to whine), or to be expected on rare occassion (I should shut-up and take it like a man). Situation: As defending Americans in a 35 turn scenario set in the Bulge, my briefing listed several sets of reinforcements, in particluar... 1x Infantry Coy (--) XXth Infantry Division --Notes-- The arrival of reinforcements are uncertain. I interpreted that as a company of infantry riding to the rescue around turn 30 or so. In actuality nothing or the sort arrived...bupkus. Now, of course it's historical for the Bulge that promised reinforcements didn't arrive, but this was my first case where units mentioned in a briefing never showed up. Do many scenarios include no-show reinforcements? (dons psycho-therapy hat) How did that make you feel? Additionally, with the scenario over, I opened it up in the designer and saw my reinforcements were actually a platoon and not a company. Is that a sloppy designer (typo in briefing) or sadistic designer (twirling mustache in fingers laughing demonically). Last fact of consequence: the platoon was designed to arrive on the 25th turn (10% probability per turn). At the very least, I just beat real long odds. Opinions would be appreciated.

Ditto on trying the CMBO demo too. The CMBO demo scenarios will exhibit the complexity you're wondering about, and will show the overall capabilities of the game engine. The CMBB demo merely highlights improvements. Plus, by downloading the CMBO demo, that's TWO more free scenarios for you. [ November 11, 2002, 10:12 AM: Message edited by: Alsatian ]

Any update on this round's progress? Any wild stabs at when the next round might get started? Or in other words... *BUMP*

John 3:16 Bababooey

Alan and I just finished are scenarios. Axis Minor Victory in Troubling Times, and Allied Minor Victory in Sword Point. I really enjoyed the premise, map, and forces in Sword Point. I thought Troubling Times was too straight forward; at least in that it didn't offer the German player much by way of strategic choices. Looking forward to hearing some AARs.

I challenge you to explain to me what a challenge thread is.

Any cooks, clerks and crews rushing my flag should be ready to be thumped on the head by an empty 2" mortar or two. :mad: Grrrrrr

Alan, I hunt you down on the boards to spy on your correspondance (loose lips sink ships), and all I find is you being nice to a someone newbier than us. C'mon, give me something to work with.

Alan and I are on turn 28 in both scenarios. I'm guessing we're on pace to finish within the week. Both Sword Point and Troubling Times are too close to call.

Sometimes my American AT elements (both guns and AFVs) will QUACK (!) when they knock out a German tank. I figure it's the "Got'em" cry all sped up and out of whack.

To clarify my previous post, the heavy (small) building was 180 degrees behind my Panther. The building was even occupied by a friendly infantry squad, so there was no enemy zook inside. It was as if the program equated the recoil of the Panther to the kick back from a bazooka for building afire purposes.