Brent Pollock

..but a dug in Wespe doesn't seem to lose it? I'm guilty of not checking the manual on this one, but I am flummoxed as to why: 1. a dug in StuG IIIG would lose its cover arc/armor from one orders phase to the next... 2. but a dug in Wespe, in the same PBEM match, wouldn't lose its Cover Arc/Armor setting? No enemy units were spotted, nor were the StuGs brought under fire....they just seem to accept the order in the Orders Phase of the PBEM, then had lost it when the movie rolled around. It was also gone at the start of the next Orders Phase. The Wespes did not exhibit this behaviour. Maybe once I get home and remember to read the section in the manual...or get the PDF loaded on my drive here at work ...all will become clear. In the meantime, it seems to have all the body parts of a bug.

As per this morning's e-mail, it should be: Brent Pollock.....vs MrSpkr........Turn 2

...which is why Bieville works.

Here's my round 1 AAR [without screenshots]: LUGA BREAKTHROUGH TOURNY ROUND 1 German: Me Russian: "Neutral Party" Joe O'Donoghue SET UP: Kept more or less to the default set up Biggest fear - ATGs! My "heavies" are the Pz 38(t)s, which can still be sliced and diced by 45 mm AP. With so little time, I won't be able to do much recon, so I think I shall opt for "recon by burning PSW" and proceed as if there are no significant AT assets until proven otherwise. The Flakwagon will stay out of sight as long as possible just in case some flyboys show up. Rest of the right hand group on the road was going to sweep the road and decide on splitting up once the crossroad was secured. They also start by area firing into the crossroads and the shack beyond; low ammo be damned! Left hand group will drop its infantry in the wooded horseshoe, then send the AFVs to cut the rear of the church. My secondary worry was that there would be an observer with LOS to the yellow group, so they were given Fast orders to try and clear the impact zone ASAP. They were also all given Area Fire orders to try and knock out every window in the church, in case there was an overwatch unit therein; I didn't think it would do much, but hoped that the Russians would all be Green or Conscript, hence rather fragile, even in a church. The FO doesn't have LOS to anyplace I consider useful, so I send him wandering up the ridge to try and gain LOS to the church and the woods to the west of it. Another possible target zone is the bridge. The firing plan is either HE vs trees or smoke vs buildings. With only 60 rounds, he won't be good for much more than one turn of firing. How it unfolded: A tad of mortar fire at the outset irritates a few riders and infantry, but there are no serious casualties. AT Team defending the crossroads gets overwhelmed by the green group. The yellow group's infantry gets most severely mauled after it encounters a stubborn infantry platoon in the woods-road between the horseshoe and the church. This obstacle is eventually overcome only by AFV & on board mortar support. The payoff at the end, once the AFVs have cut off the rear area (for the loss of a lone Pz II to a 45 mm ATG), is a couple of near-full squads throwing up their hands and being marched back to the crossroads. Part of the reason I take so many casualties is that my opponent does a masterful job of masking the true strength in that area; every time I think I've cleared the patch and move in, another squad seems to pop up and smash the probe. Green group is only really limited by how quickly the troops can recover from the "advance" sprints". They take very few casualties and eventually end up church & east edge of the village. Their armour takes two casualties probing the bridge; when the T-26s appear, they zap the lead PSW. Eventually, all three are KOd around the bridge by co-ordinated fire coming from all the Pz 38 (t)s from both groups, including the prober. I then gamble green group's probing Pz 38(t) by rushing it to the bridge, whereon it is KOd by the other 45 ATG that reveals itself, but only as a "Sound Contact". The lone crewman that bails out eventually holds the bridge for three or four minutes while under fire; this results in the interdiction of two or three Russian 50 & 82 mm mortar crews that try to withdraw through the bridge. Posthumous Eisenkreuz. My nose bloodied, I resolve do stop pressing the bridge directly, but do end up sending yellow group as close to it as I can on the south bank. This works well, with no incoming AT fire bothering the panzers nor the SPWs, which unload a few squads; the flag ends neutral rather than Russian [HURRAH!]. Notice through all of this that I do not mention any supporting missions from the FO. That is quite simply because he eventually ran into a Russian patrol moving on the ridge and was swatted in an instant…truthfully, I was more concerned about losing the points than I am about losing the 60 rounds of battalion mortar OBA. The "probe" turns out to be two or three platoons, which make a late surge towards my beleaguered troops near the horseshoe, but they get beaten back by the timely arrival of some AFV MG fire. Most of the credit for the victory lies with the two panzer platoons that formed the left hook from yellow group. These guys: - helped take care of the T-26s on the bridge; - helped overcome the Russian infantry flanking the church; - cut down all fleeing Russians; - staved off the late inning rush; - neutralised the bridge flag. Grand fun and a nice tight little scenario. --------- Here is the note I sent my opponent: Wow – I had no idea you had so much lurking over near the bridge. Why didn’t you try moving them towards the bridge? Did you consider pushing the other 45 mm ATG into a better firing position, or were you betting that I would eventually move armour there? If you’d left the bridge tank alone, I might’ve been sucked over there...but maybe not, as I might have thought that was all I needed to hold the bridge. Once you dinged it, and all I got was a lousy Sound Contact, I wasn’t going over there unless infantry had swept the woods...not much hope of that given the timeframe. I think your sharpshooters dinged 3 or 4 vehicle crewmen. I do not know if I would’ve done better if I hadn’t had my FO walk into a assassination. All I was really counting on him for was a smoke screen for an assault on the church...which ended up being the easiest bit of the whole thing. Was there actually anyone in there on turns 1 & 2 when I tried to knock out every stained glass window in the joint? If you want to check out my movie files, the German password was: Psion I’ll send you an AAR if I generate one. Have fun in round two. Brent

If I played it before, or popped it open in the editor, I let my opponent know. Not that anyone seems to mind if I've looked at it the editor: I've played my own designs against some folks.

Double bass in theCalgary Civic Symphony

Calgary, Alberta = Mountain Time No real rush; between sports for the kids and orchestra rehearsal for me this week, there're plenty other things chewing up evening time. Schedule will open up after next Monday and then we'll be able to finish right quick. My turn rate is usually one each after breakfast & supper. Half of the weekends are at the same rate, but the other half much more frequent, especially at night. ALL - I will try to remember to post the AAR I sent to Holien, along with the pictures.

Yah - the one time I tried an imported battle, that confused me to, as I expected no change in ammo level for the imported guys.

Yes - don't make me call a "point of order", MrSpkr

That's the CMMODS site, not just any ol' picture hosting site, hence the password protection.

...which just goes to show how long it has been since I've bothered with CMBO.

Download & peruse the Stalingrad Pack from B&T here.

If you use Shallow Fords, the vehicles will be able to enter them.

Luke...come over to the red & dipped in hot butter side...

...you might also want to try this site: The Proving Grounds ...which has a good Design Tips section: here.

Are you sure you didn't mix up the markers for the two sides? Other than that, the only thing that comes to mind for forcing a reinforcement to shift away from its flag is: 1. crowding due to too many units; 2. not enough legal terrain ...but that doesn't seem to be your problem. [i don't have CMBO loaded anymore, otherwise I would have you send me the file to check in the editor.]

Finally got around to posting the two "vs AI" versions of "WBRP - Company Town". All three versions are now available at the Scenario Depot. Here's the overall briefing from the two-player version: TITLE: WBRP - Company Town TYPE: Meeting Engagement, SS & Guards Cavalry DATE: October 6, 1944 LOCATION: Wegielwies, Poland REGION: Central TIME: Dawn WEATHER: Fog & Rain GROUND: Wet TEMP.: Cool WIND: Windy, North TURNS: 30+ HISTORICAL: No AUTHOR: Brent Pollock (e-mail: b3b@telusplanet.net) MAP CREDIT: adapted from Andy "manchildstein" Thomas' "mc-meeting-bridges01.cme" BEST PLAYED AS: Two Player only [both "vs AI" versions are available as distinct files; the 2-Player version is the first one available via the Scenario Depot, so the AI versions might not yet be shifted from the Proving Grounds site.] BACKGROUND: The autumn of 1944 sees the beginning of the final fall of the Third Reich, as Soviet units resume their westward course away from Russia. In south central Poland, a nascent coal mining town lies isolated in virtual wilderness. It also sits astride the boundary between "3.SS-Panzer-Division Totenkopf" and the neighbouring Luftwaffe ground division...and has slipped through their administrative cracks. Perhaps too late, it is realised that the town is unoccupied by defending German units...and radio intercepts indicate that the Russians are coming. The closest uncommitted unit, a battalion from "SS-Kav.Rgt.17" is diverted from entraining to join its parent unit, "8.SS-Kav.Div. Florian Geyer", and sent post-haste towards Wegielwies to defend until "Totenkopf" can send its own elements. They will have to blunt the charge of the "121st Guards Cav. Regt.", point unit for the "43rd Guards Tank Div." This scenario depicts the initial head-on clash that develops between the two cavalry battalions and their respective ad hoc AFV companies as they struggle to disturb the peace in the backwoods mining town, Wegielwies. Map notes: 1. I am indebted to Andy "manchildstein" Thomas, for it was one of his maps (mc-meeting-bridges01.cme) from the CMMODS database that serves as the foundation for this map. It took me a while to get a sense for what this little town in the hinterlands was...then the idea of a small town based on a new mining operation seemed to fit the bill, and would quite nicely explain the rail yard. 2. A player aid note: if Landmarks are on, all DEEP FORDS will be obvious via their "(*)" notation. Playtesters: My constant PBEM companion, Steve Vance & POS from the Proving Grounds...and all the other Proving Grounds folks who downloaded it and gave tacit consent.

Marvelous.

...and this loses the "safety" aspect of scooting. Usually whenever I've tried H/R instead of S&S, I've ended up losing the vehicle because it hangs about too long.

Hmmm...I know at least one of my "WBRP - TAHGC TOBRUK #" CMAK battle series has no flags...and I might've thrown in a bonus balance to give one side the incentive to attack.

Posting this for POS (PoorOldSpike@aol.com)... ------- Hi, i just saw the post below by a dood called Harper in the cmbb forum, but i can't reply to him because his mail address isn't shown, and i can't post in the forum myself because of techy problems. Basically i just wanted to tell him there's a cmbb tutorial at the Proving Grounds which might help him, entitled "POS-Transport Tutorial", if you want to tell him.. http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Harper - What are the guidelines/tactics for dismounting mounted infantry? In other words, when I have infantry riding aboard halftracks, trucks, jeeps, what are the general guidelines about where and when they should be dismounted? ----------------------------------------

Yah - that's what I was getting at with "give the attacker a very deep set up zone". I just remembered that in my "WBRP - TAHGC TOBRUK #X" series of CMAK battles, some have the defender's FOs starting "PANICKED" (or maybe just "PINNED"...can't remember now) explicitly so they cannot drop turn one barrages. Hmmm...think I'll add that as a design tip at the Proving Grounds.

Have you searched the: CMBB CMAK or Tips and Tricks ...forums using "unmounted" or "unloading" or suchlike? I suspect there is already a wealth of info therein, although some of it might apply more to the nitty gritty of command delays for unloading.

My wife would like to point out that, in fact, you really need to get on your ass to finish the scenario.

I was musing on this on my way to work this morning...from a scenario design point of view, one way around this is to either: 1. give the attacker a very deep set up zone or; 2. have few or no attacking units start on map, with all starting to arrive several turns in. A lack of LOS or TRP would also prevent the attacker from smashing the set up zone. For QBs, all bets are off. Having that said, smashing a set up zone is precisely what every defender always hoped to do in real life. Best anecdote for this is the almost continuous mention of Western Allied units receiving a German defensive barrage after the attacking preparatory barrage had started. If a defender has a line of listening posts and some TRPs, they should be rewarded by being able to dump HE on the attacker.