JaegerMeister

Ah Von Nev, after reading your AAR i see you 'exploited' the setup zones at the beginning of each battle (glad your gamey pioneers got the chop!). But you have made the right point, the Op designers need to 'fix' the positions of certain units to maybe prevent this. Other than that it relies on the players self discipline to not use 'gamey' deployments. Incidentally, the Russian infantry never dropped back on the flanks for me, if anything they counterattacked me down them ! Anyone know when Op B1 is being released ?..Eichenbaum?

Well, the hard slog of a battle is all over, i am disapointed as i only achieved a 'minor defeat' !..That was a very tough and very enjoyable, sometimes frustrating battle. After looking over the map at the end i am wondering how i would have taken all the objectives, the map is swarming with Russians and equipment. As it is i ended up just about reaching the outskirts of the airfield but not in great numbers, and two-thirds of the bunker complex was taken out (only 3 remained). Casualty figures were:- cas=289 German 311 Russian KIA=119 141 guns= 1 5 Pillbox=-0 13 vehicle=18 5 It all went horrible wrong in the 4th battle for me, casualties were very light upto that point but time started to go against me and i had to take risks. Roll on the second Operation !...i need to impress Manstein or its mine clearing duties for me ! One thing in my defence, i played out the battles as realistically as possible, troops and AFVs stayed in the positions they ended the previous battle in (no magic hops to better terrain/different flanks) and i kept my vehicles & afvs mainly to the roads (as per the briefing stating the terrain was very rocky). [ July 09, 2003, 06:09 PM: Message edited by: JaegerMeister ]

Sturmoviks ?...i haven't seen any aircraft in the Op so far from both sides (all 4 battles), and was actually thinking that it was a bit incorrect for the scale of the battle..ie a major operation! Some Luftwaffe support would surely have been called upon considering the defences and numerical forces i'm up against? The AI is actually counter-attacking me all along the line now !...(limp-wristed Romanians!!) So are there varying random parameters that dictate how this Op plays out?..ie do the forces differ, aircraft availability, weather etc [ July 09, 2003, 05:00 AM: Message edited by: JaegerMeister ]

For MarkL...i'm using a P3 Athlon 1.4 and a geforce 4200, i dont have any probs with the camera moving/panning about but i did have to wait about 10 minutes for the computer to make his moves in the earlier battles (seems to make quicker decisions in battles 3&4 of Op. I was wondering also whether processor speed increased the AI thought process?..anyone else with different/better specs know the facts on this? As a footnote, i think the AI plays superbly in this Op, ambushing or counter-attacking when and where necessary and deploying smartly...its giving me a real tactical challenge all over the field.

nearly through battle 4, Eichenbaum, you are a sadist !...you must have spent ages siting the guns of those bunkers with interlocking firezones !..the toughest battles i've fought against the AI and still several of them are causing me grief and mounting casualties. Perhaps you should ask everyone to post their casualty tables at the end of the op for comparison to see who has done well and who hasn't ?

The first line of bunkers were taken out with plenty of smoke cover (from 105's) and some daring dashes by the pioneers into dead ground spots, a few men were hit by suddenly appearing mg bunkers, but enough got close to take them out and avenge their kameraden !...very gratifying. And, yes i will happily try out the upcoming scenarios, time permitting (as each turn takes an age!) I will email you later.

In reply to your post about receiving the access code...yes, i got it quite early (start of battle 3), so think i have done quite well and 95% of my force is still intact !, though in terms of terrain covered, SPOILER ALERT.............. the bulk of my force (afv) is still held up before waypoint 2 and bunker complex. but my infantry/FJ forces and some tanks have outflanked it completely and in battle 4 (all going well) i will move in for the kill on both the bunker complex and the airfield. Thoroughly enjoying the battle, i've never spent roughly 14 hours playing against the AI, ever, feeling frustrated/elated/jubilant as i have in this operation!....well done Eichenbaum, great work and i am really looking forwards to the follow ons ! edit to add: would love to write AAR for battle so far, but think it would spoil it for new players fresh to your post. PS: How gratifying is it, when you get some pioneers/infantry in close to take out those bunkers that have caused so much trouble?....very!! [ July 03, 2003, 04:58 PM: Message edited by: JaegerMeister ]

Jeez, i'm on turn 8 of the 3rd battle...that bunker complex is awesome !...i keep trying to push around the flanks only to run into more nasty surprises !!. From those photos you have eichenbaum seems the Germans clobbered the forts with heavy arty and air but all my heavy guns & arty are having no effect on them at all, even over open sights.Thought the 240mm shells might crack them open but not so far. They also seem to have laser spotting as they can see a 3 man pioneer team crawling through bushes at 500m ! I can see i have to somehow get my engineers right inside them to take them out. Smoke barrages on the way!..still love this map.

Okay about the bunker complex, just thought i would raise the question in case you had got 'bunker-happy' too early (the defence ring was 12k deep??!!)!...and dont worry.... SPOILER ALERT........................ my plucky fallschirmjager are already deployed in dead ground to their flank waiting to place some charges in battle 3, I just ran out of time getting them there in battle 2 !...problem is the tanks defending them !

Okay, second battle completed, its getting tougher all the time but i have mostly stayed intact. I lost 3 Stugs though trying to tackle/probe the defence and i am pretty much bogged down in front of waypoint 2, which considering my good gains in battle 1 means i haven't advanced much further!...A few Luftwaffe sorties would come in handy now to clear the way! SPOILER ALERT..................... Out of interest and historical realism, were there this many concrete fortifications this far out from Sevastopol ?...i thought the first few maps would be more traditional encounters with Russian forces and maybe timber mg bunkers/barbed wire etc. That concrete bunker complex on the hill is pretty heavy stuff for the countryside.??

First battle complete !...i think i was a little aggressive with my recon! I lost 21 men KIA (mostly Romanians) and one Romanian carrier, but the booty included 3 pillboxes,a couple of guns, 1 tank and several enemy infantry units wiped out. My recon elements also pushed beyond waypoint 1 and outflanked the village position, so reasonably happy with the progress so far! Battle 2 is well under way (Turn 6) !...couple of minor anomalies that didn't seem right, not sure if they are yours or just CMBB programming:- 1) i had two damaged armoured cars, 1 immobile and 1 with a damaged gun, yet in the setup for battle 2 they are both abandoned despite being within my lines. 2) the setup phase seemed to let me deploy well beyond the distances my forces had reached in battle 1, if i had been a 'gamey' sort, i could have advanced some units about 1/2 kilometer forwards. 3)the enemy seem to have abandoned their forward positions from battle 1...i spent 3-4 turns advancing into empty areas of map where i thought the enemy still was, especially as during setup it wouldn't let me place units in those certain spots, i therefore deployed alot of units pointlessly expecting combat to continue where it left off. Oh well, onwards and eastwards !..heading for the ruins as my next objective!!

I think you mis-read me earlier, i certainly didn't want to know where the mines or enemy are!..most of the tension comes from surprise!! Again: SPOILER ALERT its just that the briefing mentioned using the pioneers to clear the road, i noticed no pioneers anywhere near it, and then my first recon vehicle ran over a mine on the road (near waypoint 1)...so i thought something maybe amiss. Not a problem, just clarifying. I think the briefing maybe a little mis-leading to players, as you assume that you are to get on with the objectives (apart from village) from the start..ie FJ units proceed east until main fortifications spotted to call in arty, so i duly probed east only to run into many enemy units with my FJ, and i thought i was being very cautious ! On with the battle this eve ! Love the map terrain, very authentic feeling. ps i pity the guy in the fog...what a nightmare! [ June 25, 2003, 02:00 PM: Message edited by: JaegerMeister ]

Okay, so far, so tough ! Upto turn 12 now (about 4 hours worth!!) Possible SPOILER ALERT.............. Where are the pioneer squads that are supposed to clear the mines on the road? I only have grenadiers anywhere near the road, the only pioneers being FJ up in the woods a long way off. I only raise the question in case you forgot them !?..as i am one of the first 'testing' the first battle for you? PS the enemy defence is aggressive !...like it !!

Enjoying it all so far...the tension is mounting as i push deeper into enemy territory! One minor point, it would help in the briefing if it told you around what turn you should expect certain reinforcements that are mentioned, so that i know when for instance to make moves on the village etc. Another good tip that i've seen in a recent scenario, was the use of question mark (?) landmarks to identify possible enemy troop concentrations/positions (as identified by air recon etc).Though your briefing is pretty thorough and well put together! cheers for all your efforts.

I have downloaded your scenario and will try and start it tonight. Sounds a great concept, the way the maps are un-veiled as the advance progresses. Smart site too ! Do you want the feedback on this forum or on your site? Also, can you make a printable version of the area map ? I tried to print from the site but just the border came out. ps what does Eichenbaum mean?

err, but surely he would attack said ground targets?...which would also alert my troops seeing the direction of his fire and attack dive? ...the russian armour involved is reported in the briefing as mixture of heavy and light armour!...so KV's are not too easy to hide on the move?...plus its dry summer, ie dust thrown up etc.

They look great! T(h)anks a lot !!

Can anyone tell me if they have encountered similar problems regarding this situation:- I know my PBEM opponent (from the briefing), July'41, has a sizeable force heading my way containing major armour and infantry assets, the map is fairly mixed in terrain and reasonably big, the weather is clear sky in daytime. My aircraft (Luftwaffe)have buzzed overhead on two seperate sorties so far and yet not one single enemy unit has been spotted or highlighted !..surely your average combat pilot would spot and identify at least some elements on the move and give me an indication of enemy dispositions, routes of advance etc ? My other question is, are those aircraft sorties now wasted or do they keep returning till they use their payload?..or get shot down!

Wow, those panthers look fantastic in the pics..off to download, great work Gautrek!

I'm still waiting for someone to mod the peasant 'isbas'..the straw roofed huts that formed the majority of Russian villages in the Ukraine and southern Russia!..be nice and realistic looking with some muddy tracks and poor villages to fight over.

I just literally played a PBEM turn where i had two full squads of un-supressed pioneers sitting in cover and light buildings for two turns who failed to notice a minefield between them, unlike the armoured car that rolled between them a couple of turns later, then promptly blew up !...would have thought them being engineers they might have prodded the earth with their bayonets at least!?

Cheers Tracer...many thanks!

Many thanks for all your hard work Billtong! Have a happy christmas and even better new year !! :cool:

Mare, i get 'Page URL not found' from your link? Would like to download it.

Get the dirty/dusty mods for the vehicles, they make the battlefield look way more realistic than the shiny factory models. The CMMOS PSW231? 8-wheeler with dirty aerial recognition flag is my personal favourite of the bunch so far ! and Gautrek does some great looking AFVS (as do others).