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Aragorn2002

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Posts posted by Aragorn2002

    Any Chance for a New Afrikakorps game?

    in Combat Mission - General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Aragorn2002

    Don't forget the Wehrmacht was in full retreat on all fronts and waiting until Stalin reached the Rhine wasn't an option. Something had to be tried. In hindsight it may seem a reckless operation, but were there really many alternatives?

    The execution of the operation may have been sloppy, but for the Western allies it was 1918 all over again. The total German collapse seemed imminent. If one studies the German OOB in the Netherlands one really wonders how the Germans pulled it off. Even the II.SS Panzerkorps hardly had the strength of a brigade and only a handful of armored vehicles, mostly concentrated in the recon elements. Market Garden wasn't just a victory of the two Waffen SS divisions, but also of every last man the Germans could get their hands on. Personally I think MG was a calculated risk. It did cost a lot of lifes, but it had to be tried. I think Montgomery realized that too. Imagine history's judgement if MG hadn't take place...

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    Any Chance for a New Afrikakorps game?

    in Combat Mission - General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Aragorn2002

    4 minutes ago, Badger73 said:

    Any word on what's going on with the long forthcoming "Patton's Charge / Bradley at Bay" module?  I'm very interested in that one.

    Last I've read is they are still working on it, but it's close to release. Yes, definitely looking forward to that too.

    Btw someone is also working on three Korsun-scenarios, of which one is already available. Recommended.

     

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    Any Chance for a New Afrikakorps game?

    in Combat Mission - General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Aragorn2002

     

    Perhaps the developments in the east also made Montgomery and Eisenhower throw caution in the wind. The Red army stood at the border of Eastern Prussia and both Roosevelt and Churchill knew that if Stalin saw the opportunity to occupy the whole of Germany, he wouldn't hesitate. Even if he would withdraw again after the Germans were defeated, he would make sure to leave a looted wasteland behind.

    The German recovery in the east in the autumn of 1944 wasn't less of a miracle as that in the west. Might have been of influence upon the Allied decision making. 

     

     

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    Any Chance for a New Afrikakorps game?

    in Combat Mission - General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Aragorn2002

    3 minutes ago, SimpleSimon said:

    The invasion of France was full of risks, but no single one of them could defeat the invasion by itself. Operation Overlord was full of risks, but no single setback or defeat would cause the invasion to fail. Market Garden had a crippling design flaw that risked making the entire assault moot if literally just this one thing happened that always happens which was the Germans blowing up a bridge in imminent danger of capture. How could they make this plan around the hope that this would be the one time they failed to do that? This was a plan that created far more questions than it answered and that's just what tends to emerge out of a bad plan. 

    Market Garden was an unfortunate example of something that can emerge from the kind of large and complicated bureaucracy of the Allied war effort. It's not something that people limited to military experience encounter in their daily lives. If you've ever worked for a Corporation or just about any multi-level organization there has most certainly been a "Market Garden" at your place of work and if you stick around long enough there's certain to be another. An operation, directive, initiative, etc thought up at high levels (ie: management) and then passed down to subordinates fully cognizant that it was either out-of-touch with reality or foolish. The solution is good communication between the various levels of management and staff and minimal insulation between those levels so accountability for both success and failure can be distributed appropriately. Criticism makes people uncomfortable and can be painful but it is part of the process of learning and while it's also important to be fair sometimes you can't have both. Montgomery is fortunate that all he ever faced for the debacle on the Nederrijn was criticism. Men under his command faced things far worse. 

    Must admit. Good points. And never underestimate your opponent.

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    Any Chance for a New Afrikakorps game?

    in Combat Mission - General Discussion

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, DougPhresh said:

    With the base game you can download from the steam workshop, including the absolutely amazing Normandy scenarios. Sword Beach to Caen, XXX Corps at Villers-Bocage and Tilly-Sur-Seulles and the absolutely incredible Charnwood and Goodwood-Atlantic. If you thought that these deserved their own campaigns or scenarios in Battle for Normandy, this may be the next best thing, and if you didn't it may be enough to win you over and petition Steve for a Battle Pack for the fighting north of Caen.

    And the best thing is they are working on an eastern front module, starting with the Russian-Japanese war of 1939.

    2

    Any Chance for a New Afrikakorps game?

    in Combat Mission - General Discussion

    Posted

    1 minute ago, DougPhresh said:

    Anyone here who is interested in gaming this out should try Market-Garden '44 Gold by John Tiller. For those of you that have played his games before, they are absolutely brilliant. I think that they do many things better than TAOW, so you really do have to get the staff work right rather than stack and pile on! Check out his design notes and the work and thought put into this really comes through. All of his games are incredible, and wouldn't you know - there's one for pretty much every CM title. Normandy, The Bulge, Sicily, Salerno, Minsk '44, Budapest.

    I know we wanted our own operational layer, but this is as good as operational games get.

    If you want to get really deep, he also did a game with all of Normandy in 250m hexes! His OOB manual alone is 130 pages. The guy is a madman.

    I like Command Op2, and their large Market-Garden scenario is great, but I don't like the supply system. There are no replacements or repairs, so while you may get gas and ammo you won't make back your manpower or get vehicles sent up. For scenarios that are a day or less that makes sense, but the fighting in MG was 8 days and I know XXX was able to make up some of their losses.

     

    I like Tiller's games a lot, especially Rshew and Korsun. Great games indeed, although a little outdated perhaps. Never tried MG though. 

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    Any Chance for a New Afrikakorps game?

    in Combat Mission - General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Aragorn2002

    5 minutes ago, danfrodo said:

    Whether Market Garden was a doomed or not doomed is really irrelevant to me as a gamer.  As an operational game (like in Operation Art or War) is really fun, though I have never won it.  And in CMBN it's great fun, with the mix of light airborne, mechanized & armored troops, offense & defense, brits & US.  I am actually replaying Nijmegan campaign now.  I played it when I first started back up w CM like 5 years ago, and didn't do very well because I was so new to the game.  It's really really fun.

    The Market Garden module of Command Opps 2 is also very realistic and offers the opportunity to study the entire operation from both sides in detail.  It also shows how close the Germans came to defeat.

    Really underestimated game, CO 2.

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    Any Chance for a New Afrikakorps game?

    in Combat Mission - General Discussion

    Posted

    On 2/5/2020 at 11:44 PM, mjkerner said:

    If Market Garden had worked, though, Monty would have been regarded as brilliant. As it was, it was a close run thing. Consider the unfortunate coincidence of the 9th and 10th SS refitting in the area, or if the 1st Airborne had conducted a coup de main directly on the bridge with an LZ on the south side on the first lift. What amazes me about MG, and in fact the entire war, was how quickly the Allies were able to mount operations? Planning and logistics masters, AFAIC...all without computers, mind you.

    Great staff work, that's for sure.

    1

    Looking for good second hand bookshop in New York

    in Combat Mission - General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Aragorn2002

    Guys, I'm looking for a book, which seems to be extremely rare and very hard to find for a decent price. My wife happens to go to New York next week and she's willing to have a look for this book (The Kravchenko Case by Gary Kern). Can any of you recommend a good second hand bookshop in the centre of New York where this book might be found?

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    Any Chance for a New Afrikakorps game?

    in Combat Mission - General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Aragorn2002

    7 minutes ago, BluecherForward said:

    Aragorn2002 and danfrodo, Have either of you read Carlo D'Este's Bitter Victory? He does not paint a very positive picture of Alexander - indecisive and not in control - at least as far as Operation Husky was concerned.

    I think during the Sicily operation nobody really was in control. 🙂 But I must admit I haven't read that book.

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    Any Chance for a New Afrikakorps game?

    in Combat Mission - General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Aragorn2002

    33 minutes ago, DerKommissar said:

    My favourite US general of WW2 happens to be George Marshall. I don't think he won a single battle.

    Good choice. Personally I also prefer the lesser known generals who did their heavy duty in modesty and silence (and were allowed to do it in that manner).  Bradley is another good example. For the British I like Alexander best. Excellent commander.

    One of my favorite German generals is Dietrich von Saucken. A Prussian warrior in the best tradition. What a remarkable man. Could have avoided Russian captivity, but chose to stay with his men, when the end came in Kurland. Ended up in a wheelchair after being tortured and ill treated as a POW. I'm sure some will just call him a Nazi and a criminal, but for me this man is an example of a man for all seasons. They don't make them like that anymore.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_von_Saucken

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    Any Chance for a New Afrikakorps game?

    in Combat Mission - General Discussion

    Posted

    10 minutes ago, danfrodo said:

    Hang on my friend Aragorn2002, I have plenty of disdain for american leaders also and praise for other brits (Air Chief Tedder was brilliant!).  Monty is intelligent and skilled, like you said, but he was also impossible to work with and in September 44 made one of the great military blunders of the war.  Having said that, there's plenty of americans I hate more than Monty -- the air force general who refused to bomb parallel to the beaches in normandy and in operation cobra is one (what was his name?).  MacArthur I detest, though mostly for his insanity in Korea.  Admiral King's refusal to use convoys?  And Ike did slap down Patton for a while.  

    But point well taken, it's easy for me to take shots at Monty while ignoring his big, solid victories.

    That's a generous answer in the best American tradition. Thanks for that! I guess I'm just trying to say that most, if not all of these men had to carry the burden of a very heavy responsibility and had the lives of many, many soldiers in their hands. I think it was Napoleon who once said that after a lost battle even the drummer boy can tell you how you could have won it. Or something like that. 😀

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