noob

Turn 2 video. The riflemen, front feft, make a sharp exit after attracting a PzIV. Will they make it intact ?

The final act of turn 1 is to set up my artillery wall, this is designed to deter KG 1 from advancing the most direct route. The FO will set up two strikes with two 6 x Priests. These will be area fire targets of no more than 230m diameter. The reason for this restriction is explained here: https://sites.google.com/site/cmpzch2hoperations/home/combat-mission/cm-off-map-fire-restrictions The third strike will be one battery of Priests. I set all the artillery strikes to Emergency, six tubes, Maximum length. Emergency is used to remove the spotting round warning, and to introduce a level of inaccuracy, as I want my wall to be as long as possible. The FO's two strikes will take 6 minutes to start falling. Hopefully, that will either fall on the advancing Axis forces, or fall in front, thus stalling them. When they change direction, they should move into the third strike, which is timed for 11 minutes.

Turn 1 orders are as follows: The PzIV that appeared on my right is well placed. It has a LOS to some mortars, a 30 Cal, and an M20 AC. These are ordered to pull back into the woods. The position of the PzIV could indicate an attack coming from the area where the artillery fell. I'm a little annoyed that the foxholes the mortars and MG are vacating are wasted. In hindsight I put them too far forward. Placed further back, and that tank would have to move into the LOS of my M10. Therefore, I move a 30 Cal to a position just forward of my M10. Kudos to my opponent for the position of that tank. On my front left, I order one rifle team to fall back, as it has been spotted by a tank. The other rifle team is close to a position that will allow it to observe the Axis extreme right flank for to ascertain the end of the Axis line. The Bazooka team are ordered to move into the woods to possibly infiltrate the flank and rear of the Axis formation. On my front right, I disembark the two bazooka teams, and send them into the forest. I want them to get an overwatch on the Axis position, but not to engage. I decide to move an M20 down the road toward the infiltrating bazooka teams. The M20 contains an M10 XO team, which gives me artillery options if my bazooka teams achieve an unnoticed overwatch on the enemy rear. The last movement order is given to a bazooka team to move down a road to observe a possible enemy approach route.

I'm glad you are enjoying it so far, I will turn on the trees.

The Turn 1 video gives me my first contact with the enemy. A lone PzIV and an MG42 team appear around the same time artillery drops in the forest on my left. The location of the artillery drop indicates that my opponent might want to occupy that area at some point, so I need to get a HQ unit to get a LOS to that unit from a safe distance. It is interesting to see it is buttoned. I would have had it unbuttoned myself. Is that an indicator that my opponent is overly cautious? I hope so. The rifle team on my left make contact with some Axis infantry and some sound contact of tanks. The infantry are identified as a mortar team in the process of firing, and an MG42 team. In a few seconds, the sound contacts are confirmed as tanks, and again, they are buttoned. Right at the end of the turn, the rifle team take some shots at the tank and are spotted. This is ok as I want him to know I have units in that area, however I would of preferred to be spotted by infantry, not tanks. I hope I can relocate without taking a hit. The enemy unit in the picture is the MG42 team. I am surprised that my opponent is not leading with scout teams armed predominantly with SMG's. Maybe he is a novice.

When playing CM battles, I always like to try and infiltrate the rear area of my opponents forces with two man AT teams. This is because I very rarely have success using them head on, so surprise is always necessary to add to their effectiveness, and they make great scouts if there are no targets available. Therefore I put two AT teams , one Crack, one Veteran, in a jeep, and then drive it up a covered route to the map edge. The teams will then disembark, and proceed to move cautiously through the forest, to try and get a LOS on the enemy. On my left, I send a three, and four man rifle team with binoculars to establish a LOS on KG 2's possible approach routes. There is also a two man bazooka team which will remain where it is for now. I decide not to give the rifle teams a cover arc, as I want them to engage any targets so they are noticed. This will hopefully make my opponent more cautious when moving into the area, thus slowing him down. If my opponent moves his armour onto the ridge line indicated by the blue arrow, I have set four M10's with a LOS to the area. I am hoping my concealment will give me an edge in a one sided shoot out. I intend to relocate them as soon as they reveal their positions. My AA guns and the bulk of the foxholes have been placed with only a LOS to both the village, and the edge of the forest. This is to force the Axis armour to have to move in close to engage them, thus giving them a better chance of being effective. This position represents my last line of defence. Finally, I position my Parachute Infantry in such as way as to be out of any possible artillery target areas, and to be reasonably equidistant to the three possible routes of attack, and my Co HQ in a foxhole with a decent LOS to possible enemy positions or routes of march. [

I move a two man team to the road that runs parallel to the south edge, this allows them a LOS up the road, thus giving me an early warning if KG 1 decides to go down the green route. I also place an M20 with a hull down LOS on the crossroads. This vehicle will reverse down the road once the artillery starts falling. Now I have to deploy for KG 2. The Axis have three choices of route. The blue being the most direct route, but the most exposed. The red route takes the Axis onto higher ground, the green lower. If my opponent chooses the red route, the line of march is bisected by two fire lanes running at right angles. I have these covered with armour, AC's, MG's and mortars.

The first thing I have to consider when setting up my defence, is which of the two Axis battle groups is the most dangerous, KG 1, or KG2 ? Given the terrain KG 1 has to navigate, I regard it as the least of the two threats. Therefore, My plan is to use my 3 x 6 gun Priest batteries, each with over 400 rounds, to create a wall of artillery, for as long as I think necessary. That should stop his infantry moving along the red route for long enough to force a change of direction. If they do this, it will take time, which Is my objective in this delaying action. To create the artillery wall, I have placed my FO and an XO with a LOS to the two crossroads. Because I am the defender, I cannot use the pre planned barrage function, therefore, I will have to wait until my first move turn to set the artillery strikes. To delay KG 1 long enough for the artillery to start, I have placed an M10, and two 30 cal's, in foxholes, looking down the suspected Axis approach route. To get some eyes on the yellow Axis approach route, I send an M20 to the end of the road to drop off a bazooka team. I would love to post more, but I have to go out now, so watch this space.

Now begins the first CM battle in this operation. Notice how I said "first"....that's confidence talking, let's hope I can back it up I forgot to mention in my previous posts that I have a tank formation scheduled to arrive on the map at 14:00 hours. Therefore, if it arrives on schedule, I will have it on the map when I do my PzC turn after this battle. This means I have to fight a delaying action, and remain on the map for two battles, to allow my reinforcements to arrive. Also, every PzC turn I remain on the map, allows my third artillery battery to come on line. To force me off the map, and therefore the hex, the Axis have to reduce my "Men Ok" value to below 33% of its starting value. To determine the Allied Men Ok value at the start of the battle, I created my forces on a blank map, saved it, then ran it as a one player turn based battle. After calling a ceasefire, the CM result screen showed that I have 238 Men Ok at the start of the battle. This value includes vehicle and gun crews, so It is advisable for me to remove crews to a safe place, once forcibly dismounted. Units that use the exit zone are classed as casualties in regard to calculating the remaining force %. Also, I am not permitted to use the exit zone until turn 31.

I wouldn't worry to much about appearances, I suspect the Axis will be turning up in snow camo

Please disregard the above post, the page has been removed. This page is now the relevant page: https://sites.google.com/site/cmpzch2hoperations/home/combat-mission/cm-battle-victory-conditions

It has become apparent that if I allow the defending unit to contest the CM map, and therefore the hex, irrespective of how many of the defenders men remain on the CM battlefield, there could be an absurd situation where one man could contest a map. Therefore, I have changed the rule regarding how to force a defender off a hex via a CM battle. I have reverted back to the rule I was originally going to use https://sites.google.com/site/cmpzch2hoperations/home/combat-mission/cm-battle-victory-conditions

Given the nature of the historical event: http://wikimapia.org/10511899/Parker-s-Crossroads-Baraque-de-Fraiture, I have changed the rules for a contested CM battle: https://sites.google.com/site/cmpzch2hoperations/home/combat-mission/cm-battle-extension This is to allow the Allies to perform an "Alamo Defence". I am really close to completing my Allied set up for the Baraque de Fraiture CM battle, so I should have the turn sent off before the weekend, with the first turn AAR posted early next week.

I have added this page to the guide: https://sites.google.com/site/cmpzch2hoperations/home/combat-mission/cm-battle-extension The method described will be used for all CMPzC operations I am running at the moment. If the method proves to be satisfactory, it will be retained, if not, it will be changed.

Yes, the US are up against it in this scenario. However, this operation is being played more to demonstrate, and test, the rules, and also as a way of utilising the snow settings in CMGL to create a Bulge trailer. In future, PzC scenarios will be checked for force balance. I would like to play a bigger scenario next time, to allow more CM battles during an operational turn, and more players involved in teams, this would add another level of thinking to the game. Regarding reinforcements, I do get some after this CM battle, when its my PzC turn. So fingers crossed they can make it to the show in time for the next CM battle on that hex, providing I hold out in this one .

I'm glad you are enjoying the AAR's. The scenario we are playing is eight turns long.

I've got it, and will CO for a side if you want. It would have to be a PzC scenario that would create a lot of CM battles, that way, everyone that wants an operational CM battle can get one straight away.

I have revised this page: https://sites.google.com/site/cmpzch2hoperations/home/combat-mission/cm-battle-victory-conditions

There's always a compromise between gameplay and realism, and in this case, EZ's allow another level of gameplay without any artificial restrictions, apart from the thirty turn rule. Ok, heresy was a bit strong, and I certainly didn't mean to imply that anything else was invalid, I was just a bit surprised that the use EZ's could be questioned, given how obvious to me they are when it comes to creating more choices for a player in a CM battle.

The operational situation will determine the type of defence in a CM battle, not EZ's. Considering the player will play all CO roles, he can give himself permission to withdraw. Correct. Once the "framework" is finished, players can hang anything they want from it, but this whole system was built around the concept of allowing players to exit units after a set time. A defending force always gets an exit zone, where it is situated is under review. If the defending force is surrounded, it has to fight it's way though the encirclement to get to the exit zone, or wait for reinforcements.

Based on some good advice from Kohlenklau, I am currently re organising the pages in the guide. I am also re writing some pages, which will be numbered, and added to the guide as they are completed.

I'm setting up a battle in CMGL, and I had the option of having my US Parachute Company kitted out in Greatcoats. However, even though I can select the option in the editor, they do not appear in the game. Why is this ?

As far as I'm concerned, getting rid of exit zones is heresy The whole point of exit zones is to get out of the "map is a prison" effect which makes the CM battles unrealistic in that respect. Using your method is a step backward IMO, especially when the only reason it is being used is to make casualty counting easier, which isn't a problem IMO. What if the defending unit has blown forces it wants to exit, but still wants to fight ? Does it have to hide them ? I personally wouldn't go near a CM operation that did not have EZ's.

The PzC morale rating is confusing, as in the PzC oob editor, it is classed as Quality. However quality, IMO is a hard factor, i.e. an Elite unit is still an Elite unit even if it gets its butt kicked. So one could use the starting PzC Morale rating A - F as an indicator of quality, with quality being a hard factor, which would then translate to CM as Experience. However, that creates an unrealistic level of uniformity among the CM units, so I use the Typical setting for the CM units, and dispense with the PzC Morale as an indicator of CM Experience. Then, we are left with the PzC Morale level as an indicator of CM Motivation, however, given the time frame of most PzC scenarios, I regard motivation as a hard factor, and not susceptible to short term combat effects. Therefore, I research the forces in the scenario in question, and try and get a handle on how the troops felt about their situation at that time. This gives me an idea of how to set their CM Motivation. A good example is the 12th SS Pz Div at Caen, these troops were fanatical, and therefore would be set at CM Fanatical for the duration of the PzC scenario, irrespective of any combat effects they sustain. So, in conclusion, I do not regard PzC morale as anything other than an indicator of the combat power of the unit in relation to PzC ranged firing. The only relevant information in the PzC unit info screen as regards CM battles, IMO, are the PzC fatigue level value affecting CM Fitness, the PzC status of disruption and broken affecting CM Leadership, and the PzC Low fuel / ammo, and Isolation status effecting CM Supply.

Kensal will be AFK until the 29th of August. I was intending to substitute absent players, but because his absence will only be temporary, and to maintain consistency, I will allow him to carry on this battle where he left off, when he returns.