Der Alte Fritz

This must be a recent introduction since I have all the earlier CMx2but not the later modules and it does not appear on the CMFI demo.

One aspect to consider is the way in which Soviet tanks were used in which they advanced in battalion strength, making short stops to fire and keeping up a constant suppressive fire on likely enemy AT positions and aided by direct fire 45mm and 76mm Divisional guns based on the start line as well as artillery support deeper into the enemy position. This was always difficult to recreate successfully in CMBBx1 until we discovered that if you used the 'shoot and scoot' command - BUT KEPT MOVING FORWARDS - and put one command after the other - what you got was a tank that rolled forward continuously with short stops to fire (aimed and stationery) and a very rapid speed of advance. This would allow 4 T34/76 to beat even the StuGIII (with its 80mm front armour) as they were hard targets for the SPG to hit, the fire was distracting and one of the tanks would always survive even crossing open ground to get a flank shot. What's the experience of CMx2 Normandy on this?

One of the issues of starting the Eastern Front with Operation Bagration is that there is a lack of decent accounts from the German side as most of the original units of HG Mitte were destroyed in the attack and retreat across Belorussia. Compared with Stalingrad Kursk and the battles in the Ukraine there are far fewer general histories available and even some of those are hard to obtain. So it might be worth while gathering together some before release. One that could be used is taken from the 78.Sturm.Division and the "Five Road Battles" of October and November 1943 outside Orscha as this is a classic infantry defence and attack in the newly formed (and hence largely unbuilt) Panther-Wotan Line. This was certainly a mirror of the successful defence by 78.Sturm and 25.PzGr against 11th Guards Army on 22nd June 1944 although in later days the 78.Sturm had its flank turned and it was forced into Orscha and destroyed. 78.Sturm OOB: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=164358 Battle Account: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=1474566#p1474566 German Defences: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=165741 11th Guards Army: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=164591 Another possible candidate is the Battle of Lenino in roughly the same area in Oct 1943 which has as its main point of interest the first attack by the 1st Polish Division (of the Red Army) http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=9839 Similarly the Smolensk Strategic Operation might be of interest as this was a successful withdrawl by German forces: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=180707

SNOW I imagine that this will be introduced at the same time as the Battle of the Bulge mod but you cannot really have war in Russia without a wintery feeling.

Well we were wrong about the release date and the order of releases, so it looks as if the Eastern Front has been shelved if favour of further Normandy and Gustav Modules/Packs/etc for the foreseeable future. So Goodbye......

Hooray Gustav Line is out - Bagration here we come Comrade!!

Artillery may not be as effective at killing people as you may think. 21st Army Group in Normandy had an Operational Research Section which studied the results of artillery and air attacks. During Operation Veritable - Canadian Army assault between the Rhine and the Maas in Feb 1945 had one of the largest CW artillery bombardments of the war. The ORS concluded that it actually killed 63 German soldiers for the expenditure of 5,500 tonnes of ammunition but that it neutralised 5 front line battalions and the remainder of the 84.ID and its supporting 2.FJD paratroopers allowing a successful CW attack to gain much ground on the first day through fixed defences of the Seigfried line. See: http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/31443-veritable-15th-scottish-division-in-the-reichswald-battle-feb-1945/

So here we are in April and we think sometime between now and June will see the release of Operation Bagration. Unless there has been a hold up somewhere, But Gustav Line was on schedule so here hoping. Any news Battlefront on a possible release date? And will we get tank riders?

Hello Does anyone have the organisation for: Motor Rifle Brigade shtat 010/420 Motor Rifle Battalion both from the Mech Brigade 1943 onwards?

I think that is what is confusing people as BFC said in their announcement that they had kept quiet about the 'pack idea' wich was to lump together a lot of unrelated new units and other extras which did not require a theme. So I imagine that the French will come out as a pack and not a modeule. Gustav is that last module and is due in April. Going back to the earlier announcement of their programme for the next 18 months, BFC said Normandy 2.0, then CMFI and its modules and then CMBagration. If the latter appears between June then BFC will have completed the schedule as they outlined it in June 2012. Which is great as I am still playing George Mc's CMBB scenarios while he has gone off designing for CMSF, CMN, etc, so with CMBagration on the horizon, he may come back to the Eastern Front?

So with CM Normandy 2.0 released and Fortress Italy with its final module released today there is a hope that we might see Bagration by middle of this year working off the list Moon published in June 2012.

Steve Good news that CMFI has its modules completed......... so when can we expect CM Bagration 'cos I am still playing CMBB and it is almost 11 years now.

This issue has been aired before see here: http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=39282 Basically the Soviets had ammunition (and tank armour) production issues right up to late 1943 but this is not modelled very accurately in CMBB "Early problems with Soviet ammunition Soviet armour piercing ammunition in the early-war period was of low quality. The ammunition had poor quality fuses (often resulting in the round exploding before it had fully penetrated the tank’s armour), and were poorly engineered (causing the shell to disintegrate on impact with the enemy tank). As a result the Russian anti-tank guns did not always perform up to expectations. The quality problems with Soviet ammunition were not completely rectified until 1944. Ammunition was also in short supply for many weapons, as production had been halted in preparation for the new generation of guns. Ammunition production was hurriedly restarted after the German invasion but shortages still caused problems in the early war period." Similar data was produced here: http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=40184 But in 1944 the situation improved and standard BR-350B round would have penetrated the side armour of a Tiger up to 500m.

If you go to the PROVING GROUNDS and download Der Alte Fritz's Scenario Listing, you will find all the Der Kessel scenarios listed with a light green colour and they are all available in Phillippe's Sorted Scenarios Packs. Use the Excel sheet to identify which folder contains which scenario.

However we must bear in mind that the Soviets liked to keep an SU AT version in production all the time as they introduced the SU-85M rather than have a hiatus when the SU-100 delivery was delayed. This may have had more to do with meeting production quotas than tactical need but is a factor none the less.

No the Valentines equipped 3rd Belorussian Front in July 1944 with Mark IX and 6th Tank Army had some as well.

Thanks Ken I have the ones in "Soviet Infantry Tactics" "Soviet Armour Tactics" and "School of Battle" but not the other ones, so it would be great if you could oblige. cheers

Here is a quick question here for John Kettler and other Ostfront/GPW grogs. Over on the Axis History forum we have been trying to work out the establishment of the Soviet Mech Corps and have some confusion over the make up of the Mech Brigade and the Motor Rifle Battalion that made it up. There are details in the Red Army Handbook but not at the smaller unit level, giving numbers of officers, NCOs, Men, personal weapons and company, platoon, section structure. Can anyone help with the shtat for 010/420 Mechanised Brigade (Feb 1943) or 010/370 Mechanised Bde (Sept 1942) and the Motor Rifle Battalion. I reckon it has 4 rifle sections of 9 men in 3 platoons (40 men) and an MG section (2 guns) and 3 companies (124). Any ideas?

Same here JasonC, only Nashorns, nothing larger. So quite a limited mix of German armour for Bagration.

I think he is talking about these files from Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=35

Well I cannot wait for one. Just got a new PC all specced up for the new game, so am ready to go. In the meantime it runs huge maps in CMx1 although without fog (since fog tables have died the detah with GPU manufacturers)

I think perhaps not initially since the early modules would need to concentrate on Heer, SS, RKKA and Guards Units.

Me too John only it is for the earlier and rarer SU-85 or the even rarer SU-85M. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSmWE-LNuKgZfPYVPWpq-UJx4ODev5x66u4LXcepODgscNsjLoE

What's the problem, is it lack of engagement with the subject matter or an actual problem with the game mechanics?

I have never held to this view. Soviet manuals and personal accounts are quite clear that Soviet Infantry followed up right behind the main bombardment often as close as 50m behind it so that the assault of German trenches took place immediately the bombardment lifted. Tanks left their start point to arrive on the front line trench at the same time that the fire lifted. Also the Red Army may have had inflexible artillery sticking to a plan but most of their assaults followed a CREEPING barrage. It is modelling this that is the challenge for Battlefront, especially for the opening hour of Bagration. But I seriously doubt if we will get this as it was needed for the British in Normandy and did not appear.