Der Alte Fritz
-
Posts
1,024 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by Der Alte Fritz
-
-
Hi
I did the work listing the location of the various scenarios in Phillippes folders. What that shows is that there are 188 scenarios which he does not have collected. A good number of them can be got from the Scenario Depot (authors shown in capitals) or Byte Battler (marked as such) but there remains 29 scenarios of which I do not know the location. Anyway here is the list in case it is of interest:
A Polish Battlefield 1st Polish Armoured Division
Bir Hakeim - The Last Stand
Cassino Railway Station - Maori Attack
Cassino, Third Battle
Combat Chess Tournament
FGM DATR - Cheux British 11th Armoured pack
GP 6. Lemberg GebirgJager Pack
HSG A Battle at Vire Historical Study Group
HSG Assault on Assenois Historical Study Group
HSG Never Known Historical Study Group
HSG Singling vs AI Historical Study Group
King of the Caste
Line of Defence
LRDG Smash and Grab
Monte Cassino
Peaks
PLHQ - Into the Maelstrom
Prelude to Epsom
Press on, Regardless
Probe Westward in Italy
Skirmish Line, Tunisia 2
Skorzeny Mission #1
Small Battles La Colina del Saltamontes
Small Ops De Voorposten
Sollies la Farlede
St Vith CSDT - St Vith Pack CSDT
Task Force Navajo
The Redout
The Road to Gesso
-
-
Dear John
We did three trips around old Prussia.
I remember one discussion about a battle hinged on why the Austrians removed the shoes from their horses before the battle. Luckily being a horseman and having some knowledge of C18th horseshoes I was able to supply the answer. How groggy is that!
But in the intervals we were able to explore the Seelow Heights and the area of the Battle for Berlin and Festung Breslau, together with the Napoleonic battlefields of Bautzen and Katsbach.
And of course we went to Potsdam, Sans Souci and visited the grave of the great man himself - buried in the garden with his favourite dogs.
-
Hi John
I think it is time for a short re-cap.
Suvurov claims Stalin wanted to attack Germany in 1941.
Glantz disputes this but his arguments are entirely based on the military unpreparedness of the Red Army following the Winter War and the advance into Poland.
Everyone agrees that Stalin had a long term aim of intervening in a European war towards its end to gain the maximum advantage for the USSR. Probably planned for 1943 onwards.
Likewise the Zhukov plan for a pre-emptive strike or 'offensive defence' is reasonably well known and agreed.
The problem with anything to do with the study of the USSR and to an extent the modern day Russia is the sheer amount of disinformation about and the large amount that still remains unknown and in sealed archives. Who killed Kirov? How did Stalin die? How did the Imperial Family die and were there any survivors? We just do not know.
Can we test any of Suvorovs claims? Yes he is backed up in many of his claims by the Mitrokhin Archive but other of his claims have been shown to be untrue. So he is a bit of both. But to my mind the underlying basis of his argument is that Stalin can be shown to have wanted it. And that is where the argument falls down. Because anything to do with Stalin is full of contradictions and misinformation (often by Stalin himself) and downright re-writing of history afterwards, often several times over. You have a speech in which Stalin outlines the attack. It may be true, it may be disinformation by Stalin, it maybe made up after Stalins death. To set against that I have the transcript of the commission of enquiry into the debacle of the Winter War and a dozen others that show that Stalin had the most intimate knowledge of the Red Army, the generals and its capability. Of course he over-estimated it during the WW and the early days of the GPW but I just do not see him going to war with the Red Army as he knew it to be.
On the other hand there is a lot of evidence that Stalin did everything possible to avoid a confrontation with the Germans. He allow German recce planes to overfly Soviet territory, he maintained deliveries of raw materials to the end, he would not allow his general to activate their defences, to deploy and even cancelled the activation of one command. This well documented list just does not fit with a man who was going to launch a pre-emptive strike.
But good fun discussing it!
-
Is this book any good and worth buying?
cheers
-
Hi
The duplicates mainly occur because when scenarios are uploaded to new sites, the name is often changed in a slight way. For Instance:
HSG Circle of death H2H ver
could be re-saved as :
HSG-Circle of death H2H ver
HSG - Circle of death H2H ver
HSG/Circle of death H2H ver
HSG_circle_of_death_h2h
HSG_circle_of_death_h2h_ver
HSG Circle of Death
Circle of Death H2H version
HSG Circle of Death Two Player
Circle of Death HSG
HSGCircleofdeath
just to give some examples. So it is best when listing a scenario to search by keyword or author to see if you can find it first. Series names are often dropped as are version numbers or player types. People add hyphens and word spacing and then take them away again. All of which changes the sort in excel.
Why don't you take the list and check your website listings against it using keyword search as suggested above. Also the other project I need help with is to check Phillippes listing against my list. Probably adding a column and putting the pack number in as a good check and useful to people trying to find scenarios.
all the best
cheers
-
Hi
It takes 30 minutes to Ashford and about another 10 to Folkestone, so not too bad. Can do the ferry ports in an hour. Yes we can do you a bit of a deal, depends on the time of year and whether mid-week or weekend as to how much. Family of six could go into two rooms (triples) depending on the family dynamic of course.
Mention the Eastern Front to Mary and she will probably send to money just to stay away!
Mention that you play CMBB and she will defintely send you money!!!
cheers
-
Hi
I have just noticed this thread since posting over at the CMBB and CMAK forums. I have updated BIRDGUNNERS scenario listing from 2005 with new scenarios from TSD, Blowtorch scenarios, etc. My numbers compare a lot closer to Phillippes listing with 1400 CMBB and 900 CMAK scenarios having removed most of the duplicates. You might like to have a look and work from this to improve it rather than starting from scratch. Available from CMMods.com as DAF Scenario Listing
cheers
-
CMBB and CMAK scenario listing
I have put a .zip file over at the CMMods.com with an excel spreadsheet of all the scenarios I can find listed . This is an update of BIRDGUNNER's list from 2005 when people were sorting themselves out after the crash.
Approx number of scenarios is 1400 CMBB and 900 CMAK and this is fully sortable by year, month, country, unit type, battle type, game type. As far as possible I have tried to identify series and have put on a list of websites from where scenarios can be downloaded.
When used with Phillips_in_exiles complete scenario download at CMMods.com and the new scenarios available from TSD and TPG, this should give you a powerful tool with which to find your ideal kind of scenario.
Looking for a scenario with the Romanians on the Allied side? There are no less than 5 listed!
Look for DAF_Scenario_Listing
Many thanks to Bird Gunner for doing the original listing.
cheers Wink
-
CMBB and CMAK scenario listing
I have put a .zip file over at the CMMods.com with an excel spreadsheet of all the scenarios I can find listed. This is an update of BIRDGUNNER's list from 2005 when people were sorting themselves out after the crash.
Approx number of scenarios is 1400 CMBB and 900 CMAK and this is fully sortable by year, month, country, unit type, battle type, game type. As far as possible I have tried to identify series and have put on a list of websites from where scenarios can be downloaded.
When used with Phillips_in_exiles complete scenario download at CMMods.com and the new scenarios available from TSD and TPG, this should give you a powerful tool with which to find your ideal kind of scenario.
Looking for a scenario with the Romanians on the Allied side? There are no less than 5 listed!
Look for DAF_Scenario_Listing
Many thanks to Bird Gunner for doing the original listing.
cheers :wink:
-
Hi John
Great blog but not mine unfortunately! But I am a SYW enthusiast - funnily enough I recognised many of the people pictured on the site from tramping round Europe with Prof Chris Duffy from Sandhurst a few years ago.
No, I run a small hotel and you can see us athttp://www.thestrandhouse.co.uk/facilities.php
cheers
-
That is where you are wrong. I do this to escape from real life!
I have got 40 breakfasts to cook in a moment, 10 days work of accounts to do in 3 days before submitting to the Inland Revenue and oh a £1,000,000 debt.
No I am much happier talking about digging holes in the ground 70 years ago!
-
Hi John
Just got the Osprey German Field Fortifications 1939-1945.
What a disappointment!
Covers the pre-war 'elastic defence' in some depth and then its application in the early war years, with theatre specific examples later in the book. Then it covers the 'strongpoint' defence used in the defence before Moscow in the Winter of '41. So far so good. It then covers the rest of the war in ONE PARAGRAPH. "Strongpoint defence remained into mid 1943/44 in some areas. After that the Germans were in steady retreat......" No mention of the defences used in the winter of 1942, very successfully in the North and with quite a lot of success in the Stalingrad area. Nothing about the Panther Wotan line defences in 1943 (the Western Front battered away at these from October to June without success and huge casualties!) Nothing about the move away from strong point to a linear defence in 1943 (as mentioned in US Intelligence reports - so not exactly difficult to find references: see http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt/trench-warfare-eastern-front.html) and the various books and articles by Raus and others giving a number of variations on 'elastic defence'.
So not a god buy as there is better information on the web.
cheers
-
-
Hi Umlaut
Yes that one is in the list.
Also from henk:
You can try my operation of 3rd Totenkopf fighting in january 42 during the fierce russian counterattacks.
Named, Staraya russia, its high up in the dl list of the depot.
Semi historical.
henk
-
The file in question is the background ambient noise heard during the game. So there is no reason why it should not work. Are you installing from a Battlefront disc?
-
I think the secret to learning to play CMBB while enjoying yourself is to start small and simple. So pick a side, find a number of small battles at the Scenario Depot in your favourite period and play them through again and again until you can beat the ai. Then add in bigger battles with more complex units.
The main question is "Do you want to fight as Germans or Russians first of all"
-
Hi John
There is a lot in what you say. But you have to prove that Stalin planned to launch an aggressive war against Germany during the period of the Non-Aggression Treaty.
The position of fortifications being dismantled, troops moving forward, forward airfields, etc is not proof because of the division of Poland. The forces of the USSR had their fixed defences prior to 1939. In 1939 the whole Red Army moved forward and started from scratch on Polish territory. They adopted a mobile, attacking form of defence, maybe even a spoiling attack.
But none of this adds up to aggressive war in 1939-1941 because of the purges, the fiasco in Finland (and in Poland!) and all the personal conversations of Stalin that show he did everything to avoid war before 1943.
Sorry John, I am with David Glantz on this one and he has more archival material on the Red Army than most people.
-
Here is one for John Kettler:
http://www.allworldwars.com/German%20Field%20Fortifications%20on%20the%20Eastern%20Front.html
Yes the Sharp book is excellent for late 42 and accords pretty well with Glantz's CSI article which shows the same company position diagram.
cheers
-
Hi Cuiassier
Good point about Orel offensive which I have added. Cannot find a scenario for Op Rumyantsev except for HSG KH1 - A Brief Visit to a Church 2. I put both of these in August because July is a bit crowded!
Do you have any further suggestions for late war scenarios rather weak on these at present.
cheers
-
Hi JasonC
Thanks for the info, I will include it into my list.
Here is what I have so far, I have marked the main battles that make up the narrative and then scenarios to go with them:
Date
Jun-41 Brest Litovsk and Minsk CSDT B-06 - The Officers Club Armoured Clash
Jul-41 Beresina and Smolensk Demidov 1941
Aug-41 Uman CSDT B-12 - Plugging the Gap
Sep-41 Kiev
Oct-41 Orel CSDT B-22 - Mozhaisk
Nov-41 Bryansk Siberian Nite Life
Dec-41 Moscow HSG - Escape from Klin
Jan-42 Moscow Counterstroke
Feb-42
Mar-42 2nd battle of Kharkov Cutting Off the Head
Apr-42 Demyansk Groups Seydlitz
May-42 Trappen Jadg
Jun-42 Operation Case Blue Strachwitz at Dubno SP series
Jul-42 Sevastopol Approach to Sevastopol
Aug-42 To the Volga Vers le Caucase Strachwitz at Kalach
Sep-42 Stalingrad Ferry Ticket of Volga
Oct-42 Pavlov's House
Nov-42 Operation Mars
Dec-42 Operation Uranus Operation Uranus package Der Mensch in the East scenarios
Jan-43 Winter Storm Operation Little Saturn package
Feb-43
Mar-43 3rd battle of Kharkov Blowtorch Scenarios Strachwitz at Kharkov
Apr-43
May-43 Panzerkreil on the Mius
Jun-43
Jul-43 Kursk 1SS First Day (Kursk offensive, south) Ponyri Campaign (Kursk offensive, north) Strachwitz at Kursk
Aug-43 Belgorod counter stroke Operation Kutuzov package
Sep-43 Dneiper battles
Oct-43
Nov-43 Kiev Kiev Campaign pack (late 1943, through Zhitomir) Death on the Dnepr
Dec-43 Zhitomir
Jan-44 Cherkassay Pocket A Marshall Promise End Game for Endemann
Feb-44
Mar-44
Apr-44
May-44 Hubes Pocket: ASL Hubes Pocket
Jun-44 Operation Bagration
Jul-44 Lvov-Sandomierez Operation
Aug-44 Bucharest
Sep-44 Warsaw Uprising
Oct-44 Dukla Pass
Nov-44
Dec-44
Jan-45 Budapest Kalvin Square Budapest
Feb-45 Vistula Oder Operation
Mar-45
Apr-45 Berlin and Konigsberg
May-45
Jun-45
Jul-45
Aug-45 August Storm
-
Hi JasonC
Do you have any further details on these:
"Case Blue aka Army Group South series for 1942
Winter Storm pack"
as I cannot identify them from among the 1400 scenarios that I have on file.
cheers
-
Hi John
I think that you need to draw a destinction between Survorov's claim that the USSR planned an aggressive war against Nazi Germany and Zhukov's claim that plans were made for a spoiling attack just before Barbarossa. It was standard Soviet thinking that the best form of defence was attack and that an initial enemy advance would be met by a counter attack that would drive the enemy back onto their soil and that the principal battles would take place on enemy territory. A spoiling attack of this nature in June 1941 was well within the Soviet General Staff's remit. This tactical attack would still fit in with Stalin's strategy of waiting a few years before war with Germany.
cheers
-
All this gives me pause for thought. My original idea was to give the feel of the Great Patriotic War/Eastern Front by a simple series of scenarios that showed the progression of armour and unit types as the war progressed. A simple primer if you like and hence the need to look at it from both sides.
JasonC idea goes much further which would be a series of historical scenarios that actually charts the course of the war. Inevitably that would mean a much larger number of scenarios and also the influence of geography to allow different fronts.
But why not let us pursue both ideas and see where they lead?
The Essential Mods
in Combat Mission: Afrika Korps
Posted
If you want a complete 'look' try Nisseuh at cmmods.com