ratdeath

Twas the night before CM-mas and all through the bunker
not a 'truppen was stirring they were all down and hunkered
The frags were all hung by the rifles with care
In hopes that Santa Steve soon would be there
The 'truppen a snoring and dreaming away
of the hookers they'd met, on leave last May
When out in the minefield there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bunk, my skivvies all tattered.
Away to the gun sites I flew like a plane,
pulled back the bolt and steadied my aim.
When from mod weary eyes I spied from afar,
Some northern Maine dude with a brain in a jar,
Santa Steve! I shouted with excitement and glee
but in response, just some bitching about TO&E
On Stragglers, on Sicherungs, Luftwaffe and Herr
on Jagers and Gebirs, and others more rare
He droned on and on as the brain kept a coding
and I knew deep inside this was no normal foreboding
For once in a while a reference to Syria
and with that little gem I was sent to hysteria
For amidst all that heavy WWII talking
Toward Shock Force 2 I knew he was walking
Patiently on the desert I'd waited
and soon it'd be real and my lust would be sated
Back to the sand! Nato, Uncons and pals
but with 4.0 flare and friggin' hit decals!
My head filled with war and the toys that it brings
I was hoping I'd see it before G**D*** spring!
Then brain in arm, he turned toward the west
to continue ever onward the Combat Mission quest
Teeth clenched and jaw set against the snowy wind
he trudge into the night, a phantom again
And as he passed by the bunker and out of our zone
I chewed on the annual Christmas bone.
 
Merry Christmas, fellas!

Mord.
 
 

I’ve written elsewhere that I think ‘balance’ – let alone ‘well balanced’ – is an impractical and illusory design objective, and so I don’t really consider it as a specific design criteria anymore. What I’m more interested in is creating plausible, interesting, and asymmetric challenges. By that I mean that the ‘story’ behind the objectives that each side is going for makes sense, and that given some skill and luck either side can achieve its own objectives. The objectives are asymmetric in that while Side A might be principally trying to secure a bridge, Side B may not care about the bridge at all and could instead be going for the church, or trying to move all forces off map, or something else. That sets up an interesting dynamic tension in that in order to win you need to achieve what you’ve been told to do, but also prevent the enemy doing what they’ve been told to do … but that probably isn’t simply the opposite of your goals. So you need to figure out what they are trying to do, and hinder that as much as possible without compromising the achievement of your own objectives.   Ticklish.   Well, that’s the idea, anyway   I believe it also adds to replayability because now the player's goals are more clearly tied to the relative balance of points at the end of the game. Since the number of ways points can be accumulated - and therefore generate different end-game totals – is quite large, then the number of distinctly different viable approaches that each side can take is similarly large.   So, yeah; all the scenarios are playable and in principle achievable from either side, but actually winning will depend on your skill. As it should.

It has five.
Starter Kit #1-3
Starter Kit Expansion Pack #1 (stand alone product)
ASL Starter Kit Historical Module #1 (Decision at Elst)
 
Perfect balance between Squad Leader and Advanced Squad Leader imho!

Looked and couldn't find these values anywhere. A list of QB battle sizes and types, and their corresponding amounts of purchase points. 
 
Attack   TINY   Defender- 738 Attacker- 1164   SMALL   Defender- 1185 Attacker- 1908   MEDIUM   Defender- 1945 Attacker- 3175   LARGE   Defender- 3236 Attacker- 5327   HUGE   Defender- 5432 Attacker- 8986   Assault   TINY   Defender- 695  Attacker- 1206   SMALL   Defender- 1112 Attacker- 1981   MEDIUM   Defender- 1822 Attacker- 3298   LARGE   Defender- 3027 Attacker- 5536   HUGE   Defender- 5076 Attacker- 9342   Probe   TINY   Defender- 780 Attacker- 1121   SMALL   Defender- 1257 Attacker- 1836   MEDIUM   Defender- 2068 Attacker- 3052   LARGE   Defender- 3445 Attacker- 5118   HUGE   Defender- 5787 Attacker- 8631   Meeting Engagement   TINY   951   SMALL   1547   MEDIUM   2560   LARGE   4282   HUGE   7209

My first CAAR (Comic After Action Report) was in the format of a DAR presented as a comic. To introduce some variety and also make this one a bit more like a comic, it will be presented less as an AAR and more as a story, following the actions and adventures of one man, a Russian soldier called Dmitry ("Dima") Ivanov. Of course this is also going to present the battles as well, so the AAR aspect is still included, just not the sole objective.
 
Some of you wanted to hear more about Lt. Warner, Cpl. Dietrich, and Sgt. Hirsch from my first CAAR; they will be back in another CAAR. At the time of this one, Warner and his boys are in Normandy, and later, in Holland during Market-Garden.
 
Once again, Kohlenklau is my partner in this, and I thank him for being a fun opponent in the battles and a patient friend in the delays doing these sometimes introduces.

Thanks! We're already cooking up something new. 

Guys, Kohl and I had a quick chat this evening and we had an idea - best to strike while this thread is still alive! 
 
We've had a number of suggestions and request for more CAARs. We're interested in doing it. And we're interested in doing it on a custom map made by one of YOU. It should be a map from the smallest size allowed by the editor to 500x500m max. Suitable for a reinforced platoon on each side. 
 
We have CMBN, CMBT, CMFI. We have done CMBN, so we're looking at CMRT and CMFI for the next one. 
 
Anyone making a map (please let us know in advance of your intent) will have their handle (or name) on the cover of the next CAAR as the map-maker. Be aware we do need to take a look at the map to make sure it will work but generally any well made map should be fine. If in doubt, check with us. 
 
Anyone interested? 

Update: All is rosy and working well!