Rokko

I like seeing actual battles fought on this map a lot! Really nice. Am I correct that there were no German forces in St.Contest on the operational map?

I believe there was only the 16th LW Division in Normandy fighting in the Caen area around Carpiquet airfield but they were pretty much overrun I believe. There were at least two other LW divisions further to the East in the Pas-de-Calais area, not sure if they marched down to Normandy or stayed in place.

What maps do you use for the CM battles? I know you were interested in 4x4km map when it was still in development so you're probably using it, but it only covers a relatively small portion of the entire operational map. So do you use random QB maps or some other individually crafted maps?

Well it's not true that the police was entirely staffed with SS personell after 1936. These young SS and SD members, usually quite idealistic were just no match with experienced police officials, so many of them actually remained at their posts or even rose up in the hierarchy. The police was indeed purged of men who, for example were members in the Social Democratic Party but many just contiued serving under the new masters. Many welcomed how the Nazis increased their authority and their scope of action. Both the heads of the the Gestapo (Heinrich Müller, former head of the Bavarian political police) and Arthur Nebe (head of the criminal police Kripo) were not ardent Nazis before 1933. Many old Nazis in fact complained about Gestapo Müller becoming the head the centralized political police of entire Germany, because before the takeover he had oppressed the Nazis as well as the communists (he WAS an ardent anti-communist). The process of integrating the German police into the SS was pretty long and definately not finished by 1945, although in the end every policeman also held an SS rank. Also it should be noted that, traditionally, the police in Germany was entirely decentralized. The Nazis reversed that which was new - after 1945, it became federal again though.

It means this vehicle is equipped with a smoke discharger.

I really like the 2nd mission as well. It kinda reminded me of the British in CMSF with all their light but fast vehicles. The unlikely force composition of a signals company fighting as infantry, an Italian blackshirt company and of course the scout car company supported by 88mm AA guns as artillery (!) made this extremely entertaining.

Very nice, and a cool new feature indeed. I thought this might be right time to throw in a mapping suggestion: Many people tend to connect paved roads and dirt/gravel roads like in this picture on the left, simply with the junction pieces. The result looks like below and does not look very natural in my opinion: If, instead you do it like on the right, that is, instead of junction pieces you use a Dirt Lot or Gravel type ground tile (because the roads share the same texture with gound tiles) below the road where the junction is supposed to be, it looks much better to me:

Very interesting to read that Reynolds was at the Ponte Grande as well. As a matter of fact I am working on a little Operation Ladbroke campaign for Gustav Line (7-8 scenarios, mostly small to medium ones). I actually am pretty far in development already with only some AI plans and the briefing graphics being unfinished.Although I had set that pretty early on I think I am going to alter the British OOB a little to include Lt. Reynolds' Simforce platoon. Edit: I bet getting into captivity twice in two different campaigns by two different enemies is a pretty rare occurence.

Option 4: Wait for CM: Crete

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/downfall-the-story-of-a-nazi-boy-hero-6147496.html

Appearently this happened on July 18 1944, so it may actually have saved his life getting dismissed from the personal staf, considering being close to Hitler just two days later may have proved fatal.

Well I am tempted, but I don't think I'm going to go for it.

This is awesome but it appears you have to subscribe to actually watch the pictures.

Maybe, but it could be an optional addition to the system now. Besides. Considering guestemating very precise timing for each AI Plans for every AI group for EVERY group's subobjective can be VERY time consuming, considering you have to test a lot and change back and forth. So actually triggers might make scenario creating less time-consuming. Triggers could be like: if casualties > 20% { go for Objective C (continue attacking) } else { go objective D (abort attack, retreat) } or maybe AI Group 1st Platoon/ A Company gets a trigger to wait for 2nd and 3rd platoons before continuing with its next objective. That way you wouldn't have test when the other platoons arrive by the clock.

I do not believe this is true.

The problem with offensive AI is mainly, that it is not able to keep its troops within C2 range, that it can't keep any formations and that it is unable to react to anything going on on the battlefield due to lack of triggers. For instance, in reality if company of tanks attacked and lost maybe 5 tanks, it would often call of the attack. In Combat Mission the AI will keep sending that company forward regardless of what happens to it. Triggers are really what Combat Mission needs (more than fire or hit decals or anything). Also AI programming should be less unintuitive. The system with AI groups is less than optimal and very uncomfortable to work with. The best would be if any platoon or maybe even squad/vehicle could be given an own "plan" with the possibility to add as many exceptions as possible. Some people think, triggers be used to create unrealistic effects, but I believe people would just not play such scenarios.

Goddamnit and I just bought Rising Storm yesterday

No of course not. I'm in fact still mostly occupied with mapmaking at the moment. I am considering to release selected scenarios as stand-alone version as they become finalized.

I guess he's from the future then, that's the most likely eplanation.

Just replayed this scenario with 2.01 and the Redux version. Got a Major Victory with 20 minutes left (I hit cease fire after securing the field objective). Suffered 4 KIA and 9 WIA. It was harder than it used to be, but definately beatable. The bunkers are impossible to knock out with what you have, but you can kill the occupants with concentrated small arms fire, it may take a lot of time and bullets, though. I believe around the 37 minute mark I had both bunkers empty. Did not use smoke (effectively) and the mortars only to fire at HMGs without bunker protection (useless against bunkers). After I had destroyed the forward line entirely I could move my forces around without being fired on and send 2 platoons in strenght into the bocage line bordering the objective field while the 3rd platoon lay in front of the suspected minefield. After that it was only mopping up. I believe it is important not to move your forces much until you have destroyed the bunkers and the HMGs and if you have to only inch them forward or only use squads that don't get enemy MG "attention" at that moment. Still, almost all my casualties came from those MGs when I was still in the open.

Well III./25 initially took Buron but they were pushed out again by a Canadian counter-attack supported by massive artillery. The Canadians later retreated out of Buron and the 12SS took it again without. Attack itself was of course a failure considering the original goal was not capturing some little village North of Caen, but driving a deep wedge many kilometres into the Allied beachhead. Bloody Buron refers to the later battle on July 8th were Buron was finally taken by the Canadians and III./25 was wiped out entirely.

I just meant to explain how unlikely it was that the "old goats" were safe behind the lines while the soldiers marched and starved Wether 12SS or W-SS officers had exceptionally high casualties compared with other armies I can not say. I cannot say anything about the British in Afghanistan either, don't know enough about their OOB and the combat situations they face. Though intuitively I would assume that many or most casualties come frome indiscriminate IEDs (true for Iraq I believe, not sure about Afghanistan). Also, while I have often read that Waffen-SS in general suffered exceptionally high casualties I haven't been able to find confirmation for this. It is most likely true for the early years when their leadership was very incompetent (think 1940 Totenkopf Div. and the "butcher" Eicke), but the comparative casualty figures I have found said otherwise in general. I believe 33% casualties (or maybe even dead) for the entire Wehrmacht and 34% for the Waffen-SS are the numbers I once found, though that did supprise me quite a bit actually, considering like a quarter of all W-SS units were Panzer or Panzergrenadier divisions so higher casualties would be natural. Also, in Normandy the W-SS Panzer divisions didn't suffer more casualties than Wehrmacht Panzer divisions or even some Allied divisions. Besides, your comparision of 12SS and 29ID strikes me as a little off considering the vastly different conditions under which the two had to attack. 29th ID's casualties weren't exactly slight either, you probably know that saying how Gerhardt was actually a Corps commander, having one division in the field, one in the hospital and one in the grave.

Are you playing the revised version or the normal one? That would definately a difference because the revised one features more green troops for the player, i.e. is the harder one. I haven't tried in 2.01 but before I always managed to knock-out the bunkers with concentrated MMG and rifle fire and the enemy HMGs with mortar fire from relatively long range (the beach essentially) but that might not work anymore now.

It worked really well on the other map, which is up at the repository BTW. I just had to stretch and straighten things here and there but actually managed to keep dimensions mostly correct. With it's usually acceptable to make a few zigs along there line for me, but for railways I just can't stand those 45° turns normally. I also rate looks higher than thruthfullnes to reality and scale or, as in your case, being able to match the edges of many different maps, so that's why I try to avoid zig-zags.

In case of the 12th SS that is definately NOT true. Witt in particular was actually killed only 7 days after D-Day (in an artillery strike on divisional HQ behind the front though). Waffen-SS officers in general were known for leading from the front and the high officer casualties testify to that. If you happen to own the two volumes of the divisional history, there is an overview of the division's OOB and all the leading officers (down to company level) in the second volume. 12th SS suffered 2 divisional commanders (1 KIA 1 POW), 1 Regimental commander (POW), at least 6 batallion commanders (5 KIA, 1 POW) and at least 14 company commanders (11 KIA, 3 WIA), most likely more, I'm not through with my research entirely, at least 4 more that must have become casualties but the history gives no record to it. Also, relatively few WIA because the wounded officers often stayed at the front I believe.