Rinaldi
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Posts posted by Rinaldi
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Playtesting of the scenario has begun, I'm hoping I won't need to make many gameplay tweaks; I'm designing it so that its heavily challenging for the Allied player, so we'll see.
Strong winter winds frustrate the Soviet fires-plan, and blows much of the smoke back towards their own lines.
Regardless the assault begins. The company group was reinforced with several more Maxim MGs, and one can be seen here covering the infantry.
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Great shots Heinrich, glad to see so many people are enjoying this Winter Mod.
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I don't know if the JagdTiger will play that much of a role in the battle asides from being a threat-in-being. If a Jumbo is bogging, I'd love to see what will happen to the JT if it goes off road for extended periods.
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Work in Progress so far. Will be geared towards H2H.
Early December 1943, the Winter of 1943 has just arrived on the 1st Ukrainian Front; the deep freeze has hardened the ground and has made maneuvering for both sides far easier. The Russians having taken Kiev in November, the Germans have launched into a series of desperate counterattacks. In this sector however, the Russian assault continues to drive towards cutting Army Group South off from Center.
Somewhere near Zhitomir, a Russian assault group is tasked with cutting the Rail-line that sits near some no-name Hamlet. Both sides have thrown in heavy reinforcing firepower to achieve their objectives. Both sides are highly motivated as well, the Germans realize the danger of the closing jaws and have no wish to be encircled, while the 1st Ukrainian Front are buoyed by their success in taking Kiev so swiftly and resisting German efforts to retake it. The high motivation of troops on both sides, coupled with above average indirect fire support (both sides have at least 2 batteries) in such a small space will likely result in a costly effort.
The general overview, from the German lines looking towards the Soviet's.
The Soviet's supporting armor will arrive along this road, and will be stuck on it until they clear the heavy treeline. The Russian player needs to make every pain to secure an exit for their armor before then.
Soviet's left flank, low ground has accumulated snow. The ground is gently sloping with slight ravines breaking it up. The rail-line is raised and will be an important point to take.
Rail-Crossing
Ukraine isn't all open step. Historically this sector had a lot of small Balkas and large swathes of forest.
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Thanks for the quick response :), I've finished with the two CMBN scenarios I've been making, so I can get something going here soon, I think.
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Just downloaded all these mods tonight. Absolutely amazing work guys. I think I'll try to pump out a little scenario to make sure this stuff gets put to use. One question though, I can't seem to find the Panzer IVs anywhere in the Dropbox 3 folders; am I blind or have they been pulled?
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For me to counter-attack!!!
Channeling the spirit of Ferdinand Foch?
Exciting stuff as always.
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Rinaldi,
It might soothe the wounds you inflicted on Bootie at St Jorge to post this at his repository (TDSIII) too! Thank you for this effort.
http://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tsd3/search-2/#search/category=CM+BATTLE+FOR+NORMANDY+[SCENARIOS]
Tried uploading it, don't believe it was successful, or its awaiting moderation and there's a screening process. We'll see.
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DOWNLOAD HERE: https://www.dropbox.com/s/pbswl4vq5lmetb1/H2H Dust off the Shot.rar?dl=0
A scenario designed and (briefly) play-tested for Head to Head, occurring during the September battles along the Moselle. An American tank-heavy force attempts to secure, or at the very least move through, the Lorraine town of Sainte-Genevive. Best suited if the more experienced player plays as the Germans.
I'd like to say the scenario is fully historical, but I've made too many minor tweaks to the terrain and am far too ignorant of the German order of battle to claim this. The sources, primary and secondary are cursory at best and often contradictory.
Map Details:
Battle Type: Allied Assault, Open
Location/Time: France, September 1944
Time of Day: Daylight
Size: 2976m x 1504m
Length: 1 Hour
Designer's Notes:
A note on the wild variance in US Armor:
Finding out the actual composition of American and German armor for this time period was daunting, and unfortunately invited a lot of guesswork. I've outlined the particular details of either force in their respective briefings. Its evident that the series of actions around Nancy becomes a footnote in American histories because it is immediately overshadowed by the general tank action at Arracourt. What should have been a well-researched, textbook penetration to operational depth has sadly been relegated to being a contextual intro to Arracourt in more recent histories. That being said, we can assume that the Americans indeed had such a mix of M4 models during the Period of Sept 10th-Sept. 22nd. The 4th AD was shipped to the Continent with simple M4s, and replacements, including M4A1s, M4A3(Ws) and 76mms of those same models began to trickle in as materiel losses accumulated during the July and August pursuit. We have photographic evidence of 76mms in action with CCB on Sept. 13th. Don Fox, in his (rather haigographic) unit history also notes the presence of 2 76mms in "A" Company of the 37th out of the surviving 9 tanks only a few days later.
Historical Notes:
The time-line and precise details of this action are confusing, incomplete or contradictory. All sources agree on one thing; that Abrams and the 37th fought a sharp and highly successful 2 hour battle between Sainte-Genevive and Benicourt that resulted in large losses of men and material for the 29.PanzerGrenadier Regiment.
Compared to American sources of this day of action, the German force composition is essentially entirely unknown to me. There appears to be little English language sources on the subject. Therefore, I have done what I feel is reasonable. Post-war histories confirm the German regiment that conducted the counterattacks on the bridgehead to belong to the 29.PanzerGrenadier regiment, 3rd Panzergrenadier division. Sources vary on what armored support they had, just that they had it. Given their paper TO & E and American claims of them being supported by 10-15 "Tanks and Assault Guns" I feel confident in presuming they were being supported by StuG-IIIGs from their own 103.Panzer-Battalion. The exact numbers vary; some sources claim the assault battalions had 10 in support, others as high as 15. The 37th Tank Battalion claimed 12 "Tanks and SPGs" destroyed on this day, but they also fought over a 20 mile stretch. By the time the 37th entered the bridgehead, the 317th Infantry had knocked out at least 4 StuGs in their own defense.
Both forces command roughly a Battalion; the Germans AFVs enter the battle belatedly as a reserve; but they have organic anti-tank elements in position at battle start. For the American player to win, they will have to close distance rapidly under their overwhelming artillery cover and get into town before the Germans can react; just as Abrams did in reality. Objectives are asymmetrical, so a careful reading on the briefing is necessary to know what will score you points.
Some pictures:
From the American start positions looking towards Ste-Genevive
Historical aerial photo from Hugh Cole's Lorraine Campaign
A very poor overlap of the two for comparison
Agricultural use dominates most of the terrain around the objective
Outskirts of Sainte-Genevive. Modern street view shows a farm and chateau of some kind; and it seems to be visible in the historical aerial photos from the 40s, Artistic licence.
Town center. Sainte-Genevive would trade hands several times in the first three days of the 317th Infantry's offensive. It was technically never fully secured by Abrams, who barreled right through. Battle damage would've been evident by the time he arrived.
Past the town and on the road to Benicourt, a good reserve position for the German player
I couldn't find true topographical maps, but it appears using Google that the terrain is gently rolling with a sure rise towards the town. This should make for subtle hull-down positions for clever players as they move through the terrain.
A final note; the map is mod-tagged for a few old community mods available on TheFewGoodmen, but I've taken the liberty of packing them with the map. Anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that the 3.PanzerGrenadiers still had elements of their sub-tropical uniforms present due to how quickly they were rushed from Italy. Its most likely a falsehood, but the resources were at hand to make this happen.
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Well Merry Christmas indeed, thanks for taking the time to explain
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Very cool, Rinaldi. I just got this game. Please LMK if you would be interested in a battle!
Welcome to the forums, unfortunately I have 4 games going at once- but I'll keep your offer in mind for down the line.
Rinaldi,
Really nice having your side of the battle to view as well. Thanks for posting.
Heinrich505
No worries. I have quite a bit of catch-up to do, I'll see if I can get another turn report out before the 27th.
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Yes this seems to be a problem plaguing me constantly. I may have to just mute the sound of the video entirely while I'm talking.
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Keep it coming, loving this. Was planning on playing this scenario soon as well, so I love to see how others fare.
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The Panzergrenadiers that come with the Panzer Brigade formation - I don't remember what it's called in game.
Sturmgrenadiers; should only be available September on wards. Unsure if its limited to Holland, though historically PanzerBrigades were operating around Nancy at this time.
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Very much belated, sorry Bimmer - I'll have time to catch up over the next few weeks, hopefully. Here's a quick video of the first 5 minutes of action, I'll be updating as frequently as I am able. 1080p will be processed shortly.
Needless to say, don't peek if you don't want to ruin your own fun, Bootie.
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And there is the kicker, feel free to go start your own blog / review web site where all your fans can read your wisdom and etc...
C'mon boys....are we going to conclude that any form of negative criticism is not going to be allowed now because this is BFC's forum? Bit of a leap - though I know I'm putting words into your mouths. I'm going to continue to play devil's advocate here and point out that on several occasions (including literally today in the Red Thunder forums) a bit of well-reasoned criticism of a game has brought the Devs to the thread with good intentions.
The people complaining in this thread are basically having a very public tantrum, but its not like they don't have a shred of legitimacy in their criticisms. Don't let them ruin it for people who can be polite in a critique. Why shouldn't we give BFC our opinions, last time I checked a forum is meant to discuss a game, pros and cons
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Welcome to the forums, will be following this.
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Some screens, and then soon hopefully I can start my side of the DAR with Bootie (Promise!):
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If you're playing static, I suppose M10s would be superior, but if you have room to manouver then there's no reason not to take the M18s. They're cheaper in overall points but generally far more rare.
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Thanks Slim, you have an insanely tough fight on your hands as the Germans here. You might not even be able to tactically hold the ground, just don't lose sight of the final goal of 'ruining armor' and you should do well. Looking forward to this. I'm still not sure if I'm entirely comfortable with keeping the Germans state as "Green" - even with high motivation it leads to tank fright too early I think. RC2 will most likely have them upped to Regular at the very least.
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4 Part Video Series has been created and will be uploaded to my channel. First two parts are already available.
Though most of the battle was cat and mouse between our tanks in the end there was no way I could get across that many Panzer Grenadiers swarming over the objective areas. I think I would have required at least a couple of Shermans remaining to deny the Panzergrenadiers the free reign through the town at the end.
Awesome thank you.
Well played to the both of you, very fun, very informative to follow along to.
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http://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tpg2/cm-battle-for-normandy/raid-on-the-sielle/
Thanks, would like to see how you do. Have not yet implemented the changes above, however. -
Already received some feedback from playtests from the Proving Ground. Adjustments to be made prior to release:
1) Pretty up the map a bit more if possible, flavor objects.
2)Lower threshold for German losses from 85 to 60, so the Americans do not have to go hunting down several avenues of approach for enemy.
3)German reinforcements arrive at around the 15 minute mark, rather than at the same time as the American reinforcements
4) A single TRP will be added for the Germans
5)Americans currently must both exit with armor and keep losses lower than 15 percent. Surprisingly, two playtesters have suffered tactical defeats as the Americans under these conditions. May up the threshold to 25 percent so the Americans can absorb more losses, but it is still fairly stringent.
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Good to see this back in action.
Playtesters Needed: "MG Raid on the Sielle"
in CM Normandy Maps and Mods
Posted
Hey thanks for continuing with this. My other two playtesters just finished their match as well and both basically reached the same conclusions as you. Without spoiling too much for you, I'll probably be reducing the American reinforcements to two odd platoons that arrive in seperate intervals, or doing away with that entirely and having them start on the map. Having just playtested it myself, its an assessment I agree with. It gets excessive and cluttered for no real reason for the Americans.
I'm unsure of how to complicate the terrain further for the German defenders asides from deepen treelines and add a few more gullies, however.