SimPar8

Heirloom_Tomato, Heinrich505 couldn't have put it any better. I really enjoyed your scenario - i always find it refreshing to control a small number of units and not be overwhelmed by it all. Bring on the small scenarios, folks! Destroying the last truck also worked for me. I had fun and that's all I ask of any scenario. Keep up the good work. Apologies for not providing any detailed feedback. Regards Simon

It's also illuminating to consider what causes large numbers of casualties. Not exclusively - or in any particular order, but here are what I consider to be some of the main causes of forces taking major casualties: 1. Poor strategy - offensives without proper reconnaissance or communications, poor force balance (too weak for job in hand) or units not being in right place at start 2. Poor tactics - armoured probes without infantry support, poor communications, poor recon....... 3. Cock-ups - resting up for a cup of tea (sort of) in armoured column on a restrictive lane - Villers Bocage 4. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time - coming under Naval bombardment/air attack (German forces) or Nebelwerfer attack (Allied forces) CM does a great job of punishing poor tactics and elements of the other causes. It's up to scenario/campaign design to raise the risks or 1,3 and 4! But then people will moan when their forces are stopped in their tracks with no chance of attaining their objectives.

Just been re-reading the excellent "Steel Inferno" by Michael Reynolds and a couple of early passages on page 74 leapt out at me regarding recent posts in the forums. "The 3rd Battalion, after arriving at Fontenay-le-Pesnel at midnight, left its SPWs there and marched forward in the early hours of the morning. On arrival in Cristot…" Of course, one episode doesn't mean halftracks weren't driven en masse into the attack – but interesting. Perhaps of more interest are the many descriptions of fights lasting many hours but resulting in what could, perhaps, be considered relatively light casualties. Here is one such account: "The attack on Norrey by Krause's 1st SS Panzer-Grenadiers did not go well. They advanced across open fields in the dark at 0300 hours, but the company of the Regina Rifles defending the village fought doggedly…. Supporting artillery fire proved too effective and by 1100 hours Krause was forced to halt the attack with the loss of five killed and twenty wounded." Eight hours for those losses suggests an awful lot of taking cover and maybe cautious probing attacks. Methinks many gamers with a mission time of an hour/ hour and half would be somewhat more reckless! It's a shame no ammunition expenditure figures are given.