DerKommissar

Celleno: The Final Battle

 
The Mission

Before us, lies the hill-top fortress of Celleno. This is the final objective of our campaign, and it looks to be the toughest one, yet. We did our best to conserve our fuel, ammo and manpower for this battle. We are ahead of the recce, and nearly blind. Now, night approaches and we must begin the assault.
 
The Plan

Phase 1: Establish observation points and direct the initial bombardment.
Phase 2: Occupy the heights and establish a base of fire.
Phase 3: Begin the combined assault on ALPHA.
Phase 4: Mop up BRAVO and CHARLIE.
 
The Forces

Task Force 1 (Armoured): C Squadron (Major Chetty)
Task Force 2 (Infantry): B Company (Major Jansen)
Task Force 3 (Infantry): C Company (Major Ntsimango)
Supports: 2 x Recce Troops, 2 x Forward Observers, 2 x Machinegun Sections

Phase 1: Recce

Recce platoons sneak their way into the brush. We need to see what we're dealing with.
 

Forward observers establish satisfactory observation posts. They are ready to direct remaining artillery assets, for Phase 2.
 

Oi! PAK opened up on us! Reverse -- oh, and do let Major Chetty's Shermans know where they are.
 

Firing at that tree-line! First shot falls short!
 

PAK returns fire! That was a close one -- hope we've brought spare underpants.
 

They've quieted down after a few shots... but keep firing! Major Chetty doesn't want to see that PAK, ever again.
 

The Huns know we're here. MG bullets ricochets off of armour, as our own MGs arrive into the thick of it.
 

HMG spotted. The gloves are coming off. Time to establish fire superiority.

Phase 2: Base of Fire


Snipers sit atop the hill, in sturdy brick structures on Point Charlie. Shermans have to fill in as field guns.
 


Sustained HMG fire is forcing Jerry to pull back from Point Bravo. This flank looks weak, Major Chetty is growing eager for an attack.
 

Forward observers enjoy a great view, as spotting rounds fall on Point Alpha. All of the Battlegroup's howitzers are coming down on Celleno.
 

Task Force 1 is poised to strike. Task Force 2 and 3 are waiting for artillery cover. Assault is imminent.

I fly IL2.  Even during WW2, you made one pass and dumped all ordinance on a single target whenever air defenses are present.  Anything else is a death wish.

Not at the moment but we are tracking it. It appeared very late in development and we thought it was fixed. Somehow it unfixed itself for the release build. Its been added to the list for a first post release patch, which is being worked on now. 

With the F&R-release and the upcoming CMCW I think that is the first time since I've been playing battlefront games that I can't keep up with playing...

Seelow Lows

Early 80s Cold war atmosphere...
It would have to be something like this
or in an even more bleak tone this
or a bit more chilled out, this
or for a more obscure left field flavour this
Bliss, utter bliss

Glad to see this thread still rocking out....
 
 
 

ok, the good news is , when you get the game here shortly. You will be happy with how much content you will be getting.
I am sure of it.

I thought Combat Mission:Starship Troopers was next.

Roleplay in CM can be both fun and efficient. So, step into your officers' shoes. If memory serves, here's my rundown of the mission:
a. You've taken a village. Now, the Hun is trying to take it back. As a rule, the defender holds a qualitative advantage. The counter-attack will be most effective, when the enemy is beaten and bloodied. So, let's focus on the defense first.
b. Set up your forces in ambush. Think as your opponent: where would you attack if you were him? Where would you call in artillery? Try to set your forces in a safe place, that offers overlapping Line of Sight on suspected enemy advance routes. Try to space out forces that may get stonked, and run back to fall back positions when spotting rounds start falling.
c. Put your observers, heavy support and tanks on the wooded hilly terrain (behind the village). Keep an eye on the hill in front of the village, the Hun may have STuG (s) there. The Hun usually concentrates his forces in a so-called Schwerpunkt. If they manage to achieve a local breakthrough, use mobile units from quiet sectors to bolster the defender's efforts. 
d. Let the wave break against your shore. Once the Hun's assault stalls, it is time to strike! Have your observers call the rest of your artillery any buildings or wooded cover in the enemy's rear. Move up your rear line, as the front line keeps watch. This is called "leap frogging". Use HUNT to cautiously advance to the hill, to the front.
e. Divide and conquer. Every time you encounter an enemy unit, stop and shoot everything you have at it, until it is dead. A thoroughly broken enemy will surrender, and hand you an automatic victory. At the end of the day, you want as many of your troops to see tomorrow. So, don't bite off more than you can chew.

I'm feeling like a pretty happy loyal customer atm.

I wanted to do my high school Remembrance Day speech about the Boer War. But because it was largely forgotten (ironically), it had to be about Afghanistan or WW1. The audience cannot be yourself, unfortunately.
Cold War is hot right now due to 80's nostalgia and even Call of Duty is on that band wagon. I'm just happy that some saint decided to fund Fortress Italy, as it is often forgotten. 
From what I gather, BFC is going to give Black Sea and Final Blitzkrieg some love next. I'd love to see those titles expanded, hoping to see USMC vs VDV and Commonwealth vs Very Late War Germans.
This being said, the Eastern Front is the biggest and baddest front in history. I will buy any game set in it (WW1 & 1812 too). Who knows? We may see a Renaissance of '40s nostalgia in the next decade or so?

Counterpart...my favorite TV show ever.  Its only downside is that it ended too soon.

A few were picture requests- There's an M44 in the top picture (center), and the other two are Soviet winter (with the random mix of Ushanka and helmet).
There's a good deal of visual variety for the infantry, always at the service of showing things that could be a characteristic of the unit ("military" versus "standard" appearance for Volkssturm), and for breaking up visual repetition over large formations (Soviet winter helmet/Ushanka- also for greatcoat models).
 

Aragorn, although it pains me to say this, since you liked my Goum mod so much, but I never thought F&R development was a shambles, and I think Steve has explained things (again) succinctly. In fact, I expected BFC long ago to stop announcing anything until they hit the FC stage, sort of like FI or CW, only even later. So breathe slow, count to 10, play with the Goums, pull a Brian and look on the brighter side of life, then kiss and make up with BFCs release plans. 😎  I have faith you can do it!
 
We all know BFC will continue to make the bestest, most excellent games and modules and packs for us—on their timetable, not ours. And they likely will, tragically, hope for early release only to achieve a later one. What with all the content that we already have, it doesn’t seem like we are really losing anything waiting for the next treat. I mean,  come on, R2V content was insane, just as insane as SF2, and you know F&R is going to be, too.

Glorious March to Victory, Final Post - "Like Tears in Rain"
Well big thank you to all who watched.  I figure I should stop leaving you all hanging, so we cease fired on the last turn (33 I believe).  Now take the end-screen with a grain of salt:

So first off there was a dumb double-accounting error for the Soviet side.  Basically the parameters were:
En Cas 50% = 50 VPs
En Condition 50% = 50 VPs
Dollbach Village = 100 VPs.
The error was the Soviets had another 100 VPs for having fewer than/better than 50% cas/cond, so I subtracted that because if we had paid attention Bil was above 50% too.  So the score was really 100 because I held the town.  (Note, also a small error in that his M150s were counted as tanks...a bug we noted for fixing)
The outstanding question is "could Bil have reduced me to 50% without going there himself"...that one is tougher.   So for Soviets:
215 men: lost 71 = 33%
17 Tanks: lost 10 = 58%
17 AFVs: lost 9 = 53%
For the US:
138 men: lost 56 = 40.5%
12 Tanks: lost 6 = 50%
17 AFVs (also counting his mortar carriers): Lost 6 = 35%
So this was by no stretch a "Total Victory", that was straight up on us for not checking the victory parameters.  I hold the village but given the drubbing I received in taking it, I am not sure I can put a statue up in Red Square for this either.  Add to this the fact I started with a lot more men and tanks, it starts to push the whole thing into Draw territory to my mind.  
Now Bil had much better arty, had air (I had none) and EW which made my arty next to useless without TRPs (which I did not have) so there is that.  And my starting position was not the best but it is a poor craftsman that blames the workbench.  
I will let you all judge for yourselves.  Regardless, was a helluva fight, the kind that comes around only every so often,  and we are all working to get you guys a chance at it yourselves soon enough.
 

The Mandalorian has been quite good.
However, firing Gina Carano was a horrible woke mistake.

Although CM has its shortcomings in simulating street fighting, I can't find a better street fighting game on the market that simulates that many elements.
So CM is only choice for me to choose.  Other games just don't meet my needs

Here's the campaign run-down for the ones not described yet. Ithikial has an additional campaign that he has been outlining, so that's another campaign in the mix, additional to the below.
The German and Soviet main, and more traditional campaigns are each around 9 battles, depending upon track. These each have some limited branching to keep things interesting.
Each of the below has some degree of variable set-up for each campaign scenario, again-to keep things interesting over more than one play-through.
3 AI plans are the norm for each, as well. A lot of attention has been given to the AI in both the attack and defense, and I hope it shows when you are hunkered down in the Hegyikastély, or countering attacks outside of Naugard.
I am a proponent of letting everyone discover the thing "as new" as much as possible, so I'll be posting just the thumbnails for the settings and forces for now, with a brief description of the Berlin campaigns.
The two central campaigns are somewhat "phased"- The Soviets have 3/3/3 phases- 3 battles in Poland, 3 in Germany, and 3 in Berlin. The Germans are phased by KG assignment, as Regiment "Norge" is the through-line. It is about half KG Darges, half KG Phillip. Some branching may impact that, but the variable AI should keep it interesting between plays.
Soviet campaign:

German Campaign:

Berlin. Two versions, one for the Soviet side (pummel away, but watch those Panzerfausts), and one for the German (enjoy the pummeling).
The following campaigns (roughly the same, from two different perspectives) cover the fighting for the Lehrter Station and Kroll Oper in the first battle, the Reichstag and to the Staatsoper in the second battle. Forces are retained over the two battles, with some limited replacements/reinforcements. Two battles each.
The idea for these was to somewhat recreate the feeling of the old CMx1 Operations. One force, during a single battle, linked terrain. There isn't persistent damage, but creative map positioning gives a sense of advancing over the ground fought over.


 

Phase 1: Recce

Recce platoons sneak their way into the brush. We need to see what we're dealing with.
 

Forward observers establish satisfactory observation posts. They are ready to direct remaining artillery assets, for Phase 2.
 

Oi! PAK opened up on us! Reverse -- oh, and do let Major Chetty's Shermans know where they are.
 

Firing at that tree-line! First shot falls short!
 

PAK returns fire! That was a close one -- hope we've brought spare underpants.
 

They've quieted down after a few shots... but keep firing! Major Chetty doesn't want to see that PAK, ever again.
 

The Huns know we're here. MG bullets ricochets off of armour, as our own MGs arrive into the thick of it.
 

HMG spotted. The gloves are coming off. Time to establish fire superiority.