WimO

After already spending over 600 hours creating maps and scenarios (currently nine) for a D-Day campaign about the capture and holding of the bridge over the Canal de Caen, I have been turned on my head. I have been guided by a number of respectable Engish accounts (Barber, Bernage, Crookenden, Fowler, and Kilvert-Jones. All these refer to the presence of German tanks (Pz IV) in the attempt to pass through Le Port and in the attack on Benouville as related by veteran's accounts.. Then ... Today I recieved the English translation of Werner Kortenhaus' "The Combat History of the 21.Panzer Division". At the age of 18 Kortenhaus was a member of 4.Kompanie, Panzerregiment 22 of the 21.Panzer Division. His two volume history written in German in the 1950s is the definitieve go to work about his division in Nomandy. The 21.Panzer Division was the nearest to the Caen Canal and Orne River bridges so it would have been the one to provide the armour in the English accounts. However... Kortenhaus never mentions any armour being sent to Benouville or Le Port. Indeed, he is specific to mention its elements going elsewhere. He nevertheless does mention exactly which units were sent to deal with the British airborne on the bridges and approximate times. None of these included tanks or armoured cars, only self-propelled guns and half-tracks. His units and times mess up my scenarios as well as English accounts. Don't know what to do now. Don't much feel like starting over .. nor finishing.

@PEB14Good points.

What about using just a single installation of CMFI but five copies of your z folder. You can just 'MOVE' the appropriate z folder in and out of the CMFI installation. You can do that either manually as required or using JSGME. Or place your mods-in-progress in JSGME and move the individual mod in and out. Then you don't need five installs of anything.

Some more thoughts about Green & Conscript troops for realism. Accepting the observation that assigning G&C Experience ratings to our pixeltruppen, then as a scenario designer I also need to substantially increase the length of scenarios. The historical events that I have recreated in my various scenarios all took place over MUCH long periods of time than the scenarios. So if we make the troops in our scenarios behave more realistically then more time will be required to effect the result. I believe that most gamers want to play a game that yields results in a reasonable amount of time. What is reasonable will vary from one person to another but it is usually not four or five or eight hours. Looking at it that way, I would like to offer up the idea the Battlefront got it right. By making Regular and higher rated troops 'supermen' (on both sides mind you) it allows scenarios to complete in a shorter amount of time. Summary: For realism make troops G&C AND increase scenario time by two to five times. If you want a reasonable length of 'game', use Battlefront's ratings. Choose your flavour.

@kohlenklau What is "G&C"?

I was just fishing for a general opinion/impression.

Given the above discussion I am also considering modifying the parameters of my Bloody Buron Overhaul eventhough as a 'game' it plays satisfactorily. Cdn Inf (veteran): Green +1 Leadership +1 Motivation Cdn Armour (veteran): Conscript+1 Leadership +0 Motivation Off-map Cdn Arty (crack): Conscript +2 Leadership +1 Motivation German 12SS Inf (veteran fanatic): Green +1 Leadership +2 Motivation German Armour (veteran): Conscript +1 Leadership +1 Motivation Off-map German Arty (veteran): Conscript +1 Leadership +1 Motivation Feedback?

EXPERIENCE LEVELS: The above discussion about unit Experience levels is very informative. I would like you'all's feedback. At the moment I am working on creating a 24 hour campaign game called Operation Deadstick which involves British Airborne capturing and holding the bridge across the Canal de Caen (aka Pegasus bridge) on D-Day. The British airlanding are obviously Crack (Elite training watered down by Green experience) and the follow up British Paras either Veteran. The Germans opposite are initally unwilling veterans (Poles and Russians in the mix) and when elements of 21 Pzr Div arrive, willing veterans. Given the terrain is mostly difficult and includes a fair bit of village fighting do you think that the following would work? British Oxf & Bucks Airlanding: Green +1 motivation +2 leadership British 7th Parachute Battalion: Green +1 motivation and leadership German Bridge Guards 736 Gren Rgt 716 Inf Div: initially Green -2 motivation and leadership German Bridge Guards 736 Gren Rgt 716 Inf Div: after rallying Green -1 motivation +0 leadership 1.Kp. Pionier 716 Inf Div (first attack vs bridge): Green -1 motivation +0 leadership elements of 21 Pzr Div: Green +0 motivation +1 leadership

I wanted to have a better understanding of the effect of weather conditions on CMBN's clear (blue line) line of sight ranges. I created a map that was perfectly flat, had only short grass and no features. Then set up a U.S. rifle platoon on one edge and drew target lines down range under various conditions for both day and night. Attached is a pdf showing the results for your use. Measurements are not perfect but good enough. This is very helpful for me when creating scenarios. I find the night-time range for overcast conditions to be hugely excessive when compared to veteran's accounts. CMBN LOS Weather.pdf

Start Age 8: Elastolin knights, castles and siege engines. Then followed in order: Airfix HO WWII Brits and German figures and Sherman and Panther tank kit in scale to match; Monogram model knights, accumulated toy knights and castles of all sorts ending with Swoppets Wars of the Roses and Elastolin 4 cm Romans. .... pause during high school ... In university restarted: Avalon Hill and SPI boardgames (innumerable), restarted Airfix HO scale Napoleonics, Romans and Brits, Robin Hood etc etc.; modelling Airfix and Historex Airfix 54 mm Napoleonics and many other figs.; settled into 15 mm Wars of the Roses minis, Wings of War WWI minis and 28 mm gladiators. Monthly minis historical gaming club. First computer wargames Samurai and Rome Total War. FIrst WWII computer game Combat Mission Barbarossa to Berlin. And here I am in CMBN and all CM WWII titles. 300 Samurai minis waiting for a paint job. Over 65 years of wargaming. The social life of miniature gaming is the best. Computer Wargaming has the advantage of faster play than minis and fewer rules to read or argue over.

Version 3 of my large/huge Gruppe Boehm to Le Rocher scenario has been posted at the Scenario Depot. It changes both American and German experience levels and adds Special Movement Rules. Explanation: When I first play-tested the scenario I moved the Germans primarily along the roads, moving off-road only to deal with American strong points that interdicted the advance. I felt that this was appropriate given the pitch black night and unfamiliar terrain. Recent players proved themselves to be more imaginative, stretching the German force right across the map and advancing over the American positions. Although this was fair and appropriate play, it was completely unlike what was possible in the historical situation. In response I have added Special Movement Rules to limit, but not entirely eliminate, off-road movement. Feedback received also suggested that the American 'Green' experience rating vs the German 'Crack' gave the German player an overwhelming advantage. Although a mix of 'Green' and 'Normal' appears appropriate for the American Division at that time, 'Crack' was certainly an exaggeration for the German side. Although at the start of June, Lehr was 'Green' for other ranks and 'Veteran' for officers, by mid-July Lehr would be a mix of 'veteran' and 'normal'. I have revised the settings by selecting 'Typical' and leaving it up to the program to randomly allocate the levels it has coded as appropriate to these divisions in July. How the combination of these two changes will play has yet to be seen. I don't have the time to test it. Other players are welcome to revise any of my maps and scenarios as they please. I will not be making any more revisions to any of my past projects and am abandoning my "6th Airborne East of the Orne" project. Work continues on my Operation "Coup de Main" campaign project.

@NPye Fantastic work.

@PEB14Thank you! Yes, that did it. Pzr Grn '44 (armoured) HQs and FOO (armoured). Very helpful.

The above two communications vehicles show up in a previously posted "Showcase Vehicles and Guns Base and CW Ge.btt", location "France", month "August", but when I look for them in the unit lists under any location, month, arm, individual vehicles, etc., I am unable to find them.. Would be useful in my campaign under construction. Any advice how to locate would be appreciated.

@ZmeuLThank you "Z". I was not angry. I was hurt. But feeling better now. If you PM me I will add you to my shared Drop Box and you can get the mods today.

@PEB14 The mods are all in my shared DropBox folder. I will move them to the folder that you shared with me.

Joke or not, I don't appreciate the comment. I have shared my mods with Bootie weeks ago and made multiple requests that he post them. I have also offered in this forum to share my mods via DropBox with anyone who PM's me. As for the negativity, it is not conducive to encouraging me to continue creating for CMBN.

The photo is from "The Pegasus and Orne Bridges" by Barber. There are other useful photos in that book including the one that shows that the "gas pump" referred to by some of the troopers is in front of La Chaumiere. The east wing extension to the corner house is possibly already present in this old photo but out of sight because it was "set-back and only half the depth of the west face that you see here. The aerial photos available to me do not help to clarify the matter.

Another photo of the corner house, this time looking from west to east, towards the bridge.

At about 0430 hours, first light, the FOO and RN attached to the 7th Btn, moved into the upper floor of the corner house to overwatch the open fields to the SW of the crescent from where the Germans could advance against the "T" intersection. Meanwhile 9 Ptn, "C" Coy sent a patrol to the end of the crescent. There they ran into a German patrol twice their size.

BTW. Old photos also show that the gas pump referred to by some of the soldiers is in front of Le Chaumiere east of the entrance.

Yep, and postcards.

I like what you've done with the tramway mini-station

I have sent the Horsa mod and my new Benouville Buildings to a Dropbox shared with Bootie and PM'd him twice to please u/l but to date, no response. If anyone wants the mods you can PM me with your email address and I will add you to my shared Dropbox.

Show me yours and I'll show you mine (1908 house)