CM/PzC Normandy '44 H2H Operation Axis DAR

[noob]

The following DAR is a beta test for an idea i have been developing for about a year now, which is to use the John Tiller Panzer Campaign series of games, along with Combat Mission, to allow two players to play Combat Mission H2H battles in an operational context without an umpire.

In this test my opponent is Kuderian and we are playing a modified Panzer Campaigns Normandy '44 scenario called #17 The "Jugend" come out to play.

The PCN44 scenario is a UGOIGO type game played as a H2H PBEM game with the Allied side going first.

As Combat Mission Battle for Normandy (CMBN) will be the only method used to resolve combat, i have reduced all the hard and soft attack values of all the participating PCN44 units to zero, reducing their role to that of markers to show the position and headcount of their equivalent CMBN forces.

All the combat effects of a CMBN battle will be applied to the CMBN OOB of each players forces by modification of the headcount, motivation, fitness, and supply levels of each squad / section / crew / vehicle.

The date is the 7th of July 1944, the time is 08:00 hours, the place, Normandy.

Elements of the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division and 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade have moved from the landings at Juno beach to within 10 kilometres of Caen.

Their objective is to take Bretteville, Buron, Authie, Carpiquet and Ardenne Abbey.

Facing them are elements of the 736th Infantry Division, and 12th SS Pz Division Hitlerjugend.

The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division are a volunteer force with no combat experience, so they start the game with a CMBN experience level of Green, and a motivation level of High.

The 736th Regiment are elderly Germans and conscripts from other German occupied countries, especially Russians, and have no combat experience, so their CMBN experience level is Green and their motivation level is Low.

The 12th SS Pz Division Hitlerjugend are all members of the Hitler Youth, with eastern front veterans for officers, they have no combat experience, and therefore have a CMBN experience level of Green, however, as they are all Hitler Youth, their motivation level is Fanatic.

Below are screenshots of the PCN44 scenario showing the operational area with place names, terrain objectives, the deployment of the Axis forces, and a unit identification key.

Starting positions and placenames

Unit ID key

12TH SS Panzer Division

716th Infantry Divsion

[noob]

Now it's time to see what the Allies have planned, the screenshot below shows the Allied positions after the Allied Turn 1 movement phase.

The units with the T after their movement allowance in the unit info boxes mean they are in Travel Mode (Column).

Kuderian informed me that his units C,D,E, and G are attacking the Axis units adjacent to them, i informed him that i am decling his offer of battle and will be withdrawing my threatened units by at least two hexes during my forthcoming movement phase, therefore there are no Combat Mission battles after the Allied Turn 1 movement phase.

I forgot to mention there are 8 operational turns, each turn represents 2 hours, each hex represents 1 square kilometre.

[noob]

Now is the Axis Turn 1 Movement Phase, and i can see an opportunity to capture some of his armour that has moved too far forward.

So i will withdraw the units i mentioned earlier and attack with the units i have near his Stuart platoons.

I perform these moves with the following result.

I now intend to attack the two Stuart platoons, and therefore create two separate CM battles.

My opponent cannot withdraw to avoid the battles because all the adjacent hexes to the one occupied by his Stuarts are occupied by my forces, therefore he will have to fight his way off the hex and attempt to beak my encirclement by using an exit zone that will be placed at the north edge of the CM map.

My CM OOB for the battle at hex 11-10 (Authie) will be:

2 x Kompanies of SS PzGd's (2 x 144 men)

Experience - Green / Motivation - Fanatic / Fitness - Fit / Leadership - Typical / Supply - Full / Headcount - Full.

10 x PzIVH

Experience - Green / Motivation - Fanatic / Fitness - Fit / Leadership - Typical / Supply - Full / Headcount - Full.

The CM OOB for the battle at hex 12-10 will be:

1 x Kompanie of SS PzGd's (144 men)

Experience - Green / Motivation - Fanatic / Fitness - Fit / Leadership - Typical / Supply - Full / Headcount - Full.

15 x PzIVH

Experience - Green / Motivation - Fanatic / Fitness - Fit / Leadership - Typical / Supply - Full / Headcount - Full.

I will not be using any artillery, firstly, because i do not think the target warrants it, and secondly, because whatever artillery i use during a movement / attack phase i cannot use during the next non movement / defence phase.

I have asked George MC, a regular opponent of mine, if he wants to join my cause and fight the battle at hex 11-10 on my behalf, i will fight the battle at hex 12-10.

George agreed, so now the CM battle can be set up with pre prepared maps, an explanation of the set up of the battles and the Axis DAR's of the battles will follow soon.

[Rokko]

Man I could really help provide some maps for this area if only BF cared for making their a map editor a little more user friendly and fixed that pointless map-center thingie... -.-

[Jaksteri]

Looks a bit confusing at first glance, but looks like a quite neat tool for dynamic campaigns.

So uh, are you making a tournament or a "Let's play" kind of thing here?

[noob]

Looks a bit confusing at first glance, but looks like a quite neat tool for dynamic campaigns.

It is an excellent tool, by removing all the combat values of the PzC units, the game effectively becomes just a map with counters on, but most importantly with a FOW function, which is the one thing that makes it a viable operational layer to use in an umpired or umpireless CM operation / campaign.

Something like this is ideal for real time players as any of the 60 turn CM battles that the operation creates could be resolved in one session, and the players could then move on with the operation, allowing an operation to be completed in a matter of weeks rather than months when doing it PBEM WEGO style.

So uh, are you making a tournament or a "Let's play" kind of thing here?

The DAR you see on this thread is a PzC Normandy '44 historical scenario that came with the game, it is being played as a head to head game PBEM game against a CM buddy of mine called Kuderian, he has been a player in a previous CM operation i ran, and now he's playing the role of the CO for the Allies in this new version.

When the PzC game generates a CM battle we have the option of fighting it ourselves or getting other people to fight them, this depends on how many battles are generated, however i personally like the idea of only playing one and sub contracting the rest to other players.

[mjkerner]

noob, I've been following your development of this system with interest, and not a little awe, seeing all the time and effort you put into this. Clearly a labor of love. I have PZC Normandy and a few other titles from the series, but I haven't played them in years. I always did like the ability to tweak the OOB, and the unit artwork as well (but not particularly the 2d map art).

Anyway, I wish to put in a bid to be a subcontractor. References and resume available upon request.

[Heinrich505]

noob,

This is great stuff and I enjoy reading your DAR's. Your effort into making this a viable option for melding strategic and tactical is greatly appreciated. Like mjkerner, I wanted to let you know how much I enjoy seeing your posts on this.

I have the older versions of John Tiller's titles and they won't run on Win7. But I loved that series. As I don't have time for H2H this probably wouldn't work for me as single player, but I enjoy the reads very much.

Please keep posting them. They are greatly appreciated.

Heinrich505

[Jaksteri]

Heinrich we can see your name ontop of your post just fine, no need to add a extra signature like you're writing a job application

[noob]

noob,

This is great stuff and I enjoy reading your DAR's. Your effort into making this a viable option for melding strategic and tactical is greatly appreciated. Like mjkerner, I wanted to let you know how much I enjoy seeing your posts on this.

I have the older versions of John Tiller's titles and they won't run on Win7. But I loved that series. As I don't have time for H2H this probably wouldn't work for me as single player, but I enjoy the reads very much.

Please keep posting them. They are greatly appreciated.

Heinrich505

Thanks for the compliment Heinrich, this should take a while to finish so there will be plenty to read

[noob]

I always did like the ability to tweak the OOB.

Yes, the ability to tweak the PzCOOB was what got me excited about using PzC, but ironically i have now reduced the need to tweak it to the bare minimum, i am now much more excited about the CM scenario editor and the import campaign units function, as the former allows me to create a master CM OOB which can be used to track all combat effects, and the latter allows me to load that master CM OOB onto any map i want.

Anyway, I wish to put in a bid to be a subcontractor. References and resume available upon request.

Any particular side ?

I could ask Kuderian if he wants to allocate you one of the two CM battles that are due to be fought.

[76mm]

Noob, where did you get the pictorial list of all of your units, I haven't seen that in the game.

[Mord]

Heinrich we can see your name ontop of your post just fine, no need to add a extra signature like you're writing a job application

Hey, I've been doing that for 11 years.

Mord. <-------See. That one's fresh and new.

[mjkerner]

Noob, I prefer Axis side for the time being, but I'm not married to that.

[noob]

Noob, where did you get the pictorial list of all of your units, I haven't seen that in the game.

I made it by cutting and pasting screenshots of the PzC unit info boxes using Paintshop Pro and the screenshot function (PrtScreen) on my keyboard.

[noob]

Noob, I prefer Axis side for the time being, but I'm not married to that.

Ok, Axis it is then.

[76mm]

I made it by cutting and pasting screenshots of the PzC unit info boxes using Paintshop Pro and the screenshot function (PrtScreen) on my keyboard.

Aha, and I thought I was missing some kind of utlity. By the way, have you checked out Volcano's mods for the unit portraits? They look much better than the stock portraits.

[Jaksteri]

Hey, I've been doing that for 11 years.

Mord. <-------See. That one's fresh and new.

Well I find it a bit odd and unnecessary, like you think we are half blind or something. But whatever floats your boat I guess.

[noob]

Apart from the additional level of thinking, operational play, like reality, throws up some unique match ups, ones that would rarely, if at all, be made, or played, as one off custom CM scenarios.

These match ups, as in the case of the two CM battles to be fought, can be ridiculously one sided, however, in the context of an operation, the victory conditions for each battle are all relative, for example:

In the two forthcoming CM battles, the Axis have two platoons of Stuarts encircled by 25 PzIV's and three companies of SS PzGrd's, all with the intention of totally destroying a vulnerable armoured force with minimal losses, and substantially reducing the enemies scouting capabilities, therefore the Allies are outnumbered 3 to 1 in armor, considerably out gunned, and have no infantry support.

The only advantage the Allies have is the speed and manouverability of their Stuarts, that, coupled with the Allied exit zone along the rear map edge, gives them a fighting chance to try and escape the encirclement, or the Allied player could elect to hide, and try and inflict as many casualties as possible before his ultimate demise, with any tank immobilisation being an acceptable result, as it would take enemy armor out of the front line for a while ( I haven't worked out for how long yet).

So, even with bad odds, the Allied player could still do some damage that could effect later events.

There is also pressure on the Axis players, as this should be a mopping up operation, so the embarrassment factor is high if anything goes wrong

The two CM battles take place on hexes 11-10 (Village) and 12-10 (Clear).

Below is a screenshot of the CM deployment zones for the battle at hex 11-10.

There is one company (144 men) of PzGrd's to be deployed in column anywhere in the northern axis deployment zone, one platoon 5 x PzIVH to be deployed in column anywhere in the eastern axis deployment zone, and one company, and one platoon of PzIVH, to be deployed in any formation in the southern axis deployment zone.

There is an Allied Exit Zone 1000m and 1 tile wide running along the north edge of the map as shown below.

The terrain objectives in the centre of the map, if occupied at the end of the battle, give the occupying side control of the hex, and thus automatically bump the enemy off the CM map.

If a terrain objective is contested, the hex is regarded as contested, and the CM battle can continue, if the side that is moving operationally, after the CM battle round, wants to remain on, or adjacent to the contested hex.

[George MC]

In the two forthcoming CM battles, the Axis have two platoons of Stuarts encircled by 25 PzIV's and three companies of SS PzGrd's, all with the intention of totally destroying a vulnerable armoured force with minimal losses, and substantially reducing the enemies scouting capabilities, therefore the Allies are outnumbered 3 to 1 in armor, considerably out gunned, and have no infantry support.

The only advantage the Allies have is the speed and manouverability of their Stuarts, that, coupled with the Allied exit zone along the rear map edge, gives them a fighting chance to try and escape the encirclement, or the Allied player could elect to hide, and try and inflict as many casualties as possible before his ultimate demise, with any tank immobilisation being an acceptable result, as it would take enemy armor out of the front line for a while ( I haven't worked out for how long yet).

So, even with bad odds, the Allied player could still do some damage that could effect later events.

There is also pressure on the Axis players, as this should be a mopping up operation, so the embarrassment factor is high if anything goes wrong

No embarrassment - in the event of failure there is only one option...

[Broadsword56]

This is exactly what makes meta-gaming operational campaigns so great: The odd situations and variety of matchups that make for some really dynamic, exciting battles. And it's not so bad being the outnumbered side in one of these, either -- because it's just one battle in a larger theatre, and the more tanks/men you save or exit here, the more will live on to fight another day somehere else.

[Mord]

Well I find it a bit odd and unnecessary, like you think we are half blind or something.

Well, just let us know if anything else bothers you and we'll do what we can to change the way we do things so as not to annoy you.

Mord.

Mord.

Mord.

[mjkerner]

Sory, I didn't catch the name. Mort?

[Mord]

Montgomery to you...

Mord.

[Jaksteri]

Well, just let us know if anything else bothers you and we'll do what we can to change the way we do things so as not to annoy you.

Mord.

Mord.

Mord.

I think we all know who's upset here