Baseless Speculation on the Market-Garden Module

[Sequoia]

"

Back in the CMBO days, there was a spreadsheet floating around indicating which month each vehicle in the game was available. I have since learned the spreadsheet was not entirely accurate, but based on it below is what we could be seeing new in Sept '44. Also Steve posted that AA Artillery would be introduced in the module, thererefore:

Germans:

King Tiger (Henschel turret)

Hetzer

Nashorn

Wirbelwind

Sdkfz 234/3 75mm PAK

Sdkfz 250/8 75mm gun

Sdkfz 251/17 20mm Flak

Panther G Mid or late

Jadgpanzer V Mid or late

Allies:

M18 Hellcat

Sherman Jumbo 75 just barely.

M16 AA quad HT

[Myles Keogh]

I'm very much looking forward to the MG module. (Frankly, I was disappointed when BF took a detour to Sicily rather than proceeding towards the Netherlands. I still bought CMFI, but I've barely touched it.)

I was happy to hear that BF intends the MG module to also encompass the other battles along the German border such as Aachen and the early Lorraine campaign.

I greatly anticipate the new scenarios and campaigns, but also am looking forward to BF "completing" the Normandy campaign by providing us units and weapons that were prominent in that campaign but so far remain MIA such as:

1) Fallschirmjaegers: Has BF firmly confirmed their appearance for the MG module? I noticed Steve's last blurb about MG confirmed the appearance of the Polish Airborne and scratch German units including naval detachments, but the Fallshirmjaegers were noticeably not mentioned. Re-reading Johns' "Clay Pigeons" again reminds one what a tenacious and important opponent the "Green Devils" were to American troops in the bocage and how their absence is very conspicuous from CMBN.

2) German AA guns for their ground support role. I've noticed people mentioning that BF has confirmed their appearance in MG, but I missed that post. I hope it's true. Afterall in "Saving Private Ryan" that 20mm AA gun is portrayed as the most potent weapon in the German arsenal. Far more effective than those useless Tiger tanks or a company of elite SS panzergrenadiers.

3) French tanks in German service. I know CMBN scenario designers have tried to work around the absence of those French hunks of junk that were pressed into service against Allied airborne units during the early days of the campaign by substituting Lynxs or even Panzer IVs. I always assumed those vehicles could be fodder for the planned "odds and ends" CMBN module. However, their appearance in CMFI does give me some hope that they could transition over to the MG module.

[Lt. Smash]

1) Fallschirmjaegers: Has BF firmly confirmed their appearance for the MG module? I noticed Steve's last blurb about MG confirmed the appearance of the Polish Airborne and scratch German units including naval detachments, but the Fallshirmjaegers were noticeably not mentioned. Re-reading Johns' "Clay Pigeons" again reminds one what a tenacious and important opponent the "Green Devils" were to American troops in the bocage and how their absence is very conspicuous from CMBN.

I am looking forward to MG primarily because I thought FJ was going to be included but I agree 100% with your concern that the absence of any discussion about FJ from BF makes me worry that FJ will be left out of this module which would be a shame.

Bob

[MG TOW]

I'm very much looking forward to the MG module. (Frankly, I was disappointed when BF took a detour to Sicily rather than proceeding towards the Netherlands. I still bought CMFI, but I've barely touched it.)

I was happy to hear that BF intends the MG module to also encompass the other battles along the German border such as Aachen and the early Lorraine campaign.

I greatly anticipate the new scenarios and campaigns, but also am looking forward to BF "completing" the Normandy campaign by providing us units and weapons that were prominent in that campaign but so far remain MIA such as:

1) Fallschirmjaegers: Has BF firmly confirmed their appearance for the MG module? I noticed Steve's last blurb about MG confirmed the appearance of the Polish Airborne and scratch German units including naval detachments, but the Fallshirmjaegers were noticeably not mentioned. Re-reading Johns' "Clay Pigeons" again reminds one what a tenacious and important opponent the "Green Devils" were to American troops in the bocage and how their absence is very conspicuous from CMBN.

2) German AA guns for their ground support role. I've noticed people mentioning that BF has confirmed their appearance in MG, but I missed that post. I hope it's true. Afterall in "Saving Private Ryan" that 20mm AA gun is portrayed as the most potent weapon in the German arsenal. Far more effective than those useless Tiger tanks or a company of elite SS panzergrenadiers.

3) French tanks in German service. I know CMBN scenario designers have tried to work around the absence of those French hunks of junk that were pressed into service against Allied airborne units during the early days of the campaign by substituting Lynxs or even Panzer IVs. I always assumed those vehicles could be fodder for the planned "odds and ends" CMBN module. However, their appearance in CMFI does give me some hope that they could transition over to the MG module.

Just want to add the German's weren't the only ones using AAA in the ground support role. The Canadians had an organic Bofors regiment the 3LAA used in the fighting around Caen to Falaise. They were called upon to support many assaults into built up areas. Then attached 2 guns per infantry battalion.

[Sequoia]

Here's the quote many people missed:

Since you brought up 20mm cannon -- what are the chances we'll see this in CMBN for Market-Garden?

Guaranteed. And not just 20mm. And not just the single barrel type. And not... well, we'll let you know more later when we make a proper press release for it

Steve

[Sublime]

that's great news. hopefully the quad .50 will make an appearance as well =D

[Barkhorn1x]

that's great news. hopefully the quad .50 will make an appearance as well =D

Oh my, I would love an M16 GMC:

"With a need to replace the M13, the M16 Halftrack of WWII was developed and became what some would regard as the most crucial weapon of World War II Antiaircraft Artillery. Development first began in December of 1942. Along with the aesthetics of the carriage’s classic lines, this halftrack is also known for its weapon – the quad fifty machine gun (M45D) – nicknamed “Meat Chopper”. The M45D was mounted on a Maxson turret with 4 M2HB machine guns. Traversing at 60 degrees per second and 400-500 rounds per minute, the two cargo boxes at the rear of the vehicle (along with additional ammo chests that were carried on the vehicle) stored enough ammunition to allow the M16 eight minutes of sustained fire.

http://www.armedforcesmuseum.com/world-war-ii-m16-halftrack/

...and how about the M15 as well?

http://www.antiaircraft.org/M15.htm

One can dream.

[Sequoia]

Regarding The Fallschirmjaegers: Here's the post announcing they would not be in the COMMONWEALTH module. Since then, many statements from beta testers have confirmed their presence in the M-G module.

We'll be making some more announcements about EXACTLY what's in the Commonwealth Module in terms of formations. We've already detailed the vehicles and some weapons.

One thing I'll say now, in advance, is that Waffen SS and LW Field Divisions are the two major groupings of new German units available in Commonwealth Module (there are some new Heer units too). What about Fallschirmjäger? No. They were swapped out in favor of Luftwaffe Field Divisions for Commonwealth. Three reasons for this change:

1. LW Field Divisions saw extensive combat (short lived, true enough) against the Brits. The divisions effectively ceased to exist before the end of the Normandy campaign, which means these units don't have a logical place in the next Module (Arnhem).

2. FJ units played a prominent role in the defense of Holland as well as Normandy. Including them in the Arnhem Module, therefore, makes sense since anybody playing Arnhem also has (at least) the base game. With that combination you can play FJ from June 6 all the way through Market Garden.

3. The mass of new units in Commonwealth has been quite daunting to add in a reasonable timeframe. The FJ have a very unique organization and to do it justice we really need to do it when we're not overworked with the other stuff. LW Field Divisions were much easier to include because they are derived from Heer formations so they made the cut instead.

I know some of you will be disappointed by this decision and how "late" in the development cycle it's coming. The timing is an indication of when we figured out we had too many things to do for Commonwealth and not enough time to do them all.

Knowing what is in Commonwealth Module... we're not worried AT ALL about it "coming up short". Quite the contrary.

Steve

[agusto]

My baseless speculation on the MG module that is actually not basless but based on my experience with CMFI and CMBN: I am gonna spent hours and hours and hours playing it.

Besides that, here is my truely baseles speculation:

I hope that there will be some new, different types of terrain. You know, i CMBN we had hedgerows, in CMFI we had large hills and such so now in in MG, i hope we are gonna have some more central european terrain to fight on. I think that having different types of terrain is the thing that makes for the most diversified gaming experience because the terrain is the most important factor besides your enemys weapons and your own that affects the tactics you have to apply in order to succeed.

[akd]

Regarding The Fallschirmjaegers: Here's the post announcing they would not be in the COMMONWEALTH module. Since then, many statements from beta testers have confirmed their presence in the M-G module.

FYI, we (beta testers) are not in a position to confirm or deny content that has not been officially announced. Any statements from us on MG content are based on what Steve has said in the public forums.

[Sequoia]

You're right AKD. I shouldn't have said it was confirmed by beta testers. Anyway here is a more recent quote on the subject:

We'll let you know the details when we have everything nailed down solid. As you know, we don't like to under/over promise specifics.

One thing I can say is Arnhem will include German Fallschirmjäger. They can be used in the June through September timeframe, not just September. Which means all sorts of early D-Day battles can be recreated that haven't been possible up to now.

Steve