CMPzC Bulge '44 Crossroads Operation - Axis HQ

[mjkerner]

I should have some white helmets soon from MJKerner.

In about an hour, as soon as I get to my computer.

You still thinking of using only greatcoats for the Jerries? If so, I won't bother with snow camo smocks, and instead finish up what I owe Broadsword.

I think you have the green sky because the backgrounds use transparencies, and if you alter them in photoshop or whatever image program you use, that will happen unless you handle and save them in a certain way. Unlike uniform bmp images, which aren't a hassle in regard to making color changes. I don't like dealing with transparencies because I have Paint Shop Pro and I need to use another program, like GIMP to run the altered files through in a certain protocol to get them to work correctly.

Real modders like Marco Bergman, Mord, Dark Canuk, juju and the like can do them pretty easily I imagine. Me, I have to keep going back to my notes on how to deal with them, and I'm pretty lazy about that.

Edit: Phil, invite to Dropbox sent.

[Heinrich505]

I imagine there are more following this thread than you realize. I've been watching it with a great deal of interest but haven't had time to post due to real life and work.

I played the heck out of the Talonsoft games (East Front, West Front, and Pacific Theatre) and the PzC series seems to be somewhat similar to the ones I played.

Melding PzC and CM together is really a slick idea. I recall trying to merge battles from Panzerblitz together with ASL for detailed battles which never really worked too well.

This is a really neat set-up and I am following it with great interest. Thanks for posting and keeping us in on the little details and the how-to for putting things togethe

Heinrich505

[kohlenklau]

dropbox shared! mjkerner's snow helmets and smocks. Thank you Thank you Thank you. noob will never see my guys now!!!!

Green sky fixed in horizons...

[kohlenklau]

Now we have the clear skies so the USAAF can bomb the crap out of us.

And we went with the partial issue of snow suits to better reflect the poor economy of war-time Germany.

So, noob gets to select the final version, but this is my first CMPzC logo. It is a red Hexagon of course. We'll see what he thinks of it. I have some other ideas...

[kohlenklau]

Hey, we got some US airborne soldiers with greatcoats....

[kohlenklau]

we might get some gloves here soon....

[iMolestCats]

Can i get the German snow camo helmets, great coats, and those airbourne greatcoats?

Would really come in handy with a bulge scenario i'm trying to put together.

[kohlenklau]

only if I get to play-test the scenario! PM me and we will make a db folder to share stuff

[kohlenklau]

Gloves!!! Thanks MJ.

[kohlenklau]

Okay, we started the battle.

I basically stuck with the below plan except on the left side.

On the left, I will draw it in detail later, I went with small tank and infantry assault teams, moving through the forest....

[kohlenklau]

Here is what I am up against:

[kohlenklau]

My guesses:

9 Tank Destroyers.

150 man Parachute Infantry Company.

a dozen 40mm Bofors AA guns. TRIVIA: Did you know that it was originally designed in 1930 but still serves on USAF AC-130 Spectre gunships?

Besides the unit info boxes, we also have the artillery support from nearby hexes. These already showed their power by mauling one of my Panzer Grenadier Companies.

These are definitely 3 or more batteries of 105's, plus maybe a battery of 155's. Who knows, maybe some corps level stuff too. Lots of tubes.

But he needs boots on the ground to call the shots.

He probably has one official, been to the school, FO. Plus the HQ of the TD's, the Airborne CO, plt Leaders x 3 and maybe 1 or 2 others. That makes about 8 radios that can deal out death and destruction to me.

Here on the battle field his troops are probably low on ammo. But those guns are elsewhere and have a $hit-ton of rounds. Including HE, Smoke, napalm, cluster bombs, chemical weapons, mini-atomic bombs...HEYYYYY!!!! WHO EFFING HANDED ME THIS SCRIPT???...CUT !! CUT!!! hold on folks....be right back

[kohlenklau]

....AND NEVER COME BACK AGAIN!!

OK, I have all new script writers for this AAR. Continuing right where we left off...

I am assaulting. He is defending. Per the opus noobius maximus rules for CMPzC, only the assaulter can do pre-planned artillery fire missions. The defender can only request a mission from turn 2. AND he needs LOS based on 35m per artillery tube. So, how long does it take for a normal 105mm mission before rounds are impacting? And 155mm mission for that matter. I will run a little test battle and see. Be right back.

Delay Times for M2A1 Towed 105/M7 Priest SP 105mm/M1 155mm/M1 8 inch

FO 6 min/8 min/8 min/10 min

all other HQ's (it seems) 11 min/11 min/13 min/Denied

And that is if they have LOS. So, smoke can come in handy. Trees can come in handy. I should stay off the roads and trails as much as possible until I am belt buckle to belt buckle with him.

Here is what problems I am seeing.

My tanks bog often and sometimes immoblize.

Going through the forest is very slow.

Those 40mm are easy to knock-out but they can cause significant damage to optics, radios, hull MG.

The batteries he has come with 4-6 tubes.

So, that is 4-6 x 35 = 140-210 + 10% = 154-231m area fire circles.

[kohlenklau]

ok, later today after work, I will plot out so called safe routes away from the roads and trails, outside any area fire circles. If there are any safe routes! Also, I will go through my OOB and track all teams with smoke grenades. They can move on foot to the road edge and chuck a smoke grenade out on the road to block LOS.

I will also show all my pre-planned artillery. 6 mortars and 1 battery of 4x150mm.

[kohlenklau]

The Initial moves:

Note: I went with the non-snow version so you can better see the roads and subtle nuances, better taste the fragrant blends of oak and cherry. Plus, my eyes are aching trying to see the paths on that snow map.

I horsed around trying to figure out where his artillery could land so as to guide my infantry. But I don't want to bunch up in case something goes different than I planned.

Plus, my goal here is to find and destroy his troops. Can't find them unless I spread out. It is 4 square km. They could be hiding anywhere in the light blue box at the start.

I plotted a 150mm mission in the large red circle. The black S's are smoke missions. Wind is light from the north so the smoke should drift from right to left across my path and block some of his LOS.

I also plotted a small 81mm fire mission at the head of a bend in the road marked by a red dot. Oh, those red V's on the right edge are my mortar teams. Note to self: I shoulda left those effers off map!!!

But I did pillage their trucks for every single round of ammo it had.

Oh, on the east side at the map edge I have a sort of ready reaction motorized group in case I can haul a$$ in there on wheels later on...they're all kind of chilling out listening to Steely Dan. That is because I am going to a concert in 2 days with my son for his 18th birthday. He really loves Steely Dan and can play a lot of their songs on the guitar.

Never gonna do it without the fez on!

First contact!

Looks too small to be an M-10....

I have a bunch of $hit targeted on this a$$hole, so he may have the dubious honor of being the first blood. Then again he already looks to be aimed at someone. I've got a possibly unlucky HMG team moving forward towards a treeline...

I gave them orders to stop and deploy. They can deploy in 20 seconds it says. Dang, I've got a 30 cal LMG in the Ribera battle that says it takes 2 minutes to deploy! WTF!!!

Remember, I have to destroy his troops. It is not even about the historical crossroads. Noob did play around with another type of victory system. I will leave all that rule crap to him. I just want to enjoy the game.

[mjkerner]

?..they're all kind of chilling out listening to Steely Dan. That is because I am going to a concert in 2 days with my son for his 18th birthday. He really loves Steely Dan and can play a lot of their songs on the guitar.

Smart Germans, and son, you have there kk!

I'm enjoying this AAR!

[Heinrich505]

kohlenklau,

+1 to mjkerner's comments.

I too am enjoying this AAR. The frosty screenshots are a nice change to the beastly August heat in SE Texas.

I can just see your troops easing back, feet on the dashboard, with [i[Reelin' in the Years playing. One of my favorites.

Wouldn't think most 18 year olds would even know Steely Dan let along like them. Must be proper upbringing.... ;0

Heinrich505

[kohlenklau]

Heinrich, I'm here in Burnet, TX 78611 Texas Hill Country! Cooling off a bit lately...

Thanks mj.

Yes, he has since day 1 only really been listening to CCR, Eagles, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Steely Dan, etc.

I joined that Columbia Record Club and got 20 CD's for $1 was it? Back in the early 90's. Remember? They are still hanging in there but I admit all the newer purchased CD's are his.

I am glad to hear some folks like the AAR. It is sort of like stand-up comedy and when you don't hear any laughs and then figure you aint getting hired to come back to this bar.

[Bil Hardenberger]

Hey I'm enjoying this AAR as well.. but those images without the shadows turned on are hurting my eyes.

[kohlenklau]

Shadows?

I am ignorant of even if I can adjust or control that for the viewer!

BUT!!! Please tell me what settings you use....

[mjkerner]

Phil, when you are in-game, hit hotkeys and you will see the command...I think it's Alt + S, but don't have access to the game for a few days.

[iMolestCats]

Alt+W i believe.

[kohlenklau]

OK, I did the Alt-W. Now I see shadows. very nice. Still doesn't help me on those high 6 button shots. I feel lost in the forest often. I hear weird sounds and go in the wrong direction.

Over on the west side, we finally meet some of the enemy. I had this bright idea to cram a team from a squad into a kubelwagen. Then they went up one of the forest roads. I was worried they would get bogged but it all went well and right before an intersection I had ordered the vehicle to stop so the team could get out and move up on foot to scope out the scene. Well, they never got to get out...

I call this screenshot "Here comes Johnny!". This 2 man bazooka team was running down the road trying to loosen their load.

The results were that we got the important guy, the guy with the bazooka, but I think he got a round off at a StuG that was coming up from behind the kubelwagen. Or it was a grenade. I tried to go through slowly and see but I couldn't figure it out. It left a big crater and the StuG was not harmed. Maybe a demo charge? His jogging buddy went off to the left and I have several "rescue teams" moving in to assist the lost foreigner.

I know sometimes you gotta move your boys forward at a fast clip. Like the below:

Alright, remember PFC I.M.N. A$$HOLE over on the east side. Well, that HMG team had lucky Lugers and were able to set up their HMG in 20 seconds. Back in Ribera, we have the world's slowest set-up, didn't those LMG 30 cals have quick-releases? Maybe the US Army issued a crescent wrench and you had to reassemble the thing with nuts and bolts?

I am not sure if we got him, so he is not yet confirmed as the first blood. Maybe it was bazooka boy over on the west side. I am moving some units up to check out if we got him....

OK, I will tell you a little secret. I am thinking to just make this a probe. It depends on how things go for the next 15 minutes. You know? I mean, in real life, wouldn't I want to send in some units to determine the enemy's locations. Etc Etc. I think at the 30 minute mark I will start to pull some units off the map, especially the mortar teams if they are out of ammo. Oh sheet, that reminds me of one more screenshot I took to show you all.

I call it Armored Forward Observer. It is an HQ tank that can call in fire support. And he IS calling in fire support. The treeline across the field will be lit-up here in about 4 minutes with 6 mortars. I see something and that is good enough for me. But my own smoke is kinda blocking me a bit. I stopped the smoke so we will see how the mortar missions go. Wind is from the north so the rounds should hit in the trees to the left and right of whatever is there.

I head off to the Steely Dan concert in about 45 minutes so I will see what else I can dig up for you guys. Do you want any particular thing? I am not a "Bil", so please ask if the AAR is drab or lacking info. Speaking of Bil, I e-mailed him and he told me how to make the awesome red arrows he does. But paint.NET is the poor step-brother to what he uses, so I don't have path function or pen tool....

[Seedorf81]

I bet your lines of sight must be terrible in those forests.. And keeping C2 in order becomes more tricky too, I suppose.

BTW, wouldn't it have been awfully nice if in this case the kubelwagen had been a schwimmwagen?

[kohlenklau]

Here is the big picture for 59:00 to 58:00

In the west we are closing in quickly on to the blue box which would mark +/- the most forward foxholes he could have deployed. The last stretch up to that is on hunt.

Either the burrito I had for lunch is acting up or I am worried about his artillery ripping my men to bloody shreds. We gotta press forward and get into the foxholes! But where are they?

I WANT HIM DEAD!!!