Real Bailey Bridges?

[tankgeezer]

When are we going to see proper Bailey Bridges in-game & in the editor. I like to see both the girder style and the bare pontoon type. The pontoon type wouldn't even have to undulate under load, I'de still be a happy camper. However, constructing one during a battle or campaign? Hmmm…that'd be a whole 'nother ball of wax! (and I'm guessing, a nightmare to code)

[womble]

When are we going to see proper Bailey Bridges in-game & in the editor. I like to see both the girder style and the bare pontoon type. The pontoon type wouldn't even have to undulate under load, I'de still be a happy camper. However, constructing one during a battle or campaign? Hmmm…that'd be a whole 'nother ball of wax! (and I'm guessing, a nightmare to code)

It'd be "easy enough" in a campaign: just build it between scenarios. For e.g. have a branch where successfully making a bridgehead leads to a new scenario where either the Bailey Bridge is in the background, or has to be defended against counterattack.

[YankeeDog]

IIRC, expected construction time for a single span Bailey Bridge with a full crew of engineers was 3 hours. And this was only if the abutments were already prepared and there was no interference such as enemy fire. I don't think construction is something that would be within the scope of a CM battle.

As noted, in a campaign, construction would simply be a matter of the scenario designer adding a bridge to the map between battles.

But yes; they would be nice to have as a bridge type for flavor reasons.

[sigop22]

Not entirely true. If I recall in Leonforte the Royal Canadian Engineers with support from the Indians put up a bridge whilst under artillery and small arms. I think the British also accomplished this in Africa as well. Maybe not a commonality, but it wouldn't be too far fetched to have to put one up while being shot at considering how many bridges the Germans blew up to slow down advances.

[YankeeDog]

Not entirely true. If I recall in Leonforte the Royal Canadian Engineers with support from the Indians put up a bridge whilst under artillery and small arms. I think the British also accomplished this in Africa as well. Maybe not a commonality, but it wouldn't be too far fetched to have to put one up while being shot at considering how many bridges the Germans blew up to slow down advances.

I guess I wasn't clear... both Bailey and pontoon bridges were definitely put up under fire. No argument there; there are a number of famous examples of this.

My point was that the "regulation" time to put up a single span Bailey bridge was three hours, but that my guess is that it would take longer than this if the engineers had to worry about things other than just putting up the bridge, such as whether they were going to catch a bullet or a piece of shrapnel...

[sigop22]

My mistake, didn't read it right the first time around.

[tankgeezer]

I'm with the Y-Dog on this one, it'd be a bit much for the subject of a scenario, even a very large one. However; perfectly plausible in a campaign, provided certain criteria were met. How about requiring an 'engineering/bridging' unit on each bank at the end of the battle to trigger an automatic bridge placement in the next battle?? Until then; let's get these puppy's into the editor where we can add more 'flavor' to an already tasty game.

[Broadsword56]

We just need them in the editor where they can be a bridge type.

[YankeeDog]

How about requiring an 'engineering/bridging' unit on each bank at the end of the battle to trigger an automatic bridge placement in the next battle??.

I suppose some sort of graphical representation of Engineers toiling away at setting up the bridge might be nice, but tactically all the tools to represent a situation like this are already in the editor.

Just set up a scenario where the defender has a small bridgehead with infantry units only across the river (having crossed in assault boats or similar, presumably). Set objectives on the commanding terrain features around the bridging point. If the defender manages to keep control of most of the objectives, he wins the scenario and the next battle in the campaign starts with the bridge in place and the defender now becomes the attacker as he attempts to further expand the bridgehead with forces brought across the new bridge. If he loses, then something else happens -- e.g., a different battle representing a bridging attempt at another point along the river or something like that.