"Choreographed" Scenario

[kohlenklau]

I have something that might be new or at least I can't recall ever hearing anyone talk about it. Please correct me if I am wrong! And provide a link to what you saw do this before...

 

Bil Hardenberger and IanL are right now playing a special scenario I made. I think it is pretty cool and I hope you like it as well.

 

I PM'd them the briefings and TacMaps and then sent a saved game file that they took over as the "start" of their H2H battle but that had been in progress to allow some special battlefield events.

 

I think it is best to hold off any particulars about the scenario until it is over.

 

Go ahead and watch the 2 AAR's and come back here to discuss the concept in general. I would appreciate to hear what people think of this technique. Or PM me if you wish.

 

And when the battle is over between them, I would be glad to provide the choreographed scenario and the briefings to matched pairs of opponents. In other words, bring a buddy who says he'll play you and you can have it.

 

 

 

[womble]

By "Choreographed", you mean the briefing has specific movement requirements like timings and prohibited locations, which can't be enforced very well by VCs but which the players are "honour bound" to adhere to?

I'm sure it'll make for some interesting setups and immersive play amongst trustworthy opponents.

[kohlenklau]

Shucks. "Choreographed" must not be the right term then. This battle has phase lines and such but that was a coincidence.

 

Let me try and see what comes to mind when I call it a "Pre-staged Saved File Scenario" ?

 

Basically, I made a 25 minute scenario and they took it as a saved file with only 15 minutes left on the clock and played it out. They do not get a set-up turn or opportunity.

 

And the only reason it was 15 minutes left and not 20 or some other number was just because I am inexperienced with the best way to get their "first turn" to look exactly like I wanted.

[kohlenklau]

<THE SCENARIO IS HOLLYWOOD. WE HAVE HAD SOME STUNTMEN DO SOME EFFECTS AND AFTER THEY DEPARTED IT IS SENT AS A SAVED FILE.>

 

PLEASE HAVE FUN AND ENJOY THE THINGS YOU WOULD NEVER GET AT THE START OF A NORMAL SCENARIO. LIKE KIA FRIENDLY TROOPS WITH "GOODIES" FOR YOUR MEN TO BUDDY-AID AND OBTAIN...

[womble]

Shucks. "Choreographed" must not be the right term then. This battle has phase lines and such but that was a coincidence.

 

Let me try and see what comes to mind when I call it a "Pre-staged Saved File Scenario" ?

 

Basically, I made a 25 minute scenario and they took it as a saved file with only 15 minutes left on the clock and played it out. They do not get a set-up turn or opportunity.

 

And the only reason it was 15 minutes left and not 20 or some other number was just because I am inexperienced with the best way to get their "first turn" to look exactly like I wanted.

Ah. I get it now. I think the term you're looking for (in the jargon of the dramatist) is in media res. The action has begun, and you're throwing the audience/actors into the situation to run with the flow. Again, this could be fun for all involved.

[kohlenklau]

I hope it is fun. I thought it was. Objectives are to do the usual type objectives but there might be some extra weapons to be obtained to assist in the job.

I plan to make several more with this type in media res. Thanks Womble. E Pluribus Unum

[kohlenklau]

Pre-staged Saved File Scenario. Or in the Wombellian fashion...in media res.

 

It came to me as I was thinking that the battlefield had been fought over before and maybe this would be a cool task for these poorly equipped German Penal battalion fellows...to go out and try to get a few items to bolster their defense.

[sburke]

Broadsword and I haven't quite gone that far, but have tried to create scenarios from an op layer so previous events are represented. I don't think this is significantly different and yeah I like the idea.

It is interesting in different threads to see how folks feel they can or can't immerse themselves into a scenario based on the briefing. In other words if they have not fought the previous battle they can't really appreciate the set up the designer has created. Granted the designers set up does need to conform to the briefing to work, but I do appreciate that effort and enjoy trying to take on the role. Sheriff of Oosterbeek being a great example.

[kohlenklau]

To sprinkle in a few dead tanks and craters to carry forward the damage is something I have always done for my own purposes. This is a saved file after start. I think it is significantly different than just some attempt to make the battlefield look the same. I don't think anyone has done this before or if they did, they kept pretty quiet about it or it never caught on.  I clearly deserve a free copy of CM Bulge! It is obvious to me, why can't you and the "cashier" see it my way???

[kohlenklau]

I think it opens up an entire new type of scenario never obtainable before. It essentially provides a "feature" that many people would love to just have in the editor. But since it would not be provided, we have to go "backdoor" to get it.

 

Lots of Bulge scenario ideas in my head. Half-tracks and trucks from a shot-up convoy can be checked for salvageable gear, ammo and casualties. A unit can come along into a village where a firefight occurred and look around for bazookas and other items.

[womble]

Half-tracks and trucks from a shot-up convoy can be checked for salvageable gear, ammo and casualties.

The trick there would be stopping the forces that shot up the convoy from destroying all the vehicles and rendering their gear unsalvageable.

You could, I think, have a "raiding" force which then exits the map (but isn't part of an Exit VC, so doesn't give VP to that side), and then have reinforcements appear for both sides which are the forces the players will be using to conduct the actual scenario over the smoking wreckage. You could even put ammo dumps (with reduced supply levels) near/under the destroyed trucks so that the scavengers have something to get even if the trucks are all KOed. Or put Touch objectives on 1 AS just behind each vehicle you're going to destroy.

[kohlenklau]

Hell's Highway Convoy Scenario:

 

I just did a quick experiment and it worked nicely!

 

From the initial editor you can select as per usual SOP to have a variety of destroyed, immobilized, dismounted or burning vehicles.

 

BUT you can add in some manned ones and these "stuntmen" get killed off to have some KIA bodies on the ground.

 

Enemy sniper at 50% manning work best as an A16 AI group and they depart to a carefully placed single AS exit zone <"exit stage left"> after their bit part.

In the AI order editor for this group, have set-up have NO yellow square, they go where you deploy them, and at the bottom of set-up have exit between 3:00 and 4:00 and then order 2 be a yellow square on that exit zone AS.

 

Then at R1 @ 5 minutes or later the main actors can begin to appear and the briefing is still there in menu/briefing. . With enough time between the R1 arrival of the player's forces and the R1 arrival of the enemy forces, it essentially provides a set-up zone. 

 

EDIT: My main allied actors were a platoon of US paratroopers, badly low on supplies....

 

I think this is an entire new genre of scenario. I hope other folks see that this can be a fun toy to play with for scenario writing.

Edited March 3, 2015 by kohlenklau

[kohlenklau]

And set-up the snipers as 75m ambush and they will not shoot at the immobilized truck outside their kill zone and thus will not cause it to be destroyed meaning the "goodies" can't be looted..!

Then as you play as allied human player run your drivers into the kill zone. Yes, I know. Sounds kinda sad and sick. :-(

 

US paratroopers, badly low on supplies, approach the road....

 

"Hey! ....there is a convoy. Looks like it got zapped by a German ambush.... I wonder if we can salvage anything?"

Edited March 3, 2015 by kohlenklau

[womble]

I've had problems getting troops to climb into scenario-editor-immibilised transports before for lewt acquisition. Might have been corrected in the passing versions, but something to be wary of in testing, if you're going to have the goodies in the truck have any actual meaning (use for next battle, or even this one...).

With a sniper that you're "directing", you can pretty much guarantee a truck won't be destroyed, since it will take several minutes' fire, most of the time... I assume you play both sides in the initial turns before the players get involved, so you can dismount trucks, have the sniper (or whatever you have) shoot at them til they're in the state you want them and then have them switch targets or hold their fire with a Target Arc while they find/move to another target.

[kohlenklau]

They climbed in and loaded up AOK.

The snipers were on severe supply with 20 rounds and in only a few shots were making trucks destroyed.

[kohlenklau]

And this was as a scenario against the AI. It would then be saved and the human player loads the file and plays from there. Password provided.

[womble]

Ah yes, vs the AI you'd have to be very careful so that it didn't automatically break things...

[Bud Backer]

Just reading through this and it made me wonder - to avoid vehicles being damaged, can't you simply order the crew to abandon them and then take them somewhere where they can be...um...disposed of? That way there is no risk to the trucks, etc from enemy action?

[kohlenklau]

In the scenario editor you can have a few different statuses for vehicles. OK, destroyed, burning, immobilized and dismounted.

I guess for my size scenario, I want maybe 8 vehicles in the ambushed convoy.

2 destroyed, 2 burning, no dismounted because for dismounted, the truck and jeep turn into supply crates! 

So, we go with 4 immobilized jeeps/trucks and since I want to have the vehicle's contents be obtainable and

the driver KIA in the immediate vicinity of his vehicle for dramatic effect.

At least 2 of those 4. The other 2 drivers can be bailed out in the editor and directly moved to the exit zone AS.

On turn 1 they "green arrow" and exit.

The other 2 are bailed out and moved to the close by kill zone for AI sniper elimination.

 

And things seemed odd when I wanted to have an immobilized  half-track in the convoy.

Immobilized HT didn't let me bail out in the editor. I had to wait to do that on turn 1 and then blue line move them into the kill zone.

[Bud Backer]

Ah, now I understand. You don't want a convoy of crates!

[kohlenklau]

But a good idea from Womble was to hide a crate under even a destroyed vehicle. 

[Sequoia]

Just to clarify, and perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but have I missed the fact till now that one is able to acquire ammo etc from a non-burning knocked out vehicle?

[kohlenklau]

Not knocked out. Immobilized.

[Sequoia]

Oh, okay, I wish one could do such acquisition though on a non burning vehicle and perhaps even render buddy aid to incapacitated wounded in a vehicle, though I understand that would likely be a lot of coding for a small return. You'd have to go into the chance of some or all of the ammo/weapons are unusable. I assume severely wounded guys in a vehicle that starts burning are KIA at the end of the scenario.

[kohlenklau]

I have rewritten the Dommel River Bridge scenario to be playable as axis vs British AI. It is still a prestaged saved file and after I get a playtest (from IanL!) then I will upload it to GaJ. A week or so.

 

I have also written a new prestaged save file PBEM Lost Eagles now being fought between mjkerner and NathanGun and AAR's should be posted soon. Then after they are done, I will make that one an allied vs axis AI prestaged saved file battle to upload to GaJ.