The Staffordshire scenario pack

[Kingfish]

A project 9 months in the making, the Staffordshire scenario pack is now (finally!) available. This 5 battle pack covers the major battles of the British 59th (Staffordshire) division, from its debut in Operation Charnwood, to the bitter fighting for Noyers-Bocage, to the bridgehead battles near Grimbosq and Thury-Harcourt.

-Background-

The British 59th (Staffordshire) division was formed in the summer of 1939 as a duplicate of the 55th (West Lancashire) division. For the first 3 years the division was assigned various guard and invasion defense duties in England, Scotland and Ireland. On July 31, 1943 the division was transferred to the SE coast of England near Kent, and along with the 43rd (Wessex) and 53rd (Welsh) division, became part of the newly formed British XII Corp, itself designated as the follow-up Corp for the upcoming invasion of France.

On June 26th, 1944 the division came ashore at Juno Beach, giving it the distinction of the only duplicate division in the British army to fight overseas. After a week spent assembling in the Bayeux area it was transferred south to join the British I Corp for Operation Charnwood.

After Charnwood the division spent a week resting and recuperating, then was transferred to XXX Corp for Operation Pomergrante. Kicking off on July 16th, the division launched a series of attacks aimed at capturing Noyers-Bocage.

The next major action for the division was the battles near Grimbosq and Thury-Harcourt. Ordered to establish bridgeheads across the Orne river near these two towns, the division succeeded in forcing a crossing near Grimbosq on August 6th. Two days of heavy combat followed, including counterattacks by the German 12th SS Panzer division. The successful defense of Grimbosq opened the way for the advance on Thury-Harcourt, and for that the independent British 56th brigade was temporarily attached to the division. After a sharp fight the town fell on August 14th.

Sadly, the end of the division came just four days later. Due to shortage of replacement troops the division was ordered to disband, and its men transferred to other formations.

-The battles-

The scenarios / ops are arranged in Chronological order, and should be played that way.

The first scenario in the pack is 'La Bijude', and depicts the 7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk's attack on July 8th in Operation Charwood. La Bijude is a small town located roughly midway between Cambes-En-Plaine and Epron. Opposing the British are the fanatical defenders of the German 12th SS Panzer division. Roughly 3000 points per side / 60 turns.

Next on the list is 'Noyers-Bocage'. This scenario has the 177th Brigade, with strong armored and artillery support, battling the German 277th infantry division and attached units in Operation Pomergranate. The map is 2km x 2km. Force size is 5300 German / 6800 British. 60 turns long.

The following two battles are operations, each depicting a separate phase of the battles near Grimbosq and Le Brieux. Both use the same 4km x 3km map.

The first, 'Grimbosq - the crossing', deals with the British 176th Brigade's crossing of the Orne on August 6th, and the subsequent battles to expand the bridgehead. Defending units are from the German 271st infantry division. 6 battles, each 25 turns long, with the first occurring at night. 7800 allied / 5500 German.

The next Op, 'Grimbosq - the counterattack', depicts the German response to the now established British bridgehead on August 8th. The reinforced 176th Brigade attempts to defend against the determined attacks by Kampfgruppe Wunsche. Same number of battles and turns as it's predecessor. 10,000 allied / 9500 axis.

The final battle is the scenario titled 'Thury-Harcourt' and it covers the 2nd Bn. Gloucestershire / 56th Brigade's attacks on August 12th. 3600 allies / 2400 German, 60 turns long.

Special thanks to the following for their help with research and testing:

Scott B

Makjager

Andreas

Redwolf

JonS

Philippe

Koen

Triaxe

TigerIvan

Bogdan

Tar

And a couple of others whose names escape me at the moment.

Also, thanks to Robert Morss, webmaster to the excellent 59th (Staffordshire) Division website.

For the moment I can e-mail the entire pack (or seperate scenarios) to anyone who is interested. I do plan on submitting it to the scenario depot, but am awaiting a response from the admiral. Contact me if you are interested. My address is in my profile.

[ November 25, 2004, 11:07 AM: Message edited by: Kingfish ]

[Kingfish]

El Bumpo

I will soon submit this to the depot, but having not received a reply from the Admiral I am unsure of how to submit it as a pack, so it may be broken up. All the scenarios will have a 'SSP' prefix added, along with a number to designate chronological order.

[Wicky]

Missed this first time round - Please can you send your epic pack my way (e-mail in profile) - Ta

[Admiral Keth]

Kingfish,

Apologies for the delay in response; life is stranger than normal of late.

With regards to scenario packs -

Submit all of the synopses as normal. There are two methods that you can use to post the actual file. First, however, go ahead and zip all of the files together into one zip file.

Method 1: When you post the first synopsis, go ahead and perform the associated file upload. You would then manually enter the same URL in the zip file field for subsequent synopses.

Method 2: Post all of the sysopses without performing a file upload. Email the scenario pack to me and I'll post it the following day.

[Jeff Cansell]

Good to see some more CMBO scenarios.

Can I have a copy of the pack as well (email address in profile).

Thanks,

[Jeff Cansell]

Sorry - noticed that I forgot to say 'Please'.

[Kingfish]

Admiral,

Thank you for the repsonse, and no apologies necessary. I know all too well how crazy real life can be.

I'll send you the zipped pack later on tonight.

Jeff,

Expect a zipped pack as well.

[Kingfish]

Clive Burt,

My e-mails to you keep bouncing back. I've tried twice now. Is there any other address I can send to? If so, e-mail it to me.

[klapton]

For some reason, I'm unable to download the pack from the depot.

Can you send it to prasoc @ navegalia . com?

Thanks

[Captnbn]

Kingfish,

Please send Staffordshire pack. E-mail in profile. Since I got hooked on CMBO I'm constantly looking for good historical scenarios. Thanks for putting this together.

Captn