CMBN British Campaign: For King and Country

[dragonwynn]

For King and Country

How can I live among this gentle
Obsolescent breed of heroes, and not weep?
Unicorns, almost,
For they are falling into two legends
In which their stupidity and chivalry
Are celebrated. Each, fool and hero, will be an immortal

-Keith Douglas, 1942

For King and Country is a CMBN Commonwealth campaign that follows the actions of the 1 Regiment Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry from their landings at Gold Beach on the Normandy coast on June 6th, 1944 and the hard fought battles through France until June 26, 1944.

I have tried to keep it as historical as possible based on what research I could dig up though a few of the engagements should be considered semi-historical.

After the British moved inland there were many small battles that were waged across the French countryside so to keep some variety I have "created" a few of these engagements. However, to keep to the flavor of historical, most of the included scenarios are actual battles and I have tried to model them as accurately as I could portray.

Most of the battles are offensive operations as the German forces during this time were on the defensive. You can expect to see some counterattacks however as this was the common strategy for the Germans.

I also have included the actual commanders of the various troop HQ's of the regiment. However the chain of command must be considered to be semi-historical as there were a number of leadership changes of the SRY as they fought across France during the real campaign due to casualties or simply reshuffling of the command structure. The leadership tree in this campaign is setup to reflect what the actual command structure was at the end of June.

This campaign can be considered a preqel to my previous CMBN campaign Operation Clipper: The Geilenkirchen Salient which includes the SRY also.

About the Campaign:

This campaign requires the following:

CMBN Game Engine 4
CW Module
Market Garden Module
Vehicle Pack

It is designed for single player only from the blue side. All the information here is also in the designers notes of the campaign.

Most of the battles and maps are medium to large so it could impact some older PC's.

The Campaign Tree:

1. Gold Beach (Allied Attack)
2. The Ridge (Allied Attack)
3. A Meeting at Hervieu (Meeting Engagement)
4. A Hard Day in Hottot (Allied Attack)
5. Tea Time in Cristot (Allied Attack)
6. Fontenay (Allied Assault)
7. The Assault of Rauray (Allied Assault)
8. The 12th SS Counterattacks (Axis Attack)

Victory Conditions:

A Draw will advance you through the campaign. However careful management of the core units (SRY) is vital. You will get some replacements later in the campaign.

Also the primary leadership is essential to preserve as the Germans get high points for killing top HQ assets.

Maps:

All the maps were created by the author (me) and I have tried to get them as accurately as possible based on google maps, drawings and old photographs I could find. Most are medium to large maps.

Unit Tree:

1 Rg SRY (Core Units)

HQ - Maj S.D. Christopherson
2 x Sherman V Tanks

HQ Squadron - Maj R.Sutton-Nelthrope
Recce Troop - Capt. P. McCrath (2 x Stuart V Tanks)
3 x Sections (3 x Stuart V and VI Tanks each)

A Squadron HQ: Maj. J. Semken (3 x Sherman V Tanks)
4 x Troop (3 x Sherman V and 1 x Sherman VC Firefly Tanks each)

B Squadron HQ: Maj. M. Gold (3 x Sherman V Tanks)
4 x Troop (3 x Sherman V and 1 x Sherman VC Firefly Tanks each)

C Squadron HQ: Maj S. Mitchell (3 x Sherman V Tanks)
4 x Troop (3 x Sherman V and 1 x Sherman VC Firefly Tanks each)

Feature Units:

British:

1. 1 Bn Hampshire Regiment

2. 82nd Assault Squadron Royal Engineers

3. 6th Assault Regiment

4. 2nd Bn Essex Regiment

5. 1st Recce Regiment

6. 11th Royal Scots Fusiliers

7. 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers

8. 2nd Bn Hampshire Regiment

9. 1/6 Duke of Wellington Regiment

German:

1. 726th Infantry Regiment

2. 916th Infantry Regiment

3. 352nd Fusilier Battalion

4. 352nd PzJag Abt

5. 1 Bn PzGrLehr Regiment 901

6. PzLehr Regiment 130

7. 12th SS PzAufk Abt

8. 1 Bn 25th SS PzGr Regiment

9. SS PzRg 12

Mods:

As is common for most of my campaigns I use featured mods by some of our very talented modders of the CM series. Below is a list and all credit goes to them.

1. Aris Vehicle Textures (I have modified a few with the (hopefully) correct unit symbols or to represent damaged or destroyed vehicles

2. Mords Unit ID (The featured British units (except non core armor units) have the correct ID patches that will show up in the UI)

3. Various terrain modifications

4. EZJax CMBN Uniform Heer (Lehr)

5. EZJax CMBN Uniform SS

All mods needed are included with the download and are tagged to this campaign so they should not interfere with any other scenarios or campaigns.

The campaign has been tested but if any issues arise please let me know. Also any suggestions are welcome and I will make any adjustments necessary.

I hope the campaign will prove enjoyable.

Michael

Special Note:

The first mission Gold Beach can prove to be a beast. To quote Captain Miller " Get your men off the beach" will be an understatement.  "Keep em moving".

Below is the link

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sce3ibep7mysjto/For King and Country.zip?dl=0

Edited March 24, 2017 by dragonwynn

[Warts 'n' all]

It sounds like an interesting campaign. But please edit your description. Normandy is not a "peninsula", and the Sherwoods advanced roughly from north to south, not "across" Normandy in June '44.

[dragonwynn]

10 minutes ago, Warts 'n' all said:

It sounds like an interesting campaign. But please edit your description. Normandy is not a "peninsula", and the Sherwoods advanced roughly from north to south, not "across" Normandy in June '44.

Done

[Aragorn2002]

Quality guaranteed. Downloading now. Thank you very much.

[Rinaldi]

Wow. Will download!

[mjkerner]

Jeebus, another one? Excellent! Thanks dragonwynn. 

[Erwin]

Wow dw.  Mod sets and everything.  Very impressed.  Thank you...

Edited March 24, 2017 by Erwin

[JonS]

Many thanks @dragonwynn. I know how many hours go into something like this. I also have a soft spot for the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, so that's extra nice

Edited March 24, 2017 by JonS

[Warts 'n' all]

5 hours ago, dragonwynn said:

Done

I look forward to losing it in my usual manner sometime soon.

[grunt_GI]

Dang, dang, dang 

More goodness...well done good sir...now I shall have something besides drink Guinness next weekend when the wife is out of town.

You will of course, force me to go back read my  manual on how to make it through nasty beach obstacles.....but this will definitely make me want to play CW units....which i usually don't .

Another heart breaker and time waster...thanks thanks...

[dragonwynn]

Your welcome guys. I hope it proves enjoyable. As always there are probably a few overlooked bugs and minor goofs so please let me know so I can fix.

Michael

[rocketman]

I recently played the Gold beach scenario for Panzer Battles Normandy and thought about making one for BN, but I guess you beat me to it 

Will download and play soon. Thanks a lot for making it.

[JonS]

1st Mission down. Total victory - the Germans surrendered after about 40 mins. UK lost 161 KIA, 101 WIA, 7 tanks (including one to a wayward Typhoon  ), and a whole bunch more immobilised.

[dragonwynn]

Nice work JonS. 

[Erwin]

Those casualties sound horrific. Is force conservation for future missions not a factor?

[dragonwynn]

33 minutes ago, Erwin said:

Those casualties sound horrific. Is force conservation for future missions not a factor?

I have given a pretty high refit and replenish factor to most missions plus you will get a some replacements later. Also the infantry are non core so you will be working with several different units through the campaign.

[rocketman]

By the look of the Gold Beach map I think I'm going to love playing it. There is something about the psychology of a beach landing with forward advance the only option that intrigues me. Survival against the odds. Chaos while advancing through a hail of bullets. And the unlikely heroism of the individual that takes out a pillbox and secures a breakthrough. Great!

One small thing: it looks a bit odd with the roads with craters that the road tile is missing where there are craters which looks a bit "stumped". But perhaps that is to make the crater tile harder to pass and with higher risk of bogging down.

[dragonwynn]

Yea Im not happy with that particular graphic result either. But when the crater is dropped on a road tile it tends just to make a hump with unbroken pavement so I figured the explosion would rip up the pavement so I just removed the tile for that effect.

[Harry Speakup]

Outstanding. Many thanks for all your hard work.

[IICptMillerII]

Very excited to try this campaign out! Big fan of all your work so far @dragonwynn I'm sure this will be as spectacular as the others! However I won't get a chance to get my hands on it for some time as I'm away right now. Something to look forward to when I get back!

[General Liederkranz]

This looks great, thank you!

[Heinrich505]

Dragonwynn,

  Yikes, so many to play and so little time.  I'm still working on the CMRT Cross of Iron and Rattenkrieg gems you created, and I've yet to play the one with the US tank unit.

  And NOW...this.  Geez.  I'll snap this up too and try to find time, somewhere.  Your efforts are greatly appreciated.  Thanks for all the hard work.

  Do you have information on which of the commanders survived through the campaign?  It would be interesting to see how our survivors compare to the real ones.  Just curious.

Heinrich505

[dragonwynn]

13 minutes ago, Heinrich505 said:

Do you have information on which of the commanders survived through the campaign?  It would be interesting to see how our survivors compare to the real ones.  Just curious.

They are setup pretty much how they were at the end of the campaign. They took so many casualties to their commanders it seemed their officer core was constantly in flux. There was no way to try and model this in CM simply because it plays out different for each player. So I just gave them at the start the setup they had after the Rauray battles which are at the end.

On another note there are a couple of missions (the second and third I believe) that were not historical. These were added for a bit of variety to represent the many small skirmishes that were lost in history during the actual campaign. One player noted this to me with some good feedback so I may adjust these missions in a later update. They dont exactly follow the true hsitorical context that the other missions do.

It is explained in the designer notes also. I will also update the designer notes with the corrections that Warts n All pointed out above when I get time.

Michael

[Heinrich505]

Dragonwynn,

  Hey, no hurry.  It is all good. 

Heinrich505

[grunt_GI]

So, just started the first scenario...you definitely capture the chaos of an amphibious landing...dang, what a clusterfark....just like the other guys, I did get about 4 tanks simply bogged down and immobilized in the surf in the first 4 or 5 minutes...tried the basic move command...is that intentional?   

Otherwise, this is going to be ugly, I hope I get any sort of victory with less casualties than JonS...that sounds like quite the butcher's bill for a total victory.

On the other hand, I've never had warships to call on for fire support...very, very cool.

Edited April 3, 2017 by grunt_GI