Community Campaign Created by Multiple Contributors, Historical or Hypothetical

[Probus]

Each hex is ~2km

Randomly assign CM maps depending on terrain features, City, Forest, village, farmland

Stacking limits. Supply/logistics points, weather, ground conditions, etc...

Have to figure out how to handle offboard artillery and air support

I will open the rules up (Google docs) so anyone can comment. 

[Probus]

Here is a link to the Multiplayer Campaign guide.  I'm not done transferring it into Google docs (from an old scanned copy), but feel free to comment. It should be open for comments:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uqp6EbBIsrfiiOL_LKjRNQx1kaPaxNlkjvMMUK5HTF0/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks!

[nathangun]

On 9/26/2020 at 8:07 PM, Vergeltungswaffe said:

I played in several CMMC's (Combat Mission Mega Campaigns) back in the day.  CMBB and CMAK.  Quite a few players and a team of umpires made it the most fun ever.

The limiting factor is having enough people to umpire/gamemaster it all.

Trying to involve BFC will be a non-starter imho, they won't have the time to deal with it in any way.

I remember those campaigns foundly, I still have a copy the Geccos program that the campaign ran on.

[nathangun]

@Probus

The GMT 40,42,43 & 44 games are great but with battalion size battles/formations will drag out the campaigns as @Erwin mentioned, which usually fizzle out.

You might want to narrow your focus to smaller engagements, check out the Standard Combat Series from Multi Man Publishing (MMP) they're company size battles (for the most part).

There's an interesting one for the battle of Bastogne called 'Bastogne: Screaming Eagles Under Siege'  (Vassal Link).

I had started to build a Vassal Module for the Noville battle, details can be found over at the FGM here, it's not a finished project, there's still work to do.

One tip I'll give you before you start any campaign, have the CM battle maps built beforehand, it'll will make life a lot easier.

I'm currently using vassal for a small campaign using CMBS, small unit engagements, it's in it's testing phase but early indicators look good.

Edited December 7, 2020 by nathangun

[Vergeltungswaffe]

1 hour ago, nathangun said:

I remember those campaigns foundly, I still have a copy the Geccos program that the campaign ran on.

That's great! Mine is long gone.

[nathangun]

4 hours ago, Vergeltungswaffe said:

That's great! Mine is long gone.

 

Link to a copy.

[Probus]

Everything is in flux so nothing is set in stone. We are just going to use a small portion of Holland '44 right now. The battalion size counters break down into companies. But please keep feeding ideas. 

[Probus]

12 hours ago, nathangun said:

I remember those campaigns foundly, I still have a copy the Geccos program that the campaign ran on.

@nathangun So is Geccos instead of Vassal or in addition to it?

[nathangun]

10 hours ago, Probus said:

@nathangun So is Geccos instead of Vassal or in addition to it?

It can be used instead of Vassal, but it is completely different. 

You set the date and time and place units on a map, give the units checkpoints to travel along a route setting their speed and then press play. 

You really need to fiddle around with it. 

[Vergeltungswaffe]

19 hours ago, nathangun said:

 

Link to a copy.

Thank you!

[Probus]

Operation Market Garden Multi-Player Campaign (Holland '44)

Today, I am supposed to get a physical copy of Holland '44 in my grubby little hands to use in testing VASSAL for our first prototyping campaign game.  We thought it would be wise to iron out the rules above and find the best location in the battle/map for the campaign.  It will be ~3 short turns of intensive testing and feedback to get us ready for the full campaign ~next month in 2021 (no way I'm starting anything in 2020!).

Thanks to everyone behind the scenes who have helped us get this far.

So now I am officially asking for VOLUNTEERS for the proto-multi-community-campaign-mini-test-game (PMCCMTG).  No. No. No.  I'm a government engineer,  I can do way better than that for an acronym.  Hmmmm.....

CM²PTG - Community-Mini-Campaign-Multi-Prototype-Test-Game.  There, much better, anyway,

If you are interested please PM me which position(s).  Here is what we are looking for in our Victims Volunteers:

1. Field Officer - Axis Forces

  a) Operational Command 

  b) Orders  to Company Commanders

  c) Take over temporarily for KIA, MIA Company Commanders under certain conditions.

2. Company Commander 1 - Axis Forces

  a) Lead their company size forces into battle  against overwhelming odds.

3. Company Commander 2 - Axis Forces

  a) Lead their company size forces into battle  against overwhelming odds.

4. Field Officer - Allied Forces

  a) Operational Command 

  b) Orders  to Company Commanders

  c) Take over temporarily for KIA, MIA Company Commanders under certain conditions.

5. Company Commander 1 - Allied Forces

  a) Lead their company size forces into battle  against overwhelming odds.

6. Company Commander 2 - Allied Forces

  a) Lead their company size forces into battle  against overwhelming odds.

7. 2nd Lieutenant(s) - Faceless Pixeltroopen

  a) Field promotion to Commander for (KIA. MIA) Company Commanders. 

  b) KIA - Permanent, MIA - Temporary, but axis/allied designation will stay the same.

  c) This will happen in our test game a few times to test the substitution rules.

Patience and feedback will be required.  Competitiveness is optional during the testing.  We are looking for "devils  advocates" but any criticisms should always be accompanied with solution(s) and work arounds.  Our motto will be KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid 

Thanks!  This is going to be a blast!!!

[nathangun]

I wouldn't mind getting involved. 

[Blazing 88's]

Fyi, you may have forgot to edit the copy /paste?

Allied Force list...

Company Commander 1 - Axis Forces

Company Commander 2 - Axis Forces

I look forward to seeing how this works out.

Edited December 18, 2020 by Blazing 88's

[Probus]

1 hour ago, Blazing 88's said:

Fyi, you may have forgot to edit the copy /paste?

Allied Force list...

Company Commander 1 - Axis Forces

Company Commander 2 - Axis Forces

I look forward to seeing how this works out.

Thank you kind sir.  I will get this fixed.  Seems like I can't edit the post anymore.  I'll ask admin what's up.

[Lethaface]

Sure seems interesting! My basket is rather full atm though, but will follow with interest.

[Probus]

3 minutes ago, Lethaface said:

Sure seems interesting! My basket is rather full atm though, but will follow with interest.

Not to worry.  We will have the full campaign next year. 

Please don't hesitate to comment.  We can use all the advice we can get.

[Artkin]

I know I have been absent for pretty much all of this. I'll take a role!

 

[Lethaface]

  

3 hours ago, Probus said:

Not to worry.  We will have the full campaign next year. 

Please don't hesitate to comment.  We can use all the advice we can get.

Don't have much experience with such campaigns. As a matter of fact the only I have is partaking in the test of Nathanguns CMBS campaign on FGM. I think he does have quite some experience with campaigns though.

Seeing you've already accustomed the KISS doctrine, there's not much I can add

I'd imagine starting small with only a basic ruleset, expecting to work those out while learning what works and what doesn't, would be wise. Big question is how to keep 'everyone' involved I guess, although people will drop out like you say.

One thing that might be interesting is using COOP. It's quite easy to setup to play a battle with a number of people for one side. Although I guess the downside is that everyone becomes a 'weakest link' in the way that one player who has less time will mean the whole game will delay.

Edited December 18, 2020 by Lethaface

[Probus]

Received the Holland '44 game yesterday.  Setting up the board to look for an area that would be good for a "Bridge Too Far" mini campaign game. 

Some details:

• Each hex is 2 km.
• You can stack up to ~2 battalions per hex.
• So if we just used a small portion of the game map, maybe around 9 hexes, each hex could be broken into smaller squares to make sure the battles stay small.
• A battle could be the entire hex if just 2 commanders would be involved. (Huge map, with a relatively small force).
• Really struggling over how much of a force a company commander should control.  Somewhere on the order of 1-2+ reinforced companies.
• Working on rules governing how each battle starts.  What constitutes a meeting engagement vs a probe vs and attack etc...
• Each turn of the game is broken into morning and afternoon and there are rules for weather.

[Double Deuce]

Many, many years ago I ran multiplayer games like this using Steel Panthers (both the WWII and Modern versions). I never tried using CM but I'm sure it'll be pretty involved and time intensive. The one advantage I found with using Steel Panthers was the random map generator which saved lots of time. It'll be interesting to see how this project turns out.

[Probus]

48 minutes ago, Double Deuce said:

Many, many years ago I ran multiplayer games like this using Steel Panthers (both the WWII and Modern versions). I never tried using CM but I'm sure it'll be pretty involved and time intensive. The one advantage I found with using Steel Panthers was the random map generator which saved lots of time. It'll be interesting to see how this project turns out.

Yes.  I'm hoping we have enough maps to keep it interesting.  I have a cunning plan. 

[Blazing 88's]

1 hour ago, Probus said:

Yes.  I'm hoping we have enough maps to keep it interesting.  I have a cunning plan. 

Thought I would throw this out here... Wouldn't it be possible to use top view screen shots of auto generated maps from within CMx1 (CM:AK modded to CM:ETO) editor, with the terrain elevations visible, as a template overlay in the CMBN editor? Still lots of work though, but would add randomness with a little bit of ease.

[Probus]

3 hours ago, Blazing 88's said:

Thought I would throw this out here... Wouldn't it be possible to use top view screen shots of auto generated maps from within CMx1 (CM:AK modded to CM:ETO) editor, with the terrain elevations visible, as a template overlay in the CMBN editor? Still lots of work though, but would add randomness with a little bit of ease.

Can you import maps from, lets say CMFI into CMBN?

[Artkin]

25 minutes ago, Probus said:

Can you import maps from, lets say CMFI into CMBN?

yup

[Probus]

A quick update.  Since I am still fairly new to Combat Mission I thought I would try/start a playthrough over on A Few Good Men of a new Black Sea Campaign:

https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/thefgmforum/forums/cmbs-brief-border-war.476/

Once I get a good feel for how that campaign works, we will get this one moving.

Thanks!

  Probus.