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U.S. Thread - CM Cold War - BETA AAR - Battle of Dolbach Heights 1980


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Still remember the very first CM and playing the demo over and over again the surprise when your armour crested a rise and a ohhhh **** moment ..... looking forward to the latest version 

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5 hours ago, Bil Hardenberger said:

CM Cold War was our brainchild and has been on our wargame design table, off and on, for eight years now, but now it is a real thing. ....I hope you enjoy the ride, and welcome to the COLD WAR!

With that level of research and details.... I suspect a LOT of folks are looking forward to this Cold War Ride = Meeting Engagement at Dolbach Heights, 1980 🥳

Buzz

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METT-T Analysis

TERRAIN

Key Terrain:  Any locality, or area, the seizure or retention of which affords a marked advantage to either combatant. See also vital ground.”

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms

 

Terrain:  This is very complicated ground… the heights, along which my forces are situated provides very scanty and elusive visibility over the Soviet approaches in the north.  This is forcing me to close the range fast to get eyes on my areas of interest.  The forest, through which the enemy must advance, could slow them down if they exit at NAI 2 and/or 3… but if they rush out through the NAI 1 approach then they have a secure straight road into the heart of the village.  That is my biggest fear.

Map size:  East to West @ 2 km, North to South @ 2.5 km

Terrain Objective:  Control the Village (Dolbach)

If my opponent doesn’t do a thorough terrain analysis then he may weight his approach differently than I suspect as laid out below.

EAA_Analysis.png

Enemy Avenues of Approach (EAA):

  • EAA 1: I suspect this will be the main enemy approach.  This is low ground and as such provides excellent masked movement up to and into Dolbach.  My goal is to get as many eyes, and guns on this area as quickly as possible.
  • EAA 2: I suspect that this approach will contain at least a Support by Fire (SBF) position but could it be the main line of effort?  Doubtful.  Though this area is covered pretty well by my forces on the ridge, I suspect it will be a minor avenue if it’s used at all.
  • EAA 3: I suspect that this approach will contain at least a Support by Fire position but it could be the main line of effort.  This approach is pretty secure from my ability to place fire here, so I suspect it will have a higher priority than EAA 2.

Key Terrain:  EAA 1 is the Key Terrain feature within this area of operation.  Whoever can control it, controls the center and probably the village.  If I can cover it by fire, then the Soviet commander will have to use one of the other, more vulnerable approaches.  If he can maintain fluid movement down this route, then he can push a lot more combat power into Dolbach than I can. 

NAIs.png

Named Areas of Interest (NAI):

  • NAI 1:  This area is blocked from view right now and is expected to be the main avenue of advance for any Soviet push towards the village.
  • NAI 2 and NAI 3:  These exit points from the woods could provide nice over-watch positions and for support by fire positions.  These could also be assembly/assault positions for a flank attack into Dolbach. 

The goal for all of these NAIs is to identify enemy activity within them before it becomes a problem.

Bil

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If I was playing this match a would avoid the town and concentrate in taking all the key terrain and having my eyes and guns on the town. But of course if the objective happens to be the best place to kill the enemy from, then I would take it.

Especially modern fights end because other side gets killed, not because you have taken the objective. Taking the objective is the side effect of killing the enemy. 

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3 minutes ago, The_MonkeyKing said:

If I was playing this match a would avoid the town and concentrate in taking all the key terrain and having my eyes and guns on the town. But of course if the objective happens to be the best place to kill the enemy from, then I would take it.

The more I think about it, the more in agreement I am with this.

If Warren plays in character, I would expect an attempt at a "deep operation" - like a massed rush along one flank - rather than a frontal advance on the town under the guns of the enemy (the town seems to be at the bottom of a "bowl" in the middle of the map).

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50 minutes ago, Aragorn2002 said:

I feel like Alice in Wonderland. All of a sudden a new game coming soon and a great new AAR. Looking very interesting, Bil, I also love the Movie mode.

If you mean ALICE as in "All-Purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment" system I agree :P

These guys are indeed ALICE but not in Wonderland but in woodland..

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11 hours ago, Bil Hardenberger said:

Sidebar!  I strictly use the Movie Mode when I play so all of my screenshots use that feature.  I don't mean it to insult anybody, but I just think the game looks better.

Its your game and you have done all the hard work as the designer your in charge, that is the privilege of the designer, and movie mode is fine by me. 

Im really looking forward to this AAR because I have always enjoyed your work so thank you for doing this and of course for being part of the development of CMCW 😃.

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52 minutes ago, Pete Wenman said:

I hope Bil doesn't mind but the evolution of the Dollbach map. Note the map image predates the autobahn and bridge. It also give an overview of the battlefield for those that like that kind of detail

Dollbach3.thumb.jpg.7792de5369dd44f81058ca5d2af8d4d7.jpg

P

 

The map editor is indeed a powerful tool and the results can be very impressive...

It is somewhat time consuming though...any future updates that will improve this will be most welcome...

 

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6 hours ago, BletchleyGeek said:

The more I think about it, the more in agreement I am with this.

If Warren plays in character, I would expect an attempt at a "deep operation" - like a massed rush along one flank - rather than a frontal advance on the town under the guns of the enemy (the town seems to be at the bottom of a "bowl" in the middle of the map).

Interesting thoughts. 
Based on the screenshots (and Bil's decription) it seems to me that the frontal/center approach is the most covered (although relatively small, a good target for artillery?), while the flanks don't provide cover for a maneuver at all.
So if the USSR forces can use that covered route to get a foothold in the town, Bil would have to close in on the town exposing his forces and or move through the forest to get to the town and duke it out close range (probably not a good option for Bil's tanks though). 

Both flanks seem quite open so would allow Bil to shoot and scoot opportunities and from what I can see both flanks are in LOS/LOF from most of Bil's deployment zone / ridges on his side.
Although the deep operation on the flanks sounds interesting as well :). The capability gap might be a (valid) reason for the USSR to go for one of the flanks? With artillery (and or smoke) falling down on any ridge that allows LOS/LOF against the it, the flank push it would be a challenge to defend against before they've made it to the reverse slope or further.

Curious to see how it plays out, good times ahead! :)

Edited by Lethaface
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Super happy to have a Bil AAR to indulge in!

I also happen to have some time off in April and May, so hopefully will be released as planned!

Also great that effectively two time periods are included! Will be really interesting to see how things change. 

Not sure how thermals evolve/are introduced on both sides over the period, would imagine that will have a significant impact (I guess there will be multiple major changes taking place over that period). Looking forward to learning a whole lot of new things, and seeing them for myself when the game is released!

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4 hours ago, AlexUK said:

 

Not sure how thermals evolve/are introduced on both sides over the period, would imagine that will have a significant impact (I guess there will be multiple major changes taking place over that period). Looking forward to learning a whole lot of new things, and seeing them for myself when the game is released!

ooooh yeah.  This is a majorly significant item.  For the US not having it is a severe handicap.

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