WIP: Campaign Pack "Against all Odds"

[Simcoe]

On 10/25/2022 at 1:47 AM, Mr.X said:

This project is not dead at all 

The Campaign "Tiger Trail" is going into the final stage of developement. There will be 16 single missions to be playtested. 

First mission for testing is ready now. 

"KG Kuehn Adamowicze":  Command elements of Panzer-Division "Totenkopf", attacking a soviet bridgehead northwest of Grodno. Map size 2km x 2,5km.

2:30 hours. 

 

If anyone is interested, please PM me and I will send you the file.

 

Regards Mr.X 

Really awesome stuff! It’s greatly appreciated.

[Mr.X]

The next Mission is ready for playtesting. 
The Test-Version is named „Harasimovicze Close Combat Day“.

You command mixed forces of Division“Totenkopf“and ad hoc units, defending the „Marder“Line in July 44.

This is one of the huge missions during the campaign, but I put value to a reasonable playability, because I hate gigantic battles where players need endless time for every single turn….

So, don‘t be put off by the size of the map (2x3km). 

Volunteers are very welcome

Regards 
Mr.X

[Phantom Captain]

3 hours ago, Mr.X said:

Volunteers are very welcome

Regards 
Mr.X

I'd love to give it a try once I finish the last battle of a campaign I am in.  I love large maps and love having maneuver room.  Honestly, I'm pretty comfortable running anything up to battalion sized.

Edited November 3, 2022 by Phantom Captain

[Mr.X]

@Phantom Captain: Great  PM me and I will send you the file.

Regards

Mr.X

[Mr.X]

Next mission is ready for playtesting. 

Testversion of "KG Pitschellis". Command units of 3.SS-Panzer during their attempt to break through the Soviet Lines north of Sopockinie. 

SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 3 in action. Size of the map 1,8km x 3km. 

Volunteers are welcome 

 

Regards

Mr.X

[Mr.X]

[Mr.X]

Next mission is ready for testing  German Advance with armoured Reconaissance units - middle sized. 

Regards 

Mr.X

[Mr.X]

[Mr.X]

Short update: 

8 of 16 missions are running through the final testing - the other 8 missions will be completed during the next 4 to 6 weeks.

So, any more Volunteers are always welcome and can PM me

And I have a question about military English: 

What‘s the right word for what is called a „Straf-Einheit“ or „Bewährungs-Einheit“ in German ?

Probation-Unit? Or penalty-Unit?

Regards Mr.X 

 

[Erwin]

Hope this helps:

Penal military unit

 

Penal military units, including penal battalions, penal companies, etc., are military formations consisting of convicts mobilized for military service. Such formations may contain soldiers convicted of offenses under military law, persons enrolled in the unit after being convicted in civilian courts, or some combination of the two. Service in such units is typically considered a form of punishment or discipline in lieu of imprisonment or capital punishment.

Contents

• 1History
• 2By country
  • 2.1Belgium
  • 2.2Bolivia
  • 2.3Finland
  • 2.4France
  • 2.5Italy
  • 2.6Nazi Germany
  • 2.7Russia
  • 2.8South Korea
  • 2.9Soviet Union
  • 2.10Ukraine
• 3See also
• 4Notes
• 5References
• 6External links

History[edit]

One of the earliest examples of penal military units was recorded in the Chinese annals Records of the Grand Historian and Book of Han. During the Han–Dayuan War, unhappy with the failure of General Li Guangli in an earlier expedition in 104 BC, Emperor Wu of Han promised amnesty and rewards to criminals, prisoners and bandits (赦囚徒捍寇盜) and dispatched a 60,000-strong army consisting of "bad boys" (惡少年) to attack the Greco-Bactrian kingdom of Dayuan in 102 BC.

Dedicated penal units were first envisioned during the Napoleonic era of warfare, as large armies formed of conscripts often suffered from disciplinary problems.^[1] Soldiers who refused to face the enemy were seen as detrimental to the cohesion of the army and as a disgrace to the nation. The formation of penal battalions was seen as a way of disciplining an army and keeping soldiers in line. In addition, many nations conscripted criminals into penal battalions in lieu of imprisoning or executing them during wartime to better utilize national manpower. Such military units were treated with little regard by the regular army and were often placed in compromising situations, such as being used in forlorn hope assaults.^[1] The French Empire in particular was notable for employing penal military units during the wars of the coalition, especially during the later years of the conflicts as manpower became limited. The Régiment pénal de l'Île de Ré, formed in 1811 and composed almost entirely of criminals and other societal undesirables, would see action during the later years of the Napoleonic Wars.^[2]

The disbandment of conscripted armies and end of large scale warfare following the Napoleonic era led to the decline of the penal battalion system in continental Europe. However, the system continued in overseas colonies, again with the French as the primary employers of penal battalions. The Battalions of Light Infantry of Africa (Bats d'Af) was formed by order of Louis Philippe I in 1832 for the purpose of expanding the French colonial empire.^[3] The Battalion fought in the French conquest of Algeria and during the Crimean War.^[4] The French also employed the compagnies d'exclus ("companies of the excluded"), military units which were stationed at Aîn-Sefra in Southern Algeria. These penal units consisted of convicts condemned to five years or more of hard labor and were judged unworthy to carry weapons.^[5]

The various Italian unification conflicts saw the Redshirts recruiting convicts and revolutionaries from prisons into penal regiments known as Battaglioni degli imprigionati ("Battalions of the Imprisoned" or "Prisoners Battalion".)

The period of military rearmament preceding World War II caused renewed interest in the concept of penal military units. In May 1935 the German Wehrmacht instituted a new policy under German conscription law that stated soldiers who were deemed disruptive to military discipline but were otherwise "worthy of service" would be sent to military penal units. Criminals were also conscripted into penal units in exchange for lighter sentences or as a form of stay of execution.^[6] These units, referred to as "special departments" or the generic term Strafbataillon, were overseen by the German military police. Prior to World War II, there were nine Strafbataillone within the Wehrmacht. The primary role of a Strafbataillon was to provide front line support. As the war progressed, the size of Strafbataillon companies dramatically increased in size due to changes in German military policy. Under such policies, any soldier who had a death sentence (for retreat) commuted was automatically reassigned to penal units, greatly increasing the number of soldiers available to the Strafbataillon.

The effectiveness of Strafbataillone were mixed. The combination of criminals, political prisoners, and undisciplined soldiers that made up a Strafbataillon often required harsh measures to be imposed for unit cohesion to be maintained. Strafbataillone were often ordered to undertake high risk missions on the front line, with soldiers being coached to regain their lost honor by fighting.^[7] Certain penal military units, such as the 36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, gained a reputation as being brutal towards civilian populations and prisoners of war, and were employed as anti-partisan troops due to the fear they inspired.^[8][9][10] Other units, most notably the 999th Light Afrika Division, suffered from poor morale and saw soldiers desert the Wehrmacht to join resistance groups.^[11]

Following Operation Barbarossa and the entry of the Soviet Union into World War II, the Red Army began to seriously consider the implementation of penal military units. These efforts resulted in the creation of Shtrafbat, penal military units composed of sentenced soldiers, political prisoners, and others deemed to be expendable. A large number of Red Army soldiers who retreated without orders during the initial German invasion were reorganized into rudimentary penal units, the precursors to dedicated Shtrafbat. The Shtrafbat were greatly increased in number by Joseph Stalin in July 1942 via Order No. 227 (Директива Ставки ВГК №227). Order No. 227 was a desperate effort to re-instill discipline after the panicked routs of the first year of combat with Germany. The order—popularized as the "Not one step back!" (Ни шагу назад!, Ni Shagu Nazad!) Order—introduced severe punishments, including summary execution, for unauthorized retreats.^[12][13]

During the Chinese Civil War (the part from 1945 to 1949) the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) was known to have used penal battalions. A unit made up of deserters and those accused of cowardice, the penal battalion was given tasks such as scouting ahead of the main forces to check for ambushes, crossing rivers and torrents to see whether they were fordable, and walking across unmapped minefields.^[14]

By country[edit]

Belgium[edit]

• Woodchopping platoon of the Orne Penal unit for Flemish soldiers acting against the French speaking superiors in the Belgian army during the First World War.^{[15][16][17][18]}

Bolivia[edit]

• 50th Infantry Regiment (Bolivia) personnel were recruited from prisons and under command from army and police officers in the Chaco war.^{[19][20][21][22][23]}

Finland[edit]

• Erillinen Pataljoona 21 ("Separate Battalion 21") or "Pärmi's Devils" was a penal battalion that fought in the Finnish army during the Continuation War, and was commanded by Major Nikke Pärmi. Er.P 21 was founded in August 1941 from voluntary criminal prisoners, and it also included leftists who were in protective custody. The distinguishing mark of Er.P 21 was the black letter V sewn into the sleeve of the uniform, according to which the unit was nicknamed "Black Arrow".^[24]

France[edit]

• Régiment pénal de l'Île de Ré, formed in 1811, disbanded in 1814. This was one of five regional penal units forming part of the French Army during this period and disbanded at the First Restoration.
• Battalion of Light Infantry of Africa formed in 1832 and made up of men with prison records who still had to complete their military service, plus serving soldiers with serious disciplinary problems.
• Disciplinary Company of the Foreign Regiments in the Far East (1946–1954)

Italy[edit]

• Cacciatori franchi of Regio Esercito
• Battaglione di rigore of Genio Lavoratori (Italian Social Republic)
• Battaglioni degli imprigionati

Nazi Germany[edit]

• Afrika-Brigade 999 (a.k.a. Bewährungseinheiten 999, Strafbataillon 999, Bewährungstruppe 999, Division 999).
• Dirlewanger Brigade (a.k.a. SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger, later 36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS). Consisting of hardened criminals who were not expected to survive recruitment, it became notorious even among the Waffen-SS for the sheer depravity of its war crimes.
• Strafbattalion (German Army unit)

Russia[edit]

• In July 2022 during the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, the Wagner Group attempted to recruit inmates to fight in Ukraine.^[25]

South Korea[edit]

• Unit 684 of the Republic of Korea Air Force formed from convicts to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Il-sung in 1968.

Soviet Union[edit]

• Shtrafbat (NKVD prisoner battalions in World War II)

[Vacillator]

29 minutes ago, Mr.X said:

Probation-Unit? Or penalty-Unit?

A 'penal unit'?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_military_unit

EDIT: Erwin beat me to it LOL.

I'd also like to take the opportunity to apologise for doing so little testing on this, you kindly sent me a btt file and I loaded it up but then got sidetracked.  Is there something which needs testing now?

Edited December 16, 2022 by Vacillator

[Mr.X]

Thanks @Erwin

[Mr.X]

@Vacillator:

Absolutely no problem at all
Real life and other things are more important. 
If you really like, I can send you another file for testing
 

Regards Mr.X 

[Vacillator]

2 hours ago, Mr.X said:

If you really like, I can send you another file for testing

Please, and I'll try to do better this time .

[Mr.X]

The final test phase for the „Tiger Trail“ Campaign is starting
Furthermore, I need help of volunteers for three components:

1. there are two missions ready for testing, where urban fighting around a railway bridge is to manage. Both missions are of middle size.

2. there are plenty of huger missions of all typs (Breakthrough, Defense, Evacuation, Meeting) which will get better with every test run. 
 

3. AND FINALLY:  

I need at least one or two volunteers who will test the Beta-Version of the whole Campaign, which means a ton of fighting through 15 - 16 missions. 
The Beta-Version will be ready in the first week of February. 

So, I will be very pleased if anybody would PM me. 
 

Regards 

Mr.X 

 

[Mr.X]

A little update:

11 single missions are running through final testing at the moment - special thanks to alle volunteers 

And all (finally) 17 single missions are completed except some briefing-details. So, there are 5 "virgin" missions left, for 

which I still search for testers: 1x urban fight, 1x small to middle sized, 3x middle sized ..... PM me 

 

Regards

Mr.X

 

[Mr.X]

Some new impressions from the Belorussian Front 

[Mr.X]

Some new impressions from testing

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by Mr.X

[Erwin]

Nice sepia effect.  I have some very old pre WW2 pics from my east european family and they look a lot like yours.

[Mr.X]

Hi Erwin, 

no matter, what I try - at the end I always like this effect most

Regards 

Mr.X 

[Mr.X]

Edited January 28, 2023 by Mr.X

[Mr.X]

First one of my favorite pictures above and now the NEWS:

After a truly huge amount of work, the Campaign "Tiger Trail" will be finished latest on 31.January 

All the missions have run through at least 1-2 testings, BUT I will not publish the Campaign before it is completely played through at least

2 times bei Playertesters  - reason for that is: when the campaign is published, I won't have ambitions to change anything because I don't like

these "VersionA and VersionB" things. When the baby is born, it should be healthy without any operations 

 

So, here's the opportunity for You to play exclusive a Campaign of 17 single missions before it is finally published 

It is not a Beta-Version, but for 98% the finished product. 

But I have to set the following conditions:

= I need players, who have enough time and motivation to play this Campaign through in a time span of 3-4 month

= I need players, who are attentive and give me reports of the missions - especially, if anything should not go right and is to be improved

= and at least I need players, who are confidential and do not share their playing or the files with others until the final relief

 

If you like to fight, then PM me.

 

Regards  Mr.X

 

 

[Mr.X]

Last impression before the Campaign is finished 

 

 

Edited February 1, 2023 by Mr.X

[Mr.X]

The Campaign "Tiger Trail" is ready for combat 

17 missions with Division "Totenkopf" in July 1944. I need one more tester - so, if anybody likes to play exclusively 

a full campaign before it is published - then PM me ....

 

Regards

 

Mr.X

Edited February 2, 2023 by Mr.X

[Phantom Captain]

22 hours ago, Mr.X said:

The Campaign "Tiger Trail" is ready for combat 

17 missions with Division "Totenkopf" in July 1944. I need one more tester - so, if anybody likes to play exclusively 

a full campaign before it is published - then PM me ....

 

Regards

 

Mr.X

I just want to say that anyone volunteering is in for a real treat!!  Jump on it guys!  I've been really impressed with everything I've seen of this one so far....