HOW TO MAKE A BIG MOD (TEST DUMMY LOG)

[Ivan Zaitzev]

Congratulations to everyone involved for the release, specially to kohlenklau!

I was reading the scenario creation PDF, and was wondering, if a scenario is designed to be played as the French only, can you still purchase the Italian mortar for the Germans and the Italian tank for the French?

Maybe I should just give it a try myself, but I'm guessing the Italian infantry will be wearing a different uniform than the Italian tank crew? And if you are playing as the french, the language used by one or two mortar units in the opposing side shouldn't really break things too much?

[Vacillator]

19 minutes ago, Ivan Zaitzev said:

can you still purchase the Italian mortar for the Germans and the Italian tank for the French?

I had the same question - I thought it might be possible with the Axis/Allied switch and back technique.  But I haven't tried...yet.

[kohlenklau]

27 minutes ago, Ivan Zaitzev said:

shouldn't really break things

Please go to the dropbox and grab the latest guide v1.2 I think where I try to better explain how the scenario writer must decide the priority for those mod choices when having Italians on both allied side AND axis side

[waffelmann]

I like how that was solved with the German equipment.
And ponder what was traded for the gas mask bags.
Interesting work!

[kohlenklau]

2 hours ago, Ivan Zaitzev said:

if a scenario is designed to be played as the French only, can you still purchase the Italian mortar for the Germans and the Italian tank for the French?

yes, you can. You just choose to have the priority to the Italians having French names, French ranks and speaking French since the human player is on that side. The use of Italian mortar crew is just a few guys and they WILL be in German helmets, uniforms. But the small crew will have French names, French ranks and speak French. NO BIG WORRY!

[kohlenklau]

1 hour ago, waffelmann said:

I like how that was solved with the German equipment. And ponder what was traded for the gas mask bags. Interesting work!

You mean the new gas sheet pouch on the chest with the strap?

Nothing was traded.

In Blender I was able to let the gas sheet pouch "ride along" with the following other gear items of Germans:

-left side MP40 magazine pouch.

-left side rifle ammo pouch

-MG kit pouch

This equips all the members of the German rifle squad.

 

[kohlenklau]

As we move onward to prepare FR40B SILVER MOD PACK for release in a few short weeks, I again ask for volunteers!

[waffelmann]

7 hours ago, kohlenklau said:

In Blender I was able to let the gas sheet pouch "ride along" with the following other gear items of Germans:

Clever! Thanks!

[kohlenklau]

Today I am investing time to improve my CMFI France 1940 Mod Scenario Creation Guide.

I am not perfect and some sentences were confusing as I puked out all the information or copied it from messages I had already sent to explain things to folks. The quality of the document is NOW on the upswing.

I will be so happy if the CMFI France 1940 Mod Scenario Creation Guide allows this mod to live onward. 

 

[kohlenklau]

I am bubbling over with great scenario ideas. Like grabbing salmon right out of the river. They practically jump into your hands.

10th Panzer at Wadelincourt[edit]

The 10th Panzer Division, like the 2nd Panzer Division, had detached its heavy artillery batteries to support neighbouring units. It was left with just 24 light 105 mm howitzers.^[12] Moreover, the batteries were short of ammunition. The Luftwaffe had not helped the 10th Panzer Division as most of the air attacks were in support of the 1st Panzer Division in the central sector. This meant all of the French artillery and machine gun positions in the area of Wadelincourt were undisturbed.^[12] Added to this, the newly inserted 71st Infantry Division and French X Corps in the Remilly-Aillicourt area prevented the 10th Panzer Division making any quick progress. The Division also had to advance down to the river on open flat terrain of some 600–800 metres (2,000–2,600 ft).^[12]

Near the town of Bazeilles, the Engineers and assault infantry had gathered to prepare the boats for the crossing of the Meuse at Wadelincourt when an artillery barrage from the French positions destroyed 81 out of 96 rubber boats.^[12] The plan of attack had included an assault by both the 69th and 89th Infantry Regiments, but the loss of so many boats meant that only the 86th Infantry Regiment was able to conduct the crossing. The 69th Infantry Regiment was kept in reserve to follow the 86th as reinforcements.^[12]

The 10th Panzer Division's assaults failed all along the Meuse front. The only success came from a small 11-man team (five engineers and six infantrymen) of the 2nd Company, Panzerpionier-Batailion 49 (49th Panzer Engineer Battalion) placed under the 1st Battalion, 86th Infantry Regiment. Unsupported and acting on their own initiative, this small force led by Feldwebel Walter Rubarth opened a decisive breach by knocking out seven bunker positions. Follow-up units from the 1st Battalion 86th Rifle Regiment had crossed over by 21:00 and stormed the remaining bunkers on Hill 246, where the main French defence positions were located. By the end of the day, the bridgehead had been consolidated and the objective taken.^[58]

[kohlenklau]

One of the Bronze scenarios is from the fighting near Stonne...

Battle of Stonne

Guderian ordered the 10th Panzer Division and Großdeutschland Infantry Regiment to attack across the Stonne plateau. In this innocuous town, a vicious two-day battle took place in which the Germans came face to face with the premier French tank, the Char B1-Bis, for the only time. One of these tanks, "Eure", commanded by Pierre Billotte, proved invulnerable to German anti-tank fire and took 140 hits, and knocked out 13 German tanks (two Panzer IV and eleven Panzer III) and a number of anti-tank guns. It transpired that the French had concentrated their own armour there to mount another attack on the Sedan bridgeheads. The battle of Stonne took place between 15 and 17 May, and the town changed hands 17 times. Ultimately the failure of the French to hold it meant the final failure to eliminate the Sedan bridgeheads.^[81]

The path of "Eure" is show in the below map...

I made a call to "Butschi's House of Maps" and placed an order.

Edited April 10, 2023 by kohlenklau

[kohlenklau]

I will use some new images when you first see the scenario in the battle picker.

[Malaspina]

Downloaded (bronze)!

 

[kohlenklau]

If anybody sees anything goofy, please PM me. Send a screenshot is best of course. Tell me if you just have the new Bronze release. Maybe it is my fault, maybe something else in your z. Thanks

 

[kohlenklau]

SCENARIO IDEAS FALLING LIKE RAIN FROM THE CLOUDS.

https://ww2live.com/en/content/world-war-2-when-isolated-french-bunkers-delayed-meuse-river-crossing-1st-panzer-division

When Isolated French Bunkers Delayed The Meuse River Crossing by 1st Panzer Division

As main part of the Manstein Plan or Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), you know the German Army Group A goal was crossing the Meuse river with the intention of capturing Sedan and pushing northwards towards the Channel coast, in order to entrap the Allied forces that were advancing east into Belgium. Its capture would enable a German advance into the undefended depths of open French countryside and to the English Channel. The result would be a strategic-level encirclement.

Only 42 bunkers protected the Sedan bridgeheads on the outbreak of war in September 1939 and an additional 61 were built by 10 May. However, by 10 May, most of the bunkers were incomplete, lacking gun port shutters for the artillery casemates. Some of the bunkers lacked rear doors, making them vulnerable to infiltration by infantry.

The 1st Panzer Division commanded by Brigadier-General Friedrich Kirchner, supported by the Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland and the Sturmpionier-Battalion 43 (43rd Assault Engineer Battalion), prepared to strike at the Gaulier bridgehead, in the centre of Sedan's tactical front.

On 13 May, the Großdeutschland was the first unit to breach the defences on Hill 247, the high ground dominating Gaulier. The regiment, much to their surprise, discovered the Luftwaffe had failed to destroy the enemy bunkers. The main effort of the regiment rested with the 2nd Battalion. The battalion commander decided to use a factory adjacent to the river as his command post, and established machine gun positions on the upper floors of the building to engage three French bunkers on the opposite, river bank.

As scheduled, the first assault squad carried its boat to the water's edge at 16:00 hours, but was immediately engaged by the French from the bunker positions. The entire squad was mowed down and killed, and the boat destroyed. The second squad met the same fate. Enemy small arms fire ensured that crossing the river at Pont Neuf bridge could not be done in rubber assault boats as intended. The Regiment retreated. Reconnaissance found an enemy Bunker, No. 211, was still active. Its location guarded the bridgehead, making it dangerous for German infantry attempting a crossing.

When a 3.7 cm half track mounted Flak gun arrived at the scene, the battalion commander ordered its crew to engage the bunkers. The gun crew expended all its ammunition, engging the bunkers, but the third squad met the same fate as the first two. 

Only the direct fire support of two 7.5 cm armored assault guns, Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III), and a Stuka attack finally subdued the French in the bunkers. At 16:50 hours, the 2nd Battalion made its first successful crossing manmling to establish a small bridgehead by 17:30 hours. The commander immediately sent the rest of the battalion across the river and began the advance on Torcy. At 20:00 hours, the regiment progressed to the northeastern edge of the Bois do la Marfee. Engineers ferried the entire infantry brigade and Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland across the Meuse by midnight. The 1st Panzer Division's execution of the river crossing proved successful.

[kohlenklau]

It would really be great if a few of you guys could do a tiny scenario.

Unless you're chicken? bookk bokk bok bok bok bok

MOD SET	SCENARIO TITLE	AUTHOR	MODE	TIME	MAP	NOTES
FR40A	FR40A FRENCH BREAD	kohlenklau	axis	10		released
FR40A	FR40A FRENCH TOAST REDUX	kohlenklau	axis	20		released
FR40A	FR40A FRENCH KISS	kohlenklau	axis	10		released
FR40A	FR40A CENDRIERE'S FARM	kohlenklau	h2h	45		released
FR40B	FIREFIGHT AT ANNELLES	kevinkin
FR40D	FR40D ROUCAUD'S BLOW	kohlenklau
FR40A	FR40A STUG HUG	kohlenklau
FR40B	FR40B VAILLANT COEUR	kohlenklau
FR40B	FR40B FRENCH PRESS	kohlenklau
FR40B	HEDGEHOG AT JUNIVILLE	kevinkin

[Butschi]

On 4/10/2023 at 7:29 PM, kohlenklau said:

I made a call to "Butschi's House of Maps" and placed an order.

The sun rises over the sleepy village of Stonne.

Still lacking some detail here and there but even Stonne wasn't built in a day.

[kohlenklau]

9 minutes ago, Butschi said:

Still lacking some detail here and there

Thank you Nico!

We already exchanged some messages about our different approaches and standards of maintaining accuracy!

Right or wrong, I admit I am Mr Loosey Goosey and am willing to look at a few old photos and let my imagination kick in!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But in any regard, how can I be of assistance? 

 

[kohlenklau]

On a separate topic, I continue to be amazed at the stories from this short part of WW2 that would make excellent scenarios or even a campaign.

This website shows some great "scenario seeds", as I call them...

http://johnsmilitaryhistory.com/Sedan1940.html

 

Edited April 16, 2023 by kohlenklau

[Butschi]

19 minutes ago, kohlenklau said:

Thank you Nico!

We already exchanged some messages about our different approaches and standards of maintaining accuracy!

Right or wrong, I admit I am Mr Loosey Goosey and am willing to look at a few old photos and let my imagination kick in!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But in any regard, how can I be of assistance? 

 

Well, the French have a very good terrain model available and there are photos from recon flights in 1940. (Plus, I could reuse a stitched together version of these photos made by the Forgotten Hope 2 devs that @Ts4EVER kindly obtained for me.) Would be grossly negligent not to use this data.

I promise the Belgian map will be more your style.

[kohlenklau]

5 minutes ago, Butschi said:

I promise the Belgian map will be more your style.

I know you have your OWN project on the kitchen stove so I do again say a big thank you for coming to help me with my FRANCE 1940 project.

[kohlenklau]

FR40A  BRONZE "PLUS UP" IS READY FOR DOWNLOAD

What is this plus up thing kohlenklau? 

-It is like a patch to fix my mistakes (only human!) BUT with some bonus content I decided to tack on. And a new scenario with the StuG. 

AND I have a new emblem to show how to play the scenario.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/b1xxqze5cnnuq6o/AAAbeTl95UlC8Zo8MoXQ_uIca?dl=0

Put the scenario in your CMFI scenario folder.

Put the mods in with your CMFI z folder next to the previous Bronze folder.

The only one to worry to paste over what is already there is the optional string file in the Nice to Haves section.

If you have any questions, just holler out or PM me.

Remember our motto!

[kohlenklau]

"FAKE LOBSTER" continued

Continuing my lecture on the elephant in the room..."fake lobster" I call it.

Fake lobster is when what you see on the screen is not 100% what the game engine thinks it is.

~~~~~~~~~

D. The Armor mods:

2. AXIS

d. StuG III Ausf A (early StuG with just the short-barrel 75mm)

I started messing with this over in CMRT for my Barbarossa mod efforts. I had always wanted to try and make a scenario to depict that famous splash screen from CMBB. The early StuG with the German soldiers in Greatcoats approaching the Soviets hiding in a destroyed building. Here it is in case you never had CMBB.

I had a couple options. Use along-barrel StuG and Blender mod it to look short? That would just be too powerful. I had the actual gun with the PzIIIN but I was already using that with the PzIVD mod. Plus it was turreted and would not portray properly. Hmmm. I then thought to use the Stummel 75mm half-track. Well, then the armor was way too thin. Oh well. I went with that.

BUT HERE IN CMFI I RECENTLY HAD A BRAINSTORM AND USED THE ITALIAN 75MM SP GUN!

I think it was a great solution for France 1940.

Give it a try by playing FR40A STUG HUG!

Also tucked along with the Bronze "plus up" is a Krupp Protze and a Kubelwagen wearing France 1940 textures.

 

 

Edited April 16, 2023 by kohlenklau

[laurent 22]

On 4/7/2023 at 5:22 PM, kohlenklau said:

Hello bistro @laurent 22?

I want to order the la'speciale de jour, croissant avec camembert et jambon.

Char R-35 in something interesting merci.

details here ---> https://www.viperhobby.com/blogs/modellers-models/renault-r35-tamiya-1-35

 

The french version 1940 of the R35 is finished (it's never actually over ). No it wasn't me who did it, it's a friend...

2 versions, with or without Aris mods. My friend tells me to tell you that the turret also exists in 2 versions, with or without the ace of spades. It could be better but it's better than nothing ... he said, my friend, not me. I told my friend that Kohlenklau, the master of Blender, will certainly do another one much better, the starting level to do better being very low (if you have small children they will do better).

View:

https://www.mediafire.com/view/gg3j0gs8pv6y66l/R-35_camo_1940.jpg/file

Zip Aris:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/yzv02cetjnemphk/R35_1940_Aris.zip/file

Zip BF.c:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/zilb4n6lln04gf0/R35_Bfc.zip/file

 

 

Edited April 16, 2023 by laurent 22

[kohlenklau]

I love it! Merci beaucoup