Paper Tiger Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 Just something quickly to comment on that Hapless video of mission 4 - I just watched it a few minutes ago and it seems I didn't make it clear enough just how much was at stake exiting B Company from the map edge. I guess I'll have to clarify that in the briefing. But again, where was the smoke? Perhaps it's just something that folks miss about the Brits - those 2" mortars that every platoon has can lay down a smoke screen to cover an attack. I use smoke all the time playing as the Brits. The real problem with the 2nd ASH missions is that there are very few combined arms missions, they're largely infantry actions as they were in the real operation. It does sap the fun a bit. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warts 'n' all Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 Yeah, 2inch Mortar smoke is your friend. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted December 13, 2023 Share Posted December 13, 2023 14 hours ago, Paper Tiger said: I think there is a psychology that comes into play when you use these types of victory conditions, similar to what we observe when you set a Preserve Order in CMSF - players treat it as a DON'T DESTROY' condition when all it does is reduce the overall total number of points earned at the end - as long as your casualties are low enough, you still win big and the enemy gets no VPs for you failing to earn the points. That is interesting. In my recent play of your "Gung Ho!" Mission 1, i was able to successfully not damage the Mosque as a "Preserve location". So, in that mission at least it is possible to obey the combat "rules/restrictions" and still get a Total Vic. I suppose it comes down to the way the designer allocates points. There may well be situations where one has to level everything and to hell with the "Preserve" restrictions in order to get a win without losing too many friendlies - and that is probably the priority for commanders. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paper Tiger Posted December 14, 2023 Share Posted December 14, 2023 (edited) After some thought, I've decided to rework the victory conditions for the Tourville mission to make it clear that there are a lot of points at stake exiting Company B from the map. While clearly aware of it's existence, Hapless was unaware of just how much weight there was to the exit condition I think and that was the source of his frustration with that mission. I can remedy that now but it's too late for this series. I'll also tone down the number of VPs the enemy earns for denying exit. There's always something that gets through testing and it's a shame that this mistake had consequences. As it happens, that's another lose = consequences mission. If you win, Mondrainville is a meeting engagement but if you lose, the AI has had time to set up in the village and now it's an attack mission. I'm enjoying watching his series though. IIRC, he took a break after losing Mondrainville and I didn't know he'd returned to it to complete it so I'd like to see how he approached the other later missions. Okay, so now you get the following awards: 100 points for keeping casualties below 20% (same) 100 points for destroying the bunkers (same) 100 points for controlling Humpty (same) 200 points for controlling Dumpty (same but hard to do) 300 points for exiting Company B (new) The intention is that you're unlikely to clear Dumpty in the time alloted so the player should be able to earn 300 points victory if he contests Dumpty without heavy casualties which is a very reasonable objective to meet. This 300 point award is offset by the 300 points, previously 500 points, awarded to the Germans if Company B doesn't exit so you get a DRAW. Winning now will depend on how much of Company B you exit. A DRAW will mean you follow the optimal path in the new scrip so the degrees of victory will be for bragging rights. Edited December 14, 2023 by Paper Tiger Add the new VP awards 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warts 'n' all Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 On 12/14/2023 at 2:54 AM, Paper Tiger said: it's a shame that this mistake had consequences. It is always good to see it when someone is prepared to admit to making a mistake. Even if it didn't effect my own enjoyment of the campaign. Well done PT. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centurian52 Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 I remember really enjoying this campaign when I first played it, sometime around when the Commonwealth module for CMBN was first released. Combat Mission has improved so much in that time that the potential for revising this campaign seems exciting. But, @Paper Tiger, please don't tone down the difficulty too much. I did find this to be a very difficult campaign when I last played it. But that's a huge part of what I enjoyed about it. Besides, I'll always take historical accuracy over balance. And my understanding is that this operation was no cakewalk for the Allies. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grisha Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 Also late to the party on this but thought I'd add an article put out by the US Army on the subject of the AT value of artillery barrages. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zKmYA8oyF2iATrm1ZuSpL0yOoaYOPTTc/view?usp=sharing 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paper Tiger Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 On 1/29/2024 at 10:22 PM, Centurian52 said: I remember really enjoying this campaign when I first played it, sometime around when the Commonwealth module for CMBN was first released. Combat Mission has improved so much in that time that the potential for revising this campaign seems exciting. But, @Paper Tiger, please don't tone down the difficulty too much. I did find this to be a very difficult campaign when I last played it. But that's a huge part of what I enjoyed about it. Besides, I'll always take historical accuracy over balance. And my understanding is that this operation was no cakewalk for the Allies. I'm not planning to make it easier overall but there were one or two missions (Fair and Square [veteran] comes to mind) where the AI forces need to be toned down a tad. I would like to add a flamethrower tank to the mix in the opener only but otherwise, the plan is simply to update the AI where it is needed. Some of the missions have very small AI forces so 8 groups is already fine but I'm sure some triggers would make the missions a bit more challenging. Where the real work lies is in improving the AI attacks, of which there are quite a few when the SS counterattacks come in. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
db_zero Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 Been playing this for a while and hate it...frustrating and hard. I often have to quit swearing and restart a save many times. I quit playing for a while then return for more punishment. The other scenario that frustrated me was the one where the British advances down the single road. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacillator Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 1 hour ago, db_zero said: I often have to quit swearing and restart a save many times. I quit playing for a while then return for more punishment. Sounds to me like you really like it ? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
db_zero Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 1 hour ago, Vacillator said: Sounds to me like you really like it ? Its a tough campaign made worse by the fact I played it years ago, stopped playing but saved the files so I could resume at a later time. My system had issues so I had to rebuild it and I thought I had the saved campaign files back up only to discover they weren't so I had to start from the beginning a couple of months ago. I find that if you're infantrymen or sniper gets that lucky hit on the well placed MG or SMG toting hiding and shooting from a building, things can go easier, but if not then it can be frustrating. Killing Tigers while not easy is not as difficult as one might expect either. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacillator Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 18 minutes ago, db_zero said: My system had issues so I had to rebuild it and I thought I had the saved campaign files back up only to discover they weren't Yeah I've been there. 18 minutes ago, db_zero said: Killing Tigers while not easy is not as difficult as one might expect Depends on the circumstances I suppose. Okay if I ever get the time, I need to play this . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
db_zero Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 4 minutes ago, Vacillator said: Yeah I've been there. Depends on the circumstances I suppose. Okay if I ever get the time, I need to play this . The 6 pounders and PIATs did the job and it was at night.... save often if you do play. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PEB14 Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 Well, it's the first major campaign I played so it's difficult for me to compare it with other ones, but I was able to play it and win it without going back to save files. And I'm no crack player, I play only since a little more than one year... You can afford to lose missions and still soldier on, which is pretty cool (I suffered two Major Defeats out of 15 missions). But a frustrating campaign, sure it is! British are frustrating anyway (except when they lose the Crunch, obvisouly... ). I mean, playing WW2 British in CM is frustrating, of course... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warts 'n' all Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 On 3/15/2024 at 11:02 PM, db_zero said: Killing Tigers while not easy is not as difficult as one might expect either. Lizzie Saxe-Coburg und Gotha and Phil the Greek enjoyed killing tigers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacillator Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 9 hours ago, PEB14 said: British are frustrating anyway (except when they lose the Crunch, obvisouly... ). I agree, but what is 'the Crunch' - do you mean a Crunchy bar? I would be frustrated if I lost a Crunchy bar. 37 minutes ago, Warts 'n' all said: Lizzie Saxe-Coburg und Gotha and Phil the Greek enjoyed killing tigers. You're drawing my mind to a colleague's tea mug at work. It is emblazoned with 'No to monarchy'. All I can say (to you, not him) is that you tried... He also had an 'I'll miss EU' plate after Brexit, with which I fully agreed, but we all know what a Fook-up that was. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warts 'n' all Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 Of course, those two weren't the only ones to kill tigers. Bungalow Bill did it as well, according to Johnnie Lenin and the Bolshevik Beat Boys. Anyway back the campaign. It is a tough one, but I enjoyed it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PEB14 Posted March 19 Author Share Posted March 19 19 hours ago, Vacillator said: I agree, but what is 'the Crunch' - do you mean a Crunchy bar? I would be frustrated if I lost a Crunchy bar. Mr Vacillator, I'm very disappointed. Quoting Wikipedia: Quote The traditional name for the annual England versus France rugby union match in the Six Nations Championship as used on both sides of the English Channel is Le Crunch, used since at least 1981 Last occurence: March 16, 2024. France 33-31 England. Everything's said! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warts 'n' all Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 (edited) Of course, back in '81. It was still the Five Nation's Championship. France beat England at Twickenham. The Milk Snatcher was on the throne, and I still had enough hair to "Spike". Edited March 19 by Warts 'n' all 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacillator Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 (edited) 2 hours ago, PEB14 said: Mr Vacillator, I'm very disappointed. I never fail to disappoint . 2 hours ago, PEB14 said: England versus France rugby union match in the Six Nations Championship I thought it might be that, but personally I have never heard the expression being used. Perhaps as my nearest neighbours just happen to be English, Irish and Welsh. I don't know why but my Irish neighbour was rather quiet last week and my Welsh neighbour has not been seen this week . Edited March 19 by Vacillator 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vacillator Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 1 hour ago, Warts 'n' all said: The Milk Snatcher was on the throne I'm trying very hard not to picture the Milk Snatcher 'on the throne' . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warts 'n' all Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 5 hours ago, Vacillator said: I'm trying very hard not to picture the Milk Snatcher 'on the throne' . Funny you should say that, a mate of mine had a Milk Snatcher toilet roll holder. The paper came out of her mouth. I wish they still made them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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