CM Operation Setup Lines? (A whine)

[Jeff Duquette]

So I am playing a CM Operation with a friend via PBEM. The operation is called “We Stand and Die Here”. The setting for the operation is the The Battle of the Bulge. The operation portrays The Battle of Dom-Butgenbach between US 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st ID, and the 12th SS Panzer Division. The scenario designer is Frank Rad. The operation sports an impressive set of references in the write-up and seems to have been well researched. I am playing the 1st ID and I am in defense.

Here is my bitch…ok its really a whine…and yes I like cheese with my wine:

• The first battle is somewhat of a draw with myself perhaps getting a little bit of the worst of it.
  
• Second battle I set-up on the reverse slope of a fairly prominent ridgeline that dominates the eastern half of the map. My logic is that I will limit the advantages of his numerous assault guns (and other heavy direct fire weapons) by making the German Player move his tanks over the ridgeline in order to support any infantry assault. I set what AT assets I have (several towed tank destroyers) on the forward slope of the next ridgeline to support my infantry line.
  
• All goes as planned and I hammer my opponents infantry assaults in a series of ambushes as his panzergrenadiers cross over the crestline. When his assault guns try to move up to support his infantry assault I succeed in Knocking out 3 Stug’s as they cross over the ridgeline. No more armor comes over the ridge during the battle.
  
• After taking a very heavy toll on his attacking infantry and armor I counter attack to secure some territory preparatory to the next battle in the operation. The counter attack lasts about 7 or 8 turns by the end of which I have destroyed, captured or routed his attacking force. By the end of the battle I feel pretty good about my potential terrain advantages for the next battle. At the very least I feel I still hold the critical ridgeline and can use the reverse slope again on the succeeding battle.
  
• When it is time for me to set-up for the next battle I find that the game has arbitrarily moved the start line well beyond the positions I had grabbed in my counter attacks…in fact the start line was even pushed past my reverse slope position that I had defended successfully during the previous battle.

The following is an image of the last turn of my battle. The ridgeline I had been initially defending is shown in blue…my counterattack has pushed my positions well in advance of my original defensive position. My start position for the next battle is the yellow line. I am somewhat screwed as the computer has give the German player the crest line of the ridge I was employing for defense. My opponent was even taken aback by the starting line and indicated his force was practically destroyed during my ambushes and subsequent counterattacks.

http://www.geocities.com/jeffduquette/stuff7/CMoperations.html

My question is why does the CM Operation's engine give the attacking side such an advantage in starting positions between battles?

[Michael Dorosh]

The scenario designer would be at fault, I think, for designating a large No Man's Land between battles. Check it out in the editor; he may have used a very wide no man's land setting.

[Jeff Duquette]

I checked the scenario editor for the operation…the size of “no mans land” is set at 0 (zero) meters.

[Michael Dorosh]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Jeff Duquette:

I checked the scenario editor for the operation…the size of “no mans land” is set at 0 (zero) meters.<hr></blockquote>

Well...shiver me timbers!

[Mr. Johnson--]

yup, operations suck most of the time at that stuff it seems.

[Moon]

This usually happens when the other side gets heavy reinforcements, I think.

[Jeff Duquette]

I checked the scenario editor again, and it appears the German Side receives a Company of Panzer Grenadiers with half-track transport on battle 3 of the operation. The Germans also receive about a company of assault guns at the start of battle 3.

However, the US side also received major reinforcements on battle 3. A rifle company, 2 platoons of Shermans and a platoon of Wolverines and a platoon of 57mm anti-tank guns...plus some FO's.

I am guessing that point wise the two sides received about a similar amount of reinforcements.

One interesting bit I noticed was that of the three Stugs I knocked out in battle 2, only two showed up as destroyed on the next battle. The two Stug hulks remaining on the set-up for battle-3 both burned during battle-2. I had continued to fire at two of the Stugs with a 76mm ATG until the Stugs exploded and began to burn. The third Stug I fired at with a 57mm ATG even after it was KO’d. It never did explode. Is there something built into the tank recovery alogorithim that makes burned tanks unrecoverable…or was this purely coincidental?