wbs Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Day before Yesterday I experienced what must be the most amazing single turn in CMBB/CMBO history, for a situation that was not contrived in any way. I was playing tcp/ip against my opponent in the "Siberian Devils" Operation. He was Russian, I was German. Deep Snow, Extreme Cold, Dawn. At the beginning of round #2, The setup zones allowed him to set up right against the face of my defensive line (on my left flank), and skip the process of trudging across 400 meters of open ground in deep snow, all the time under fire. The separation between the two forces was between 0 and 100 meters, although neither of us knew this while we were setting up. He decided to make a maximum effort to break my line, and so he set up approx 1000 men (4+ companies) both in front of my first line of defense, and in between my first and second line of defense (which the setup zones allowed, although I did not know this at the time of setup). In Looking at the board during setup, I realized that my left flank was the most vulnerable, and so I stripped the reserves from the center and right of my line and held those with a single line of units. I loaded up my left flank with every unit that I could, and then we proceeded to turn #1. Both of us were shocked by our combined setup. It revealed that he would have 800 men out in the open, in deep snow, going up against my much smaller first line of defense (Roughly 200 men (Weakened Condition), in buildings, foxholes, and supported by off-board artillery, 50mm mortars, and 3 75mm infantry guns). Behind my first line of defense he had roughly 200 more men in buildings, and then I had my second line of defense consisting of about 100 men (in buildings, foxholes, and on open ground). RESULTS: We ran the first turn, and almost every unit on the board opened up at point-blank range (with the exception of 2-3 additional Companies that he kept in reserve, out of sight). Off-board Artillery, mortars, and field guns were ripping huge gaps in his lines, but I was taking my own heavy hits. When the turn (as in ONE turn/ one minute of action) was over, he (the Russians) had suffered 419 casualties, and had another 200-300 broken/routed, :eek: :eek: while I lost 134 Casualties, and had another 60-70 broken/routed. I also lost two field guns and 3 vehicles. :eek: :eek: After that turn, 35-40 of his squads were KIA, with another +/- 20 broken/routed. I had about 17-18 squads KIA (fewer men in each of my squads) with 8-9 more broken/routed He failed to break my line. Must be some kind of a CMBB/CMBO record, I would think. [ June 10, 2003, 05:21 PM: Message edited by: wbs ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwxspoon Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Wow! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Axe_ Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 I don't think I've ever had that many casualties in a scenario, let alone one turn. :eek: Save the turn? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbs Posted June 9, 2003 Author Share Posted June 9, 2003 We saved the setup, but not the turn. You could get the same results though, by hitting "GO' and letting the game take its course (with the exception of plotting the off-board artillery and indirect mortar fire to their most logical targets (i.e. largest concentrations of troops). I was the "guest", so the setup is saved on his PC. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Murray Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 --- POSSIBLE SPOILER ----- I played "Stalingrad The Movie..." (again - I play this one way too much) last night. Gave the computer a + 3 experience bonus (plus the recommended EFOW). In turn 4, 4 T-34's came charging out into the clearing all at once. I thought my Pak crew was done for as I figured that they would be able to take out 1 or 2 of the tanks but would be targetted & destroyed by the remaining tanks. On turn 5 they knocked out all 4 tanks! I've never seen a crew move that fast, epecially with casualties. [ June 09, 2003, 03:40 PM: Message edited by: Rob Murray ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laxx Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 actually, i have never seen 4+ companies together in a scenario before. how long did the computer take to process that turn ? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbs Posted June 10, 2003 Author Share Posted June 10, 2003 It was noticeably longer than usual, and I remember thinking "Oh, boy, this is going to be a mess", when I saw how long it was taking to process. I would guess that it took approximately twice as long as "usual", but even so it was only about 30-60(?) seconds to process the turn, once we hit "Go". The playback was somewhat jerky on my monitor as the amount of action to be "portrayed simultaneously" threatened to overwhelm the PC's ability. My friend has one PC that is about 3 years old, and a new one that is only a few months old. I'm not sure what the specs are, but he has them networked (along with a third, older, one in his house) I was on the "guest" PC and had joined his game. [ June 10, 2003, 05:25 PM: Message edited by: wbs ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conhugeco Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 --- POSSIBLE SPOILER ----- I was wbs' opponent in the action described by him. For the record, there were five rifle companies just outside the town, and one rifle company and one recon platoon with approximately four attached maxims "infiltrated" into the town. Two ski companies were in reserve, and the remaining maxims and artillery spotters were deployed on or behind the main ridge outside of town. Judging by the shape of the setup zones I took a chance that the Jerries were not deployed on that edge of the town. I was wrong and it was a massacre. This is a screwy operation. The initial deployment is diagonal to the edges of the map, but the second and subsequent battles reorient the deployment to a more traditional side-to-side setup. The result was that in the setup for the second battle I had been awarded a toehold in the town, even though I hadn't gotten within 400 meters of it in the first battle. I would have had an even bigger toehold had I merely thrown out a platoon to my far left flank(still in my setup zone!) in the first battle. Sorry wbs, we will not be finishing this one. Edited to add that wbs was using the oldest and slowest computer on the network. [ June 10, 2003, 10:17 PM: Message edited by: Conhugeco ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securityguard Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 The operation is indeed messed up completely deployement wise. Me and my friend were playing it and he was allowed to place units behind me, while I had the town by battle 2 due to the diagonal setup. Its a shame, too, because its one of my favorite operations (in theory). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbs Posted June 11, 2003 Author Share Posted June 11, 2003 Hi Conhugeco :cool: I didn't name names, but I did think that the turn was worthy of mention. Thanks for clarifying the turn from your perspective, as you had more detailed knowledge of your own forces than I did. I have to salute you for making that maximum effort in a winner-take-all attack. It's interesting that you could have pushed one of your units even farther forward during the first round, as I had wondered about that. I agree that it seems the game would have given you more of the town in your setup for Round two if you had done this. It is too bad that this flaw exists, because it is a great scenario otherwise. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conhugeco Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 wbs wrote: It's interesting that you could have pushed one of your units even farther forward during the first round ....Not forward ... sideways. Which in the second battle translates into forward. What a mess. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
420 Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 is there any way we can get this setup or turn? i'd like to experience this mad minute first-hand. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbs Posted June 12, 2003 Author Share Posted June 12, 2003 Conhugeco saved the setup, so I hope that he still has it as I would like to run that turn again just to see a few things that are receding in my memory. Perhaps he can send it to you (?) If so, you will have to re-target the off-board artillery (within line of sight of the observers), the indirect fire from mortars, and the field guns. Just aim them at the largest concentrations of troops , but make sure that all of the Russian infantry concentrations are targeted. Ignore the supporting MG's and observers up on the ridge (I did not target any of them with any of my units, unless no other targets were available) Also, try giving each German unit on the (entire) board a target by hitting "N" unit by unit (there are only a few that will have no target), and spread out the targets so that as many Russian infantry units as possible on the German left flank are targeted. This should recreate my fire plan as closely as possible. Oh yeah, one other thing. There were about 8 +/-units in my second line of defense that started on open ground, and were plotted to assault-move their way up to buildings in my first line of defense, or else they were plotted to assault-move/attack some of the Russian units that started the turn in buildings behind my first line of defense (I could see them after the setup was revealed). About 1/2 my casualties came from these units, as they were all wiped out to the last man. If anyone gets a copy of the setup, I can go over my planned targets and movements in unit-by-unit detail. [ June 12, 2003, 04:49 PM: Message edited by: wbs ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conhugeco Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 420, I'll e-mail two files to you this evening when I get home from work - the setup save and the first turn save. You will need to follow wbs' advice re targeting, since the save only "captured" my orders to the brave but doomed Soviet troops. You'll want to open the game as hot seat, I'll send you the passwords too. Conhugeco [ June 12, 2003, 03:28 PM: Message edited by: Conhugeco ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbs Posted June 12, 2003 Author Share Posted June 12, 2003 From Conhugeco: I'll e-mail two files to you this evening when I get home from work - the setup save and the first turn save Conhugeco, did you save they first turn too? :confused: I did not think that you did. Also, I was using a different password. Do you need it? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conhugeco Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 420, Big thunderstorm yesterday evening knocked out all power to the Conhugeco castle. The generator ... well, there is no generator - it's an old castle. Power still not available this morning. Will have to send the files when power returns. wbs, Yes, I saved the first turn too, although as we discussed it only saved the fires and moves that I had plotted. Re the passwords, it seems odd but I was able to get into the German side (hot seat) using the same password I used as Russians. I'll check again before I send anything to 420, but to be on the safe side maybe you should post here any passwords that you have, or are ever likely, to use. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
420 Posted June 14, 2003 Share Posted June 14, 2003 hey guys, thanks for the files! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conhugeco Posted June 14, 2003 Share Posted June 14, 2003 Anyone who wants a copy of the saved game files for the "Mad Minute" can e-mail me at the address in my profile. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiggDogg Posted June 14, 2003 Share Posted June 14, 2003 wbs, Please make that file and password available to us so that we might enjoy it in the first person. Cheers, Richard 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbs Posted June 14, 2003 Author Share Posted June 14, 2003 Conhugeco has all of the files. The password I used as the German player for that game were the letters "tex". Have Fun! p.s. Conhugeco told me that he ran it again the other night, and the combat was even fiercer :eek: . He said that the pounding taken by both sides was even worse than the first time. [ June 14, 2003, 03:46 PM: Message edited by: wbs ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conhugeco Posted June 14, 2003 Share Posted June 14, 2003 Richard, Files are on the way to the address in your profile. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletRat Posted June 15, 2003 Share Posted June 15, 2003 Oooh send to me plz! BulletRat81@yahoo.com 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiggDogg Posted June 17, 2003 Share Posted June 17, 2003 Dick, Got the files. Thanks. Do you have a file of the action during that mad, mad, mad world, ... er make that minute. Cheers, Richard [ June 16, 2003, 10:14 PM: Message edited by: PiggDogg ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbs Posted June 17, 2003 Author Share Posted June 17, 2003 PiggDogg, We did not save that turn, but if you look a few posts above, you will see what I did when I plotted my turn. If you do the same, your "German" performance will be closely duplicated. If you have any questions about my plots, feel free to ask. Perhaps Conhugeco can provide a more detailed account of his plots, and these will enable you to closely duplicate the turn that we had. As I said earlier, Conhugeco reran the turn using approximately the same plots, and the result was even fiercer fighting. :eek: [ June 17, 2003, 02:07 PM: Message edited by: wbs ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laxx Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 not exactly as fantastic as the scenario above, but yesterday in a PBEM CMBO with an opponent, I killed 3 Hetzers and Disabled one Panther in a turn. Sort of ruined my opponent's whole game. This was accomplished by T-10s and a ATG (57mm I think). Before , two panthers and 4 hetzers were prowling and giving me problems. I think timing is everything, when the moons align and the atg appears as well as two tank platoons with good covering arcs jump on the enemy, the rewards are very satisfying. (Btw, this was a 1000 point ME with modest hills and scattered trees) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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