I'm proud to announce RobO's Quick campaign (ROQC) version 1

[HawkerT]

Kaizer and everybody else who likes special names for the core troops.

The trick lies in the 'Special Name'/'Standard Name' attribute for a units in the editor.

The 'Standard Names' value will make CM auto generate a name from the list of names stached away somewhere in the code of CM. IIRC this list of names is made up of names requested from the CM community, certainly this was the fact for CMBO anyway. This is most likely randomized with maybe a check for the same name to not appear to often.

The 'Special Name' value lets you write a name that will be used for the unit.

So open the editor, load your core force (*.cme )file, go to the 'Unit Editor' and for every unit in the list press 'Edit' (at the buttom of the page) and set the name value as desired.

If you choose 'Standard Name' then you will get a different name for your units in every battle. If you choose 'Special Name' and write a good name then this name will be used in all future battles, as long as you use your core force *.cme file as base for the battle *.cme files (loaded during the quick battle generation).

I have named my Zug HQ after myself, but the rest I have named by letting CM generate a standard name for me in the first battle my new core force unit appears and then grabbing this standard name and write it as a special name for the unit.

Hope this help to clearify the process, if not then balme it on my english and ask again .

CM Campaigning forever .... ROQC Rocks ...

[88mm]

Only on issue with the names; when you upgrade your armor or troops, you have the delete the old core units in the editor and purchase the new units. The names and ammo have to be adjusted again since CMBB doesn't have a option to upgrade. Atleast, i haven't found a button for it yet

[offtopic] Is het normal that a russian 45mm-pak gun can witstand 2x platoons of Pz38(t)E from +/- 500 meters for over 3 turns :confused: :mad:

After 3 turns it still ins't dead after numerous pounding with HE-shells (50+). Given the low ammo the Pz38 carries they are empty after meeting 3 AT-guns. Yet you still may hope they killed the target

From this distance the AT-hits bounced of, so after 3 turns i closed in to about 350m. Meeting another 2 At-guns; result 1 K.O. 2 immobilesed and still not one single AT-gun wiped out. You cannot blame me for giving up my first try with a CO of Pz38(t)e of 17 Panzers. How the heck can you survive a scen. with only Inf (with at-pak support) when your Pz are worthless against a couple of cheap At-guns, drying up your HE-shells in the process. Now i know, Pz against AT is not the best options but this is totaly unrealistic. Okey, they are digged in but that doesn't make it a Atlantic wall :mad:

So, am i on to something when i say the Pz38(t)E is underpowered and/or the anti-tank guns are uberstrenght :confused:

ps: a test with a CO of Pz IIIG (14 Panzers) fared little better. engaged 4 At-guns, 1 At-gun went down together with 3 K.O. PZ and 2 Immobelised. With this rate of losses, your CO doesn't have a change without infantry or support troops. Only solution: disengage the AT-guns and find a "sweet" spot (flag) where no AT-guns are present. Only that way you can avoid Tank-losses. A total victory is then also out of the question, so playing with a Armored force is very disappointing since from battle2 onwards you get zero support or most of the time more AT-food; Armor.

[Robert Olesen]

Re naming: It's one of those features that you have to do yourself because the game wasn't made for campaigns like this. You also have to edit the HQ bonuses when upgrading a platoon. But at least it can be done.

Re support: You ought to get enough support points for at least a platoon of infantry in most games. A mortar or two helps a lot suppressing those AT guns. You're right that a pure armor force can be difficult. It's also an advantage in many cases as you'll not face armor all that often. For a much easier campaign take a combined core force

[Robert Olesen]

But to be fair, 88mm, you hit on a weak point of ROQC: The point balance between armor and infantry. This is typically a problem when you have core force with mostly armor. But it's also fair to state that there aren't very many battles where your armor has very little infantry support.

There is no simple solution AFAIK. You can choose to take it as a challenge, you can change the core force or you can increase the support you get e.g. by multiplying the value by 1.5 (it's a simple change in the auto sheet, cell I9).

[Sardaukar]

I enjoy ROQC with just platoon of tanks/assault guns as core. It was very common on German side that in critical situations, you might have to go to battle without adequate infantry support...so I don't see it as a bad problem. I really like the rules.

Cheers,

M.S.

[88mm]

Hmm... think i make it myself very difficult :eek: When i read in the setup sheet (after i rolled the "dice") not applicable i till now asumed i wasn't allowed to buy support at all. So after battle 1 i have seen it 6 times. So 6 times without any support at all.

Maybe i assumed wrong here

As i am dutch i don't understand every word precisely and when i looked at the translation of "appicable"(googled) i thought it means somethinh like not allowed.

example:

Support Force Purchase

Rarity Limit Max 20%

Unit Category Quick Battle Max Used by Core Force Allowed

Infantry point value 0

Support point value 0

Vehicle point value 0

Armor point value 1036

Artillery point value 0

Total 3400 1036 2364

This suggest i am allowed to buy 2364 of support, even do there is a "not applicable" by the expploiration force :confused:

With the last line i mean:

Exploitation Force Not Applicable

Exploit. Experience Not Applicable Exploit. Division Type Not Applicable

Guess i mix things wrongly, since i don't purchase Exploiration forces and any support at all. So just my core, and a cheap 2 men mg34 lmg unit (as suggested; you have to buy something when setup a QB).

The rules are fine, you've done a great job. It's a relief after the struggles with the BCR campaign, which rules i still don't understand 90%. The example given with the Pz vs the AT were made while i suspect some Pz are underpowered againts AT while in reality a CO of Pz could deal with a single AT. Even more when 10 Pz are firing within 500 meters at the same time. So this is more a CMBB issue.

update

The exploitation force does not count against your support force points. Think of them as extra units outside your command.

It's in the rules ! Ow boy; do i feel stupid

Playing all these battle (9 now) without any support troops.

[ November 21, 2003, 06:52 PM: Message edited by: 88mm ]

[Robert Olesen]

I'm glad it's sorted out, 88mm, but did you play 9 exploitation battles in a row :confused: - or very you just very :confused: yourself?

Not Applicable means that it does not apply to the current battle. Or, to put in in other words, it can safely be ignored.

And yes, the example you listed gave you 2364 points to use for support troops. Enough for two batallions of infantry

I had problems with the BCR rules myself. I started out rewriting them in a - to me - simpler way and offered them to Biltong, but he wasn't interested. Which was just as well, as I then focused on ROQC. It made me focus on making the rules easy to use. But, as you demonstrate so well, there's always room for improvement

[ November 22, 2003, 02:54 AM: Message edited by: Robert Olesen ]

[88mm]

Originally posted by Robert Olesen:

I'm glad it's sorted out, 88mm, but did you play 9 exploitation battles in a row - or very you just very :confused: yourself?

No. I played most of the time (8x :eek: ) only with my core Main Battle Tank CO; that's 16 tanks and nothing else. No art, no gun, no spw, no inf , no nothing. Not too hard to imagine i had great difficulty to achieve succes

And the only battle with Exp. force was 2x armor platoon support, not much help against masses of inf. and AT

Not Applicable means that it does not apply to the current battle. Or, to put in in other words, it can safely be ignored.

Yep, got that right. Silly me ignored the support troops too

And yes, the example you listed gave you 2364 points to use for support troops. Enough for two batallions of infantry

Great to have some cannon-flodder . No really; i suck major with infantry. So far i haven't been able to succesfully engage the enemy with succes using infantry. Guess i am too im-patient and push them too fast. So gimmy Armor any day, together with some inf. too hold those captured flags or just disording the enemy.

I had problems with the BCR rules myself. I started out rewriting them in a - to me - simpler way and offered them to Biltong, but he wasn't interested. Which was just as well, as I then focused on ROQC. It made me focus on making the rules easy to use. But, as you demonstrate so well, there's always room for improvement

Weird they didn't agree to co-op. It's a very good thing you're doing and must have taken lots of time. Excel isn't my expertise, otherwise i have tried something like you did long time ago. BCR says; if you don't get it, don't use it and play. Frustating if you ask me, if rules are written they should be adopted. If rules are too difficult to begin with, it's a waste of time and effort to write them down. It is a good thing that as much as possible is taken out of your hands, minimising the input the gamer have to do. Afterall, we are gamers; not bookkeepers.

[ November 23, 2003, 12:54 AM: Message edited by: 88mm ]

[Robert Olesen]

So, you're using a tank company. Interesting. ROQC hsn't been tested (to my knowledge) with that kind of core force. I wonder how often a tank company was used as a unit, or if it was habitually split up into platoons. I guess it was used as a unit, it just doesn't fit too well into the kind of battles I usually play using CM.

You must have bought it in platoons with a single (or two) HQ vehicles, so you should be able to upgrade it in chunks.

I'll be interested in hearing how it plays once you get it done according to the rules

As to BCR, I have a lot of respect for the decision Biltong made to keep going with his own setup. It's a good deal of work to change direction, and developing BCR is a lot of work. He didn't ask for my help. But there's no point in beating that discussion to death here.

ROQC didn't start out with the automated spreadsheet. It developed over time, and esp. took form as the rules began to solidify. Most of my time towards the final release was spent on the spreadsheet. My original goal was simply to create a set of rules that were easy to understand and use.

[88mm]

Well, i use a CO of tanks because i like huge Tank formations. In other words; Panzergruppen Now a Panzer Bataljon is just a little "over the top" and playing with such a huge formation makes the game very slow (long calculation times) i settled with something more convenient; A Pz Compagnie.

For the making of my HQ i used a (selfmade ?) trick. While you cannot delete portion of a infantry platoon or compagnie, you sure can delete a tank from a tank-platoon. So i purchased four platoons and stripped two tanks frmo the first platoon. Voila! A offcial HQ with a Commander Tank and a Support Tank

My first delight was to create a CO of 17 Pz, based on the SS-Panzer division companie. As you know they consisted of a HQ with 2 Pz and 3x Platoons of 5 Pz. By 1943/1944 they were Panters or PZ IV. But when you start in 41' the only Tank-platoons of 5 Pz are those pesky Pz38(t)e and worse. Tried to play with it, but they seem absolutely useless against AT-guns. Well, you've seen my previous :mad: on the matter. Since i like to play with platoons and not ?x single Pz, a SS-tank platoon is not a option. So now i try to earn myself a Tiger CO , hence the 16 Pz's !

Battle 9 played with the proper rules adopted

This was a tough one, very open field with a weakened enemy/40% ammo. 1500 Points QB , Axis Assault and no trees, village and a short field. You can shake hands with the comrads so closeby they are :cool: (1200x1360) Ow, and a minor detail; a +75% Allied Handicap :eek:

Played this one several times, with different setup's. Just to gain some experience and see which setup pleased me the most. Of the 6 times i tried, two battles fair relative good. Aldo i total victory i out of the question, ammo runs dry and i just can't kill those rougly 12/14 At-guns with my efforts. Atleast not without losing too much (core)armor. With inf. as support i had not much succes. Buying inf instead of lots of arty/support guns didn't do it for me (maybe because i suck with inf). Without lots of 75mm Inf-gun and 81mm support/art i can't suppress the AT-guns enough so i bought 8x 75mm Inf-guns, 4x 81mm support Mortarts, 3x 81mm Artillery, 3x Stug IIIb and 4x Pz IIc. Only attacking on the "weak" left was the best thing to do with my armored force, while suppressing the "suspecious" spots with the Arty my Armor crossed the field (from a lucky dip in the middle of the map where the enemy could not spot me) from the center to the weak left side on top speed. To keep it short?

2300+ casuaties, 240 prisoners. Good Victory but not total, 700p flags vs 400. One core Pz abanded and 3x Pz IIc + 2x Stugs. Best i could do so i accept this outcome as a "campaign"-result

[Robert Olesen]

88mm, there's no reason why you can't upgrade a 5 tank platoon to a 4 tank one - you'll probably lose some men in the process, but that's it. You could also go the other way, filling in with replacements. The thing is that you need to upgrade a full platoon as you need to buy a platoon to get the command structure to work.

Infantry support units can be upgraded individually, as they can be commanded by any infantry HQ.

[88mm]

I know; from 5 to 4 is easy. From 5 to two too.

I am not talking about the ROCQ setup, it's CMBB that bothers me. To end with a 17 panthers CO in 1944, with (in CMBB) 1 HQ and 3 platoons and! the right command-strucute (HQ-tank//tank) and 3x (Hq-tank//tank/tank/tank/tank) i have to start the campaign with Pz38(t)e or even worse. That is, if i start in juli 1941. I don't want to have "just a bunch" of indepent Tanks on the field, so a 4xPz + 1 is not a option.

This is how i like it and don't get it the way i want, so i don't use a 17pz CO unless i start a campaign later in time when better 5xplatoons come availible.

[Robert Olesen]

88mm, I don't see the problem. You could start out with three tank platoons (any size) and upgrade each of them to Panthers, and also start with a HQ tank (or section) and upgrad that one. In terms of ROQC it's only a matter of affording the Panthers (they are very expensive).

Is this a restriction you are placing upon yourself?

[Reichenberg]

Hi Robert!

Great work to bring another CM-campaign to life.

Unfortunately it is not alife on my rig yet :confused: I am using Win98SE2 and Excel97, both German.

But first, what I wanted to do:

I thought of trying out one of your prepaired campaigns. (the following happend to me with all the excel sheets / all nationalities that came with your package of campaigns). I just jumped to the Excel sheet (e.g. Long Walk), entered the the rank and Favor used ('0' to begin) and then I rolled the dice..... and I get the typical Excel failures in some cells.

On the control sheet / setup sheet under Briefing only the cell at 'Operational Situation' gives a result, all the other cells under Briefing show '#value'. In Editor setup and quick battle setup I see the same (e.g. battle type and others)

Is it a problem with my early Excel version or am I missing something essential on the way. From what I read in your rules file this is the right way.... It would be great if you could enligten me here, because a simple and easy to use campaign is -for me personally- missing more urgently in CM then the CMAK-sequel.

Regards

Uwe

[Robert Olesen]

Originally posted by Wassermann:

Hi Robert!

Great work to bring another CM-campaign to life.

Thanks

Unfortunately it is not alife on my rig yet :confused: I am using Win98SE2 and Excel97, both German.

The German part could well be the problem. I know it has been tested with Excel97, but I'm not sure what Windows version was used.

But first, what I wanted to do:

snip

Is it a problem with my early Excel version or am I missing something essential on the way. From what I read in your rules file this is the right way.... It would be great if you could enligten me here, because a simple and easy to use campaign is -for me personally- missing more urgently in CM then the CMAK-sequel.

That's why I made it

On your problem:

1. Send me the offending spreadsheet file. You might have done something wrong, though I doubt it. The address is in my profile. And send me a screenshot of the error you get if you can. I have an updated version that might just work - though probably not. It has a few changes to the macros. I'll send that back if I can't reproduce the error.

2. You need to clear the "Before Battle" die rolls before you can try again. There's an icon on the Auto sheet for this.

3. You could try inputting your own core force instead of using a premade campaign. It shouldn't make any difference, but who knows?

[ November 23, 2003, 01:50 PM: Message edited by: Robert Olesen ]

[88mm]

Originally posted by Robert Olesen:

88mm, I don't see the problem. You could start out with three tank platoons (any size) and upgrade each of them to Panthers, and also start with a HQ tank (or section) and upgrad that one. In terms of ROQC it's only a matter of affording the Panthers (they are very expensive).

Is this a restriction you are placing upon yourself?

..I am not talking about the ROCQ setup

So it's not that it cannot be done in ROCQ. AFAIK you can make any taskforce you like, just fill in the blancs on your sheet; right ?

My problem lies in the scenario-editor. When the parameter= 1941 or (year), you cannot buy a 5 panzer platoon of any main battle tank.

(remember: i need 4x 5 panzer platoon to build myself a good working CO with 4 formations! Thats a must, so when i double-click the leading tank of any formation (in the game) ALL units of that platoon will be highlighted).

Unfortnately; CMBB doesn't allow me to buy a 5x tank platoon of PZIIIF,PZIIIG or PZIIIH. Try it, set the date 1941 and see if you can buy a platoon of medium tanks. ONly when you set the date januari 1943 or higher 5x platoons come availible. Almost all formations are 5x by then, only not the three main-battle tanks mentioned above.

This is not a restriction i place upon me, it's for the purpose of easy handling on the battle-field. double-clicking allow me to fast-select a whole platoon and give them orders. With single units floating around in your battle it's harder to keep the formations together. So it's a game-engine problem, nothing to do with ROCQ. Your sheets are 100% bug-free

[Robert Olesen]

OK, so ROQC is fine. Not quite bug free, but close

Your problems seems to be with OKH, or Adolf, or whoever was in charge of reorganizing the German tank platoons in 1943. CMBB simply follows the proper TO&E for German tank platoons.

But I don't understand why you need to have tank platoons with 5 tanks in 1941. I guess I don't need to know :eek:

[88mm]

I don't need them, just wanted them !

why 5x? So that my crew can enjoy battle from 41' onwards. And the medals, afcource.

Guess i don't want to tell more

[Reichenberg]

It works now!!

Yesterday I opened the Excel file, saved it at a different directory (no complains about a different Excel version) and entered the needed data. This led to the reported errors. With all prepaired campaigns and data. Saving again (this time with Excel complaining about the newer version the sheets were written in) did not help.

When I tried to prepare an Excel file for you today I opened the Excel file, entered the data first (I saw the same errors in the sheets than above!!!) and saved it afterwards (with the Excel complaint)........and everything is fine, no errors anymore!!

I got no idea why but it works for me now. I have send you both Excel files (with and without the errors) and a screenshot of the Auto sheet with the errors in it. Hopefully nobody else runs into similar problems with our friend Billy G.

Regards and thanks again for the tool and the rules!!

Uwe

[Robert Olesen]

I checked the files - I'm fairly sure that the problem comes from a macro called InText. It seems to confuse the calculation sequence sometimes. It seems to be connected to Excel97 versions in other languages than English.

I have a ROQC version where this macro isn't used in the spreadsheet cells. I have already emailed it to Uwe - but if anyone else experiences this problem I can send it to them as well. I'll make a version update when I get the mortar issue sorted out.

[88mm]

Dunno if this is a bug but when i have a QB of 1500, axis assault, QB setup tels i can spend 2250 max while in the excel-sheet there is a max of 2550. Actualy, i am not quite sure this happens all the time so i shall keep a eye on it. 300p or more "extra" to spend can make life easier; afcource :cool:

[Robert Olesen]

It looks like you accidentally specified an axis attack in battle setup.

The numbers fit: 1500*1.5 = 2250 while 1500*1.7 = 2550

You get 50% extra in attacks and 70% in assaults.

[88mm]

Alright. Rob, if you still interested i have made some images of a battle in progess. Date= march 1942, Allied Probe. Handicap=100% :eek:

Prelude: after two succesfull battle with promotion-marker i recieved a considerable blow on my way to promotion to Major

A battle low on ammo and weakened just was too much for my Pz CO. Also i ran into some pesky T34's which were too much for a PZIIIH. Unfortunately, i thought i could wait to upgrade them till the PZIIIJ-late came out. The money was there; about 370 favor. So after losing that one, 144 fav was lost. The rest i spended on replacements with 6 Pz IIIj's. The battle before this i achieved a easy victory againt lots of men with only 3x aT and NO tanks so i could buy myself four more PZ IIIj's.

Battle 9

Since i expect lots of Armor (russian div=armor) and the knowledge that the Pz III's 50mm/L60 is hopeless against the T34/Kv's armor i decided to place all my Panzers at hidden spots, ready to 'counter" at the right moment.

Futher setup: 1x Inf rifle company, 16x HMG, 8x LMG, 7x panzergewehr (lucky me: no rarity this time) 4x 50mm/L60 PAk, 2x cheapo 75mm INf1918 guns and 2 snipers + 2x 81mm Arty. That was all i could muster and seems to be right for the job. Lots of AT-support was needed but also enough firepower to hold of the russian "wave". hence the 24x MG's total, LMG's aren't very usefull but attract enemy-fire away from the more important HMG's so they help relief the stronger formations. They come cheap too

[Robert Olesen]

Looks like you're having fun with your Panzer CO, 88mm.

I'd be interested in seeing the spreadsheets for your battle 8 and 9 if you dont mind. And perhaps a save or two, though it'll probably take me ages to load them on my ageing PC.

A tip on upgrading your IIIs to Panthers (though Panthers aren't available until 7/43): Read the rule section on obsolete units: 7.2.2.3

It may be an idea to check when the PzIII's go obsolete. Mike8G's charts are quite useful for this. I have them if they are hard to get these days - I don't know if they're available on CMMods after the site came back up.

[88mm]

Robert: you have mail

[battle-9] Allied Probe (turn 16)

As expected the sovjets came with a large Tank-brigade. Total about some 40 armored units and about 2 a 3 Infantry-companies. Waited long enough till my AT-guns started to attract attention from them, luring his armor to the center so that i could achieve nice side-shots with my Armor. My idea was to first start poundering his armor from the left flank where his armor was less pressent. So at turn 12 i gave the "hunt" order for platoon 1 and 2(HQ-Hoth & HQ-Guderian) in a NE direction. More to the East to be exactly to give them frontal prectection and a more or less hulld-down advantage.

Turn 13 started well, almost all Pz came in firing position and i always love to see a nice barrage with numerous smokin guns

But almost at the end of this turn three of my Pz turned their turret to their left. O-o , a lonely KV was not seen yet and know atleast 3 Pz showing their side to this monster. Things could become nasty pretty soon if not that KV was out of the way :-( .

Turn 14: while the KV is still a threat and i shifted the orders (the two Pz and my left engaging/overwatching the KV) i sticked to the plan and after some fierce fighting the first abandod T34's were reported. Losses to my armor: none sofar.

Turn 15: The KV is hiding, so dunno what's going on but it does not give you a good feeling when you such a vehicle in your back. Thks to the chaos and the poundering of my two AT-guns + Pz III's in his side the russians run havoc. This looked good but i kept crossing my fingers while any loss of disabled tank could cost me deerly.

End of turn 15 the KV is abandoned, the crew are consripts as i later found out. Don't wanna know what happened if they were Regular or Vet's .

Turn 16:

Not much to tell, but here are some photographic footage from our live CNN-reporer:

Zoom in for a better view

3D overview of the russian "probe"

Rightflank 3D View