Franko Posted October 4, 2001 Share Posted October 4, 2001 My newborn son arrived on September 7..mother and baby are doing fine..and I'm starting to get (some) of my life back...Here are the briefings to TWO new scenarios (Seven more to follow every day or so), and a copy of the Revised FRANKO's TRUE COMBAT RULES.. I have submitted them to Manx's site..if anyone else wants to host let me know. If Manx hasn't posted them yet..feel free to email me...as always, I want comments!! Here are the briefings...and a copy of the rules. RENDEVOUS WITH DESTINY-01 COLE'S CHARGE -- THE MORNING FIGHT AT BRIDGE #4 Location: 1000 Yards northwest of Carentan Date: June 11, 1944 Time: Dawn (approximately 4:55 a.m.) You are Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Cole, commanding 3rd Battalion, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. Your objective is to advance along Azimuth 195, and cross-country to Hill 30, near La Billonnerie, where the battalion is to stop any German retreat from Carentan. You have identified two Phase lines, A and B, you must reach. Your men have a narrow bridgehead just to the south of Bridge #4, the last bridge to Carentan. You must advance aggressively to reach your objectives. The Germans are also expected to counterattack and seize the bridge. Your Forces consist of assorted elements of 3rd Battalion. Company G is commanded by Captain Clements, and has 60 men. It is deployed in a support position behind Headquarters Company. Company H is commanded by Captain Simmons, and is down to about 84 men. It is deployed to the right (west) of the road, oriented towards a large farmhouse, which appears to dominate the immediate vicinity. Headquarters Company has 121 men, and is deployed to the left (east) of the road. I Company is still on the north side of the bridge. They were mostly shot to pieces yesterday, while strung out along the causeway. There are only thirty or so effectives, and most of the Company's officers are dead or wounded. You may be able to get them across if they rally. You attempted to call artillery during the evening, but your fire control direction center stated that the guns were unable to fire at night. Therefore, you have had no artillery preparation. However, now that it is nearing daylight, you should be supported by substantial artillery fire. Although it lost all but one of its original 75mm field pieces in the jump, the 377th Field Artillery Battalion has since captured two pieces from the Germans, and is at your disposal. Further, the 65th Armored Field Artillery Battalion is ashore and tasked to support us. Captain Rosemond is your artillery liaison officer. Primary Source: Rendevous with Destiny: A History of the 101stAirborne Division, by Leonard Rapport and Arthur Northwood, Jr. This includes an 80 page or so account of this battle, several maps, and four outstanding photographs of the terrain, from all angles: truly a treasure trove for a scenario designer. This "official history" is remarkably candid, unlike so many of such books, which are little more than cheerleading yearbooks one might have received in high school. Design Notes: 1. All historic persons marked with an asterisk (*) 2. This scenario is Meant to be played as single player, US side. There is no German briefing. Use German default setup. 3. All the RD scenarios are optimized for FTC play. A copy of the latest addition of the latest edition of the FTC rules are contained in the zip file. 4. Lt. Colonel Cole (you), won the Medal of Honor in this action. Do you wish to know how he won it? Well, I can't tell you, because that would be a major spoiler. If you want to know, you will have to play the next scenario. Cole was later killed in Holland by a sniper's bullet. 5. Captain Clements was wounded soon after the battle began. ************** RENDEVOUS WITH DESTINY-02 Cassidy's Crisis: The Afternoon Fight at Bridge #4 Location: 1000 Yards northwest of Carentan Date: June 11, 1944 Time: Day (approximately 4:00 p.m.) You are Colonel Cassidy, commanding 1st Battalion, 502ndParachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. Your battalion has been committed to the relief of Colonel Cole's battalion, which has been in a nasty fight all morning to hold the its hard-won ground south of Bridge #4. (See scenario RD-01). As the history states, "[Your] job is to build up on the ground where the 3d Battalion has exhausted itself." Earlier in the afternoon, just after your battalion arrived, there was an eerie truce called so that both sides could clear up there dead. You are sure that the Germans used the opportunity to infiltrate closer to your lines. C Company (thirty men) is deployed along the front of a large cabbage patch to the west of the Carentan road. A Company (also about thirty men) is set in a blocking position just to their north, along the Culvert. B Company is a little stronger, and also has about a dozen men from Company H. It is located to the southwest of the Farmhouse, defending the crossroads. The remnants of 3rd Battalion are clustered in and around the Farmhouse. You have significant artillery support (see RD-01 briefing), and your men are dug in with interlocking fields of fire. The Germans are most likely paratroopers themselves, and are extremely aggressive in the attack. Primary Source: See scenario RD-01. Design Notes: 1. All historic persons marked with an asterisk (*) 2. This scenario is Meant to be played as single player, US side. There is no German briefing. It is also meant to be played AFTER RD-01, Cole's Charge. 3. All the RD scenarios are optimized for FTC play. A copy of the latest addition of the latest edition of the FTC rules are contained in the zip file. 4. Historically, Captain Rosemond's successful begging and pleading of the artillery CP, Captain Aldrich, saved the day. 5. At 2000, Colonel Cole called roll call. Only 120 men reported in. 6. The causeway was renamed "Purple Heart Lane". A song by the same name is sung by the 101st: We drink to the men so bronzed and tan, Who marched down the road to Carentan. The were the ones who so long had to train, To fight this battle of Purple Heart Lane. Yes, this is that road stretched ‘cross the plain, This piece of macadam called Purple Hart Lane. The long battle over, we trudged up the hill, There we paused to look back at our comrades so still. We think of the boys, who died not in vain. Our pals, yes, the heroes of Purple Heart Lane. — R.D. Cread and R.H. Bryant, 502nd PIR. ********************** FTC RULES (10.1.01 Version FRANKO'S TRUE COMBAT RULES version 1.1 (with supporting rationale) 1. THE GOLDEN RULE. Generally speaking, as the human player,you are not allowed to use the tools of the game interface for the purpose of doing anything your troops could not do in real life. Comment: The following rules are designed to maximize the realism and immersion of single-player play. All rules set forth below must be construed according to this principle, which is the "Golden Rule" of FTC. Face it, we humans cheat like bastards when we play the A.I. We get "Eagle-eye" views, we can actually click on enemy units and find out everything about them; we can look at the battle from their point of view, etc. That sucks. Sure, its fun to look at, but really, really wussy. Although these rules may seem difficult or cumbersome at first, after a while they are a breeze, and you can learn to move around quickly. Plus, there's no need to be a NAZI about it..simply pick the rules you want to use, and discard others. However, if you DO discard any of the rules, you're a gamey bastard. That having been said, lets proceed! 2. SELECTING UNITS. Only use the "+" or "-" keys to move from friendly unit to friendly unit. Then, use the "tab" key. You can then only rotate in place to scan the surrounding terrain (imagine you are where the unit is, and that you can only see what THAT unit can see..its pretty simple). If there is friendly unit within the line of sight (LOS) of the unit you have currently selected, you do not have to use the + and - keys. Instead, you can simply point and click on that target unit, THEN hit the tab key. Any other way of accessing an enemy unit is forbidden. Comment: Nothing is more tedious than having to cycle through ALL the units with the "+" or "-" key. You don't have to. Simply click on any unit in view, and then hit the tab. Further, so long as you remain "within your lines", you should be okay. However, see the Golden Rule. 3. VIEWING YOUR SURROUNDINGS. A. PANNING. After accessing the unit and hitting the tab key(which orients the view of the unit forward), you can only "look around" by using the pivot keys (1,3,7,9) on the keypad. In other words, you can pan 360 (your guys can turn around and look where they are). B. BUILDINGS: If your units are in a building or he unit icon (such as vehicle), blocks your view, you can use the "8" key to click ahead only such distance which is necessary to clear the sprite. C. ELEVATED VIEWS. Once turns begin (after setup), you may use only the lowest-level view ("1" on the keyboard), unless the following apply: 1. If your unit occupies are a two-level building, you may use View 2 ("2" on the keyboard") from the units location; and 2. If you are on the top floor of a church, you can use View 2 or View 3, whichever you prefer Note: The Setup procedure may offer you further viewing options. See Rule 7, Below. 4. ENEMY UNITS. You may not, under any circumstances, "click on" or "select" an enemy unit. Use the "N" key to select targets. Comment: If you "click" on an enemy unit, you may discover what it is, and, due to a bizarre game bug or design oversight, you can actually tell the quality of the enemy unit. This is WRONG WRONG WRONG! You should be able to tell a unit by what it looks like, and run the risk you will be wrong (Hey, Americans routinely identified every German tank as a "Tiger"...even Steven Spielberg did it). 5. ZOOM KEYS. You may not use the "zoom key" (the brackets) to magnify your views unless the following exceptions apply: A. You may use up to Zoom 2x if you're unit you are "looking from" is a platoon leader or above. B. Your unit may use up to Zoom 4x if it has optics (e.g, an artillery observer, an AT gun, a tank). If you really want to be anal, buttoned up tanks or tanks that suffered casualties can only use up to zoom 4x in the direction of their turret facing, because, that's where the gunners optics are facing! American tanks may not be able to zoom at all..we can debate that one later. Addition: You may not use zoom keys at night unless your unit is a Forward Observer. C. During Setup, under specified conditions (see below) 6. WEATHER. You must always have weather and fog set to "full" Comment: If you figure out how to toggle off the weather in real life, well, by all means do it in the game! The rain and snow should be troublesome. 7. SPECIAL SETUP RULES. The following setup rules apply depending on whether you are the attacker, defender, or if the battle is a meeting engagement. A. Attacker: During setup you may use View Level 7 ("7" on the keyboard)to aid in setup, in addition to the views you are permitted in Rules 1, 2, or 3, above. This "attacker's map" rule represents the "map" your troop commander would use to help prepare your troops for the assault. Ideally, whether such a map is available should be specified in your briefing by the designer. B. Defender: During setup you can use the map rule, above, if your signal corps has its act together. In addition, you can freely move about the map in level 1, or view level 2 (or 3, if a church) if that part of the map your viewing from is a multi-level building. C. Meeting Engagements. Both sides may only view using the Attacker's map rule, or from any spot in their setup zone (only). Again, if a spot in their setup zone has a church or building, adjust accordingly. D. OPTIONAL RULE: During setup you may print out a map (by taking a screen shot and printing the .jpg or .bmp file) for use during the battle. This map should be at the minimum View Level 7. 8. GAME SETTINGS. Use only "Realistic" Sized units. Always have "full terrain" on. Turn unit bases and detailed armored hits "off". You may use unit bases, which will help you locate your infantry (after all, the infantry icons are abstracted one figure equals three men, and sometimes more in the case of crewed weapons). 9. NEW INTRODUCTORY DIE HARD-CORE RULE: You are not allowed to pick targets for your units. Yeah, you heard me right. You can maneuver all you want. You can set ambushes. A. You can tell units to CEASE firing if in command radius. [at guns] B. You can use your forward observers and mortars in an indirect fire role. Comment: Sure, you like to kill things. Thats part of the fun. But in reality, your commanders set ambushes, give orders and commands, generally direct fire (CM has modifiers for that), etc. They don't actually pull the friggin trigger of every weapon on the board, which YOU do when you select targets. Try it this way -- You'll be surprised how fun it is! And realistic, too! Always interested in your input. Frankrad@pacbell.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWB Posted October 4, 2001 Share Posted October 4, 2001 Today is a good day, and many congrats on your offspring. May he build scenarios for CM 133.3. Please send them to wwb_99@yahoo.com should you get the inkling. WWB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vergeltungswaffe Posted October 4, 2001 Share Posted October 4, 2001 Congrats on your son. I'm a september boy, myself (ahem...39 years ago...ahem). I'm glad you posted that last rule. I've been doing that since I found your rules, months ago. There is definitely no other way to play the AI. FTC rules rule! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louie the Toad Posted October 5, 2001 Share Posted October 5, 2001 Congratulations on the birth of your son. Is this a number 1 son? The new last rule should provide for some interesting play. It might make the game go faster too since selecting units with + - has slowed things down a bit. It brings some questions to mind about leaders. Assuming a squad is in command control and los and its leader spots an enemy unit, will the leader direct the squad to shoot at the enemy unit, or does the squad have to see the unit on its own ? Level 1 Toad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louie the Toad Posted October 5, 2001 Share Posted October 5, 2001 I dont like the way I asked my question on my last post. I will try again: Does a leader actually influence (in the game AI) the target selection of its squads? Would a unit with a gold box lightening bolt be better at selecting and directing fire at targets than a leader with no lightening bolt at all? What does the bonus actually do? Directing Toad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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