Anyone thinking of an operational game/CMMC style game using CMBN?

[noob]

What happened to this campaign? Is it still happening? No one ever seems to post AARs or updates about it.

There were a few teething problems at the start so it was started again, the game is at Axis movement phase turn 1 at the moment.

As for AAR's i've decided there won't be any until it's complete for security reasons.

[vincere]

There were a few teething problems at the start so it was started again, the game is at Axis movement phase turn 1 at the moment.

As for AAR's i've decided there won't be any until it's complete for security reasons.

Nice to hear tat you got it going and op-security seems reasonabl- but Boo boo! forever-never before an AAR

[thejetset]

I'm in on the campaign as an allied player. I have to pitch for noob. The revisions he has made are great! It literally keeps track of every single soldier on the field.

The sparks are about ready to fly and I'm looking forward to a good show. (Allied victory of course!)

[vincere]

Good luck thejetset. Somebody please let us know how it's going, even if it's not an AAR.

Maybe a press release from each side's CinC every now and then.

[Broadsword56]

Those who read my posts will know that I'm heavily into using CMBN together with traditional hex-and-counter wargames to create a two-level operational-tactical experience.

I've greatly admired some of the work modders and mappers have been doing to make D-Day battles (Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach, etc.) The only issue for me has been that CMBN has some serious limitations when it comes to the invasion beaches themselves -- no landing craft, no DD tanks, and the bunker bugs we all know about.

But I just discovered something that could make D-Day battles with CMBN really cool and add a new level of realism: the John Prados wargame recently published in Against the Odds magazine, "Bradley's D-Day." It's perfect scale (battalion and company, two-hour turns) and is based on an updated system that he used in making "Monty's D-Day" in the old SPI days:

https://atomagazine.readyhosting.com/Details.cfm?ProdID=89

If I got this this game, I'd use it to play out the actual landing parts of the campaign, then set up the battles once units are on the beach, fighting to get off it, or fighting inland.

Just thought I'd mention it as another resource for operational-layer fans.

[tdogg]

I'd like to set up a system for single player, but no random map generator seriously limits this ability. The old ROQC system was cool for cmbb, but no go with CMBN.

[Broadsword56]

Yes, the catch is that you'd have to make the battle maps by hand -- preferably from one or more 4 x 4 km "master maps," as LongLeftFlank and I have been doing for the July 1944 battles farther inland.

[noob]

Yes, the catch is that you'd have to make the battle maps by hand -- preferably from one or more 4 x 4 km "master maps," as LongLeftFlank and I have been doing for the July 1944 battles farther inland.

I'm currently running an operation with CMBN and i would like it if you could supply me with the master maps you are making but chopped down as 4 x 4 km is too much for my system, ideally i would like 2.5 x 1 km maps, so i would appreciate it if you could send me some 2.5 x 1 km versions of your maps please ?

[JonS]

Bs56 would use the editor that came in CMBN to cut down the map into smaller chunks.

You have the same editor as Bs56. You don't have to open it in 3D to cut it down.

If you do the chunking yourself, you can be sure that the chunks are centred where you want and need them.

[noob]

Bs56 would use the editor that came in CMBN to cut down the map into smaller chunks.

You have the same editor as Bs56. You don't have to open it in 3D to cut it down.

If you do the chunking yourself, you can be sure that the chunks are centred where you want and need them.

I know, but when i load it into the 2D editor it takes 30 seconds to reduce the map by 16 meters, 300 seconds to reduce it by 160 meters, and 3000 seconds to reduce it by 1600 meters, so to get it down from 4 km to 1 km would take about 1.5 hours, and that's just reducing it in one direction.

[JonS]

I'm pretty sure that if you SHIFT+click (or some other magic combination) it reduces the map size (or increases it, if you click the +) by 160m per click, rather than 16m.

[noob]

I'm pretty sure that if you SHIFT+click (or some other magic combination) it reduces the map size (or increases it, if you click the +) by 160m per click, rather than 16m.

I really am an expert when it comes to "not" looking things up in the manuals provided with games, and this is yet another example of my "expertise", thank you Jon, you are correct about the SHIFT+click combination, however my version only changes the map size by 80 meters not 160 as stated in the manual, is this the same for others ?

[JonS]

Sorry - I don't know. I don't have access to the game - or the manual - at the moment, and am just working off memory (160m was a guess ). Try it out, and see what happens.

There're all sorts of time saving key-combos in the editor that I've stumbled across, usually some combination of CTRL, ALT, and SHIFT with a click. I'm particularly thinking of some I use when working with buildings. I don't know whether they're in the manual or not ... I think we're a little alike in terms of not reading the manual

[noob]

Sorry - I don't know. I don't have access to the game - or the manual - at the moment, and am just working off memory (160m was a guess ). Try it out, and see what happens.

There're all sorts of time saving key-combos in the editor that I've stumbled across, usually some combination of CTRL, ALT, and SHIFT with a click. I'm particularly thinking of some I use when working with buildings. I don't know whether they're in the manual or not ... I think we're a little alike in terms of not reading the manual

Nice to hear from a fellow manual avoider

This is all that's written in the manual about map width and depth sizing.

It states that each click increases or decreases the map by 32 and (shift) 160 meters but it's 16 and (shift) 80 meters for me, so it seems that it's a mistake with the manual, but thats fine as i prefer the smaller increments anyway

"In order to adjust map sizes, you use one of the four buttons available per “box”.

Obviously the + buttons increase the size, while the - buttons decrease map

size. Each click increases the map by 32 meters.

Note: by pressing and holding the SHIFT key while clicking

on one of the buttons, the increase (or decrease) is 160

meters.

What might be less obvious, but is logical once you think about it, is that the

placement of the buttons also indicates the direction into which (or from

which) the map is increased (or decreased). You just have to consider which

axis is being lengthened or shortened, and the +/- pairs are then formed to

affect each end of that axis.

The left/right arrows indicate that the west/east side of the map is affected. So

pressing the plus on the left adds space to west. Similarly the minus on the

right removes space from east.

The top/down arrows indicate that the north/south edge are effected. So the

plus and minus on top affect the northern border of the map, while the plus

and minus in the bottom do it for the southern border."

[vincere]

Yes, the catch is that you'd have to make the battle maps by hand -- preferably from one or more 4 x 4 km "master maps," as LongLeftFlank and I have been doing for the July 1944 battles farther inland.

How is tahat progressing? And any plans for a community meta?

[Broadsword56]

Thanks for asking, Vincere.

It's progressing very well. Very slowly, but since every stage of it has been fun and interesting, the pace is not an issue for me.

I've been playing the op game (Saint-Lo) solitaire, then making battle maps when an interesting battle arises and playing out the battles HTH against a real opponent. After the battles are over, I post the battle map to the repository so others can enjoy them (so far there are two: La Nicollerie, and Choisy, which I posted last night).

The op campaign started on July 11, 1944 and is now up to July 15. The two battles that have gotten played out in CMBN were:

July 13 - La Nicollerie: In the op layer, the US 320th Infantry, tired and inexperienced, sends a probe (one company, plus a Sherman platoon) towards Hill 122 to find the German main line of resistance. The Germans react by rushing some 88s, 75mm AT guns, and mortars to the threatened sector, which has only a half-strength grenadier company to man the dug-in (mines, barbed wire, foxholes) defenses.

It seemed like a promising setup for the Americans, but when played out in CMBN it became clear that the US would have needed a second company to win. The US used covered approaches to get right up to the main German line without many casualties. But minefields and 88s quickly took their toll. The armor couldn't contribute very much because they needed the infantry to clear the way ahead of them. Result: The US broke off the attack and the Germans held the field.

July 14 -- Choisy Crossroads: In the op layer, the Germans now saw an opportunity to pounce on the hapless 320th Infantry. Under cover of night, two German armored companies (StuG and Jadgpanzers) and a grenadier battalion crept towards the 320th's reserve company (Company F), which was in a defensive perimeter at Choisy, just NW of La Nicollerie. If the Germans captured this crossroads, the LOC of the entire 320th Infantry would be threatened. At minimum, they had a chance to knock a US company out of the battle and throw the Americans on the defensive with a surprise counterattack.

In CMBN, when this battle was played out, it was a slaughter for Company F. Choisy Crossroads became something like Bastogne in the Bocage. Things looked OK for the Americans for the first hour, as the perimeter held and casualties remained light. But the US player (me) made a blunder that really screwed things up: Germans were advancing in one area where I didn't have a TRP. So I sneaked my FO up to get a LOS on the area. He called in a 4.2" chemical mortar strike (so far, so good), I thought I'd managed to sneak the FO away. His team was moving back to the main perimeter, when a German team managed to race up to an ambush position and cut them down with an MG. My defense was basically de-clawed after that point, and the result was inevitable. The US company's survivors eventually were cut off and they surrendered, eliminating that company from the op layer.

The Germans could have continued from there and tried to cut the US supply line -- but (and this is the cool thing about the op layer) it would have been too risky to continue exposing the entire 352nd ID's armored reserve to an inevitable US counterattack. Also, if the op turn were to suddenly end, the cloudy weather might become clear on the following day-turn and the armored column would be exposed to US airstrikes. So the Germans retreated with their prisoners and made it safely behind their main lines.

July 15 (current situation) The American 2/115th Infantry/29th ID has managed to punch a small hole in the German main line south of Villier-Fossard, in a general attempt to find a path to Hill 122 and outflank the formidable Le Carillon positions from the east.

After both battles got played out in CMBN, I considered posting them as scenarios, but I posted them as maps-only because the scenario situations were peculiar to my campaign and probably would not have been popular as stand-alone battles (too one-sided, too frustrating).

If anyone wants the scenarios, I can post them. Just let me know.

I have no plans for a community meta, because I'm pessimistic about the sustainability of a group campaign and I don't have the time or inclination to organize and maintain one. But I'm happy to keep sharing the fruits of my labor (maps and possibly HTH scenarios if they seem fun for the general public), and let others do what they want with them.

[vincere]

Thanks for asking, Vincere.

....I have no plans for a community meta, because I'm pessimistic about the sustainability of a group campaign and I don't have the time or inclination to organize and maintain one. But I'm happy to keep sharing the fruits of my labor (maps and possibly HTH scenarios if they seem fun for the general public), and let others do what they want with them.

Thanks for the overview AAR. Is interesting. I thought about a solo campaign myself a few times. The battles always feel a little hollow without a decent context. As for the community meta, here's hoping that somebody comes up with a workable system one day.

Edited. Nearly forgot. Yes please keep us informed of your progress from time to time.