Bocage aux Folles 3 – Armor Hammer

[SteveP]

Charlie Company continues to slog through the bocage terrain. But things are starting to look a lot more promising. The American infantry have figured out new tactics that rely more on tanks and artillery than on close infantry assault. That is the way it should be – the way they thought it would be when they first trained in England.

The latest in the Bocage aux Folles series is now at the Repository. It is somewhat larger than the previous two, but still less than battalion size. Along with Allies vs. the AI, it may also be played H2H. However, I am uncertain how well play balance works for H2H play, so keep that in mind.

In this scenario, Charlie Company gets more tanks, more and better artillery, and a regular pioneer platoon. The map provides a somewhat greater variety of possible lines of attack, and some terrain that helps the Americans. There are fewer restrictions than in the other scenarios on what the Americans can do with their assets. The Germans pretty much have the same force complement as before, though more of them. The AI is hampered a little by the size of the forces involved.

So, I expect it’s too easy for a realistic bocage scenario played against the AI. But the map has some interesting terrain features, if I say so myself. At least you can enjoy the view while you are carving up the German defense.

[Vergeltungswaffe]

Such a fun series. I hope we can see Charlie all the way across the Rhine as the various modules and families come along (hint hint).

[Wego McPbem]

Nice. Enjoyed the last two, will probably play this tonight.

[jkobmadrid]

sorry, didn't like it.

yes, there is a squad behind that bockage. and the other one, and the other one. take a spoon and start digging.

[Sublime]

would you consider applying this talent you have for scenario making and just put it into a campaign? you'd already have three scenarios. charlie company would be a good unit to use, its the perfect size for a campaign unit..

[SteveP]

would you consider applying this talent you have for scenario making and just put it into a campaign? you'd already have three scenarios. charlie company would be a good unit to use, its the perfect size for a campaign unit..

Frankly, I'm still learning how to do this. I had never done scenarios before, but I was disappointed not to see bocage scenarios that were as nasty and bloody as the real thing (which some gamers naturally hate -- as did the American infantry who had to fight in that terrain ). So that led to this series. A campaign isn't on my radar screen at this point.

What I would like to do next is see if I can make one of these scenarios in which the AI is able to execute a strong attack, without having to resort to totally unrealistic force complements or tricks. It may not it possible, but I've learned a few things, so we'll see.

[Wego McPbem]

sorry, didn't like it.

yes, there is a squad behind that bockage. and the other one, and the other one. take a spoon and start digging.

I assume you're talking about the first one? That was definitely brutal, I can see why some may not have liked it. I did get slaughtered myself. But you shouldn't let that put you off the second, its much more "fair". Managed to scrape a win on my first try.

[Sublime]

Hey SteveP - speaking of realistic bocage combat have you tried using the trick LemuelG posted about? e.g. placing trenches/foxholes and then placing bocage over them? it adds cover to the positions and looks ok - it makes for more realistic defended positions for bocage fighting..

[SteveP]

Hey SteveP - speaking of realistic bocage combat have you tried using the trick LemuelG posted about? e.g. placing trenches/foxholes and then placing bocage over them? it adds cover to the positions and looks ok - it makes for more realistic defended positions for bocage fighting..

I posted about my experiments with that quite awhile ago, in a thread I started about problems with bocage cover/concealment. My experiments indicated that the trick didn't make enough of a difference to offset the problems (e.g., the trenches gave away their locations even when the trenches themselves weren't spotted).

Of course, someone might construct a scenario using that trick, and if everyone is pleased with the results, I'd have to take another look. In the meantime, I tried to find other ways to deal with the fact that bocage in CMBN didn't provide realistic cover/concealment.

[Sublime]

I must have missed that. Damn Im disappointed it doesnt make more of a difference. I was hoping it'd be a game changer like how people put low walls by buildings. Oh well.