Just downloaded the new file. I'll give it a go against the AI this weekend!
[SCENARIO] Fournel - Three Patrol Action
- Thread starter Ithikial
- Start date
Cheers Rambler. Bootie has already identified a few typos etc with the briefing so those have been noted. Looking forward to see how you do.
Just have to share this cool little incident that took me totally by surprise. I was assaulting the supply depot by blasting through buildings, and, well, the result is as follows. Couldn't help but think of that scene in SPR where the wall falls down and everyone is screaming at each other:
Played the scenario in wego mode last night, and I'll be playing it again in RT to see how it plays that way.
Played the scenario in wego mode last night, and I'll be playing it again in RT to see how it plays that way.
Yeah that is what I was aiming for, up close and personal. The problem is historically no demo charges were used as to the best of my knowledge they had none due to earlier engagements around Foucarville. If there is any way of stripping the airborne of their satchel charges I'd probably want to implement it which would make it harder for their airborne.
Just checking in, any word yet on how that testing is going?
Haven't forgotten about you! Been busy with RL and haven't had a chance to sit down and type out my thoughts yet.
Not a problem at all, just checking in. 
When I try to download the file, it won't let me. What am I doing wrong?
Bootie, I don't know about you, but the early bloodbath caused most of my survivors to duck & cover!
Mmm just tested the dropbox link further up the forum post from my work computer and had no problems. I can email it to you directly tonight when I get home.
The reinforcements arrived.... there is no designated front line... this battlefield is a mess.. LOL
I would say good... as intended... but that could also mean it's just a mess for the wrong reasons.
If you want to send a screen cap to my email address I could take a look to see how messed up it is compared to how I planned it.
Bootie are you the US or the Germans?
Ok, finally have a chance to give some feedback. I haven't had time to go back and play in RT, so this will just be for wego. First things first, I had a lot of fun playing the scenario. It wasn't too easy, and it wasn't too hard. These are the types of scenarios I really like.
Map - Overall, it's well done and nicely designed. It has the right amount of flavor objects and detail for some good atmosphere. My biggest complaint is that there aren't enough gaps in the hedgerows to move your troops around. Some enclosed fields aren't even accessible. However, I don't know if this was intentional or not. I'm glad the troops had those demo charges, because they were a godsend. Without them, it would have been very difficult to attack the town without being forced to go down main street. I would recommend taking a look at adding some more gaps to the bocage.
Gameplay - I can sum it up in four words: Germans under every rock. I liked how they all ran around in the beginning. It gave a sense of surprise on their part. A slow and methodical attack on the town was the name of the game here. Carefulness was rewarded, while hastiness was punished. I found that out. Was it your intention for the fighting to be funneled down the main street? It certainly felt like it. Also, is there a reason why the command team is way on the other side of town from where your troops jump off? I was kind of curious about that. I actually played the first few turns several times to see if it was possible for the command team to book it out of Dodge without getting killed. I am happy to say, it is most definitely possible . No real complaints with the gameplay, and I really didn't notice any timing issues or anything that stuck out like a sore thumb. It was all pretty fluid.
Briefing - I think this is the area that could use the most work. You went into great detail about a mission that you don't even end up doing, and you don't find out about it until the very last paragraph on the second page. Personally, I think a better approach to writing it would be to put yourself into the boots of a commander who is all ready to tackle one mission and another is given to him at the last minute. What would his commanding officer say to him? Probably something along the lines of "I know you were told to set up some roadblocks, but scratch that and get your butt into town as fast as possible. We have reports of a large contingency of Krauts down there, and we've been hearing gunfire coming from that direction. Unfortunately, one of our officers and his team is trapped there. Take that town and get them out." Try to make it a little more engaging for the reader with some sense of urgency. Hopefully what I'm saying makes sense.
All in all, a really great scenario that was a lot of fun! A little more polish will make it really shine.
Map - Overall, it's well done and nicely designed. It has the right amount of flavor objects and detail for some good atmosphere. My biggest complaint is that there aren't enough gaps in the hedgerows to move your troops around. Some enclosed fields aren't even accessible. However, I don't know if this was intentional or not. I'm glad the troops had those demo charges, because they were a godsend. Without them, it would have been very difficult to attack the town without being forced to go down main street. I would recommend taking a look at adding some more gaps to the bocage.
Gameplay - I can sum it up in four words: Germans under every rock
. I liked how they all ran around in the beginning. It gave a sense of surprise on their part. A slow and methodical attack on the town was the name of the game here. Carefulness was rewarded, while hastiness was punished. I found that out. Was it your intention for the fighting to be funneled down the main street? It certainly felt like it. Also, is there a reason why the command team is way on the other side of town from where your troops jump off? I was kind of curious about that. I actually played the first few turns several times to see if it was possible for the command team to book it out of Dodge without getting killed. I am happy to say, it is most definitely possible . No real complaints with the gameplay, and I really didn't notice any timing issues or anything that stuck out like a sore thumb. It was all pretty fluid.Briefing - I think this is the area that could use the most work. You went into great detail about a mission that you don't even end up doing, and you don't find out about it until the very last paragraph on the second page. Personally, I think a better approach to writing it would be to put yourself into the boots of a commander who is all ready to tackle one mission and another is given to him at the last minute. What would his commanding officer say to him? Probably something along the lines of "I know you were told to set up some roadblocks, but scratch that and get your butt into town as fast as possible. We have reports of a large contingency of Krauts down there, and we've been hearing gunfire coming from that direction. Unfortunately, one of our officers and his team is trapped there. Take that town and get them out." Try to make it a little more engaging for the reader with some sense of urgency. Hopefully what I'm saying makes sense.
All in all, a really great scenario that was a lot of fun! A little more polish will make it really shine
.
Wiped out by a single HQ unit!!!!! Not good at all...
Possible Spoilers below but the other testers may want a look later on....
@Rambler
I think we're in the same boat. One of the reasons off map support is minimal in this scenario. I think it can be far to overpowering in a lot of situations - especially for battles that are or close to a meeting engagement style of fight.
Brilliant. Some areas are cut off intentionally to funnel Airborne when they first arrive to an extent. They have no terrain to capture or hold so I tried this process to funnel the US forces towards the Germans and give the greener German troops a chance to get a few first shots at them before the highly trained airborne can recover.
As for the demo charges, if I could I'm tempted to take them out or limit them severely, especially for the initial forces on map at deployment. Charges weren't used in the battle going by my research. Do you think this would make the mission simply to hard for the Americans? You can get into the town without going down the main street though.
Funneled down the main street, not necessarily... however it's not a major problem either. I honestly expected most of the fighting to occur behind the barns on the south side of the street.
Command team - That's Lt Smit who ordered his platoon to scout out the town while he and a buddy went souvenir hunting in the farm house. Of course the Germans arrived at the worse possible moment trapping the platoon leader in the walled farmhouse and the forces on the opposite side of town. Historically the HQ team hid submerged in the pig trough water out the back as the Germans occupied the walled farm house before fleeing south east and being lost for a couple of days. A small amount of VP is awarded to the Americans if this HQ team is alive at the end of the mission to reflect this. This is the 'Hide and Seek' objective I've hinted at before.
http://www.history.army.mil/documents/WWII/Cassidy/cassidy.htm <--- Scroll to the Three Patrol Action section for the historical bat rep.
Bootie has also provided feedback on the briefings and I agree. I'll be going over them again before formal release. I rewrote the American one and it's still a bit jumbled with the first draft which was from the viewpoint of the Company CO getting briefed by Battalion CO Cassidy. After writing it it didn't make any sense. Will review.
Many thanks for testing and for the feedback.
A few quick final questions...
What was your result?
Did you think the Victory Point Breakdown was fair?
Was any side 'over powered'? Were the Airborne able to steamroll the Germans at any point?
Cheers
@Rambler
I think we're in the same boat. One of the reasons off map support is minimal in this scenario. I think it can be far to overpowering in a lot of situations - especially for battles that are or close to a meeting engagement style of fight.
Brilliant. Some areas are cut off intentionally to funnel Airborne when they first arrive to an extent. They have no terrain to capture or hold so I tried this process to funnel the US forces towards the Germans and give the greener German troops a chance to get a few first shots at them before the highly trained airborne can recover.
As for the demo charges, if I could I'm tempted to take them out or limit them severely, especially for the initial forces on map at deployment. Charges weren't used in the battle going by my research. Do you think this would make the mission simply to hard for the Americans? You can get into the town without going down the main street though.
Gameplay - I can sum it up in four words: Germans under every rock
Funneled down the main street, not necessarily... however it's not a major problem either. I honestly expected most of the fighting to occur behind the barns on the south side of the street.
Command team - That's Lt Smit who ordered his platoon to scout out the town while he and a buddy went souvenir hunting in the farm house. Of course the Germans arrived at the worse possible moment trapping the platoon leader in the walled farmhouse and the forces on the opposite side of town. Historically the HQ team hid submerged in the pig trough water out the back as the Germans occupied the walled farm house before fleeing south east and being lost for a couple of days. A small amount of VP is awarded to the Americans if this HQ team is alive at the end of the mission to reflect this. This is the 'Hide and Seek' objective I've hinted at before.
http://www.history.army.mil/documents/WWII/Cassidy/cassidy.htm <--- Scroll to the Three Patrol Action section for the historical bat rep.
Bootie has also provided feedback on the briefings and I agree. I'll be going over them again before formal release. I rewrote the American one and it's still a bit jumbled with the first draft which was from the viewpoint of the Company CO getting briefed by Battalion CO Cassidy. After writing it it didn't make any sense. Will review.
All in all, a really great scenario that was a lot of fun! A little more polish will make it really shine
Many thanks for testing and for the feedback.
A few quick final questions...
What was your result?
Did you think the Victory Point Breakdown was fair?
Was any side 'over powered'? Were the Airborne able to steamroll the Germans at any point?
Cheers
Gotcha. I don't think you have to add multiple gaps into every single bocage line, but I would suggest taking a look to see what you can add to make Allied mobility a little less of a headache. Perhaps you can deviously make these gaps open into a kill zone or something, so the Germans still can get some first shots in.
I don't think you need as many charges that are currently available to the airborne troops; probably about half the amount. I do think that without the charges it would be much more difficult for the Allied player. A few less charges and a few more gaps would do nicely, I think. Having some charges definitely enhances the gameplay, even though it may be a little ahistorical. It's just an extra tool in Allied players tool set, and I don't think having extra options hurts at all. It makes playing the scenario more fun.
Wow, talk about getting caught with your pants down! Interesting read, thanks for sharing. Makes much more sense now.
You're welcome! I got a total victory with one dead and five wounded. That doesn't mean it was easy, though. I actually lost a whole squad very early in the game by being hasty and running into the supply depot. I was like yeah, that's not going to fly and promptly reloaded the turn
. Playing it single player, I had no issues with the point breakdown. The guys testing it H2H might be able to better answer that question.Thinking about your last question, there were some areas where I was able to steamroll the Germans. The first area was in the field next to the supply depot (see screen). There were a whole bunch of Germans congregated in there, and once I got my guys to the bocage line bordering the street, thereby flanking them, it was pretty much shooting fish in a barrel. I was kind of surprised there were so many hanging out there. I had expected more house to house fighting than there actually was. Maybe having some of those troops move into houses will prevent that from happening. The second area was at the road intersection where Smit's team is holed up in the farmhouse. The AT gun ammo bearers and another squad's team just sat in the interesection, and were summarily executed by my airborne troops. That being said, I don't think any side was grossly overpowered.
