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Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 2/25/2009 8:05:24 PM   
Huib


Posts: 585
Joined: 11/21/2006
From: Nederland
Status: offline 		I start this thread so anybody interested can have a look at the process that is involved in making an historical scenario.
We start at the very beginning, as I'm writing here, this new scenario is just in my head. As the creation progresses, I will add chapters to this thread.

Step 1. Inspiration
In my case inspiration comes mostly from reading military history books. Like reading the chapter about the Ardennes in Phil Nordyke's book about the 82nd Airborne Division.


That book alone led to the inspiration of this year's battlefield walks, I have just returned from. While we were visiting the former battlefields it occured to me that these might be very interesting for some scenarios. Besides Nordyke we used some personal accounts from this website: https://www.infantry.army.mil/monographs/content/wwii/index.htm and for the German adversaries of the 82nd Airborne, this website: www.62vgd.com
When I got home from the trip, one of the first things I did was purchase all 3 books by Herr Schäfer from the 62nd Volksgrenadier website, so I would have as much details for the German side as for the American side.
Below a few pics from the trip:







Step 2: The Scope

Now that we have sufficient research material, we should start thinking about the scope of the scenario(s). I'll come back to the research material later, when we have to make the orders of battle and the scenario set up. To be honest, at this stage I'm not entirely sure even about the scope. I'll probably focus on the area held by the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division. There is still time as Step 3 comes next.

Step 3: Making the map.
Going more or less with the decision to create the scenario in the area of the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division, this means I need at least a map that includes both Trois Points and Vielsalm. Two well known towns from the Battle of the Bulge.
As sources I have: a modern scale 1:50.000 topographical atlas, ofcourse Google Earth and my own knowledge of the area. I do not have any WW2 era maps of this particular area. However in this part of the Ardennes you can get away with that, as it has hardly changed and is as thinly populated as 60 years ago. Note that in most places this is not the case and historical maps are a 'must'.
The first thing to do is making a "hex overlay" in Jpeg format. I started with an overlay the size of my screen which is 28 x 48 hexes, or 7 x 11,75 kilometre. I imported the overlay in Google Earth and scaled it properly. Additional overlays will have to be bordered with this one.



Now we can start working on the map.... a lengthy process... Personally I use 2 computers to make the map. On one I have Google Earth running and on the other the Westfront map editor. I guess one could also use a PC with 2 screens connected. Anyhow this way we don't have to Alt-Tab to switch from Google Earth to the map editor.



The first thing we do is determine the height of each hex.... a time consuming job. In Google Earth I determined that the lowest and highest point on my map is always between 250 and 575 meters. So if we take 250 meters as baselevel we can keep the default delta setting of the editor which is 25 meters per elevation level. We have 12 levels so it fits precisely.
This would be the levels:
0=250 meters
1=275 meters
2=300 meters
3=325 meters....
12=550 meters
Now we go with the mouse pointer over each hex in Google Earth and enter the correct height in our map for each hex. It's a painstaking process, but it pays in the end. We will have very accurately shaped hills in our scenario. This is how it looks now... I already added some details besides the elevations.





That is it for this time. The next few weeks I will be entering elevations in the map. When that is finished we'll look at the next step.

Huib

< Message edited by Huib -- 2/25/2009 8:21:34 PM >
Post #: 1
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 2/25/2009 8:23:28 PM   
TAIL GUNNER

 

Posts: 1152
Joined: 4/27/2005
From: Los Osos, CA
Status: offline 		Hello Huib,

Thanks for sharing your expertise...
As a first time designer I have only recently found your guides posted on the Blitz and deem them absolutely priceless....GoogleEarth is an excellent tool.
I was actually using trace paper with a hex-grid printed on it to make my map....talk about tedious!

take care,
ChadG

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RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 2/25/2009 9:04:53 PM   
Huib


Posts: 585
Joined: 11/21/2006
From: Nederland
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Juggalo

....GoogleEarth is an excellent tool.


Yes it is. Also when I do have the historical maps, I mostly use them just to see what is "wrong" in GE.

(in reply to TAIL GUNNER)
Post #: 3
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 2/25/2009 11:17:27 PM   
Warhorse


Posts: 5712
Joined: 5/12/2000
From: Birdsboro, PA, USA
Status: offline 		Thanks very much, Huib!! I hope to have some time soon to make some scenarios myself!!

Mike


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Meine Ehre heißt Treue
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(in reply to Huib)
Post #: 4
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 2/25/2009 11:21:53 PM   
Dumnorix


Posts: 793
Joined: 3/15/2007
Status: offline 		Hallo Huib
Where does the promised map remain to operation "Market Garden" ???

"Nicht kleckern - sondern klotzen" - please !

H.Balck (The man which makes 3 mapquadrants (3 x 32km x 27km) every day.
http://www.bilder-upload.eu/show.php?file=1GsFCdMYsCWKiT0.gif

PS: 40% of european Soviet Union are produced !

< Message edited by Dumnorix -- 2/25/2009 11:27:42 PM >

(in reply to Huib)
Post #: 5
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 2/26/2009 1:03:08 PM   
Huib


Posts: 585
Joined: 11/21/2006
From: Nederland
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Dumnorix

Hallo Huib
Where does the promised map remain to operation "Market Garden" ???



I haven't produced much of anything over the last 6 months. Not for the Rhineland scenarios, not for Korean War and not for the promised MG map. Real life has been in the way and only thinking of the map editor already made me tired. Returning to the work now though.

(in reply to Dumnorix)
Post #: 6
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 3/15/2009 6:09:55 PM   
Huib


Posts: 585
Joined: 11/21/2006
From: Nederland
Status: offline 		After some work during spare moments the map is finally finished.
I extended it a little to the north and east to give the forces some more space.



For best graphic representation of how the Ardennes looked during my scenario, I decided to use a mix of the original snow BMPs and the new ones from the user mod directory. I think simovitch created these. In this case I used his trees as most in these part of the Ardennes are evergreens. I used the original BMP for the tracks/paths as there was quite an amount of snow on the ground in the first week of january 1945.



OK that is that for the map. The next step is creating the order of battle in the games order of battle editor. Creating accurate oobs often requires a lot of research and most of the time some guess work cannot be avoided. We'll try to find as much facts as possible though.
I started with the German oob. In this case we initially we need to investigate a single unit. Namely the 62nd Volksgrenadier Division. Luckily I have some sources about this division. Well luckily... I bought them partly out of interest and partly because I wanted to create this scenario.

The books are Die Mondschein Division by Ralf Anton Schäfer and Lebe Beständig by Arthur Jüttner, who was commander of GR 164 and later of the division. Both books contain interesting info about the order of battle and I will also use them for the scenario, when I do the initial setup.
Now let's go to the editor.
The editor works pretty straightforward once you are used to it. After selecting the right month of the war (jan 1945). I can add the entire division in a few clicks (making necessary adjustments later)
I open the German divisions on the left side of the screen like this:




I select "user choices" so I can fill in the correct Regiment numbers at once.

After some adding some leaders and additional units from my sources, it looks something like this:



Knowing the compostion of the division with it's higly experienced cadre, the officers where all Eastern front veterans and already knew eachother and 40% of nco's and other ranks already had combat experience while other newcomers had had a couple of months training on Neuhammer military training ground, I decided to raise the morale of the division to 7 and give the leaders high ratings. I might even give GR 164 a rating of 8, taking into account their historical performance against the 82nd Airborne.

Encountered the first impossibilities in the oob. I read that the 62nd VGD had Russian 120mm mortars. Unfortunately these captured pieces are not (yet) available in WF. They also had some captured US Halftracks (taken from the 106th US ID earlier in the Ardennes offensive), these are also not available. For the moment I'll have to use the German equivalents.
That's it for this weekend. Next time the Allied oob.

Huib


< Message edited by Huib -- 3/15/2009 6:21:22 PM >

(in reply to Huib)
Post #: 7
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 3/15/2009 8:29:31 PM   
TAIL GUNNER

 

Posts: 1152
Joined: 4/27/2005
From: Los Osos, CA
Status: offline 		Excellent follow-up Huib.


Regarding the captured equipment:

There is a SPW M3(a) unit within the German platoon oob, but it is only available from 1/43 to 5/43......also no winter graphic but could steal that from the US OOB and redo the Balkenkreuz.

For the Russian mortar, in the game there is the GrW 42 120mm mortars, which could be easily renamed to GrW 378(r) 120mm mortars (would not even have to edit the weapon file, both Russian and German units have exact same values).

If you REALLY want these units for your scenario, it's not too hard to add them...I'll help you.

ChadG

< Message edited by Juggalo -- 3/15/2009 8:44:35 PM >

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Post #: 8
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 3/15/2009 8:38:45 PM   
Huib


Posts: 585
Joined: 11/21/2006
From: Nederland
Status: offline 		Thanks Juggalo

That's very nice. I would really like to have them ofcourse, if it's not too much work. If you can make them, I'm pretty sure Jason will include them in 1.05, won't you Jason?

Huib

(in reply to TAIL GUNNER)
Post #: 9
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 3/15/2009 8:53:04 PM   
TAIL GUNNER

 

Posts: 1152
Joined: 4/27/2005
From: Los Osos, CA
Status: offline 		Oh, it's my pleasure.....the use of captured weapons by the Germans is a fascinating topic in and of itself and I'd love to see more of them included into the game.

Sadly, I'm not too good with graphics but I'll see what I can do with adding the Balkenkreuz to the winterized M3.

Lastly, if you will release this scenario to the public you will also have to include the customized platoon and weapons files.....or just wait until 1.05 to release.

ChadG

_____________________________

"If you want peace, prepare for war."

(in reply to Huib)
Post #: 10
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 3/16/2009 4:21:35 AM   
TAIL GUNNER

 

Posts: 1152
Joined: 4/27/2005
From: Los Osos, CA
Status: offline 		Well the M3 came out pretty nice....if I do say so myself...

PM me your e-mail and I'll send it to you.....do you have WinRAR?

Tomorrow I'll edit the platoon file to be able to use it.
ChadG




Attachment (1)

< Message edited by Juggalo -- 3/16/2009 4:22:22 AM >

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"If you want peace, prepare for war."

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Post #: 11
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 3/25/2009 6:41:10 PM   
Huib


Posts: 585
Joined: 11/21/2006
From: Nederland
Status: offline 		Well some time has passed and in the meantime the scenario is finished. Making the Allied oob wasn't particular troublesome. I had some good sources about the compostion of the 82nd Airborne at the time. On the internet there is quite a bit of information to be found as well, particularly about the independent 551st parachute infantry battalion and independent 517th PIR that were attached to the 82nd Airborne at that time.

In fact making the scenario is often not much more than placing the units at their original locations at the start of the battle. In case of this scenario this was well documented for both sides. As objectives I decided to use the historical objectives the americans wanted to take. I added some extra objectives further to the rear. These were actually objectives of the next stage of the American attack. When I placed the objectives, I counted how many points there were and determined the victory conditions, where I decided that at about equal losses, the historical gains of the paratroopers were sufficient for a minor victory. I'm not sure if the historical American performance should be called a victory. According to most american sources probably yes, but if one counts the minimal ground gains and the heavy casualties it is rather the weary 62nd VGD again which performance exceeded beyond what could be expected of them.

I wanted this scenario to work as Allied vs Computer as well as H2H. This means that I should try to have the AI behave somewhat sensible without major restrictions that would hamper human vs human play. Ofcourse I also did not want any compromise any historical facts for the sake of playability. It seems to be a widespread misunderstanding that these two often bite eachother.
To 'steer' the AI I gave Axis agressiveness a mere 5 so they would stay put in their defensive lines mostly even when not fixed. I added extra objectives further to rear as an extra measure to avoid having everybody running to the first line. Some of the HQ's and leader are fixed for some time, so that at least part of the game AI will not move them uselessly. Global OP fire was set for the AI side as well.
Finally I deleted all units from the org file that do not make an appearance in this scenario. That way is is easier for the players to use the find org option from the display menu.



Last but not least I would like to thank Juggalo for the files he provided for the Russian mortars and the captured HTs. I've included them in the zipfile. The file should be extracted to the westfront folder and "use folder names" should be ticked on in winzip. Installing this scenario will overwrite the platoon.obx and weapon.obx file. you might want to back them up first (although I didn't).

For the infantry minded players, the scenario will most likely be more fun than for the armor lovers. Nevertheless I hope it is enjoyable. I only tested it against AI and it is winnable for sure, but it gives a good idea what the American paratroopers were up against in early January 1945. Playing against a human opponent might make it a big challenge for the Allied player.

That's it. Feel free to ask any questions.
I have to upload the scn somewhere. The Blitz depot doesn't work at the moment and here zip files are not accepted.
For now mail me in case you want the files

Huib



< Message edited by Huib -- 3/25/2009 6:44:38 PM >

(in reply to TAIL GUNNER)
Post #: 12
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 3/25/2009 7:05:30 PM   
Dumnorix


Posts: 793
Joined: 3/15/2007
Status: offline 		Hallo Huib
Where is the promised map for Marked Garden ???

And....the old original map-graphic looks so bad.Why you still work with this old things ?

H.Balck

< Message edited by Dumnorix -- 3/25/2009 7:06:26 PM >

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RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 3/27/2009 10:03:23 PM   
countblue


Posts: 160
Joined: 1/8/2008
From: Vienna,Austria
Status: offline 		I appreciate your quite precise description of how you developed the whole thing.
Does it play (vs AI) the way you planned it ?

RESPECT!

Countblue



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Post #: 14
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 3/27/2009 10:14:20 PM   
Huib


Posts: 585
Joined: 11/21/2006
From: Nederland
Status: offline 		Yes the Computer Germans behave decently. On some occasions they ventured forward, where they had better not
(although the real German also launched an ill fated limited counterattack in this battle:)).
The AI is particularly poor when it comes to handling the few assault guns the Germans have but overall I found it to be a challenge. It gives a good impression of the difficulty of the terrain with well positioned defenders.

I will upload the scenario in the Blitz depot once the uploading works again.

(in reply to countblue)
Post #: 15
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 3/28/2009 7:53:27 AM   
baltjes

 

Posts: 59
Joined: 7/21/2007
Status: offline 		Hello Huib,


I read your series on developing scenario's with interest. With respect to incorporate captured RUSSIAN units into the German OOB, you might consider the use of SOVJET units. Within the present MCS oob-system (1.04), they are considered allied to the Germans! The only thing is, they appear in the Russian (pardon: sovjet) color schemes (The germans didn't get time yet to overpaint them  ). 

Greetings,

Hajo Baltjes 

(in reply to Huib)
Post #: 16
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 3/29/2009 5:03:27 PM   
Huib


Posts: 585
Joined: 11/21/2006
From: Nederland
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: baltjes

Hello Huib,


I read your series on developing scenario's with interest. With respect to incorporate captured RUSSIAN units into the German OOB, you might consider the use of SOVJET units. Within the present MCS oob-system (1.04), they are considered allied to the Germans! The only thing is, they appear in the Russian (pardon: sovjet) color schemes (The germans didn't get time yet to overpaint them  ). 

Greetings,

Hajo Baltjes 


Hello Hajo,

Yes that's also a good idea. In this case the guns were crewed by Germans. There are references though of an Ost-Battalion in this area (but I found it only in a single source). Hiwis were certainly present close to this battle, but I'm unsure if they participated in the fighting.

Huib

(in reply to baltjes)
Post #: 17
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 3/30/2009 12:02:26 AM   
TAIL GUNNER

 

Posts: 1152
Joined: 4/27/2005
From: Los Osos, CA
Status: offline 		Hello Huib,

If you wish, I could host your scenario on my website until the Blitz resolves their issue....just send it via PM or e-mail and I'll post the link.

Also, in case you didn't know, there are "Ost" platoons available in WF...

ChadG

_____________________________

"If you want peace, prepare for war."

(in reply to Huib)
Post #: 18
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 3/30/2009 1:42:37 PM   
TAIL GUNNER

 

Posts: 1152
Joined: 4/27/2005
From: Los Osos, CA
Status: offline 		Download for Huib's scenario:

(link removed......see next post)

< Message edited by Juggalo -- 4/8/2009 7:48:44 PM >

_____________________________

"If you want peace, prepare for war."

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Post #: 19
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 4/8/2009 9:58:11 AM   
Huib


Posts: 585
Joined: 11/21/2006
From: Nederland
Status: offline 		Meanwhile the Blitz scn upload was fixed.

The Final version can be downloaded here:

http://www.theblitz.org/scenarios/show_full_scenarios.php?scen=8587&game=6&ladder=2

(in reply to TAIL GUNNER)
Post #: 20
RE: Making an historical scenario from start to finish - 4/13/2009 5:28:46 PM   
countblue


Posts: 160
Joined: 1/8/2008
From: Vienna,Austria
Status: offline 		I finally finished my first "historical" scenario for EF.
(Semmering.scn, 50 turns, April 1945, german vs. russian, appprox. regimental size, should be playable vs. AI and Human)
Anybody likes to testplay it?
D/L it, rename it to *.zip, unpack and play.
Feedback is appreciated, bear in mind its my first one.

CB
--------
I edited the description of the scenario because I found some typos.
I hope its playable and feedback would be appreciated. ;-)

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by countblue -- 4/17/2009 9:57:49 PM >

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Post #: 21
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