Ok, I have changed the focus of the new campaign so that it covers the initial airborne landing of Operation Tonga rather than the later Battle of Bréville. Some points of note . . .
+ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + * - It will be played from the British side. * - Players will command individual Airborne Companies (from 7th, 12th and 13th Parachute Battalions). * - It will be a sort of open sandbox in that it will be story and individual unit driven and will NOT follow the historical event outcomes. For example 'Operation Deadstick' has failed. ;-) * - The objective will be for you, the initial airborne forces, to secure the dropzone area for follow on glider landings which due to weather and aircraft losses have been put off for a few days at least. So you need to secure the DZ, possibly link up with forces landing at Sword Beach and hold on until help arrives. * - There will be no overall commander, all senior officers having been killed or captured in the initial drop however, you will have contact with each other, through runners, landlines and possible radios to coordinate operations. * - Some battles will be easier than others and some may be desperate attempts to survive being overrun. + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - +
The goal of the campaign is to have some fun playing extremely varied scenarios with an slight RPG/Story element added in.
Any initial questions, comments?
< Message edited by Double Deuce -- 7/22/2016 5:48:37 AM >
To spice things up, the 1st mission will be a paradrop, at night (midnight June 5th/6th). Your unit will be scattered and some squads may end up out of play, at least until they are able to rejoin your command during the refit phase. Unless the bridges over the Caen Canal and Orne River are liberated the only reinforcements you would see are those squads from other commands that happen to have survived and wander into your area.
Right now I am looking at this being about 4 missions long (June 5th/6th night, June 6th Day, June 6th Night and then June 7th Day) although I am open to extending it to 6 missions (adding in a June 7th Night and June 8th Day) if that is the group's census.
FYI - The missions will all be played with 'DIFFICULTY: VERY HARD' and 'Fog of War' enabled so don't expect a cakewalk on many of the fights you might find yourself in. You will also be very light on the Anti-Tank capabilities so take care to protect your PIATs.
Probably. I will most likely pull one out as a replacement for the 'player' rather than adding to the 2-3 leader number for a force this size. I will probably not have a Captain as the highest ranked leader either. Part of me wants to randomly generate the leaders (3 per company), as is done with SASL, depending on the nationality, but that means someone may get really bad rolls and be in a world of hurt before the game even starts.
I have the general campaign pretty much worked out so far (if going with 4 missions) but the actual player force is rough draft at the moment. I'm hoping to get more feedback from other before launching further into this.
Posts: 1662
Joined: 3/3/2016 From: Genoa, Republic of Genoa (occupied by Italy) Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: Double Deuce
Part of me wants to randomly generate the leaders (3 per company), as is done with SASL, depending on the nationality, but that means someone may get really bad rolls and be in a world of hurt before the game even starts.
If you play TotH, bad rolls are a fact of life . I never played SASL, but I suppose elite units will get some favourable DRMs for leader generation.
Another update. For this campaign I am planning to add a strategic overlay, in this case a map of the Ranville area. Your 'commands' and some enemy information will be represented on the map but the map is not as detailed as actual topographic maps of the area.
Your missions will be, as a group, achieve the 6th Airborne Division's goals, without the help of most of the 6th Airborne. ;-).
Those above mentioned goals are seizing the bridges over both the Caen Canal and Orne River as well as securing a 2 kilometer drop zone centered on Ranville extending out to Benouvile, Amfreville and Herouvillette.
The following Company level commands are available however, not all units need to be filled for the campaign to start, with some adjustments, I think we can do this with a minimum of 3 players.
A/7/5 Para B/7/5 Para C/7/5 Para (UP844)
A/12/5 Para B/12/5 Para (benway9) C/12/5 Para
A/13/5 Para (rico21) B/13/5 Para (fuselex) C/13/5 Para
Good deal. We'll give it a few more days for others that may want to jump in and then get started.
Just a note. The 1st mission will be a little more 'involved' as I will need to provide you with the blank maps in advance (maybe by screenshot) and then you will need to designate hexes for your para's 'drop sticks'. These will be basically groups of 5 units (squads) to a stick. From there I will determine missed drops and drift for each unit in each stick. Chances are it won't be very pretty when your men hit the ground. ;-)
Please help me Double Deuce, I have a favor to ask of you, I do not know what to do to look after the little ones, during the holidays, I had thought get them to daycare but all those of Stalingrad are full, So I have an idea, or rather two:
Also, I wanted to add for the 'Para Drop'. Any units where their drift/dispersion takes them off map will be unavailable for that mission. This means your unit will likely be pretty short of forces or badly scattered when they hit the ground. You'll nee dot do the best you can with what you have at that time. In follow on missions, missing troops should slowly begin showing up to fill your ranks however, actual casualties will be hard to replace unless the 2 bridges over the Caen/Orne are liberated/cleared.
< Message edited by Double Deuce -- 7/19/2016 7:55:12 AM >
hmmm , I really have no idea what to do here , I may have to pass this time around , but will keep an eye on this thread just to see how it works . I like the idea though :)
Simple things like the map. Blank maps sent in advance (screenshot maybe ) does that mean I make the map with the editor from a screenshot , then from that map I then pick one hex to deploy my units? I then send that back to DD ( and of course i have no idea how to do that :)) Maybe a thread to help myself and others get to understand the basics of how to participate ? It looks like a great way to enjoy the game :)
Simple things like the map. Blank maps sent in advance (screenshot maybe ) does that mean I make the map with the editor from a screenshot , then from that map I then pick one hex to deploy my units? I then send that back to DD ( and of course i have no idea how to do that :)) Maybe a thread to help myself and others get to understand the basics of how to participate ? It looks like a great way to enjoy the game :)
Everything you will need is pretty much provided. I manually create each custom scenario and provide you with a general operations order. You take that information, play the mission (scenario) and then submit back to me the end game files and written AAR.
Posts: 1662
Joined: 3/3/2016 From: Genoa, Republic of Genoa (occupied by Italy) Status: offline
That's how I understood the drop procedure:
1) Double Deuce will provide a blank map to each player (top map) 2) The player will indicate the drop paths for every stick (plane load) of paratroopers (middle map) and send back the map to Double Deuce (posting the hex list in this thread, I suppose). 3) Double Deuce will roll for scatter (bottom map) and send us the scenario file, with the British paratropeers spread all over the map 4) Play the scenario and be ready for a tough time . A crash course in CC tactics vs. Tigers is strongly advisable. 5) At the end of the scenario, fill the AAR.
@Double Deuce: What happens to a unit landing in non-open ground?
@Double Deuce: What happens to a unit landing in non-open ground?
They will be checked for reduction or possible elimination (more likely just a reduction). I wish we could set status when a unit was paced in the editor such as starting them off broken or pinned, etc.