Matrix Games Forums

Forums  Register  Login  Photo Gallery  Member List  Search  Calendars  FAQ 

My Profile  Inbox  Address Book  My Subscription  My Forums  Log Out

New Scenario: "I Come Creepin'"

 
View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest
Users viewing this topic: none
  Printable Version
All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> Steel Panthers World At War & Mega Campaigns >> SP:WaW Scenarios/Campaigns >> New Scenario: "I Come Creepin'" Page: [1]
Login
Message << Older Topic   Newer Topic >>
New Scenario: "I Come Creepin'" - 9/5/2004 6:17:37 PM   
No New Messages
Fidel_Helms
Matrix Veteran


 

Posts: 405
Joined: 3/9/2003
From: North Carolina
Status: offline
This is my first SPWAW scenario. It is essentially complete. I'd greatly appreciate any feedback on it. I have programmed an AI for both sides, although the Sheriff's Deputies would probably be more challenging for a human player. Still, it should be enjoyable from either side.






"I COME CREEPIN'"

*United Mine Workers of America(Canada)
**____________Assault
**____________versus
**____________Defend
**Logan Co. Deputy Sheriffs*(US Army)

*Location: Craddock Fork,Blair Mountain, West Virginia*

*______0800 hours, August 31, 1921*

*______Turns: 20*

*______Scenario Size: Medium*


*______Design: Grant Whitley*

**BACKGROUND:

**On May 19th 1920, a gun battle erupted in the small, unknown Mingo County, West Virginia town of Matewan between chief of police Sid Hatfield and agents of the Baldwin Felts Agency. The Baldwin-Felts men were employed by the hated coal companies to evict miners from their company homes, often for nothing more than having joined the union. Several of the Baldwin-Felts agents were killed in the gun battle at Matewan, which led to a series of trials the following year involving Hatfield and his confederates.

**The following summer, just after being acquitted, Sid Hatfield was murdered on the steps of the McDowell County courthouse by Baldwin-Felts men seeking revenge on behalf of their comrades. The murder of this small town policeman was to become the spark that ignited the largest rebellion in the United States since the Civil War.*

*Throughout the summer of 1921, guerilla warfare raged in largely non-union Mingo County. Pro-union snipers directed deadly fire at the mines and at strike breaking workers("scabs") from the Kentucky side of the Tug River, where they were safe from pursuit by West Virginia authorities. The situation deteriorated to the point that the Governor of West Virginia declared martial law in Mingo County. Quickly, union leaders called for a rally at the state capitol on August 7. Among the speakers was the famous Mother Jones, who cursed the governor and the coal companies in the foulest language imaginable. She exhorted the miners to march into Mingo County and establish the union by force of arms.*

*In their way stood the anti-union bastion of Logan County and its powerful sheriff, Don Chafin. He maintained a force of 300 "special deputies"; nearly triple the size of the entire state police.*

*Their job was to control the roads and railroads in Logan County, prevent pro-union rallies, and generally harass and intimidate the union and its supporters. On August 20, armed miners began gathering on Lens Creek in Kanawha County, southeast of the capital, Charleston. Many were veterans of World War I and came wearing their old Army uniforms and helmets. Other simply wore their work clothes and placed a red bandanna around their necks. This was the uniform most closely associated with the miners, who were called "rednecks" by the anti-union forces in front of them.

**As the miners moved out on the 24th, Logan County’s namesake seat was thrown into a panic. As church bells sounded the alarm to the populace, Sheriff Chafin called for volunteers and sent his deputies to man hastily constructed fortifications o Blair Mountain. As the battle lines began to form, the miners established a password system to identify each other with. A union sentry would challenge anyone attempting to pass by asking, "Where are you going?". The miners would answer, "To Mingo!" The sentry would then ask, "How are you coming?". The reply was "I come creepin'".

**By August 26th, President Harding had issued an order to disband to the miners, who met in a baseball field and voted to go home. It seemed that this chapter of the "mine wars" had ended.*

*But an ill-timed move by Sheriff Chafin was to have a decisive impact. On the 28th, some of Chafin's deputies, along with a detachment of West Virginia State Police, crossed Blair Mountain and tried to serve arrest warrants in the town of Miflin. They stumbled onto a group of union miners who had not yet left the area. A gun battle ensued which claimed several lives, and rumors spread like wildfire in the union camp that Chafin's deputies had killed women and children.*

*The angry miners could be contained no longer. Blair Mountain erupted into battle the following morning. One of the places where fighting was heaviest was along Craddock Fork, where a trail crossed over to Crooked Creek and then went on to Logan town. The miners hurled themselves forward at this point, supported by a Gatling Gun and an artillery piece. The anti-union forces, a motley collection of deputies, mine guards, and even high school ROTC cadets, had two machine guns at their disposal, one of them manned by "Tough" Tony Gaujot, who had won the Medal of Honor in World War I. Chafin had even hired private pilots to drop homemade bombs over the union lines. The miners were only able to break Chafin's line when Gaujot's gun jammed after three hours of fighting. Chafin's men were able to reform their line about a half mile back and finally stopped the union advance there.

*Eventually, federal troops intervened and put and end to the rebellion. The union was devastated by the failure of the armed march, although the right to organize was finally guaranteed by New Deal legislation passed in the early 1930s.*

*TIPS&TACTICS:

**When playing as the miners, it is vital to make the best use of your rifle ammunition-you don't have a lot! UMWA squads have plenty of ammo for their Colt .45s and shotguns and also have powerful dynamite charges, but you'll need to get in close to use these. If you spend all of your rifle ammo crossing Craddock Ford, you may be open to counterattack by the Sheriff's Deputies.

**Playing as the Sheriff's Deputies is also touch and go. Your troops are worth more to the union player than the actual objective hexes. Your two machine guns and the Baldwin-Felts units are worth the most. This is to simulate the fact that the anti-union commander in this area was able to reform his line a few miles back after the UMWA broke through along Craddock Fork. The Baldwin-Felts troops are worth a high number of points because they were so hated by the miners. Eliminating these anti-union troops would have given the miners a significant morale boost. It should be the objective of the union to not only cross Craddock Fork, but destroy the anti-union forces in the area as well. With this done, it may be possible to advance on Logan town.

< Message edited by Fidel_Helms -- 9/5/2004 6:06:21 PM >


_____________________________

Post #: 1
RE: New Scenario: "I Come Creepin'" - 9/5/2004 6:23:37 PM   
No New Messages
rrockw
Matrix Trooper



Posts: 74
Joined: 7/6/2004
Status: offline
Sounds great! How do we get it?

Rich

(in reply to Fidel_Helms)
Post #: 2
RE: New Scenario: "I Come Creepin'" - 9/5/2004 6:28:46 PM   
No New Messages
Fidel_Helms
Matrix Veteran


 

Posts: 405
Joined: 3/9/2003
From: North Carolina
Status: offline
I thought I could attach the file in my post. Here's a link to download:

http://members.cox.net/grantwhitley/scn473.zip

_____________________________


(in reply to rrockw)
Post #: 3
RE: New Scenario: "I Come Creepin'" - 9/5/2004 11:53:59 PM   
No New Messages
KG Erwin
Matrix Legion of Merit



Posts: 8981
Joined: 7/25/2000
From: Cross Lanes WV USA
Status: offline
Fidel, got the scenario. Thanks for all of your hard work and research. You have earned the gratitude of this West Virginian for presenting this little-known episode.

Let me add that anyone interested in the background of the "Mine Wars" should see John Sayles' movie "Matewan", which stars Chris Cooper (great actor, you'll know the face, if not the name--he was also in "October Sky" as Homer Hickam's father and "Seabiscuit" as the horse's trainer, among other films) as a union organizer.

< Message edited by KG Erwin -- 9/5/2004 4:59:40 PM >


_____________________________


(in reply to Fidel_Helms)
Post #: 4
RE: New Scenario: "I Come Creepin'" - 9/6/2004 1:22:06 AM   
No New Messages
Fidel_Helms
Matrix Veteran


 

Posts: 405
Joined: 3/9/2003
From: North Carolina
Status: offline
Let me know what you think once you've had a chance to play it, KG.

_____________________________


(in reply to KG Erwin)
Post #: 5
RE: New Scenario: "I Come Creepin'" - 9/6/2004 3:31:32 AM   
No New Messages
KG Erwin
Matrix Legion of Merit



Posts: 8981
Joined: 7/25/2000
From: Cross Lanes WV USA
Status: offline
Fidel, I played as the UMWA up through turn 6. Interesting battle, but a couple of observations. The C4 unit--Loc 101's first sniper, is deployed all alone on the northeastern corner of the map--I moved him to hex 57,3. This is a minor glitch. Also, the civilian plane has flown over a couple of times, targeting my cannon, but it has dropped no bombs. Maybe it should be given two 20 kg bombs, rather than just one? With limited ammo ON, apparently in-game it was unarmed.

Other than that, the map looks good, the units are placed well, and I fully understand why fighting a battle in West Virginia is a tough business. Using green troops to charge up a mountain ain't no fun.

I'll restart it and play through the entire scenario.

_____________________________


(in reply to Fidel_Helms)
Post #: 6
RE: New Scenario: "I Come Creepin'" - 9/6/2004 3:47:55 AM   
No New Messages
Fidel_Helms
Matrix Veteran


 

Posts: 405
Joined: 3/9/2003
From: North Carolina
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: KG Erwin

Fidel, I played as the UMWA up through turn 6. Interesting battle, but a couple of observations. The C4 unit--Loc 101's first sniper, is deployed all alone on the northeastern corner of the map--I moved him to hex 57,3. This is a minor glitch.


This sounds like one of the units that I meant to remove from the OOB. Originally all of the UMWA formations had two snipers assigned to them. I put all the extra units up in the NE corner of the map before deleting them. Sounds like I just missed that one.

quote:


Also, the civilian plane has flown over a couple of times, targeting my cannon, but it has dropped no bombs. Maybe it should be given two 20 kg bombs, rather than just one? With limited ammo ON, apparently in-game it was unarmed.


These planes were more or less ineffective in real life, since the pilots really had no way of aiming their homemade bombs. I really put the plane in as chrome. I have seen instances where it didn't drop its bomb, and I believe it's due to the very low experience rating I gave it(10, if I remember correctly. I'm at work so I can't check). If you check, it should still have its bomb after doing that "dry run". Sometimes you'll get lucky and drop a bomb right on the heads of the miners, but it's not going to obliterate them or anything. Still, if it's not dropping it on a regular basis, I'll change that.

< Message edited by Fidel_Helms -- 9/5/2004 8:48:59 PM >


_____________________________


(in reply to KG Erwin)
Post #: 7
RE: New Scenario: "I Come Creepin'" - 9/6/2004 3:52:56 AM   
No New Messages
Fidel_Helms
Matrix Veteran


 

Posts: 405
Joined: 3/9/2003
From: North Carolina
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: KG Erwin

Other than that, the map looks good, the units are placed well, and I fully understand why fighting a battle in West Virginia is a tough business. Using green troops to charge up a mountain ain't no fun.



Missed this. I got good results as the UMWA by moving my Gatling Gun up slowly, while using my snipers to spot and suppress Tough Tony's machine gun. He's the key to the Chafin forces holding the northern end of the line.

_____________________________


(in reply to KG Erwin)
Post #: 8
RE: New Scenario: "I Come Creepin'" - 9/6/2004 7:50:49 AM   
No New Messages
stevemk1a
Matrix Hero



Posts: 855
Joined: 3/30/2002
From: Penticton B.C.
Status: offline
I played from the "bad guys" side first and got a moderate victory with 50 casualties on my side and 550 or so on the union side ... it ended about turn 12 or 13. The Charleston ROTC performed particularily well, and "Tough Tony's" MG was a real meat chopper.

It was a lot of fun, but I feel guilty for winning as the corporate oppressors, so I'll take command of the union forces next and win one for the working man!!

A very enjoyable scenario ... plays out quickly.

_____________________________


(in reply to Fidel_Helms)
Post #: 9
RE: New Scenario: "I Come Creepin'" - 9/6/2004 9:53:15 AM   
No New Messages
KG Erwin
Matrix Legion of Merit



Posts: 8981
Joined: 7/25/2000
From: Cross Lanes WV USA
Status: offline
Ok, I played through the whole scenario. This time the plane did drop its bomb, with no effect. I basically stacked up my miners on the north and attempted to roll up the line. I captured five VHs, but the UMWA forces are very brittle. I get suppression sometimes by simply clicking on them to move.

Going straight uphill is suicide, which is no surprise. Tough Tony's MG is a real problem. By the time it was all over, I had two survivors in my force--that's right, only two men left. The Sheriff's men took 159 casualties, while I suffered 620. Still got a draw, though.

I'm so spoiled at playing as the tough-as-nails US Marines that I have a difficult time using green troops. The shortage of rifle ammo doesn't help. I'll keep at it, though. (I'll also remove that extra sniper.)

_____________________________


(in reply to stevemk1a)
Post #: 10
RE: New Scenario: "I Come Creepin'" - 9/6/2004 6:09:05 PM   
No New Messages
Fidel_Helms
Matrix Veteran


 

Posts: 405
Joined: 3/9/2003
From: North Carolina
Status: offline
Version 1.1:

Experience levels of anti-union squads reduced to be closer to UMWA experience levels. Really, these two forces were quite similar, and there's no justification for one having a much higher experience level than the others. I thought that I had done this, but when I played the scenario again this morning, the squads were in the 60s for experience. Most should be around 35 now.

Raised experience level of the Civilian Plane unit to ameliorate problem where the plane doesn't drop its bomb(s). Added a second 20kg bomb to the loadout per KG's suggestion.

Cleared the field of fire for the MG unit at the southern end of the anti-union forces' line.

Download:

http://members.cox.net/grantwhitley/scn473v1.1.zip

< Message edited by Fidel_Helms -- 9/6/2004 11:13:14 AM >


_____________________________


(in reply to KG Erwin)
Post #: 11
RE: New Scenario: "I Come Creepin'" - 9/6/2004 6:12:48 PM   
No New Messages
Fidel_Helms
Matrix Veteran


 

Posts: 405
Joined: 3/9/2003
From: North Carolina
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: KG Erwin

Going straight uphill is suicide, which is no surprise. Tough Tony's MG is a real problem. By the time it was all over, I had two survivors in my force--that's right, only two men left. The Sheriff's men took 159 casualties, while I suffered 620. Still got a draw, though.



Ouch! I adjusted the experience levels of the Chafin squads to what I had originally intended them to be, which is parity with the UMWA or slightly higher. I left Tough Tony alone. He was the decisive element in this battle, and the miners weren't able to advance until his gun was disabled. The scenario is actually a bit of a hypothetical in that the human UMWA player is making a decision to advance directly into the teeth of Tony's MG. This of course means that casualties will be higher than historical.

_____________________________


(in reply to KG Erwin)
Post #: 12
Page:   [1]
All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> Steel Panthers World At War & Mega Campaigns >> SP:WaW Scenarios/Campaigns >> New Scenario: "I Come Creepin'" Page: [1]
Jump to:





New Messages No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages Locked w/o New Messages
 Post New Thread
 Reply to Message
 Post New Poll
 Submit Vote
 Delete My Own Post
 Delete My Own Thread
 Rate Posts


Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition 2.4.5 ANSI

0.781