Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

I got this setup and ready. Finished playing Wilfir's scenario recently and some PBEM games. I will be on it shortly.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Allright, there we go.

I actually took pretty serious casualties here (130 casualties). Maybe it is because I used smaller force, sending 2 Cie into the reserve and to cover the flank of objective captured previous engagement. And I did hesitate to use tanks, as German deployment was very efficient.

Nevertheless, I have captured second German position and prepared myself for serious envelopment of the enemy. Weaker screening forces claimed control over the road, they now wait for the rest of the troops to reorganize and assault Obj Toulose from the back. 2 German tanks maneuvering around were nicely beaten back.

Also, fighting patrol approached Flak 88's position and disabled two guns. As of the end of t he scenario, third one is in direct danger.
Those Warhawks proved useful.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

That save file appears to be from the end of the second to last scenario (where you just captured the first hill).

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Nevermind, my mistake.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Ok, done.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Allright. Battles like that happen. Sometimes.

This was shortly speaking a disaster. Italian & German defence proved too strong, add to this my very limited skill in commanding motorized formations in this game and there we go.

I still have some reserves, but I need to be immediately put into reserve. I will not do anything with what is left of my force.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Here is the correct save.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Don't worry about it too much, a good story also needs a setback.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Any news here?

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Christmas happened, and now I am in middle of exams. I will start again in February at earliest.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Ok cool, see you then!

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Guess who is back...

I have captured the village of Takrouna and secured myself good starting positions for assault on the hill itself. All running units have been eliminated and 3 enemy tanks knocked out in the process.
I took noticeable losses in the process. Once again, German defences proved to be extremely well placed and defenders fought with unparalelled fury in order to stop me.
Lot of French perished on those grounds recently.

Let's get it done. I need arty refilled. I need more arty. I would be glad to have recon aircraft. Maybe some strike aircraft, but those proved ineffective. Level bombers? My dream...

And I would like to send negotiator first on the hill. Maybe Germans will agree to end this without bloodshed.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Welcome back!

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

OK, I am back, hopefully for longer this time -.-'

I have completed the scenario. I managed to capture Hill 342 and kill enemy A0 unit. Maybe that will convince them to surrender? German Fallschirmjeagers put a very heroic defence here. My losses are very high and entire battalion is - in my opinion - not combat capable.

But if enemy will not surrender, then I will need artillery as I had... and I would like to stage an attack at night, so that enemy positions cannot support each other.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Just curious .............which scenario is this for ??

Don

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

It's a bit like a dynamic campaign. He plays and I make scenarios depending on the outcome.

Anyway, welcome back!

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

All right, I have managed to push through the first line. Casualties are low as for now, however I am worried what lies beyond. I found artillery sufficient for this battle... but I hope HQ will assign some more as good defensive positions (towns) are before us.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Cool!

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Allright.
Plan was as follows: 1 & 2 Cie with Sherman platoon support and some heavier weapons were to make a push through the south. Let's assume I listened to younger officers and decided to bypass main defence sector. In the meantime, 3rd Cie with most of armour support was to fix enemy in the town so enemy could not provide reinforcements. They got however lots of tanks and deadly 12 MMGs at their help... in case they succeeded.
And they did.
Southern sector was holding up very well and it took me a while to crack those PzIVs and Stugs. But when Germans broke I decided to rush for it. I crossed the stream and managed to raid very close to the trenches.
Surprisingly, to the north, defence in the down was broken within several turns. German line defence did not stand 5 minutes under that fire, especially I had MMGs already deployed on a ridge I captured before. Some of my tanks got hit randomly, but besides my casualties are still acceptable... though heavy in general. Not only I secured the bridge, but I started to dismantle some fences.
It seems combined variant of your proposed plan actually worked.

And now, here's what I want to do:
I want to use the momentum. Not sure what hrs is in game, but my perfect plan: I am regrouping till midnight comes. My observateours are guiding artillery to suppress the Germans and halt their work over the main line. If I am to attack at night, I need no heavier artillery so it can empty itself till daylight. But if I got some bombardment before, that would make me glad.

In fact, if I get SERIOUS (at least squadron) of bombers or ground attack aircraft - if HQ can provide me that - I would attack within an hour of this scenario. I just need to bring in stragglers and help my tanks in crossing the stream. But what genies are for?

I would definitely go for any of those two options, with the first being better. I got a nice foothold and I want to use it. I want to get rid of the Nazis before they can regroup and bring in reinforcements. There is probably only weaker engineer group working their *** off in the trenches. That should be an easy crack for me.

Whatever happens, I want to motivate my men. Rule is simple: if they break through, everything what lies beyond that hill belongs to them.
I hope you catch the reference? ;)

Besides, as always, I am requesting as many support as I can. Any support will do.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Very nice work.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

That was easy work. I decided to weight the attack to the north, using more friendly approach there (village shielded me from the rest of the line). Mortar support was sufficient. Tanks cleared what infantry could not.
Overally, I lost only 67 men to nearly 300 Germans. German forces are fleeing in disarray.

I believe whatever lies beyond now belongs to my troops. But - if possible - I would like to rest and refit my troops.

Let me know what are you planning right now. Just telling: I want to turn my force into mechanized unit by the time I land (or fight a little) in France. Also. Your decision is to make if I should going French Armoured Division in Normandy or 2 other French Divisee Blindee landing in southern France.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

I always thought you were the 1st DLF?

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Emm, I made no exact plans on this. It was supposed to be generic battalion facing key French battles of that era, as if we completely stuck to history we would have our hands tied a little bit. All French battalions' paths can be exactly re-enacted and these were not in one place as we do in this campaign. Which was easy until now as most of French forces were fighting in relatively one place. I was sticking more or less to 1st DFL for most of the time... and now you should decide where to send me.
You plan this campaign for me. It is yours to decide ;)

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

If you want a mechanized unit then you should land North:
if you go from South you will have to go through more mountainous land (such as the old 'Massif Central', not high but very large and still mountainous), so you better need motorized (for swifter strategic move, not combat) infantry with more artillery than tanks, than the mechanised 2ème Division Blindée of Leclerc, which landed in Normandy (2nd French Armored Division, 1 August) where the land is far more flat, but maybe more treacherous with bocage, why you do need much infantry if you don't want to lose many tanks...

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

I think we will roughly keep with the 1st DLF, so we will stay in Italy for a little bit, then land in Southern France, then Vosges Mountains, Operation Nordwind, Colmar Pocket.

I will post a new scenario on the weekend, because I need to make a new map and don't have as much free time now than I used to. See you then!

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Okay, as promised, the next scenario. We will stay in Italy for a short while before going over to the motherland.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

OK, here we go.
Enemy force failed to ambush me effectively (though one or two trucks were lost). Panzergrenadiere lost a lot of men in that town and PzIVs failed to push in time and got caught in nasty urban combat Then I conducted pincer movement and cleared my way towards next objective.

Casualties are noticeable, but acceptable given enemy losses.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Cool. BTW when did you last refresh your forces?

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Emmm, actually before this one. I assumed some time has passed (about a month?), so refit should take place.
Do not tell me I was supposed to do it without it -.-'
Otherwise we misunderstood each other. Well, as an argument... one company stayed out of the battle.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Yeah nevermind, I didn't think of it either, still a bit rusty after the hiatus. Will post the next one during the weekend.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Ok, I'm back.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Should I reinforce myself in this scenario?

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Yes, since you got reinforced for the landing.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

I finally got to it. Working on couple of scenarios and it is not going well, I seem to suck doing scenarios with AI units moving top-down rather than left-right :P

Anyway, it went surprisingly well, mostly because I had a lot of luck while crossing the bridge. I deployed my entire artillery as smoke screen and rushed 1 Cie through the bridge supported by few light vehicles. When they made their way to the hotel, if was fortified and occupied as intel predicted. Again, 2 batteries of 105mm and some 81mm love pinned and scared the defenders and my infantry moved in with Greyhound support.
In the meantime, Ostermann's engineers deployed hastly and cleared the road for additional Sherman tanks and entire 3 Cie that moved in towards the town to clear it. 2 Cie did not take part in the battle, they remained as reserves.
Road was cleared rather fine but I had about 5 men as casualties from the mines. 3 Cie deployed and rushed through the town. Enemy defences were surprisngly stronger than I predicted, but close support of about 6 Shermans were enough. I had a lot of luck with bloody Russian guns, only one sherman was damaged and other one miraculously saved!
One tank was lost though - sad to admit - to Russian field howitzer. This last unit was undiscovered and struck the side of the tank what caused ammunition to explode. Only one crew member made it out in one piece.

I sent some patrols towards the hill nearby, but defences are too strong. One Greyhound was immobilized dangerously close to the trenches, but with White AC I managed to fend off infantry trying to get it.

My idea for a plan: rearm, wait till evening (unless my regiment's CO wants me to go quicker), deploy commandos and fresh 2 Cie... and push the hill. In fact I want to rely mostly on commandos for this job, quick raid should do it.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Welcome back!

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Hmm, seems like deployment line is stuck at the river. Can you fix it?

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

This should fix it.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

This raid quickly turned into actual assault, but enemy numbers were low and I managed to take them out with relatively little casualties, though dedicated recon met some nasty bunkers on the way.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Ok. I have been waiting to use this map... :)

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Forgot to ask: can I fix my force? Or there was too little time for it?

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Too little time.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

That was... tough.

Last thing I expected was well planned blocking position, I was more ready to chase. 1 Cie got into serious trouble straight in the beginning and I had to send 2 Cie through the north-western approach to the village. Street fighting itself went well and I managed to block German maneuver and also eliminate German column, but this cost me a lot of my tanks and vehicles. My casualties are relatively high, 4 tanks down and entire mechanized recon decimated.

At least FFi and Brits managed to do surprisingly well. I deployed them near the road to the north, in case any of German units would slip through. Again, I did not expect 2 Panthers and AA battery over there. FFI approached unnoticed at first and brilliantly eliminated the AA. Aircraft killed one Panther and damaged the other, that was later eliminated by close infantry assault. Not only I secured that approach, but also sent in patrols on the other side of the stream and - with air support - destroyed most of 7,5mm battery there. I also discovered 6 mortar tubes nearby and took them out.

In the end however losses were high and German straglers are still hanging in the area. One part of the road is still not secured, but I generally got most of it and took my objective.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

And next one. Nearing the end now.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

I am getting back to it. Keep in mind I just upgraded my transport to M3 halftracks, so I am now technically speaking a mechanized battalion. Tanks and AT guns also got somewhat upgraded, but nothing really special here.

PS: It was good to be back to FH2 yesterday after a 2 years break. I believe we saw each other a couple of times ;)

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Small world, eh?

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Not that small if we like the same ;)

You do a superb mod. I play it since very first Battlefield I yet happen to have on my disc! I only wish Fall Weiss was there once again... but I am happy for community Mont Ormel. I will release scenario about it for SPWW2 in some time. I can eventually provide polish voices if needed ;)


Now, the Frenchmen.
Main effort was focused on objective Seine in form of entire mechanized company (1 Cie), supported with recon platoon and two tank platoons. Also, entire heavy artillery was put on that village. The fight was careful and Germans were overrun with relatively little casualties on my side.

I also sent 3 Cie on foot with some mediocre fire support to Objective Rhone. Due to attack happening on two axes of advance I also managed to capture that position with acceptable casualties while depraved of numerological superiority. Yet, by the time Rhone was engaged fight on Seine was coming to an end, so I managed to shift entire heavy artillery and that gave me some serious edge.

I also tried to advance further to the south, but another German position stopped me. I need to regroup myself and seek better way to approach final position.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

And on we go.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Took me a while to handle this.

Both positions taken, StuG counterattack beaten off with light losses. I made a mistake though and deployed too close. Given the superiority of mine it did not change much.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

This seems to be missing the .cmt file.

Re: Campaign Scenario Setup Help - France
 

Just create your own