Normandy #16 - Advancing Inland (6th-12th June) -Alt)

[Plain Ian]

Hoping to start an AAR of my game. Just testing how readable these large maps will be before I start.



Well ok I'll maybe post maps in two halves?

[Ricky B]

At least on my tablet, I can zoom in and see all the detail. So I would expect either would work. A better reason for splitting them up may be to tie your text to the area under discussion. So both may work.

Looking forward to it.

Rick

[ComradeP]

Opening the image in a new tab works well.

For a rough idea of where your units are, such overview screenshots work well.

The contour colours make identifying the terrain type difficult at this zoom level.

[nukkxx]

Opening the image in a new tab works well.

Especially with several ctrl++ in a row to zoom-in (in Chrome)

[lezgo killemall]

A Plain Ian AAR.  Sweet.

[Plain Ian]

Thanks for the support. I better get started as we are at Turn 23 in my PBEM.

A quick look at the scenario itself



Its 70 turn so it starts 02:00 6th June with the first air drops (Pegasus bridge) and continues through to midnight 12th June. Each day is 10 turns with 8 daylight turns of 2 hours and 2 night turns of 4 hours. No dawn or dusk in this game.

I'd advise people to read the Normandy Alt document. There is a lot to learn from the notes on unit abilities and how the game plays. The notes mention that the Allied player is frozen on the first night turn 6th/7th JUne which is useful to know if you are the German player. Plan accordingly.

I've 'photo shopped' the Designer names in snap above so you can read their names easier. It would be nice if the dialogue box for the designer/editors was made as large as the Title Box to its left. (Berto?) These people deserve to have their names displayed fully for all their hard work.

Options chosen were driven by the scenario notes.



No Delayed Disruption. I am the German player but I allowed Clay to chose and he naturally did not want this. The game is hard enough on the Allied player I guess. I might touch on this subject during the game later on. 

The Maps. As usual I've gone a bit over board on them. I've added a line to show the extent of the Bocage since this will be an important factor in the game I think. I've also added a line to show the historical advance for the Allies up to the 13th June. I can't guarentee its accuracy so take it as an approximation. I've split the map into two halves for display.

West Map



East map



Both maps are cut down maps of the main campaign map. They show the area north of the Coutance - Thurly-harcourt. 

The inclusion of Cherbourg and most of the Contentin is interesting as I doubt very much most of this area will be contested by the Allied player. However it does give us the big picture and I guess the German player free access to the units in this area as and when they release. Since I'm the German player I'll maybe talk about this a bit more when we get to the game play. 

Victory Levels look dauting for the Allied player and Clay my opponent has already mentioned he will struggle to achieve a Minor! <G> I've listed the VP's you get for securing each beach roughly plus I've combined some VP locations to give grouped VP's in some areas to save me labelling everything. There maybe mistakes. It should however give a good idea of how to achieve Victory. 

By the way I've just realised the map doesn't show the VP levels? I'll post this thread as it is now and then amend it......[now amended]

[Edited east map to add missing VP's in the Caen area]

[Xerxes77]

Really nice. I love all the annotations too. I have great gaming respect for folks who are not afraid to tackle these mammoth scenarios. And at 70 turns I understand this one is not even among the largest.

These posts spark all sorts of ideas for enhancements to the engine, as I believe it could use a few extra functions to support a broader level of planning. Imagine having a "strategic overlay" based on heat maps showing concentration of forces, etc, and support for basic schematic drawings.

Going back to reality, the inclusion of visible VPs in the farthest zoom level looks like a natural thing to have. I would also add some basic functionality to the Organization Dialog to make things easier on the player.

Anyway, love this.

[Plain Ian]

Really nice. I love all the annotations too. I have great gaming respect for folks who are not afraid to tackle these mammoth scenarios. And at 70 turns I understand this one is not even among the largest.

These posts spark all sorts of ideas for enhancements to the engine, as I believe it could use a few extra functions to support a broader level of planning. Imagine having a "strategic overlay" based on heat maps showing concentration of forces, etc, and support for basic schematic drawings.

Going back to reality, the inclusion of visible VPs in the farthest zoom level looks like a natural thing to have. I would also add some basic functionality to the Organization Dialog to make things easier on the player.

Anyway, love this.

Thats a great idea about visible VP's at this level. Toggle them on or off I suppose in stead of place names. Have one or the other showing at any one time?

Large scenarios are all about planning. Probably games are one doh!...won or lost at this stage? It depends how much you want to win as well. If you want to win badly then toggle on the E key to find all the German Engineers, look for all the bridges you want to demolish....then start moving them pioneers! But you got to hope for good rolls as they company sized units lowish morale ratings in some cases. I'll bring this up in my AAR.

I was a bit careless with planning the movement of my rear area troops and have ended up counter marching as few formations as I've chopped and changed things. 

I also thought the Contentin was a bit of waste of effort moving all these units as Clay will not bother making any serious effort here. Its just too hard to get anywhere in Bocage. But again I changed my mind here.

[Plain Ian]

Turn 1 - the Longest day.

The Americans land. 



US units are immediately disrupted and frozen/fixed in place. A 50 point VP hex is gained. Most of the forward positions held by the Germans just behind the beaches are surrounded and isolated along with St Mere Eglise plus an unnamed village south west of it. (anyone know what this is?) The bridge at Etienville is also under threat.

My report brings good news though. Two units are released. The Sturm Battalion (85% chance) and the III/1058 Rgt. (25%)

1 unit is undisrupted! Its the artillery unit at Pointe du Hoc. A surprising result and one that will have consequences for the US Rangers landing next turn!

My response is limited as most units are Fixed. I can't remember why I moved the HW/company of III/1058 GR up to support the forward company? I moved away the artillery and the Divsional HQ at Etienville but did not move the Pioneer units. (save night fatigue?) I also didn't bother firing my artillery.



Map will look different as I'm keeping my end of turn files in my JTS Gold version so this is the old 2D magnified version.

A quick look at the Unit Release Dialogue.



Sorry its a bit fuzzy because I reduced it. But its a mess because dates are all jumbled.



Here it is chopped up and reassembled. I've also added in the hidden % chances of release. Now I know that we are playing with FOW but I do not know why the % chance for release should be hidden in the first place?? Any chance we can change this? 

Ok a quick look at the British drop but not much to see.



The British secure the bridge plus another VP hex to the south. All pretty standard stuff. The Bridge detachment starts Disrupted so an assault is an automatic win. 

I'll post this just now and check something then add more.........

German responses are pretty limited. I didn't fire or move anything? Most things are fixed as you can see from above. 

I quick look at the German Reinforcement schedule.



So not a great deal arriving quickly and things are even worse when you sneak a look at the % chances of passing the die roll to arrive. 

Lastly the VP chart.



I killed 4 US men during my turn and managed to lose 1 of my own men? Possibly when the 91st HQ went into T-mode to move away or maybe when I moved the HW/III/1058 GR? I guess I did fire something?  

Ian