Thought I'd just make a quick post here to assure everyone I haven't forgotten about the H2H Normandy games being played. Also to solicit and encourage any others who are playing/testing.
I recently saw one of Umbro's AARs and realize if I want to detail the game Von Luck and I are playing it's going to take time and some work. That AAR is a tough act to follow, but it's worth it. The first thing I need to do is learn how you get those nice in game screenshots!
Here is a "short" version/update on Von Luck and my !Normandy44 game
25 turns into the game and we've moved well past the beach landings. Based on our test game alone I've gathered over 30 fixes (6 pages handwritten) and suggestions to implement based on our experience.
I'm playing the Allies and we are currently at a high draw, and I'm pushing for a minor. 6220 VPs or something along those lines. Frankly that is higher than I'd hoped. I think the Allies should still be playing to get a draw at this point, forcing them to play savvy and push for Caen, St Lo, etc.
Some quick overall notes I'd like to compare with the others, who hopefully are still playing.
1. I can and do enjoy large games, but the team game is best for this scenario. The Allied player goes through some brutally long turns between the second and third waves hitting the beaches. We knew that, but I'm reiterating it for anyone who is thinking of starting the scenario. It can break you.
2. The Allies may be too strong. Details to follow.
3. Bocage. It's what's for dinner...and it's tough to chew. While Normandy was a tough place to manuever and the map should be too...I've got numerous cases where hexsides and roads need tweaking to facilitate movement. I hope that hasn't been too frustrating for anyone playing. The version 2 will be easier to negotiate. Other areas are an absolute blast as long as you enjoy getting shot everytime you stick your head up!
Turn 25, zone by zone.
Utah Beach
We're tussling for St. Mere Igleis but I'm a long way from Carentan, which will be the next big push. Von Luck still owns the cliffs seperating Utah from Omaha, and he has one noteably stubborn group of wermacht boys with their 88's holding out in the cliff top pillbox that spots the world. I've dedicated a platoon or three of Shermans to keep his head down...but you can guess how that is working.
Utah has proven a (relatively) easy landing in our game, following history, but the move inland is tough and the Allies have a lot of trouble just trying to manuever and operate. Monumental traffic jam. Von Lucks' engineers have blown every bridge standing...and the wide areas of flooded swamp...man oh man...one hex forward....two backward...
The Allies have too many tanks in this area. That will be fixed.
Omaha Beach
Wow.
Oh boy.
Brutal indeed.
Played tough till the end, and I've got entire regiments of shot to hell boys, which are proving difficult to organize and use effectively. Still, we outnumber Von Luck here by a significant margin, and it is the hardest area for his armor to engage me until we start haggling over St. Lo. I'm a long way from St. Lo.
From Pointe Du Hoc to Corselles the wrecks are endless. The Allies pay for Omaha, as is proper.
Gold Beach
Now were into the British/Canadian end of Normandy.
I never enjoyed playing the Brits much, always thought the endless carrier units and vanilla rifle platoons were difficult to employ. That was before this game. The bren, and all the other British carriers were made for the bocage. They can negotiate bocage where other units can't, and in this scenario they are extremely effective. Anything you can use to move quickly on this map is a fantastic asset.
The other discovery I made was the ANGLO 88. I am now officially in LOVE with the British 17 pounder.
Von Luck and I are knee deep around Bayeaux and roughly in a line parallel to the landing beach between there and Caen.
His tanks are finding it easier to get to this area, but not as easy as Caen and the Juno-Sword zone.
Juno-Sword Beaches
Not trying to minimize these two landing zones' importance...but in our game they are playing as one now so it's easier to break it down and analyze them as a whole.
As Chuck10mtn (and others) have noted...you can get disemboweled on Juno.:cheeky: I used a lot of smoke trying to keep moving forward on Juno-Sword. That area over all (maybe even worse than Omaha) was a slaughterhouse.
Still...when the later waves land...especially the third...containing the Canadian 2nd Armored Brigade and the British 27th Armored Brigade...your starting to perk up quick. Even Von Lucks mighty Leopards have been declawed by the mighty Firefly-Wolverine one-two punch!
Well...I shot three of them anyways...lol...he's not exactly running out...
Von Luck and I are sizing each other up outside Caen. I know what he's got in there (somewhat unfair since I put them there...lol...) and I'm NOT jumping into Caen until I have my ducks in a row.
Caen is shaping up to be the fight of the map.
As it should be.
Paratroop Status Mapwide
My para landings are a little too widespread and strong IMO.
Von Luck has been diverting a lot of infantry he could really use on the main line of resistance to deal with them and the final version will reduce their strength and also move the LZ's a smidgen closer to the beaches in some areas.
A game like this, as stated before, takes on it's own reality. There is no such thing as "historical" when you lay out some 60 miles of shoreline.
It's not over yet...but my impression after 25 turns against Von Luck is that the Allies need a bit of trimming down.
One other overall change I'm considering is to add some artillery battalions during the Turns 10 to 20 or so for the Axis player. Once the Allies move in and swallow up those coastal (and mostly fixed) batteries the Axis player doesn't have quite enough to keep Billy Yank's and Tommy Brit's head down like they should be. I've been able to play "rugby" with numbers and push. The Axis player needs to have the ways and means to slow them down through damage with artillery as the fight moves inland.
I'd like to solicit Jason to add a "destroy useless unloaded LSTs" hot button to the next version...
It's a pain to arrow through all of them using "next available unit"...and this game was made for the "next available unit" key if you want to have a chance to use all your boys.
I'd like to hear from those still waging this fight, and thanks for all the help I've already gotten.
I think jb and I will be able to finish our test game by Turn 50 or so.
It's probable the scenario has too many turns, and likely I'll be cutting down the length based on your inputs.
Regards,
Dan
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