Neither Fear nor Mercy - CG / AAR

[LN59]

In anticipation of the effective opening of this AAR-oriented thread after August 31 ... [8D]

Please, be patient !

However, you can follow another discussion thread right now!!!

That other new thread is more about the conception and realization of Scenarios, or Campaign Games for Tigers on the Hunt.

What's on the Menu?

>>> Tricks and Tips, Advice, Methods, Data, How to do for (preparing bad or good surprises to the HUMAN Player?) <<<

And so on, with examples and explanation, like:

The page does exist yet. But today, Sunday August 2, 2020, it's just a newcomer. [:D]

It is titled "Neither Fear nor Mercy / A CG as a Work in Progress".

It stands on the TotH Forum "Mods & Scenarios" section.

Take a look, Please! Here is the link:

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4864580

Anyone can obviously contribute.

Best Regards [;)]

LN59

[UP844]

Can I post my first impressions after having played the first day?

[UP844]

How are the French supposed to get a Major Victory (25 VP) if the VP hexes are only 24 VP worth? [;)]

[Paullus]

UP844 Check the VP location list. Hex 3,43 is not occupied by any side, so there are 25 VP points [;)]

[UP844]

Thanks Paullus, I got lost in the woods... [8|]

[Paullus]

[:D]

[UP844]

All right, I finished playing the campaign.

Since any discussion implies spoilers, can we discuss about it here, or should I save my ramblings for Lilian only?

[Hailstone]

UP844, I just received a copy of the scenario for playtesting with the
intent of sending my comments directly to Lilian. Of course, if Lilian
is okay with comments being posted then I will. The thing is the comments
won't mean anything to the community without the scenario as a reference.
I just don't see the benefit of posting those comments.[&:]

[LN59]

ORIGINAL: UP844

All right, I finished playing the campaign.

Since any discussion implies spoilers, can we discuss about it here, or should I save my ramblings for Lilian only?

Hi, Guys!

No problem! We share everything, now and in public.

The AAR discussion thread is there for that main purpose. Risk of spoiler? There too, no problem ... (IMHO)

The reason?

Getting to better balance the game for its "official" release on August 15 and if necessary, "toughen it up" so that it would be a real challenge.

I know too well now the flow of the game to realize for myself what really needs to be improved, changed or deleted.

Simply, I'm needing Your help.

Hence the perhaps a bit pretentious approach (... on my part, according to Our Sublime Master's Judgment, Rico the Serene, XXIst of the Name [:D]) in initiating a beta-test on my scenario.

I am waiting for your comments and criticism! So, You can sharpen your bowie-knives: I also can assure You I don't make it a matter of self-esteem at all!

Sincerely Yours,

Lilian

[UP844]

I would never deny you the pleasure of discovering what's lurking in these nice wooded valleys and mountains (this map made me feel at home: except for the French names, it could be a scenario in the Italian campaign).

I'm sending my ramblings to Lillian directly for review and discussion, but I would like to have a "playtesters' discussion" after we all tried playing the campaign.

[LN59]

ORIGINAL: Hailstone

UP844, I just received a copy of the scenario for playtesting with the
intent of sending my comments directly to Lilian. Of course, if Lilian
is okay with comments being posted then I will. The thing is the comments
won't mean anything to the community without the scenario as a reference.
I just don't see the benefit of posting those comments.[&:]

Hi, Hailstone!

There too, no problem!

To support your comments, would it be interesting to put the map (only) online, which map is probably final since some detailed retouching made yesterday?

I can do it by tomorrow evening in the form of a BigMap file directly usable in the Editor and thus accessible to all, without needing the OoB.

Regards,

Lilian

Post scriptum. "Le Haut-du-Faing" Big Map has been posted on August 6! Please follow that link:

https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4036291

[rico21]

J'ai l'honneur de vous présenter le premier AAR(Adopt a Rico) d'un scenario auquel je n'ai jamais joué.
Tout d'abord quelque mots sur l'auteur.
Premier à l'école du rire, il a décidé de proclamer l'indépendance( d'esprit) du nord de la France.
Concernant le scénario de nombreuses critiques surgissent.
La premiere étant le nombre de tours.
100 hexagones parcouru à la vitesse moyenne de 4 hexagones par tour font 25 tours auquel j'ajoute 20% pour les trainards, celà fait 30 tours et pas 48.
Ensuite le nombre de pertes est immense pour un joueur connaissant déjà le déroulé du scénario. Il faut rééquilibrer le scénario en faveur de l'attaquant.
Enfin comme disent mes collègues marocains:
Inch'Allah !

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have the honor to present to you the first AAR (Adopt a Rico) of a scenario that I have never played.
First of all a few words about the author.
First in the school of laughter, he decided to proclaim the independence (of spirit) of the north of France.
Concerning the scenario many criticisms arise.
The first being the number of turns.
100 hexagons traveled at the average speed of 4 hexagons per turn make 25 turns to which I add 20% for the stragglers, that makes 30 turns and not 48.
Then the number of losses is immense for a player already knowing the unfolding of the scenario. You have to rebalance the scenario in favor of the attacker.
Finally, as my Moroccan colleagues say:
Inch'Allah!

[LN59]

"Rico, le P(r)ince-sans-rire !" [:D] [:D] [:D]

+-o-+-o-+-o-+-o-+-o-+-o-+-o-+-o-+-o-+-o-+-o-+-o-+-o-+-o-+-o-+-o-+-o-+-o-+-o-+

It's a bit difficult to translate our dirty French puns ...

In French as in English "Prince" has the same meaning.

Word-for-word: a "pince-sans-rire" is a person who knows how to "pinch" friends

without immediately laughing - so, without getting caught,

while playing some form of British detachment.

A deadpan (translation taken from my dictionary). [;)]

[LN59]

Hi, Rico!

So, we're right now like a whole friendly squad working (and playing) on improving the scenario!

Having a tendency in getting far too attached to the historical events' progress as it can be reconstructed from testimonies, archives or consecrated literature, I admit that I may have seemed too ambitious with a mini-CG of almost four days. As You well noticed ... and calculated it. I'm still learning it every day, Thanks to You!

You're absolutely right: it's better shortening the total duration to only 36 turns (three days) while keeping the uncertainty about the game's end during its last six turns, from Turn #31 on. That will still maintain the pressure on the Human Player who will have to be able in deploying all his tactical & strategist know-hows to get out of this mess! I particularly want to preserve that essential aspect of the game.

Regarding the Attacker's heavy losses, I want to justify them by the following facts:

1 ° They were very high in reality. Both in terms of men killed, and of wounded men put totally out of action from the earliest moments of the battle. Thus, in the assault's first fifteen minutes, the battalion commander of II/6MTR was put out of action with a broken leg and his lower jaw torn off by a German 150mm shell which stroke right over his Command Post. However, he was quickly replaced because the regiment didn't lack any competent senior officers.

Shortly after, on the same day it's a lieutenant, one of the two Assault companies' CO, who is killed forward-leading his men during the capture of La Charme hamlet. The losses in soldiers, NCOs and officers were to increase further even after the tactical withdrawal of the Germans towards the Brabant pass and that of La Vierge. Because they soon have in view the inevitable counter-attack they were used to launch when having lost a position of them (a German tactics known since 1915-1916). While the small arms fire subsided for a few hours, the Colonial Infantry had "to grin and bear it" once more time due to the Germans' powerful and accurate artillery ... Something the 3rd Algerian Tirailleurs Regiment had realized too at its own (very heavy) expense almost in the same place the previous week. A little later in the morning of October 16, the Sherman 105's tank commander who came in to fire-support the II/6MTR was hit by a sniper, hatch open and almost without having fired a shell ... The sole really potent French AFV was out!

Here, I want to finally cite a recent regimental history: "Thus, in the period from October 16 to 28 alone, during the fighting in Haut-du-Faing, the regiment [in fact, only the 2nd and 3rd battalions, the 1st being kept in reserve; a workforce of around 1,800 men] lost 127 killed including 8 officers, 764 wounded including 13 officers [KIA and WIA losses mainly due to artillery (including shell-shocked but tough fighters) and to severe frostbites and permanently incapacitating trench feet] thus that 24 missing [MIA, or prisoners?] ". Extract from: Second World War - Campaign for the liberation of France 1944-1945 - WAR ROUTE OF THE 6TH MTR. Author: Eric de FLEURIAN, 04/10/2015 © Copyright 2015 les-tirailleurs.fr

Something that Peter Fisla's choices for the AI-Managed OBA are rendering very well (IMHO, too) much to UP844's "desperation" ... [:D]
UP844 who still overcame it perfectly as the detailed and victorious AAR he sent to me proves it!
Why do I want to recreate that particular battle as well as possible in a Campaign Game?

Because it's not in the Hürtgen Forest only that one knew ...

"Confusion and Slaughter among the Firs"

(Michael D. Doubler in Closing with the Enemy. How GIs Fought the War in Europe, 1944-1945. UPK, Lawrence, KS, 1994, pp 172-197).

In summary :

Strongly supported AAR: ___________ UP844 ____ +3
"CG reduced to three days" ukase: _____ Rico21 ____ +1
OBA NOT maintained as it was in bêta: ______ LN59 _____ -1

2 ° To be continued ...

[Hailstone]

LN59, I was not able to complete the "Neither Fear nor Mercy" due to excessive
lag times. The best I could do was making it to turn 15 with 10-second delays
between movements. Maybe the difference is with PC's?[:(]

[UP844]

The peak delay I got was approximately 15 seconds in mid-game: it subsequently dropped to 8-10 seconds but never less than this.

In the night turns (visibility = 1) the delay was almost negligible, of course.

[rico21]

I add my second ukase, beyond three seconds, it's a pain!
Fix it!
And be careful at the resolution of your new PC which fix 125% instead 100% and disturb your game!

[LN59]

2° (As a continuation)

Hi Hailstone, Rico and UP844!

First of all, all my thanks for your remarks...
I would even say, for your requirements which are really welcome!

They force me to my limits, trying to improve the flow of the game.
Here are some indications which, I hope, are going in the right direction,
mainly in order to decrease the severe slowdown observed from the first
day's evening.

My apologies if I sometimes repeat what I have already written individually
to one or the other.

Firstly, I confirm the duration's reduction to 36 turns, with possible random end
from the 31st. Some limited and definitive alterations to the map have been made.

Secondly. I am reviewing the two OoBs to reduce (a little but not too much)
the number of units present on the map at the same time, as well as that of some
SWs and Leaders. Suddenly, I changed the OBAs quite significantly while keeping
a relative (I know, Carlo ... [;)]) balance between the two sides.

Thirdly. Perhaps can I save You precious seconds by reducing the current daytime visibility
from 8 hexes (approximately 400 meters on the map scale) to 6 (300 m) or 7 (350 m) hexes.
The bad weather of autumn 1944 can justify it but I cannot go below without losing some
likelihood (IMHO). More annoying ... That will oblige me to modify certain "strategic points"
on the map and therefore to postpone the scenario's upload again. [Added August 13]

Endly. Rico, I didn't quite understand the effect of my screen's resolution on the game and
that numbers you give me (125% instead of 100%). Mine could not be more classic,
it seems to me... It's 1280 x 1024 pixels. I am attaching the characteristics of my PC,
which is however not an early stage one (5 years at least).

See You soon and Keep Yourself All Safe.
Best Regards,
Lilian

[rico21]

I was warned, however, to be the greatest genius on the planet means to be an eternal misunderstood!

[LN59]

3° (.../...)

[&o] You are absolutely right, King Rico of the Five Stars' Realm! [;)]

Since as in any Royal Court, Your Royal Highness & Wargaming Majesty will always be in need of ... [:)]

... a Royal Jester or a King's Own Buffoon (first star) ,
coz' I absolutely don't mind playing that Poor Iago's role. Not as a skull, but as a guy being still alive.

Lilian [:D] [:D] [:D]

[font="Trebuchet MS"]Post scriptum

Simply put, I tried the Prescribed Royal Resolution (1920 x 1080). Pro: some columns or rows of hexes close, the map fits well on the screen. Cons: The map is then warped (stretched) up and down, which is rather ugly. Worse: the text of menus and message windows becomes almost unreadable, no longer having the eyes of my first youth ... Sorry, King Rico, but I have to stay at the usual resolution (1280 x 1024) on my own computer. Even though it's unrelated, I still prefer to wait a bit between each unit action ... rather than endure intense eye strain. May Your Serene Highness please forgive me.

Below, the comparison of the two resolutions.[/font]


I have nothing to add.