Adventures in Belgium with Brian

larryfulkerson · Post by **larryfulkerson** » Sun May 13, 2018 10:03 pm

I twisted Brian's arm and he agreed to try the Allied side in Autumn Fog 1944
for our next game together. We've been playing together for quite a while now. I'm
getting used to his style....the problem is he changes up frequently and I have to
adjust.

I remember playtesting this scenario with Steve Sill some years ago so this may or may
not be a good thing depending on how much I can remember about it. I'm going to try to
give Brian a good game.

The Axis side doesn't have any aircraft assigned to any units but I'm pretty sure the
Americans have some planes aloft. And I have no doubt that some of them are set on INT
so I neet do be circumspect about moving my units around willy nilly. I remember there's
some kind of trick to the bridging engineers....I'll have to skim the scenario documentation
to come up to speed on them again. This should be a good game.

larryfulkerson · Post by **larryfulkerson** » Sun May 13, 2018 10:10 pm

I've sorted the rows on number assigned and I predict already that there's going
to be a truck shortage after a while. I don't start building any until T13
and I'm starting off with none on hand so the units are going to lose more and more
as time passes and by the time they need some replacements there's probably not going
to be enough to go around. I'll have to monitor that and maybe disband some high-vehicle
count units or something. I notice that I have bou cou horse teams.

MikeJ19 · Post by **MikeJ19** » Sun May 13, 2018 10:15 pm

Larry,

Based on the start date, do you get to launch the battle of the Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge) to start if you want?

Good luck.

larryfulkerson · Post by **larryfulkerson** » Sun May 13, 2018 10:16 pm

Here's the situation with the German aircraft currently. There are none assigned
and there are very few on hand and I'm not building any of them very fast. That
means I'm going to be chronically outnumbered and I'll have to come at the Allies
infrequently, after the squadrons are filled up with planes again. Raids, I'll
have to try to do some raids. Airfield strikes are out of the question. Too
many losses.

larryfulkerson · Post by **larryfulkerson** » Sun May 13, 2018 10:25 pm

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19
Larry,

Based on the start date, do you get to launch the battle of the Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge) to start if you want?

Good luck.

Yes indeed, my Panzers are rolling already. I'm going to see if I can't force a hole somewhere and then pour the tanks through it. I want them to go zoom zoom out into the American backfield. I'm hoping to capture a lot of the river crossings beyond the front lines before the Americans can blow them up. Repairing bridges is tricky in this scenario in that some of the engineers are just ferry engineers and there are dedicated bridge engineers just for bridges and then there's RR engineers and the pontoon bridge guys. It's complicated like all good scenarios.

larryfulkerson · Post by **larryfulkerson** » Sun May 13, 2018 10:34 pm

My shock level is 120 and the Allies shock level is 90 which means I have a slight
advantage. I'm guessing the proficiency of the German units is slightly higher than
the American units ( historically they were ) and I'm guessing the difference in
shock levels is to simulate the surprise element the Germans were able to achieve
by attacking through the trees. I need to make the most of the shock advantage while
I have it. I'm slightly worried about the Allied air power making up for the failings
the Allies might have. I need to get the attack overwith while the weather is still
somewhat bad.

MikeJ19 · Post by **MikeJ19** » Sun May 13, 2018 10:41 pm

Larry,

I will be watching very closely. The next scenario I want to try is a Battle of the Bulge one. I will likely play the Allied role, so this may be some good int!

You are correct, you need to get through the Allied lines and destroy them quickly. The Allied air power is going to be tough on you when the weather clears. And then there is Patton...

larryfulkerson · Post by **larryfulkerson** » Sun May 13, 2018 10:43 pm

Here's the 6th Panzer Army Headquarters ( an HQ unit ) and it's only got 5 of it's
19 trucks. That's evidence that there's already a truck shortage. So I need to leave
my units dug in whenever possible to share the trucks with units that need them. And
the supply system can use them. The proficiency of this unit is 75% and that's bigger
than the American proficiency ( 60% I think ) by just enough to brag.

larryfulkerson · Post by **larryfulkerson** » Sun May 13, 2018 10:51 pm

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19
Larry,

I will be watching very closely. The next scenario I want to try is a Battle of the Bulge one. I will likely play the Allied role, so this may be some good int!

You are correct, you need to get through the Allied lines and destroy them quickly. The Allied air power is going to be tough on you when the weather clears. And then there is Patton...

As it happens Autumn Fog is the newest Battle of the Bulge scenarios I know of
and it's a good one I assure you. I've playtested this thing with the scenario designer,
Steve Sill, and I was impressed with it. It's got a "tactical" feel to it. It's
100 half-day turns, one am and one pm and that means the Germans will have to do their
moving at night once the Allied air force is once again operating.

And the PO is enabled for both sides and I would suggest playing as Allies against
the Axis PO at first.

I would be really interested to know your impressions of it and how your game is going.
An AAR about your game would be a good thing. I'm just saying.....

MikeJ19 · Post by **MikeJ19** » Sun May 13, 2018 10:58 pm

Larry,

I am at least a month away from starting this one. I will definitely take your recommendation and have some fun with it.

Good luck

larryfulkerson · Post by **larryfulkerson** » Sun May 13, 2018 11:01 pm

ORIGINAL: MikeJ19
Larry,

I am at least a month away from starting this one. I will definitely take your recommendation and have some fun with it.

Good luck

Meanwhile I'll try to provide you with all the tips and tricks that the Axis player
can use and maybe an example of what not to do.

I found one of those engineering units that are only good for ferrying other units
across the river. If I find a diffferent kind I'll post it too so we can compare
them.

larryfulkerson · Post by **larryfulkerson** » Sun May 13, 2018 11:30 pm

Here's a different kind of engineering unit as it has actual engineering squads and
can repair a bridge. I'll have to watch for this when I need a bridge repaired or
if ferry engineers fit the job....if so I'll send it instead.

sPzAbt653 · Post by **sPzAbt653** » Mon May 14, 2018 1:22 am

Here is the original extended thread where we were playing this one thru:
tm.asp?m=2311710&mpage=1&key=autumn%2Cfog&#2313645

and the important 'River Assaults' thread:
tm.asp?m=2315141&mpage=1&key=?

larryfulkerson · Post by **larryfulkerson** » Mon May 14, 2018 1:27 am

ORIGINAL: sPzAbt653
Here is the original extended thread where we were playing this one thru:
tm.asp?m=2311710&mpage=1&key=autumn%2Cfog?

and the important 'River Assaults' thread:
tm.asp?m=2315141&mpage=1&key=?

Steve is the man I tell 'ya. Worth his weight in gold. Thanks Steve.

larryfulkerson · Post by **larryfulkerson** » Mon May 14, 2018 2:31 am

Hey you guys...somehow I was given control of the Allied side and I'm playing as
the Axis. So I need to use Task Manager to kill the PID of the TOAW IV
application, delete the *.pbl that's in my saves directory, restart TOAW IV
and go online and restart the game. Otherwise it'll give Brian Axis control and
he don't want to be the Axis player.

larryfulkerson · Post by **larryfulkerson** » Mon May 14, 2018 2:56 am

Okie dokie....I used Task Manager to kill the game engine and then deleted the PBL
file that was written to my saves directory and restarted the game engine and went
on-line and reloaded the file and I'm moving units and so far I've found enough
engineers for the combat units going across the river.

The far north and far south areas are still in garrison mode or in reorg and can't
operate this turn. I've been told I'm going to get some paratroopers on turn two
that I'll need to drop somewhere. I'll need to decide where to drop them after the
LCU's already on the ground have developed the battlefield a little bit. I'm hoping
to be able to get some of the American units to move.

I read the scenario briefing yet again just now and I don't remember reading anything
about when the weather will clear up for the Allied aircraft to fly again and so I'm
wondering how long I can zoom zoom with my LCU's during the daytime too.

warspite1 · Post by **warspite1** » Mon May 14, 2018 3:00 am

Autumn Frog?? [;)][:D]

larryfulkerson · Post by **larryfulkerson** » Mon May 14, 2018 3:04 am

Here's an HQ unit that doesn't have any organic arty and it's not going to get any
so I've trimmed the range of this unit to 0 so that the "R1" doesn't show on the
unit display and I don't have to think of it as an arty unit but rather as just
another LCU. It's got support squads that you don't want to lose so it might be
best to find a good spot in the rear to park this bad boy and use it for a "rest
camp HQ unit", an HQ unit dedicated to a specific good supply area at a road
intersection that will serve to encourage the tired units to refit faster.

larryfulkerson · Post by **larryfulkerson** » Mon May 14, 2018 3:08 am

ORIGINAL: warspite1
Autumn Frog??

Back in 2004 when we were playtesting this scenario I kept refering to it as "August
Fog" for some reason, perhaps because I didn't know how to spell autumn at the time.
I needed a sporty title for the AAR heading and "Autumnn Frog 1944" is a play on the
name of the scenario. I'm open to suggestions for the name. Adventures in Belgium?

warspite1 · Post by **warspite1** » Mon May 14, 2018 3:20 am

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

ORIGINAL: warspite1
Autumn Frog??

Adventures in Belgium?

warspite1

[:)]