Just an update from a Beta Tester

[Greyshaft]

Thanks for hanging in there guys...

There are sixteen planned scenarios (5 British, 6 US and 5 West German) which we're currently writing up and we'll will probably have them finished by Friday (or maybe Monday [:D]... or possibly the following Wednesday[:D][:D]).

I can't comment on the progress of the coding or artwork but I'm getting a real feeling that our work is almost done here. As usual, all similarities to actual shipping dates, whether real or imaginary, is co-incidental and should not be taken down as evidence or used against me.

Here's two scenarios descriptions to keep you going...



BAOR - SCENARIO 5 - BRITISH STEEL
Votdehek: January ?th 1989 - Day ? 1000 hours: During the war the Soviet High Command frequently refused to co-operate with NATO plans and varied the size, location and schedule of its offensive to suit themselves. The catastrophic loss of command control due to the rising electronic warfare battle exacerbated this problem and the Battle of Votdehek began and ran itself without the guidance of the British General Staff which, as things turned out, may have been a good thing.

The original NATO plan for a left hook by the 22nd Armored Brigade of the 1st Armored Division against the northmost enemy spearhead would doubtless have been crushed by the sheer weight of Soviet armor and artillery that would have met the British force. What actually happened was that the British missed the Soviet Spearhead and ploughed headlong into a follow-up force - the 48th Guard Tank Regiment - which was definitely not expecting combat at that time and place. The Soviet forces began the battle deployed in Line of March, strung out along the autobahn from east to west and unable to support each other. Given that the balance of forces was almost equal and that the Soviets had been caught unprepared and undeployed, this was one of the best chances that NATO had for achieving a victory.


NATO:
22nd Armored Brigade of the 1st Armored Division
[*] tba
Off map support:
[*] tba

WARSAW PACT:
48th Guard Tank Regiment
[*]tba
Off map support:
[*]tba


Victory Conditions:
tba


Aftermath: Like Nelson at Trafalgar the British force pierced the enemy line in two places and proceeded to defeat their foe in detail. The 48th GTR HQ attempted to consolidate its forces only to find that the position they chose for consolidation was also a regrouping Waypoint chosen by the Royal Anglican Regiment which called in 155mm artillery fire and Tornado airstrikes on the hapless Soviet HQ. The overrunning of the Soviet artillery by the Queens Own Hussars in the first part of the battle had left the Soviets bereft of any support units and they never managed to achieve a cohesive defence against the rampaging British Armor.

After four hours of combat the British Commander realised that he was fighting the wrong enemy force and called off the attack. The 48th GTR limped away to the East and took no further part in the war.



US V CORP - SCENARIO 2 - ALAMO IN CENTRAL GERMANY
Ztrikalit: January ?th 1989 - Day ? 1400 hours: The US 18th Infantry Battalion had been assigned to support the 11th Cavalry in the attack on Ztrikalit but its move into combat had been delayed by a well executed Soviet strike on the intervening transport corridor. By the time the 18th arrived at Ztrikalit the battle was over and the 11th Cavalry was moving east in pursuit of the Soviet 29th. The Commander of the 18th decided to halt at Ztrikalit and garrison the city, well aware that the Soviets would want to retake that strategic river crossing point. Sure enough, when the Soviet High Command heard of the loss of Ztrikalit they diverted the 321st MRR southward to retake that position and cut off the US 11th Cavalry operating to the east. The urgency of the situation gave the 321st no time to make good its losses from the previous days combat and it moved into combat well short of its regulation TOE.


NATO:
18th Infantry Battalion of the 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Armored Division
[*] tba
Off map support:
[*] tba

WARSAW PACT:
321st Motor Rifle Regiment of the 9th Tank Division
[*]tba
Off map support:
[*]tba


Victory Conditions:
tba


Aftermath: The 18th made the most of their time before the arrival of the Soviets, planting minefields and dispersing their forces into mutually supporting positions. The awkwardly placed river line forced the already weakened 321st to divide its attack into two thrusts, each of which was defeated by the well-sited Americans. The 18th held the town long enough to allow the 11th Cavalry to return from their sweep to the east and then both NATO units retired in good order to fight another day.

[Cpt. Canuck]

Heh, thanks for the update Greyshaft.

The scenarios sound interesting.

Of course now we need to figure out campaign/operations level games, figure out the Reforger timing, set up leagues, etc. [:)]

[Paul Wykes]

Thanks for the update.

Can you play the scenarios from either side?

Keep up the good work...looking forward to this loads...oh and sign me up for that league[;)]

[Greyshaft]

ORIGINAL: Paul Wykes
Can you play the scenarios from either side?

Yes.

This game is pitched at the scenario level so there are lots of tweaks you can do.. varying ECM level, using hidden units, limiting orders given per turn etc.

There is no Campaign mode. Each scenario is seperate (and given the 50-80% casualty levels inflicted by modern weapons that's probably a good thing... no force could survive more than 1 or 2 scenarios)

[Cpt. Canuck]

Greyshaft,

I was being a little tongue in cheek about the campaign game, but only a little.

I will of course take the scenario based game, and hopefully be happy with it.

But if the game is popular enough and there is the interest it deserves, one could set up a league play. My somewhat ambitious thinking on the campaign-league play would be to use FPG to game out the individual fights. The general location of the units (i.e. who gets to fight who) would be taken care of by a referee on paper. I understand about the lethality of a modern war, thus my Reforger comment [:D]

[Paul Wykes]

Yes, I was the same, I did recall that there was no campaign mode from an earlier post.

As Capt Canuck says, FPG could be used to model individual battles from an overall campaign that is run by a referee on paper. This is what is happening over at www.warfarehq.com using SPMBT to model the individual battles.

It is a very enjoyable way to play the game.

[Greyshaft]

The US and BAOR descriptive text is finished and just some OOB tweaking to come.

West German scenarios have hit a minor snag re: continuity which we hope to resolve soon. No big deal.

Stay tuned

[Paul Wykes]

I`m tuned in to this one pernamently[:)]

[Marines]

Thanks for the update. I play NGP '85 and FG '85 on a regular basis and was fustrated that neither one contained a single champaign only scenarios.

Semper Fi

[Catgh_MatrixForum]

Marines,

I am curious what you mean by campaign. NGP85 contains 7 different variations of a "campaign" game. Also FG85 contains a couple of campaign games.