First Clean Break

[Arjuna]

I've just been polishing up the First Clean Break scenario which sees a desparate rearguard by the 1st UK Bde, supported by the Australian 2/4 Inf Bn, trying to buy time against the 9th Pz Div supported by the LAH Bde. Here the 9th Recon Bn is attempting to deliver the chop to the remnants of the 2/4 Bn.

[Bil H]

Using Recon as an assault force Dave? Shame on you [:-]

[;)]

[Banquet]

I really love the maps in this series.. they have a OS kind of look.. the kind of thing you imagine the commanders would have on their planning table.

Interesting flanking/encirclement move being undertaken in this shot

[Rooster]

Somebody better get that ANZAC Bn HQ unit out of their tents... looks like they're napping! [:D]

[Arjuna]

Actually this was taken from an AI v AI game, which I use for testing here. The Au 2/4th Bn units were totally knackered with fatigue running over 80%. They had successfully delayed the German advance for the previous 2 days, had been bombed, assaulted and reduced but still they managed to escape one encirclement after another. Shortly after that shot was taken they skidaddled west into the tree line and then south with German 1/11th Bn hot on their heals. It was good to watch.[:)]

[Arjuna]

Ok since you like that one I thought I's show you the sequence of what I'll refer to as the Battle of Perdika.

Here the action at the road block north of Perdika has just finished and the 2/4th is withdrawing westward. The German assault on Perdika is underway and driving in the defences on the northern edge of town.

[Arjuna]

Not long after the 2/4th rests in the woods totally exhausted. The LAH and 9th Pz Div are throwing in the kitchen sink at Perdika.

[Arjuna]

The assault proves unstoppable and the 1st Arm Bde is evicted from Perdika. Note that the 2/4th has withdrawn to the crossing west of the town and the Germans have launched another attack on them. This eased pressure on the 1st Arm Bde but not enough to hold Perdika. Note also the German 9th Recon Bn launching its supporting attack while the Pz Bn goes straight down the road.

[Arjuna]

Finally the German's pursue the withdrawing British troops. The Rangers have been routed off the road by the panzers and are being mortared and attacked now by the 9th Recon. The HQ of the 4th Hussars has been routed also though its valiant C Sqn defiantly blocks the road south.

[Arjuna]

C Coy of the Rangers makes a charge into Perdika. It's valiant rearguard will prove vital in holding up the German advance for the withdrawal of 1st Arm Bde HQ and assets. Note the 2/4th now south of the river and resting ( but not for long [;)] ).

[Arjuna]

In the early hours of the morning C Sqn of the Rangers withdraws from its spoiling action. Note the heavy price it has paid. It has been roughly handled but nevertheless proved invaluable in stemming the German onslaught. Meanwhile the 2/4th has got a rude wake up call. Is there no rest for these fellows? Note the rest of the 1st Arm Bde have set up another defence line further south.

[Arjuna]

All this led to the original shot which I'll repeat here to complete the sequence. Note that C Sqn has been caught trying to extricate itself at the river crossing. Amazingly it gets away with it in the end. War is like that sometimes.[:)]

[Rooster]

So which side are you playing????

Looks like this game is going to be a challenge as the allies.... Thanks for the AAR.

[Arjuna]

Neither. [:)]

I use a debug version that plays AI against AI.

[JeF]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna
I use a debug version that plays AI against AI.

What about using this to propose us the Airborne Assault screensaver ? [:D]

Ex. : COTA.exe -screensaver -random -1024x768
Executes a random battle in AI vs AI, without user intervention at 1034x768.

JeF.

[Arjuna]

This shot taken in the final hours of the scenario shows C Coy of the 2/4th that was previously cut off in Ptolemais launching an attack on the German column heading south through the town. The 1st Arm Bde valiantly blocks the road south while the bulk of the Allied troops exit off the south map edge.

[Banquet]

Excellent screenies Arjuna [:)]

Probably too late now, but can an AI vs AI option be included in the game? (maybe in a patch?) It's great fun watching the AI's moves. I'm impressed that the moves shown above were done by the AI! (One of the few series of games where the AI surprises, in a good way!)

In HttR I sometimes picked a scenerio with no reinforcements and just ordered my HQ to take the objective and then watched what it did. An AI vs AI mode would be even better.

[Arjuna]

No chance I'm afraid - feature lock down in place and my beta testers will kill me if I try and break it. [:)] One other capability that may be nice for future titles is a replay feature that would automatically replay the scenario so you could review what happened. You would only see it from your side's perspective though. Does that interest you?

[MarkShot]

Banquet,

Although not a true "hands off" mode, it might be possible to run two concurrent COTA sessions on a single PC as a network game using 127.0.0.1 (the TPC/IP standard loopback) as the host. I say "might", since I am not sure if anything has been changed, but that was feasible with HTTR. Sort of giving you a pseudo AI sandbox.

[MarkShot]

There you go. This is me on a single PC.