At the Fortress Gates

[Arjuna]

Hi all,

We're progressing well on COTA. I thought I's wet your appetites a little with the following screen dump from our new Ray of Hope:Allies Retake Malta scenario ( designed by Ray Wolfe - one of the Panther Prowlers ).

In this hypothetical scenario, the Allies must retake Malta ( assumes the Axis invaded in early 1941 ) in late 1941. The initial lodgement is made by the crack Brit Middle East Commando Bde and followed up by the Australian 6th Inf Div and later the 1st Brit Arm Bde. The island is defended by Italian infantry forces who get reinforced with the German 3rd Pz Regt.

This shot is at sunset on Day 1. The 2nd Krad Bn of 3rd Pz Regt has arrived and making its way towards the inital Allied Lodgement at Port Scirocco on the east coast. Meanwhile the Italian Friuli Inf Regt is mounting two counter attacks against the Aussie 17th Bde that have advanced to the fortress gates of the famous fortified port of Valetta.

There's plenty of action in this scenario that Eddy Sterckxe, another well known Panther Prowler, reckons is one of the best of the bunch.

[loyalcitizen]

I love all the coastal inlets.
Do the coastal forts offer the same protection from the land and the sea?

[RayWolfe]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna
There's plenty of action in this scenario that Eddy Sterckxe, another well known Panther Prowler, reckons is one of the best of the bunch.

My cheque is in the post, Eddy.
Don't try to cash it! [:'(]
Ray

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna
There's plenty of action in this scenario that Eddy Sterckxe, another well known Panther Prowler, reckons is one of the best of the bunch.

I'm more a "Panther Puppie" really [;)]

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: loyalcitizen
I love all the coastal inlets.
Do the coastal forts offer the same protection from the land and the sea?

Technically, yes - but since all action takes place on land it's a hypothetical question. Are you thinking "shore bombardment" ?

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[RayWolfe]

ORIGINAL: sterckxe
I'm more a "Panther Puppie" really [;)]

Can you be a Panther Puppy as well as a Beta Bunny?
Well, whatever, all say Ahhhh
Ray

[Sarge]

I agree with ya loyalcitizen , the coastal inlets are looking very nice.


Thanks for the screen Arjuna

[Banquet]

Looks great guys.. can't wait to get my hands on it

[Agema]

In HTTR that units can go through your positions, which I appreciate is entirely fair. (I once had 7 King Tigers rout *through* my front line into my rear where they found lots of my artillery. My rear promptly got heavily bombarded and had about two companies virtually wiped out in the process of trying to dislodge the offending armour unit)

With all those fortification lines, can the same happen there? In theory, it seems unlikely that a decently defended wall could be penetrated in such a fashion. Although I accept that the weight of firepower from decent defence would make it unlikely a unit would pass without being routed, and then they'd be very unlikely to go that way, so it's very unlikely to be an issue but...

[Oleg Mastruko]

Race Course and Leper Asylum are my favorite features of the beautifully done Malta map [:D] Is that attention to detail or what?!

This map with all those ancient bastions is so perfect it almost begs to be used to depict that epic siege of Malta 1565. Perhaps in some other game... [;)]

O.

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: Oleg Mastruko
Race Course and Leper Asylum are my favorite features of the beautifully done Malta map [:D] Is that attention to detail or what?!

Wait 'till you see the Lunatic Asylum (immediatly renamed Panther Games HQ) - no kidding.

ORIGINAL: Oleg Mastruko
This map with all those ancient bastions is so perfect it almost begs to be used to depict that epic siege of Malta 1565. Perhaps in some other game... [;)]

Might want to edit-out the airfields then [;)]

Seriously : check out the boardgame "Knights of Justice" - a review can be found here :
http://www.grognard.com/reviews1/knights.rtf - there's a cyberboard module for it as well so you can have a good look at it.

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: Agema

In HTTR that units can go through your positions, which I appreciate is entirely fair. (I once had 7 King Tigers rout *through* my front line into my rear where they found lots of my artillery. My rear promptly got heavily bombarded and had about two companies virtually wiped out in the process of trying to dislodge the offending armour unit)

With all those fortification lines, can the same happen there? In theory, it seems unlikely that a decently defended wall could be penetrated in such a fashion. Although I accept that the weight of firepower from decent defence would make it unlikely a unit would pass without being routed, and then they'd be very unlikely to go that way, so it's very unlikely to be an issue but...

The routing code has been complete revamped - Arjuna hasn't seen another "Unit routing in the wrong direction" report from me in ages so I think it's pretty ok now [;)]

It's one of those things that don't get mentioned in the "what's new" section, but nevertheless makes a difference for those who care about this level of attention to detail - that is, I hope so.

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[BAL]

Thanks for posting the screenshot. This game look really good & I'm looking forward to buying it.

[elmo3]

Well I see Fort St Elmo in that pic so this one is a "must buy" for me!!! [8D]

[RayWolfe]

We did consider renaming it Fort St Elmo3 but we decided that you would be happy with it as it is. [;)] Now, who else can we identify from the map? Oops! I forgot, only us Beta Bunnies have seen all the whole island.
(No, I don't mean that Arjuna has taken us on an all expenses paid visit. [8|])
Ray

[loyalcitizen]

ORIGINAL: sterckxe

ORIGINAL: loyalcitizen
I love all the coastal inlets.
Do the coastal forts offer the same protection from the land and the sea?

Technically, yes - but since all action takes place on land it's a hypothetical question. Are you thinking "shore bombardment" ?

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

I worded my question my question poorly, sorry. I'll rephrase.

Coastal forts often had the majority of the defenses configured against seaborne enemies.
So will forts afford just medium protection since the attacks in COTA will be from the land side?

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: loyalcitizen

ORIGINAL: sterckxe

ORIGINAL: loyalcitizen
I love all the coastal inlets.
Do the coastal forts offer the same protection from the land and the sea?

Technically, yes - but since all action takes place on land it's a hypothetical question. Are you thinking "shore bombardment" ?

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

I worded my question my question poorly, sorry. I'll rephrase.

Coastal forts often had the majority of the defenses configured against seaborne enemies.
So will forts afford just medium protection since the attacks in COTA will be from the land side?

Forts provide heavy protection as it's the terrain feature that is the decider - which is historically quite correct as well as the last heavy siege it withstood was from the landside. Will it be tough to overcome their garrison ? Depends who's manning the ramparts - and there's the supply question of course - how many bullet and beans does the garrison have ?

[and no, you can't shoot beans in COTA]

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: RayWolfe
We did consider renaming it Fort St Elmo3 but we decided that you would be happy with it as it is. [;)] Now, who else can we identify from the map? Oops! I forgot, only us Beta Bunnies have seen all the whole island.

Luca (Morandini) airfield - which *you* renamed Luqa - so scratch one customer there ...

ORIGINAL: RayWolfe
(No, I don't mean that Arjuna has taken us on an all expenses paid visit. [8|])

??? - He said you were sick and couldn't make it - we had a jolly good time over there - didn't you get the get-well-soon card ? Funny, I distinctly remember Dave collecting money for the stamp ...

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[Oleg Mastruko]

ORIGINAL: sterckxe

Forts provide heavy protection as it's the terrain feature that is the decider - which is historically quite correct as well as the last heavy siege it withstood was from the landside.

It needs to be said that the effects of any terrain layer (and that includes forts) can be adjusted in the map editor by the scenario designer (screenshot below). It is scenario designer's job to get them "right".

So, in the very unlikely case you'd be disappointed by forts being too strong or too weak, you may adjust them yourself.

O.

[Oleg Mastruko]

ORIGINAL: sterckxe

[and no, you can't shoot beans in COTA]

Can you shoot enemy heads? [X(]

Valette, guy in whose honor Malta's capital got its name, did just that. When Turks captured fort St. Elmo, after incredibly heavy fight, they killed all defenders and placed their heads on poles, to intimidate defenders still holding in Sanglea, Birgu, and Fort St. Angelo accross the harbor bay.

Valette responded in kind - he ordered all captive Turks beheaded, and then defiantly fired their heads accross the bay on Turk positions. One must assume firing was done with reduced gunpowder loads lest heads disintegrate in flight

Just a small historical tidbit. Surely we're all glad even WW2 seems tame and civilised compared to *that* particular fight...

O.