Op Dragoon 8 August 1944

[zakblood]

now to a manual move of some units by sea




i click on any unit, i have picked the 1st FF (free french) MD (motorized division) and then go from land movement mode F1 to F3 naval transport and then move the cursor to where i wish the unit selected to be moved to.

[zakblood]

with my path done i make the move and the unit moves to it's destination, hopefully without loosing too much against axis interdiction etc




once i have moved all my units into place for the attack, i end my turn

[zakblood]

my units in place look like this, your's may look different as not everyone moves all units into sea but again that's your choice commander and with what you take and leave behind

[zakblood]

if any unit gets hit on the way, you will see this box, it says your loses, hope they are light but sometimes can be heavy if a ship on the convoy goes down

[zakblood]

now with all my land based unit on the sea, ready for the invasion, my only thing left to decide is if i'm going to do a air drop or not, as i have 2 airborne units ready to drop to help my invasion, but the cost of loosing these units is high, and it's risky so again it's your choice if you think you need them on day one, launch them, if not let them stay behind for now and do it later as reinforcements, with less chances of high loses onto known airfields or captured ones etc

[zakblood]

as i'm only doing the easy demo i send them on their way, and into glory, hopefuly




i assign half my transports to the mission and send off the first then do the same for the second unit, and i'm done for this turn, now i need to end my turn and let my plan go into action, as i sit back and await the outcome, fingers crossed commander.

[zakblood]

so i end turn and watch, and see the first action of the land phase of the plan go into action.

so depending on what level of detail you set yourself, is how much battle action you was shown, setting level 7 would see every blow by blow account from your airborne units flying in and being dropped, hopefully without being intercepted by air to the 3 TF landing there first waves of troops.




i've elected on this turn to just show the summary screen with losses for both sides shown and a total break down of every unit lost, in the air and on land shown in full detail, as with all landings the cost for the attacker can be high, as while some men die fighting on the landings, others died at sea or in the air, or just disabled and placed out of action for this mission for one reason or another, that's life and war, move on commander and try to do better next time and plan more and get better at it as it's your men who suffer the losses, while you just take the blame...

[zakblood]

turn 2, and start of play positions are again shown, now you see what has and what hasn't gone to plan for real, and start the air phase again before we again do some land moves and combat




while the landing troops are ashore, and the airborne unit this time didn't get wiped out or captured as can happen, was the losses worth the land you have gained? could you have done better or differently and got a better result commander, as it's your turn now commander to try.

In War in the West, Operation Torch addon missions, good luck commander, you will need it...

[zakblood]

if anyone wonders why i have blanked the version number out, that's because it's not a released version one, so rather than show a number that's not out in the public as yet and still on test, i have elected to blank it as per beta rules, eg no beta posts in public[:-]

[zakblood]

air phase for turn 2

[zakblood]

with ground combat beginning i set the level of display to level 7 so for maximum information displayed

[zakblood]

and attack with a single unit to push back the axis defenders and enlarge my foothold and extend my bridgehead




i turn on VP (victory point locations on) so they are displayed on the map, so i know what headings i need to be pointing to so as not to push too many units back into them as they retreat, a mistake for many commander as once dug in towns and cites, and ports even, they make harder defenders to push them back out of, so sometimes it's better to not attack from a given direction if a objective is directly behind it, unless you have overwhelming odds in combat so the force ratio will be in your favour that it doesn't matter or can take the loses you will recieve

[zakblood]

i select one of my units and check on the odd's of success if i attack with a single unit at a given target




with the attack and defence ratio or combat values of both shown, i make the attack as the ratio is in my favour at over 5 to 1

[zakblood]

so as the attack goes in, we are shown the combat report depending on the level of detail we have selected, atm which is level 7 the maximum level




so a blow by blow account of all the units equipment involved is displayed with results of losses and gains for each unit attacking and damage caused and losses taken etc, remember this in level 7, on 0 or 1 you just get the final results of the move / attack...

other info is displayed as we have FOW off, and that is the strength of each side and the other equipment in play with these units, you can stack up 3 units with sub units attached so with support units as well can be a massive force to watch and display, add in multiple stacks and a attack or probe can become a assault with a massive scale of units and men and equipments being thrown into the fray, with support from off shore and air added in the mix if called for as well to tip the balance for one side or the other...

[zakblood]

with the end result for the defender with no units coming to it's aid as in support troops left in reserve mode for the axis behind it, is that it had to withdraw under the pressure




the choice is now follow it and attack again or move another unit, as each unit only has so many MP or movement points, with so many attacking points also shown on the unit counter as well, once all gone, it can no longer move or attack that turn, but can defend and retreat so can always manoeuvre if attacked if needed

[zakblood]

with the VP on and the axis units shown i need to enlarge my bridgehead and get the other units ashore so they stop taking damage while left weak on the sea

[zakblood]

i move and fight my way off the ships and beaches and end my turn, this is the positions of the units before i end it with the enlarge bridgehead shown and defended against attack

[zakblood]

turn 3 ground losses so far

[zakblood]

air losses so far

[zakblood]

and a quick check on VP and the score, see how well or poorly i'm doing




which atm is just under a draw so a slight loss, then again i have not captured any objectives and have a greater loss in men and well just about everything else, but i am the attacker so it's expected as well, so i press on...