American Eagles Historical Module for Heroes and Leaders mod

[asl3d]

New Heroes and Leaders mod Historical Module is coming ...

[Gerry4321]

Good Lord man. Shouldn't you be taking a break!?

[asl3d]

Hi Gerry,

The new Omaha Historical Module contemplates the attack of the landing forces of the United States on June 6, 1944. However, Operation Neptune (amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels) can not be understood if we forget the 1,200-plane airborne assault who preceded it.

The attack of the US paratroopers to the rearguard of the German forces deployed on the Omaha beach was also of great importance. The 101st and 82nd paratrooper divisions were also important protagonists on June 6, 1944.

The planned Historical Module Carentan Expantion wants to cover the battles of the US paratrooper divisions on June 6, 1944. For this purpose, some of the boards designed for the initial Historical Module Carentan will be used, and additional boards will be created.

Finally, the Carentan Expantion Historical Module will be called "American Eagles", in honor of the 82nd airborne division ("All American") and the 101st airborne division ("Screaming Eagles").

The Omaha Historical Module scenarios will be published together with the scenarios of the American Eagles Historical Module, to try to create the global atmosphere that was lived in that theater of operations.

Easy,... don't worry.

[Gerry4321]

Easy? LOL.

Personally I am not so interested in the Western Front and especially not the landings. But I am more interested in American Eagles than Omaha.

Some other time down the road maybe you will go back to the Eastern Front. And of course there are many people that love the Normandy stuff.

[Gerry4321]

Another question please. I think it is in the Brecourt map I cannot see the elevation changes. I think there is a section near the guns that is forested and it is at a higher level. But I cannot see that without mousing over every hex.

Is there a way to make the elevation changes stand out a bit?

Again I feel bad asking anything as it is so nice of you to do such awesome work for us when the developers have disappeared.

[asl3d]

ORIGINAL: Gerry4321

Another question please. I think it is in the Brecourt map I cannot see the elevation changes. I think there is a section near the guns that is forested and it is at a higher level. But I cannot see that without mousing over every hex.

Is there a way to make the elevation changes stand out a bit?

Again I feel bad asking anything as it is so nice of you to do such awesome work for us when the developers have disappeared.

Hello Gerry.

I just checked the Brecourt board and there is no elevation changes. All hexes are at level 0.

The first elevation change in the Carentan series is on the Ingouf board (second serie scenario). On this board there is a house that has 3 levels of height and also 2 interior floors, so that the units in there are in building level 2. I attach a detail of the house.

The computer allows to separate the graphic aspect of the board and its topographic properties. This is a breakthrough. It means that you can change the height of each board from one scenario to another without touching the graphic map (only the topographic properties). This is good and bad. It is good because it is a lot of freedom for the scenario designer, but it is bad because it is not evident (it can not be) to distinguish buildings of different heights, beyond their shadow projected on land, and it is not safe.

In other words. A Squad Leader has to watch well the battlefield where his men are going to fight. An error can be the difference between losing your men or getting them out of there alive. You have to look carefully at the terrain and see the opportunities it offers you.

[asl3d]

ORIGINAL: Gerry4321

Easy? LOL.

Personally I am not so interested in the Western Front and especially not the landings. But I am more interested in American Eagles than Omaha.

Some other time down the road maybe you will go back to the Eastern Front. And of course there are many people that love the Normandy stuff.

Hello Gerry.

American Eagles:

I still have not decided how many scenarios are going to be interspersed with Omaha scenarios. Surely the first will be the expansion of Brecourt, which simulates the air assault of the company Easy (Lieutenant Winters) near Les Moulins. It will be a night scene, with German patrols scattered around the launch area ...

The next Historical Module will most likely be located in Warsaw (the Partisans and the Resistance will appear for the first time).

The following Historical Module will be located at the Pacific Operations Theater (PTO), with the Japanese Army and the US Marines as protagonists.

The eastern front will have to wait a bit.

[Gerry4321]

Hi Julio:
I was looking at the Brecourt map terrain, but not buildings.

For example, D2 is Level 1 and I see some brown color around the hex. I would then expect A3 to be Level 1 but it is level 0.

I understand about buildings but I think a color difference is needed for terrain. I couldn't play a map if I have to keep mousing over to try and remember what each level is.

Again I always appreciate what you do.

Gerry

[asl3d]

ORIGINAL: Gerry4321

Hi Julio:
I was looking at the Brecourt map terrain, but not buildings.

For example, D2 is Level 1 and I see some brown color around the hex. I would then expect A3 to be Level 1 but it is level 0.

I understand about buildings but I think a color difference is needed for terrain. I couldn't play a map if I have to keep mousing over to try and remember what each level is.

Again I always appreciate what you do.

Gerry

Hello Gerry.

I already understand (attached image of the sector analyzed).

The hex D2 has a level 0. The forest represented there is an obstacle for the LOS level 1. That is, the terrain is at level 0 and the forest (located at level 0) blocks LOS at level 1. It is the same as a building.

The brown drawing is just a small perimeter path that surrounds the forest. The same thing also happens with the perimeter path that follows the wall hexside of A3. It's just decorative to give the board more realism.

For there to be a change in ground level there has to be an obvious change in the drawing of the board. If you look at of Graignes board or the Donville board, you will see that there is a clear graphic change there. The same thing happens with the gully depressions in some of the boards of Stalingrad.

[Cataphract88]

ORIGINAL: asl3d

ORIGINAL: Gerry4321

Easy? LOL.

Personally I am not so interested in the Western Front and especially not the landings. But I am more interested in American Eagles than Omaha.

Some other time down the road maybe you will go back to the Eastern Front. And of course there are many people that love the Normandy stuff.

Hello Gerry.

American Eagles:

I still have not decided how many scenarios are going to be interspersed with Omaha scenarios. Surely the first will be the expansion of Brecourt, which simulates the air assault of the company Easy (Lieutenant Winters) near Les Moulins. It will be a night scene, with German patrols scattered around the launch area ...

The next Historical Module will most likely be located in Warsaw (the Partisans and the Resistance will appear for the first time).

The following Historical Module will be located at the Pacific Operations Theater (PTO), with the Japanese Army and the US Marines as protagonists.

The eastern front will have to wait a bit.

All of this sounds great!

Good luck with your continuing projects. [:)]

[Gerry4321]

Sorry Julio, I misinterpreted your Forest Level 1 term. I know what you mean by level-0 with the forest being a level 1 LOS issue - like in ASL. Thanks.

Gerry

[Gerry4321]

Julio:
I do have a question about the Donville map. I assume the brown hexes at the bottom are the hills.
1. Are there two different hex colours and therefore two hill levels on that map. The system does not label the level of hills I notice.
2. How does I25 see into I23?

Thanks,
Gerry

[asl3d]

ORIGINAL: Cataphract88

ORIGINAL: asl3d

ORIGINAL: Gerry4321

Easy? LOL.

Personally I am not so interested in the Western Front and especially not the landings. But I am more interested in American Eagles than Omaha.

Some other time down the road maybe you will go back to the Eastern Front. And of course there are many people that love the Normandy stuff.

Hello Gerry.

American Eagles:

I still have not decided how many scenarios are going to be interspersed with Omaha scenarios. Surely the first will be the expansion of Brecourt, which simulates the air assault of the company Easy (Lieutenant Winters) near Les Moulins. It will be a night scene, with German patrols scattered around the launch area ...

The next Historical Module will most likely be located in Warsaw (the Partisans and the Resistance will appear for the first time).

The following Historical Module will be located at the Pacific Operations Theater (PTO), with the Japanese Army and the US Marines as protagonists.

The eastern front will have to wait a bit.

All of this sounds great!

Good luck with your continuing projects. [:)]

Thank you very much Richard. Also for your words of encouragement.

[asl3d]

ORIGINAL: Gerry4321

Sorry Julio, I misinterpreted your Forest Level 1 term. I know what you mean by level-0 with the forest being a level 1 LOS issue - like in ASL. Thanks.

Gerry

Exact Gerry. It's just that. Like ASL.

[asl3d]

ORIGINAL: Gerry4321

Julio:
I do have a question about the Donville map. I assume the brown hexes at the bottom are the hills.
1. Are there two different hex colours and therefore two hill levels on that map. The system does not label the level of hills I notice.
2. How does I25 see into I23?

Thanks,
Gerry

Brown hexes at the bottom are the hills:

Right. I have respected the graphic convention of the game's original designers. I thought it was a good solution.

Two different hex colors:

Right too. The color differences in the hill hexes indicate the level change (in the attached figure I have highlighted it with a yellow line).
A Crest Line is formed in every hex where two different full-level elevations meet. Crest Lines are important both for determining movement costs and defining the slope of a hill for possible LOS obstructions.
In the image, the Crest Lines have been drawn in yellow.

Also, you're right when you say "the system does not label the level of hills I notice." You have to observe carefully the terrain and the obstacles that appear there to know where you are sending your units. You know, this is one of the functions of the Squad Leader.

How does I25 see into I23?:

I'll develop it next ...

[asl3d]

How does I25 see into I23?:

HoS follows the same principles with respect to LOS as SL/ASL.

Then, a unit in I25 can see into I23 due to the concept of Slope Continuous (developed exhaustively in SL/ASL).

A Continuous Slope is a change in elevation such that, in each hex successively crossed by the LOS, the elevation changes by one level in a continuous gradient. All rules pertaining to same-level LOS also apply to Continuous Slope LOS.

From I25 you can draw a Continuous Slope to I23 (see figure)
Notice that the LOS crosses a Crest Line in each hex it traverses.

Continue below ...

[asl3d]

... Continuation ...

Why I25 can not see F23?:

Hills represent terrain elevations which rise above ground level, and any terrain upon them rises normally from this new level to form new height equivalents. For example, a one level obstacle on a level 1 hill hex becomes a level 2 obstacle to the LOS of a unit at level 0. Inherent Terrain rises from the current hill depiction (i.e., In a Hill-Orchard hex, LOS that crosses the hill depiction is affected up through level 2). Other terrain (e.g., grain, brush, woods, building) is at the higher level throughout the entire depiction of the terrain in question, even if it appears to be rising from the lower level portion of the hill hex.

A lower level unit may trace to LOS in only the initial Crest Line hexside of each level above it. Likewise, a unit may trace to LOS to a lower level only if the higher unit traces its LOS through to Crest Line as it leaves its hex and this LOS never re-crosses another Crest Line of the same or higher elevation. A unit may always trace LOS through a Crest Line in an adjacent hex of lower elevation.

Observe the attached figure. A unit located at I25 can not see hex F23 because it can not trace an LOS through the hexsides I24/H24 and H24/G24 that have the same level as I25.

That is, from I25 there is no Continuous Slope until F23.

[Gerry4321]

Hi Julio:
I understand ASL and blind hexes. IIRC there could be more than one blind hex and I had a calculation for that.
ASL maps are not beautiful like yours but they were simple and it was easy to see crest lines as they showed Hill levels in different shades of brown. So I was looking for shades of brown in Donville.
I now see the crest lines even though it is not easy for my old eyes for some reason but I will work at it.
BTW, H24 is a Clear hex even though it has what looks like a little hut. I assume you do that for variation?
Thanks,
Gerry

[Gerry4321]

Here is an example in Graignes where I am struggling to see the crest lines.

I can see that C8 is a hill - that one is easy.
I can see that B7 is a higher-level hill - also easy.

But I cannot see how many hexes there are that are the same height as B7. The forest hexes nearby make it hard for me to see where the higher crest line is.

Thanks Julio.

Gerry

[asl3d]

ORIGINAL: Gerry4321

Hi Julio:
I understand ASL and blind hexes. IIRC there could be more than one blind hex and I had a calculation for that.
ASL maps are not beautiful like yours but they were simple and it was easy to see crest lines as they showed Hill levels in different shades of brown. So I was looking for shades of brown in Donville.
I now see the crest lines even though it is not easy for my old eyes for some reason but I will work at it.
BTW, H24 is a Clear hex even though it has what looks like a little hut. I assume you do that for variation?
Thanks,
Gerry

H24:

Effectively it is a clear hex (- -) of level 2 of height (HT 2).

The small hut is no more than a decorative accessory without effect in the game.