CAMCOR C3X at 1000am

I'm soldiering on with this game to test numerous alterations to my rules for ORDERS and also to the controls to make play 'slicker' - in theory at least. I've made little DIY ICONS for my toolbar which are nice to look at and easier to find.

Removing the blue and red DIAMONDs that are needed to place info markers when not in use also reduces clutter. I've decided to return to Artillery coounters to represent the batteries and they could suffer counter battery fire under some circumstances.

 Order rules are really tricky. I want to avoid pages of verbiage that ends up meaning little while at the same time having orders rules that are simple, avoid anomalies and have some impact. Before most of the time they made no actual difference and I've considered discarding the whole idea. I do like my radios and runners and order chits though, so wll persevere with my latest ideas.

CAMCOR C3X

CAMCOR C2XXX 1050

CAMCOR C2XXX to 1030

CAMCOR C2XXX 0912

7RTR are all on and moving up to support 9CAM. The hedges are a nuisance and are slowing the advance however. 

The Western flank has made good progress and have men in the German trenchline while an intact platoon [No. 12] is keeping up with the barrage and in danger of getting isolated. I will probably have them stop and take cover in the stream.

Meanwhile a troop of 7RTR are on and making their way forward to support B/9CAM.

Losses are high with several sections wiped out or very badly hit. The two [only!] German snipers have been deadly and are still active and concealed. Sniping by German riflemen has also been effective, especially from the 'Pionieren'. Most balanced and intersting game of this scenario so far.

CAMCOR C2XXX

 Only B/9CAM are on the move and have taken the regiment's first casualty due to sniper fire.

 Orders are not getting through to 9CAM and only B company have stepped off on schedule and are right up behind the barrage.

The bombardment has hit the tanks hard and knocked out 5 of the 11. 2 are damaged so we can say about 6 tanks are going  be 'operational'. The mines and wire are pretty badly smashed up and all but the OPs phone line is cut. Not many losses among the infantry though. Overall quite a moderate result.

CAMCOR MAP with extra contours

Real ground is not a series of stepped terraces (except in odd places like Sapa). The contours on a map indicate how the land rises and falls in smoothe curves. [Mountainous terrain with cliffs etc is of course different.]

We can distinguish between 'concave' slopes where the distance between contours decreases as we go uphill and convex slopes where the distance between contours increases as we go uphill.

Concave slopes allow uninterrupted LOS for as long as the slope remains concave.

Convex slopes have large areas of dead ground that an observer higher up the hill cannot see. Effectively intervening contours cast a shadow.

The following diagrams illustrate this.

CAMERONIANS' CORRIDOR pictures and notes

I was a little unhappy with the balance. I expected it to be tough for 9CAM - it was - but I found I wasted too man units trying to make progress while 7RTR were still off map. It's pretty much hopeless and I lost something like 25% of 9CAM for very little return.

I have made some 'tweaks' to help 9CAM and hinder the German superiority.

1. 7RTR can start issuing orders at 0900 - 30 minutes earlier. They still have a long way to go.
2. 12th SS are no longer such 'supermen' I've downgraded their COHESION to 4 and MOTIVATION and SKILL level is lowered for lower ML MMC and non LEADER/FOO/SNIPER SMC.
3. German company and Bn HQs will only be present if most of their Zugs are. Means fewer adhoc FOOs which had a big impact.
4. I'm not going to force 9CAM to drive into the teeth of the German MLR. They can hold back though this may lead to orders changing.
5. I moved the treelined paved road 25 to the South. Just seemed better.

German dice were 'hot' and numerous heroes appeared - though given the number of FTC they can attempt this is likely. I mistook the German 105mm guns for 150 making them far more deadly!

Maybe have time to start a test of this tomorow. Plays smoothely so can be quite fast. Just the German forts and UK bombardment are slow.

CAMERONIANS' CORRIDOR 0950 26th June 1944

CAMERONIANS' CORRIDOR 0930 26th June 1944

CAMERONIANS' CORRIDOR 0910 26th June 1944

CAMERONIANS' CORRIDOR - NEW VERSION

I made the decision to move the start time on 30 minutes and begin with all the Cameronian line companies on map behind the barrage. Some may in fact be further back depending on when the activate their orders.

I redid the German defences with benefit of experience and added some forces. Unsure if this further unbalances the game but they seem to have been present. In this playing the Germans have 4 platoons of infantry, 6sMG42s and 2 mortars plus 2 PaK40s and 11 tanks available. The bombardment is very hard on tanks though and only 3 survived.

Here are some pictures.