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82nd Airborne in Normandy - Scenario #1 - Boots on the Ground

Kandu

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Looking for one or two play testers to play a LONG (2.5 hour) but small single-player scenario before I post it.

82N01 - 507th BOOTS ON THE GROUND
Lt. Col. Timmes and Lt. Col. Millet Converge on Amfreville
Scenario #1 of 16 in the series 82nd Airborne in Normandy
All scenarios are S.P. U.S. vs A.I. German only.

INTRODUCTION: This scenario is designed both as a role-playing and a wargaming scenario. It is both uncomplicated and challenging. As American Lt. Col. Timmes C.O. 2nd Battalion 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division you must attempt to locate and secure your objectives with only a handful of troopers while marching several kilometers through countryside infested with a numerically superior foe. This scenario is an exercise in stealth and patience. Try to avoid firefights except those necessary to seize and hold your objectives. You may count on the Germans being confused during the initial hours of your drop, more so due to the dispersal of your battalion. Your immediate objectives are (1) secure the western end of the la Fiere causeway at Cauquigny and (2) secure the village of Amfreville. The latter will be used as the battalion assembly point.

STRATEGIC SITUATION: It is D-Day 6 June 1944. The combined Allied armies have opened a new, western front by landing on the beaches in Normandy.

TACTICAL SITUATION: The 101st Airborne has landed just behind Utah beach to secure the bridges and causeways leading across the flooded areas, off the beaches inland. The 82nd Airborne has landed further inland with the following objectives:

1. The 505th PIR to secure St. Mere-Eglise and the eastern ends of two crucial crossings over the Merderet River at Chef-du-Pont and La Fiere.
2. The 507th PIR to secure the western end of La Fiere at the village of Cauquigny.
3. wThe 508th PIR to secure the crossings over the Douve River to the southwest.

FRIENDLY FORCES: You personally dropped into the water of the flooded Merderet River. Other chutes in the water reveal you weren’t the only unlucky landing. You struggled for some time to get out of your gear and out of the water to the west side of the Merderet. A half hour later you have managed to assemble only two sticks, 20 men, of your battalion. Apparently, your battalion has been dropped badly and is widely scattered. You sent scouts out to recon your position and have determined that you are north of Cauquigny and north-east of Hameau-aux-Brix.

ENEMY FORCES: A battalion of the 1057th Grenadiers, 91st Luftlande Division is reported to be in your immediate area with armor support.

CONDITIONS: It is June 6th, 1944, 0500 hours - first light. The weather is clear and warm with a little wind from the west. You dropped under slanting full moonlight and all boots were on the ground by 0312.

PLAY TIPS: If Millet's casualties start to approach 20%, he should exit towards Les Landes. Likewise, Timmes should fall back to Timmes' Orchard to mitigate a bad situation. The scenario is replayable multiple times as the AI has multiple plans and responses. The AI’s German response is designed to act aggressively if the player deviates significantly from historical objectives or strays widely off-road. Explanation: Lt. Col. Timmes did not have the god-view of the map that player’s have and followed inaccurate maps which necessitated moving by or beside roads or hedgerows until forced by enemy activity to deviate.

SCENARIO SCORING:
Control Cauquigny church - 300 points
Control Timmes' orchard - 200 points (this is your FALL-BACK position!)
Touch NW Amfreville - 100 points (accessible to Lt. Col. Millet's troopers
Touch SE Amfreville - 100 points
Extremely UNLIKELY - Occupy Amfreville church - 500 pts
Exit to les Landes - This is Lt. Col. Millet's escape route to avoid taking more than 20% casualties.

The German AI receives the no points for locations but it may attempt to deprive you of control of your objectives. Moreover, it receives the following:
More than 20% U.S. casualties - 500 points
Destroy Lt. Col. Timmes - 50 points
Destroy Lt. Col. Millet - 50 points
Destroy Millet's platoon - 100 points
Destroy Levy's platoon - 100 points
Destroy Timmes' troopers - 100 points

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT WITH THANKS:
Victory points were balanced using Ithikial's Combat Mission Victory Points Calculator v2 available at FGM's CM Mods Repository.

DISTANCE/TIME EXAMPLES:
Map size for this scenario is 2.5 km x 2.5 km
Timmes' start location to Cauquigny church - 30 minute walk
Cauquigny Church to Amfreville - 60 minute walk
Amfreville to Timmes' Orchard - 45 minute walk

HISTORICAL OUTCOME:
Both Lt. Col. Millet and Lt. Col. Timmes were unable to gain a foothold in Amfreville. Millet was bounced back to Les Landes (some suggest he never made it past Les Landes in the first place). Timmes fell back to the orchard where he dug in for the next few day. Timmes originally secured Cauquigny but rather than staying and thereby securing the western end of the la Fiere causeway early in the operation, moved towards the sound of the guns at Amfreville with most of his men, probably in the hope of linking up with more of his battalion. Timmes' stand in the orchard has been described as an heroic event. Nevertheless his decision to leave Cauquiny garrissoned with only 17 men resulted in them being driven out later that same day and three days delay before the causeway was stormed by the Americans in a bloody action.

If interested in helping out then please contact me at woud89@gmail.com
 
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Looking for one or two play testers to play a LONG (2.5 hour) but small single-player scenario before I post it.

82N01 - 507th BOOTS ON THE GROUND
Lt. Col. Timmes and Lt. Col. Millet Converge on Amfreville
Scenario #1 of 16 in the series 82nd Airborne in Normandy
All scenarios are S.P. U.S. vs A.I. German only.
Since the foregoing was posted, the scenario has been uploaded to The Scenario Depot.
 
I downloaded this (and the other 82N Allied vs. AI scenarios) and started yesterday. I'll let you know how it goes. I am <30 minutes in with only 1 contact thus far as I move on Cauquigny. There is a lot of tension as I am wary of stumbling into trouble with my small force.
 
I downloaded this (and the other 82N Allied vs. AI scenarios) and started yesterday. I'll let you know how it goes. I am <30 minutes in with only 1 contact thus far as I move on Cauquigny. There is a lot of tension as I am wary of stumbling into trouble with my small force.
Ha! Thank you for the contact. If you wish, please feel free to give me any feedback after play - negative or positive, all welcome. A friend of mine and I are currently testing three versions of Lt. Col. Timmes in the orchard defence to see which has most play balance. Most of the scenarios have been set up historically so vary greatly in balance and should be regarded more as a role playing or teaching module. If you need a partner to play any of the H2H scenarios, feel free to contact me.
Happy playing (and healthy 2022).
 
Hi Kandu-
I finished the scenario. I enjoyed the sneaking around, trying (unsuccessfully) to find a way to the Amfreville objectives, and then figuring out how to extract them. I plan on moving on with the series.

When I moved Timmes' team back toward the Orchard, I got some reinforcements that I'm not sure were map triggered or time triggered. If time triggered, they seemed a bit late to help with an advance on Amfreville. If map triggered, then that's on me because I moved Timmes toward the Orchard only in the last hour.

Only feedback I have is that I'm not exactly sure that the scoring came out the way I expected. I secured Cauquigny Church and the Orchard, and all my units survived. Millet's force took substantial casualties at Amfreville, while Timmes' force inflicted casualties on 2 different German groups.
I expected to lose points for casualties from Millet's platoon, so the score below for that looks right.
I exited Millet's platoon after taking a lot of casualties, so the 0 points to the Germans shown below looks right.
It looks like the Germans got credit for Timmes' and Levy's units still being on the map. I would have expected that scoring to be 0 for the Germans, and them only getting points for kills.
82AB-1 BOG End.jpg
 
Could you drop-box me your last game turn so I can have a look at it? I don't entirely understand Germans getting credit for American units still being on the map.
 
Hi Kandu-
I finished the scenario. I enjoyed the sneaking around, trying (unsuccessfully) to find a way to the Amfreville objectives, and then figuring out how to extract them. I plan on moving on with the series.
There is no funtionality in the game for any type of triggers to dictate when reinforcements arrive on map. The timing is from Kandu as scenario designer.
 
There is no funtionality in the game for any type of triggers to dictate when reinforcements arrive on map. The timing is from Kandu as scenario designer.
The timing is an attempt to represent the German units being roused by 'Alarm!". This happens at different times at different places and could (rarely) even happen right under the noses of the American paras.
 
Hi Kandu - I put my last turn in a Dropbox to which I've sent an invite. Maybe I'm just not understanding something about the scoring, but I guess I would have expected the Germans to only get credit for the kills made (not full units).

D'oh - obviously you can't time reinforcements. The illusion was created by Levy's platoon arriving just as Timmes' initial group got to Hameau aux Brix. One could imagine them using the "crickets" to signal each other. The timing was impeccable!
Looking at the editor, the "Straggler" group came in towards the end of the possible time range.
 
Hi One Ping Only:
Wow! I reviewed the game file you sent me and, yup, you sure stumbled upon a very significant flaw in the program. The program reversed the points to be awarded for destroying American personalities and platoons. As you have indicated instead awarding points to the German player for 'destroying' American units it awarded them to the German for surviving.

This result is due to an error on my part when designing the scenario. I left an EXIT Terrain Objective on the map. This results in any units that did not exit being counted as Destroyed. This will be corrected tomorrow and the corrected scenario will be reposted. Now I have to look through a number of other scenarios with similar issues.
 
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Hello-
I saw your note on Squawkbox.
So - I am assuming the offender is the Exit to Les Landes exit objective, not the hidden La Fiere objective; and, that the Les Landes objective works "against" ALL the US units, not just Millet, since they all have German Destroy objectives assigned. The Exit objective can't be "pinned" to a specific Destroy obj/unit combo.
I think the scenario still works without the Exit Objective. Although I pulled Millet's force back from Amfreville after taking too many losses, the Germans didn't pursue. I think leaving the Exit as a Landmark and stating (as you do) in the briefing that Millet should go there if under duress is enough instruction.

I learned something! (so it is a good day!)
 
I want to thank you again for spotting that issue. It caused me to review all of the scenarios I created over the last 10 years. I found that the issue was present in six of my recent 82nd Airborne in Normandy scenarios. Fixed then this morning and posted corrected versions at the Depot.
 
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