Mission 2 : Counterstroke. Kryokovo, Russia, December 8, 1941

Starting on December 5th the Soviet Counteroffensive hit the tired and cold Germans hard. 7th Guards Rifle Division was thrown into the fight and ordered to widen a gap in the German lines. At the end of the first week German troops were thrown back along the entire front.

• Type : Take the Highway (5)
• Mapboard selection : Roll directly on the Farmland table
• Initial mapboards : Weather : EC are Snow with a Mild Breeze from the Northeast
• Mission End : Divide the total Road Network by 4 (four) to determine the number of turns.
• Enemy ELR : 2
• There is an additional +2 DRM on tables G2, G5a G7 and G8

MISSION SETUP
My 2nd mission is to clear a 1700 meter section of road of all enemy forces so that follow-on forces can exploit the gap. The company will start the mission off-board to the East (top of map image). Weather is ground snow which may slow my advance but fortunately my men are equipped with winter camouflage. As a benefit, this should help prevent them from being identified too early allowing them to close on the enemy without being hit with long range fire. With the death of Kapitan Demochev, Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin has taken command of the company and Lejtenant Orlov has been newly assigned to the command.

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Just an FYI. I am working on a new WinSPWW2 User Campaign. It will probably be 5 scenario’s total for the player but there will be at least a couple multiple paths. The player will have the option to “select” his AUX units by following certain paths.

The player will command a Russian Rifle Company, December 1941 NW of Moscow. Just wanted to add that the player’s command will be the 2nd Company/1st Battalion/20th Guards Rifle Regiment/7th Guards Rifle Division. The campaign will use the SASL MOSKVA Campaign Game I am playing as the basis for it’s theme and design.

I may need a playtester or 2 in the near future to make sure the 1st scenario and paths for that scenario work as expected.

I have attached an interesting questionnaire on what players of the WinSPMBT/WinSPWW2 game seem to prefer when it comes to User Designed Campaigns over at the Shrapnel Games Forums. It is primarily directed at WinSPWW2 but some of the information should apply to WinSPMBT as well. You can download it here:

WinSPMBT/WinSPWW2 User Campaign Preferences

It covers some of the various parameters of a campaign that players seem to prefer to play. It should be helpful to anyone interested in User Campaign Design. You will find the preferred settings for each category highlighted with a Light Yellow bar as of the date this data was collected.

For those who want the latest data, the questionnaire can be accessed here: User Campaign Player Preferences

TURN 1

Now that UN Forces have now completely left the country both sides go on the offensive and fighting is reportedly under way all across the country. The heaviest fighting appears to be mostly centered around the capital at Luanda. Pro-Government commanders are predicting a quick victory over the Rebels. Both sides are reporting that morale among their men is very high.

Here is the current situation map. (Pro-Government Forces are represented in RED, Rebel Forces are represented in Black).

This is a multiplayer Combat Campaign with 2 teams recreating a fictional civil war in a fictional country using the Steel Panther’s: Main Battle Tank (WinSPMBT) game engine with an operational overlay. UN Forces previously occupying the country to maintain the peace have been ordered out as rumors of war escalate.

In this coming Civil War, one team represents the Pro-Government forces and the other represents the Rebel forces. Force Order of Battles are based on the those of Angola around October 1976. Players get to assemble their forces for each battles the are involved in. They are not restricted to historical OOB’s nor do losses from a previous battle affect what is available for the next battle. The teams initiate their attacks at the operational level on a hex based map, then fight out battles at the tactical level using WinSPMBT. The main objective being the capture of the national capital (Luanda) and the 2 regional capitals (Cabina and Luena).

vs

The current Rules, Player Roster can be found here:

FICTIONAL CIVIL WAR CAMPAIGN - WinSPMBT

Disclaimer: This is not based on any “real” situation in the world.

Mission 1 : Repulsed ! Chimki, Russia. December 1, 1941

By December 1941 the German 9th Army was making its last effort in trying to reach Moscow from the northwest. Some motorcycle elements of the 62. Panzepioniere Regiment reached Chimki within a mere 23 km’s northwest from the Kremlin. Different units of Rokkosovsky’s 16th Army were thrown into the fray in order to stop this last desperate effort. The exhausted Germans were stopped cold in their last attempt to take the capital.

• Type : Enemy Offensive (9)
• Mapboard selection : A8d
• Initial mapboards : On a dr <2 the easternmost board (only) uses Table 8b with a +2 DRM
• Weather : EC are Snow with a Mild Breeze from the Northeast.
• Enemy ELR : 2
• There is an additional +1 DRM on tables G2, G5a, G7 and G8

MISSION SETUP
My 1st mission was to defend against an enemy attack from the bottom board edge (West). Fortunately, I was provided a single 45mm ATG along with some Mines and Wire from Battalion HQ to add to my defensive line. Not much but it would have to do. Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin and 1st Platoon take up positions on the left flank directly behind Hill 498. Kapitan Demochev and the rest of the Company along with the ATG deploy in the center. The HMG and crew take up a position to the rear overlooking the defenses from the 2nd floor of a wooden building.

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This is an SASL Historical Campaign recreating the 7th Guards Division’s part of the Soviet Winter Offensive against the German spearheads threatening Moscow in December 1941.

My command is the 2^nd Company/1^st Battalion/20^th Guards Rifle Regiment/7^th Guards Rifle Division which includes the following units;

• x1 8-0 (Kapitan Demochev)
• x1 7-0 (Starshiy Lejtenant Pronin)
• x9 4-5-8
• x1 2-4-8
• x2 1-2-7
• x1 HMG
• x1 MMG
• x5 LMG
• x1 50mm MTR
• x1 ATR

As you can tell we are short on leaders, a common thing when playing the Russians. But fortunately my squads are rated as ‘Elite’ for the campaign so that should give them a little more staying power under fire.

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One of my 2008 New Year’s Resolutions will be the creation (and completion) of at least 3 User Campaigns for WinSPMBT/WinSPWW2. Not yet sure of the mix but I have do the drafts written out and some scenarios files already started for at least 3 WW2 campaigns and 2 modern era campaigns. I just need to gather the files and move them to my new laptop so they are all in one place and can be worked on a more regular basis or at least more frequently than I have this past year.

I decided to add a gallery to this Blog so I can keep my images uploaded locally on the server here as opposed to using an image-sharing service. That way I know they are always available should the free site go out of business or decide to become not free anymore and my files no longer accessible.