[Tejszd]

Thanks for the feedback mick_xe5 on the coding of that map!

[mick_xe5]

7/7 attacks onto Maubeuge. FR 23/4 defending. 7/7 is a veteran BG with 113 kills to its active credit so I leave the OOB as is.  The plan for this battle is limited - clear the south bank of the river for a better starting position in the next battle. Doubtful the French will deploy on my side of the river but I prepare for that outside chance.

Only an Aufklarer and Mot. Schutzen will initially manuever forward covered by smoke from the mortar. The MGs and PaK will suppress the north bank. 7/7 is down to its last 2 vehicles, a Pz38 and Kdo 251 so they will be kept out of LOS until late in battle if Im sure they wont be in danger.

All goes according to plan as the recon and rifle teams take a VL and cross a road into the second bldg. No enemy on my side of the river so supporting teams reposition to help suppress the north bank. The MGs and PaK have fire superiority over the uncoordinated French infantry. 8cm haphazardly smokes the base of the bridge in preparation for recce and rifle to take the second VL. That move goes bollocks up when the Schutz decide to exit thru the front door instead of the rear. Half die going out, the other half trying to get back in. My mistake for even moving them into th second bldg. The recon team alone would have accomplished the mission.

The schw. 34 catches a glimpse of a gun sitting on a VL. The 8cm unloads 25 rounds in its direction with NO EFFING EFFECT. I briefly consider rewarding them with a suicide sprint across the bridge. The damn French mortar caused 3-4 casualties firing at my troops.

At the 12:30 mark the cross-river firefight had subsided to a lull so it was time to expose my Pz38. Things were so quiet I sent the tank across the bridge hoping to gain control of a tile or two at the far end but the best it could do was open one at my end of the bridge.

Bottom line: mission accomplished and 7/7 increased its kill count by 39 but at the cost of 7 unnecessary casualties. Performance Grade = B+

[mick_xe5]

Thuin - Essentially a armored meeting engagement between 11/6 and FR 28/1 since 15/5 moved NW to Harmignies. Another riverbank clearing battle as 28/1 has the invincible Char bis across the river. No sense in trying to force my way across the river now. Better just to clear the south bank and have 25-37/1 attack onto Thuin from the north next turn.

Again a slight chance there may be some French infantry on the south side so I deploy with that in mind. Half of my force will clear the area while  will clear the area while the other half moves toward the riverbank to engage targets of opportunity.

As expected there are no French on the southside so the area clearing goes smoothly. A pesky mortar and some ill-advised window shopping cost a few casualties. However my troops make the French infantry pay in spades for their transgressions.

Other than losing a HT in a late shootout with an H39 making its way across bridge the most noteworthy event was a PzIV getting stuck on the starting line. How a vehicle can get stuck on a paved road free of any obstacles is beyond me. It could rotate in place but refused a dozen different move orders. Saboteurs?

The final score was 31-5 but with the loss of a vehicle. Grade: A-

[mooxe]

Mick you have to upload the saved GC file when done. Add the extension .gc using the rename function in game and attach it to a post.

[mick_xe5]

Rumigny - 4/6 vs 32/518. I surmised correctly that the AI would contest in the center. My defensive hedgehog easily repulsed its piecemeal attacks. The truce offer was my cue to take the offensive toward VLs to the NW (blue). The remaining 3 VLs (yellow) were gained after the inevitable French morale collapse. Altogether an easy total victory but a Pz35 was carelessly lost due to the BG commander's negligence so the execution of this battle only rates a B.

[mick_xe5]

Aubigny 2/2 vs 148/101. This would have been a much tougher battle had the massed enemy forces in the center held tight instead of attempting to take the nearby neutral VL to the SE. That effort fell victim to precision panzer teamwork. This battle was notable for an  Aufklarer flanking move in the north that picked up 3 easy VLs. The secondary southern effort didnt get sufficient focus until late in the battle. Reserve forces around its remaining VLs allowed to French to escape morale failure and loss of the area. Grade A-

[mooxe]

I've enjoyed this campaign and the various AARs since we started this in 2014. Very casual play and no rules. Any votes for another one once Blitznado is over?

[mooxe]

Signy, French attack from the SW corner. My only objective here is to let the AI gain ground in order to surround him next battle. The AI eventually took the intersection VL and next battle, if the new commander see and accepts this plan, will be to encircle and without disbanding, slowly eliminate the French BG. The tank loss was due to a bombardment.

[mooxe]

Mouzon, French attack from West side. Once again, I let the AI advance into the map in order to cut him off next game. An oportunity did come up in this battle to cut him off but before my troops could gain the exit VL, force morale ended the game.

[Tejszd]

[mick_xe5]

Unfortunately map coders were left to their own discretion as to interpreting map graphics. All too often bldg walls connected at the corners instead of the sides; bldgs with multiple levels (as opposed to multi-story) had interior walls coded improperly or portions of a multiple level bldg were coded at a level that didnt match the shadow cast by that portion of the bldg. Minor details like bushes and crates were overlooked and left as grass. Trees got no leaves or 4 around the trunk element rather than 8, a problem only exacerbated in PitF/GtC with the bigger treetop graphics. And not that it makes a lot of difference but the river bank you coded as Dirt s/b Bank.

Elevation coding turned into a whole 'nother boondogle with an overreliance on autocoding with grayscale bump maps. Bldgs got sloped, slopes often have large height variations between elements 2m apart, lakes have water at different heights, elevation changes didnt align with the graphics shading or existed when there was no shading.

For the most part Im inclined just to swallow the blue pill and not look too closely at the maps using 5CC.

[Uberdave]

Thanks for your involvement, mick!