[Silverpen]

Hello,
  Congrats to those few who made Ortona '43 mod a reality.I just started it.A hell of a game..Really tough as the Ally. I was an Avalon Hill  (Anzio) buff from way back and always wanted to see a Close Combat Game/Mod on the Italian Campaign. I hope this will be the first of many.To take a well defended dug in infantry position in difficult terrain requires at least 3 to 1 odds if not more..this mod proves it.

  Thanks

[Buck_Compton]

Hey Silverpen,

I think I can speak for both Pete, PT and me we are glad you're enjoying the mod.

Cheers Buck

[Pete]

Silverpen, what settings are you using? Playing as Elite will effectively eliminate medium mortar support to make things a bit harder although I found that the 2inch mortar can also suppress the enemy somewhat. Added to that, I reduced the number of units to the extent that you'll think twice or thrice about how to use them in an assault.

[Silverpen]

Pete,
 I am using "Line" for the German and "Elite" for the Allies.Playing as the Ally at Elite level makes it as you know much tougher.. As I become more
 familiar with the games challenges and nuances I will try out mixing levels to determine what is "most realistic" for me..Ie. historical accurate. It
 becomes increasingly evident as the game progresses that the greatest enemy for either side is squandering troops on suicidal attacks...namely
 attrition.

 Silverpen

[Pete]

That's exactly what I was aiming for Silverpen, in longer operations and campaigns the danger of attrition is much more evident considering the limited number of battle groups and reduced unit quantity. It should encourage the player to attack more cautiously and selectively rather than choose the standard CC5 frontal attack trying to finish the enemy off within one 15min battle.

[Tejszd]

Definitely a nice change Buck/Pete/PT, thank you again for taking CC somewhere new!

[Pete]

Anyway, after Rhineland is done we will again have something new for you guys    . There are 2 more projects we will commence in 2014 - provided Rhineland is finished within the year.

[HANSEAT]

Downloaded, installed today and played H2H Grand Campaign till 2nd day.

And wow what a nice new mod.

Very pleased to see that this old project has been finished.

Happy to see that Rhineland is in the intend to be released (another interesting mod : city fihntings ?).

Thank you very much for your efforts.

[Schmal_Turm]

It should encourage the player to attack more cautiously and selectively rather than choose the standard CC5 frontal attack trying to finish the enemy off within one 15min battle--Pete

That is how I conduct my battles, cautiously and selectively, rather than rashly. I find that when I am playing as the Germans I have a very limited supply of arms. One bad battle can spell a very tough campaign. It definitely makes for a more challenging time. I had one battle where I lost two of my Stugs and was down to only one and a couple of 75 ATs. Even with the loss I was able to block the next attack with the well emplaced ATs.

The thing I found out with Ortona is that it appears that my Mark IVs are no match when up against Sherman tanks. I was under the impression that with the first shot with a gun with better ballistics and better optics that I would have bested them in a regular duel. Well two out of three attempts I was beaten. So give me Shermans next time. Maybe there are a couple of captured ones I can requisition.

[Pete]

Playing as Germans against Canadians on "recruit' gives Canadians an advantage because vehicle crews have better command rating than Germans. German Pz IV have no commander or assistant leader , which is also the reason why they are surrendering more quickly. Pz IV crews are coded as '2', just like the regular Sherman. Veteran Sherman crew has commander and assitant leader . I figured that when the human player would play as 'Elite' he would be veteran enough to overcome this disadvantage    . Playing as 'recruit' should give you plenty of firepower to last a campaign.
On a side note, weapons data are pretty much unchanged compared to the Scheldt mod data.

[Silverpen]

Pete,

Finished the campaign a while back and thought I give you some feedback.A great mod and tough if you play Canadian as Elite and German as Line. Excellent maps and commentary.The difficult terrain requires a lot of planning before you proceed! I am telling you the Italian Campaign has all kinds of possibilities for other challenging mods.Not sure whether this historically was the case but the Battle groups on either side vary hardly at all unless depleted.Were there not other Allied troops involved at Ortona? Can get repetitive.Tanks are an asset but given the terrain and mud it really is up to your lowly infantry.Best strategy for Allied player which prolongs the game somewhat is let the German come at you. Not sure why adjacent maps can't always accessed.Thanks once again for the Mod.

Silverpen

[Pete]

Thanks for your feedback Silverpen. To answer your questions (please also read the documentation supplied with the mod): only the Canadians fought at Ortona with 1 infantry division consisting of 9 battallion size infantry regiments. In the adjacent sector the 7th Indian Division operated. Each division seems to have been opposed by only one regiment of the 90. panzergrenadier division. Later on the Canadians mainly fought against the Fallschirmjäger. In terms of unit variety there is little to choose. I am not a big fan of a multitude of different types of infantry squads in the first place plus the fighting units were homogenous in terms of composition. The panzergrenadiers formed a new division and this was their first battle. I find it a paradox that the modern player wants a large variety of units to play with while historically a uniform composition was pursued. Still, somewhat more units become available playing as 'recruit'.
About the stratmap: the terrain with its gullies was restrictive on movement of armour and therefore of the attack routes. Also, Canadian command was quite unimaginative and persisted in their orders to attack the Germans head on. After extensive playtesting I found that with so few battlegroups on the stratmap it would be too easy to reach far into enemy territory without ever fighting a battle or, reversely, I would not be able to move forward because of enemy bg's appearing from behind and cutting off supply. This is why I felt it was necessary to incorporate the historical routes of advance.