[WillKnott]

Since its release I always thought CCLSA was the best engine of all the CC Games.  I have purchased, owned, and played them all, since the beginning during the days of CC1, the Internet Gaming Zone, and Case's Ladder where I was known as Steiner* and they all will be thought of as a great game in their own right.  CCLSA has introduced multiple battlegroups and a nice set of maps that had blowing bridges as an opton.  Retreat and disband were properly implmented.  Some of you may well disagree, but I feel that tank pathing is best in CCLSA.  A big and wide variety of terrain and maps.  The campaign system was finally improved to go with the battle engine.  The only problem was, when I played another player H2H the 2 player experience was not as enjoyable.  

Mainly the GrandCampaign in CCLSA is an attempt at historical events, and I like the concept and played against the AI several times with it.  This is how it should be done.

However, head-2-head play presents a few problems.  There are not enough varied units in play early enough to make the german player satisified, the mix of units can be quite lopsided early and it takes too long to trudge through a BUNCH of battles to finally get some stronger units.  For almost 2 rounds he is immobilized from moving and bridge units cant move and are very weak.  Head-2-head play needs a mix of battles, each player needs to have the best units both sides have to offer.

From the beginning when I first purchased CCLSA, I have been trying to come up with a Grand Campaign that basically started with all the units on the maps for the Germans.  However, no matter how many times I tried, the campaign file would crash after 10-20 battles.

I was never satisfied, but then I realized, I didnt need to include all units in the campaign.  I just needed a "campaign like" feel, but give each player the opportunity to have a mix of battles and provide an enjoyable mix of contests over a shorter time span.

BOTH SIDES SHOULD SEE A MIX of battles in the theater after about 10-20 battles:

1. BOTH SIDES will see overwhelming advantage in some battles, Like a mess of panthers and king tigers, or the British Guards Armoured Groups.

2. BOTH SIDES will see overwhelming disadvantage, both allied and german units will face some challenges.  Like when your infantry must face tanks and your AT capability is low!

3.  BOTH SIDES will see evenly matched battles.  There are times where both sides will come to the battle with roughly even chances.

4. See battles where infantry must be employed to be successful overall.  Not just tank fests, most battles will be decided by the infantry.  Try using an all armored spearhead in a dense town with narrow streets and lots of defilade.

5.  Head-2-head play must be faster paced, so I started on the night of  the 19th, the germans have immediate movement with good units.

6.  There will be fewer battles per battle phase, creating movement phases more often.

 SO I CREATED ONE.  Here for a short time is a dropbox link to the campaign file, just drop it into the "games/battles" folder, then you will see it in the user sceneario section.  Perhaps Mooxie can add this small file into CCLSA's download pool.  Hopefully I might see one of you on Ranger and test it out.

Will Knott's Northern Campaign



* as time when by and other forums and gaming portals came and went, Steiner's popularity as a screen name was obvious.  Wishing to avoid confusion with the real deal I ended up changing it.