The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Command Confusion: Pied Piper
Albino Bunny
JackieRegistered User regular
JackieRegistered User regular
So this is a screw around experiment of a concept. Basically it's going to be a PbP of a small scenario from Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm where each player controls a given battalion (Of which there are four in this scenario).
The gimmick behind it not just being a co-operative lets play is in the following rules:
1) In addition to battalion commanders there will be one division commander. The division commander has control over any air or artillery assets.
2) All communication relevant to the game must flow through the division commander. On each turn battalion commanders have 200 characters total to compose up to two messages to their division commander. Anything outside of that is forbidden. The division commander has an allowance of 5 messages and 1 public broadcast in the thread with a character limit of 800 for each turn. As the battle goes on these numbers will likely get lower.
3) Visually all battalion commanders will be provided a zoomed in view of the current area of the map their troops are in and can request a full status report from one unit each turn. Other than that their eyes and ears are what the map shows and what the commander tells them. I'll inform you if something dramatic happens to a unit however, so don't worry about suddenly being blind sided.
4) The Division commander will never be provided a map outside of the full map everyone is provided at the start. Part of his role is to collect information of where his troops are and track it on the map to better formulate a strategy.
So, without further explanation lets set the scene for the Pied Piper:
Scenario Description:
Briefing
Your map. Blue numbers are victory points for you to hold, the spiky blue circles are fortified squares, the small blue hexes are allied road blockers and tank traps and the blue hexes are places that the starting forces are allowed to set up. Importantly you'll want to figure where to put your DC HQ. Whose range covers all the way to Diedersen from where it's situated now. So you might want to shuffle it forwards into Hamlen to cover the out reach towns depending on where your defensive line is going to rest.
The main three players to start with will be the Division commander, the leader of the panzer battalion and the leader of the 1/66th Panzergrenadier. Over the course of the next two and a half hours of game time (turns start at 17 minutes long and will get longer as the game continues) the other two players and artillery for the Division Commander will arrive. In general if nothing happens on a turn I'll do multiple in a row until a decision needs to be made.
Please @ me if you're interested in giving this a go or if you have any questions. If we have more than 5 players it's quite possible I'll put multiple players in one role so that you have someone to talk too.
The gimmick behind it not just being a co-operative lets play is in the following rules:
1) In addition to battalion commanders there will be one division commander. The division commander has control over any air or artillery assets.
2) All communication relevant to the game must flow through the division commander. On each turn battalion commanders have 200 characters total to compose up to two messages to their division commander. Anything outside of that is forbidden. The division commander has an allowance of 5 messages and 1 public broadcast in the thread with a character limit of 800 for each turn. As the battle goes on these numbers will likely get lower.
3) Visually all battalion commanders will be provided a zoomed in view of the current area of the map their troops are in and can request a full status report from one unit each turn. Other than that their eyes and ears are what the map shows and what the commander tells them. I'll inform you if something dramatic happens to a unit however, so don't worry about suddenly being blind sided.
4) The Division commander will never be provided a map outside of the full map everyone is provided at the start. Part of his role is to collect information of where his troops are and track it on the map to better formulate a strategy.
So, without further explanation lets set the scene for the Pied Piper:
Scenario Description:
Briefing
Your map. Blue numbers are victory points for you to hold, the spiky blue circles are fortified squares, the small blue hexes are allied road blockers and tank traps and the blue hexes are places that the starting forces are allowed to set up. Importantly you'll want to figure where to put your DC HQ. Whose range covers all the way to Diedersen from where it's situated now. So you might want to shuffle it forwards into Hamlen to cover the out reach towns depending on where your defensive line is going to rest.
The main three players to start with will be the Division commander, the leader of the panzer battalion and the leader of the 1/66th Panzergrenadier. Over the course of the next two and a half hours of game time (turns start at 17 minutes long and will get longer as the game continues) the other two players and artillery for the Division Commander will arrive. In general if nothing happens on a turn I'll do multiple in a row until a decision needs to be made.
Please @ me if you're interested in giving this a go or if you have any questions. If we have more than 5 players it's quite possible I'll put multiple players in one role so that you have someone to talk too.
Albino Bunny on
+3
Posts
Probably shouldn't have posted this at like midnight >.>
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
Also probably might try and spark some FE stuff once the protag archive arrives for me next month. Still can't stop thinking about that game and really annoyed I wound up dropping it.
Sure, I'm game!
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Commander
Infantry Battalion
Armoured Battalion
Then group the reinforcements together. If anyone has any preference over roles feel free to say so.
One of the other small ones I considered using as a test had two heli groups and some airplanes.
In addition to telling me orders for your troops.
Question of clarification: In the briefing it says "There is to be no crossing of the Weser river."
I assume that is to say that we should prevent the Russians from crossing the river, not that our rules of engagement prevent us from crossing the river, right?
Especially where the VP's are.
Strange how glowing numbers determine the fate of the free world but thems the breaks.
So, we've got 5 if Aura Lynx is down for it. If you guys wanna discuss roles and initial troop placements go for it.
If I have to pick, I lean towards either the Panzer Grenadiers or the Artillery. Or does the artillery go directly underneath the Division commander? If it does go directly under, my other choice would be one of the reserves, whichever one leans more infantry heavy.
I'm still mulling over the map but some kind of defense in depth seems a good place to start, and we might as well begin with some forces in the fortified hexes.
Edit: So yellow are definitely better roads than the white ones, but, what kind of difference are we looking at here? Highways vs streets? Roads vs dirt paths?
So, to discuss some key factors of the game that are going to confuse your limited planning ability further:
1) Orders take time to travel and be enacted in Flashpoint Campaigns: At the start of your game all your units will be ready to accept an order and act on it no problem. As their readiness falls from combat, movement or really anything but resting it'll start taking longer for them to respond to orders you give. This also gets worse as your HQ units come under attack or if the HQ units are particularly distant.
Basically one of the coolest things about this game is that it encourages things like a quick reaction force and holding units in reserve because you can't just perfectly adjust your plan each turn to match any new information you get. At some point you just have to commit to a course of action and wavering is going to leave your force in drips and drabs across the map.
I will only tell you your units readiness/time till order recieved if you ask for a status check on them. Have fun.
2) I am not an expert on this system! While I know for a fact that the width of the road does matter and that large forces can be slowed down by a literal traffic jam if you try to move too much along the road I don't know what the limit is. I'm combing through the rule book for stuff as it comes up (for example they don't seem to distinguish between road types, the yellow motor ways or the white main roads are both considered major arteries that improve your movement if travelled along (units will auto path the fastest routes using a waypoint system. Feel free to give me waypoint instructions if you need them to go a specific way).
3) Kinda wanna stress: Tanks are the big boys in this game. They have range, movement and in the case of your Leopards infra red optics that let them fight through a smoke barrage (hint, hint division commander).
Most infantry are there to be a pain in the ass to dislodge from fortified positions like towns or forests. Though it's worth noting that all the PG platoons have one ATGM unit that hits out to 1500m (3 hexes) and the 1/66th are in Marder 1 A2's which are also ATGM armed (and with thermal imaging).
EDIT:
Also main orders for units when they arrive at their destination:
1) Hold: Dig in, wait for more orders
2) On Call: Arty only. Basically be ready to shoot rather than dug in
3) Screen: Fight but move away if you take an attack from X hexes (based on unit) away.
4) R&R: Spend half an hour getting re-armed, rested and ready to fight.
does infantry have troop transport or are they foot sloggin' it? just wondering if I should expect only to be able to move 1 hex no matter terrain, or being able to move 3 hex on roads and less as it gets more broken up.
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
So, looking at the map, these are just my general thoughts:
I see three likely likes of enemy attack.
1. Down the N217, through Hachmulen, past Flegessen and into Hasperde. To that end we should probably have someone stationed to watch those bridge crossings.
2. Across the N1, through Coppenbrugge, past Bessingen, and over the river there. To that end we should probably have someone stationed in the strong point at Bessingen, or around there. I am not sure if from the strong point if they can exert control on the main road or not.
3. Using the river crossing on N442 to gain access to the area of open ground between Hachmulen and Herkonsen (think that's the name, hard to tell with the fort symbol on it). They could potentially use that if they wanted to advance their armor on a wider front. To that end, perhaps station someone in the strong point at Herkonsen.
Another thing that I noticed is that if the enemy attacks down N217, once they are in Hasperde they can divert north using L423. This takes them up and north, then they can go through Holtensen, past Am Schot and right into Hamlen in a wide outflanking maneuver. Obviously this would be really bad. I'm not sure if it is worth starting someone at the 500 VP objective along the L423 path to watch out for this or, if we should simply plan to either have some reinforcements go there, or someone from Hasperde fall back there if it becomes clear the enemy is using N217.
I think we should definitely move our HQ up into Hamlen, to at least cover all of our forward placement positions. I don't necessarily think that we should move forward past our tank traps, so we probably just need to make sure the HQ is far enough to encompass those and not any further forward.
Grob Hilligsfeld seems like a decent spot to station some reserves, though is some issues in reaching forward southern positions from there, at least moving along the road.
That's my initial impression if the situation. What do you all think?
Thanks for the heads up! Was I correct in assuming that the top of the map is North? Might as well make sure of that before any potential confusion
Other considerations: you want to be in 6 hexes of your company HQ to avoid reaction penalties and I can set orders for the first turn including setting units to screen. Though first we do need a division commander really.
Alright come on, which one of you wants to assume the mantle of leadership so I know who to blame when this all goes horribly pear shaped? :P
Not it on commander. I'll try driving whatever, though I know very little about this style of game in general.
Then in the post apocalyptic world our war will lead to we will have a new and impervious German Federated States!
Phase 1
Defense from N1 and Coppenbrugge
Herkensen and Bessingen
The Herkensen and Bessingen area is flat lands. That's tank country. While there are fortifications there, when you need to withdraw, there is nothing but open land behind you. The russians will over run you, if you can't get to Grob Hilligsfeld or the Diedersen bridges.
I propose the tanks deploy around here for an initial couple rounds to bloody their nose and then withdraw south to Diedersen. From here you can shoot them at the K18 bridge or watch them hook at Bispenode and react accordingly.
Defense from N217 and Hachmuhlen
Hasperde and Flegessen
As Infantry, I intend to commit and hold this spot as hard as possible. The ''inland islands'' would make suitable kill-boxes and if I need to defend in depth, there is forest to the west of Flegessen and Grob Hilligsfeld and more trees to the south. Artillery would be needed ASAP to capitalize on it of course, and needs to be sped to Grob Hilligsfeld on the double. Rohrsen would be better, but I don't know how far arty range is.
Phase 2
Defense of Grob Hillgsfeld and Diedersen
From here on, it only gets dirty. We'll start to see which route the Russians are committing to and we can adjust from there. The reinforcement panzergrenadiers should hold in Hameln until we know if the bulk of the Russians are going north or south. Then its off to Holtensen or Tundernshe Warte to get dirty themselves.
For the infantry, its a fighting withdrawal into Rohrsen and the forest hill all the way to Hameln and all the while harassing anything that comes down N217. The same goes for the armor in the south, but at a much quicker pace.
Addendum:
I hate to say it, but that 500 VP bridge on the L423 a linchpin. If the Russians get through there, they don't have to go to Hameln. If we defend hard enough, they can just say fuck it and bypass to the north even if we'd still be able to threaten that supply route.
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
I love that we had the same idea.
This sounds solid to me, probably best not to make it too complicated from there. No plan survives contact with the enemy, and one can definitely get lost in the details of something too carefully planned in advance.
@Albino Bunny What exactly are the five positions available to us to assume? Division commander, mechanized commander that starts on location, tank commander that starts on location, reserve infantry commander, reserve tank command?
You can actually blow bridges. It takes infantry about half an hour to rig it.
Also I'm hearing Ben or Inquisitor volunteering for leadership.
EDIT and the Russians will go for the VPs which means they won't bypass Hameln. Also note that units, particularly tanks, are worth VPs.
Also Aura I specifically picked this game because it both suited the concept and had the higher chance of none of the players having played it before. The inexperience is a feature.
Division Commander: NotoriousBen
Initial PG: Inquisitor
Initial Armour: Aura Lynx
Reserve PG: Elvenshae
Reserve Armour: Fuselage
Will make a post giving you full detail over your forces when I get back. Ben you can pick how much of a plan you wanna detail and can even draw on the map to give each commander their own personal one of you wish. Until the first turn occurs you have unlimited communication.