GJS'44 Campaign Main Thread - Final June 16th 1944 Tournamen

[mlazar]

Pegasus bridge continues, but the Allies are too scared to try and cross the river. They sent one little scout across. He got shot up , turned tail and ran. Sort of like Brave Sir Robin. So as they vainly shot a few mortar rounds on empty positions. The German troops are going to look for some beer and requisition some local wine for a bit of R&R. Shame the Allies can't find a commander to cross the river and die like men.

[Honour79]

[LandMarine47]

Pegasus bridge continues, but the Allies are too scared to try and cross the river. They sent one little scout across. He got shot up , turned tail and ran. Sort of like Brave Sir Robin. So as they vainly shot a few mortar rounds on empty positions. The German troops are going to look for some beer and requisition some local wine for a bit of R&R. Shame the Allies can't find a commander to cross the river and die like men.

Just wait when the Airborne Arrive expect Mortar Spam in its purest form

(Ranger bought to my attention that my trash talking has gotten out of hand. If I do this again please ignore them as I'm sure you can all kick my arse in one game )

[hidde]

Hope I can say this without upsetting anyone but although the campaign is great fun the battles mostly seems to be less so.
I've played three games now and from that experience and what I've read of other games almost all of them seems to consist of ~15 turns of mortar fire and the last 4-5 turns trying to grab the one VP-flag that's needed for a win.
Not very fun to be honest...
I've tried to think of some way to change it so that more fighting would occur but I've failed
Perhaps carry over losses makes this inevitable?

[jcb989]

I experience something similar, most of the time. I recall one or two maps that allowed fair play and thus interesting battles formed. Hillman was one of those, way back, just as a reference / prove there was one, but there were others.

I'm not really sure either how it could be addressed. On the one hand, if you take the strategy / goal of winning as paramount, then the BA battles will be far far less interesting, I think. On the other hand, if you let the BA battles play out like a regular MP game (think, free for all, of sorts) then that corrupts the hopes of the grand strategists and also lessens the point of campaign carryover units etc etc and may appear as more of just a "slugfest".

So like you said, its not clear how gameplay could be improved. Not without sacrificing something else.
For me, the "Normandy Ninja" tournament games hold the most fun in BA gameplay, as they use these maps but with carefully balanced forces and the all-out fighting that BA is known for in MP. Still, I enjoy the campaign involvement too but it is a different style of gameplay to be sure.

[k9mike]

Very good reply Justin. About sums it up...

[cavehobbit]

How many battles needs 20 turn? Is it possible to decrease the number of turns, to 12-13 turns? Would that make any difference? One effect I can think of is that the campaign will run a bit faster, which is a good thing in my opinion. It also set some pressure on the attacker (and both sides in a ME). Perhaps it would make the BA battles more interesting?

For the strategic game it will be a factor to have in mind when planning orders.

[k9mike]

Also some good thoughts...
How's it going P-A? Haven't heard from ya in awhile...
Mike

[GottaLove88s]

Wise comments Hidde & Jcb! I've noticed something similar...

Seen from the perspective of the whole campaign, it feels like a 'maturing' of commanders and players, adapting to realities on the ground... Earlier commanders were all about hit and run, big assaults, sneaky airborne drops, occasionally gaming the system, lol... Earlier players also didn't seem to realise the heavy risks of rushing a force across a major obstacle eg. a river, if the enemy would be ready for them... Brand new players have still attempted this as recently as a couple of turns back, and suffered the consequences...

Right now, GJS'44 has two truly excellent commanders who have balanced strategic insight into the maps with recommending (aka ordering) players on which risks are wise versus which are foolish... which keeps campaign objectives in mind and (should) prevent horrendous losses...

I think gameplay on June 11th is also slightly hampered by tactical obstacles... For the battle groups (BGs) involved, coming from the directions that they have, there is often a river/stream or fortress to deal with... This is appropriately accurate, to encourage strategic command decisions... But this should get better to players for June 12th, 13th, 14th, etc, because the likely battle maps look likely to have fewer of these obstacles that are locking commanders down to conservative play...

Long story short, there will probably be more Hillmans and less Pegasus Bridges in the coming rounds...

Hope I can say this without upsetting anyone but although the campaign is great fun the battles mostly seems to be less so.
I've played three games now and from that experience and what I've read of other games almost all of them seems to consist of ~15 turns of mortar fire and the last 4-5 turns trying to grab the one VP-flag that's needed for a win.
Not very fun to be honest...
I've tried to think of some way to change it so that more fighting would occur but I've failed
Perhaps carry over losses makes this inevitable?

I experience something similar, most of the time. I recall one or two maps that allowed fair play and thus interesting battles formed. Hillman was one of those, way back, just as a reference / prove there was one, but there were others.

I'm not really sure either how it could be addressed. On the one hand, if you take the strategy / goal of winning as paramount, then the BA battles will be far far less interesting, I think. On the other hand, if you let the BA battles play out like a regular MP game (think, free for all, of sorts) then that corrupts the hopes of the grand strategists and also lessens the point of campaign carryover units etc etc and may appear as more of just a "slugfest".

So like you said, its not clear how gameplay could be improved. Not without sacrificing something else.
For me, the "Normandy Ninja" tournament games hold the most fun in BA gameplay, as they use these maps but with carefully balanced forces and the all-out fighting that BA is known for in MP. Still, I enjoy the campaign involvement too but it is a different style of gameplay to be sure.

[LandMarine47]

If I may join I feel mortars are really obnoxious units. If you can get enough on your side you can suppress the living crap out of everything in site. I don't have a problem with Rivers or forts I just really don't like mortar spam. I mean yes it's good for laying down smoke but if a unit comes into range..... It's over if the enemy can get someone to capture them. While I like the idea of that 1 central VP but I like a plain draw better with neither side at an advantage. And losses shouldn't carryover for in one days time I think troops can recover from their losses. (Unless its body parts blown off )

[mlazar]

CeaseFire agreed to at Pegagus. Flags stay the same 4 for me - his initial one.
Allied losses 1 infantry 1 scout 1 17 lb at gun - all killed by arty fire (some wounded before they were finished off by the arty.

casualties.gif (156.14 KiB) Viewed 4138 times

casualties.gif (156.14 KiB) Viewed 4138 times

[cavehobbit]

Updated OOB and Strat map.
I will prepare the Pegasus PM battle and will send it to Ranger to have it approved.

OOB: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/535 ... %20OOB.xls

[cavehobbit]

How's things going in Bretteville? Will there be a PM battle, or is 27/3 winning?
Reason I ask is if we will wait and prepare a PM map pack with Pegasus and Bretteville, or if Pegasus will be the only PM battle?

[jcb989]

I expect a PM battle there in Bretteville, unless we get extremely lucky, or Honour gets extremely careless, lol.

[Honour79]

I am careless!

I guess there is about 10 turns left and I cant play too much at the moment (trying to keep up at least a turn per day, hopefully more). Saturday night I'll be home and a bit quicker.

As written above, I think the last turns might be interesting.

[Ranger]

I expect a PM battle there in Bretteville, unless we get extremely lucky, or Honour gets extremely careless, lol.

[k9mike]

Ranger....You might have wanted to PM Justin that tid bit...lol.

[jcb989]

lol

[rblancha]

CeaseFire agreed to at Pegagus. Flags stay the same 4 for me - his initial one.
Allied losses 1 infantry 1 scout 1 17 lb at gun

VP flags and KIAs agreed

[Ranger]

Roger Roger

CeaseFire agreed to at Pegagus. Flags stay the same 4 for me - his initial one.
Allied losses 1 infantry 1 scout 1 17 lb at gun

VP flags and KIAs agreed