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nope, get in the reserve for the glorious breakthrough
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Feb 9, 2017 03:34
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| # ? Apr 20, 2024 01:52 |
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xthetenth posted:I'm actually more expecting something along the lines of scouting and picketing and dying while getting the mobile firepower into important positions. Is that more accurate? Weeeeeell, you got one part of that right.
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Feb 9, 2017 03:35
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I am not sure what I was trying to post there. Edit: Finally caught the mistake and fixed it in the more important post.
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Feb 9, 2017 03:41
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Here's where things stand. Corpse Commander: my dad Staff: Nine of Eight 119th (Reserve) Brigade ??? 120th (Reserve) Brigade ??? 6th Cavalry Brigade: xthetenth 6th Division HQ: thatbastardken 52nd Brigade: ??? 53rd Brigade: sixkiller 54th Brigade: hephasto 55th Brigade: sullat 22nd Division HQ: Barracuda 96th: Tehan 97th: Hunt11 98th: AbortRetryFail 99th: Loel Bacarruda fucked around with this message at 04:09 on Feb 9, 2017 |
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Feb 9, 2017 03:59
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I can't drive 55, but I will lead them into glorious battle.
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Feb 9, 2017 04:05
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Tehan posted:Can BHQs use their runners to communicate with other brigades, or is it solely for communicating with their DHQ? If I am reading Trin's rules correctly, they communicate with DHQ only. And so DHQ is not able to react to developments until formally notified by a brigade that something's amiss, like an entire Hun division about to smash into an unprotected flank. If DHQ says "I send my runner to find out why the 55th isn't in position" and the response comes back "It's because they are all dead and the Germans are pouring through the gap", then they can issue new orders to have the other guys react... but only if they have runners available. Does that sound about right? Also, I assume that if BHQ ends up being overrun, than that brigade doesn't get anymore orders, it just flounders around attempting to carry out the last set of orders, or routs? sullat fucked around with this message at 04:44 on Feb 9, 2017 |
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Feb 9, 2017 04:38
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Under my command, the 53rd brigade will bring honor to all of France!
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Feb 9, 2017 04:53
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Calling 52nd brigade!
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Feb 9, 2017 07:19
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Just 2 reserve brigades left then. This is going better than I expected.
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Feb 9, 2017 07:41
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Updated list Corpse Commander: my dad Staff: Nine of Eight 119th (Reserve) Brigade ??? 120th (Reserve) Brigade ??? 6th Cavalry Brigade: xthetenth 6th Division HQ: thatbastardken 52nd Brigade: Comrade Koba 53rd Brigade: sixkiller 54th Brigade: hephasto 55th Brigade: sullat 22nd Division HQ: Barracuda 96th: Tehan 97th: Hunt11 98th: AbortRetryFail 99th: Loel
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Feb 9, 2017 08:23
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Gah, you fall asleep for all of, holy poo poo, 13 hours (must have been tired yesterday) and wake up to no chance of commands, I suppose I shall have to wait for the BEF! Edit: by which I mean reserve brigade please
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Feb 9, 2017 08:56
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This is WW1. Even the reserve brigades will probably be wiped out in time for tea.
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Feb 9, 2017 08:59
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What are you talking about? We'll sweep the prussians out of la belle pays at the point of a bayonet and we'll all be home drinking cognac by the fire by Christmas!
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Feb 9, 2017 09:21
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Guess I'll grab the 120th reserve. Ready to stand idle, sir!
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Feb 9, 2017 12:11
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For the avoidance of doubt, reserve brigades are of poorer quality than regular brigades, but may be deployed from turn 1 at the Corps Commander's discretion.xthetenth posted:Out of cuirassity, what are my horsey dudes equipped with? Is it one fast MG unit, three batteries of guns and then guys with cuirasses that I'm going to spend the game pleading to use as surrogate runners, or more a dragoon type setup? Your regular cavalry chits are armed with sabres (for use in a charge) and Berthier carbines; they have been convinced to leave all their shiny bollocks behind because a bullet in the face often offends.  OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE FROM: GEN. LYAUTEY, 2nd ARMY HQ TO: GEN. MON PERE, IV CORPS HQ Time is short, so please excuse the lack of official felicitations. First, please see enclosed a full-sized military-scale map of your area of operations. Under no circumstances may your men stray from this area. [That means, no map expansions like we had last time round.]  Here also is the Official Range Ruler. [40 pixels to the inch, every inch represents 80 yards.]  The latest reports tell us that enemy forces have been spotted off to the north, heading in your direction. Here are your orders, in descending priority. You will enter the map in the marked area, and then:  1. Proceed with all speed towards the critical strategic location of St Croissants and secure it against enemy occupation. 2. Occupy the maximum national territory possible against the depredations of the villainous Boche. 3. Occupy and maintain a presence in Faibleimpot village. This location is vital for our future operations. [Battle End 1] 4. Maintain the integrity of your forces to the best of your ability. [Battle End 2] Some Army-level reinforcements are available should you require them; but it will be strongly to your credit if you can achieve victory without this. Now let's get the bastards. Signed, Hubert Lyautey, General So there you go. You'll be judged after the battle on how well you can balance these competing demands. The battle will end when one side fulfils its end-of-battle criteria: If you occupy Faibleimpot and get a message back to Corps Command, a timer will begin. When the timer runs out, reinforcements will arrive in enough strength to end the battle. They will be irritated should it turn out that Faibleimpot is not in French hands when they arrive. If you lose three-quarters of your total forces, including any Army-level reserves provided or unexpected BEF reinforcements, General Lyautey will consider that the battle is too bloody and will order it stopped. Finally, for a better understanding of scale, here's the full-size map again; once with a single brigade on it for each side, and once with your entire corps on it.   edit: This was asked in the other thread and it bears repeating A Goon In A Pointy Hat posted:This is probably too much to hope for, but is there any room for conditionals in orders? Something like "Advance to that ridge. If there are any enemies in the valley below, stay there and engage. If not, cross through the valley and up that other ridge." Conditionals like this are very strongly encouraged, particularly if you also tell me information like e.g. whether or not you should auto-deploy a Runner if contact is made. The more I don't have to ask you questions because something happened that wasn't covered by your orders, the faster I can run the game. Just make sure that if you're going to have a condition like this, tell me what you want to do after the condition ends, otherwise things could get interesting. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 13:43 on Feb 9, 2017 |
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Feb 9, 2017 13:18
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What do the various colours on the map represent, and what, vaguely speaking, mechanical effect does it have on the poor mans sent to die in them?
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Feb 9, 2017 13:59
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1) How likely is it the enemy is aware that we want Faibleimpot? 2) If as a brigade commander I spot an enemy brigade, can I send runners to adjacent brigades to warn them they are about to walk into a death zone? 3) Dark green is forests, lighter green are hill elevations, but what are the lime green areas? 
AbortRetryFail fucked around with this message at 14:03 on Feb 9, 2017 |
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Feb 9, 2017 14:00
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I think the best plan is to rush to croissants with our cavalry and then use our infantry to try and draw the Germans into a meat grinder in the town.
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Feb 9, 2017 14:05
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How many brigades/units can deploy at once in the marked depoloyment area? I mean, I'll do the tapework myself if needed, but it'd be nice to know now. Does the game still have that quirk in which artillery can be direct-fired at by other artillery that has spotted your artillery firing but not the infantry inbetween that is supposed to block the shot? Second, a question for y'all (except Trin, obviously) what do you think we can expect the Boche objectives to be? I'm thinking either something related to the railway, or just breaking through us the same way we are to break through them. I'll get around to making a roll20 for this campaign if Loel or whoever doesn't beat me to it when we get a clear idea of general plan. I'd like to keep the observer thread fairly well informed, if possible, though, so make sure you post your thought and ideas here.
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Feb 9, 2017 14:17
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Some sort of presence on the tall hill in the southwestern quadrant of the map should make it easier for us to spot (and/or blow the hell out of) any German advance, right?
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Feb 9, 2017 14:20
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My guess would be the Boche want St Croissants and the rail line, but their main objective will be to get as far south as possible.
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Feb 9, 2017 14:24
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There are two possible goals I see the Boche having. 1. Take and hold an area close to our deployment corner. This is possibly the more meta-gamey guess but my thinking goes that Trin will want to encourage both sides to play aggressive so each side having an objective on the other side of the map would do just that. 2. Take and hold St. Croissants until reinforcements can be delivered into the heart of French territory. If this is the case then it may make sense to try and demolish the train tracks near any area that we should be able to hold.
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Feb 9, 2017 14:29
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In case people aren't checking the main thread, and because it was posted in the other sides thread I'll post this here as well - Since the last time we did this, I finally have played a game in real life - and wrote up a battle report - it may be of interest to people.
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Feb 9, 2017 14:35
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The large hill in the south-west is known locally as Le Teton, and should be a tactical priority for artillery spotting
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Feb 9, 2017 14:44
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Hunt11 posted:2. Take and hold St. Croissants until reinforcements can be delivered into the heart of French territory. If this is the case then it may make sense to try and demolish the train tracks near any area that we should be able to hold. I think we should do our best to secure the train tracks south of St. Croissants, as well as the town itself. It could be that they'd want to cut it off from rail reinforcement by French troops, in which case blowing it up ourselves would be a hilarious but ill-advised strategy.
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Feb 9, 2017 14:45
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Tehan posted:I think we should do our best to secure the train tracks south of St. Croissants, as well as the town itself. It could be that they'd want to cut it off from rail reinforcement by French troops, in which case blowing it up ourselves would be a hilarious but ill-advised strategy. I didn't think about that but it could easily go either way. So as a compromise I say have one part of the track rigged to blow so that if it looks like we are losing then we can just blow it up.
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Feb 9, 2017 15:03
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If we want to secure our starting quarter, both to guard the towns in case of the Germans having objectives mirroring ours and having a safe place for our divisional commanders to set up, then by my untrained eye we're going to need to hold these three villages in addition to holding St Croissants. This would claim a third of the map as 'ours', which is an impressive piece of real estate that may contain possible objectives for the Boche - for instance, if they are targeting the towns along the road leading east and west out of St Croissants. For the sake of reference, I shall call this Plan Anatole. A more modest defensive strategy may be to hold St Croissants as the tip of the bayonet, and the two towns flanking the tracks as the twin points of the crossguard. This plan would surrender much of the countryside to the depredations of the villainous Boche, but would allow us to project power to the western half of the area of operations much more easily than in Plan Alpha to react to enemy movements, as well as better allowing us to defend the southern stretch of the railway. It would also leave the balance of our forces much closer to our objective without revealing it. Another downside is that this would give us little change of inadvertently countering the enemy's plans unless they revolve around the southern stretch of rail. Let this be known as Plan Berthe.  A possible modification to Plan Berthe would be to claim Le Teton instead of the first village of that plan, extending our lines all the way to the western edge of the AO but claiming, as thatbastardken pointed out, a fantastic point for spotters to operate from. Our forces leaning so heavily west, however, all but surrenders the eastern half of the AO to the Boche. It could also be risky to lay claim to an area so far from our current location. Let this be known as Plan Célestin.  It would be nice to defend all of it, but this would give us a defensive line equal to the width of the area of operations, and require so many troops as to surrender all initiative to the Boche. "The left wing will be impotent to succor the right, the right equally impotent to succor the left." (I almost quoted Churchill, but he hasn't made most of his quotable quotes yet) Tehan fucked around with this message at 15:25 on Feb 9, 2017 |
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Feb 9, 2017 15:19
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I think we should definitely avoid destroying the rail lines all willy nilly since we might need them ourselves for something later, but if there's no hope of holding onto them then I don't see why not.
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Feb 9, 2017 15:24
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Plan berthe seems a bit too passive for my taste. Since crossaints is strategically the best position on the map it wouldn't necessarily reveal our objective if we were to push hard for it.
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Feb 9, 2017 15:37
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 General Mon Pere, Corps Commander We will push as hard as possible towards our primary objective, as ordered by the high command. Ground will be taken as necessary to protect our flank in support of this objective. Any plan that ignores the primary order given by the high command will, itself, be ignored. (Also, the way things seem now, I think we're not going to be able to deploy everyone at once - two-three brigades at a time, more like - and should take this into account)
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Feb 9, 2017 15:46
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The primary objective is St Croissants, and all three of the plans incorporated it as part of the defensive line  But if we've got a staggered deployment that'd really change things.
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Feb 9, 2017 15:57
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Figured it might be a good time to give the reminder before anyone starts putting too much effort into an overly metagaming plan. Your plans are perfectly fine, as far as suggestions go. 
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Feb 9, 2017 15:59
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Tehan posted:The primary objective is St Croissants, and all three of the plans incorporated it as part of the defensive line Yes and no. Our first objective is St. Croissants, but unless we want to turn this into a meatgrinder we have to push on past it and reach Faibleimpot.
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Feb 9, 2017 16:01
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my dad posted:Figured it might be a good time to give the reminder before anyone starts putting too much effort into an overly metagaming plan. Your plans are perfectly fine, as far as suggestions go. No worries, then. Hunt11 posted:Yes and no. Our first objective is St. Croissants, but unless we want to turn this into a meatgrinder we have to push on past it and reach Faibleimpot. I don't think that's something we can really plan for until we have some idea of where the enemy's forces are distributed. We can't even count on them starting opposite us - if I was running this I'd certainly be tempted to have the German starting line be somewhere else just to trip up the metagamers. All we really know is that somewhere around here are Germans, and that they need a jolly good thrashing.
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Feb 9, 2017 16:12
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I think Plan Anatole along with some scouting is a safe plan that will let us react most easily to what we see the enemy doing. RE: Enemy deployment, they may even be already deployed in defensive positions and have the objective to hold various locations. 
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Feb 9, 2017 16:24
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General Mon Pere, Corps Commander The high command told us that the German forces are advancing from the North. It would, therefore, be prudent to expect German attacks from the general North of our deployment zone. my dad fucked around with this message at 16:34 on Feb 9, 2017 |
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Feb 9, 2017 16:27
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It is appropriate that the fourth letter in the French phonetic alphabet is Désiré. Because it is the German's desire for the highest point that could doom them. Le Teton is a nigh irresistible piece of real estate, especially to  First, the bulk of our forces move along the lines marked in red, beelining to our primary objective and awaiting reports from scouts who will range ahead. Should they find that the Germans have taken and reinforced Le Teton, our forces will hinge upwards as marked in orange, leaving a sizable force in St Croissants and sending a strike team up and around the northernmost side of the hill, leaving the artillery that will inevitably have taken position on Le Teton powerless against the mighty bulwark of French soil that will be between us and them, allowing us to strike at Faibleimpot. If, however, they have resisted temptation, we can fall upon Le Teton instead along the lines marked in blue, and then send a force west and then north from St Croissants to strike at Faibleimpot, backed by the power of French cannon. The downside, however, is that this could leave us dangerously overextended should the Germans be on Le Teton - the line of communication required from Faibleimpot to high command would start at the northwest point and and at the southeast to avoid German firepower upon Le Teton, and any part of this line could be vulnerable to attack. Fake edit: the German deployment along the entire northern edge throws a sizable spanner in this works, since any plan revolving around Le Teton would leave us with swarms of Germans at our back. I will, however, share it regardless, in the faint hope that a wiser soul may be able to salvage a workable plan from it.
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Feb 9, 2017 16:31
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My idea is to send the cavalry first to rush towards the town but in a staggered enough fashion that should it be impossible for us to get to the train first then we don't lose them all. These cavalry are then followed up by three brigades from one division whose objective is to support the push for St. Croissant. Next the second division splits into two groups of two brigades and starts to move to widen our front and if we are lucky, hem the Huns in. Then the last brigade comes on and either moves to reinforce the rest of its division.
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Feb 9, 2017 16:33
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To my eye, the terrain of the area suggests itself to a natural 'front line' to any attempt by the Boche to take the area: Should this be the case, a push on the westernmost flank may lead to it collapsing back to protect any artillery atop the northwestern hill, allowing us unimpeded access to Faibleimpot without tipping our hand that it was our true objective all along. This would especially be the case if, God willing, we be able to beat the rascals to St Croissants, or otherwise take it from them - dividing their forces would leave them fearing encirclement, and thus make them more inclined to fall back on the western side if prodded. We must also beware pushing too hard on the east. We want them to seek sanctuary on the northeastern side, not the northwestern. If they use our objective as a staging point for their reserves and a guarded outpost for their commanders because they feel it safer than somewhere on the eastern side, we could be in some real trouble.
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Feb 9, 2017 16:41
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| # ? Apr 20, 2024 01:52 |
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As a staff officer I must inform my fellow gentlemen that I am very worried about the two hills above St.Croissant. Every elevated posistion is of utmost importance!
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Feb 9, 2017 16:43
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