[Strike - Counter Strike] A GTS Narrative LP

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > [Strike - Counter Strike] A GTS Narrative LP

tomdidiot: Apr 23, 2014; Stupid Grognard

Very hype for this. There's this weird time period between Market Garden and the start of the Bulge in the fall of '44 that plays host to a lot of interesting campaigns - Patton's campign in Lorraine, the Hurtgen forest, the Canadians in the Scheldt, that get overlooked in favour of the far more sexy big battles.

Having said this, anyone got any good books on the Lorraine Campaign?

# ¿ Mar 3, 2024 12:28

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 15, 2024 17:49

tomdidiot: Apr 23, 2014; Stupid Grognard

Tekopo posted:

Dramatis Personae

Panzer Lehr Division

The Panzer Lehr division began forming in 1943, and although it's official name was the 130th Panzer Division, due to it's initial status as a teaching, training and demostration division, it was known as the Lehr Division. It began forming in 1943 and was mostly created as a counter the expected Allied invasion. Made up of highly experienced troops, the Lehr was one of the few divisions that, by the end of the war, was fully stocked with halftracks and tanks, making it a fully mobile division where most of the rest of the Wehrmacht still made use of trucks or, even worse, horse-drawn transport. It initially participated in Operation Margarethe, the German occupation of Hungary, before going back west and becoming part of the German armored reserve, destined to counter-attack any potential invasion of northern France.

Panzer Lehr took part in the battle for Normandy, being released a few days after the invasion, and hitting British and Canadian forces near Caen. The division took heavy losses during the ensuing fights, mostly due to the heavy allied air presence. It eventually fought in the defence of Saint Lo, where the division was rendered combat ineffective, with only about 1200 combat troops left, and only 20 tanks. After the Allied breakout in Normandy, it was sent back to the Saar to refit and rearm, where its strength was bolstered substantially.

Just before Wacht am Rhein, Panzer Lehr, with a strength of about 34 Panzer IVs and 38 Panthers, attacked south towards the Saverne Gap, leading to the start of this particular battle.

Panzer Lehr was definitely well-stocked with tanks and half tracks (it was the only division in the German army that had all of its infantry mounted in halftracks) at Normandy, but it never really repalced those losses, and after Normandy, it was basically just another regular Panzer division.

quote:

4th Armored Division

The 4th Armored was a newly activated US armored division created during world war II in April 1941. After training in the US and arriving to train in England between January and July 1944, it arrived at Utah beach on the 11th of July, a month after the initial landings. Taking part in Operation Cobra, and was instrumental in liberating Nantes and cutting off the Brittany peninsula, after which it swiftly advanced east, crossing the Moselle in September and then fighting several German brigades in the Lorraine area. By November, it had crossed the Saar river and eventually swung back North, striking back at the attacking Panzer Lehr division that had attempted to cut the XV Corps supply lines, just before the Battle of the Bulge began.

This was Patton's favourite division, and there's a strong argument that this was the best US armored division of the war. Notably, Creighton Abrams, later commander of MACV in Vietnam, Chief of Staff of the US Army, and namesake of the Abrams tank, made his name commanding the 37th Tank Batallion in the 4th Armored Division during World War 2.

Also worth adding that this wasn't the first time 4th Armored had come into contact with Panzer Lehr - they had faced off with the 130th Panzer Regiment about two months before at Arracourt when 130th Panzer was detached to the 113th Panzer Bde.

Also, the other dramatis personae is the US 44th Division, which is probably the real hero of the action.

# ¿ Mar 3, 2024 16:31

tomdidiot: Apr 23, 2014; Stupid Grognard

Tekopo posted:

The only thing that I regret is not realising that the vassal module for this game does not have the auto-attack calculator built in. In Operation Mercury there's a calculator that automatically calculates range, terrain, supply effects, if a unit is Out Of Command, and it makes running the game a breeze since there's a ton of modifiers in this game and the module just calculates all of them for you, including telling you what the result of the roll is (it's a bit screwy for assaults, though). This is completely missing from this module, so I'll have to manually check all applicable modifiers and check the CRT.

Pain.

Huh, did not realise. That seems like a step backwards, but at the same time I can appreciate it might have been extra work to code, so the modules were released as is.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2024 11:34

tomdidiot: Apr 23, 2014; Stupid Grognard

4th Amoured Arriving is a hell of a swing - The Germans essentially have until the end of the next day to arrive because once the other Combat Command for 4th Armored gets there , it's over.

The Combat Command is so brutally effective because it's a massive unit (so its really efficient to put it in the chit) AND it has extra task force leaders which help mitigate the downside of big units of only being able to operate in one place at one time.

Looks very similar to how the Germans had done in my solo game - though I managed to hold onto Drulingen with my 114th Rgt units until the middle of the 24th.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2024 18:59

tomdidiot: Apr 23, 2014; Stupid Grognard

4th Armored Strong!

# ¿ Mar 9, 2024 11:48

tomdidiot: Apr 23, 2014; Stupid Grognard

Barrages are essentially a form of soft suppression, which is cool. Even the bravest Para or Panzergrenadier is diving for cover when the arty comes flying. They�ll still get up and shoot back if they get attacked (unlike actual suppression) .

# ¿ Mar 9, 2024 14:33

tomdidiot: Apr 23, 2014; Stupid Grognard

Things looking bad for the Germans. They need 36 VPs to get even a marginal victory, and they're definitely past their high water mark.

Even if you were playing the short Campaign, unless they get lucky killing a few American units, they're currently at a draw (given they'll be gaining about 8 VPs next turn)..

# ¿ Mar 11, 2024 00:46

tomdidiot: Apr 23, 2014; Stupid Grognard

This would be the last turn for a short campaign, and the Germans would've eeked out a draw here.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2024 12:00

tomdidiot: Apr 23, 2014; Stupid Grognard

What do the dead piles look like?

# ¿ Mar 13, 2024 12:38

tomdidiot: Apr 23, 2014; Stupid Grognard

AMERICA gently caress YEAH

# ¿ Mar 13, 2024 19:42

tomdidiot: Apr 23, 2014; Stupid Grognard

Yup, agree - allied firepower is pretty murderous in this game.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2024 19:47

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 15, 2024 17:49

tomdidiot: Apr 23, 2014; Stupid Grognard

I'd say GJS - but I'd also say I absolutely would not do the campaign game because it is truly obscene in size. I'd say the Right Hook scenario (Weeklong 50th Division + 7th Armoured vs Panzer Lehr and 352/716th) is bigger than the whole Mercury game.

The beach landing turns are critical so you probably want to do a dry run of that at least a few times before you play a scenario because the Allies can really hamstring themselves by messing up the landings. Defintiely watch Lee Forester's videos on GJS!

# ¿ Mar 23, 2024 14:50

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > [Strike - Counter Strike] A GTS Narrative LP