Command Ops: "Arnhem: By The Shortest Way" -- Map Development

Arnhem: By the Shortest Way is a new scenario I am developing for Command Ops: Highway to the Reich. It is a historical what-if scenario that explores what would have happened at Arnhem if the Polish 1st Independent Brigade had dropped as scheduled on the 19th 1 mile south of the bridge at DZ-K.

Weather kept the Poles grounded on the 19th and Colonel Frost's 2nd Battalion's hold on the bridge was lost a day later.  Would the Poles have changed the course of the battle had they arrived on time?  My hope is that we will get a little closer to an answer with this what-if scenario.

Last evening I finished the map.  It's a bigger battle space than my previous scenario "The Lion Route" but will most likely have a similar amount of units.

The German player has 6 secure objectives and the Allies player has 7 secure objectives.

German Objectives:

High ground at Westerbouwig
Model's Former HQ (Hartenstein Hotel)
The Lion Route
St. Elizabeth's Hospital
North end of the bridge
South end of the bridge
City Commandant's HQ

Allies Objectives:

High ground at Westerbouwig
Division HQ (Hartenstein Hotel)
Oosterbeek
The Lion Route
St. Elizabeth's Hospital
Velp-Arnhem Highway (The original plan for 1st Airborne's drop called for the Poles to march through the city and to deploy to the east along the Velp-Arnhem highway) to prevent a potential German counterattack.)
North End of the bridge

The new map for Arnhem: By The Shortest Way.  Allies objectives are shown here.

My next step in the creation process will be finalizing the OOBs for each side.  Since this scenario starts on the 19th and is already days into the actual battle, I will have to adjust the troop strength levels and individual attributes in the OOB to reflect casualties, exhaustion, etc..  I expect this to be a longer process that will hopefully be accomplished by this time next week.

More to follow...


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

John Tiller's Campaign Series - Buy It Now

Image
John Tiller's campaign series game for $9.99 at  Matrix Games Ltd.  is a steal. There are so many great scenarios. I have been playing a Fastov scenario this morning detailing the 25th Panzer Division probe into a Soviet armor formation in 1943. If my memory is correct, the division commander is killed and the reconnaissance battalion is wiped out. The Campaign Series game lays this meeting engagement out on a beautiful map with the full OOB (over 300 unit counters are present). I have considered setting up this battle before for Panzer Battles and Command Ops, so to find it in this title's scenario list this morning was very exciting! This is a zoomed out view of the northern portion of the Fastov map in the map editor. Each hex is 250 meters. In the image below, 25th Panzer is probing north towards Fastov along both sides of the Unava river. The scenario designer set a minor victory at 600 objective points and a major victory at 1200 points. You can technically achieve
Read more

Maxwell's Marauders: Find the Observation Post

Image
Maxwell’s Marauders, 1st Platoon, C Company of the 7th Marine Regiment is a fictional unit, filled with characters that I have created to deepen my connection to my Squad Battles “ Proud and the Few ” gaming. The New York boys, Bullseye, Sgt. Rock and the rest are going to be persistent characters (unless they die on my digital battlefields) that take me through the War in the Pacific. From Guadalcanal to New Britain to Peleliu and finally Okinawa, the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment served with distinction and so too will Maxwell’s Marauders. Along the way, my hope is that by investing in the backstories of the soldiers on the map, I will play smarter and take fewer risks with them, enjoy my gaming and appreciate this great Squad Battles system in a deeper way. About these scenarios The scenarios are short (under 20 turns (100 minutes or less of combat). They are historical, even though the unit is fictional. Each battlefield map is an approximation of the terrain Frisbie’s
Read more

Edson's Ridge

Image
September 12, 1942, just before sunset: [Historical scenario] Japanese Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi has come to Guadalcanal to lead the attack against the Marine foothold on the island at Henderson Airfield. The I and III battalions of the 124th Infantry regiment are to attack from the south, along with the Kuma Battalion, II battalion of the 4th infantry regiment 19th engineer battalion. Kawaguchi will personally lead these battalions. A composite of Japanese engineers, special naval landing troops and the Oka Force, II Bn 124 Inf Rgt are to attack from the West. The Japanese objectives are the Marine bridge over the Lunga, the air traffic control tower on Pagoda Hill, the main runway hangars, and the Fighter One airstrip. Kawaguchi has grossly underestimated the strength of the Marine force facing him. The Marines have also disrupted his supply base along the coast at Tasimboko, dispersing a small reserve force, his artillery, and supplies. Special Terrain rules: The Lunga River
Read more