Command Ops: "The Battle For Champs" Scenario - Available for Download

American GIs take cover from German shelling inside the Bastogne perimeter.

Scenario Description:

The Battle for Champs occurred on December 25th, 1944.  Elements of two German divisions assaulted the western side of the Bastogne perimeter through the driving snow in attempt to take the American defenders by surprise on Christmas morning.

Scenario Notes:

- I created this map using the in-game editor.  It is based on the Battle of Champs map found in the Osprey Books campaign title "Ardennes 1944."

- The OOB is the historical composition of forces for the battle.

- The German side includes elements of the 15th PZG Division and the 26th VolksGrenadier division.

- The American force consists of 1/502 and part of 1/327th.

- The scenario is 1 day and 10 hours long.

- Weather:  Snowing.

Scenario Files:

- Map file is here.

- Map cache is here.

- Scenario file is here.

Please leave me any feedback here and I hope you enjoy the scenario.

Happy hunting.

- Chris

Comments

RangerX3X said…
Great scenario: I really enjoyed playing it as the Allies. I will have to give it a go as the Axis forces as well.
November 12, 2013 at 1:21 AM
Chris said…
Thanks Tim! I am glad you enjoyed it. The Deelen Airfield scenario you created inspired me to do this one. Good size and shared objectives for both sides, also short time frame.

I have achieved a marginal victory for the Allies and a decisive defeat for the Axis. For the decisive defeat I attacked in the direction the German forces did during the actual battle and met with swift failure.

I also have a Favor Axis reinforcement that I didn't add in because I didn't playtest it. Let me know how your Axis play goes. I might add it in later this week.
November 12, 2013 at 6:25 AM
RangerX3X said…
I played the scenario as the Axis three times employing different tactics each time and ended up with two Decisive Defeats (6-71 and 7-72) and one Draw (40-36). I noticed on these efforts that the Germans had no supply base, and thus no supply throughout the scenario. With a regimental HQ present, normally I would expect to see a base unit; however that is purely your choice to exclude as the designer. Overall, the Germans felt too weak to take both objectives.
November 12, 2013 at 2:52 PM
Chris said…
Hi Tim, thanks for the feedback. I hadn't noticed the omit of the supply base. I will add that in. I also think the German side is too weak. I will update tonight and repost the file. There was a "mixed force" that participated in the attack, but because it wasn't defined I left it out. I was keeping a small KG that I had created for this force as the potential Favor Axis option. I will add them into the standard reinforcement schedule. I am also going to look at the estab for the VG division. My understanding on VGs was that they were heavy on firepower and weak on reliable troops. The troop weakness seems to be there but the firepower seems underwhelming. Any thoughts? Fixes to VG units?
November 12, 2013 at 4:00 PM
RangerX3X said…
Just my two cents as a novice scenario designer: I would add a supply base to both the Allies and Axis units that are on the map from the start, add some more units to the Axis side to beef them up a bit, and move the reinforcement unit – II Bn HQ 77 Gren Regt to spawn at a road on the edge of the map. Personally I am not a fan of reinforcements arriving in the middle of a map unless they are paratroops dropping from the sky (again, just my preference).
November 12, 2013 at 4:17 PM
Chris said…
Good thoughts Tim. I will make the changes. Historically 2nd battalion attacked from the north over the fields there. What I will do is put them in Longchamps which isnt far away.
November 12, 2013 at 4:20 PM
RangerX3X said…
Attacking over the fields is great; I would suggest placing them at the very top of the map in the middle then, so they can maneuver through the heide or woods to get to the roadways and/or objectives.
November 12, 2013 at 4:26 PM
Chris said…
Hi Tim. I've made the tweaks and uploaded the new file. I am going to test tonight. If you do, let me know what you think. And thanks for the suggestions!

Chris
November 12, 2013 at 4:59 PM
RangerX3X said…
I ran through the updated scenario and achieved a Marginal Defeat 48-72 playing as the Axis, however it plays much better. I like how you added the 13.77 Heavy Mortar Platoon as reinforcement: that brought some much needed firepower. It seems that when I play as the Axis, the AI chooses to park 1st Battalion at the Road to Bastogne Objective which is difficult to unseat, so the scenario is challenging.

I noticed that there was no data in the supply tab, so I checked the scenario file and noticed that there were no SEP’s for either the Germans or Americans: if you place those down they supply the supply bases so they do not run out during the mission. Much improved overall, however it was a fun and challenging mission to begin with and is only getting better with the tweaks you have made.
November 12, 2013 at 5:28 PM
Chris said…
hi Tim, I've made the sep update and will upload file. I played as the Axis and the Allies just now. I had a better plan for the allies and had a marginal victory. I held the woods south of Champs which gave me good coverage of the road to Longchamps. German units tried to flank me around Rolle Chateau but I positioned some Tankdestroyers in the woods and then slotted in B company of the 327th and drove them back. I failed miserably as the Axis though. Champs became a mini-Bastogne and I couldn't break them in the given amount of time. Which leads me to the question, is it worth lengthening the scenario some to give the Axis a chance?
November 12, 2013 at 9:14 PM
RangerX3X said…
That is a pure judgement call Chris. From your research on the subject, was the forces facing each other relatively equally matched or was one decidedly more powerful? If there was a clear superior force, then a proper representation of the battle would be that it would be very difficult if not impossible for the weaker real life side to win in the scenario. To “even it out” to give both sides an equal shot would actually do a disservice to the real life combatants IMHO.
November 13, 2013 at 7:25 PM
Chris said…
Hi Tim. I think I will keep the time limit as is. The German commander on the ground wanted to give up the attack on the first day before lunch time but Model ordered him to continue attacking. The attack was basically over by nightfall with the Germans withdrawing. Thanks for your feedback.
November 13, 2013 at 8:31 PM
Unknown said…
Great work. Thanks for making these scenarios and sharing them. You should advertise them more in the forum, I think. I hate FB, but found this page through your advert for the FB page. Love the scale of the CHamps scenario. Will have a shot at it. There's no SEPs in the .cos by the way. Did you update to add SEPs? I can add them in easy enough, but you should have them, I think. Many thanks, again. (PHOENIX)
December 5, 2013 at 3:23 PM
Unknown said…
Played it through as Allies and enjoyed it a lot. I tinkered with it a bit first - hope that's ok. I added SEPs in - gave the Axis 2 in fact, one in Longchamps and 1 near their base, in the fields (I'm not sure, but since there's no road there I think that might affect the supply flow a bit - hence the road based SEP in Longchamps also) I also re-arranged the starting positions for the allies a little - didn't like having an HQ on the mian objective, so swapped it out with a line unit, moved the mortar back a bit behind the HQ etc - mortars and HQs seem vulnerable anyway in CO, so don't like having them up front. And I added some time to take it to 2 full days, as you considered. It seemed to play through very balanced as Allies then - I got a draw without doing anything, on full speed (just to test). Will try as Axis too. Great stuff though. Thanks again.
December 5, 2013 at 3:53 PM
Chris said…
Hi Peter! Thanks for the comments here. It is a much tougher play as the Axis in my opinion. Let me know what you think!

Chris
December 6, 2013 at 7:47 AM
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