The Sharp End Gaming

The Stolberg Corridor: This scenario is included in the Westwall and details the fighting outside of Aachen in September 1944. I love Command Ops but almost never play it now.  That is amazing because I basically spent all of 2014-5 playing it, creating scenarios for it and musing about it's future or lack thereof. I do not love Command Ops 2.  The game is essentially the same, with some improvements but it's new publisher smartly released it for free with some stock scenarios and then re-released all of the old content plus some new stuff (see the screen above) for a reduced price that better fits the marketplace (kudos to David Heath!). The base game is still charming but CO2 symbolizes for me how gaming companies can go off the rails with patches and updates (there were years of these) while failing deliver on the wider promise of said wargaming engine by delving into new content (which you have said for years is just over the horizon). I am writing about Command...

I've seen the complaints and hesitation from gamers about the new Command Ops in a variety of forums and wanted to address them here if possible. I agree with most of what I have read:  Command Ops 2 is buggy, the pricing model is confusing and the communication between LnL/Panther and the gaming community could be better. But the new release is still Command Ops and it is vastly better at 60% capacity than are most games at 100% capacity. I had the privilege of seeing the development versions of the new engine and I know it has come a long way with a lot of hard work by Dave and company.  I am confident that this company's almost obsessive debugging will continue until CO3 is released because they are very good at listening to the community. For me, the biggest question about CO2 is where is it going/how will it be different than the CO1?  The interface change and the grognard chrome of planning aids and situation maps are neat but that's not enough for me. ...

To download the new engine for FREE please click here . 

Map in progress. So I've been bitten by the Command Ops bug again. I started cleaning up the Riga scenarios last night and enjoyed the changes so much, that I am now cleaning up another much bigger campaign. The map above is the basis for my new Stalingrad map.  I am tracing the map right now and should have it done by tomorrow evening. So look for a Riga 2.0 release next week and I am going to work really hard to finish a Stalingrad scenario as a Christmas present for the Command Ops community while we await CO2.

   I am reworking the OOBs, adding additional detail to the map and estab files for my Eastern Front scenarios.  This playtest of a revised "To the Daugeva" scenario ended in a draw.  It represented much more of a challenge as the Axis player.  Will try the Soviet side tomorrow.

50 km x 50 km. This is a trace of a Soviet era army map. TO DOWNLOAD THIS MAP PLEASE CLICK HERE.

I've created a number of scenarios now and I am beginning to feel like I understand the process. Along the way I've made a few notes about the game and the editor.  Celow are four features I wish I as a scenario designer had access to as part of the editor. 1. The ability to assign unit objectives for reinforcements as part of the scenario creation.   Example: The German player's 336th division is attacking a Soviet 5th Tank Corps formation that has seized Sovchos 79.  The Army Group Don commander (under which the 336th is assigned) orders the reinforcing I Bn 105th PG Regt to assist in the attack but with an objective of cutting off the Soviet units at Sovchos 79 from the Chir River rather than a direct assault.  The Axis player could alter the unit's orders once they appear on map but they might choose to let the attack proceed so they could focus on the 336th assault. 2.  Timed or Triggered Messages:  The triggers could be set up like an objecti...

Background:  Sep 10, 1944 06:30 hrs SE of Riga The Soviet advance SE of Riga to cutoff the retreating German 18th Army at the Daugeva River is bogging down due to difficult terrain and heavy rain. Ahead of them, the Germans are digging in. North of the Daugeva the 18th army is pulling out of their bridgehead and retreating back through Riga with two Soviet armies on their heels.  The Luftwaffe is fighting a losing battle in the skies as Soviet fighters and bombers swarm overhead. Tens of thousands of Latvian refugees crowd the roads into Riga with the 18th army as they flee the Soviets. At night the German defenders along the Kekava river defense line can see that the City is on fire and the air if filled with the crescendo of the Soviet bombing campaign over 30km away. German commander: Hold the line.  You are in command of one reinforced battalion. Soviet Commander:  Seizing the series of bridges at Kekava will open up Riga to the 64th Rifle divi...

German infantry dig in along the higher ground on the west bank of the Dnieper river in Ukraine 1943. September 24 1943 04:00 hrs Semi-historical* After weeks of resistance on the eastern bank of the Dnieper river, Hitler has grudgingly allowed the withdrawal of the German Army Group South back across the Dnieper river to the series of fortifications along the western bank called the "Eastern Wall." Under orders from Stalin, the Soviet forces have continued their advance and launch a massive  assault staged on a 300-kilometer front almost simultaneously by four Soviet Fronts. All available means of transport were to be used to bring the attackers to the opposite shore, including small fishing boats and improvised rafts. On September 24th in the town of Dniprodzerhynsk a bridgehead is established and immediately comes under fierce counterattack by German forces. Soviet commander:  Establish the bridgehead and hold against the expected counterattack. German comm...

German soldiers advancing through Stalingrad. My basic version of a Platoon level game for Command Ops is now available for download.  My " Charge of the Pioneers" scenario covers the first hours of Operation Hubertus, the German attempt to eliminate the remaining pockets of Soviet resistance inside Stalingrad. As the German commander you are in control of a reinforced battalion, comprised of German Pioneers and infantry as well as two StuG III platoons. As the Soviet commander you are in control of the remnants of two Soviet Rifle regiments, supported by static T-34 tanks and some static Workers militia sections that are still holding portions of the Red October and Lazur factories. You can download the game folder here:  http://bit.ly/1ph2QzM A few thoughts about the game: - The map is a trace of a Google Earth shot of the battlefield.  The location of buildings isn't 100% based on their 1942 positions, as things have been rebuilt, but the scale is right ...

Soviet infantry on the offensive in Jelgava Latvia 1944. In early 1944 the Third Baltic Front of the Soviet Army began it's attack against the northernmost end of the German defensive line near Leningrad.  The Soviet offensive kicked off a long fighting withdrawal by the German army which eventually ended with the German 18th army cutoff on the Courland peninsula west of Riga in Latvia. One of the most important defensive stands occurred in October of 1944 in Riga along the Daugeva River. Hitler ordered a defense of "Fortress Riga" in the face of three Soviet armies.  The Soviets, lacking armor, relied heavily upon what German commanders were calling in their reports "human wave attacks" against their defensive lines.  Eventually and with great loss the Soviets drove the Germans back. Fortress Riga 1944 simulates two moments of the fighting for Riga:  the push to seize the vital bridges of Kekava southeast of the the city and the fight into the City pro...

A German sniper team at Stalingrad. As I build out my Operation Hubertus scenario in the editor I've been thinking about the different types of units I need to add. So far the units I need to complete are: Soviet Guards Inf Plt Soviet Anti-tank Team Soviet AT Gun Soviet Guards HMG Team Soviet Guards Coy HQ Soviet Militia Section - Static Soviet Naval Infantry Section German and Soviet Sniper Teams German AT Gun German Flamethrower Team  To create the Sniper Teams for both sides (basically a "section" with two infantry with modified rifles and four infantry as a protection detail), I've decided to model the Mosin Nagant and the Kar 98k accuracy numbers and ranges to account for the telescopic sights and skilled shooters handling the guns. I've increased the range from 500m to 900m and increased the accuracy numbers for each weapon.  I've yet to playtest this but fingers crossed with only a few of these units present at a time...

Legends of the Blitzkrieg is a tactical level version of Command Ops that will simulate the 1940 fighting in France.  In development for at least two years, it looks fantastic (see below) but there has been nothing substantive posted about it in the forum in over a year that I can find. LOTB - This is a screenshot of the game that is in development.  Look at the map textures (which are fantastic).  Now the counters, also fantastic. A German Rifle company and a tank company are presented here. With the back and forth I've seen in the forums about the future of the game recently, I didn't want to go another year without seeing the CO engine (as is) in action at that scale. So I fiddled over the last 2 days with a Eastern Front version of LOTB.  I went back to one of my favorite Eastern Front scenarios ( Objective Taganrog ) and then zoomed in on the bridge.  The terrain today is not that dissimilar I imagine than it was in 1941 so I grabbed a Google Eart...

I've resumed work on the the Fortress Riga scenarios. I have one more to go: Fortress Riga 1944.  The base units for this scenario are battalions.  The German OOB can be seen in the screenshot above including their initial placement on the map.  The scenario occurs from Oct. 11-13 1944.

II Bn 43 SS Regt moves into a reserve position while the attack on Smizenes and Vaveres to the east commences. Final screen. The 43rd was retreating back into the City when the scenario ended. Some additional scenario information: 11 Oct 1944 02:00hrs Fictional scenario* About the name : The Brothers of the Sword were a monastic order of knights in Latvia during the Middle Ages. Background: German resistance on the east bank of the Daugeva is collapsing.  Only a driving rain storm has prevented a Soviet armor brigade from encircling the remaining German units. The roads leading towards the bridges at Riga Castle and relative safety on the western bank of the Daugeva are clogged with Latvian refugees fleeing the Soviets. In order to give the tens of thousands of Latvian refugees time to cross the river, 43rd SS Regiment Commander Robert Osis has come up with a daring plan.

The German 11th Army operated in much different conditions than the other German armies to it's north.  Lacking air superiority and subject to counterattacks by Soviet naval infantry on their flanks along the Black Sea Coast  and large Russian formations to their east, they advanced steadily through the summer and fall of 1941 on the ultimate prize of Sevastopol. A note about this scenario. I have not patched the game yet.  So I am running an older version of CO. This will force you, I believe, to open the map in mapmaker and generate a new map cache.  If you have a problem playing this scenario, please leave me a comment and I will work with you to fix it. Scenario Briefing: Semi historical scenario* September 24 1941 The drive on Sevastopol is underway.  General von Manstein's 11th army has made excellent progress along the steppe but as they have closed on Sevastopol Russian resistance has stiffened. Overhead the Soviet air force maintains air s...

The numbered icons represent scenarios during the Fortress Riga campaign between Oct. 9-13. I  wanted to post this update to preview my latest Command Ops scenario efforts.  I took a different approach with Fortress Riga and it's taking much longer than I planned.  I decided to create a four scenario campaign that recreates the 5 days of fighting for the city of Riga in October of 1944. The scenarios are as follows: 1. Bridges at Kekava : Oct. 9-10th -- Semi-historical scenario: Soviet forces are chasing after the heels of the retreating German 19th Grenadier SS Division until the Germans turn to fight them at Kekava. 2. To the Daugeva: Oct. 11-12th -- Historical scenario:  The Soviet 54th Army begins its attack against Riga. 3. Brothers of the Sword : Oct 12-13th -- Fictional scenario:  SS officer Roberts Osis offers to lead his regiment in a daring counterattack against a weak point in the Soviet line.  4. Flight of the 227th : Oct. 12-13t...

The Army of the North is a series of scenarios using my latest map for the Riga AO.  The German 18th army is attempting to prevent encirclement by the Soviet Third Baltic Front as they withdraw to the Courland peninsula northwest of Riga. So far I have two scenarios I am working on. Bridges at Kekava : A regiment sized scenario fought SE of Riga during a rainstorm.  The 42nd SS Regt from the 2nd Latvian division turns to fight Soviet armor units as they withdraw west of Riga towards the Courland peninsula. Fortress Riga :  The Army of the North master scenario with the GE 227th Inf Div, 6th Motorized Flak Div and the 393rd StuG Bde fighting elements of three Soviet divisions. The finished map. The German point of view. Bridges at Kekava.

Riga map complete!

Almost there.  Everything south and west of the Daugeva river is done. A little more work and the northern side of the map starts to come into view.  I am actually considering breaking out a portion of the OOB from the Fortress Riga scenario, cropping this map and making a regiment level scenario featuring elements of the 19th SS Latvian division as they withdraw towards Riga. To learn more about this scenario please click here .