Scenario design input request from new guy

[AnalogGamer]

Greetings all,

Long-time PG player/newbie PC player here. Finished the base campaign to get a good feel for the new game. Made a few scenarios in PG and more than a few maps and scenarios in Combat Mission. No stranger to editors etc. I have read the editor manual and tutorials, as well as browsed the forums a bit.

I am ready to start in with the editor, and would like any veteran input I could get before getting too involved in projects that may not see interest.

I am a 53 year old WW2 grog(since I was a boy), but make semi-historical-to-fictional scenarios. I know where I am straying, but have read too much alternate history to stay the course.

So these are my thoughts for my general scenario-making course... Please jump in and correct false assumptions, etc...

I started with both the units, and the editor. I settled on 10km per hex and 2 days per turn as a fair approximation of unit capabilities, and terrain detail. A recon Btn/Reg could cover 30 km in two days for three hexes, etc. kind of thing.

Ten Kilometers does seem cramped for a regimental formation counter, until one realizes that 1100 meters was the "book" frontage for a panzer regiment attack with echeloned battalions. A company in a modern armored cavalry regiment would cover that.

So that gives me my TO&E patterns. Troops and tanks are Regiments, with all support as Battalions. Aircraft are squadrons.

I don't do overstrength, or uber units. Bitter battle experience comes at a cost. Two stars means a 9 to start, and max of 11.

Imagine for a moment that Erhard Raus, Hustlin' Heinz Guderian, Erwin Rommel and Erich von Manstein could actually get their way as far as TO&E requests and staff studies. That is what I do. What they need, but not every toy in the box. Guderian as Chief of Staff in '42, with influence over OKW, if you will.

So we get to map size, which dictates force size and battle length.

A plane can fly 14 hexes. Most armor travels five. Those were my baselines.

At 10 km per hex, and making sure air power cannot project map-wide, I came up with a 50X70 hex map size. The 500 kilometer height makes for 3 full air moves plus some cushion for edges. The depth is required for set up zones and the reason for a corp-level exercise. I may increase the length for better setup zone options/depth.

700 km over two months. 30 turns at two days per turn. Decisive is all objectives with 5 turns left. Marginal is all objectives. So, panzer divisions will have two regiments at nearly or full strength(instead of one). AT capability is better. That sort of thing. July/August '42 or '43.

German Attacker is missing about 30% of core and has enough prestige to round out to his/her liking.

Soviet Defender is missing about 20%, and can adjust as desired for chosen strategy(which ONE VL do you want to try and keep, etc).

And here is where I depart from real accuracy...

I prefer sand-table exercises with tactical options and challenges over real world overlays. I have done both, and seem to enjoy making and playing on maps and scenarios that are driven by the engine and my sadism towards my friends. I have re-fought every major and most minor battles of WW2 from pencil, string and dice... to now. A beer&pretzels battle is nice now and then

Everything looks like it belongs there(I am a detail fanatic), but it doesn't match any real place... except coincidentally. I like to put a variety of terrain challenges in each map. Frontal attack against fortifications, or flank through either the swamp or mountains. Choose your poison. The enemy will be obligingly waiting for you.

After sketching in the terrain like seas, mountains and then watersheds, it goes organically from there. Tactically-driven, or mission-based, tectonics.

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So, is there interest in a corps commander final exam sand table battle?

Where are my first mistakes? Any help from experienced scenario creators, or links to relevant documents, would be greatly appreciated.

Come Igor... back to the laboratory...


Thanks for your attention, and may your artillery never fall short.

[ThvN]

Hello there! I'm not good with designing scenarios, but I'm curious if you will be using the stock equipment file? Some units have stats that are not very representative of their real abilities and make them a bit unrealistic, either too powerful or too weak (like the Valentine tank), are you going to tweak the forces on the map to counter this effect or try to make a custom equipment file? It sounds like you have a pretty good idea of working to a fixed scale, this will certainly make design and balancing easier.

And do you like random weather? I see the setting is summertime on the Eastern Front, so it sounds like you are going for mostly clear weather to limit its effects on combat?

A while ago, member the_iron_duke was working on something similar, but he hasn't been around for a while now, although it looked very interesting. Here's his thread, it might help to flesh out some ideas? viewtopic.php?f=121&t=46302

[AnalogGamer]

Thanks for the link ThvN. I will add that to my research.

For my first project I am going to keep things simple. Summer '43 with minimal weather changes. The date allows players to choose from a good variety(K5 etc.), although all pre-purchased/deployed assets will be much more "vanilla".

Equipment will most likely be tweaked in the scenario settings rather than a custom equipment file for the first go 'round. Once I have more experience I will grab a well-respected existing tweaked file and work to that. If I can do things like... place units with no XP, 11 strength to start, but max of 8 after losses; then I have many ideas to implement.

Once I have the basics down, I will move on to more challenging scenarios, then a campaign.

[ThvN]

If I can do things like... place units with no XP, 11 strength to start, but max of 8 after losses; then I have many ideas to implement.

That is possible; every pre-placed unit on a map can be given different amounts of XP, and the strength can be adjusted as well. You can view all these options in the editor if you hover your mousecursor over a unit and press 'Shift+left-click' .

If you don't want to use a custom equipment file, there is still another trick to adjust pre-placed units: give them specific heroes to 'correct' any stats.