Slitherine

Guinea pigs required please...

In homage, to Amaris' absolutely wonderful Ortona (Little Stalingrad) campaign, I've adapted for multiplayer... Please see Amaris' original link for the full details of his incredible single-player scenarios-> viewtopic.php?f=105&t=33874

For multiplayer Ortona, click this link -> http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31228617/ORTONA_MP.zip
Unzip the downloaded folder into your \BBCBA\Multiplayer folder

You'll get an epic 35-turn opportunity to assault the Italian town of Ortona (as the Canadian 1st Division) or to defend it (as the newly re-inforced elite German 1st Para Division). In December 1943, this deepwater port approximately halfway up the east coast of Italy is vital to the Allied charge northwards. Hitler has ordered that "every house and tree" must be held "at all costs".

The winner holds the most (of seven) VP flags at the end, but you will lose automatically if your opponent takes your final flag at any time. The Canadians must secure their foothold.

Other adaptations for multiplayer (modded by RF900 and Enric, thanks guys!):
"Walking mortars" and MG42s - Mortars and heavy machine guns can move one space without transports
Merge - Wounded infantry units can merge together (max 5/5 afterwards)
Swap - Adjacent units can swap positions (which allows you to move AT guns one space by swapping places with an adjacent tank or infantryman)

This is an early draft entirely based on Amaris' phenomenal map, so it's likely that the final release may require eg. changes to units for force selection. Please feedback any map comments to Amaris, and post any VP, bonus or unit selection comments here.

I've just put up an "Ortona MP" challenge if anyone is ready to play...?

GL88

NB. More history here -> http://www.canadaatwar.ca/page44.html

HINTS & TIPS:

* Several units come pre-promoted. By late '43, the German 1st Para had become battle hardened through prior actions in Poland, Norway & Denmark, France, Mainland Greece and Crete, the Soviet Union and Sicily... You'll need those extra skills... Remember that the enemy have them, if you're the Canadian.

* Canadian Seaforth Highlanders soon recognised that "mouse holing", or house to house fighting by using piats to blow passageways through the walls of adjacent buildings was the only way to advance. Fighting in the open streets was signing your own death warrant. "Mouse holing" became the standard for house clearances in all future urban assaults of WW2.

* For the German, this is a game of secret entrenchment, ambush and escape. Your enemy has scouts and can see you from two spaces away, in the open. Use your own scouts to know when you've been detected. Canadian 25-pdr artillery barrages are less effective onto houses (and were supposedly near useless in Ortona in reality) but you don't want your frontline suppressed as the Highlanders arrive. For a sneaky German player, can you take the Canadian's only flag? If the Allies lose their foothold, this advance is over.

* The Canadian has two options: (i) charge of the light brigade, you have a tank force, and a small number of paras... Can you force a break in the defences and surge through?, or (ii) slow and steady, with artillery and mortar support... A war of attrition, where you bombard, he bombards... Your units are cheaper but his are better trained... Throw the dice... You may also have a heavily armoured Churchill Crocodile flamethrower... Use it to full effect, but beware your 100 defence armour will not protect you, if German flamethrower infantrymen find you... You'll quickly be a Quebec toast waiting for the maple syrup.

* The German should expect the Canadian to win the two central, neutral flags fairly quickly... But the Canadian should expect to take very heavy losses taking either of the next two, German flags.

Some initial screenshots and early gameplay comments here... viewtopic.php?f=87&t=36587&p=344389#p344384