Sunday, May 30, 2010

Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge - Tutorial Scenario - Planning - Enemy

Continuing with the planning process, now I'll consider the enemy.

From the briefing, we know that across the bridge we face a single regiment of the 12th Volksgrenadier Division. And also we know that St. Vith is not occupied by the enemy but that is likely to change soon. Also, there is an armored column coming from the west.

The following map is combination image created with an in-game screenshot of the map plus graphics from MilSketch.

All things considered, the threat from the west is the one that worries me the most. Grid lines are 1 km divisions. Click the image for a better view.

Now a closer look of the enemy forces immediately in front of us.

The enemy (grey counters) looks like an all-infantry regiment. The size of the formation is indicated in the lower part of the counters. Almost every enemy unit is a company ("I" symbol), but there is also a platoon ("..." symbol). Remember this information shown at the beginning of an scenario can be not accurate (we have full fog of war in effect) due to faulty reconnaissance.

By clicking every enemy counter we get details about the equipment and personnel that the formation could have.

Don't believe everything you see!
Note the "Reliability" field, it says "vague". This information should be taken with a grain of salt. Please click the image for a better view.











More details on equipment.
Please click the image for a better view.













New! Now we can see pictures of most of the vehicles and equipment by clicking on the text.
Please click in the image for a better view.












Coming up, the next step in planning: terrain considerations.

Cheers,

5 comments:

UsF said...

The game IS (freakin) detailled and the AI is excellent. Was a good purchase, never played anything like it before on that level.

Now I think I am all set on all levels of war:
HoI3- Grand Strategy game
CommandOps - Strategy game
Kharkov43 - Tactical game

:D

JC said...

Ey UsF! :)

That's a fine collection, sir! Command Ops will qualify as operational or grand tactical level, depending to who you ask. :)

Erich said...

Man, I love this blog. I got Command Ops within hours of its release over at Matrix, and really enjoy the system. I never could really get into their previous games (COTA, HTTR) because I didn't enjoy the subject matter (Crete? Who cares?).

Now, if they'd just do a pack of interesting Eastern Front (or, as I call it, Only Front) scenarios - I'd be really happy!

Seydlitz said...

I also got it hours after release.
Its worth every cent. With the mighty editor I hope to see some scenarios that are set around the Battle for the Hürtgen Forest or maybe the fighting in Lorraine.

JC said...

Hello gents,

Thanks for your comments.

Indeed, so many things can be done. :)

Cheers,