SEOW Design Considerations for Parkers Crossroads

[Kopfdorfer]

Yes I am still working on Parkers Crossroads.

Here is the current gen.

When I first began working on Parkers Crossroads as an SEOW Campaign ,
it was as a beginners project , small and contained , representing a
minor tactical engagement.
During development it has blossomed into a broader ( and I hope richer)
campaign concept for 2 main reasons.

1) I have learned a bit more in each of my endeavours with SEOW ( the first
being a small Ostfriesland Campaign in 1945 , and the Second being Task Force 8 ,
representing the raids by Admiral Halsey's Enterprise Task Force on the Marshall
Islands in early 1942 - Parkers Crossroads will be my 3rd) and my personal goal was/is to learn a bit more about SEOW
and expand my horizons in each outing. This has led me to attempt to introduce a more
complex complection to Parkers Crossroads than I had originally considered.

2) With historical considerations leading me on , and my inherent nature of taking
bigger mouthfuls until I choke a bit , I found that while Parkers Crossroads itself
was a series of contained tactical engagements in a contained geographic area ,
taking it out of the context of (at least some ) of the actions ocurring around it
oversimplified the interesting command challenges , and lost some of the historical
context. I desired to infuse this campaign with at least some of these characteristics ,
and so it grew.


After a few escalations in size and scale , and potentially detrimental "Campaign Design
Creep " as 4Shades put it , I have been working hard to pare myself back , and to strike
a good balance. Only time will tell if I have been successful.

I am pleased with how things are looking currently , but if it does not present both
a challenging and interesting campaign both to commanders and to pilot participants ,
I take the entirety of the responsibility. I have gotten much constructive advice from
4Shades and other generous folks out there , but I did not take all the advice that was
offered.

In order to attempt to reflect some of the (what I felt were) interesting campaign issues ,
this campaign has a couple of features that I think are unique , and I hope will prove
engaging.


First of all , we are stepping into this campaign in mid-Battle , so the battlefield is
quite disorganized. The Allied unwillingness to believe the Germans capable of this
magnitude of offensive operations at this point in the war , and the poor weather to date
in "the Von Rundstedt Offensive" (what the Allies called the battle at this point) dictated
that the battle was in full swing before the Allies correctly assessed it as a major action.

Thus , it will take commanders a little time to sort out the battlefield. This accurately
reflects the history , especially from the Allied side , as the fear of the accellerating
German movements forced General Eisenhower to take the unprecedented ( and singularly
unpopular decision among US Commanders) step of placing a great number of units from Hodges
First Army ( part of General Bradley's 12th Army Group) under the direct command of British
Field Marshall Montgomery.

Secondly , in an attempt to strike a balance between Parkers Crossroads as a tactical
engagement , and the broader operational and strategic historical situation , I have
determined to have a number of forces on the battlefield which will not (initially) be
under the control of player commanders. I will hereafter refer to these units as "Dormant".

Essentially I wanted to preserve the freedom of action and choice to player commanders , but
also to represent the larger operational risks of battlefield decision-making. My feeling is
that the SEOW exclusion zone concept did not accurately reflect the option-consequence risk
balance , and so I came up with this as an option.

Both sides will have "Dormant" units. These units will be placed in their (approximate)
historical positions. Other than their unavailablility to move under the command of
player commanders , they are in all regards normal units.
"Dormant" units are represented on the map by paler colours than their "Active" cohorts ;
Light Blue for the Germans , and Pale Red for the Allies.
They will defend themselves.
They must be supplied to maintain effectiveness.
If , following the execution of a mission the log file shows that a Dormant unit has come
under fire from an enemy ground unit , the Admin will subsequently "Activate" these units
by enabling them under the command of a friendly commander.
Thereafter , for the remainder of the campaign , they will be fully active normal units.
Once activated , they will be given normal colour by the Admin.

Thus , player commanders will have full freedom of movement , but must bear in mind that
broad maneuvering will have the potential repercussion of bringing more enemy forces into
the immediate battle - in my opinion this is a reflection of historical reality.

Another consideration of this campaign for me was how best to incorporate the air component
in a way that reflects historical plausibility. The historical reality was that Allied air
units of the US IX Tactical Air Force and the 2nd Tactical Air Force RAF were both involved
in the battle , but there were few units in range that would allow completion of missions
within my initial 1 hour Mission timeframe. Although I was cautioned in terms of adversely
affecting the resolution of ground action , I decided to extend the Air Mission length to
90 minutes , with a 2 hour ground mission planning.
Furthermore , the atrocious weather conditions up to and including the 22nd of December
precluded (Successful) large scale air operations. The poor weather was referred to by the
German ground troops as "Hitler Weather" , as it protected them from the overwhelming Allied
air superiority they had been subjected to since the Allied invasion of Normandy.
In this time period though both sides flew many missions , many were cancelled due to weather,
and many more failed to find their targets , and not a few simply got lost in the less than
desirable visibility.

The most significant contributions of the air componen of this campaign are 3 as far as I can see:
1) Reconnaissance. A glance at the starting positions of the battlefield will clearly
illustrate the pressing need for reconnaissance. Correctly assessing the chaotic intermingling of
ground forces represents an immediate challenge to commanders.
2) Supply Interdiction. For both sides the timely delivery of supply will have potential to sway
the outcome of the campaign. Though the lines of supply are well behind the front
(especially for the Allies) , the routes are limited.
3) Ground Unit Direct Support. Both sides have multiple air units capable of direct air-ground
support missions. Getting these to the battlefield and attacking key points will affect the
outcome of the campaign.

Somewhat less directly , air superiority will have a significant effect on the campaign ,
I believe mostly in regard to assuring the timely arrival of supplies to needy units.

I was also firmly inclined to reflect the Allied preponderence of force , but to balance the
campaign by also requiring the Allies be required to deliver necessary reinforcements and
supplies to the battlefield area efficiently.
This capability for the Allies , and the inability to achieve the same by the Germans was the
key to the historical outcome of the battle - though the Germans did capture Parkers Crossroads
/Baraque de Fraiture late on the 23rd of December.

In the event , the Allies were successful in preventing the Germans from achieving von Rundstedt's
operational objective , a crossing of the Meuse River between the US and British Army Groups.
Hitler's stated objective for the Campaign had been the re-capture of Antwerp , but none of his
senior officers believed that objective achievable - though none stated so in his presence.
The battle was the last major offensive by the Germans in the West , and came near achieving
von Rundstedt's limited objective . The US 2nd Armored Division soundly defeated the exhausted
remnants of 2nd Panzer Division at Celles , less than 10 km from Dinant , on Christmas Day 1944.

All through the Ardennes in the first days of the Offensive , small determined units of American
soldiers in key positions like Parkers Crossrads used the limited road net and difficult terrain
to slow the German advance.
Though few were successful in completely stopping the Germans anywhere in those first few days ,
the Germans lack of supply and the time these units bought for the Allied Command to organize and deliver
reinforcements and necessary supplies was enough to determine the outcome of the battle.

The Parkers Crossroads Campaign will cover 0900 hrs Dec 22 1944 to ~1900 hrs Dec 23 1944.
Consideration will be given to lengthening night missions. Advice appreciated.

Any thoughts , comments and criticisms are appreciated.

I am looking for volunteers as potential commanders for both sides.
The Allies get to exercise a lot of military might , the Germans must choose the wheres and whens of their
actions carefully in order to succeed.

I hope this interests those of you out there as an SEOW campaign.

Suggestions as to campaign times would also be appreciated.
If commanders were willing , I would be willing to consider 2 missions per week in order to accommodate different time zones.

Kopfdorfer

[WTE_Ikey]

Hi Kopf.
Finally got around to reading the above, you certainly are looking into it in depth which is great to see.
I'll definitely look forward to any commanding position (no real preference for side). Times as previous campaigns work well for me .
I'll be interested to see how the dormant units work out & managed as the battle progresses.

cheers
Ikey

PS: The IF44 test mission I'm building /experimenting with using Parkers Xroads scenario has already shown to me what great potential it has to further extend & enhance our enjoyment of SEOW campaigning. A very immersive experience & fairly crazy at times.

[greykitten]

Hi !

It looks like you brought some new concepts there.
I was waiting for this to come to light, i'm interested in taking part in it.

Time zone is not (yet) relevant for me.
See you soon !

[IV/JG7_4Shades]

I am keen too!

[LW/JG10_Luny]

Just a quick drop in to answer's Kopf's old PM (sorry Kopf) and to say you all I'm still around.
My graphics card fried (literally with a persistent electric overheat flavor) right before xmas holidays. I have (somewhere) an old GC but can't find it yet.

Until I find the old GC or buy a new one, I'll not be able to run the MP as none of my family's computers run IE. And probably none of my kids will let me even know their computer's password ...

Will try to be around more often.

Wish you all a very good 2015 with many campaigns to play.

See u soon.

Luny

[WTE_Ikey]

Just so you know you're not alone Luny. Windows updates has just porked my gaming pc. Had been following some tech sites closely about all the Microsoft patching fiascos over last few months, was being extremely careful but the 'Microsoft Virus' got me anyway. Pc goes back to the shop tomorrow & will also look at dumping win 8.1 & get win 7.

[LW/JG10_Armwaar]

I have been lurking for quite a while.

I am happy to push units around on the SEOW map and cause the usual trouble on forums. Would have to see what kind of mission times develop before I could get in the cockpit.

[Kopfdorfer]

Hey Guys,

Glad to see the interest , and things are kind of poised for a deluge of completion type tasks. Please bear in mind that I am still learning , and am trying a couple of new wrinkles in terms of campaign design which may or may not work out.
As of now , Luny has expressed interest in commanding the Axis Side (Ground) , and I have a tentative agreement from Brandle to be supreme commander of the Allied side. I am very low key as to how players' sides are determined. If you have a preference contact me or leave a note here. Otherwise simply express interest and I will assign you a team.
There are more Allied aircraft to command than German - on the order of 2:1 .
The campaign is 2 days and one night , Dec 22-23 1944. The weather will be limiting in terms of the number of aircraft on the first day (Allied 12 flights , Axis 9).
Missions to last 90 minutes in the air , 120 minutes on the ground.
I will lengthen and thus reduce the number of night missions.

The tentative time for mission execution is Saturday 1000 hrs Atlantic Standard Time ; this worked well for my previous 2 campaigns. If there are enough interested parties , I would consider offering a second mission per week to suit another time zone , provided commanders were willing to plot 2 misisons per week.

Feedback is welcome and indeed appreciated , under the caveat that it will not necessarily sway my execution of the campaign.

Kopfdorfer

[Kopfdorfer]

Hi Gang,

I just wanted to post an update , as I haven't added anything for a month (yikes!) now.

Parkers Crossroads will run , and will run soon.
My last assessment and tests of the template proved that my eyes were yet again bigger than my stomach , and since being gently reigned in by 4Shades ( I believe the direct quote was
"Kopfdorfer , you've lost the plot!" ). It was a fair assessment at least in terms of scale . Since then I have pared the template oob down to slightly less than 50% of the object count. The challenge is to keep the nuances I intended for the campaign , with a lot less brush strokes.

I am working on this as I write , and I hope to have the template capable of another test this weekend.

I don't know if Luny's computer will be up and running , so I am looking for an axis commander (Co-commander perhaps) to face the wrath of Field Marshall Sir Bernard Law Brandle , commanding resentful American dogfaces in the snowy Ardennes.

Update to follow soon.

Kopfdorfer

Also , I would love to know if anyone has a side or colour preference , so I can input this into my calculations.

[greykitten]

Hi,
It nice to hear from you !
The good news is that i 'm now in the UTC/GMT-6 team.
The bad one is that i won't get enough time in the week to plan, i could only plan in the weekend.
Keep in mind that i'm not experienced too.
Any side is fine.
See you soon !