Trial by Fire Beta Test

The following scenario is an alternative history engagement between the United States Marine Corps and the German Wehrmacht. The Allies are represented by elements of the 3rd Marine Division of the I Marine Amphibious Corps while the Axis is represented by elements of a Fortress Garrison Regiment supported by a Penal Battalion. The Germans have the advantage as they hold the key objectives and can employ heavy artillery against the river insertion by the Marines.

One of the direct purposes of this scenario is to test the fighting ability of the Marines while simulating an amphibious landing. In this case, they are coming ashore on the north bank of the Rhine and their insertion is by way of the “Bad Para” Arrival Type in the Scenario Editor. This greatly reduces the unit’s cohesion and recovery rate, initial firepower (within the first hour), increases dispersion and heavy casualties if not arriving on smooth terrain (this is why they are landing on polder).

PACOPS – Pacific Theater Operations

With the resurrection of the Marine Corps modification to its current build 2.0, naturally further development would tend to lend itself to a following of history. In order to immediately use the Marines in the Airborne Assault game engine as presently represented by Command Operations:Battles from the Bulge, an alternative history backstory was developed that consisted of the fall of Japan and the Soviet Union.

Work is presently underway to bring the Marines to the Pacific and those efforts center on the creation of maps, establishments and force lists. Once those core components are complete, then the painstaking task of developing accurate battle scenarios will take place.

Pressure Cooker

The following after-action report is for a new scenario I have created for Command Operations: Battles from the Bulge which utilizes my Marine Corps 2.0 mod which must be installed for the scenario to work (please refer to the download links listed below). The scenario was designed with the current public beta build for Command Operations which is 4.5.264.

The scenario is a battalion sized engagement of semi equal forces that are tasked with seizing a ferry crossing in the Renkum area of operations. Both sides are supported by a tank battalion and an engineer contingent. As with the Operation Thunderclap scenario, this is an alternative history story line set in the year 1947 after the defeat of the Soviet Union.

Pressure Cooker Beta Test

Pressure Cooker is a new scenario I am working on that utilizes my Marine Corps 2.0 mod for the game. In order to play this scenario, you will have to have previously installed the mod. The beta test scenario folder contains three files which will need to be placed in their respective game folders (map files go in the map folder and scenario files go in the scenario folder).

This scenario is setup on a cropped version of the Renkum map that is only 3 km X 3 km and the only crossing point is a ferry that is primed. There are no bridging units; however each side has an engineering unit available from the start that should assist in securing/denying the crossing depending on which side you decide to play as.

Operation Thunderclap

With the fall of Japan is the spring of 1943, many units in the Pacific Theatre of operations were re-tasked to the European Theatre after the stunning collapse of the Soviet Union during Battle of Stalingrad. The subsequent arrest and execution of Joseph Stalin breathed new life into the German offensive as they rolled onward to capture Moscow and turned their sights on China.

It is into this cauldron of chaos that the United States Marine Corps is introduced into the Netherlands Operations: a combination of harassing attacks to disrupt German momentum on the Eastern Front. Overconfident and overextended, many Axis forces are ripe for easy picking, especially on the semi-ignored Western Front. It is from here that the Allies will make a thrust into the Rhineland.

Marine Corps Mod 2.0

The Marine Corps modification for Command Operations: Battles from the Bulge is back and is revamped to version 2.0. The estab and force lists are undergoing alpha testing and will be released over the next several days, as well as some test missions and other content to explain the mod, its creation and intent within the Command Operations "universe".

This is a fully functioning mod that works within COBFTB up to an including the latest public beta patch. All original files will be updated, so if you currently have the 1.0 version of the mod (the one with the MyEstabs core file), it will become obsolete once 2.0 is rolled out. I am presently working on a alternative history test mission and intend to publish that later this weekend.