The FOFC Battalion - Guage of Interest for New Interactive Dynasty

[DataKing]

The FOFC Battalion

An Interactive Dynasty Idea

I have an idea for a new interactive dynasty, and wanted to run it by all of you. Steel Panthers – World at War is a turn-based tactical war game set during World War II. It generally operates on a battalion-level, with units representing individual vehicles (in the case of armor and the like) and squads (for infantry and support weapons).

We will take a task force from the country of our choosing and command them from the beginning of the war all the way to the end. The way that the game works, we will participate in one major action every month of the war, with time in between for rest and refit (replacements arrive for soldiers lost in the line of duty, and various arms and equipment updates are made available to us as well).

I will act as the overall commander for our task force (given the rank of colonel), and those of you who are interested in participating will be given command of a company within the battalion (at the rank of Captain). If there are enough interested parties, we can further expand the chain of command to give those of you who are interested command of platoons (at the rank of Lieutenant).

For each battle that we participate in, I will provide you with an overview of our objectives, and hopefully a screenshot of the battle map as well. I will then assign each of our companies specific objectives, and let you know what resources you have at your disposal to accomplish those objectives. You will let me know what sort of tactics you would like to use, and I will play out the game turn-by-turn, with a report of what is going on. Should anything arise that may alter your tactics, I will stop the game there, giving you the opportunity to make a command decision.

Example: You are in command of an infantry company, and are tasked to cross 500 meters of open ground and gain control of the tree-line that faces you. You order a general advance. Two turns into the advance, machinegun fire erupts from the edge of the tree-line, cutting into your ranks. What is your command?

1. Retreat out of range.
2. Hold fast and return fire.
3. Call in an artillery strike on the treeline.
4. Call for armor support.

(I will not limit you to a set of options like this. These are merely examples of what sort of orders you might give).

The game is relatively detailed, and each battle can take thirty or more turns, so I would like to be able to run at least a turn or two per day. Whenever we need to stop the game to get orders from our commanders, we will generally pause for a day (less than this if commanders give their orders quicker). If you are unable to post your orders within a day, I will provide the orders for your unit. I don’t want to usurp command from anyone, but I would also like to keep things moving along.

If it sounds like we have enough people that would be interested in participating (I would like to have at least three or four), then we will need to decide which army to represent:

1. U.S. Army: Starting with Operation Torch in North Africa, through D-Day and eventually into Germany. Opposition will be mostly Italian and German.
2. U.S. Marines: Fierce jungle fighting as we island-hop across the Pacific. Almost exclusively an infantry unit, as there is precious little use for armor in the jungle.
3. Soviet Union: From the Winter War of 1939-1940 against Finland, through desperate defenses in Leningrad and Stalingrad, all the way to the assault on Berlin.
4. Great Britain: Early highlights will be Dunkirk and El Alemein. After that, fighting alongside the Americans on and after D-Day.
5. Germany: Provides the greatest variety of opponents, as we fight in Poland, Belgium, France, North Africa, and eventually on the Eastern Front. We can later be shipped west to face the Americans after D-Day. Allows use of some of the best tanks in the game (Tigers, Panthers, King Tigers).
6. Japan: Fierce jungle fighting, first against the British and her allies, and later against the intrepid U.S. Marines.

If it appears there is enough interest in the game, I can set up a poll where we can vote on which country to represent.

So with all of that being said, I would like to know two things:

1. Does this sound like something you would be interested in reading?
2. If so, would you be interested in participating?

Also, please let me know if any of this requires clarification, or if you have other questions. Thanks.

[Poli]

Captain? That's quite a promotion, DK, I'd like to do it. However, we'd have to talk about my options. Email is going to be a much better way of contact for me.

[sterlingice]

I think I may just have to watch this one. This sounds pretty complex.

SI

[DataKing]

ardent enthusiast: E-mail is certainly an option for you, and anyone else who may have trouble logging in regularly for whatever reason. I can e-mail out the posts that I place here, and post your orders here so others know what you're doing.

sterlingice: Granted, it does sound a little complicated, but I think it can work out pretty well. If you, or someone else, decides that they want to take a command later on in the game, we can certainly find a place for you (as a lieutenant under one of our captains, most likely).

I forgot to mention that Steel Panthers - World at War (commonly referred to as SPWaW), is a completely free game from Matrix Games. It is available at the following address, if anyone wants to check it out.

www.matrixgames.com

For those of you on dial-up, be warned. The game is BIG (about 400mb, if my memory serves me correctly).

[RainRaven]

I would have interest because I am a sucker for anything WW 2, have't played Steel Panthers but I do have experience with Combat Mission.

[Blade6119]

I would love to get in on this....a big combat mission fan, and a avid WW2 buff

I would pick germans, than british for we could fight against the japs and germans

[samifan24]

This is an interesting concept. I'd certainly be interested in reading this and maybe in playing as well. If you get a bunch of people, then I'd be in but I don't know if I have enough time to play if it's just three or four. I guess what I'm saying is that something like a platoon command would be better for me than an entire company.

[RainRaven]

eh, another combat mission fan.. whohoo, I am not the only one on these boards.

[Blade6119]

rain...i feel for ya...not too many of us left around the world....were a dying breed....the talented wargamer

[sterlingice]

Well, I'm definately not a war strategist, but I'll be willing to watch for a while and then join in under the command of a good captain =)

SI

[WSUCougar]

Great idea! I was thinking of trying something very similar myself using Combat Mission.

I'm game.

[Coffee Warlord]

Ooooh. Count me in as interested, and count me in as one of your cruel heartless officers. You'll be promoting me to Major / Lt. Colonel in no time, I tell you.

As for who we are...US Army or Germans.

[sachmo71]

I'm in, of course.

[bertogarce]

Sounds interesting! Count me in. While I don't have a lot of wargaming experience, I'd still like to give this a try. Thanks.

[Coffee Warlord]

I hereby request my company be called the Deadly Menace, and our slogan be 'Freedom is acheived through the blood of the innocent.'

(deadly menace is an inside joke, regarding an old roleplaying group of mine, that wound up being horribly incompetant in helping anyone, and usually caused more harm than solved. hence the slogan)

[lcjjdnh]

I might be interested but I definitly do not want to control a battalion. If anything I want a platoon. And if not, I will be sure to watch.

I would like the US Marines or Japan.

[DataKing]

Excellent! I'm glad to see there's quite a bit on interest in this. Rest assured, we will find a command spot for all those who have expressed interest thus far. We're probably dipping down into the lieutenant ranks at this point, but so much the better. Company captains can give orders to their individual platoon commanders.

So far, those that have expressed interest are:

ardent enthusiast
RainRaven
Blade6119
samifan24 (platoon command)
WSUCougar
Coffee Warlord
sachmo71
bertogarce
Icjjdnh (platoon command)

The next step is to determine which army we will be a part of. Go ahead and list your top two preferences here.

So far, Blade6119, Coffee Warlord, Icjjdnh, bertogarce, sachmo71, RainRaven, and ardent enthusiast have all listed their preferences. The voting looks like this:

Germany: 4
Great Britain: 1
U.S. Army: 3
U.S. Marines: 3
Japan: 1
Soviet Union: 1

If anyone else is interested, feel free to sound off. The army which we represent will have a good deal to do with the size of our force, but I will do my best to find a spot for everyone at the platoon command level or higher. If anything unfortunate should happen to one of our company commanders, we will promote one of our lieutenants.

We can even create a quartermaster position. This position would not have any battlefield command, but will have a large hand in determining what sort of 'upgrades' we receive between battles. Just a thought.

Let me know if anyone else is interested, and what your country preferences are. If anyone else has any ideas or questions, let's hear 'em.

[bertogarce]

I'll vote for Germany followed by the Soviet Union.

[sachmo71]

United States Marine Corps.

EDIT: Whatever is chosen, I only command armor. One tank or a platoon, doesn't matter.

[RainRaven]

anything U.S would be fine, but my second choice is Germany...

[jfbbis]

I would be happy to be a platoon or company commander ( i spent some monthes on SP). I would like the Germans, Soviet Union (give me a KV platoon anyday) or US army. I'll be an avid reader anyway. Great idea !

[WSUCougar]

1. Germans
2. U.S. (any)
3. Soviets

[sterlingice]

1. Commies! CCCP!
2. Germany
3. USA

SI

[DataKing]

Originally posted by sterlingice
1. Commies! CCCP!
2. Germany
3. USA

SI

Your first choice doesn't surprise me in the least, SI.

SI and I were in the same Russian class at KU, in case the rest of you were wondering.

[DataKing]

Dola...

Voting Update

This is where we currently stand as far as army preferences go. I've counted the first two options listed by each of you. For those of you whose second choice was "Anything U.S.A.," that counts as a 1/2 vote for Army and Marines.

Germany: 7
Great Britain: 1
U.S. Army: 5.5
U.S. Marines: 7.5
Japan: 1
Soviet Union: 3

Germany seems to be the concensus so far, but I plan to leave this up for another day or so. This will give more people the opportunity to "enlist," and to let us know what their preferences are.

Current enlistees are...

ardent enthusiast
RainRaven
Blade6119
samifan24 (platoon command)
WSUCougar
Coffee Warlord
sachmo71
bertogarce
Icjjdnh (platoon command)
jfbbis
The Afoci
tucker342
Superman=#54 (platoon command)

Keep 'em coming.

[The Afoci]

I will try.

[AnalBumCover]

I only want to observe, but at least put my vote in for US Marines.

[tucker342]

Great idea, I'm in.

[Superman=#54]

If you are still accepting I would like to play. Don't give me to much power a few marines would be fine.

US Marines

[Blade6119]

I was one of the first to reply, the first to give my preferences(before you told us too), and on the first list, but i get kicked out of the army(not on new list)???...if this is an oversight, please fix....really want to command.

[samifan24]

U.S. Army gets my vote.

[sachmo71]

Marines making a strong comeback! Huu-rrah!

[tucker342]

opps forgot to vote, US Marines.

[DataKing]

Blade6119: Sorry about that, just an oversight on my part.

I've updated our list of "recruits" and updated the voting tallies. Old Glory does seem to be making a late charge at the Germans, but will it be enough?

[The Afoci]

USA! USA! USA! USA!

[Coffee Warlord]

Do not inzult ze Germans!

[DataKing]

Semper Fi

All of our participants and a couple of our observers have voted. We will do our best to represent the proud traditions of the United States Marine Corps.

This is actually a rather interesting development for me. My experience with the game up to this point has been limited to the European Theatre of the war (I am currently playing a campaign as the Russians). So I don't really know what to expect from the Japanese. I will be learning right along with the rest of you.

Just so you all know, the AI built into SPWaW is a little weak, so we will be using the following self-imposed restrictions:

1. No use of minefields: The AI isn't intelligent enough to deal with minefields properly, and has a tendency to simply destroy itself when faced with one.

2. No ammo replenishment for artillery: Artillery support is a big part of the game, but the AI is not intelligent enough to use ammo trucks and the like to replenish their artillery. We will use the same restrictions. This rule does not apply to squad mortars.

If we encounter something else that causes the game to become unbalanced, we will address that when it arises.

Branch of Service

I would like to know if any of you have a strong preference towards a particular branch, primarily infantry or armor. As a USMC force, we will be infantry-heavy, but we will have some armor support. (sachmo71, I already have you down for an armor command.) I will do my best to fill all of your requests, but obviously if 2/3 of you want armor commands, then we will have a problem.

If any of you have ideas for other sorts of commands (artillery, support groups, quartermaster), let me know and I will do my best to accomodate. Reconaissance is another option, but recon teams tend to have a high casualty rate. Just so you know.

Also, let me know if you have any strong feelings towards commanding either a company or just a platoon. (I already have samifan24, Icjjdnh, and Superman=#54 down for platoon commands). If no one has any strong desire one way or the other, I will assign company commands to those who signed up first (ardent enthusiast, RainRaven, Blade6119, WSUCougar, Coffee Warlord, sachmo71, bertogarce, jfbbis, The Afoci, tucker342). I doubt there will be enough Captain positions to go around.

It looks like I will have some free time this weekend, so I will be generating our core unit and assigning commands. Hopefully we can get this thing rolling in a day or two.

Huu-rah!

[DataKing]

Dola...

We will also need a name for our unit. Any suggestions?

Feel free to give nicknames to your individual commands as well, once they're assigned.

[sachmo71]

So we're a battalion sized force? 2+ companies, roughly?

[DataKing]

Originally posted by sachmo71
So we're a battalion sized force? 2+ companies, roughly?

I'm not sure how big a force we will have just yet. The game sets some limitations, but I'll have to take a closer look at the U.S. Marines OOB (Order of Battle) and see just how much we will have to work with.

The biggest limitation that the game has is a maximum of 200 "units." In the Russian campaign I am currently playing, that 200 unit limit allows me to have 2 tank companies, 6 infantry companies, as well as mortar and anti-tank gun support, but practically no transportation in the core unit.

I doubt we will be able to have a large enough force to give everyone a company command, but I will do my best to fit everyone into their preferred branch, with at least a platoon under them.

[Coffee Warlord]

In order of preference of company. (no huge preference, really, just an 'if possible' sorta thing. I'm easy)

edit: Actually, on second thought...gimme a grunt ground pounder company.


Semper Fi!

[The Afoci]

I would like either scouts or some sort of front line infantry.

[samifan24]

I don't have much of a preference. Infantry, I guess.

[DataKing]

A friend of mine just sent me this link. Some of you WW2 history buffs may be interested.

http://members.aol.com/bollows/lowell.html

I'm thinking about checking it out in May, time permitting.

[damnMikeBrown]

I downloaded this game, as I'm interested in getting into the genre. I hit this bug though, where my mouse just stops working after I'm on unit selection screen for a while.

As a side note, if it's not to late, put me in for a platoon. Inf of course.

19D-Scouts Out!

[Qwikshot]

I'm in, wherever, whenever

[jfbbis]

i'd prefer armor, "even" lvt

[DataKing]

damnMikeBrown: Welcome aboard. I haven't encountered the bug you mentioned, so I don't know what to tell you. Did you get version 7.1 of the game? That's the latest version.

Qwikshot: Glad to have you. I'm sure we'll find a spot for you.

Edit: Woohoo! I'm a pro now! (Rookie status).

[Superman=#54]

I have the perfect name for our company.

Monsters of the Midway

A tribute to the bears and midway

[Blade6119]

I would love to have as much command as possible, but if i have a choice of branch, i will take some infantry in to battle...would prefer a company over a platoon. Cant wait to get me some japs!