Casey Calouette's Blog, page 5

Novel Cover Art : How I learned to love the premade

The cover of a novel is probably one of the most important parts. People really do judge a book by the cover. It’s not prejudice but a way of sorting out the wheat from the chaff.

A reader looks at a cover and can learn a lot.

Does it look professional?
Is it a style in my genre?
What feeling does it evoke?

#1 is the biggest. If your novel is a crayon drawn picture of a plot point with garish bold letters. It’s not professional. You can have a great story and no one will look at it.

#2 is next. A style of cover will identify a genre. Go to your bookstore and observe the cover styles. All the mystery novels look similar. All the Tom Clancy style novels are nearly the same. Romances, same thing. Young adult especially, so much so that you might not be able to tell one series from the next!

#3 was the hardest one for me to learn. A cover needs a feeling, a reaction, not a scene. You should be able to look at a good cover and have a feeling, not learn about the story. Go look at some abstract book covers that are well done. Sometimes they barely have anything to do with the story.

I did the cover for Trial by Ice myself. It turned out decent enough and in hindsight I was lucky. Very lucky. My next two novels I paid to have the covers done, you can see them on the side here. Custom art is expensive, and if you can’t direct it well, it might lack #3, the feeling part. I had awesome art, but it didn’t necessarily make a good cover. Why? It lacked the emotion.

In the past I turned my nose at premades, but no longer. I have just enough of an eye for cover art to know what is good and bad. That eye has led me to appreciate the subtle details that really make a cover stand out. So for my newest cover I went to George Cotronis and purchased a premade cover. He selected a font and made it look great.

In the future I plan on working with premades. They really reduce my stress level. It’s huge not having to worry about a shitty cover.

So here’s some that I like…

George Cotronis of Ravenkult

George has a very unique layered style. In the past I thought he had mostly horror covers, but now he’s added some scifi/generic styles. They’re huge on emotion and generating a reaction. Pricing from $100 to $200

GoonWrite.com 

Not goon write, but Go On Write. A huge variety of covers with crisp design. Nothing mind blowing here but solid. Worth checking often as he constantly adds new art. It’s stockart, so watch your genre, you might see someone else use the same image. Pricing is $40 for a cover, gets cheaper in bulk.

http://damonza.com/

Some really awesome covers here. I once had a post saying that I didn’t see the value. I was wrong.

Damonza has some extraordinarily professional covers and also offers premades here.

His covers are so nice I just like to browse them and learn from the designs. Dude really knows his shit. I mean look at some of those, they’re awesome.

Pricing from $195 +

If I had one wish for premades … more good science fiction covers..imageframe-1 img{border:4px solid #ffffff;} .imageframe-2 img{border:5px solid #ffffff;} .imageframe-3 img{border:5px solid #ffffff;} .imageframe-4 img{border:5px solid #ffffff;} .imageframe-5 img{border:5px solid #ffffff;}

Amazing Day of Prose

I’ve had a few amazing days of writing. Not just good, or great, but perfect. I haven’t struggled to forge my words, instead they flowed beautifully. A few days ago I had a 3000 word day. Then yesterday I had a 4000 word day.

Today, writing in the morning before work, before dinner, and in the evening I broke 5000 words. These include one of the most intense battle scenes I’ve ever written. A full on armor charge to break siege.

I’m kind of wondering why, and I think the main reason is… it was fun to write. I couldn’t wait to get to that battle. I couldn’t wait to see the characters learn critical information, I couldn’t wait to see them tested.

One thing I think helped is what I’ve been reading. I don’t read my niche while I’m writing. So no science fiction for me. My other rule is to read something much better than my own prose. I’ve had two books on my nightstand. One, Blood Meridian. The other Blood Red Snow.

The last time I read Blood Meridian I wrote Trial by Ice. Blood Red Snow is the first time I’ve read a first hand account of Stalingrad, at least from someone outside the encirclement. Both of these have tinted my writing, one with the prose of McCarthy, the other with the realism of a failing front.

I’m almost done. Steel Breach will, with any luck, be done by the end of the weekend..imageframe-1 img{border:0px solid #494848;} .imageframe-2 img{border:0px solid #494848;}

Steel Breach : 65% Complete

65%Its been awhile since I posted an update, I apologize for the delay.

I’ve been wrapped up in a pretty wicked winter so far. Which has made some great inspiration for my current novel. See the graphic above, yup, new cover! Right now the writing is going great and the remainder of the book should be really awesome. I’ll share some more details later, but a reminder, members of the mailing list get the book for free.

Right now I’m aiming at a February release, maybe early March.

Beyond that I’ve been getting into some new PC games, particularly Hearts of Iron 3, Crusader Kings II, and a behemoth of a war game, War in the East. I’ve barely scratched the surface on that one. I’m still playing Command Ops, but haven’t had an opportunity to do anymore lets play. It’s really a fun game, but sometimes I like to know why I failed. Grognard games seem to be a bit light on that detail. They’ll model the quality of the soldiers boot laces, but god forbid if you tell me why that attack failed.

Thanks again for being a reader. You guys are the ones that keep me rolling.

Quick Update

A quick update!

The Holidays smucked me straight on and I’ve been quite busy. A bit of travelling and a lot of time in the woods. On the plus side this allowed me to complete the plot on Steel Breach.

It turned out to be a bigger tale than I first imagined, but that’s OK. The Universe is going to be bigger, feel larger, and there are more chess pieces moving than what the main characters see. They will be reacting to circumstances and, of course, setting out to set things as right as the mission allows. The addition of many alien races is proving tricky to work into the story in a smooth way. So far it’s a trickle, but that’s OK.

I just finished John Keegans First World War  and wow, I couldn’t have written a novel that was as crazy as the reality of WWI was. Mr. Keegan does a great job showing not only a balanced view, but also how great the impact was on every single part of the globe. It really was a World War.

As far as games I’m playing EVE and I picked up a Paradox pack with Crusader Kings II, Europe Universalis IV, and Hearts of Iron III. Inspiration right?.imageframe-1 img{border:4px solid #dd9933;}

Commands Ops : Battles for the Bulge : Capturing St. Vith

.imageframe-1 img{border:5 solid #494848;} .imageframe-2 img{border:0px solid #494848;} Our troops are now firmly locked into the city of Saint Vith. Unfortunately the Germans are too!

We have a company of Tiger II’s, the 501st, the 9th Company of the 2nd SS, a Luftwaffe Flak Company, and a few other questionable units. It’s still dark and I’m not entirely sure about what is lurking..imageframe-3 img{border:0px solid #494848;} This is the SdKfz 7/1 2cm Flakvierling and it’s squarely engaged on the edge of town. This little truck with its four barrels is proving to be a stubborn defender.The current plan is to hold our objectives. Right now we have everything we need to, but man, it could get ugly fast. I’ve noticed that the Tiger company assaulting Breitfield has… disappeared.

Breitfield is strong, I have proven Tank Destroyers, Infantry Companies, and some Armored Cavalry.
Lommersweiler is home to my HQ and not defended quite as well. It’s decent, but I might move an Engineer Company here to assist.
Steinerbruck crossing is held my more HQ, an Engineer Company, and a mortar platoon. They’ve got a weakened Grenadier company probing them.
Saint Vith is still contested. I have faith that our forces can secure the town and I’ll be working to ensure that we hold the objective.

There is 24 hours left..imageframe-4 img{border:0px solid #494848;} Wow!

Maybe Saint Vith isn’t in hand. I’ve got Waffen-SS units all around me. I’m not sure I can just sit and hold, we’re going to go on the offensive now. I’ll be moving my flanking units in from the East and see what we can do..imageframe-5 img{border:0px solid #494848;} I’ve got two main assaults hitting Saint Vith. One from the North is motorized Waffen-SS Infantry along with a PZIV Company with a dozen of these. On the east I have the Luftwaffe units with the 2cm battery, a Panzer company with 4 Tigers left, and a Panzer company with a single Panther left. At the moment I’m just hammering them with four of my big artillery battalions. 105mm’s and 155’s. Once they’ve bounced a bit and acquired more fatigue I’ll try and flank them..imageframe-6 img{border:0px solid #494848;} The Germans are pushing. Saint Vith tightened up, but my flanking units have made barely any progress. To make matters worse I’ve got a Panther company stalking Lommersweiler along with an AT unit. But what worries me is the massed clump of units North of Saint Vith. I just can’t weaken anything to try and strengthen that point. Things are getting hot with 15 hours left!.imageframe-7 img{border:0px solid #494848;} The group in the North made an assault on Saint Vith that was brutal. A few minutes before the Germans attacked elements of Alpha Company, 10th Armored Infantry moved in and held the line. At the same time I kept hammering the assaulting troops with my artillery, all four batteries..imageframe-8 img{border:0px solid #494848;} Finally my flanking force pushed into the city. Just after darkness fell we hammered the German positions and the moment the artillery stopped the assault began. It’s really nice to specify start and end times for the artillery. Makes coordinating an attack much easier.

We’ve consolidated Saint Vith, I’m happy with our positions, but the big questions. What will the night bring? This is it, less than 12 hours..imageframe-9 img{border:0px solid #494848;} The night has been fairly quiet. They’ve pushed in a few times but not with a massed attack. We had a Tiger company fall right between two of our groups and it was mauled. A short while later an SS unit surrendered. I think the Germans are simply too fatigued to press an effective attack..imageframe-10 img{border:0px solid #494848;} Victory!

Not much happened through the night and I can see why. The Germans took some very heavy casualties. An interesting point is that we lost nearly half as many armored vehicles as the Germans, yet only one half of the troops. Overall it was a damned tough fight. The AI has proven to be devious, and I am very impressed with how responsive and intelligent it is..imageframe-11 img{border:0px solid #494848;} And that is the final map. I had units massed both north and south of Saint Vith. A pack of Tigers was in position to assault Lommersweiler.

My hunch was right, nearly every combat unit was totally fatigued. If the Germans had another day, or another few regiments, this would have all ended differently.

The German commander is Joachim Piper.

Things to do differently next time… more aggressive! I should have sent my Armored Cav out to hunt the HQ and rear units, instead I used them like regular Armor and they suffered mightily. I’ll also get my armor and infantry to work better. In some occasions I had armor without infantry support and vice versa.

The whole battle was very enjoyable and very challenging. I’m looking forward to more scenarios!

Command Ops : Battles for the Bulge : Assault on Saint Vith

.imageframe-1 img{border:0px solid #494848;} .imageframe-2 img{border:0px solid #494848;} Our final objective is in sight, and hopefully we can continue our momentum and drive right into the heart of Saint Vith before the Germans can dig in. We currently hold three objectives, Steinbruck Crossing, Lommersweiler, and Breitfield. Lommersweiler is proving contentious as it’s only held by support elements and some worn out anti-tank guns. I’m moving an Infantry company in to help. All other forces are reinforcing the objectives, except for my mechanized infantry on the East flank, and the newly arrived reinforcements from the 4th AD.

We now have the 37th Tank Battalion, the 25th Cav Recon, and the 53rd Armored Infantry Battalion. These new forces will be the spearhead of the push into Saint Vith..imageframe-3 img{border:0px solid #494848;} A closer look at Lommerweiler. At the moment a single German infantry company is lurking nearby. The village is held by an AAA battery, two HQ units, a mortar platoon and an AT platoon with 3 AT guns. Not an ideal defense. I’m going to send in Bravo Company, 10th Armored Infantry to help shore up the defenses.This is one of my Cavalry Scout units. A nice little punch and hopefully mobile. They’re going to support my mechanized infantry heading up the East flank. I’m not entirely sure what they might run into or if the Germans will receive any reinforcements so I’d like to strengthen that line..imageframe-4 img{border:0px solid #494848;} We start moving, and about 15 minutes pass when I notice this.

Waffen-SS Infantry

Oh boy. This just got serious. I hope my armor can get to Saint Vith before the SS does!.imageframe-5 img{border:0px solid #494848;} Off they go! That is a very nice column!

The current path takes them into Breitfield where they will reorganize and then move in to assault Saint Vith..imageframe-6 img{border:0px solid #494848;} It was a race to see who could secure Saint Vith first… and the Tigers won.

The Germans sacrificed the 12th Volksgrenadiers Division HQ to halt our advance. Their stubborn resistance halted us for nearly an hour. And that hour let those tanks roll in.

So far I can see a dozen PZ IV’s and… 14 Tiger II’s..imageframe-7 img{border:0px solid #494848;} My only hope to avoid a bloodbath is to hammer that East flank with artillery and make a hole for my mechanized infantry and cavalry to get in. If, just if, they can do that, then the attack might succeed..imageframe-8 img{border:0px solid #494848;} This is getting intense.

I am raining down artillery and hammering the flank, but still my armor can’t push into those Tigers. I set the orders for one of my armor battalions to head in on the West flank. I’m not sure what they might run into, but we need to get into the soft spot.

If there is a soft spot..imageframe-9 img{border:0px solid #494848;} I’m skirting around Saint Vith on all flanks. I’m moving infantry to the rear while the majority of my armor heads to the west. My mechanized infantry and my cavalry is holding on the east flank. Not to mention non stop artillery. Which is good because all of my airstrikes… cancelled.

At the moment the Germans assaulted my cavalry with a light flak unit. That, I think, was a bad idea. It’s down by 20% and it’s barely in the tree lines..imageframe-10 img{border:0px solid #494848;} Night came and the assault halted, but just for a moment. While I was sending out orders my cavalry came under fire.

The Tigers came out to hunt. This is an amazing stroke of luck. Just above the Tigers, on the other side of a ridge, I have an entire Battalion of mechanized infantry and a couple of companies of Shermans. This is a chance to knock out those brutes while they’re away from their support.

At the same moment I’m sending the rest of my tanks in, and hard. If we can wrest control of the city now, then we’ll have the advantage in the morning.

Losses have been heavy, but we managed to destroy a brigade supply base. So maybe this will hold out. Maybe….imageframe-11 img{border:0px solid #494848;} Wow.

This is getting intense.

The feint worked and after pummeling the East flank with my artillery they shifted everyone to that side, and then my armor struck on the opposite side. Two entire battalions of armor pushed into the West side of the city. Now they are in the midst of the SS units and splitting them apart. This has been raging on for a few hours, but we’re finally pushing them out. But just barely.

Then I find the Tiger II’s. In the chaos of the battle I assumed they were engaged, until I see them pop up at Breitfield. The defense there is weaker than I’d like, but they’ve got a company of AT guns for support. At this point the Germans are down to four Tiger II’s. I can’t believe we’ve already knocked out ten of them, So things are hopeful!

At the same time they push on the Steinbruck crossing with two understrength companies of infantry. I’m not worried here, but I don’t want a weak spot to pop up. Not far away are my artillery.

When the sun rises though things will really get difficult. I have units in difficult positions, some in the open, and the daylight will be brutal.

The barest beginnings of the steel dawn tint the Eastern horizon. But it’s looked that way for hours, the raging of the artillery has made it look like the sun tried to rise all night. Now the battle rages in the city of Saint Vith with all of the forces struggling to hold the best defensive position. The sun is rising…

Command Ops : Battles for the Bulge : Lommersweiler

.imageframe-1 img{border:0px solid #494848;} The frigid night air sets into the Our river valley and chills the troops to the bone. They’ve endured so much just securing the bridge. The Volksgrenadiers fought tenaciously and almost snubbed the advance. Almost. Now the rumbling of Detroit born diesels echos through the air as the Fourth Armored Division rolls into place. 

When we last left off my units had finally taken the Steinebruck crossing. Now, weary and worn, they sit on the edge and stare at the elements of the Volksgrenadiers and wonder if they have the resolve. I’ve decided these troops will be in a supporting role for the reinforcements. Once the rest of the 4th AD comes in they’ll hit the flank and move up to Breitfield. I’m not going to sit on my bottom any longer, it’s time to get aggressive..imageframe-2 img{border:0px solid #494848;} For the moment my current forces are going to hold position and wait the two hours until the reinforcements come. I’ve got a German Mortar Platoon and the remnants of a BN HQ nearby that I might try and remove. Striking away an HQ would do wonders for making up for my headaches earlier on.

Once the reinforcements come in we’re going to move on Lommersweiler immediately. We can rest once we’ve taken the city. The current forces will sweep to the rear of the town and hit the flank while the 4th comes in from the river valley and strikes at the town.

I plan on adding more routing and leaving less to the whims of the commanders. I’ve had a few routing oddities that I need to get rid of, the last thing I need is for a Recon Squad to go parading around the countryside..imageframe-3 img{border:0px solid #494848;} My two artillery batteries open fire and obilterate the 1st Battalion, 27th Fusilier  Regiment HQ. A moment later a Light flak company popped up right on the edge of my mechanized infantry. I might have to seize on this and try to remove that and that pesky mortar platoon..imageframe-4 img{border:0px solid #494848;} I can’t resist the opportunity. Two units, neither of which is a match for my tanks, right there! So I set the order.

I’m going to test out the combined arms teams. If you attach infantry to armor they will work as a coordinated group and assault in a more efficient form than if ordered separately. This looks like a great opportunity to test it out. By the time this is done the rest of the 4th should arrive and we can lay out the assault. But first, to mop up some support units..imageframe-5 img{border:0px solid #494848;} Well, that was rather anti-climactic. The group spread into a wedge and pushed to where the Flak Company was. I guess I shouldn’t have ordered that artillery barrage first. I’m going to hold them for now, I don’t want them to stumble into something..imageframe-6 img{border:0px solid #494848;} Well, maybe they won’t be resting! I had an assault gun company pop up. StuG III G’s! Five of them to be precise. First I’ll level some artillery, then we’ll see how it looks..imageframe-7 img{border:0px solid #494848;} There we go! Time to push on Lommersweiler..imageframe-8 img{border:0px solid #494848;} And we hit a wall of StuG. Two companies of Fusiliers popped up to support them. They have completely halted my first line of attack. That actually work OK because the 4th AD are well, kind of stuck. I’m not entirely sure why, so I reissued orders and hopefully they can see it through.

One interesting point was when the StuGs had us blocked about half of that attack group broke off and tried an alternate route to flank the hostiles. Unfortunately they ran into an infantry company! Lets see how that one goes….imageframe-9 img{border:0px solid #494848;} Finally the 4th AD assaults Lommersweiler and drives out the defenders. Two infantry companies sprint into the open along with the flak battery and a company of AT guns. The attack was slow to start, but once the armor finally grouped up they drove the defenders out easily. It was pretty impressive watching them form into wedges and drive into the town leapfrogging through the fields. I see the armored elements moving into Breitfield the moment the town is clear. Hopefully before nightfall….imageframe-10 img{border:0px solid #494848;} And finally Lommersweiler falls!

It was rather anti-climactic compared to how much trouble it was getting everyone organized. Once the assault finally moved in the defenders fell, in droves. From what I can tell the 4th lost virtually nothing, while the Germans lost two infantry companies, an anti-tank gun platoon, and a self propelled artillery platoon.

While this was happening my original assault force, the 318th, 35th and 51st, are split in two with one set of units on the west engaging some infantry and finally silencing the StuGs while the east column just ran into a German HQ battalion. So if all goes well they’ll mop up that HQ and continue moving towards Breitfield..imageframe-11 img{border:0px solid #494848;} Breitfield was a cake walk. I had originally intended to stop right here and call it a night, but it was so close…

So the Armor went in and smashed into the German Division HQ. Wow, and at the same moment my flanking force caught another Battalion HQ.

About the same moment the Germans snuck in two companies of infantry and are hitting Lommersweiler. For the time being I’ve got a mortar platoon, an AT platoon, and a flak battery holding the city. That requires some infantry support I think…

.imageframe-12 img{border:0px solid #494848;} One final parting surprise. A recon squad, pushing up on a flank, ran right into a 400 man strong Regimental Base. In the span of an hour it dropped the unit down to seven men. An amazing coup for us, not that much is left of that regiment. So that leaves our forces to assault Saint Vith, and hold on to what we have. It’s been a bloody fight, but things are looking pretty good for the US Army today!

The sun rises on an entirely different battlefield. The German regiments are broken, the HQ elements shattered, and the US Armor is rolling into the objective. Through the clouds comes a most welcome sound… Allied Aircraft. 

Command Ops : Battles for the Bulge : The Assault on Steinebruck Bridge

To really appreciate the bridge at Steinebruck you need to head over to Google Maps and check it out. Not just as the map, but in street view. The immensity of the hills around that bridge don’t do the map justice. Check out this link and browse around, this would have been a very intimidating crossing..imageframe-1 img{border:5px solid #7f7f7f;} When we last left our forces they were listening to the bombardment echo through the hills of Belgium. Now it’s time to send out troops into battle. I’m going to make an order to the Division HQ and task them with securing the crossing. I’m not entirely sure how well this will work. Normally I direct each Battalion myself, but in this case I want to test out the AI. Can it perform the task?

Later on I’ll have to direct each battalion once multiple objectives appear. But until then… here we go!.imageframe-2 img{border:5px solid #afafaf;} I’ve set the attack to begin at 07:03. The troops will move in an arrowhead formation. And, on the bottom, I’ve checked Secure Crossing. Now the orders have to propagate, and in a worst case scenario some of the units might not get the order. I could have set the time longer, but I want this crossing now, and I want Lommersweiler just as quickly. Once we have those objectives secured we can work on Breitfield.

But first, we take the bridge!.imageframe-3 img{border:5px solid #898989;} Within a few short minutes the Division HQ has sent orders out and the locations for each Battalion is set. I’m surprised, usually it takes longer. Maybe it’s how close they all are?.imageframe-4 img{border:5px solid #a5a5a5;} At 0639 the assault starts to roll into place..imageframe-5 img{border:5px solid #b7b7b7;} The Division commander is being overly cautious. Elements of the 51st, 25th, and 318th are assaulting. Alone. This just will not do. I’m stepping in and having that armor slam into that battle. I’ve got two battalions doing nothing..imageframe-6 img{border:4px solid #898989;} I can’t very well blame the AI on this one. The game is designed that I fill the role two levels up. So I should be directing these battalions. So, my fault, but I will leave the exact movements up to the battalion commanders. So I’ve ordered attack moves along with a full artillery bombardment of the position. Here we go!.imageframe-7 img{border:4px solid #dd3333;} Damn, lose my first unit. They got nailed by some 88’s..imageframe-8 img{border:10px solid #81d742;} There we go! Now they’re moving into position and the assault begins. This is going to be tough, by letting those units get across they’ve been able to bring in nine PanzerSchrek 88s! On top of that they have a platoon of 7.5cm Pak 40 anti-tank guns..imageframe-9 img{border:4px solid #7a7a7a;} We’ve driven back an assault gun company, and a platoon of Stug III G! I didn’t even know the Stug’s were there. I knew we should have assaulted the bridge right away, letting the German’s get dug in was a bad idea. So far we’ve had non-stop barrages of artillery and its still been slow going..imageframe-10 img{border:10px solid #81d742;} Finally! An Airstrike! I’ve shifted my attacks but we’re taking heavy losses. I’ve reshifted all of elements for another assault. Hopefully this airstrike can dislodge those AT guns..imageframe-11 img{border:10px solid #dd9933;} The airstrike worked wonders. Not only did we dislodge the AT guns, but we had a second airstrike shortly after that hammered another AT gun emplacement. Then nightfall came and only one of my units started the assault. Oh sweet Jesus… The 318th are going in and run into Stugs, a Battalion HQ, and two infantry companies. To make matters worse the rest of my units decided to rest. Assault time!.imageframe-12 img{border:10px solid #dd3333;} I knew the German line couldn’t take much more. All we needed was a concerted effort. Time to go all in. Against the recomendations of my Battalion commanders I ordered a night strike. Full aggressiveness, maximum rate of fire, full artillery support and whammo. We pushed them back.

But it was costly. I’ve lost my anti tank company and an armored company. In fact when it comes to tanks I’ve lost at least half. This crossing gave us one hell of a beating.

The big lesson here, be aggressive! 

The next objective will be Lommersweiler itself. In two hours I have a Close Combat Brigade and elements of the 4th Armored Division coming in as reinforcements. This will add another 2200 troops to the battle. For now my units will get a few hours of rest and the reinforcements will spearhead the assault.

This is the third time I’ve played this scenario and its the most intense so far. I never had losses like this before, I’m really excited to see how the rest is going to turn out. I took a damned mauling, hopefully I can make up for it. Time is running out…

Command Ops : Battles for the Bulge – Let’s Play Part 1

.imageframe-13 img{border:5px solid #939393;} For my first Let’s Play I’m going to work through the tutorial campaign : Return to St. Vith. The scenario takes place on January 5th, 1945. You can read about the previous engagements here. I’ll be following the recommended settings as the Allies.

Opposing me will be elements of the 12th Volksgrenadier Division. Considered one of the best infantry divisions in the western front. Later on they will be reinforced by some armored units, but I’ll wait to reveal that later..imageframe-14 img{border:5px solid #a3a3a3;} The orders delay means that when I give an order it may not happen immediately. This depends on the quality of the Officers, the distance from the HQ, and whether they have something else to do. This can be maddening, but it is so very realistic. Planning and coordinating really becomes a challenge.

Weather will be historical, which means on the first day I’ll get air support, and then the visibility is bad.

Supplies and reinforcements will all come as per normal. 50.229696, 6.172040
This is a topo map of the area. As you can tell this is a pretty steep area..imageframe-15 img{border:5px solid #777777;} Oh boy. There’s a lot going on here. I’ll try to break it down. You can click to make the image larger..imageframe-16 img{border:5px solid #898989;} Our forces are arrayed on the edge, ready to secure the crossing at Steinebruck. Just beyond, on a hill, is the next objective, Lommersweiler. I know there are German units here, I have an idea of what exactly, but not exactly. The position updates based on my last intel. I might think a unit is in place, when in reality it has already moved. I’ll show one German unit to show the details.Alright, let’s see what we’re facing. This unit will be the first to engage our units. We can see that there is 137 soldiers and they appear to be in pretty good shape. Once we get better intel we’ll know more about experience and training. For now the unit is going off of basic intel.

They have four motorcycles (with sidecar), a kettenkrad, and two cars. On top of that 60 Kar 98 rifles, 16 MG 42s, 28 MP40’s and 14 Panzerfausts. A hefty little force, but not terribly mobile.

They’re sitting in the edge of a treeline at the bottom of a little hollow..imageframe-17 img{border:5px solid #999999;} First order of business.

Artillery. I plan on setting up a coordinated attack between all three of my HQ’s. But first, we’re going to wake them up. I’ve got these bad boys along with a few mortar platoons. I’m going to open it up with a full out bombardment with everything we’ve got.

Do I need to select each unit, give orders, and wait?

Nope.

I just tell the Division HQ where I want it and it’ll pass the orders down and the Battalions will do it themselves..imageframe-18 img{border:5px solid #8e8e8e;} And eight minutes later the order is propagated through the units and everyone rains down. That’s the mortars, the 105’s and even a flak unit. A full out coordinated bombardment, and I did it all with a couple of clicks. Had I wanted I could have scheduled it to start, and end, precisely when an attack would start. No more micro managing. Is that awesome or what?.imageframe-19 img{border:5px solid #a5a5a5;} You can see the bombardment striking the target. Or at least where I last saw it. It might not be there.

.reading-box-container-1 .element-bottomshadow:before,.reading-box-container-1 .element-bottomshadow:after{opacity:0.7;} The crashing of the artillery shatters the crisp Belgian air. Trees explode on the wood line and cries of fallen German soldiers echo in between the explosions. The troops of the 318th, 51st, and 35th know that this is the time. The units are ready, and the attack is about to begin.

I’ll continue this in the next installment and see how we do taking the crossing at Steinebruck.

Do you have some input, advice, or thoughts on how to proceed? Leave them in the comments!

Command Ops : Battles for the Bulge – Lets Play?

I’ve been enjoying some Lets Play Archives lately, particularly for War in the East. Though I’ve found a few really good ones for Command Ops too. The game really lends itself to a great Lets Play, there’s a ton of stuff going on, there’s a lot of variety, and an opportunity to wrap it into a great story. My Twitch stream is at http://www.twitch.tv/titaniumtrout

In case you don’t know what a Lets Play is, or what Twitch is, you basically read my reports, or watch me, play a game. It’s not like watching though, not exactly, you get the commentary that goes with it. Or you should, a boring Twitch stream is one without interaction. That’s the other fun part, you can interact with me while I do it and tell me how horrible I am. Or that I just let my Infantry Company die in a Panzer fire. Sometimes the written reports are even better, they read like a great AAR. Except it’s pseudo-real time.

More action centered games, like World of Tanks, work great on Twitch, but not so well on the Lets Play written format. Mainly because it happens so quick. But turn based games, or pausable ones really do. Some of the better Lets Plays get the reader involved and you can get the opportunity to direct a portion of the battle. In some cases saved games are passed around and one commander can try and fix (or change strategies) with what the others did.

So far I’ve played the St. Vith tutorial three times. I wish I’d recorded the first one as it turned out amazing. My Shermans put a walloping down and routed the Volksgrenadiers while the infantry worked perfect. We made such a quick push that I was able to bottle up the SS Tigers before they could even get into St. Vith. The second round didn’t go quite as well, and the Wehrmacht managed to hit my flanks and stunted my push. I’m experimenting on the third round and seeing how versatile the AI is (it’s very versatile).

Battle of St. Vith – Wikipedia Article

Game Map

 

 

 

 

Aerial photo of Saint Vith. (Notice the craters)

As you can see the maps are modeled pretty well to reflect St. Vith.

The game models the terrain very well. Your units don’t plop from hex to hex, but instead follow the best route they decide. I can micromanage, but the game is designed so that the commander issues orders to subordinates and they do their jobs. A far change from most games where you have to tell each individual soldier where, and when, to run. This can be awesome, but frustrating while you wonder why the Recon Platoon isn’t moving and your tanks just ran smack dab into those Panthers.

Keep an eye out while I work out a good format for showing St. Vith.