I know this is sort of an odd idea, but it's what I've got on the brain at the moment. Essentially, I have a project in the works, but I'd really appreciate any suggestions you lot might have about possible scenarios, events, etc to keep things interesting.
Some time ago, I was doing some research on the Austro-Hungarian Army of WW1. During that time, I read about the multiple battles of the Isonzo, which reminded me, in turn, of other conflicts in which I'd read about various towns and geographic locations that constantly switched sides during a battle.
Actually, this happened a -lot- during the Great War, and I thought it would be an interesting experiment/tactical challenge to do something based upon the idea of the same armies fighting over the same ground, likely a town in the middle of No Man's Land, over and over again. So what I've done is to plan out a small, fictional French Town "Le Chevre" I call it, located somewhere near the Belgian border and the Ypres salient, along a branch of the Lys River.
The idea is fairly simple. The major lines are approximately one mile east and west of the town, and because of its strategic location, it sees a lot of changes of ownership as the lines expand/contract over the course of the war. As a result, I will be putting on a series of battles (a very basic 'campaign' of sorts) where the sides involved are constantly fighting over the same town. The layout of the town will never change. The Church will always be in a specific area, the Mill will always be along a certain section of the river, etc. However, the town itself and the geography might well change. Buildings might become damaged by artillery. Entrenchments and field works might be constructed. Vehicles might be wrecked over the course of a battle and block access to a previously accessible street, etc. Tactics and objectives will change, too. Perhaps the Entente must take the church belltower for the purpose of spotting artillery on the distant Alliance lines; perhaps the Germans will need to seize control of the mill long enough to get enough grain out of storage to feed their men during a particularly bad supply situation. Ownership of the town will constantly change, too, based upon how the battles go. The Americans might occupy most of the town for several games, only to find themselves attempting to re-take the town from an Austro-Hungarian force, etc.
The idea is to have a dynamic battlefield in a static setting. To reflect the tactical problems of taking and holding a town, as well as the advantages that occur once a commander generally knows the geographic location over which he has to fight. Hopefully, over time, the various players will begin to appreciate certain pieces of high value real estate, learn to avoid certain sectors, maybe focus their artillery on a specific area in order to render it less useful to the enemy, etc.
So, that's the rough concept anyway. Constant back and forth fighting. The armies and objectives may change, the town more or less remains the same, though it is affected physically by the war.
I think it could be loads of fun, and very different, but I could be wrong, of course.
What I'm looking for are scenario ideas. Various bits and pieces that I can throw at both sides to keep them interested. The plan is to have various objectives and distribute them to the players. Probably blindly so that I , too, can play without being unduely influenced.
The date will be sometime in 1918, the armies involved (so far) are the Germans and the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps, but they will eventually be joined by the other armies that would have been fighting in that section of France at the time (Russian Legion, Austro-Hungarians, etc.)
Any suggestions? Interesting curveballs? Etc?
Would appreciate your thoughts!
-Doc
17 November 2007, 10:28:22 AM
