for Combat-Mission (SOCC-M)
RULESET
Rules, Regulations and other things open to long extensive debate....
1. Objective: The objective of each campaign game will, of course, first and foremost, be to have a good time. On a more objective level (pun intended), each side will have a “mission statement” issued to them by higher headquarters that will ultimately decide whether they are successful or not.
2. Sequence of Play:
a. Players decide who will play each side and what “gamey” rules are in effect. A lot of gamey issues will be moot since neither player will have control over unit purchases. They each will be commanding a combined arms task force based on the historical TO&E’s of the period, at least as close as I can get them.
b. Players then download the files for their perspective side (Axis or Allied). Since the TO&E will be balanced and based on unit tables found in any Threat manual of the period there is no need to worry about the other guy seeing your force makeup. Once you organize your forces as you see fit and deploy them on the large map, your opponent will only be able to guess at what forces are where.
c. After a thorough map and unit study each commander will develop a plan for how he wants to achieve his mission over the next 24 - 72 hours (depending on campaign game length). Battalion Task Forces and Company Teams (combined arms at the company level) can be created out of the TO&E pool.
d. Each player will then prepare a Operational Plan and map overlay for me covering the first 24 hours of campaign time. All I will basically need to know is how you have divided up your forces, which forces are moving to new locations, who will be digging in, and who is sitting in reserve. All of this will be covered on the Operational Planning Sheet (OPS).
e. The actual tactical level combat will be fought between players using CMBB. For simplicity these CMBB scenarios (usually Operations) will be called Tactical Engagements, TE’s. Once I have collected all of the information and transferred it over to my master map, I will determine what TE’s will take place in the first Operational Turn (OT, each OT represents 6 hours campaign time). If multiple TE’s occur at the same time on the campaign timeline, then I will randomly decide which TE is fought first.
f. I will then create a CMBB Operation scenario using the pre-made map and the units that each player informed me were in or moving into that area.
g. Players will then be responsible for fighting the Operation. At the end of each battle players will be responsible for emailing me the last turn (and any pertinent passwords). This will be used to update the TO&E charts to reflect any losses. And of course who still holds the ground.
h. TE’s will be fought until all within that OT are complete. Players can then cancel or modify previous orders. New Attack orders can only be drawn up at the end of each 24-hour period.
i. This process will continue for 24 hours campaign time (or four OT’s). Players will then have an opportunity to develop new Attack orders, this is referred to as a Planning Phase. This represents the late night staff sessions that took place between the daytime fighting.
j. Play will continue along this vein until the end of the campaign is reached (48-72 hours campaign time) or one side is forced to withdraw off the campaign map.
3. Map: There are two types of maps, Campaign and TE. The campaign map depicts the entire maneuver area. I drew it from Mapquest’s website using the modern road map and historical drawings from different texts as a guide. Each TE map is drawn with CM and will be used to create the scenario files. Each TE map is finite, approximately 3 km (H) x 5 km (W), so the limit on the number of personnel and equipment (the stacking limit, if you will) per TE will be set at the equivalent of five rifle companies per side. The only exception to this will be in those rare instances a player is able to carry out a successful flank or enveloping attack. Then he would have units converging on the same TE area from different points on the compass. Put another way, you can’t push two battalion task forces down the same road into the same Tactical Engagement in the same OT. In reality all you would end up with is one hell of a traffic jam. Also, since each battle will only last 35-50 turns, there just wouldn’t be enough time to deploy that many units on such a narrow front. Task Forces may pass one another during an OT in friendly controlled areas. For example, a depleted task force could pull out of a TE area where they had just fought a battle in the preceding OT, while a second reserve task force moved into it with no penalty to the depleted units defensive network. In other words a relief in place could be done. Movement on the Campaign Map will be done using a formula based on units travel rates (based on equipment, overall size, and Command/Control assets) and terrain. I will plot Task Forces and independent Company Teams on an hourly basis using a grid overlay and the movement rate system. As these elements make contact with enemy units I will design and distribute the TE. This way the scenarios will be progressing (hopefully) in real time as they would in the campaign, i.e. the TE’s being fought in the beginning of the 6 hour OT should be finished up before those that started later in the OT. This will allow upper echelon commanders some flexibility in reacting to events. If a TE goes badly early in the OT then the commander may elect to order units fighting in other TE’s to conserve forces or even withdraw.