It’s early April 1945 and, a week or so after ‘bouncing the Rhine’, the Western Allies reach another watery obstacle, the Bogen river. At Mannsfeld a few gung ho US AFVs manage to barrel across the bridge before it is blown. Further south, in the British sector of the front, Monty’s vanguard reaches Nottingheim fully expecting to find its two crossings reduced to rubble and twisted metal. Instead the swashbuckling Captain Hood discovers a golden opportunity and a very helpful banner.

Hanging from high windows on the western wall of Schloss Nottingheim, the Renaissance fortress that looms over the locality’s inexplicably intact road and rail bridges, is a huge makeshift map revealing the positions of German units in the vicinity. Made from bedsheets by a small party of enterprising USAAF airmen that somehow managed to stay behind when the castle – until a couple of days ago, a Stalag for particularly troublesome Allied POWs – was evacuated, the map convinces Hood to throw caution to the wind. Rather than wait for the bulk of ‘Arrow Force’ to show up, the Captain decides to bounce the Bogen immediately!

— Task —

Comment Commanders, you’ve got thirty five in-game minutes to gain a firm foothold on the eastern side of the river. Ideally, by the end of turn 35, the two bridges, the castle, and the village will all be under your control. As usual, it won’t be CM’s own victory algorithms that ultimately determine winner and loser. Your GM will make that call.

— Venue —

Notable features of the 640 m x 640 m map together with threats IDed by the eagle-eyed POWs are labeled in the above image.

^ Looking north up the river.  The rail bridge is in the foreground, Hood and his companions are on the left. Free of foes, the hilly, western bank of the Bogen provides plenty of concealment and potential vantage points, but off-road vehicular movement is severely limited by steep slopes and tracts of impassable (to vehicles) ‘rough’ terrain and conifer forest.

^ Looking east across the castle. The village of Nottingheim is in the top-right corner of the image. The only way to enter and exit the castle is by the damaged gateway on its SE corner. Due to CMBO limitations, the ‘towers’ on the NW, NE, and SW corners are completely inaccessible.

^ Looking south down the Bogen. Road bridge in the foreground. Neither bridge is rigged with explosives according to the POWs.

^ Looking east along the railway line. A train stopped and set ablaze by P-47s can be seen in the upper right corner. 

^ Looking northward over the railway.

^ Nottingheim station.

^ The relatively open and flat terrain north and north-east of the castle.

^ View over the road bridge, looking east. Apart from the castle hill and a ridge extending from it into boxes 21, 13, and 14, the eastern side of the river is largely flat.

For ease of order issuing, the map is split into a grid of 64 5×5 cell ‘boxes’. Destinations and, if necessary, targets should be communicated to your GM in the following format: box number, x coordinate, y coordinate. For example, if you wished to send a unit to the building close to the eastern end of the rail bridge, you’d determine the destination’s coordinates by finding the relevant box number then counting right from the lower-left corner, before counting upwards: 3, 3, 5.

— Friendly assets —

Awaiting orders at the start of Turn 1 is a small selection of capable (‘veteran’ or better) Allied units:

(west of the river)

• Captain Hood (Six-man company HQ)
• Lieutenant Tuck (Two-man spotter team for a battery of 25-pounders with 125 rounds at his disposal)
• Sergeant Scarlet’s Daimler armoured car
• Corporal Much’s Humber scout car
• Corporal Fletcher’s M5A1 halftrack carrying Sergeant Venison’s ten-man rifle squad
• Lieutenant Merry (Venison’s boss. Four-man platoon HQ)

From their current lofty positions Hood and Tuck can see the west side of the castle but not the road or rail bridges.

(hiding in the castle)

• Captain Dale’s party (Six POWs armed with pilfered rifles and pistols. Nearest camera)
• Corporal Whitehand’s team (Two POWs armed with a Panzerschreck)

Due to arrive in approximately five minutes’ time (probably circa 9,1,1) is Lieutenant Marian’s rifle platoon (HQ, three squads, PIAT, 3-inch mortar), Sergeant Johns’ Churchill VIII tank, and Sergeant Bowman’s Archer tank destroyer.

There’s also a strong possibility that the group of US units that managed to cross at Mannsfeld will enter the battlefield circa box 5 at some point in proceedings.

— Foes —

According to Captain Dale, you’re facing a ragtag mixture of Volkssturm militiamen and ‘proper soldiers’. Watch out – some of the defenders are sure to be armed with Panzerfausts and Panzerschrecks. Unfortunately Dale is no expert when it comes to IDing enemy AFVs. He can tell a ‘tank’ from a ‘halftrack’ but that’s about it.

Shortly before Hood and Co. showed up, an MG 42 team and sniper slipped into the castle. Currently ensconced at 28, 3, 2, the new arrivals are unaware a band of feisty armed Yanks is nearby.

Once the Krauts realise the crossings at Nottingheim are in danger, it’s highly likely they will begin funneling reinforcements into the area. Any reinforcements will enter the map on its eastern edge.

— Tips —

It’s worth remembering that Beyond Overlord is less sophisticated than second-gen CM. For example, while it’s possible to add 15, 30, or 45-second pauses to the start of a movement sequence, you can’t add pauses or facing instructions to waypoints. Useful for discouraging premature/unwise firing, placeable ambush ‘dots’ fulfill some of the functions of CMx2’s customisable ambush arcs. While buildings can be set ablaze and destroyed by HE fire, they can’t be mouseholed.

Also worth remembering, ten-man infantry squads are a) represented on screen by three figures, b) can be split into two half-squads, and c) like most smaller infantry units, can ride on most tanks and halftracks.

Both Lt Tuck and the 3-inch mortar don’t need LoS to a target to open fire. Assuming they’re close to an HQ with eyes on the target, they can make use of the HQ for spotting .

Rough and conifered areas are out-of-bounds to vehicles, and all units will refuse to enter steeply sloped squares.

— Timetable & communal Combat Mission etiquette —

I’m hoping to process and AAR at least one turn per week. If all starting units have been assigned orders by Sunday night, the first turn report should appear on Monday morning.

While, in the past, individual Comment Commanders have tended to stick with the same unit for the duration of a game, unit gazumping isn’t currently against the rules. Should it be forbidden? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

Best of luck, Comment Commanders!