Return to the Valley of the Shadow of Death (latest map added 24-Feb-2022)

[Simon Landmine]

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward ...

Several years back I posted a topic, which appears to have gorn missing, that contained some of the boards from my The Valley folder (now floating around in your 'unofficial' board folders). For those of you wondering who thought that 30x15 was a good set of dimensions for a board, this is what they're for. The individual boards are almost the size of a pair of standard mapsheets, making them handy for a quick battle. That said, this is what they were originally intended for ... stringing together vertically to make yourself a long, narrow battlefield.

Select the 30x15 map size, then select a number of boards from, say 5x1 to 'get-carried-away'x1, and you can end up with something like this sample (which is a 10x1 board map - a valley 900m wide by 4.5km) - and there are enough boards to make a valley over 9km long without repeating components. (Unfortunately, because of the way I initially built the boards, you can't rotate individual boards for variety. Sorry! Though I'm likely to keep building additional boards for this in between others.)

(The concept of the modular valley is obviously not original, and this particular one is modelled on a modular campaign scenario from Charles Steward Grant's Programmed Wargames Scenarios (Wargames Research Group, 1983).)

The valley can be considered an accessible pass between otherwise sheer cliff mountains, and offers an opportunity for a defensive force to be deployed in depth, to obstruct an offensive force attempting to cross the pass from South to North. The various boards provide various terrain challenges for the attackers, which may slow them down, or provide locations where ambushes can be concealed. (In addition to assorted woods and various settlements, some of the boards include depth 2 water, for those of you who want their 'mechs to emulate Godzilla - "Up from the depths, 30 stories metres high ...") It'll also make a good opportunity to actually use scouting forces, especially if a time limit has been set for reaching the end of the valley before reinforcements arrive.

The sample combined 30x150 map below uses the following boards, but there are a bunch more in the folder ...

00 - 30x15 TheValley-NorthEnd (If you use this board, it has to go at the top end)
01 - 30x15 TheValley-Lakeside
02 - 30x15 TheValley-Open5
03 - 30x15 TheValley-Forest
04 - 30x15 TheValley-River
05 - 30x15 TheValley-Town
06 - 30x15 TheValley-Open2
07 - 30x15 TheValley-Swamp
08 - 30x15 TheValley-SouthEnd2 (If you use this board, it should go at the bottom, or just above '30x15 TheValley-SouthEnd1')
09 - 30x15 TheValley-SouthEnd1 (If you use this board, it has to go below '30x15 TheValley-SouthEnd2')

30x150 TheValley-sample-1

Saxarba tileset, grass set applied

(Click to enlarge!)

(NOTE: I'd advise not using the fatigue rules when using this map, as your 'warriors are likely to end up exhausted about halfway up the map - possibly before contact!)

This board has been added to the updated .zip file below - and I'm now date-stamping the .zip files (ISO-style - the one true date format!) so that people can be sure that they've got the latest one - I should have thought of that earlier.

[Daryk]

Nice... how did I miss this yesterday?  ???

[Simon Landmine]

Nice... how did I miss this yesterday?  ???

It was an ambush?

This board is one where ambushes from hidden forces can really take a toll. And if you use all of the optional boards to stretch it out, you end up with something that means you need to advance your artillery up the board as you move forwards. Which also means that overlooked hidden forces can give you a nasty surprise as they attack from behind. (Or you can have your BAP units zigzagging up the battlefield ahead of you ... like scouts should ... which then makes them priority targets, as without them, you won't be able to spot the other ambushes ...)

[Daryk]

I like the cut of your jib...  ^-^

[Simon Landmine]

The day that Princess learns how to handle hidden units - or that Princess learns how to unload-and-load-and-unload infantry in response to threats - is the day that I put all of the 30x15 valley boards together to make the 'full-length' board, and write off at least a weekend ...

[Daryk]

And some of us will be waiting for that very day...  ^-^

[Simon Landmine]

I did realise that the 30x15 TheValley-Canal board, if placed in the middle of the valley, is pretty much a guaranteed dead-stop for tracked or wheeled units, unless you've got bridge-layers - all it takes is some pre-targeted artillery to cut the bridge, and the canal becomes a moat. (Unlike 30x15 TheValley-River, used above, which includes two different bridges, and a couple of fords as well.)

[Daryk]

Heh... all the latter would take is four pre-targeted artillery hexes... That's not a big stretch, really...

[Simon Landmine]

Heh... all the latter would take is four pre-targeted artillery hexes... That's not a big stretch, really...

True - but unlike the bridges, the fords require a lot more effort to actually render useless - you'd need to do enough damage to the hex to drop them a level.

[Daryk]

You could also simply mine the approaches on either side (or the ford itself, if your mines are waterproof)...  ^-^

[Simon Landmine]

You could also simply mine the approaches on either side (or the ford itself, if your mines are waterproof)...  ^-^

[facepalm] Yeah, should have seen that one coming. I do need to get more practice with mines!

(I'm reminded of the idea in an old Top Secret adventure in, I think, Dragon magazine, where some mines were buried in sand on the surface of an artificial island. If the actions of the players caused the island to sink a metre or so, the mines would all float out of the sand, making the surrounding sea surface incredibly hazardous. I'm now picturing mines floating gently down the river, to the dismay of any fly fishermen downstream.)

EDIT: Fixed my formatting.

[Daryk]

Now THAT's funny!  ;D

[CrossfirePilot]

OH, dang just saw this now, too bad I am committed to other things this next week!

[Simon Landmine]

OH, dang just saw this now, too bad I am committed to other things this next week!

The maps will still be there in the future ...  8)

[CrossfirePilot]

And as you walk your Awesome (or whatnot depending on era) down the middle of this, you just hum to yourself "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear nothing because I am the baddest MOFO in this place"

[Daryk]

If only that would fend off the mines (and artillery)…   ^-^

[McSlayer]

Hey Thanks,

Ive been looking for these maps for years.

My GM from 10 years ago made me fight on the full length of this map, iirc... and I could never find it in Megamek.

thanks.

[Simon Landmine]

Well, these particular ones are my own interpretation of those in the original publication from the '80s, so may not be exactly the same as your GM's ones, but I hope that they recreate the experience - feel free to organise as desired and, as always, looking forward to hearing how your battles on my maps go!

[Hammer]

I'll arrange to get these added/updated for the next release.

[Simon Landmine]

Thanks, Hammer. Latest bundle of my boards is attached ...

[Simon Landmine]

I slipped and accidentally made two more 30x15 'slices' for the Valley map.

30x15 TheValley-Forest2


30x15 TheValley-Ridge2

The Forest2 board is a thick woods spanning the valley, with the road heading straight through. There are also a couple of paths of thinner woods which might allow some units alternative routes, and a clear-cut firebreak to the east.
The Ridge2 board is another high ridge of wooded land cutting across the valley, which might slow an advance, and offer a potential dead-ground firing point.

(As with my other 30x15 boards, theses can be fitted together to make a long valley, as seen at the top of the thread. The maps depicted have the 'grass' version of the 'hq_saxarba' tileset applied.)

I'll stick up an updated .zip file in a few days.

[Daryk]

Nice additions!  :thumbsup:

[bearnoceros]

I love these maps, Simon!

Thanks for sharing them with us!

[Simon Landmine]

Been a little while since I've done any map-making, so I decided I'd start off again with something fairly simple. Also, I've seen a few documentaries that have referred to the WWII concept of the 'Stop Line', so I decided to add one to my series of 30x15 Valley slices.

Historical examples of the Stop Line can be found in Britain (the Taunton Stop Line being a good example) and there were a fair few dotted across Italian passes. And, of course, something like The Maginot Line could be consider a vast implementation of the principle. This is a pretty simple example - a cleared area of land, bounded at the south by obstacles to slow attackers slightly (either boulders or concrete obstacles), while the wooded ridge line at the north is reinforced with six armoured gun emplacements and two observation towers, along with a barracks to support the improved infantry positions on the ridge.

30x15 TheValley-StopLine1

I'm now tempted to build a few more similar defended positions to be added to the Valley, that can be dropped in to make the advance more challenging, such as a reinforced river crossing, but so far, this is the only purely military board I've made for the Valley set.

Obviously, this doesn't work too well as a stand-alone board, as the southern deployment zone would allow attackers to bypass the obstacles, but as a part of a longer map could be interesting - especially as having an objective further behind the ridge would raise the possibility of fast-moving attackers attemping to simply charge through the line and bypass it.

[BairdEC]

I like that idea.  I'd put the barracks out of the line of fire, though.  The troops really don't like seeing their mess hall get shot up.

[Simon Landmine]

I like that idea.  I'd put the barracks out of the line of fire, though.  The troops really don't like seeing their mess hall get shot up.

Depends what the cooking is like. (See Maxim 23  :) )

Fair point, though. It can also be a blockhouse for the infantry defending the road, or possibly a reinforced customs point.

[Simon Landmine]

Following some feedback and battle-testing, here is an alternate build of the StopLine1 map - 30x15 TheValley-StopLine1A. The map is exactly the same, but the Heavy Gun Emplacements (CF90, Armour 30) have been replaced by Medium Gun Emplacements (CF40, Armour 15) in this version to give the option of a slightly less resilient defensive line. I'm going to keep StopLine1 as per the original build, for those who like to play on hard mode (or who have artillery fire missions going begging).

[Cenalt]

Simon -

Thanks for the alernate board - those hardened pillboxes were a real pain to take out! Flanked the road approach with dual AC-20's gun emplacements and put single ArrowIV emplacements along the flanks. A company of mechs could take out one per turn once they brought main weapons to bear, meanwhile the opposing force mechs hung back and sniped. Should be less of a killing field now with the toned-down buildings...

[Simon Landmine]

Thanks for the alernate board - those hardened pillboxes were a real pain to take out! Flanked the road approach with dual AC-20's gun emplacements and put single ArrowIV emplacements along the flanks. A company of mechs could take out one per turn once they brought main weapons to bear, meanwhile the opposing force mechs hung back and sniped. Should be less of a killing field now with the toned-down buildings...

No worries. Definitely depends on the scale of forces that are heading up the valley. That's a pretty effective turret loadout - and reminded me that the BV of turrets does not account for the buildings that they're mounted on (because those are unknown at the point of calculation).

[Lastone23]

These look good. Thank you,