Dev Log: Monty's Front--MARKET-GARDEN

[Zovs]

I have no bone in this fight, but this is from WDS Panzer Campaigns France '40 (the area is not covered in in Scheldt '44 nor Market-Garden '44)



Direct link:
https://i.imgur.com/zALjnyT.png

[springel]

So I’ve got a yes and no answer to my question. I already had the yes and no answer from my own research. The current football position hasn’t been moved past the B-17 photo entered into evidence as a true representation of this terrain. The terrain is either sea, marsh or polder—or a combination of the three. Which is it? Show your work. I appreciate your efforts in resolving this question.

To recapulate: the polder with the yellow cross didn't exist in 1944. Not even the surrounding dike. The polder to the North, the Noordoostpolder, was being drained and developed during the war. The Germans used prisoners to work in the mud there, but there were also some hidden camps of people hiding from the Germans in the reed fields. I would put the terrain as marsh, not yet fully developed polder.

But the yellow crossed Oostelijk Flevoland should be open lake. Not sea, the Zuiderzee had already been closed by the Afsluitdijk, but that may be irrelevant for the gameplay.

This is an informative site with the official Dutch topographical maps changing over time. However, new maps were printed after a few years of new surveillance, so developments are always shown a bit later than they actually happened. That is, the dates show the state of the maps on sale, not the actual situation at that date.

https://www.topotijdreis.nl/kaart/1951/ ... 504938,5.2

Here the changes during WWII can be seen as the difference between the 1951 (pre-war) and 1952 (post war) maps.

https://www.topotijdreis.nl/kaart/1952/ ... 504938,5.2

And here is a US wartime map showing a partially developed Noordoostpolder:

http://digitalarchive.mcmaster.ca/islan ... crepo:8859

[bcgames]

Excellent! Thanks for the links. They cleared things up nicely. Here's the corrected version of the tile-based game map:

[bcgames]

Springel,

What are your thoughts about the dike and road to Urk Island as interpreted on WDS's Sheldt '44 map? Is this a valid interpretation?

Direct link:
https://i.imgur.com/zALjnyT.png

[bcgames]

The Monty's Front Trilogy will expand the representation of weather effects in the game system. It will provide the capability to translate historical information like this:



...into game-relevant factors like these:



There will also be the capability to play using randomly generated weather. DANGER! Oh My!

It is important to note that our goal with this weather model is to provide the scenario designer a tool they can use to represent relevant weather effects in their scenarios dating from 1792 to 1992.

[springel]

Springel,

What are your thoughts about the dike and road to Urk Island as interpreted on WDS's Sheldt '44 map? Is this a valid interpretation?

This is not a valid representation of the 1944 situation. Instead, it is the situation between October 3, 1939 and December 13, 1940.

Here is a Google translation of the Dutch Wikipedia text on the Noordoostpolder

Preparatory work was started on 2 February 1936, and in 1937 the construction of a total of 31.5 kilometers of dike was put out to tender. On October 3, 1939, the dike between Lemmer and Urk was closed. From then on Urk was no longer an island. On December 13, 1940, the dike on the south side of the polder near Schokkerhaven was closed, the total length of the dike was now 54 km. On January 13, 1941, dry milling could begin when the pumping station at Lemmer came into use. Initially, one pumping station was ready to grind. The other two pumping stations became available afterwards, there are three main pumping stations: Buma, Smeenge and Vissering. The polder officially fell dry on September 9, 1942. Now Schokland was no longer an island, it was now in the middle of the polder. Because the seabed on the Overijssel side rose sharply, the first crop (rye) could be harvested there as early as 1941. During the occupation period (1940-1945) work on the reclamation continued as usual, since the acquisition of additional agricultural land (with food yields) was also an important goal for the occupiers.

The brand new polder quickly became a refuge for people in hiding, because the workers were exempt from the Arbeitseinsatz. At the time, the abbreviation NOP (for the Noordoostpolder) was said to also stand for "Dutch Underdivers Paradise". In total, approximately twenty thousand people were said to have gone into hiding during these war years. In November 1944, about 1,800 pioneers and people in hiding were rounded up during a major raid and taken to Meppel via Vollenhove. The then landdrost Smeding managed to recover about half of it, in order to thresh the grain harvest. To this day, at least two roads can still be found in the polder that remind us of the people in hiding: the Onder Duikersweg and the Onder Duikerspad, in Espel/Creil.

The allotment plan was adopted in 1939, three star-shaped main canals, aimed at Urk, Lemmer and the Voorst, were planned straight through the polder (Urkervaart, Lemstervaart and Zwolse Vaart). There were also the axes Lemmer - Ramspol and from Urk to Vollenhove and Blokzijl. The main town of Emmeloord would arise at the intersection of canals. Initially there were also five villages planned, later this became ten.[4]

The construction of farms was already started in the Second World War, initially the same types as in the Wieringermeer. These are mainly located on the east side of the polder, usually at the beginning of a road. Because they were used to cultivate the polder, these farms are called Cultuurboerderijen. After World War II, bricks and masons were in short supply; it was then that prefab concrete elements were used for the first time. Land issuance began in 1947. The new farmers were rigorously selected. They mainly came from Friesland, North Holland, and Zeeland (including from Walcheren, which was flooded by the Allies in October 1944). After the flood of 1953, many farmers from Schouwen-Duiveland, Tholen and Zuid-Beveland came over.

You could add a few polder hexes in the East of the polder, as shown in the American map, where there is already a draining ditch system in place in a few places. But the fact that thousands of people could live in hiding in the new polder shows that large parts were still a reed wildernis.

[bcgames]

Great! Thank-you.

[bcgames]

Along with a multitude of other tasks, we have commenced construction of the Monty's Front Trilogy image maps. Editor-wise, map files are built using a generic tile-based system. This map construction system is available to the would-be scenario designer. We kick it up a notch by converting the tile-based maps into image-based maps. These are built free-hand using PhotoShop (a task best suited for experienced graphic artists).

Here's a snapshot of the MARKET-GARDEN map...a work-in-progress:



WEGOWW2: Stalingrad had Major Cities and Towns. WEGOWW2: MARKET-GARDEN introduces villages.

[bcgames]

For folks interested, here's how the map of the same general area looks in the editor using the tile-based map system:

[bcgames]

Building the image map...82nd Airborne drop zones in the Nijmegen area:



Many miles to travel before we sleep on these graphics...

[bcgames]

Welp. Spring is here and I didn't get it done. Now is the time to farm. Maybe after the Fall we'll get to ALPHA. We'll see what happens.



Onwards!

[Fraggo5]

Good luck with the coming season , look forward to seeing more progress in the Autumn .

[adrazz]

All looks great, looking forward to seeing how this game develops with new DLC etc

[bcgames]

Tanks!

[bcgames]

Stuck in the roost. If this cold weather keeps up we'll be at ALPHA before too long.

[bcgames]

Borderlands and the West Wall...



...and rain tomorrow.