Update

I've been travelling for work and haven't been able to get the Beta of this mod out the door. I have to travel for the next week as well, so tonight and tomorrow are going to be all the time I can devote until October.

I wanted to get this out in September, but it will be difficult to pull it off!

Even thought this will only be a "Beta" here's what still needs to be done:

• Estab/Unit cleanup
• Intel Settings
• Map Tweaks
• Scenario Descriptions
  
  

Features

Hedgerow Terrain - New terrain element for battle maps of Normandy. It allows only slow movement, which tires troops, and allows only low visibility, which keeps troops from easily identifying and destroying the enemy. This reproduces the difficulties in fighting bocage warfare. The terrain element includes new graphics:




New Units - Hedgerows were the prominent feature in the American sector of Normandy, and therefore the scenario for this mod includes American troops. The difficulty, of course, is that the allied infantry estabs for HTTR comprise only British forces and arms. In order to create a US infantry division, I used the Brit estabs and structured them as closely as possible as US formations. This seems to satisfy the need, although permission to access the estab files would have been the preferred way of tackling this.


New Map - Hedgerows hedgerows hedgerows! The map for this scenario depicts the area between the Vire and Taute rivers, and includes St. Lo to the extreme southeast. The map features bridges, hills, towns and plenty of bocage.



To read more about the making of this mod, visit Allied Assualt HQ.

Download Instructions

Here's how to download the Hedgerows mod, map and scenario.

Click here for the version with Map cache (4.78 MB)

Click here for the plain version (where you will need to create your own Map cache if you want one) (827 KB)

Here's the readme text (for the version with map cache):


Airborne Assault: HIGHWAY TO THE REICH

HEDGEROWS Expansion Pack - BETA 1.01

Welcome, this pack contains an historical Normandy map based on the area between the Vire and Taute rivers. It also contains a scenario (semi-historical to not-so-historical)for a battle in the hedgerows. The expansion map also contains a terrain modification introducing hedgerows into the game as a terrain element featuring new movement and cover characteristics and supporting tile graphics.

This terrain modification and map are designed by Dan Lamb, aka Rooster.

Contents:
=========
The Map covers an area of approximately 21 by 14 kilometers and is provided with one ready to play scenario.

Installation:
=============
Extract into your "Airborne Assault" game directory, the Map and Scenario files will then be copied into the correct directories.
The map files (map and cache) should end up in the "Airborne Assault/Maps" directory.
The scenario files should end up in the "Airborne Assault/Scenarios" directory.
NOTE: The two terrain graphics files "mappat.bmp" and mappatA.bmp" belong in the "Graphics/Maps" directory. Please be sure to back up your original map graphic files so you can easily convert back to the original files.

Map Cache:
==========
This ExPack comes with a map cache.

Requirements:
=============
10.4 Meg Hard Disc storage with map cache.
Version 2.2.86 or later of the Airborne Assault: Highway To The Reich game.

Included Files:
===============
ReadMeHedgerows.txt - This file
MapPat.bmp - Map texture file
MapPatA.bmp - Map transparency file
StLo.aam - Map file
stlo.aam.cache - Map cache file
Hedgerows - Beta Version 1.01.AAS - Scenario


Copyright 2004 Panther Games Pty Ltd, All Rights Reserved.

Feedback

Your input is greatly appreciated. Please click "Post a Comment" below and share your thoughts and ideas.

Or, you can share your thoughts at the Matrix forum here.

Thanks!

Screens / AAR

The Fight at Pont Hebert

Elements of armored Task Force A have discovered a weakness in the German defenses and have penetrated along the Vire River to Pont Hebert. The 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 119th Infantry Regiment follow southward to secure the crossing.





The enemy reaction comes swiftly, as the Germans commit recently arrived elements of Panzer Lehr to seal off the penetration. The forces confront each other in the hedgerows on the eastern bank of the Vire.

Seeking to flank the Germans, the 3rd Battalion maneuvers around the eastern edge of Panzer Lehr's lines. The attack goes in well, but looses momentum as darkness falls and exhaustion overtakes the troops.





The next morning, a deadly Panzer Lehr counterattack drives the 119th IR backward.





Before long, however, more elements of Task Force A arrive, attacking southward along the east bank of the Vire. From the West, the 1st Battalion of the 120th Infantry Regiment enters the scene to secure the bridge and clear the East bank.

The overmatched German troops withdraw southward to regroup and make a final stand in St. Lo.

Overview

This mini blog is dedicated to the "Hedgerows" modification I have made for Airborne Assualt: Highway to the Reich, a real time war game published by Panther Games. I've created this blog as a dedicated resource rather than post the mod info up at the Airborne Assault HQ, which features a lot of information about the making of this mod.

The Hedgerows mod introduces hedgerows as a terrain element. The game had been developed exclusively to portray the land in Holland where operation Market Garden took place. Hedgerows do not figure prominently into that terrain.

But there were (and still are today) hedgerows in Normandy, and this small mod allows players to develop maps that realistically portray the battles that took place in the "bocage."

Included with the launch of the mod is a map of the area in Normandy northwest of St. Lo, where the US 30th Infantry Division fought the Germans for the ownership of the hills above the city.

Also included is an all new OOB with ersatz US units constructed from British estabs.

The mod is available to anyone that wishes to play and/or tinker with it to make it better.

Cheers,

Rooster