Combat Commander: Europe with random scenario generator

My friend Doug first introduced me to the Combat Commander: Europe (CC:E) random scenario generator (RSG) back in 2017. This is now my favorite way to play this game.

CC:E setting up random scenario in VASSAL

CC:E’s designer, Chad Jensen (RIP), likely started his scenario design work with the RSG. It provides a built-in way to achieve some level of balance. A nice side effect of this is that you don’t have to randomize the scenario setup: if you want, for example, a scenario with the Americans vs. Germans set in a hilly part of Italy in 1943 you can choose a suitable map and specify the year and two sides. Make the Germans the defender, then use the order-of-battle purchase cards to pick an appropriate mix for each site. Add leaders, fortifications, and calibrate the victory points and you are ready to go. Heck, why not have your favorite LLM create a scenario briefing ¹:

Troina Ridge, Sicily – August 31 to September 6, 1943 As part of the final push of Operation Husky, elements of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division moved inland from the Gela beaches into the rugged central highlands of Sicily. Their immediate objective was the fortified hilltop village of Troina, perched atop steep, rocky ridges and commanding the only direct route north toward Messina. German defenders—primarily elements of the Hermann Göring and 15th Panzergrenadier Divisions—had transformed the surrounding olive groves and narrow mountain gullies into interlocking fields of fire, supported by well‑sited mortars and 88 mm guns. The Americans would have to assault across exposed slopes, clear entrenched positions, and seize successive high ground under withering enemy fire. By the evening of September 6, after days of brutal, attritional fighting, American troops consolidated their hold on the ridge, compelling the Germans to fall back toward Randazzo. The capture of Troina not only broke the last major German defensive line in eastern Sicily but also cleared the way for the Allied advance onto the Italian mainland.

Anyway, good friend Allen and I (we first met to play CC:E over VASSAL even though we both lived in Portland) are in the middle of our second RSG game. It takes a bit less than an hour to setup the scenario (we aren’t particularly quick) and the games take 2-3 hours. My favorite tactical game of course is ASL, but CC:E is just so much fun and easy to play.

1. Here’s the prompt I used: I’m designing a scenario for Combat Commander: Europe, set in Italy on hilly terrain in 1943. Americans attacking, Germans defending. Write up a 1-2 paragraph summary that could be used as a briefing, setting, and summary of the engagement. Base this off of an actual battle that occurred. ↩