c3k Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 I like how you appear to've blanketed your entire front-line with eyes. I know that I frequently don't scout enough, or put out enough flankers. Nicely done. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted March 25, 2013 Author Share Posted March 25, 2013 Thanks Ken. I probably have third of my force out front as early warning trip wires and for intelligence gathering. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted March 25, 2013 Author Share Posted March 25, 2013 The Twenty-First Minute GaJ is starting to commit more and more firepower to this battle. I am calling off my probe on the left as I think it has done as much as it can do right now and GaJ is starting to be able to interdict me without my troops being able to spot his. So back behind my mountain we go. GaJ has started to withdraw the forces he had on the center ridge line as my teams start to close in. He has an HMG on my left on the back side of the mountain that is in a ridiculously good position.. I have had to cancel several movement orders and withdraw a few other teams that were falling within its line of fire including several that were climbing this ridge. MGs in this game now are simply brutal. This composite image show the tracks of the two panzers that I have sound contacts on. If there are more then he is keeping them very quiet. This image shows how the contacts for the two panzers moved during this turn. They are moving very slowly.. almost as if they are on hunt orders. With this current information I think their most likely target (Option A) is the ridge that separates his tanks from my troops. Option B is a possibility as that would allow him to attack my center force.. Option C is the last and I think least likely path... I doubt he would move towards his troops on my right in the gully... what would that get him? How am I responding to them you might ask? Well, I am pre-positioning a Stuart and 3 or so teams armed with PIATs in positions that should be able to attack the panzers especially if they are heading to the ridge... don't let that little gun fool you.. the Stuart can cause some pain and it fires so damned fast.. anything the size of a STuG or Pz-IV could be in trouble (could be especially if I can hit them in the flank).. anything larger.. JgdPz IVs etc. then I could be in trouble. I am also taking a HUGE gamble and rolling the dice with my Shermans. They will all be shifting to the right and taking up hull down positions in order to attack the panzers no matter where they pop up. One will be in place next turn.. the second and third will require another couple of minutes probably. The Sherman in the center (left most arrow) is on Hunt orders just in case GaJ brings his tanks over that center hill... if he has tanks on my left then he will be able to hurt me with them.. I am comfortable with this decision.. so why are my palms sweating? But I do have a lot of ears on my left... one team is almost in the rear of the opening of that bowl he is sitting in.. still no sounds of armor (sorry I'm British for this scenario.. armour), engines, anything... I should have some warning if something tracked starts to move there. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan8325 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 The MG Section HQ is performing medic durties on the fallen HMG team.. hopefully they will gather up some ammo and the gun.. not sure if they will take the gun, but its worth a shot. I'm pretty sure that deployed HMGs that have had their crews killed count as "abandoned" heavy weapons and can't be reclaimed, but I could be wrong. I'd like to see some ability to re-man a heavy weapon in future iterations of CM for the purpose of moving away from an artillery strike or something like that, then moving back. Anyone know if this was done in real life? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 I'm pretty sure that deployed HMGs that have had their crews killed count as "abandoned" heavy weapons and can't be reclaimed, but I could be wrong. I'd like to see some ability to re-man a heavy weapon in future iterations of CM for the purpose of moving away from an artillery strike or something like that, then moving back. Anyone know if this was done in real life? Yeah I think you are right because they are finished and the gun is still sitting there. I was at least hoping for them to scavenge some ammo.. but alas that too was a bust. Bil 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baneman Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Did the HMG not have a "knocked out" label ? Normally when the model is canted over like that, it's done for. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 It was abandoned. I'm sure it was non recoverable. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c3k Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 ^^^ No doubt a piece of shrapnel cut the receiver in half, or somesuch. (At least, that's how I get my head around it.) Oh, and the in the gunner's last moments, he removed the bolt and buried nearby so only he could find it. Alas, he is no more... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Bil, A sniper/sharpshooter per section? Must be a lot of snipes out there! Even Ivan had only one such weapon per platoon, and that was enough to give me fits during the Cold War thinking about it. The light mortar issue is inherently confusing as stated above. Usually, the light/medium/heavy designation refers to the bore diameter of the bomb that's being fired. Thus 40-60mm light, 76-82mm medium and 107mm and up heavy or super heavy. Here, you're referring to weapon weight. For those who don't know, the Swiss watch quality German GrW 36 was replaced, for reasons of range, hitting power and ease of manufacture of both weapon and ammo, by yet another Stummel (stump), in this case a stubby, but quite potent Kurzer (short) 8 cm GrW 42 called a Stummelwerfer or stump thrower. It fired all the 8cm mortar rounds, but not as far as its full length sibling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kz_8_cm_GrW_42 Therefore, I think it's something of a misnomer to call this incoming light mortar fire. Your casualties would seem to support this argument. On a separate note, I've been thinking about your force buy for armor. I believe you have two tanks of one type, of which one is the platoon HQ? This struck me as odd. Why? Per standard TO&E, that worthy would be with the larger part of the platoon. I'd expect, all things being equal, to find the assistant platoon leader in this role. Now, maybe his horse is in maintenance, the radio's busted (only two tanks in platoon have transceivers, the PL and APL), he's sick or something, but typically the platoon leader wouldn't be out with the smaller part of his force. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ts4EVER Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Some german toes also have 1 sniper per squad, some Panzergrenadiers for example. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
womble Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 ...typically the platoon leader wouldn't be out with the smaller part of his force. Maybe the other three Stuarts are in the shop, or broke down on the way. It's really no big deal: it's an ME anyway, so you're lucky there's nothing wierder going on. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slysniper Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Bil, On a separate note, I've been thinking about your force buy for armor. I believe you have two tanks of one type, of which one is the platoon HQ? This struck me as odd. Why? Per standard TO&E, that worthy would be with the larger part of the platoon. I'd expect, all things being equal, to find the assistant platoon leader in this role. Now, maybe his horse is in maintenance, the radio's busted (only two tanks in platoon have transceivers, the PL and APL), he's sick or something, but typically the platoon leader wouldn't be out with the smaller part of his force. Regards, John Kettler That is called, good gamey purchases in QB's I have a QB I am playing right now and I have 5 tanks and all of them are HQ's, cost the same basically as the normal unit and I have no chain of command issues. So, that should really float your boat, try justifying that will you. Once you understand the limitations of the purchasing editor, you can strip out a lot of things to get some pretty customed units.All of course have nothing to do with being realistic. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 slysniper, HQs should NOT be the same price as regular tanks. That's the first flaw in the system. The second is a bit more subtle, and was mentioned before. It goes like this. As incredible as the American radio manufacturing program was during WW II, what with all the countries we had to equip, our radio industry couldn't produce enough tank transceivers. Consequently, only two tanks per platoon had transceivers fitted, the platoon leader's and the assistant platoon leader's. The rest had receivers only. That's why, if you read some of the accounts at Tanks for the Memories and elsewhere, you'll find the assistant platoon leader gets ousted from his tank when his boss gets unhorsed. This process could and did start higher up the command chain, too. In any event, the unhorsed boss couldn't use just any tank. It had to be a command tank, which also was fitted to talk on the higher formation nets using a separate set. For the reasons above, I think your purchases are flat out ridiculous. I understand why you made them, but I thought BFC had made the QB force selection the way it is specifically to prevent such nonsense. So now, we have to live with an awkward force selection approach, but things are still screwed up. I think these matters require BFC's attention. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 For the reasons above, I think your purchases are flat out ridiculous. As many have remarked, the purchasing system is unfixable. And Battlefront has given up fine tuning it. Can't there be, in some future version, a way permitting users to upload their own schemes? Like mods? We're just talking about spreadsheets... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 John, what's the deal with my Stuarts? They are both independantly purchased and neither is an HQ unit. I would be first in line behind you to increase the fidelity of the modeling of comms capabilities in the CM series but for all intents and purposes the present system is passable. So what is your complaint again? This is a QB and as such unless certain rules are laid out ahead of time then half the fun of them is purchasing your force and seeing how it fares. Enforcing rules that are legitimate for a scenario or campaign can really be thrown out the window as far as I'm concerned as that is hardly the point in a QB. It is strictly a test of skill. Sorry if this post seems scattered I'm typing this on my phone in the airport. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Bil, With all these pages and a glacial connection, I may've gotten my thoughts crossed. The "all tanks are HQs" was something slysniper said he was doing in a QB, and I replied strongly to that, citing relevant historical data and (gasp!) qua JasonC production argument reasoning to show how ahistorical and production impossible this was, never mind pricing and the incredible benefits of an all-transceiver tank force! I finished the above, then went back to look at your force buy. The graphic shows you with a HQ tank and one follower. I do not know, though, whether the game engine draws a distinction between the PL and the APL. Would think this might be important from a leadership modifier level, but maybe not. In any event, I find your Direct Fire capabilities via armor to be very scary, and the paras, with both an SMG and a sniper in a section, to have a most unpleasant ability to dish out both long range and close range punishment. Then, there are all those chaps with Enfield "machine guns" gadding about. I have no idea how things stack up in terms of your typical section vs on of his his straight up, but you clearly have quite a sting, as seen in what that stalwart lone survivor dished out. It remains to be seen, though, how his far more numerous infantry fares in coming to grips with your fewer lads, but screened by all those tanks. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Bil, I find the ground's shifting a bit under my feet. Why? I forgot you were the Brits, and their TO&E's not the same as that of the U.S., right down to the platoon vs troop issue. Do the Brits even have an assistant troop leader? I don't know. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 The Gun, 105mm, Field, L118 is universally referred to as The Light Gun, for reasons which have nothing to do with its calibre. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
womble Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 It remains to be seen, though, how his far more numerous infantry fares in coming to grips with your fewer lads, but screened by all those tanks. Careful with that Intel, Eugene. Hopefully you're just assuming GaJ must have more inf than Bil because Bil hasn't seen much (any, indeed, though he's heard from at least some) of GaJ's armour... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Bil, The graphic shows you with a HQ tank and one follower. Yeah, ignore that graphic... there are several errors in it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Careful with that Intel, Eugene. Hopefully you're just assuming GaJ must have more inf than Bil because Bil hasn't seen much (any, indeed, though he's heard from at least some) of GaJ's armour... I've seen more infantry than you might realize... I know that he has more than one platoon on my right.. because I have seen two separate number 1 Squads.. so I figure there is about a Company in that gully... why a Company? Because most people tend to purchase formations... if its more than a Platoon (I say it is) then it must be a Company, or at least two Platoons of infantry... worse case is a Company so that is what I am expecting and preparing to engage. I KNOW he has a Rifle Company and the Weapons Company on my left and I've seen (or heard from) several parts of these two companies.. including several parts of different squads, mortar teams, mortar carriers, MG teams, etc... So... I figure he bought at least two Rifle Companies and one Weapons Company and perhaps a Platoon of tanks.. though where the rest of them might be I have no clue.. but they could only be on my left.. unless he is hiding them on my right. regardless I expect to see at least two more tanks in addition to the two I have sound contacts on. --I think that makes us about equal on infantry.. two Companies each... he has the weapons Company which is an advantage to him... that company contains a lot of firepower. I want to contain them on my left if possible until I can finish with the tanks and infantry on my right. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 The Twenty-Second Minute Left Side Situation: On the left GaJ is finally starting to move down the slope as can be seen in this graphic. He will fall right into my field of fire very soon. All I want to do with him in this sector is keep him interested so this works for me. I will be cancelling the Sherman movement and bringing it back on line to help attrit his forces on this side of the map. Note that he fired a smoke screen, obviously to blind my Sherman.. which hasn't been sitting there for a couple minutes now. Could he be losing patience with the slow pace of this battle? I hope so, because that usually ends up in recklessness. I wanted to show you where my Listening Posts (LP) are located on the left.. these teams are just over the ridge and are both listening for any engine sounds and also there to keep GaJ from coming over that ridge toward my center and right. Right Side Situation: Well this is interesting... GaJ's armor took a hard left and appear to be driving at full speed possibly for the hill top I have highlighted with the question mark. I think the Sherman that is climbing the center hill might have freaked him out and forced him to reconsider the path he was taking. I know its movement was seen by his troops. If I was going to occupy that hill with my armor I would have come up on it from the back side... then he could have easily taken up hull down positions.. as it stands now he might have his rear and flank towards one of my Shermans as they climb it. I am slightly concerned with what seem to be around three new contacts on the center hill... but those are all on the reverse slope I think.. and also all of his teams that were occupying the center side of this hill ran over the crest to safety over the last two turns. I am going to let his tanks drive for another turn, and my Sherman on this hill will be taking his HMG on my left under fire.. that thing is a pain in my ass. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanir Ausf B Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 I have a QB I am playing right now and I have 5 tanks and all of them are HQ's, cost the same basically as the normal unit and I have no chain of command issues. So, that should really float your boat, try justifying that will you. Once you understand the limitations of the purchasing editor, you can strip out a lot of things to get some pretty customed units.All of course have nothing to do with being realistic. Nothing wrong with that But I prefer a little more realism in my QBs so I play with a house rule that you can only have 1 HQ tank, unless you have more than 5 tanks then you can have a 2nd HQ tank but no more, or alternatively that you can have 1 HQ per 5 tanks. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForwardObserver Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 This might sound like a strange question Bil, but I wonder how are you feeling about your grasp on things? Do you think you have a steady hold on the situation? Or are you finding yourself being poked by GaJ into action? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bil Hardenberger Posted March 27, 2013 Author Share Posted March 27, 2013 This might sound like a strange question Bil, but I wonder how are you feeling about your grasp on things? Do you think you have a steady hold on the situation? Or are you finding yourself being poked by GaJ into action? Not a strange question at all... ...well I think I have about analyzed his force make up to death so I do believe I have that pretty much is hand. As for what he is up to? Yeah he does have me scratching my head at times... and I am reacting to him rather than making him react to me right now.. but that is primarily due to his tanks.. not sure what he is planning to do with them and I want to set up to take them on from the best possible positions. Until they are dealt with then I can't safely maneuver against his force on my right. To be honest I think he is acting a bit confused... his large force on my left has been pretty inactive, like he is unsure what to do with them.. his force on my right has placed itself in a hollow and hunkered down so that when I get a Sherman on that center ridge it is going to be very uncomfortable for him, but they seem stuck in neutral... his tanks taking that hard left turn seems an odd move.. as if he changed his mind about what to do with them. I could be wrong but he seems afraid to make a move... how close to the nail head am I? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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