Bil Hardenberger

Ha! You are right, I had forgotten his opponent was Brits.

The clock is ticking, are you feeling rushed? Don't be in a hurry to run into contact, you have plenty of time. If you received that AC you can probably expect that your opponent received an M8... be careful, these are not equivalent vehicles.. the M8 will eat your little AC for lunch.

Finally completed the Icon Key.. hope this helps:

I have completed my first iteration of these icons, please download them and give them a try. There are two versions: War Movie Mode Icons - these are brighter so they look better when playing in War Movie mode. Standard Mode Icons - (the @domfluff Variant) these icons are saturated versions of the original and look superior to the in-game screenshots I originally posted. Note: There are two vehicles, the British Sultan and Spartan that are not working right now.. but this is a BETA version.. I will update the links when I get the issues ironed out. Standard Mode Version: War Movie Mode Version:

Nope.. they will try their damndest to reach the waypoint with those two movement types. Only Hunt will have them hit the ground and stop moving when under fire. When the enemy contact is possible or probable I try to only use Fast or Quick in very short rushes (one or two action spots) and only under certain conditions, crossing a linear danger area, to quickly move through covered ground, etc. You can intersperse those fast movement types with Hunt and still move forward at a pretty quick clip... I usually will pause after each rush for 5-10 seconds, or longer to allow the bounding team to reach its destination. Yeah.. don't be in a hurry.. this is a small map and you have plenty of time. Bil

Heh, I can't imagine mixing the two as they are quite different in style.. but to each his own.

Sounds good... when you find a setting that pleases you, send it to me and I'll post it on my blog as "domfluff's Variant", if you agree of course. Bil

It's possible.. but they look perfect in war-movie mode.

Here is one more showing Blue Armor types:

I know there have already been a few of these released, but thought I would show a preview of what I have been toying with... These are based on the US Army's FM 101-5.1 .... with a little license taken to make them clear at any distance. This image is an overview of the first AAR map I was playing with @Baneman.. yellow are FOW icons of course. This set includes special colors for each nation... ...in this image I have selected a Bradley Platoon, which if you remember was playing red in this action. The icons remain the color I chose for the US side (Infantry Blue) while selected.. they will be red when not selected. FOW icons showing a selection of different unit types... very easy t tell them apart. All nations use the same FOW icon set... so no clues as to nationality until you fully ID a unit. The following image illustrates Syrian infantry.. also note the Blue infantry.. that is one of Baneman's irregulars and was on Blue.. Ihave included an inset of that icon selected, showing that when playing blue, Syrian units will highlight green. BMP-3 (with one infantry unit selected) showing the darker red Syrian highlight: On the blue side...highlight insets show a British vehicle (khaki) and a German IFV (gray)... And finally, the overview I started this post off with, but with one US Platoon highlighted... Coming soon.. probably this weekend. Just need to run them through some thorough tests. Bil

That's a good point. Also, it appears, and I don't know for sure as I haven't seen an overhead map.. that your opponent had a MUCH shorter run to the objectives than you... I would call foul if I were you.. now instead of an ME you are playing an Attack with equal forces. That could get tricky.

Sorry, but I don't think this is true.. the thing would have failed service trials and would never have been fielded if that was the case. You will need to research that for us and prove me wrong. If I'm not mistaken, I think there were issues with the effectiveness of the Shillelagh, vulnerability of the tank itself and the small number of rounds carried that ended up ending the service life of both the M-551 and the M-60A2. I personally don't think the Russians would have used tactical nukes right away either.. I believe that they would have only used them in case of emergency... like a collapsing front. But the repercussions would have been catastrophic for them as MAD would have kicked in. Chemical weapons now.. those they most certainly WOULD have used. Bil

At my age I forget half of what I write Obviously I am thinking "German" as our Trekkie is playing the Germans... splitting off a two-man scout team from a German Squad really leaves you with a far less flexible unit... also from my blog: Of course the fewer men you have in a scout team, the less vulnerable they will be, harder for the enemy to spot, etc.. but when commanding Germans I almost always scout with a full split squad, the LMG team will be providing overwatch and support for the maneuver team. The following image shows this in action (Team B is moving up in line with Team A, then Team A will bound forward again):

Upon reading a little closer, it appears like you are using one two-man scout team. A bit of advice.. scouting is most effective using a split squad, each alternating movement, so you always have one team stopped and listening, also if they get into trouble, a full squad can get out of it easier than a two-man team. I almost never use two-man scout teams... I'm pretty sure that I cover this on my blog. Otherwise I appreciate how thoughtful you are being with your tactics in this game, scouting, maintaining a reserve, I'm so proud [sniff]. I won't give any advice while the game is ongoing., but I am watching and reading. Bil

You are doing a fine job... it's nice to see you doing some effective scouting. How many scout teams do you have out front? Bil

I think I get where they are coming from with the vehicle smoke Ian... the vehicle smoke grenades were intended for vehicle defense, not necessarily to provide concealment for infantry. The Soviets actually have (not sure about WW2 Russian armor) built in smoke dischargers on their armored vehicles to provide battlefield tactical smoke... but that is not represented in CM. It would take some fancy infantry-tank coordination to use tank smoke grenades to help provide concealment for infantry... not an easy thing in this period. I also doubt whether a tank would agree to that in battle. Bil

I think this little fight had an unsatisfactory conclusion... 15 minutes is never enough time to complete a scenario, especially one as small as this... it is a tad artificial. I am in favor of leaving plenty of time for scouting, decision, maneuver, and then execution... 15 minutes barely gives you enough time to scout properly on a map of this size. I wouldn't feel bad about how you handled this action, I think you did a fine job, and you had the opportunity to maul your opponent and roll over him... if only you had given yourselves enough time. Though I think given more time your opponent would have fought this one very differently too. Your self critique is on the mark... so not a lot to offer you other than what I wrote yesterday. I hope to see another AAR from you in the near future as this was quite fun to read. Bil

It shouldn't be that complicated, basically keep them within visual distance of each other, and ensure they stay in C2 range of their leader (not always possible or desirable)... if you are interested and don't mind a little reading, I go into this subject in detail on my blog in the Platoon Leader series. Especially in the Approach March and the Platoon Scouts sections. Try not to get too scientific with tactics, it is more of an art than a science and there are exceptions for every rule. Bil

I will say that I do like the house rules being used in this AAR and might need to try a game using them (maybe with some modifications). Perhaps @IanL is up for a challenge. PM me if so.

Combatman.. I am only providing such detailed feedback because he said this game has already been completed.. hope my comments weren't out of line. Oh, and I suspect you are not simply the "average player" you claim to be. Bil

I would argue that the the terrain and the objectives should be used as a combat multiplier. You know that the enemy is going for the objectives, thus they give you a pretty good idea where you can find him (and in the turn write ups that is where he had the majority of his forces). It is most important to defeat the enemy, do that and the objectives will come... I try not to obsess about objectives and orient on the enemy instead, using the terrain and the objectives as guides to kill enemy units... that is the path to victory. This may not be a bad thing if your units can support each other. for example if your units on the flanks can support the unit you have in the objective with fire then you are okay.. but if they can't, if the terrain blocks lines of sight to the terrain the enemy has to move through.. if your flank units are too far away to be effective... if they get engaged and are unable to provide support fire, if your plan is to use each small force independently, then you could be in trouble. I always try to maintain a reserve.. however in these small fights you often can't afford that... maybe keeping a few BAR teams and your mortars back as a reserve would have helped, but I doubt it. A reserve should be a capable force, capable meaning that it can be used to counterattack an enemy force as required. You could have kept one full squad in reserve.. and maybe should have, but in this case I don't think its a big deal. The big deal for me, is that you have separated your platoon over a wide area and I suspect they cannot support each other... I probably would have sent scouts on those flank hills (two man teams) to provide early warning of an enemy flank approach, and then used the rest of the platoon in a command push towards the objective. To secure it, take up defensive positions and defend against the enemy attack that will most likely come. Make him attack you and you will be in the favorable position. If you have to attack Objective 2, which is what it looks like is developing, then he will have the internal lines and can reinforce any threatened position. I would have probably only placed scouts and maybe support units (BAR teams and mortars) on the flanks.. but they have to be able to be close enough to provide effective fire support on the approaches between the two objectives, and most importantly be able to support your main force. If you are going aggressive and only have a small force in Objective 1 and are planning on assaulting objective 2 from multiple positions, then good for you, and it will be fun when you get close. In the image above you have some really long Fast movement paths, and I don't see pauses at the end of each? That probably contributed to them getting tired so quickly. It also appears to me that your opponent has taken his first objective and is starting to place his units in defensive positions around it... this will be interesting to see how it plays out. I do love how deep you have moved on the flanks without being seen, at least as far as we can tell... this fight is on a razors edge and could go either way. This is a really fine AAR, I do really love these small fights. They are as fun to watch and dissect as they are to play. Bil

Marvelous start. I'll be watching how you do.. you will find that doing a complete METT-T analysis as you have shown will help you with situational awareness and give you an advantage over an opponent who does not. Doing it against the AI is almost not fair, against a human opponent it is a must. As for being more careful against a human... well, I think that is wise and only natural... a human opponent is a far different experience and challenge than fighting against the AI. They will always do something that will surprise you and that will force you to shift your plan. You are a brave man showcasing your first PBEM game publicly. Bravo. Bil

Fire & Movement and the Squad Attack Drill do not have to be 50% to the support element and 50% to the maneuver element.. I typically (and in my example above show this) have two teams back (for squads that can break into three teams) and one single team as the maneuver element. But it can be any weight you want, and can even scale (as you described), for example you could have one full platoon providing support by fire while one squad maneuvers... etc. What is the most important is to have enough fire being laid on the target to suppress it so the maneuver element can close and assault.

Some background on this action... this is about turn 40 or so of a very long BETA AAR game and the HMG team featured was on the shoulder of a defensive line that my opponent had oriented on another approach, which was a large scale feint in reality... the squad as shown was hitting the HMG Team from the rear. It was isolated because he had been forced to redeploy any neighboring units, and this was really the start of the cleanup phase of the battle. Saying that, I do not believe that it nullifies the lesson I was trying to teach. It is rare that a player can have an unbroken, and mutually supportive line of defense, most times there are opportunities, maybe not against a single unit as shown above, but maybe an isolated platoon that can be attacked using a Fire and Maneuver drill scaled up to the Company (this happened in this same battle to a German infantry platoon that found itself isolated, flanked and almost destroyed (I think I counted 22 bodies and POWs left in the wake of his platoon remnant's retreat))... its about being flexible, having a good set of pre-rehearsed battle drills and implementing them whenever possible at whatever scale is necessary. I stand by my tactics as they are rooted in reality, and I also stand by the fact that to really get the most of your infantry squads, you must split them. Fun discussion. Bil

The only time I do not split my squads is when they are moving in a secure area and are not likely to run into any enemy units. In order to use real world tactics (which I highly recommend) you MUST split your squads. Read my Battle Drill blog for explanations, specifically: Movement Techniques, the React to Contact, Squad Attack and the Fire and Movement Battle Drills, plus the Platoon Leader section, specifically Scouting techniques. I hope this is helpful and not redundant... I haven't read this entire thread. In my CMRT BETA AAR I laid out a Squad Attack Drill using a Soviet infantry squad.. the key to using a squad split is to ensure that the teams can be mutually supporting. The excerpt from the AAR follows; this example shows mutually supporting fire, and leap frog movement as the Team's roles change through the attack: Squad Attack Drill 3rd Squad/1st Plt./4th Company that was formerly scouting for 5th company was given the task of taking out the HMG team that has been sitting on the approaches to Blau for several turns now... The LMG Team and the Rifle Team made up my base of fire while the SMG Team was my maneuver element... Elvis tried to extricate the HMG team but they ran right in front of the SMG team which cut down at least three of them (bottom image). Next I close and finish any survivors. Squad Attack Drill - the finish The survivors of the enemy HMG team that I was attacking last turn surrendered as the squad's rifle team closed on the position... the SMG Team was back in support for this move and the LMG Team moved forward as well.