Bil Hardenberger

Bud if you are going to button all your tanks and ACs you have to make sure you at least have some infantry nearby to help identify and suppress any enemy AT teams.

Looks like there is a AT team in the grass Bud... Ken is correct (again, sigh..) I hope you have something overwathcing the movement of that AC, looking forward to the turn report! Good news is that is one less PF he can fire at your tanks! Unlike Ken though, I wouldn't move any tanks until the picture starts to get more clear... keep that as a nasty surprise.

Good thing we have CM to handle most of the heavy lifting eh?

Yes I have seen the TCS system.. it is interesting. Regarding fallback positions.. my intent was to keep the paperwork to a minimum... so I handle this with the Emergency React rules. A unit can stop or withdraw at any time if it is taking fire.

Perhaps you'd be surprised to hear that I agree with Ken re: sending something, (or somethings) through that field... he cannot defend everywhere... though I think he can probably defend the field AND both approaches.. but perhaps not at the same time. Worth thinking about.

Yes I want to do a full AAR game using this system, in the near future... if I can make time in my schedule. Maybe hobo will grace us with an AAR of his game versus the AI.

hobo, please let me know how it goes. PM me if you need any help preparing your Battle Log.

Bud, I would attack, or at least probe down BOTH AOAs if I were you.. then push your main body down the side with fewer enemy contacts... I like to spread the enemy defense as much as possible with my initial moves, and only deciding where to actually concentrate after I have a picture of the defenses. How do you know he isn't concentrating along the axis you have already decided on?

Absolutely... what I am playing with is making them much less flexible, by limiting them to a max of two linked Tasks (instead of three), and only one allowed Imitative Task (instead of three), and also extending the delays for changing Tasks and for using Initiative. I don't think so.. the modern game would require much further thought.. maybe the Ukrainian forces and maybe the Russian, but definitely not the US with their digital comms and near instant intelligence and flexibility of command.

Okay, I have been working hard trying to get this to a finalized stage... the final rules are attached. I have also tried to distill the heart of the rules into a few main points.. I know the rules are very long and seem complicated.. but I would like to show that at the heart it really is a simple system and can be boiled down to the following points: RULES AT A GLANCE At a bare minimum: 1. Units and HQ teams MUST be within C2 range in order to receive either Unit or HQ Task change 2. Unit Tasks must be in support of the HQ Task 3. HQ Tasks must be in support of the Command Task 4. Set the current game time in the COMMAND TAB in the Battle Log EVERY TURN a. This drives the Change Task and initiative use times 5. Use the Battle Log to determine when a unit may initiate a Task change a. Expand the New Task section in the Battle Log to schedule a Task change 6. Use the Battle Log to determine when a unit may use Initiative a. Expand the Initiative section in the Battle Log to schedule Initiative b. Units MUST have an Enemy Contact in order to use Initiative and c. Units MUST be within C2 range to use Initiative (excepting: Units on a Scout Task) 7. Units MUST be within C2 range to use area fire 8. Any unit taking enemy fire can use Emergency React to get to a safer location. The rules simply explain and expand on these main points. I have also rejigged the workbooks, now called Battle Logs.. and I have attached a final template for the Germans and one for the Allies. The main difference is that the formation HQ teams are now on their own line.. this allows you to give the Platoon (or Company) an HQ Task and still be able to give each HQ Team a separate Unit Task if you like. I have also cleaned up a few other issues with the code behind the scenes. The Battle Log templates and the final Rules are attached. Next up I promise I will do an Excel tutorial that will talk you through how to set up the Battle Log for your specific scenario. I am also in the process of creating a Russian specific battle Log Template.. they will not be as flexible as the Allied and German units.. should be interesting. Enjoy! COMMAND FRICTION For CM RULES 07AUGL15.pdf BATTLE LOG-TEMPLATES.zip

Awesome Bud. Looking forward to following this.

Thanks for that, its always great to hear when you have success with these techniques.

First of my series on Tank Tacitcs is posted on the Blog. First up, I am calling this one the Mouse Trap Enjoy!

Operationally a fast moving armored formation is hard to withstand, if they pick the breakthrough point correctly there could be little to stop them. Once moving fast and once they have broken through their speed is their protection and they can disregard their flanks. Look at Rommel's 7th Pz Division in the Battle of France for an example... in WW1, the breakthrough attack by Whippet tanks during the Amiens offensive is another...

Agusto, that is not unknown.. Savant Syndrome can be triggered with a brain injury: Link to others

Bulletpoint, I added your comment and my response to the Blog post, hope you don't mind. I am but a student of tactics, like most people who play these games.

Bulletpoint, yes you've got the idea. When you spread the enemy defense and probe from many directions you also eventually discover where he is weak and can then concentrate your reserve against that spot. During this process the other probes must keep the pressure on so the enemy cannot easily pull units off the line to reinforce the threatened zone. Once you start your push its going to become bloody obvious where you are striking. The hope is that you can overwhelm the enemy at that point before the opportunity is gone. You have to be prepared to make the decision quickly, as any delay will allow your opponent to react. Point is that you cannot make the decision on where to strike without some knowledge of where the enemy is, well you can, but your chances of success are much lower if you plan an attack without reconnoitering the area first.

You better finish that CMSF material PDQ, its going to be obsolete in the near future.

Rifle Platoon Attack Part 2 has been posted. Enjoy!

Yeah it's been a while.. guess I'm losing the motivation. I do have the Infantry Platoon Attack Part 2 post complete.. its been complete for a while actually.. but I am having trouble finding the time to finish up the supporting scenario (which is mostly done). Sorry about the delay, no idea when I'll be able to upload additional content. It's always on my to-do list.

I've been working on this today in an attempt to finish it up for final release. While doing this and in reaction to the play test and some of Warren's comments I have added the following to the Command Friction rules: Warren was saying that the system was easy enough to use for the size of the test battle, but could get tough to manage with larger scenarios. I had always intended that tasks specific to formations (Platoon sized) could use only one Task for all units as long as they stayed within C2 range. I added the rules for Formation Tasks thus: I had intended to add the following rule, this from MOS's original thread and was an idea of Odin's... so I named it after him and included it in my ruleset. Finally, after much thought I decided to keep the ENDS NLT column in the Initiative section of the workbook, the explanation of what this is for follows: I am having some trouble finalizing the workbook, but should have that ironed out in the next day or so, then I will post the test scenario and workbooks. The final step will be the Excel tutorial and the final rules and workbook templates.

Thanks Scott. Yes I have thought about how to approach Steve and see if this is something they might be interested in, perhaps in a GROGNARD mode which would be above Iron.. but in the past he has poo-pooed any type of command layer for CM. Pity, but who knows what the future holds. Yes TAC AI improvements would be most welcome, but I doubt that aspect would ever get coded in the game except as a direct result of the delays. I like your ideas re: sound powered phones.. will have to think about the best way to represent them. Good point. Yes I can adjust the reaction times based on nationality, and I can restrict Initiative use by Russian forces.. but those types of adjustments will have to come down the line after a little more research. Thanks again for taking a look at it Scott.

EDIT: content redacted.

Good job John, hopefully someday you are going to start actually embedding the images in your post.

Sure I could get on board with that.. also I think what John is really looking for is a way to step through the playback easily one frame at a time. That too would be cool and very welcome.. don't hold your breath though.