Joachim

zBV (zur besonderen Verwendung) is a reserve. But I doubt reserve for the Btn CO. It may not be a high ranking officer (ie 2nd highest ranking in btn) but anything else. In a divison, they had 1b for chief of staff, 1c and 1d for intelligence and quartermaster or sumfink. So for a divison: 1b = XO I guess there was no 1b on btn staff, however. A company commander would take over, probably getting a briefing from the junior officers in the staff. Officers were scarce and you won't waste a captain just as a reserve (if there was more than one in the btn anyway). Official doctrine called for the btn CO briefing coy COs before a mission, so any coy CO should be able to take over. Typical structure of a btn on paper is: LtCol, some Lts Major (1st Coy) Captains, maybe 1stLts (other Coys) Lts (specific plts) Field strength after rest&refit more like Major/Captain. Maybe 1 Lt Captains and Lts Lts and Sgts No room for XOs Gruß Joachim

In an actual QB on a custom-made map the AI fires prep with all batteries (guessed 76mm, 122mm and some really huge craters - 240mm or more). The rounds hit the outer ring of buildings (ignoring small clusters of small or light buildings) and a crossroads leading out of town. OTOH the AI often fires prep just in front of flags. It might fit this pattern, too - but it looked like the heavies was some traffic interdiction (rounds falling every other minute). Well placed flags I guess Another guess is that the AI likes to fire prep on short scens if there are (likely) enemy held flags (=AI on the attack). Something like "If the reaction time is bigger than the scen length, fire prep". I had a 44+ scen with the AI on the defense. In the end, there were two heavy batteries with a counter of 36 minutes left. The QB above has just 32 turns. Dunno if one bty firing prep equals all firing prep. Spotted enemy units are an arty magnet, too. If you want to simulate a prep barrage, make sure the AI can spot units (forward snipers). For the players sake, give the AI not too much arty or some as reinforcement. And make sure the AI only sees the edges of setup zones to punish forward deployment in one tight pack. Gruß Joachim

Listening posts and TRPs... SMG troops, Tank hunters with SMGs (small teams are harder to hit), Pioneers with demo charges, flamethrowers. FTs are extremely useful as they can suppress/panic numbers - quick enough to ensure their own survival. The most dangerous part is the edge of the woods- FOs can target the edge and even half of the rounds coming down inside the forest will lay waste due to treebursts. TRPs as mentioned above. TRPs even worked for unmoved on-board mortars. Follow the scouts closely - they need immediate support. If you allow the ambush party to redeploy, you lost the scouts for no real info. When facing SMG troops - let them waste their ammo on the pinned scouts and wait. Don't advance on SMG troops that still have lots of ammo without your own SMG troops or FTs. Poor scouts, but you will suffer less casualties total. Gruß Joachim

IIRC there was a German rule regarding rockets. Troop concentrations had to be avoided in front of them and there must be a minimum distance of own troops from the target. Better have less rounds that hit than lots of round spread all over. Rockets are only great when deployed in large amounts on lots of troops concentrated in the target area. Gruß Joachim

Any bridgehead is vulnerable to arty fire. Bridgeheads must be expanded as soon as possible. If you are on the defenisve with limited reserves, a bridgehead on the other side of a river is very dangerous. It is very hard to reinforce and is a perfect target. The way to go is to have extensive trenches at the banks that are guarded, but not fully defended until the attacker enters the river. Have obstacles on your side of the river to prevent the attacker from crossing it. Once the attacker is exposed, race your troops forward to man the trenches. Don't forget to bring in the arty - it is able to reduce buched up waves to a size that can be handled by less but well entrenched men. Have a second line to contain any intrusion. Bring in lots of arty (TRP'd) on the intrusion and then counterattack with anything available. Do never allow the Russians to dig in.

150 sIG are really cool. Among the best wpn versus those "bunchers" who pack lots of troops into one tight pack. Closes the hatches of most nearby tanks. But having 6 is excessive. And you won't need all of them if you keyhole. Buy transport for them or a SP version. Or buy the whole regimental gun Co with 2 15cm sIGs and 6 7.5 cm lIGs. The 7.5cm version has a smaller blast, but if you compare both guns - Guess you get almost 3 of them for one sIG. And the ROF is 8 vs 3. Plus they are smaller. If you let a gun open up (from range... close counts with HE), the enemy needs a few turns to bring effective fire to bear. Assume the gun will get KO'ed about 90secs after the enemy can react. First round starts 60 secs before that. An average gun live vs human opponent: Turn T: Rotate gun towards target area, make sure a small covered arc points there, too. Turn T+1: Target are, reset a small covered arc so area fire is sticky. Turn T+2: enemy reacts Turn T+3: gun KO'ed (about second 30). You might prolong this using smoke and redeploying. If you do this is one 15cm sIG, you get off 7 to 8 rounds. Now if you have 3 lIGs instead, you get off 20 rounds each. Or 8 times as many rounds total. And the enemy must divert or shift his firepower in the area which results in longer gun live. If you have the points, take a mix of both - 6 7.5 guns deploy forward in 2-3 packs, the 15cm get transportted to where they are needed. If you have the time, deploy behind the lIGs. In an emergency, make sure the 15cm can beat the same target area, but from another keyhole. BTW: sIGs are great in providing cover. Most 15cm craters count just like foxholes. It gives away your intended position. But you can use it to deceive the enemy, too. 50 rounds is to much for most PBEMs anyway, so providing some foxholes and deception might add some fun. Gruß Joachim

I'd suggest buying a btn with your points. You've got 7 plts and lots of support wpns. If you take the "btn discount", you might get 9 plts and lots of support wpns. Plus additional HQ teams. The only thing you won't get is a crack btn or a crack co in that btn. But for infantry, I'd go with the other guys - regular can do fine. Some vets are "nice to have". Carefully examining leaders will give you some "crack" plts, too - Utilizing the bonus of the HQ teams is effectively playing with more experienced troops than you actually have. Check your leaders, take notes on their abilities. Check their squads' experience, too. Morale is good for first line troops - the point (or a rather critical point in your defense) is made up of plts with morale bonus plt HQs. Ambushes, recce or surprise flanking? Go for stealth bonus. The killers that deliver the decisive blow? Combat bonus HQs. Units that need "rapid reaction" or are spread out - command bonus. Any gun fights longer with a morale bonus, its hit prob is better with a combat bonus and it reamins a sound contact longer with stealth. Command bonus allows to control more widespread guns with one HQ. If a MG has to just interdict terrain from long range - stealth. Morale makes sure it keeps firing. Combat is best for MGs that are deployed forward, stealth and morale for those that go forward (read: Once deployed switch HQ). Additional HQs are not a waste of points but essential in upgrading your heavy weapons. If you want to be gamey, a good CO HQ might take over for a no-bonus plt HQ. The main bulk of the AFVs can be regular, but I prefer vets here. Crack is for the long range killers. I like Marders, especially when protected with a screen of PzIII. On their use... several people favor shoot and scoot, I'm a bit more pedantic with them. There is a topic in tips and tricks started by JasonC where I described what I do. Try what you like. But if it is a close call - attention to lots of details do make a huge difference. 15cm IGs are great, but more than 2 is a bit gamey. 7.5 cm IGs sometimes come with the wpns Co in btns. Not as good as 15cm, but everything counts in large amounts - and they are cheap. They deliver a smaller punch but there are more of them that your opponent has to destroy. The PzIIIL has more MG ammo than the IIIj (with 50L60, late). But the IIIj is cheaper (less base cost and less rarity). Consider buying a plt of 3 StuG IIIfs instead of 2 Marders. Maybe drop a PzIIIh. Or buy a plt of Marders and just one IIIh. Gruß Joachim

Green as Jade Thanks for the heads up on this. I agree... If the vehicle is out of LOS, then the small dust clouds made by a Move command should not be shown either. Even if vehicles are moving on Fast command, the larger dust clouds should NOT be visible to the enemy if there is a high elevation blocking LOS. My 2 cents, Ken </font>

On the last meters you have hand grenades and these things. On the last 50m I would feel much safer if the LMG would be in a good overwatch situation, concentrating on targets popping up and aiming well. I just would not want somebody behind me that is standing upright with an LMG finger on the trigger in grenade range of the enemy. This is cherry picking. Not by you, but by the author. These actions are noteworthy of a honorable mentioning in the official history. The history is probably a "Best of" AIF deeds. What do you mean with "keeping up with the company?" The whole company in one line? And again: The firepower on target of a well deployed LMG is definitely better than that of a walking LMG. When closing I'd make sure I'd bring as many suppressive fire to bear as possible. And I'd make sure I'd have something to cover my retreat if necessary. I might be lucky if I hit a weak or unprepared enemy. If not... "Corporal Hinson led his section with bayonets fixed" Do they have bayonets for LMGs? Sergeant Longhurst shot at one crew trying to escape. They lifted the gun with two men and fired at the crew. The crew surrendered but apparently was not hit. Lots of firepower in the general direction. Interesting ideas. Some of them are even in CM - like charging with bayonets (or a more effective spade). In general ammo expenditure rises when the distance closes in CM. From 10m distance you can empty whole magazines at pinned squads in good cover without hurting them. Issue an advanced command next turn directly upon them, and the ammo expenditure drops while the pinned squad surrenders or gets killed. There is even a German soundfile "Nahkampf!" (here: hand to hand combat) for those moments. My sig is a quote from a survivor of the "Tiger oepration" who fought later in France. He got that warning and he believed it. Do you believe it? One of the first "official histories" is "De bello gallico" by G. Julius Caesar. He was attacked by 250000 when laying siege to Alesia. He often fought in the first line. At least according to his book. Do you believe it? Or rather "How much of it do you believe?" Gruß Joachim [ June 17, 2004, 06:13 AM: Message edited by: Joachim ]

We're in turn 40 right now and I just took the right flag. However Andreas has a few problems sending me the right turn Other PBEMs include a 70+ turn behemoth designed by me. There is much more action in my scen... howitzers firing a mile over open sights, exploding light tanks... planes doing the right thing actually bombing the enemy. 2 (or even more) tanks with one bomb on a bunched up plt. Your scen is a good depiction of "boring" routine infantry work. Methodically reducing a stronghold without armor support: Grab next "cover". Move support to new place. Advance to next cover. Always prepared for counterattacks. It shows what you can do if there is enough time. Hard for the defender. I just hope he can assemble a force able to counterattack. Gruß Joachim

If the prophet does not come to the mountain, the mountain has to go to the prophet. At night it might be a good idea to bypass the church if it ain't the sole objective. If it is the sole objective, bypass it, surround it and set up blocking positions. Then fire at them from their rear or all directions. Use area fire as you probably can't see them. They'll probably get as nervous as your own troops. Set covered arcs to make sure your firers don't receive friendly fire. Even better fire with keyholed units that have no LOS to friendlies. Fire at them from the left, area target the left wall and storm from the right. Once 1-2 squads have a foothold, most enemy fire will concentrate on them. Then assault with fresh men from another direction. Before opening up: If you can sneak a pioneer unit close enough, you could try to throw a demo charge. Satchel charges might do, too. Halfsquads are more fragile, but less visible. Gruß Joachim

Especially in 120 turn scens. Hmmm.... if Andreas already pressed that button... Gruß Joachim

IIRC this was mentioned before as a bug. IIRC there are other radio FOs that are wire FOs. Gruß Joachim

Ceasefire can save a few needless turns Ceasefire can save th eday when you are completely spent and your opponent is out of ammo. Gruß Joachim

If a LMG or HMG has 0 fp while advancing - yes, I could live with that. Advancing just as a morale enhanced move/run would be ok with me. Gruß Joachim

What , no Gestapo?! I'd just luuuuuuuuuuuuv to have em to take care of PoWs escaping when friendlies get close... </font>

The Co I had in mind has 3 251/1 and 2 251/2 in the wpns plt but no 251/10 which is really rather obsolete. Somewhere in '43 it gets additional 2 Stummel... they come handy sometimes but Marders are better. So once the Stummels are there, ignore that company as it is no longer a bargain. Early '43 (dunno about the 2nd half) 3 MGs, 3 251/1 and 2 251 at "company rates" vs 4 MGs and 2 81mm mortars at company rates and 2 251/1 plus 1 251/2 at normal rates are a bargain. Hehe... even that 1/6 chance of losing a Marder is too high for me. And I don't see that 1/3 chance of killing (as opposed to hitting) a tank with 2 first rounds from 2 Marders except for short ranges (below 500m) and numbers in your favor. If the enemy bunches up 4-6 T34s, shoot and scoot without preparation might screw the whole affair. Gruß Joachim

The LMG guy can run and drop. But not provide covering fire in the process. Run. Drop. Gun in firing position. Stand up. Gun in slung firing position. Run. Drop... While sorting out the gun to a slung firing position he is a tempting target. Run. Drop. Gun in firing position. Up. Run. Drop. Gun in firing position might work. But this does not provide covering fire for the whole process. During the "run" parts the LMG guy is extremely vulnerable. That's where his squad mates cover him. Once he drops wounded, they pick up the LMG. The LMG goes with the first group, so the second has a chance to pick it up. Only for the final advance on an objective the LMG goes last - the rifle guys do the charge with the LMG covering them. Once the objective is taken, the LMG strolls forward. The last squad LMG of a squad is usually only lost when the squad panics while moving or it gets decimated. Gruß Joachim

The motorized PzGr Co of the armored btn has 3 HT 251/1 and 2 HT 251/2. The vehicles come in rather cheap as they get the formation discount rate. Might be a good option for the last force. Remember that Marders need spotters. These spotters simulate dismounted TCs walking to the edge of cover, so they are not that gamey. The proper procedure in CM: Select targets/kill zones where you have numerical superiority, surprise and flank/rear shots. Close the hatches of the armor in the kill zone with snipers, MGs, mortars or HE from a 15cm sIG (if you use DF from guns, make sure you kill all tanks in the kill zone - a towed sIG can't shoot and scoot and will face the wrath of surviving tanks. It might be an option to leave the sIG as bait, getting the T34 to face it and thus offering flank shots for the Marders.). Do a coordinated move with the marders: Short ranges, inability to button up all tanks in the target area or exposing your Marders to flank shots from overwatching enemy guns favors shoot&scoot. Long range where first round hits are seldom (for both sides), a position in the flank of the targets, "fixing" the targets with a bait, numbers on your side so you will kill or stun the targets anyway, high probability of completely surpriing the targets so they don't spot you during the turn favors hunt (to appear in second 40-50) + reverse early next turn. If you have strength in numbers (1.5 shooters per target), surprise and can stun all targets in 20 seconds - use hunt and appear early. If you master the use marders - the same tactics work as well with every other tank. Gruß Joachim

The early German pioneers squads are armed better than regular infantry as each squad has 2 SMGs and one LMG for 12 men. The 3 squad plts are made up of 6 halfsquads in CM. If you select LW pioneers - those have the classic 10 men '41 rifle squad pattern. If you are doing a scenario, you can use PzPio plts armed with 2 LMGs and 1 SMG per 9-men squad from later periods (IIRC). Just select a later date, buy pioneers and set back the date. Gruß Joachim

German tactical doctrine called for mobile defense with counterattacks to seal a breakthru. Can't do that just with TDs. The JagdPz is great for delaying, but not to regain lost ground. Gruß Joachim

If it is CMBB, you can use Factories to simulate mouseholes. Alternate heavy bldgs and factory tiles. For double rows of buildings use a checkerboard pattern (white=facotry, black = hvy bldg). Even better would be blocks with yards instead of 2 rows. (h=hvy bldg, f=factory, o=open ground, trees, road in woods, whatever you like) hfhfhfhfhf fooooooooh hfhfhfhfhf of fhfhfhfhfh hfhfhfhfhf In CMAK you could use the following pattern hlhhhhh hoooool hlhhhhh (l= light bldg) Or use rubble for the corner houses that have no door to the backyard. I have a great map from Theike (probably available at CMMODS, forgot the name) - a large city in medium woods. The effect of those factory tiles was great as my infantry forces were pretty mobile yet concealed while holding the city. Suggest you look at some city maps from other designers to get some ideas. Gruß Joachim

The Jagdpanzer has better armour and a better gun for AT purposes. It is a very good defensive weapon. Its assault value is much lower as the lack of a turret decreases spotting and reaction to enemy threats. Its anti-personnel capacity is much lower than that of a full tank. Once it is immobilized, it is a sitting duck. Check the achievements of the 653rd heavy TD btn at Kursk. Once the arty had stripped away the infantry, the Elefants were pretty helpless. And the Elefants have better amrour and a better gun compared to the IV/70.

Sure. Advance means using cover. Ie diving into cover. Did you do this with a Bren gun? Or were you just moving/running. Advance gets a cover bonus. Move/Run does not. How much incoming was there? When the press is around, there are often staged photographs. How good are the spotting abilities when advancing with a bren gun? Can you shoot (aimed fire, that is!) while running or are there short halts for firing? If they program it so an LMG moving upright in open ground is an easy target and thus gets killed regularly - I could live with that. Few gamers would use it that way then, but they would have the option. IMHO what you call advance is modelled by running/moving a fanatic Bren gunner in short bounds. So this is already modelled. Tough luck you never know whether a team is fanatic or not. Just like reality - I seldom found a statement "Soldier, get that LMG and rush that objective single-handedly. Kill at least 10 enemies." in those reports. They did it on their own initiative. Gruß Joachim

It is recorded because it was the exception: There are plenty of stories that a single German Tiger could destroy whole armored columns or kill a company of T34s in one encounter. There were about 2000 Tigers (I+II). How many Allied tanks were killed since the end of '42? There are plenty of stories of US Armored btns destroying German armored brigades - enough that somebody on this forum once said "US armored btn destroyed them routinely". Yet there were less German armored brigades than US Armored btns (and sometimes those btns did just vanish, which is as wel documented). The problem with all this? a) It is not representative: What you see/read is not a "representative" sample of the whole picture. It is the mentionable examples where a certain action led to success. How often die Bren gunners just get killed trying to do that and achieved nothing? And who writes about that? The home front needs heroes and anybody dying while achieving great success for "the cause" is a perfect tool for propaganda. Try it yourself: Have somebody set up 12 paper targets in cover that are hidden from your initial position. Now advance for 100m in 45 second wearing a backpack to simulate ammo weight and wield a 13 kg stick. And while you do this, aim towards each paper target, yell "boom" and have a friend record whose you shoot at. If you missed one you're dead. It may be exaggerated: If I was officer and somebody died while saving the a** of the plt I'd make damn sure he gets any credit I can reward to him - even if I had to err... hmm... enhance the truth a bit. You just need to put together all the tales of the individuals that saw the action and if two eyewitness accounts on the same aspect differ, than it was two deeds. It shows your (surviving) men that you care for them even after they died. And you bet they all will tell the enhanced story... and soon even believe it themselves. That horse was beaten to death long ago. If you need to move support wpns thru beaten zones, my suggestion was: A "morale enhanced" move order as a matter to tell them you need to cross that open ground - yes. But only for 40m to simulate crossing streets or something. And more like "move to contact" with a very small covered arc disregarding incoming if it ain't from nearby. Or just use MTC with a small covered arc and some smoke just like most decent players will probably do now. Gruß Joachim