Joachim
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Posts posted by Joachim
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Ooops... I almost forgot...
The AI sometimes has the nasty habit of first setting up, then assembling its forces and then moving to the nearest flag (from its board edge or setup zone). Forcing the AI to deploy in 3 setup zones might ruin the party, as the AI will slowly hunt with the tanks while the grunts run thru the snow and get tired. When they finally move out, it will be in one infantry bunch and up to three armor packs. Given the low number of tanks, I'd guess it will be a single pack.
And the human player will (almost always) predict the direction of the attack.
To prevent this, you might try the following:
a) use only a single bunch of flags.
use dynamic flags (the AI does not choose on its own, but if the human player plays it blind, the uncertainty will still be there)c) make sure many flags are the same distance from the Soviet board edge
d) have impassable terrain between setup zones for the AI version, forcing the AI to have several armor packs.
e) Allow the AI more turns than a human
f) give the AI some targets he can see... then he moves out towards the target. But any decent human player will hide... maybe use a Soviet patrol (HQ + 1-2 halfsquads) initially in the rear of the Stützpunkt. The AI knows some targets but once the patrol is slaughtered, it looses the borg spotting advantage from them. This also adds some options for the human player in the first turns. He must know where the patrol is (at least approximately) to destroy it, however.
And you should set the objective of the attack: Is it to bypass the stongpoint or to destroy it.
If you want to bypass the strongpoint, then the map should be deeper than Jason suggested and maybe more German reserve forces.
Maybe an "exit scenario" for the H2H version.
But the AI needs flags in the rear to move there, exit scenarios do not work for the AI
BTW:
I'd like to test that scenario.
Gruß
Joachim
[ March 09, 2004, 07:02 AM: Message edited by: Joachim ]
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The best way to fight Shermans with IIIs and IVs is at range.
Use the III slightly ahead of the IVs, make sure they are placed so they get additional slope (just behind the crest of a hill. The steeper the slope, the better. They are just the bait. They won't kill at range. At a certain range, they will be impenetrable from Sherman fire
Once they draw fire, bring in the PzIVs behind the IIIs. They should be able to kill at ranges beyond 1000m. TacAI or AI will not override the targets set on the IIIs. So your weak armored IVs stand a better chance to survive.
Make sure the IVs are not hull down. CM has a penalty for PzIVs being hull down
.This tactic even worked on the Frühlingswind scen (CD version)... with Marders instead of PzIVs.
Or try to flank with the PzIIIs, get the Shermans to turn and then kill with the IVs from the side. The bigger the gun and the thinner the penetrated armor the more likely is a KO.
Gruß
Joachim
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In general, I like JasonC's idea.
What I would change:
"all regular" etc.: Add some variety like a QB would.
"1 TRP" Real Arty TRPs work for several hundred meters - especially on flat open terrain. I would add more to compensate for CMs short range TRP. If I had one TRP already zeroed in and 2 days left, I'd make pretty sure I knew where all exits from the gullies are in relation to the TRP.
Add some brush/scattered trees along the village.
Give the Germans a points bonus to correct the points for "dead" fortifications bug.
Edit the Ammo for the 37mm PaK to have at least 1-2 HC rounds each. Give them 1-2 TRPs each for first shot hits with the HC rounds. Or attach them to bonus HQs (stealth +1 combat +1 morale +2). The crews know that they are the prime AT weapons and responsible for their comrades, so they should have high morale.
HC for the IG should be standard anyway.
Consider giving additional small arms ammo to the Germans. Fire discipline will still be an issue.
MGs, casualties and Ammo:
You can simulate two things re MG ammo when ammo level is above 100%:
a) Only prepared positions for MGs have lots of ammo. A moving MG with casualties loses ammo.
MGs are primary weapons. If possible, a commander will make sure that they are completely manned. If necessary, ammo bearers are shifted from other squads.I would strongly suggest you give them full 6 men per team and 157 points of ammo.
The reinforcing PzGrens should have additional ammo, too.
Add 2-3 tank hunter teams. They act as local reserves for counterattacks and to attack tanks that break thru.
Use 2-3 additional LMGs as outposts on the flanks.
Maybe split one or two squads into 2 LMGs and several tank hunter teams.
Allow the German player to set up in the gullies the Soviet player will use for his apporach. Just to allow for some nasty ambush.
Don't use totally flat terrain. Some slight ondulations should be ok.
Use the slight slope (?) setting in the parameters (1.25m per elevation level)
Consider making parts of the gullies' slopes impassable to vehicles (as slopes, rough or wet ground. The latter simulating slippery snow on the slopes).
Consider having wet ground in the gullies to simulate snow drifts.
Consider wet ground scattered all across the map to simulate snow drifts.
Gruß
Joachim
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On a given distance, advancing is more tiring.Originally posted by Monwar:Does running tire the infantry more than advancing?
Gruß
Joachim
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There are static ops. These do have flags.Originally posted by lt_gouws:I'm a newbie at these things. When I make an Operation, say I want to play as Germans on defense, and have the Allies attacking, how do I do that? Because you can't have flags in Ops, therefor the AI has nowhere to go. Is there a way you can place waypoints for them or something?
For assault and advance ops, the AI will just advance. It's goal is to reach the board edge... So usually it will move out. Hey, it even counterattacks on the defense in some ops.
Read most posts about ops here on the board (search), then play around with it yourself. Do not set up a complicated op and then play around. Start with something small!
Gruß
Joachim
[ March 01, 2004, 06:08 AM: Message edited by: Joachim ]
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Odd...it shows for me.Originally posted by Keke:</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Sergei:
Picture doesn't show.
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The equivalent EPA of the Bundeswehr was 5 years, too. 3 year olds were distributed on Fridays: "Take what you can carry". The chocolate was good... the chewing gum too... the cookies were ... hard, very hard...Originally posted by Degus:Quite off the subject(s) but does anyone know the shelf life of MRE's? Iv'e got 3 or 4 cases going on 3yrs old and am wondering if I should toss them or keep them around a while longer.
never tried anything else.... IIRC my sister used the chlor (?) pills when she worked in Marocco
ahhh...memories..
Gruß
Joachim
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Isn't that the old "Spotter in truck targetted at 1500m" issue?
Gruß
Joachim
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The perfect tactic for learning micromanagement and an interesting short game.Originally posted by Jack Carr:With my points I purchase one tank, just one
Not a perfect setting to learn offensive tactics or coordination.
But coordination usually depends on micromanagement of each and every tank.
Gruß
Joachim
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Teh IIIL need side shots. Show StuGs at range, flank with a pair of IIILs on each side.
I doubt German tanks would attack a significant amount of KVs frontally. The trick is to be the operational attacker but to defend tactically: Grab some terrain essential for the enemy and force him to abandon his position.
OTOH this could happen in a counterattack after soviets seized terrain important for German defense.
A nice example is "Action at Manuchskaya", but you have combined arms forces (the German inf is used for recce, and to clear the woods, Arty kills Soviet ATGs, the tanks do the real killing).
Though "Ausnutzen" is a valid idea, I doubt it demands to use a bad situation. It makes sense in immediately pressing home any advantage, but PzIII vs KV is not an advantage. Much the same like T34/76 vs Tigers.... look at this debate to find alid tactics for CM.
My setup:
Large map with long LOS yet covered lines of communications (distance=cover). If you are the attacker: Probe for weak spots, grab a weakly defended flag and then defend it vs the AI counterattack. You'll need some combined arms to do this. Pure Armor won't do, Armor on both sides will do (which is exactly as the scen mentioned above...).
Gruß
Joachim
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The way I've understood bonus is that it simply multiplies the selected force by that amount. Eg. Two StuG's times 150% => three StuG's. Let me know if I'm wrong. If you want the AI to have more points than you, simply set the budget to 1500 points but only buy 1000 points worth of stuff yourself. </font>Originally posted by Sergei:</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Joachim:
c) Give the AI a bonus... after all it is the AI and desparately needs it. Plus the increase armor budget might result in decent tanks.
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No ****.Originally posted by Sergei:</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Denwad:
Sergei, Joachim, it was already done
It's called the JagdTiger
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Interesting... Seems like the equivalent to the 50+20mm armor of the PzIII series.Originally posted by Abteilung:Since it is so large, I'll provide a link to a particular passage and pictures I found regarding the Ausf.F1. I am now quite interested in purchasing the reference this data comes from as it appears to be the work of Jentz and Doyle (Panzertracts). See what you guys make of this data.
Edit: I just realized the pic was originally hosted by tripod *grumble*. Sorry 'bout that. I xferred it to my old comcast webspace which seems to be active still. It is now viewable.
I wonder how often that "Vorpanzer" actually was used.
Gruß
Joachim
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The funny thing is that I did have some flak plus SPHT. But the jeeps can be, and were used for, BORG spotting with a FO. In 2 minutes I lost 3 soft skined vehicles. With them out of the way the StuGs can be BORG spotted for his AFV that were hidding behind a high hill on my flank. That's what really pissed me off. </font>Originally posted by Mantra:</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr /> Buy light Flak, HMGs or SdKfz 222 yourself. Protect the flanks of your StuGs with them. Autocannons as the 20L55 are great for dealing with jeeps or halftracks. On a short distance, they might get a side kill on a Stuart.
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Yes, I am aware of Seanachai's antics.Originally posted by Mantra:</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Don't pay any attention to Seanachai. He's a raving lunatic.
Although I agree with what has been said in reguard to it being a waste of pts. It sort of indirectly worked. You see all I had were StuGs. Turretless armour is at a big disadvantage in this situation. I didn't bother hunting the jeeps down with them, but the jeeps were bees in a bonet so to speak (they were destory later by MGs and Mortors) Because of the jeeps I couldn't employ the StuGs effectively for fear of being sidesmacked by some of his AFV that he later brought up. I ended up lossing 3 StuGs this way.
Mind you he spend so much time and energy on these maneuvers that it cost him most the the objective flags. Only one wasn't in control at the time the game crashed. </font>
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Existence:Originally posted by GoofyStance:During a QB game set in Italy in the fall of '44, a Sherman broke through the defenses of a SS Pzgr. company and began marauding in the rear areas. As I was about to mount a counterattack with a StuG III, a SS platoon HQ hidden in some woods 20 meters away popped off a Panzerfaust and took out the Sherman. Admittedly, I didn't examine this unit for AT capabilities, as it was used to steady the fire from a ATG also hidden in the woods (why didn't I use this ATG against the Sherman? Because an air attack the previous turn took it out.)
This got me wondering - how common was it for a SS platoon HQ unit to tote around a Panzerfaust in the fall of 1944 in Italy? Or any other German platoon-level HQ unit in Italy at the time, for that matter? It seems like it'd have been a potentially disastrous use of a valuable commander in such a close-up AT role. Any comments?
A panzerfaust is man portable. If the HQ had transport to bring it along or any ammo supply to its positions, they might have gotten hold of a faust.
Use:
The HQ consists of
Officer (more often a sergeant, sometimes a corporal)
Plt Sergeant (a corporal or pfc)
Runner 1
Runner 2
a) The runners aren't as valuable as the commander.
The plt sarge is usually an experienced NCO. You get experience by taking risks and surviving.c) The officer has to lead. In crucial moments you have to lead "from the front."
d) What is worse - the loss of a Plt HQ or a tank on a rampage in rear areas, cutting off communications...
e) How can you persuade your men to use a faust when the officers and NCOs don't lead by example?
f) Officer was fresh from the Hitler Youth
g) The tank was stripped of infantry support and approached a hidden position. Guess who gets the first shot. Even if it does not hit, I doubt the tank would stand and fight as it won't be sure how many other faust-wielding men are around.
i) A lone tank is lost... not only in Russia.
Gruß
Joachim
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Can't see the benefit. Evacuating that chassis is nearly impossible. Stupid Finns.Originally posted by Sergei:The problem with stuff that heavy is that while it is nice for long range sniping, once the battle actually begins they can't establish a visual connection to what is going on in the front, thanks to all the smoke and dust in a battlefield. A clever opponent would attack at night anyway. So the responsibility of defeating the tanks would quickly fall back to the close defence men and medium ATG's. If things really got nasty, the gun would have to be evacuated in good time before the enemy might plunge through to rear. Considering that the Pak40 is quite enough to repel all Allied tanks or in the special cases the 88mm Pak, I see no purpose to use the 128mm Pak.
If I were Germans, I would have taken that gun and put it into a turretless Königstiger chassis. Silly Germans.
Yet Sergei shows the obvious use for this weapon: Soviets attack. Gun fires. Soviets postpone attack to night, reducing the effectiveness of tanks. A perfect weapon for delaying actions of otherwise ill-equipped infantry.
Gruß
Joachim
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If anybody thinks a tactic is gamey, he should inform the opponent when the opponent does it for the very first time. Then it is still time to stop the tactic... if the scenario is big enough.Originally posted by Glider:Well, I must say I feel a bit relieved
Obviously, we discontinued the game but not everyday you get to be accused of using a gamey tactic with such an absolute "I-kept-quiet-for-too-long" certainty.
With such a lot of forces and the few successes you had in actually killing something, I doubt the first two turns of your tactic had a big impact on the overall outcome.
The timing of the complaint - after loosing the last tigers aka after probably loosing the last serious long range tank killer and thus the game - is a bit weird and it definitely smells...
Gruß
Joachim
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Some other thread mentions that most of the (rather small) turret front was covered by the gun shield, resulting in extra 30mm protection for most of the turret front. The remaining areas with only 50mm total armor were very small.Originally posted by Abteilung:Question: Why wasn't the turret up-armored on the Pz.IV? The Pz.III had its turret improved, as did the Pz.II and Pz.38(t). Why not the Pz.IV? It seems counter-productive to me, given its overall production numbers and importance to the panzertruppen.
Gruß
Joachim
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Well, works with just about any command, but that's an important point: by delaying the order, you can guarantee that you can also order the vehicle to reverse out of harms way, if it's about to face a deadly duel.Originally posted by Bone_Vulture:</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Kingfish:
The one advantage to this, besides the automatic hull down, is that you decide if your tank is to stay in the fight.
Sadly, this also works for the enemy, who has the chance to direct all of his guns to fire at your tank at the following turn: unless the reverse order activates at lightning speed, the peeking tank risks being turned to swiss cheese. </font>
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a) Try variable rarity. It might make PzIIs more expensive than other tanks now and then...Originally posted by redwolf:That is only a symptom.
The Panzer II is much cheaper than the other entries so it has a higher probability to "fit" into the rest of the allowance when the AI randomly pokes around the unit list.
A human first picks the most expensive things he/she wants. If you don't do that then you often fail the decent stuff by a few points - which is what happens to the AI. After all, halftracks on the defense and towed AA guns on the attack need to be purchased first, don't they
Play bigger battles. A 1000 pts ME armor does not allow for many tanks. The AI likes buying in plts. So guess which plt it can afford. A 3000pt battle may give you a better mix of units.c) Give the AI a bonus... after all it is the AI and desparately needs it. Plus the increase armor budget might result in decent tanks.
Don't even bother below 50%!
Gruß
Joachim
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I once saw a picture of an 88 in Italy on a hilltop. Long range to a valley entrance. Probably beyond retaliation range. Let loose a few shots, then run away. If this works vs the US with fast response arty, I guess it works even better vs the Soviets..Originally posted by Little Pete:now i know that these guns are generally very limited in use for CM games (lots of points and HUGE sound contact) and i've only really had any success on very specific maps (long range,open,no mortars).
I suppose they weren't too common historically either but i was wondering how they might have been used.Was it just a case of using them in very tough bunkers or were they used in the field.
Thanks guys
As the tanks are heavier, you need a bigger gun. Terrain where you can see for miles. Probably sited well behind the friendly lines. Maybe even out of light/medium mortar range. Prepared positions with lots of TRPs.
So exactly on those maps you mentioned. Imagine "CMBB: Hornissennest" with 2 trenches, 10 TRPs and 2 of these guns. Impose a limit on the range of 82mm FOs - they can only hit the eastern 1.5 km of the map. Allow for a German infantry outpost line 1 - 1.5 km ahead of the ATG to watch out for on board mortars.
Usual disclaimer: This is the ideal position. But no plan survives contact with reality. And if in need, it will be used like a normal ATG.
Gruß
Joachim
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Actually, one of my previous posts (the one with the code section) also proved this lower bound, and also that the expected hit probability must be somewhere between that lower bound and the hit probability against a hull-up tank, but the exact value is dependant on other accuracy constraints.Originally posted by Dschugaschwili:</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Joachim:
In CM the likelyhood to hit a hull down tanks is higher than 4/9 of likelyhood to hit a hull up tank. 4/9 are a (theoretical) lower bound for that factor (see some post of mine above).
Dschugaschwili </font>
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IIRC you can toggle this off...Originally posted by Sergei:One side of the map has a big "Exit Zone" sign stretched all across it.
So make sure it is "on"
Good scenarios should mention it in the briefing.
Gruß
Joachim
use dynamic flags (the AI does not choose on its own, but if the human player plays it blind, the uncertainty will still be there)
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Panther Panther
in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin
Posted
Or do you mean the Nahverteidigungswaffe or Nahbereichswaffe (Nbw)? It has a rather limited range and won't harm Bazooka Joe 100m away... which is a pity if you use it in CM.
Apart from that the Panther is a nice toy. Just like the PzIV it should be frontally hull up vs. potent enemies.
Though not historically correct, it is a nice overwatch for Tigers doing (relative) close combat.... OTOH JPzIV or V are better suited for that if you are that gamey.
If I have to buy Tigers or Panthers only, I'd go for Tigers till 6/43
, indifferent till end of '43 and once tiger killer AFVs are affordable I'd go for Panthers when expecting armor. The bigger blast of the 88 is a reason to buy Tigers when expecting an infantry force.
Gruß
Joachim
[ March 09, 2004, 09:12 AM: Message edited by: Joachim ]