Joachim

A better approach would be to just show these units to the enemy while keeping them entrenched. They have a better chance to survive longer and thus you need to waste less of those units.

Running without suppressive fire is bad - but I doubt you can suppres the tanks. Guess your initial layout was not so good, you had bad luck or the AI at +100% or more. Had a similar situation last week. Two btns of Soviets hitting my entrenched left flank (one reinforced plt low on ammo) late in the game. The AI Soviets closed in very quickly across open ground, but I resigned to sitting it out (my tanks were out of ammo, he had none). My men fought off the spearhead at below 40m, and then - a 40 turn variable game ended after exactly 40 turns. If the game had not ended, I would have lost that plt (one of the few vets in a campaign) in the next 4 or 5 turns. If you sit between the flags and the Soviet inf closing in, they will come at you. Only a massive volume of fire can stop Soviet inf. So my advice is: Hide! It may stop some shelling. Once Ivan is 30 m in front of the trenches, open up. Shelling then will hurt him more than you Yet I would not expect many to survive - except if the game ends soon or there is not much Soviet infantry. Running will get you killed, too. Surrender... well losses in Siberia were high, too. Gruß Joachim

I tried another apporach vie scenario editor: "Random amount of enemy points" Buy own forces. Buy most of the enemy infantry and some common tanks "on board". Buy more inf and more tanks - among them rare beasts able to turn the tide - as reinforcements with very low probabilities per turn. Make sure some of these these beasts can kill any cat I have. I have my objectives, I have my forces - but I don't know what the enemy has exactly or how much he will get. All I know the longer it takes, the stronger he gets. The map has some depth a) forcing me to an approach march so some reinforcements are already there. leaving space for enemy reinforcements in covered areas (ie not in plain view). Infantry reinforcements on "covered" approach routes already a bit forward. c) no first turn waste of AI arty ammo d) I have to tow any big guns brought into play The availability of reinforcements for the AI forces me too attack a bit faster - reinforcements come from the rear, so if I already reached the objective, it will be more like a meeting engagement instead of a human attack vs AI. Here is a small table how likely it is that reinforcements at a given percentage arrive on the battlefield depending on game length. Changing the reinforcement turn helps varying it a bit. I do not use any formula to calculate the actual exact value of the reinforcements, but I thought about weighing the earlier turns a bit more. As any weight is debatable, a guestimate will do, too. Thus we have: Count any reinforcement approx at the percentage with which it will be there after 60% of the game length. Thus a 1000 point tank force which will show up with a likelihood of 30% until turn 24 is counted as 300 pts (and I don't count beans, if it is a 979 pts tank force at 29.5 %, it is still 300 points for me.) Appendix: Reinforcement probability. Calcualtes how likely it is for a unit to have shown up n turns after the specified earliest entry turn with a given probability %\turn 10 15 20 30 35 40 0,01 0,10 0,14 0,18 0,26 0,30 0,33 0,02 0,18 0,26 0,33 0,45 0,51 0,55 0,03 0,26 0,37 0,46 0,60 0,66 0,70 0,04 0,34 0,46 0,56 0,71 0,76 0,80 0,05 0,40 0,54 0,64 0,79 0,83 0,87 0,06 0,46 0,60 0,71 0,84 0,89 0,92 0,07 0,52 0,66 0,77 0,89 0,92 0,95 0,08 0,57 0,71 0,81 0,92 0,95 0,96 0,09 0,61 0,76 0,85 0,94 0,96 0,98 Gruß Joachim [ August 07, 2003, 08:09 AM: Message edited by: Scarhead ]

Dunno about the RW, but in CM it is worse. From memory the Schwarzlose is worse than the other HMG of the Romanians, so I always use that other one if I can choose. Gruß Joachim

Before each turn, you have the chance to hide the gun. Or set a covered arc without the IS. If you do not hide the gun, the TacAI thinks it is your plan to fire the gun (e.g as a diversion or keeping the IS buttoned). And I would not want the TacAI to interfere with my plans (too much)! Gruß Joachim

Have you tried to decrease the speed around the bridge instead of on the bridge? Maybe a combination of road bends and impassable terrain (e.g. a slope). A (forced) 45° turn when leaving the bridge is enough to slow down vehicles, thus creating a traffic jam on the bridge or forcing the player to use the bridge piecemeal (as I would expcet for a pontoon bridge). Wet ground or stones instead of road tiles next to the bridge exis could work, too. Gruß Joachim

You can split them (and this is official ). IIRC somewhere in the game guide it says that you can use parts of inf btns or companies from the random battle, so you can buy single tanks our of plts, too. Gruß Joachim

Yes - but it increases the speed with which they travel to the pit, too :mad: Gruß aochim

Discussion of case shot earlier in this forum said it would be effective up to 300m. IIRCE StuGb's fire canister at Soviets up to 300m - but I often wonder why they use HE on a cluster of targets advancing on them at 50-200m distance. What AP ammo type is used? The "big HE load" is probably counted as HE by your gunners. Gruß Joachim

Even the AI uses roads for Soviet tanks in wet ground conditions, so they must have some use. Of course I had placed only two minefields on roads and spread the others to gullies which were totally avoided by the AI sticking to roads or higher ground :mad: But those 2 minefields immo'd a KV, a T34, a T70 and a T60 - that KV would've ruined my day. Given that 3 tanks got immo'd on one single minefield, I guess the AI feared bogging as much as driving on a minefield. Which in turn would hint that the designers who created the AI thought roads have some use. Gruß Joachim

Now guess why they invented the reverse slope tactics Alas, AI can't handle that and generated maps offer too little opportunities to set up reverse slope. Gruß Joachim

Why, I'd like more than 100% ammo. I take all ammo I can get. Esp for ATGs this is no problem. It takes me a lot of time to deploy my forces vs an unknown enemy at low ammo levels. I'd be much happier if I had enough ammo to defend my position and would not need to check where can I defend and retreat. Last battle was real luck. PzIII plt HQ immo'd, out of ammo, 100m ahead of my low ammo center inf positions. Yet a successful counter attack vs the Soviet center and left thrust. Mauled the first wave, but a weaker second wave came in - and me had nothing except mud to throw at them. Only a matter of minutes till the Soviets would toast that tank or force it to be abandoned (and kill or capture the crew). Left flank low on ammo, when together with the 2nd wave in the center a strong attack came in. In turn 40 (of 40+) Ivan had just reached my (trench) positions when the game ended. Major victory - I had only half the flags, but almost no casualties, while 900 out of 2700 Soviets had fallen. Given that I had less than 200 men at 30%ammo, a rather good toll. Gruß Joachim

Gun calibre: The number after the L, e.g. in 75L24 is the length of the barrel in comparison to the diameter. So 75L24 is 75mm times 24 = 1800mm = 1.8 m. Short guns tend to be AP (anti-personell), long ones are better for AT (compare 75L24 vs 75L70) with only a slight or no reduction in AP capability to their shorter brothers. Guess the short variants were only short as the turret did not accomodate the longer version and one needed a big HE chucker - the larger the diameter, the much bigger the shell, the bigger the bang! A big&long gun means good AT capability, a short gun is AP only (with some exception called HollowCharge or HEATammo) Big armor means the thing can withstand some punch. IIRC You usually can see the armor and the gun in the purchase screen. Once bought, check the stats regarding amror and penetration what is good. BTW: The more MGs and ammo for them, the better. PzI is just some mobile MG-nest PzII is a light tank. Used as tank in the Blitz (39/40), only recce in Russia or '44 PzIII tends to be "the" AT-tank when it gets the 5cm gun (1941) till the arrival of the PzIIIn (late '42 IIRC) with the short 7,5cm gun while the PzIV "short" is an AP tank until the arrvial of the PzIVf2 "long" with the long 7,5cm gun (mid '42), which is a dual-purpose tank, just like the PzV Panther and PzVI Tiger The StuG variants are AP only for 75L24 early war) and 105L?? guns (StuH). Brummbär or anything with the 150L10 is AP, too. All other StuGs are dual purpose. Jagdpanzer (Hunting tanks, Hetzer, Jagdpanzer IV, Jagdpanther) are well armored turretless armor, Panzerjäger (Marder, ashorn) are thin skinned mobile AT guns. Captured French tanks are from 1940, so usually crap. Well armored tanks in 1940, popguns in tin coffins in 1944. Now to the real question: What is a good tank? A good tank is fast, well armored and has a good gun in a fast turret. If it is faster, can penetrate the enemy frontally at ranges where the enemy can't hurt its front and swing the turret around fast to catch those enemies tryaing to sneak up on the flank, the tank is better than the enemy . Anything else depends on the tactics you use. A Stuart duelling it out at 1000m with a Panther is not a good idea. At close ranges that may be diiferent. Learn the strength and weakness of each tank and use it accordingly. So aside from the gun and armor, you have to check turret speed (as in : How fast can I turn to face a new threat) and speed (How fast can I cross that dangerous place and get in the enemy's rear. The tactics must fit the tanks you have, or you must buy the tanks you need for your tactics, which usually depend on the terrain and enemy. Is speed important? Is the slow (or no) turret rotation a problem (dense terrain, low viz). Do I expect enemies from the flank or only from the front? Am I gonna flank (then speed is essential) or will it be a frontal slugfest? There is no solution for all circumstances. Gruß Joachim

I remember at least one incident where a PzIIIj -low on amo - fired HE at a T60 while still having left a few AP rounds. During the turn I was p***ed to see the tank wasting ammo, as there were several T34 coming close and I wanted to fire only at the T34s as long as there was AP (messed with the cover arc). The T60 (ID said light tank, AAR said T60), brew up and I checked double that it was HE during the turn. In fact, there were 2 HE rounds fired at the T60. EFOW, v1.03. After that, I had two more where I wondered "Ah, HE" - AP was scarce, but still available. One where I cursed (Last tungsten on a T60 while there was 1 AP and 2 HE left, T34s and inf in the area.). The latter one does not fit my theory... Maybe a "what the f*** - gotta make sure that light tank is destroyed before those 3 T34s get me". (Result: The T60 survived. The T34s survived. the PzIII survived. None had any ammo left ) Maybe ammo selection is based on other known threats? If yes - excellent job, BFC. Gruß Joachim

Maybe one of those reasons: - Prob to hit is too low - Target mis-identified (esp. the not fully identified T34s are often considered to be T34M41 which may be penetrated by standard ammo... so why waste precious ammo. If it is a T34M42 or M43-tough luck Gruß Joachim

From what I witnessed, the Ai will choose the right ammo for the expected type of target. Esp. when low on ammo, a PzIIIj will fire HE at a light tank (guestimated to be a T60). Quite frustrating if the ammo does not adjust after some bounces (hey it's a T70, stupid!) Very bad if it is a T34M42 instead of the expected T34M41 and several bouncing AP hits are greeted by one not bouncing shoot in return - and several tungsten round are left to explode in the bruning tank. Gruß Joachim

Nope, as stated above, the ammo type ratio will change. Giving 20 AP and 10 HE rounds to a PzIIIj (99rounds max) will usually result in getting some extra HE. With StuGIIIb's loadout you will see this even more (5 types of ammo with only 44 rounds). Read: Giving your crack PzIII some additional AP will lead to a higher overall loadout. Evidence strongly indicates Andrews model with the max of either set level (for a given ammo type) or the random amount calculated by CM is used for each type. The total loadout is only cut when the max (or standard for guns?) ammo for the unit is reached. The hint with the shift to change the ammo is excellent! Gruß Joachim

Yes, please. Currently considering to use the extended ranges for modified die rolls. OTOH it may get more complicated. It is a good way to get extreme dice rolls a bit more seldom... Gruß Joachim [ August 04, 2003, 04:16 AM: Message edited by: Scarhead ]

All GE unit designations were inspired by propaganda. Sitting there, waiting for the tank is a passive task. "Abwehren" is only passive. Now if you want to win an offensive war, you won't tell your soldiers to just sit there and wait. The term "Jäger" - while still valid thru its potentially passive role - is a more aggressive, active word. If you had to designate a class of units, what would you use? Ever heard the designation "Lauerjäger"(ie "hunter in ambush")? I remember it from my biology lessons. There are quite many animals specified as such a type of hunter (eg spiders with their nets). Even if you want to hunt using only ambushes, you need good tactics and can fill this role actively, e.g. by deciding where to set up. In short: Abwehr = if it comes along, I'll fend it off! Purely passive! Jagen = I'll try to get it! Active! Gruß Joachim

Good work, Andrew. This does make sense. To get exactly the ammo level for the imported troops, one would need to set a much lower ammo level in the QB. which in turn would hamper the QB/aux forces. But I guess I can live with my core forces getting more ammo than specified with the ammo level. I spend 10 favor each battle to give them more ammo, and I want to have something in return for that! Gruß Joachim

Yes. IIRC in v1.02 the ammo for imported troops was 100%. Now in 1.03 the imported troops keep their ammo level. There is an exception for tanks and guns. It seems that they get the max of either the ammo level set in the QB (applied to some random calculation of amo numbers) or the set amount of amo for that type. Ie giving a PzIIIj AP only, no HE at 30% (=30rounds) will result in the tank having 30 AP rounds and some HE rounds - overall more than 30% Read: You have to set the ammo level manually in the editor (time consuming...) to get the right ammo loadout. Gruß Joachim

Ah, well, guess now we could start a thread that could easily meet the original Peng challenge in length and we would still have some topics to discuss. Don't know if I'd get the message that SS-PzGrD LSSAH is ironic in an overall non-ironic (yet partly humourous) context - esp because the mission was a successful attack and the player takes the side of that div. As you feature that division, some people could think you mean what exactly you write (the SSSS-irony ain't a problem in that way). I just imagine what would happen if yo would use the SS as often as possible in that text. Now some would see that it is ridiculous. Others would say you glorify them. I particularly like Chaplins "The great dictator", but I am pretty sure I will try to avoid any irony regarding the Nazis if I am not sure all people heraing it will understand the ironic background. This does include citing that movie with appropriate pronounciation of the "r" - because there are too many people who don't understand irony. Another incident was when my mother asked me whether the "Die Toten Hosen" are a right-wing band because of a line in their song "sascha". The whole text is bitter irony on the dumbness of Skinheads, yet some people did not get that message. Guess you have to find some more places for SS (especially in front of another S) to put in your text. Those few I added are not enough to make it ridiculous enough. edited that quote a bit. Gruß Joachim

The name is not incorrect. It is a SS-PzGrDiv and it is designated LSSAH or LAH. Twice "SS" just looks a bit strange. I'd go for LAH 'cause two vets said LAH. And one of them definitely knew that division. Gruß Joachim

Thanks for the link. After reading it (esp. p. 7)... Me likes BFCs ideas. Gruß Joachim

Make damn sure you concentrate your tanks and suppress any inf in sight with all guns blazing. Leave the target picking to the AI. Do not stop the advance cold, but use speed to hit it in the flank or rear (ampulomets and MGs are slower, so usually at the rear. To get at them frontally means you have to move thru inf. Vs infantry forces, you can ignore the flags and concentrate on killing. Only late in the battle you can mop up around some flags of your picking. I had a crack So Guards coy advancing on a single tank. One unit made it to the woods and finally got him from the rear. I needed 4 more tanks to stop that advance across 150 open metres! (armor only vs armor) Of course the tanks had to leave their ambush positions and could not meet the armor onsalught on the other flank (well... vs crack T34M42s a PzIIIj ain't a good match at 200m anyway) :mad: 5 minutes? You lucky bastard. I will never ever play another 5000pts +100% AI assault resulting in almost 7000 men vs my 700. 30 Min per turn (for the AI). I am currently considering changing the rules to exclude these battles (or at least use an option to have them less often). After all I already bent the rules when ingoring a large battle muliplicator. Now it is still 2000pts +100% inf only AI assault. Gruß Joachim