Joachim

It took some 50 battles to get some crack troops - it took 10 battles to get rid of them. All crack that is left is a PzIIIj and the crew of the PzII now manning a StuG. Emergency reorganization disbanded the mortars and one squad in each plt... Now all I want is some vet reinforcements after the next battle! Gruß Joachim

Used this with great success on a night battle. Targetted the very top edge of a light building 60m away (viz 65m) almost completely hidden behind another building. Most 150mm shells landed well behind the target building - until it came down. The few shots till then helped stop a partisan assault and took some 100+ casualties Gruß Joachim

Reminds me of modern management . The own goals are more important than the goals of the whole. You are a part of that group that has the best career opportunities - not the group you identify with. Works best when there is no penalty for the individual if the firm fails and if failure is long-term, but success immediately. Of course, immediate success gets you into a position where the casualties left are no longer your problem. Back to CM: I try to preserve my men. But if thier mission is improtant and risky, they may find themselves doomed: In any relief scenario (Korsun, Failure on the Aksay...) I look at the bigger picture and push my men much harder. In a big battle, a plt may find itself doomed if the btn as a whole will likely suffer less. Nevertheless I try to avoid senseless action. They are not sacrificed for nothing, and if the situation allows to extract a plt, I'll do that. Often making a point in bailing them out with all available after they did their duty and the overall situation allows for it. Gruß Joachim

but but not a "table for each month, mission type and rarity" setting (standard, variable, off). That would amount to 21 tables per month, maybe cut to 9 tables per month. Easy to understand, pretty sure everybody always picks the right table. Neverteheless an absolute must for the true grog Gruß Joachim

-------------------------------------- Spoiler alert! Split your forces. The PzGren plts go into the left and right woods as lookouts. FOs split in these locations, too. Target obvious areas and shift fire to delay it. A lone split squad scouts the first wood on a lone HT. Once secured, rush into the woods. Establish solid overwatch, scout towards the village. Stay there. Once you have some decent HE chuckers, probe towards the hill. Keep the little wood between you and any tanks sent towards the woods. Either shell and probe or probe and shell. Once you are sure the hill is clear, the little village is easy prey. Though it is not really a thorn in your side, it just takes a few turns and a few tanks to flatten it. Then attack teh hill: You don't need to take the whole hill, just a save position for your tanks to fire from hull down. This conserves your grunts. I doubt you can clear the whole woods. Don't know for sure, but those ATRs were pesky. Infantry first reduces the problem. Some general tricks useful in this scen: For the armor: -There are only two speeds for a tank: Full speed and the halt for firing. -Do not sit in the open with your tanks deciding what to do. Head for the nearest cover and make up your decisions there. -Nicht kleckern, klotzen! (Guderian IIRC) Wait for reinforcements with decent HE blast before committing your light forces to more than very light recce. Read: Don't commit your PzII before the reinforcements arrive. When the guns open up, they usually switch to HQs and crack troops (those units that cost more). If you have the crack PzII in decent cover or speeding around between cover, your other tanks can just sit there unharmed - as long as the crack PzII is in LOS of every gun. (Gamey trick ) Pinned guns tend to hide. Once they are silent, you can't target them. Set an armor covered arc and area fire them. Usually two turns of 75mm+ do the trick. Hope this helps. Joachim

Losing the HQ means you have to organize a whole new HQ team with runners etc. Though initially everybody was trained to fulfill the tasks of one higher up, to sort out things takes some time. There is some shock factor, so that is ok. Besides - if the plt is vet, chances of some corporal commanding the plt and only a limited amount of pfcs commanding the squads are high. So if that corporal (which is said to be a lt in the game) gets killed, there is nobody trained to do the job two or three ranks above. My Grandpa was a corporal, and it seems he commanded a plt for a very long time. ...Long enough to lead it across the frozen "Frische Haff", then back from East Prussia, avoiding the Gustloff and embarking on a cruiser instead. Then he went home, the war ended and he showed up at a POW camp: "You only fought East Front?" "Ja" "Bye." Gruß Joachim

The end of the map is the biggest depth the AI has. And given that the ATGs hit you, they are very well placed - they don't need to be more forward (and from my knowledge, their placement is historically correct - behind the infantry screen). From your description, the AI did a remarkably good job. Its task is to annoy you. Gruß Joachim

And now to something completely different... Nov '41, week 4, day 6. Veteran to crack force. Blizzard, extremely cold. Initial casualty parameter at 50 %. No significant losses, but a perfect 10 die roll to decide for the next battle. Happy christmas! Co HQ crack. Dec '41, week 4, day 6. Initial casualty parameter at 50 %. No significant losses. Ratio for kills after battle: 52%. Did I mention the weather? Blizzard, extremely cold, of course. Dec '41, week 4, day 7. Initial casualty parameter at 50 %. No significant losses. Ratio for kills after battle: 49%. Did I mention the weather? Extremely cold, Blizzard - what else. Jan '42, week 2, day 6. Initial casualty parameter at 50 %. No significant losses. Ratio for kills after battle: 53%. Did I mention the weather? Extremely cold, Blizzard - what else. Jan '42, week 4, day 7 Reorganized the battle group. Initial casualty parameter at 50 %. No significant losses. Ratio for kills after battle: 52%. Did I mention the weather? You bet! Jan '42, week 4, day 7. Had to consolidate forces. 2nd plt gone, 3rd plt/3rd squad at 3 strength. Initial casualty parameter at 50 %. No significant losses. Ratio for kills after battle: 52%. Decimated. Favor lost. 2nd plt is all green, Exp of Co HQ dropped to 40something. Feb '42, week 4, day 7. Did I mention the weather? Overcast - just cool. Initial casualties nevertheheless at 50%. Ammo at 60%, random AI forces. The support Ski Co showed up at Co HQ, 2 plt HQs, 2 squads and a MG. 26 men. Bought two more 2 MMGs and 2 LMGs - one man with an LMG arrived. Glad this ain't my core Coy. Support PzIII (short) plt with 3 tanks, the PzIVf did not make it. 8 A/Cs? Where are the other 5?? My whole core PzIII plt is there, and a Stug. Only a (core) HT made it, no truck or kübel. Wide open farmland with moderate hills, 2km *1,7 km. First sight: Double envelopment by AI. Left flank a dozen T34 or valentines, right flank 10 of those. If I loose the tank battle, I'll loose a plt of grunts-they have no chance of getting out of that valley against those odds. Thoughts about that regarding the rules: 1.) If the weather was extremely cold and blizzard, the next battle will likely have the same weather. Probability for not-extreme cold and blizzard is too low? 2.) Losing my favor if General Winter decimates my force is pretty annoying. (..."That's war") :mad: Losses in the field were below 5%. 3.) If my 2nd plt gets overrun, I'll get a much better plt. If there are men left in it, I'll pay with lower experience. Tempting. Reading the rules, I see that from August till December, the likelihood for Large city battles is 60% or 70% (Map type parameter -5 IIRC). As every city battle takes several days, I guess 80% of all battles fought from 8/42 to 12/42 will take place in cities. A bit much? Guess I will reduce that. But I am a masochist, so I just love it... Gruß Joachim

As discussed in an earlier thread, the problem is "complex rules are not liked by many players" vs. "some odd equipment my unbalance the rules (FlaK, Dshk 12,7mm)" If you want to take care of all these glitches, you'd need a table of allowed units for each month, mission type and rarity. Let's see how this evolves... maybe playtesting some glitches with detailed AARs might do the trick and show that the rules are crap, need some improvement or perfect already.

My favourite: 07/43: Capt. Panther A allowed for Soviets. Until 12/44: Panther A not allowed for Germans. Gruß Joachim

Minefields are cleared by nearby enginners with satchel charges. As they just throw these explosives at the minefield, probably any inf unit with explosives can do that. Maybe that's how the disappearing minefield was cleared. Check the explosives available for your units in both files. Maybe you can get a hint that way. Gruß Jaochim

Minefields are cleared by nearby enginners with satchel charges. As they just throw these explosives at the minefield, probably any inf unit with explosives can do that. Maybe that's how the disappearing minefield was cleared. Check the explosives available for your units in both files. Maybe you can get a hint that way. Gruß Jaochim

You have to hit something really critical to explode the tank. It seems the bigger the brick thrown, the more likely the fire. How many cars do explode after accidents? Compare RL to any movie. How does a movie viewer tell a functioning tank from one knocked out? Grog: "Ah, yes, that one over there has the barrel lowered, this is broken. Now wait, can't see if this is functioning as the camera only shows his rear. Have to check this next time I see that fantastic movie!" Anybody else: "Bad movie. No action, no explosions, no fire. Small FX budget. Didn't get the plot. Why did these tanks stop firing on those other tanks and just drove by? This is not realistic!" Gruß Joachim

Suddenly I have a vision of a Jagdpanther residing in a huge heap of tomatoes... Sorry, I couldn't help it! Michael </font>

These qb rules apply to the classic "ME on a clear day in (fairly) open country" Ever considered to modify these rules for attack and defense scenarios? For forest, fog or night? Eg in '41, on the a defense the Soviet player can field 76mm ATGs, so for the attacking German there should be no limit regarding frontal armor. Same goes for a defending German. From 8 or 9/41 onwards he can buy 7,6cm PaK (or 5cm PaK) so a T34 - and even a KV - is less of a threat. He might even buy an 88. Vs the Soviet AI I usually don't fear any hvy tank if it is a MTG or a defensive scenario. I would suggest in line with your rules: If a less than 40% rare ATG can destroy a tank at 550m, the tanks should be allowed for the attacker. Then I suggest an AD limit, as they too easily tear apart the light tanks at almost no cost. But if there is an AD limit, somebody might want an air limit, too. Gruß Joachim

Two expereinces came to mind: A night time attack by the AI Soviets on the Kiev factory district of BCR map pack 7 (huge map, 2k*2.5k or something). Night, fog&rain, 9/41, Sov medium quality Paras with infantry type force. 35+ turns. Could not hold the area so I dug in most of my 2 inf companies around my armor&support assets, with two plts in forward position around a forward flag on the left side. When the AI did not come from the front, I expected that he would come from the middle (ie the flank of my forward position) and brought some armor along to cover the fallback once necessary. Needless to say the flank had some TRP, wire and mines, too. The AI did not show up till turn 35. In Extra-time the AI lost 300 men in 2-3 mad minutes against the plt facing them. When my fallback started, game was over. Draw or minor victory, but no casualties to me, which is important in the BCR campaign. Another one was a 10/41 AI armored attack on a random map (south, heavy woods, medium hills). I saw 5 tanks, which all were killed in 2 turns by a 7,6cm PaK. The AI barely reached the undefended flags, but did not control all. 5 tanks destroyed vs 0 cas. All AI arty ammo expended. 10 7,6cm shells expended on my side. Total victory. Gruß Joachim

Well, I guess it is implemented. To avoid those calculations should be top priority for Biltaid . But I do not use Biltaid. Couldn't get the Java to start and didn't really try, as pen and paper work pretty fast for me. Gruß Joachim

I think you should add a 4th requirement... 4. requirement to be single not essential but recommended. Regards Jim R. </font>

If you play a 1000 pts battle with no initial casualties, the defender gets 1000 pts. The assaulter gets 1700 points for a 1000pts battle(!), the attacker somewhat less (1400 or so), for a probe even less. The exact factors are in the force size calculation. Same goes for casualties: If you start with 20% causalties, a 1000 pts battle on the defense will allow you to buy 1250 points: The casualties are subtracted before the battle from those 1250 points and you get 1250 * (100 - 20)/100 = 1250 *(1-0.2) = 1000 pts. (1) Combining those effects, you get the formula that calculates the force size from the provisional force size: Provisional points / Casualty factor / Battle Type factor = points allowed for battle. (2) CM only allows for some fixed force sizes (..., 900, 100, 1250, 1500, 2000, ...), so you can't choose the exact amount calculated in formula (2).To ensure you can buy everything, you have to choose a number of pts that is bigger or equal than what you calculated. Example: Your core is 653 Your attached units is 80 Battle is assault (factor 1.7) Casualties 20% You get 100 inf, 100 armor and 100 arty. So your provisional force size is 653+80+300 = 1033. Force size is 1033*(1-0.2)/1.7 = 486.12 pts IE you need a mere 486 pts to be able to buy your force of 1033 pts! (Which is actually worth 80% or 827.4 pts after your casualties are removed, and 486.12*1.7 = 827.4 pts The points necessary to spend your 1033 points in CM are 500, which actually enable you to buy 500/0.8*1.7 = 1062.5 or 1063 pts. If you've got the calculations right, you should never have to few points total to spend in CM what you are allowed to spend according to BCR. The only problem is the arty points, which are restricted. Choose unrestricted as force type and nation (ands thus division type), and you will be allowed to spend the max. If this is not enough for a given part of your force (usually arty) - tough luck, you loose the points. The difference from points you are allowed to spend from BCR to CM is a bonus for the AI Gruß Joachim PS: Hope I've got the formulas right, the manual is out of reach... [ June 17, 2003, 07:42 AM: Message edited by: Scarhead ]

Had a River crossing with strong wind. I didn't even bother to lay smoke after a test. 25-35 secs for 81mm smoke, then it was gone. Otherwise it was overcst or clear, no rain or fog. IIRC that effect is described in the manual. Gruß Joachim

Yes, the early war tin cans are fun. Armor battles with mostly Romanian tanks (22 BTs and R2s) plus ACs (12 BAs with 45mm gun) and a PzII, IIIG and IVe vs some 50 light Soviet tanks plus 17 T34 and 5 KV1 on a foggy dawn in the huge open steppe. I still don't know how those tin cans destroyed 3 T34, but a flanking movement to catch one of the 4 Soviet spearheads from the side sure helped. A line of tin cans ain't strong enough and the only 76mm PaK was on the fallback positions. The same flanking movement by 12 tanks that just before had caught the attacking infantry in front of a blocking position, no way forward, the cluster of scattered trees to the rear had a TRP and the tanks smashed thru the remaining corridor reducing a btn to 60 men, most of which had their hands in the sky. Now how many points do I have to spend in mid-war to be able to spare 12 tanks for flanking while on the defense? Another battle comes to memory with Romanian R2s and R35s vs a Russian armored force in 7/41. Both forces hammering at each other from 700m, me on the defense fearing the "T34?" markers, the AI not advancing.... But there was no T34 in the battle . So pre-determined qbs, those battles stick to my mind even more than some scenarios (where I prefer mid-war) Gruß Joachim

You're welcome (oder: Gern geschehen ) Set force type, nationality (and thus automatically IIRC) divvison type to unrestricted. Sometimes you will have trouble to spend your points from "large arty", but usually you can buy what you want. If the AI did not buy tanks for division type infantry in the "dummy battle for selection of unit types", you can buy whatever you want from the armor menu. If the AI bought only a 81mm spotter and you have 700 pts for arty - buy the 81mm FO and whatever you want till the 700 pts (if CM says you only can buy 500 arty - tough luck, you loose those 200pts) If your force calculation says you get 1010 pts, you have to chose 1250 pts for the qb. Now if you are assaulting, the difference will increase to (1250-1010)*1.7 = 408 pts. You can not spend these 408 pts. This is a bonus for the AI, as it will use all of his 1250 pts for the defense. [/QB]

You either get replacements and are at 100%, or fight an immediate attack/counterattack. The latter case allows for consolidating units. If you have a unit that is totally wiped out - move it off map in turn 1. The principle for immediate attacks/counterattacks is that you have an on-paper strength, ant the actual strength on the field, which during setup is higher than on paper, but in turn 1 should get below that: You consolidate your units when you get no reinforcements: Say 1st plt is 2 - 8 - 8 -7 after the first battle. You have a MG with 5 men left as attached units. So you will have the MG to consolidate your core: HQ is 2 + 2 (MG) = 4, 1st squad is 8 + 2(MG) = 10 2nd suqad is 8 + (1MG) + 1 from 3rd squad 3rd squad is 7 - 1 (2nd squad) is below 100% so has to leave in turn 1 Attached MG is nil that is below 50% strength, so you lose it forever Of course you can consolidate across the whole company, but attached units are stripped of personnel and disbanded first Don't use biltaid. Pen and brain are faster than the keyboard, as I don't have to ALT-TAB. Yes. Units get 1 point for just being there. (if they break, abandon equipment or flee, they loose points. If they have causalties, they usually lose points.) I suggest you try to figure out most of the rules and then use Biltaid. This way you know what you should avoid and what to do to get a better core. Gruß Joachim

Well, in my case most bunkers were placed along the riverside. I had to take out almost all forward bunkers to cross October bridge. If it weren't for the 20mm autocannon "feature", it would have been impossible. Then there were bunkers a bit back on the streets, keyholing only the bridges. And then there was that one on the left most little victory flag keyholing October bridge. It was only visible from the bridge. A perfect placement. BTW: Many guns were in the rear, where it was much harder to call arty as I could not walk my spotters across the bridges. Eveything was riding HTs or StuGs. From turn 24 to 45, I got everything across - except FOs and onboard mortars. No need to padlock, I was glad I had 2 2cmFlaK to help me doing the trick. Gruß Joachim