Michael Hatch

Combat Mission has landed on the West Coast of Canada. I ordered sometime after the new year (I think). Shipped on the 21st of June. Came home today after a long day to hear about my wife’s car accident (she is OK) and there was CM (in a plain brown wrapper) crammed into my mail box. I hardly paid any attention to the Playboy that it arrived with. I predict that everyone who pre-ordered in Canada will have it no later than this Friday. Ya just gotta allow for Murphy. Steadyyy!!! ------------------ Double tap & getsome!

My understanding of the bocage fighting (off the top of my head). Medieval Norman farmers digging rocks and boulders out of their fields and dumping them at the edges constructed the bocage over time. This served to act as both a border and windbreak. Over time the hedgerows got larger and foliage began to grow on top of them. By the time of the Allied invasion the soil and stone “wall” bit was massive and somewhere between four to eight feet high (if my memory serves me right) with all sorts of trees and underbrush growing on top of them. Overall height was about fifteen to thirty feet. The Germans defenders had time to dig tunnels and dugouts into the earthen part of the hedgerows and this is were the Allies had problems. The tunnels facing the advancing Americans were small and camouflaged. The defenders had excellent cover, good concealment and a perfect withdrawal route. It also gave them positions of fire and observation on both sides of the hedgerow. While soldiers could take up position on top of the hedgerow, the thick growth made moving around difficult and detection easier due to moving bushes and treetops. And if they had to bug out, they could still be hit by un-aimed suppressive area fire (no covered withdrawal route). And being good soldiers, they defended in depth with all around defense as best they could. Any fairly heavy, fully tracked AFV could drive over the top of the hedgerow (no Bren Gun Carriers or half tracks) but it’s was slow going and they would have to present their undersides to enemy fire (which would have time to adjust their weapons). The Rhino tusks (or dozer blades) allowed tanks to drive straight into the soil and push a hole through the hedgerow. Following troops could then use this un-planned for gap in the German’s line. Driving over the hedgerow would just sort of squish the green bits on top and leave the vehicle isolated from its supporting Infantry. While there were dozer blades fitted to Shermans in theater, there were never enough to go around. When the rhino tusks were being introduced, the “higher ups” decided to give a little bit to everyone. The initial scale of issue was one per tank platoon but as the campaign progressed more became available. I do not believe every vehicle that could have them fitted, did (maybe one in two). By the time they became readily available the American Army was out of the Bocage and they weren’t needed anymore. It would be nice if BTS could allow a hedgerow to be breached in this manner (maybe engineer would be able to blow gaps too?) and hopefully we might see this in a future patch or add-on pack. Maybe if we are real good and say “Please”. From comments posted here I guess I’m going to have to check out Michael Doubler's 'Closing with the enemy'. Thanks. Hope this helps. ------------------ Double tap & getsome!

THE ZEN OF THE RECCE SOLDIER, v97.08. by Sergeant Michael Hatch, RCAC retired. The first three critical requirements of the Reconnaissance Soldier are; to be effective, to be effective and to be effective. To wit; FIRST AND FOREMOST; Get your **** together and keep it together. Look after yourself and your mates. Learn your job, know your job, do your job. Try. AND THEN CONSIDER; There is no such thing as a "fair" fight. The side which makes the fewest mistakes, wins. Scar tissue is forever. During war, there are old Soldiers and there are bold Soldiers but there are no old, bold Soldiers. A little fear is a good thing. SO, FOR YOURSELF; It is one thing to acknowledge one's limitations but another thing entirely to accept them. It bad luck to be superstitious. Knowledge is power but experience is a force multiplier. Keep current. Prioritize. When you can, if you can, do it now. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. 'Tis best done quickly (unless, of course, it isn't). When neatness counts, it counts a lot. Safety isn't a matter of what you do but how you do it. The Sergeant Major is in the details. Patience isn't a virtue, it's a necessity. Seize the moment but remember, audacity is supposed to be a reflex. Improvisation skills are based upon training and preparation. Know what you're about and never forget it. Watch where you're going and remember where you've been. Function before fashion, always. Be as clean as circumstances allow. When on ops, never pass up the opportunity to sleep, eat or move your bowels. Don't needlessly piss-off the people you work with, your life may end up in their hands someday. Only steal what you really need but can't buy and never steal from your own. Share. There are no small jobs. THE WILL TO BE. Soldiers soldier because they are Soldiers. A Warrior lives to fight but a Soldier fights to live. Anybody can be made to Soldier but to be good you have to "wanna". You don't have to like it, you just have to do it. If it was easy, they would get a civilian to do it. The very essence of Soldiering is to endure "the outrageous slings and arrows of misfortune". Go ahead. Bitch, gripe or complain about it but just don't snivel and whine. LEADERSHIP. With authority comes responsibly and vice versa. Followers won’t follow if Leaders won’t lead. You can’t lead until you can first follow. Meet the standard! If there isn’t one, set it. Look to your leaders, focus on your followers and ignore the rest. Talk is cheap. Say what you mean, mean what you say. The chain of command works both ways (so does loyalty). A chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link. Make up your mind in advance to lead, follow or stay the hell out of the way. Then do it! **** rolls downhill but grenade fragments fly uphill. Being popular can get in the way of being effective. Never trust anyone who says "Trust me". Consider just exactly why do micro-managers, micro-manage? Careerism is the converse of professionalism. Credit were credit is due. In high enough concentrations, bull**** will corrode anyone’s professionalism. PLANNING PLANS. Wishing doesn’t make something so. Prior planning prevents poor performance. You want it bad, you get it bad! Plans should be made by those who are going to execute them. A workable plan now is better than the best plan after the fact. Any plan can be made to work and any plan can be made to fail. If it is worth doing, its worth doing right. Good judgment is a function of experience (which is a function of poor judgment). Taking the time to do it right the first time can save you from having to find the time to do it over again. You get out of something what you put into it. Time can be the difference between success and failure, life and death. Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted. Beware of those who would have you believe that nothing bad will ever happen with "the plan". Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Perfect is the enemy of good enough. Simple is good. Complex is evil. K.I.S.S. WALKING THE WALK. No battle-ready unit ever passed a parade inspection and no inspection-ready unit ever passed combat. Fore warned is fore armed. Rules are for the guidance of the wise and the abeyance of fools. Watch out for those who just don’t want to hear about it. The only stupid question is the unasked question. Appearances can be deceiving. You make your own luck. Mistakes are repeated until lessons are learned. Being "Semi-Tactical" is like being semi-pregnant. Those who say it can't be done should never interrupt those who are doing it. Every follower has the immediate ability to issue their own field expedient leadership critique. You can’t thoroughly understand the power of your own artillery until they drop a few short. Anything is possible but what's likely to happen? Victory is a matter of staying power. The Gods don’t tend to back the side with the biggest battalions but the best shots. Assume as little as possible but believe it when you see it. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. Any foolproof system is bound to have a lot of fools in it. Remember Murphy. **** happens. Deal with it and get on with it. And it can always get worse. Max flex. Improvise. Adapt. Overcome. You can do everything right and still end up dead. THE WORLD WE FIND OURSELVES IN. Basically, the role of the military is to kill people and destroy things in the name of their country. War in itself, is a sustained exercise in state-sanctioned crime. No matter how you justify it or what sort of spin is put on it, its still bad Karma to kill people. So, just because the World has, you don’t have to sink to the lowest common denominator. Think about it. Come to terms with it. Then you do what you have to do. LIFE AS WE KNOW IT. What time is it right now? Be situationally aware, check six and remember to look into the immediate future. Look for the middle ground. Be lucky (but don't count on divine intervention or your brilliant ability to improvise). Go gently through the world (but carry fully automatic weapons). Double tap and get some. Aim low. Be bold with your corrections and bracket the target. Silence is golden. To Fast Movers, everything on the ground looks like ants. Your most powerful weapon is your own mind. Look both ways before attempting to cross killing zones. Many hands make for light work but don't bunch up on the objective. Cover your arc and have recce eyes. When in doubt, remember the basics (i.e.; shoot, move and communicate). Don't confuse being in doubt with being confused. When all else fails, pop smoke and run like ****. Be advised that the **** is in the wind when they start asking for volunteers. The only hope of the doomed is not to hope for safety. There are no atheists in foxholes but there are a lot of hypocrites on leave afterwards. Minimize the misery. After all, anybody can be uncomfortable in the field. Hope for a quick death. And finally, remember, "A good scout is a dead scout", excel or die.... ------------------ Double tap & getsome!

Me too! Me too! I seconded the motion to include cows in a future update to Combat Mission! Cows, sheep, pigs and chickens, yea, that’s the ticket. (One GI turns to another and says “Funny. I could have sworn I saw a couple of Germans hiding behind that cow. Huh. Willy, go wake up the cook.”) ------------------ Double tap & getsome!

Yeah, I know what you mean. I got around that problem by getting my wife “her” system. That worked for about a week before we noticed how much time our son was spending on her computer. So that led to the family’s third box. Lately we’ve thinking that we could use a laptop for weekend trips and at-work stuff. Which means in two or three years everybody and the cats will have one. The double edge of technology! ------------------ Double tap & getsome!

Hello CM. Thirty-nine, married, one son, three cats, and live in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. Got involved with miniatures wargaming when I was 14, American Civil War, Napoleonics, Ancients and I started the club into WWII armour. (Z&M Angriff I believe.) You think you have LOS problems? Try arguing LOS while bent over a five by nine foot gaming table with other teenagers who just don’t want to lose their last/best/favorite tank. Board games: Avalon Hill's Tobruk and Squad Leader (I was overwhelmed by ASL’s rulebook from hell). Joined the Canadian Army Reserves in ’81 to learn about WWII (Every Army trains to fight its last War). On and off I spent thirteen years there; Infantrymen, Advanced Machine Gunner, Recce Crewman, Crew Commander, Patrol Commander and Armoured Assault Pioneer Section Commander (oh my aching knees). About ’82 I discovered computers and that was pretty cool. A year later I discovered Chuck Yeager’s AirCombat and Harpoon, which was very cool! Games still on my hard drive: Age of Rifles, X-Com (The Original), The Great Battles Collector's Edition, Decisive Battles of WWII: The Ardennes Offensive, Age of Empires II, Jane’s Fighter Anthology, Civilization II, European Air War, Panzer General II. Biggest problem is finding time to play. ------------------ Double tap & getsome!

What if Hitler had declared war on Japan the day after they bombed Pear Harbor??????? ------------------ Double tap & getsome!

A Very Interesting Thread. I believe that the Germans lost the war before they started it. I think that “przy” has got one half of the problem defined. Hitler entered into the war thinking short term. Quick victories followed by periods of peace to consolidate his gains, followed by new campaigns. He was not thinking and planning for the time frame that transpired. (I believe after the fall of France some factories were switched from war production to consumer good productions for a time.) He didn’t commit to full war production until 1943 when he had no choice. The Luftwaffe, while a great tactical organization, had little strategic orientation. The Navy was working towards their “Plan 1945” and were not really ready at all when Hitler jumped the gun on them. The other problem was with Hitler’s cronies that were running the war effort. Combined arms are good and inter-service rivalry is bad and they couldn’t or wouldn’t understand this. The Germans military services were not working well together due in most part I believe, to the people at the top. Within the Heer High Command, they understood the advantage of combined arms operations but had reservations when working with the Waffen SS and the Luftwaffe Airborne forces. With the Navy and Air Force, they had even greater misgivings. And vice versa big time! Hitler’s greatest asset (and ultimately, his greatest flaw) was that he was an astute gambler. Events leading up to the Invasion of Poland led him to believe that the Western Powers would, once again, back down. He was wrong but that campaign went so spectacularly right that I don’t think he was loosing any sleep over it. It was at this point that his luck started to turn but I don’t think he was aware of it. The Fall of France went well (except for Dunkirk) and that left just England. At this point if the Luftwaffe had won the Battle of Britain, the follow up Invasion of England still would have been a coin toss. The individual components of the German Military would have been up to the task but the leadership would have conspired against victory. Hitler was never afraid to roll the dice but after 1940 his luck was never good enough at the strategic level. Some Comments About The Above Posts. I don’t think that Pear Harbor was the turning point of the war. I think that it was the point when Churchill knew that victory in Europe was assured. I believe that the resolve of the Leaders involved shouldn’t be underestimated. If Britain had fallen, I think it would be a safe bet the Churchill would have set up shop in some colony or other and started pushing for the Invasion of Italy. If the Germans had taken Moscow sometime in 1941, I don’t thing that great big wus Stalin would have wrung his hands and sued for peace. If the American Navy had lost the Battle of Midway, I don’t see the American people letting Roosevelt do anything but continuing the fight. (The technical expression for their state of mind at that time is, I believe, being “Pissed”.) I believe that Stalingrad like Midway represent the high tide mark in there respective theaters. Axis victories would have only delayed the inevitable due to the two reasons at the beginning of this post. (Yes, I think the Japanese were in the same predicament as the Germans, only more so.) I can’t envision D-Day failing. The only thing I can see being in question is the Omaha landings but I think that would have be a matter of the amount of casualties taken. My Two Cents Worth. I agree that Hitler’s Invasion of Russia lost him the war on Day One. Neither he or his people fully understood the scope of the situation nor do I believe that Germany could have won in one full year’s worth of fighting. The only chance they might have had is if their policies towards the conquered (liberated) peoples were different and if Stalin died. I believe that the Japanese lost the war when they attacked Pear Harbor. Even if they had caught the American Carriers and destroyed them, the mix up with the timing of their declaration of war doomed them to suffer the fury of the enraged American dream. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. It would have dragged on longer but the outcome would have been the same. ------------------ Double tap & getsome!

Concur. Wilco. Out. ------------------ Double tap & getsome!