The_Capt

Spray paint your monitor

My My the good Col is one cranky bastard this morning.

Think ahead and drop smoke and HE on the enemy. This should get his head down (Note:not too close or you guys will be eatin dirt too) and give you the ability to break free. On-board (as opposed to outboard..sorry couldn't resist) mortars work best as they bring fire down immediately.

I would like to cast a vote for "pipe dream". A real large scale military opration takes weeks of planning and thousands of well trained men to (hopefully) carry it off. History has shown us that 9 times out of ten the operation still reverts to chaos when the two opposing sides collide. The command and control factor in this game is going to be immpossible. Why? Go and play Counter-Strike or another co-op online multi-player game and see how easy it is to try and coord the actions of 10 people. Now try and get 500 (per side) working together at the same time. I won't even get into the little pre-teen A##Holes who will have nothing better to do than to figure out how to cheat/TK or generally screw things up. Last point, scope. The scope of area, firepower and strategic/operational/tactical employment of everything proposed in this game is ridiculously large. For example, a battleship, a fighter and a GI, c'mon! You shouldn't use these words in the same sentence let alone blend their employment into one game. The scope of employment is totally out of whack. If I could make a constructive suggestion to the folks at Cornered Rat, narrow your scope to something in line with CM. A battalion operation (or even Bde) would provide more than enough interest for 500 people and could be done with some semblance of realistic scope...plus the CO could have anybody who wants to be a prick shot.

And while we are at let's talk about mortars and FT's

I just read the responses to the post by a jr member on reinforced rifle company's and..OK I am beginning to despair. After all of those fine posts about armour, arty blah blah. Let us not forget the mighty SAPPER! Any reinforced company who will most likely be employed in an independent role (based on all the hardware you boys have slapped on this thing) and won't be doing anything if they can't get from A to B or knock out hard points a close range. CM modeling of minefields and obstacles (though better than most war games) is "reaching to be average". An inf squad does not stroll through a minefield with a few casualties, it gets severely f#%^ed up particularly if they smack a bounding mine. Same goes for tanks(70% cas estimate for high density). The use of minefields and AT obstacles was prevelant in WWII and the Germans had it down to an art, hell they invented half the stuff we do today. For all that, we do have the engineer who can "clear" minefields and so should be included into any "reinforced" company. I would also like to see flail tanks but hey maybe in CM2. Finally, I will end my tirade with word of motivation for scenario designers out there. Put trees on the roads to simulate abatis, put AT ditches in with steep slopes and max use of minefields (a standard AT minefield is 400m deep and about 1 km wide with at least an AP row!), rubble buildings to block streets and build your bridges blown. CM as it is right now is a 2/3rds solution (dont get me wrong I love it) but if you want realism, crank up the GREEN SLIME!!!

Three words. "Keep em mounted." On tanks, HTs whatever. Hold em in res and rush em forward when needed. Flamethrowers are optimum in built up areas as they can stay under cover of bldgs and still "fry" enemy strong points. So let the grunts break into town, secure a bridgehead and then push FTs up to cook out hard points. Let's face it the best place for a flamethrower is mounted on a Churchhill (a la Crocodile) but hey we dont always get what we wish for.

Use your Shermans aggressively. Move em in close and around a flank under cover. Team up your tanks by twos onto a single Tiger and try for the shot. Jockeying can also work. Crest a hill and then reverse each Sherman usually gets a single shot off and then gets back under cover. Remember the Tiger is lethal but it can only target one thing at a time so try and hit em hard and at close range with as much as you've got. Get there firstest with the mostest.

I am currently embroiled in just such a situation but I have no armour and my Arty Spotters have "blown their load" or out of sight. What I did is to pull all of my 60mm mortars out of the platoons and group them under a company commander who then acts as spotter. You would be amazed at what three 60s will do, I actually destroyed a light building and supressed a couple of squads in a church. You the run (don't walk) at least two squads with an HQ into the building, preferably from opposite directions. As has been said if you can set up a direct firebase using an MG, bazooka or squads you even increase your chances. As a final aside the grouping of 60s in a company is in fact a real-world tactic as it concentrates the firepower.

First thing is to take a good look at the ground from the enemies point of view. Once you can take a stab at where he will be putting his MGs, squads etc based on dominating ground, enfilade and your objectives, you can develop a "RECCE" plan. The Recce (or reconaisance) plan gives locations which need to be "checked out". How you check them out is a judgement call. Spec fire, a platoon (I wouldn't use anything less except in a SMALL scenario) or recce vehicle can all be used in conjunction with "overwatch" and smoke. The key is determining what will conduct the recce and which route it will take. A covered approach as close to the Area of Interest (or AOI) is best but sometimes the enemy will tie in his flanks making that difficult. Don't be afraid to use smoke and indirect fire in high suspect ground as it will shake up the troops laying the ambush and may cause them to trigger early or if you are really lucky, run away. Hope this helps.