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43.00 to 42.00 Dunes A man silly enough to get up like that, well, you know. And one more... I am refusing my left flank. That sounds a bit grand, doesn't it? Actually, I've got 2 teams out there, only to make Bil take a pause before he sweeps in. The woods will be bloody for him, but only if he enters. Ken

43.00 to 42.00, cont. Windmill With Aitcheson's demise, my high water mark has been reached. Now I ebb. Later, I will flow. More...

Turn 43:00 to 42:00 Bil remains focused near the Windmill and the left, incorporating the Dunes. On the far left, he continues to feed troops through the gamiest edge hug I've -ever- seen in ALL my years of gaming! Not just CM mind you, but I include every game I've ever played, including checkers. Here's a picture... Sweet. One friggin' 6 pounder. Sigh. More...

Yeah, the piat shell had a glancing angle. Good shot anyway. An engine hit would've made my day.

LOL. I know. I tried to prove a specific hypothesis I had. It took me a week to get just the map right. It involved a spiderweb type setup. A spotting tank would be in the center with enemy tanks placed around the radius. Hub and spoke. I started with about 2 battalions (~100 tanks) and dismounted all the crews. I ran them through a gauntlet of single shot snipers until all the TC's were killed. Then I used however many crews had 4 survivors, but not the TC. I sat them for ~20 minutes to recover morale, remanned their tanks, then moved the tanks into the center of the web, one at a time. That was my 4 man baseline. (From a 5 man crew.) (I didn't want to run the test with the same crew. That would, possibly, bias all the results. I wanted several dozen different crews, but all with their TC killed off.) Then I did it again to get 3 man crews. Then I repeated it all with a different model of tank. (Viewing devices were different.) Oh, and I also changed the radius of the spokes. I did all this well before BN was released. I did not prove my hypothesis. Do I want to do another test like this because someone is complaining about one result (which may just be an outlier)? Not at all.

First, ENSURE that every single unit in the test is identical. All the same stats, all the same weapons, all the same orders, all the same command status, etc. ENSURE that no result will affect another unit. E.g., lane 2 team being killed does not have a morale penalty felt by lane 28. (Units in the same formation share morale, instaneously, without regard to LOS, etc.) Next, create a spreadsheet. You'll need it. Finally, run it so you have several hundred iterations. 30 lanes? 10 runs will give 300 results. Annotated the time and distance for the first spot of each unit. E.g., Lane 7 spotted at 37m and 15 seconds after passing through the bocage gap. Run some basic maths on the results. Standard devs, etc. That produces a baseline. Now, change one variable. Perhaps kill off one tank crewmember. Or, change the tank type to one with no cupola vision blocks. Or, add another antitank team from the opposite side. Retest. Compare to baseline. Change one more variable. Etc. After 10 tests you'll have 3,000 iterations. (Each test is 10 iterations of 30 lanes.) That will provide actionable data. Of course, some of it may be garbage if you've changed more than one thing at a time. It takes time, trial and error, persistance, and plenty of cold beer. Ken

Wading in... The odd problem with Tiger spotting that Steve alluded to, linked in #54 upstream, was my discovery. I did not know the cause, only the result. I ran 1,000's of iterations. I submitted the results, they looked into it, found the cause, and fixed it. Now, the first question remains, "Is there a problem?" There is definitely the OPINION that there is, but we need more than that. Tank vision is modeled. Maybe not accurately, but it is modeled. The vision devices are modeled: if the crewman has a vision block, that is different than a periscope, which is different than a rotating periscope which is different than a cupola with 360^ vision blocks. Each one has a different field of view. That is modeled. Test it. I have. Depending on which position is occupied, the tank gets different spotting abilities. E.g., if no one is manning the 360^ view cupola, the tank is likely blind to the rear. (Depending on other vision devices.) Test it. I have. Next, the cover/concealment issue. It is also conflated with the spotting interval issue. As well, the background issue. What are these? Well, we know that the game only checks for LOS to units at certain (random) intervals during the turn. So a unit may be invisible to the tank (for example) if the unit moves during the interval between spotting checks. The interval is random but on the order of 6 seconds, or so. It starts at different times for different units and has a variability. Hence "random". Admittedly, it is hard to reconcile the OP observation with expectations. What was the difficulty level? How many times did he recompile the turn? Of those times, how many times was the hunter team spotted and killed? Overall, I agree: my "gut" sense is that tanks spot infantry too easily. Now, let's try to quantify that. That's where it gets harder. Much harder. Ken

This could be a can of worms. I strongly request that if we want to discuss spotting, that we do so in a fresh thread. I'll leave this subject with a few observations, with no conclusions. 1. Bil was shooting that way earlier. The wirbelwind may've been area firing. (FOW, don't tell me.) 2. The sniper had been firing earlier. The wirbelwind has guys sticking up looking around. They could've spotted him. 3. Spotting is VERY complex behavior. Charles has created some seriously cool magic with it. I've tried many times to suss out, through controlled tests, what's going on behind the scenes. There may be some instances where it seems spotting is wrong, but there are many instances when it seems just right. Now, if there is more spotting stuff specific to this AAR, let's toss it around. But if we want to use examples from here to discuss spotting in general, let's do that in another thread. (Recognizing Fog of War issues allow YOU to see it from both sides, but I can only see it from mine, for now.) Thanks, Ken

Very nice. Intersections: I've had objectives turned off, but there are a total of 5 on this map. They are Town Center, 3 intersections (forming a triangle, the apex is behind the windmill), and an errant one in Bil's setup zone. So, 4 of 5 are basically in Bil's backfield. I pushed towards the Windmill for several (not very good) reasons. My biggest one was, well, because it's there. I could then spin a web of tactical reasons supporting that move, but I won't insult your intelligence by doing so. Do I mind that No. 4 platoon is being, literally, shredded in that attempt? Not at all! They are MINE. This what I want them to do. Let them eat cake. Battle "management": gamewise, I knew I'd have a tough time with capturing the objectives. It's a meeting engagement and he's sitting on 4 of 5 objectives. Sheesh. (We agreed the "errant" objective inside his setup zone would be untouched. Shrug. Perhaps if it has no one inside it, it won't count. We'll see. Bil also offered to restart and adjust the map. I thought it best to continue.) Back to the management aspect: I would, in all seriousness, after finding out that I faced a fully mechanized foe, have pulled back, leaving just a few teams out, and forced him to hunt me down. But where's the fun in that? "Turn 72: My men continue to HIDE. Bil is conducting a search." Plus, this way I get to find out what my men are made of, don't I? Not that I'm throwing the game for the sake of "fun". Not at all. I have most of a battalion of Para's. I've been assigned the objective of taking some intersections and a town. We can imagine that HQ knew of the impending German attack, mechanized, down the road, and wanted my men to take the intersections to deny the Germans movement. Perhaps my battalion is protecting Eisenhower's favorite wine and dine location. Shrug. I'm supposed to grab the intersections and the town. Now, I could either say, "We tried. I looked at the correlation of forces, ran some quick simulations, and realized it would be too bloody, so I created a bastion in the woods to await reinforcements. The Germans go through." Or, I could say, "We tried. It was bloody, and most of my battalion was destroyed in the attempt. The Germans got through." I know which one I like. So, I've pushed. Too hard, probably. And a dribble here and there doesn't help. Some of that is due to my desire to have some overwatch, some is just my mistake. But, a lot is due to the tiredness of my troops. I pushed hard and fast, figuring I'd rather have exhausted troops ON the objective than have well-rested troops trying to figure out how to assault an enemy position. That hard push has them tired. It paid off in the Town Center. I was short at the road intersection. Bil's mechanized advantage is huge. The response time (call it decision cycle) of his troops is far tighter than mine. If he wants to shift a platoon 500m, they arrive there a couple of turns later, rested. This shows, in a microcosm, why airborne troops are considered strategically mobile, but tactically immobile. I can get them anywhere by plane, but once they're on the ground, they're not going too far. (Logistics, support, etc, the "tail" is often not there. When they replace line infantry, like the 101st on "The Island" or the 82nd in The Bulge, then that is not quite as true. However, today's fully mobile US Army highlights that difference even more. The 82nd (our only Airborne division) has no organic transport (to speak of). They are foot sloggers. Try moving tactically sufficient quantities of ammo for a division on foot. For more than one fight. Nope, where they land is where they fight. But that's a long digression.)))) My men in the Ardennes are half and half rested and tired. I'm trying to rest them all up and use that as a bulwark. Bil is very good. He may do something about them at his leisure. My goal is to entice him into it. He certainly shouldn't get sucked into it. If I were Bil, I'd be sad. But that's a subject for another time! (insert smilie!) If I were facing the situation from Bil's side, I'd pin my guys in the woods, sweep across my force, picking off my support guys, then surround the town center on 3 sides and have some high explosive fun before sending in the troops. Bil's move from my left towards my center is exactly part of that type of move. I'd like to pull his sweep in, just a bit, towards my men. I'm willing to lose a unit or two to do so. (Otherwise ALL of that combat power of mine will be out of place.) Ken

Recap Flanks stay quiet. My push at the windmill has failed. I put too little effort in at first. My men will die for the next turn or two, but that's fine, as long as my piat team in the field stops hugging the dirt and gets up on a knee to look around. In a field, they stay prone. Not the best idea. My Dunemen did well. Great shot. I may retreat the survivor so he can feed shells into the ammo-less piat the HQ got a few turns back. Or I may have him scrounge the piat tube right there and take a shot. I know which route I prefer...

Beta secret. I'd tell you, but the NDA would render my cpu a fuzed lump of glass before I pressed the "enter" key. It should look...better...before you get it. Beta, doncha know.

44.00 to 43.00 Dune Piat Team, cont... Well. Time to send in more men.

44:00 to 43:00 The Dunes. Bil is flanking into the wheatfield at the top of the Dunes (where the sniper was) using his units on my left. I'd be disappointed in this, but when I'm down, I just think about Michael Emry's words of, err, well, what I.. nevermind. More...

44.00 to 43.00 cont... We'll buy a poppie pin on Remembrence Day for that lot. Sigh. Can't spot a firing quad flak in front of 'em. More...

TURN 44.00 to 43.00 The Windmill But first, an explanation. Nothing much happened in Town Center or by the Edge Huggers. So this turn will be picturesque; focused first on the windmill, then by the Dunes. The windmill... More...

Oh, the piat guys? Well, if you're curious about them...

Probably just the lo-res graphics on the lappie. I think it's 12x10. Really, justtwelve pixel blocks by ten pixel blocks. I go with the armored plate in front of the driver as the real error. Time to see if there are any ricochets!

Turn 45.00 to 44.00 The Left My death-row inmates get a mixed result. Meh. That field, and the edge huggers don't have too much action. Most of the action takes place amongst the Dunes. Bil has left the road and entered the "open" spaces of the dunes. I've got a shot or two. The Piat team -may- get a shot. They may get shredded by a quad 20 or a triple 15. That's a risk they'll have to take. Overall, I'm pulling my left back, pushing a little at the windmill, and trying to cram more troops into the Town Center. Ken

45:00 to 44:00 The Windmill I've got 4 men ordered to charge across open ground. Bil has 3 or 4 men in the building. A line of bocage lies between them. "On your marks, get set,..." Now THAT was a good move! If I'd put more guys up, sooner, then it would've been a bad move. That's the penalty for trickling troops into a battle. Always better to go in with all you can all at once. Well, unless it's your Cromwell tanks. Sigh. More.. Bil's guys let loose a spray of automatic fire. My guys take two hits. That doesn't help. I tried. I was telling them, "Serpentine, serpentine!" but they ignored my advice. But then... They fled (the Germans), and ended up inside that crater. Bad morale? Time to rush more men up!!! And finally... My piat hasn't spotted the wirbelwind. They should, soon, especially if I can tempt it to open fire. Hmmm, I may have an idea on how to do that. "2nd Section! Up!" I've extended the Target Armor order for next turn. Fingers crossed... More...

Turn 45.00 to 44.00 Town Center My assault on the house next to the Den o'Death The piat-equipped team, covered by their mates, charge across the street and bust down the door... ...and they find... Well, at least now I've got a firm grip on the Town Center...with too few troops facing too much armor. But if it were easy, they wouldn't have given it to the paras, now, would they? More...

TURN 45:00 to 44:00 Again, from my right to my left. But first, we'll start with looking at my left, then my right. more...

Thanks for all the kind words. Obviously, despite the humor, this is a tough fight. I realized within a few minutes that all the intersection objectives were beyond my troops' ability. Hence, the attention on the town.

^^^ Absolutely. And do not construe my camo example to be anything other than an observation about possible effects of implementing a change.

Okay 2 troop types modelled. 1. Feldgrau 2. Some flektarn variety Game gives 2 a bonus. Modder makes uniform 1 look like multicam and uniform 2 blaze orange. Extreme example, but you see the issue?

Camo: imagine if it had effect in game. Mods would be critical or simply be disallowed.