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I'm ignoring your three questions, above. (BTW, regarding number 2, I just bought 50 individual 251/1's and they all came with drivers and gunners. Individual units in the editor) A test: 300m, US teams vs. 251/1's. The halftracks had 100m covered arc to their 12 o'clock, fanatic morale. (Keep 'em heads up.) The US had 5 man teams, made up of 4 Garands and one scoped 1903 Springfield, at 300m. Normal, regular. After 1 minute, approximately 11 of 50 gunners were casualties. The squads fired an average of approx. 50 rounds per casualty. (Decent variation.) Next up, the same test, but substituting US halftracks as the target. Ken

(A darkened bedroom with a sleeping figure slowly lifting his head off a pillow.) "Huh? I thought I just heard someone call my name."

To quench this, you don't need to start a thread. A beta has already noted it and run some tests. Consider BFC to be aware that there is a question about the power of AT mines. Onto the game: GaJ did well trying to cover the approaches. However, his force will, of necessity, be static. That does not bode well...

Reading Spaeter's 3 volume history of the Grossdeutschland, he references an attack during the Bulge in which the unit left all their halftracks grouped in a wood. They drew the predictable US figher-bomber attack. No personnel casualties (the drivers only and some support folks were nearby, the fighting unit had left hours ago). No mention of halftrack damage caused by the air-to-ground attack. It may be peculiar to Allied air supremecy on the West Front for them to've parked so far to the rear. Or not.

Sweet! Great pix, keep 'em coming...

Well, you know what my advice to him has been!

Consider my participation to be the initial step of BFC's notice. (I'm a beta. With the yoeman's work Baneman's done, he has helped IMMENSELY.) Baneman: you've got pm. Ken

I totally missed that! Pretty sneaky of Bil to hide them... I like that. Off to re-read Bil's purchases...

A defense setup for GaJ. Bil has his Okra and his Metro and whatever other military jargon he throws down with abandon, then draws on maps like a child on Christmas morning with a new set of markers. Bah. I like to call this defense my "xyz" setup. It's useful whenever there are two parallel axes of advance,separated by a ridge, guarded by two small, but proud, tits. "X" is the left flank. Stick 2 ATG's there, oriented towards the center, with a ridge in front. Toss a few steady men with 'zooks nearby for close defense. "Z" is the right flank. This is the same as the left. If he comes up the middle, X and Z can cover the road. What's Y? (Who's on first?) Y is all four of the M-10's, located in the middle center, backfield. Kind of like a middle linebacker, they'll stuff the run. Centrally located, they can assist left or right, as needed, then reposition. If the front of the ATG's is threatened, the M-10's can paste the exposed enemy. GaJ's lovely little quad .50 should be used for showmanship! Zip in, shred a halftrack, zip back. Boo-yah! A little ma-deuce loving, heading Jerry's way.... Playing peek-a-boo, that machine can rip the halftrack force to pieces. (BIl's riposte will be some area target goodness from a Brumbar. "Ja, und how do you like my grosse gun, ma-deuce? Is big, ja?") GaJ needs to be nimble with his mobile assets.

Bil has updated his description. Apparently, the stream on his right is NOT an obstacle to movement for vehicles or infantry. Points to GaJ. All of Bil's vehicles are non-turreted. If GaJ can put his ATG's in reverse slope positions, oriented 90^ to the likely axis of advance, he can put a lot of hurt on Bil's vehicles. Elefant, Brumbars, JgdpzIV: all must PIVOT to face a flank threat. Once those ATG's are placed, they're staying there all game. If Bil finds them before they can open up on his vehicles' flanks, then Bil's mortars could neutralize them. So, GaJ needs good placement and good fire discipline. (Assuming they can stay unspotted before they open fire.) Number analysis: GaJ thinks a stuart would just be cannon fodder. Does the US have anything that can withstand the weaponry Bil is going to unleash? Meaning, is a Sherman any LESS cannon fodder than a Stuart? AP mines: GaJ identified the blind spots around the right tit. A few AP mines in the sheltered hollows near the base of the tit would be pretty useful. Hindsight: it all seems so clear. Ken (And a big P.S.: my criticism of Bil's setup on the tits is tempered by the realization, as I posted in the original critique, that he may've done that ONLY for the purposes of the AAR.)

Patch? Uniform? Hell, I'm trying to see if that soldier has the glint of steel in his eye! I stare each of my men in the eye before each battle, so I can pick the true fighters and put them in the best position to show their brethren how they scoff at death! Aye, the pre-battle eye to eye is, vis a vis anything else, the single most important step a commander can take. Well done, GaJ.

Baneman, Great job, and many thanks! Of course, I have a teeny little request. By noting the time of death of the mg'ers, we get a chronological comparison. Of more interest would be a comparison of the number of rounds fired at them. If all infantry is the same in the tests, then their accuracy should be about the same. A round-count would provide protection comparison. E.g., if an mg'er dies at :49, but only 2 shots were fired, that would be far different than one dying at :49 with 250 shots fired at him. Did you save your test turns? Very unanticipated results, vis a vis firing vs. hold fire, as well as the refusal to fire on US halftracks. Hmm... You've given us something to puzzle over. Thanks! Ken

Baneman, Thanks. If you don't mind, I have a few suggestions. Could you run the tests with ONLY gunner/driver? Set up, say, 20 lanes. 5x each range, so we see 100 iterations. Say, 100m, 300m, and 500m. Also, to eliminate variables, could you immobilize the halftracks? That way they couldn't run away. (Whatever motivation/experience you choose, should stay the same for them all. I advocate FANATIC, to keep the mg'er up on his weapon and to keep the driver from abandoning the vehicle.) Additionally, give the MG'er a tight covered arc to the front. We don't want any variable fire against the shooters to skew the results. (Lucky first burst keeps US heads down, then they will never shoot at the mg'er.) Orientation of the covered arc keeps the gunshield to the front. Finally, replace the German halftracks with US halftracks. That would be a far more exposed Mg'er. The difference between gunshields and no gunshields should then be obvious. (I know this is asking a lot. If you cannot get to it, I'll give it a shot when I can.) Thanks so much for the initial results. Ken

That was one lucky son of a gun. Damn.

Andrew H.: Thanks for running the points. I still think GaJ should've spent some AP mines and just a couple (at least) AT mines. Nice analysis of the Rangers vs. line infantry. I agree that the lack of men may be telling. The "boom" factor may make up for it... (What would separate 'zook teams have cost??) Womble: Nice observation about the rarity cost for US fortifications. That may render my fake entrenchment defense a moot position. Ken

Outstanding! Great pix for helping us get oriented. Thanks. Good hunting!

Bil has shown his force selection. It looks good. As someone, who obviously has high tactical acuity, suggested upstream as a good choice, he has purchased armored infantry. (Somewhere, an English teacher just looked up from what he was doing and screamed. He will never know why...) My critique on the paucity of weapons at GaJ's disposal is mitigated by the forces Bil has purchased. However, at the end of the day, GaJ needs enough barrels to dampen the tempo of Bil's advance, no matter which side of the map Bil chooses. Then GaJ needs a force to CRUSH Bil. My bet is that GaJ will be inclined to split his forces: 2 ATG's per side. Once he sees that he cannot cover enough ground with just 2 ATG's per side, he'll beef them up with his M-10's. Again, probably 2 per side. That will be a mistake. His counterattack/spoiling force (Kenforce!) needs to be a tightly compacted fist, coiled like a snake, ready to leap upon his enemy and ravage him amid the twin tits. Or somesuch. This is fun. Off to make some popcorn... Ken

The river/stream on your right: is it really the Maceroni River? That's a great name. You mentioned it prohibits vehicular movement. Does it also prohibit infantry? If so, everywhere, or are there multiple fords? Ken

^^^ LOL. Thanks. Back to the AAR. Bil has not yet revealed his force selection, whereas GaJ has. - Bil's analysis dovetails nicely with GaJ's...with one possibly important exception. (It MUST be noted here that Bil created this map. Yeah, that's a HUGE advantage, but his level of analysis would confer a similar advantage on a map which is new to him. Now, a criticism. I, personally, would NEVER use the editor to deploy forces in the enemy backfield or on objectives, in order to suss out LOS. Bil has done so. That's not a game-breaker, but it breaks the immersion, for me. (However, I do not restrict my camera before the game. I examine the map, but never by using the LOS tool.) So, Bil is the mapmaker AND he has used the LOS tool to check the view from the enemy.) Perhaps he only used the editor to place those units for the purpose of this AAR. Regardless, the exception to the map analysis: Bil has identified a stream as an obstacle to vehicles over on his right flank (just short of "the spur"). GaJ has not identified that as an obstacle to movement. GaJ's force: I think a company of Rangers may be a mistake. High morale is great, and I -assume- he's also cranked up their experience. However, Rangers are an offensive unit. Their TO&E is meant to attack. (I know! That's ALWAYS a good thing, right? ) A line company, with a Ranger platoon attached for counterattack may be better suited to take the punishment which is surely coming their way. The timeframe means that GaJ has few choices for 76mm guns. The ATG's cannot be relied on anything other than one or two shots. A single gun is a goner. A "pakfront", with tight cover arcs, so they won't fire until the enemy is deep in the killzone, is the only way to use an immobile weapon. Afterwards, expect artillery to neutralize them. Other than the M-10's, I don't see anything with tactical mobility. The M-10's are a mortarman's dream. Bil is anticipating a reaction force. (Kenforce, anyone? ) GaJ is attempting one. Another point: GaJ stated that he cannot purchase enough obstacles to render the ridge road unusable. That's not the purpose of an obstacle. Channelize the attack, don't try to stop it. I'd think he should've purchased a LOT of mines. He's got to try to hold the tits as long as he can. (Good advice, any day of the week.) Mining the deadzones, a few likely approach paths, etc, would be enough to give Bil pause. (I have not yet tried to find out what 3500 points (is that the right number?) can buy GaJ. Take the above criticisms under advisement based on that.) Thoughts? Ken

Well played, sir, well played.

Cool. A reaction force. When you unleash it, will the tactical manuever be called a "GaJ jab"? Of course, calling it "the reaction force" lacks style. Every offensive force needs to be imbued with a certain elan. It takes high morale to be assured of victory. One thing that will be sure to get those men to take the fight to the enemy would be the right name. I suggest "Kenforce". Bayonets will always be fixed, of course. Nice writeup on your thought process. Thanks.

So, the answer is, "Yes, you can cross your own minefield." That leads to the following question: "If I cross my own minefield, will the mines attack my men?" The answer to that is, "Yes, the mines will attack anyone who attempts to cross."

How did you place your unit on the tits for these LOF's without opening the editor?

LOL... Mud-splattered troops belly-slithering forward through the slime with a knife in their teeth and a gleam in their eye!!! That'll get you style points m'lad. Who cares who wins with troops like that? Is that better? Ken

Rain? I like the way you think! Which of you has control over the initial conditions? Setting the environmentals to rain with wet ground conditions would certainly...wait for it...BOG his attack!