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Glad to see some 81mm getting targeted. What's the timer for the rounds looking like? Um, in other words, how much longer do we need to wait to see some "booms"?

^^^ Perhaps, but wielding it with such aplomb is surely worth some kudos.

Winston-Salem. Ish.

Yeah, you've pulled ahead on the AAR-posting front. Now, stop analyzing, and attack! Link arms, yell "urrah!" and charge, commissar!

A tank charge would be great right now.

^^^ Hence, the A single mg in a commanding position can cause a world of hurt.

Re: AT mines. I've tested and not seen the problem. (At least, as described.) Sometimes a sympathetic detonation will trigger a mine not under the tank, but only as/with the one under the tank blows up.

Agreed. GaJ needs to keyhole his PzIV's, together, and try to win the armor battle 2v1, repeatedly. Pick off a rightmost (GaJ's perspective) Sherman, then reposition and get the Stuart. Or just creep a wee bit more for the next Sherman. Definitely needs to finesse the tank battle, though, to have a good chance. Ken

C'mon. How bad can a single machinegun be? Tough position. Rock, paper, um, where'd I put the scissors? Smoke, and close assault with 'schrecks? Or is it too soon for desperate measures?

I disagree with the OP. Tank speed does not affect the damage level from AT mines. At least, not in my testing, as yet. All damage has been ironclad consistent, regardless of speed. Ken

Bil's latest screenshot shows his Allied dispositions. He's more centered (balanced?) than I thought after reading an ealier description he'd posted. He's keeping ~3/4's of his force back, in that central bowl. GaJ needs to get some eyeballs on Bil's infantry and start leveraging that mortar support he spent points on.

Georgie, Aberrant behavior confirmed. Good catch! Thanks, Ken

^^^ Yeah, should've. Just look at the repeated "interphone on back of tank" lesson that keeps needing to get relearned. BACK TO THE GAME: There is mutual contact! Bil's Stuart put some rounds smack on target. That seems too good, to me. But then, I don't hold WWII US tank aiming reticles/ranging systems in high regard. Shrug. GaJ is going strong on his right. The spotted Germs are on his left. That may aid GaJ if Bil gets sucked the wrong way. Speaking of Bil... Having read his latest dispositions (a picture would be nice!!!), it sounds like he is distributing his forces equally across his frontage. "He that defends everywhere, defends nowhere." Or something... If Bil stays balanced, then this is neutral. If not, then advantage to GaJ. Or am I reading too many tea leaves. (Or drinking a few too many Black and Tans? Erin go Bragh, etc. Happy St. Patrick's Day for those in a celebratory mood!) Ken

As me Pappy would alwys say, "If they didn't want you to do a Gamey Edge Creep, they shouldn't've put the edge right there!" Ayup. Seriously, I see nothing prohibiting any player from using every available meter. I'm not one to hold map-edge use as "gamey". I wonder what Bil will think when, or even IF, he sees your scouts. (Don't you wonder whether your first spotting round of 81mm might just go through his Sherman's hatch?)

Hell, in the part of country I'm in, all you do is hop in the bed of your buddy's pickup with your favorite scoped rifle and have him cut through fields while you shoot at roadsigns. You miss. Well, you miss the signs. I've got NO idea where those bullets eventually end up. Funny thing is, without the movement, I hit those signs every time. (All the above in jest. Kind of.) Ken

Your tanks look like Billy Goats. In a good way. Para helmets: HMG section has flat-hats, the others look like US style. Is that just my tired eyes? Moar!!! Ken

This is new. (Well, other than over in a thread a few minutes ago by Jep.) Specifics: Do you have a savegame? v2.01? Type of tanks? Terrain in which the AT mines were located? How dense were the AT mines? (As a beta, I'll check this out and forward it, but any extra information you can provide will make it faster.) Thanks, Ken

Some interesting points. Some have been discussed at length, before. Some not. QB pricing is a can o'worms. Honestly, it will never be "right". What is equivalent on attack is overpriced for defense. Similarly for open ground vs. woods. Air support has high rarity due to the rareness of air attack RIGHT THERE, RIGHT NOW. Usually it is ahead of, and separate from, ground forces. Lots of threads on that. Spotting problems? (Referring to seemingly blind infantry? If so, discussed elsewhere.) Poor anti-tank performance? Well, yeah. It is WWII. I can only hope for early war modules/games where a friggin' Renault FT-17 will strike terror into masses of infantry! Armor plate is pretty good against infantry. CMBB squad took "hits" which you couldn't see. Here, you see it all. Real Time (RT) has an issue if you have too many squads to control. Try WeGo. It may not be for you, since you're totally out of control for a full minute, but it's something different. But, yeah, there's been talk about squads which seemingly do suicidal moves, like stopping where YOU know they'll die. They may not know about that particular enemy. Well, other than in QB's when are you worried about purchase price? As for QB costs, see my first response. This is new. Do you have a savegame? (I assume not, if RealTime is your favored mode of play.) Are you SURE they weren't anti-personnel mines? Well, why should the game countermand YOUR orders? I mean, you're asking for it to follow your command when it will lead to a "good" outcome (as you define "good"), but to override your command when it will not. I wish I had something like that in real life. Often discussed. British PIAT's are your friend in built-up fighting. Peaking around corners is something posited as a solution. Not really. It depends at which level you stop the game from simulating command. "Major! You will attack the enemy with your battalion at 0600. You MUST gain control of the village by 0730. Now, look around the division and let me know which units you want." Um, not in real life. However, it is an interesting idea for a campaign design to incorporate variable forces, as chosen by the player. Soemthing cool to think about. If this happens to you frequently, before you play a scenario, open it in the editor and add a few hours to the time. (Or have someone else do it for you, so you don't see something you don't want to.) Or, use the PAUSE function while playing RT. Of course, having a "add x minutes" toggle at a cost in points would be fun, as well. Other than the cheap shot with "proper campaign", you've touched on something a lot of folks would like. Yeah, I don't care about balance, but after 10 battles with the balance getting more and more skewed, it may get difficult to gin up the enthusiasm to play the next battle. If the first battle goes to the "red", then the second battle will start skewed to "red". This feedback loop continues, ad infinitum. The solution is to play battles with no feedback. That would be separate battles, not a campaign. Ken

The next phase looks interesting. Since Bil(Allied) drove his tanks up to the ridge, GaJ's (Axis) force now knows that a tracked vehicle is over there. That's a big bit of intel. Bil's pre-battle analysis was to close down the low-ground. GaJ is going around the low ground, to his right. Bil seems interested in the center and his right. (It took the US a few months to figure out that High Ground is key in Afghanistan. Yeah, villages in valleys are where the people are (objectives), but whichever force is on top, controls the fight.) I think Bil will be caught a little wrong-footed in the opening fight. However, 5 tanks vs. 2 is a lot of armored machinegun goodness to hunt down the FJ. Plus, they are mobile, so that will be a huge advantage for however many survive the armor battle. GaJ will need to be very careful with his tanks...

Arrgghhh!!! How did the new paint get past this crowd! Counting shells but not LOOKING at the pretty tank?? (Okay, the dented tank, now that GaJ has driven it into a wall.) More moves!

I just asked Bil (Allied Side) if he'd ever used dismounted tank crewmen to scout, instead of driving the tank into view. I've done it, but only w/large maps and open views. And US/CW tanks. I think low crawling (SLOW order) the crewmen over a ridge, near/in foliage, is VERY useful. They don't get spotted, but with bino's they can see it all. Of course, a covered arc is kinda important. Nothing worse than your guys popping off .45 rounds at 200m! (Oh, they'll hit. Yes, they will. ) Anyone else think that's a good or bad idea? Or, like Bil, do you just drive up a hill and see what's happening? Ken

Bil, Glad the multiple-layered warning caught you! That could've been ugly. Have you given any thought to dismounting your tank crews? Get them up, low crawl, to use their binos? Hell, I'd think having a dismounted tank crew with handguns could single-handedly win the game! Seriously, dismount is an option. It's only a bad idea if they get shot. Ken (Do you want pre-carping like this kept to a minimum?)

^^^ The more I think about it, with an hour and a half battle, the ammo on those trucks could make the difference. That, and the possibility of a mounted reserve to rush about from one end of the map to another. Of course, those trucks sure will go "boom" if a PzIV gets it!

It's interesting to note the different approaches. The Allied side has transportation and armor. Mobility and more gun carriages; very historic. The Axis will have a bit of difficulty getting troops into position without tiring them out. He may be forced to commit his armor (the two that he has) in an attempt to buy time for his forces. The key will be whether or not he can get his mortars in play. If so, his force could win. But, if he loses his armor early (due to the need to commit them in a bid for time), then he'll end up losing. Any other thoughts? Ken P.S. It's SO much easier sitting on the stands watching the play and critiquing it, isn't it?

(Admin, please sticky) *************** *************** ****SPOILERS**** *************** *************** Bil, GAJ: We will be discussing your approaches/force selections here. Don't read!!! The purpose of this thread is to have an OPEN discussion of the competing plans and forces from the Gustav Line QB threads, Allied, here or Axis here DO NOT CONTAMINATE the respective Axis or Allied thread with ANY HINT of the enemy activity. If you want to discuss their approaches, DOUBLE CHECK that you're in this thread.