c3k

Personally, I think it is likely that he smashed his keyboard after that last turn you posted and has been unable to post anything since. (Not just because of the broken keyboard, but because of the keys embedded in the fleshy parts of his hands.)

Personally, I think it is likely that he smashed his keyboard after that last turn you posted and has been unable to post anything since. (Not just because of the broken keyboard, but because of the keys embedded in the fleshy parts of his hands.)

Personally, I think it is likely that he smashed his keyboard after that last turn you posted and has been unable to post anything since. (Not just because of the broken keyboard, but because of the keys embedded in the fleshy parts of his hands.)

Personally, I think it is likely that he smashed his keyboard after that last turn you posted and has been unable to post anything since. (Not just because of the broken keyboard, but because of the keys embedded in the fleshy parts of his hands.)

Me too.

Yeah, flares. I need a lot of friggin' flares. I want night illumination flares. I want signal flares. I want German NCO's to fire purple flares when they see tanks. I want to sit back on a hill and see a friggin' tangled skein of purple flares trailing smoke up into the sky when the Allies attack the Germans. I want the illumination flares to cast moving shadows causing spooked troops to fire at ghosts. I want the shadows to change based on the height of the flare. I want the swaying of the flare under parachute to be simulated. I want the AI to react to the flares. If my German AI sees a fellow unit fire a purple flare, I want it to react correctly.

Without flares there is nothing.

The flare firing animation and flare reloading animations need to be correct. Yeah, that's right: bolt-action, smolt-action, just get the friggin' flare firing (fff) animation right. The first time!

Carry on.

Ken

THAT is an understatement!!!   The Blood Board should have a time function. E.g., "Tanks lost per minute".

Bil, excellent AAR as always
You are the best source that BF has as to how to promote and showcase these games.
I always enjoy that fact that you put out there a clear description as to what you are tactically thinking and trying to accomplish.
And your tactical skills seem to reward you better in the modern battlefield over the WWII one.  
You generally get no second chances or much luck on the modern battlefield. Death is easy and quick and each decision is rewarded with that or success in a very few moments.
thanks for your efforts as always
I will go back to the shadows now

MINUTE 15
Okay this was a VERY busy turn… and sorry once again for the amount of media.  I hope it isn’t too hard on your internet connection. 
I ordered my Abrams to immediately start to reverse while it was reloading.  I did not want it to get into a gun duel if it wasn’t ready… when the gunner yelled “SABOT UP!” and while still moving in reverse the tank fired and killed the Leopard... killed him dead and was never spotted in return.  I had also ordered one of the LAVs nearby to pop smoke in front of the M1 to cover it… turns out that wasn’t needed.

T90 #2 fired and killed the Warrior near the Water Tower... so hey, yeah, the Syrians are capable of killing stuff. 

One British dismounted team is in the field between the now dead Warrior IFV and the T-90s… that means the second Warrior arrived at its unloading point unseen, but now I know about where it is.

1st Mech Infantry Platoon’s HQ team dismounted and armed with a Javelin, crawled into position hoping to get a spot on the Challenger that my Abrams hit last turn… towards the end of the turn he took aim and let the Javelin loose... it flew true and killed the enemy tank with a top hit.

Up near Hill 41.1 another team armed with a Javelin spotted a Scimitar and quickly destroyed it.  By the way, it takes about 20 seconds to reload the launcher and be ready for another shot.  Both of these teams will be reloaded and ready for action early next turn.

It didn’t go all my way though… the BMP-3 platoon moved forward, remember I was hoping to spot the Warrior platoon which should be to their front (and probably very close)… well, they moved forward just fine, then quickly lost two of the three BMPs, the first to an unknown shooter... I believe to one of the Warriors I was looking for...
…the second fell to the remaining Leopard tank.

Damn… I should have sent a dismounted team over the ridge to find those IFVs.  The BMP-3s never spotted a thing… yikes.  I am worried about those Warriors and I need to find them ASAP.

Still two enemy tanks, one light tank, and an IFV knocked out for the loss of two BMP-3s... I’ll take that exchange ratio every time.

I also received my final reinforcements.  I will post about them in another installment.

Sure on that Bil?  At one time during CMBS development the decals were basically the same diameter as the penetrators, but this was clearly wrong.

MINUTE 12
Apologies ahead of time for the media heavy content in this post...
Another Warrior IFV platoon appears to be moving toward Point 32.9… M1 #1 moved into position in the early stages of this turn and almost immediately spotted one of them moving up to the Ruined Farm (Baneman does like that position), with one round it was sent to Valhalla…

10 seconds later it killed a second Warrior also near the Ruined Farm.  Think he has learned the lesson to stay away from that farm yet?

Immediately after killing the second Warrior IFV, M1 #1 spotted a Challenger!  Alas... before he could reload and reorient, the Challenger killed the Abrams with a one round turret front penetration… wow…

After looking at it from the Challenger’s perspective, I don’t think M1 #1 was hulldown to it… not sure if that would have even made a difference though.  To kill an Abrams from the front is impressive gun performance.
M1 #2 spotted one of the Warrior IFVs headed toward Farm 002 and got off one round, which hit the weapon mount with no ill effects that I could see, but that must be a gun kill.  The IFV trundled on toward Farm 002.

At the end of the turn the other Challenger was seen moving around the southern end of the large stone walled field in KT1.  M1 #2 will attempt to get a spot next turn and see if we can’t even the score.  I do like that he has split up his Challenger tanks so each is now operating independently.

Baneman has at least one dismounted infantry AT team (German) far forward near the wall… he is obviously attempting to get close enough to engage my LAVs with an AT weapon.  I need to check on the range for that weapon.  I suspect it looks meaner than it is.  LAV #4 spotted and fired on this team which went to ground.

The Bradley platoon started to arrive this turn, the dismounts will organize a Javelin armed AT team which will proceed to the ridge while the remaining infantry will remount next turn.

At least two Warrior IFVs moved beyond Point 32.9 appearing to be heading toward the position that is held by the BMP-3 Platoon.  I think he has two Warrior platoons in this area, one near the Ruined Farm (two vehicles spotted, both destroyed), and the other moving past Point 32.9 (three vehicles spotted).
Overview of enemy movements this turn:

Battle Position 1 (BP1):

MINUTE 13
M1 #2 had a tight cover arc covering the position the Challenger was moving into and had a 20 second pause to give it time to spot and fire before withdrawing.  I know now that those tanks can kill mine with ease, so I am taking few chances.
The enemy Challenger turned the corner and stopped, then took aim and fired at M1 #1, which if you remember last turn was already dead… though its crew had survived.. well after this hit and another I think from the other Challenger the crew was cut in half and only two survivors crawled out of the stricken tank. 

But then M1 #2 got a good firing solution and put a SABOT right into the Challenger’s front turret…  double wow… it shrugged off that hit without any noticeable damage.  Good news is that this Challenger never spotted mine before the Abrams pulled back into safety.

One of the Leos moved out of its position and appeared to be moving towards… the Ruined Farm… now renamed the Gate to Valhalla... keep sending them that way buddy.

The HQ tank from the T-90 platoon spotted a Marder breaching a stone wall near Farm 001 and was spotted in return.  The T-90 took several cannon rounds and returned one of its own, which... missed of course.  Will any Syrian vehicle get a kill in this game?  It’s looking doubtful at this point. 

The Warrior platoon that was heading toward Farm 002 has at least three vehicles moving beyond it, two of them (maybe only one with the second in support) appears to be heading through the field toward OBJ SAPPHIRE, a third has moved into the gully that leads into OBJ DIAMOND. 

I had already started to reorient one of the T-90s to cover the water tower area and the field beyond.  T-90 #2 will pull into position next turn to overwatch this field in front of Farm 002.

MINUTE 8
A relatively quiet turn… I think Baneman has hunkered down, at least temporarily.  Next turn it should liven up again as my T-90s, all three of them will move into hulldown positions, my LAV-ATs will be in their hulldown positions and a couple of the LAVs will also move into hulldown positions.
Only a few minutes until the main body arrives.  I will admit that I am disappointed that I haven’t had more contact with Baneman’s forces and been able to attrite it at all.  It is taking much longer to deploy and reorient than I expected.  I will have more pieces in play next turn than any previous.
The USMC dismounts achieved the OBJ GARNET (touch) this turn… the T-90s will be passing them to go into their positons next turn.  Real curious how Baneman is planning on countering my tank threat.

MINUTE 9
In trying to get the LAV-AT #6 into a good firing position where it could see into the enemy rear area I pushed it too far... it ended up not being hulldown when it was spotted by the Leopard 2 and was hit, at first losing its weapons, then suffering a wheel hit  becoming immobilized.  Once that happened it was just a matter of time before the Leo found the range and dealt the killing blow.  That was a waste of a crucial piece of weaponry that is 100% on me.  

The advantage in playing large scenarios like this is you can absorb losses like this more easily... if this had been a company scale engagement losing that one piece of equipment might have been terminal… in a Battalion sized engagement it is a blip, as long as it doesn’t become a trend!
T-90 #2 moved into its hulldown position, spotted the Scimitar it was sent to kill... however, though it fired twice, one was a miss and the second round hit the corner of a building… damn.  Baneman’s luck has to end at some point.  This is the third vehicle (Scimitar near the ruined farm and Marder hit by two of the LAVs) that I got the drop on, the other two he was able to withdraw to safety.

I created a document for the purpose of keeping track of keys. Now, when I reinstall, I just go to my document, find the game and copy and paste the key.

I created a document for the purpose of keeping track of keys. Now, when I reinstall, I just go to my document, find the game and copy and paste the key.

Well, you've done some outstanding work describing what's going on!
I'd hate to ask a question which would be a spoiler. Like, "Have you thought about what you'd do if Bil had some units enter behind yours?"

You're doing a smashup job of letting us know what you see and how and why you're making your decisions.

Excellent you got him to use up a valuable TOW missile!

There's a two vote per day limit, if I remember correctly.

I don't usually quote an entire post, especially one as large as this, but an exception is certainly warranted.
@Bil Hardenberger, you have surpassed your usual high high standards with this one! Embedded gifs (or whatever magickry you used) highlighting the action? Outstanding.
Great overview, perspectives, command analysis, etc.
Now, I have to give Baneman some credit: expending his uncons to make you expend your ammo is a BRILLIANT tactic. Do your Uncons have grenades? Knives? Nearby rocks? 
In a serious vein, if your Uncon defensive position is running low on ammo, what is your plan for them?

I don't usually quote an entire post, especially one as large as this, but an exception is certainly warranted.
@Bil Hardenberger, you have surpassed your usual high high standards with this one! Embedded gifs (or whatever magickry you used) highlighting the action? Outstanding.
Great overview, perspectives, command analysis, etc.
Now, I have to give Baneman some credit: expending his uncons to make you expend your ammo is a BRILLIANT tactic. Do your Uncons have grenades? Knives? Nearby rocks? 
In a serious vein, if your Uncon defensive position is running low on ammo, what is your plan for them?

Funnily enough, during Beta testing I can't recall any testers actually complained about balconies. I don't think there have been any changes. Perhaps we've simply grown used to the 'tactical difficulties' inherent in throwing troops onto a balconied floor. I recall a couple months ago quipping (half-joking) that if a scenario designer has put a balcony on a building in a scenario you should assume he's deliberately messing with you.

The guys I ordered to crawl out of the "hot" houses take more casualties while crawling - in the end, only 1 makes it out of each house. Sad.  

 
Remaining orders primarily boil down to a lot of Target Light on the infantry AT position.

Turn 4:
Infantry movement is spotted on Apprehension Height and my Fennek fires a few bursts of grenades at them ( the shot is zoomed so appears a bit foreshortened - the range is about 600m )

We have good cause for this Apprehension...

Unfortunately, even at 600m, the GMG on the Fennek does not appear to be very accurate. Even the closest rounds aren't enough to make him duck


And at the end of the turn, he launches ...

The Watcher in the Woods has LoS to some of the buildings occupied by the enemy, so I order him to shoot them up a tad, hopefully this will get Bil's guys to duck for a bit.

I get one of my MG-bakkies close enough to see and take a few pot shots at some of Bil's guys near the centre mosque

And I move the German Fennek HQ to a position where it can see and hopefully lob some grenades on the same units which have been seen crossing open ground.
The range is close to maximum though. ( this picture doesn't show all my units because, unfortunately for me, we're playing on Iron which I personally dislike - mostly because I have to keep remembering to deselect units to see other units or take screenshots )

The Sacrificial Lambs and their backup Scimitar reached their destination - now I want them to grab the Touch objective - against Bil, I think it's wise to get as many "easy" points as possible   ( I originally drove up to the zone, but I obviously needed to be more "in it" than the vehicle could get without crushing the wall, so this is a dismount order )

The Puddlers reach and cross the irrigation canal - they will now lurk in this defile against any infantry incursion down from the heights

I also get the Orchard Scimitar to put some MG fire on the hills - note that the enemy icons shown are all spots from my Uncons who can largely see behind the hills