PiggDogg

Hey, Maybe Richie Blakcmoore of Deep Purple could write a song about some smoke on some water & some fire in the sky?? No cheers because of the recent tragedy, Richard

CM Player, I have always had the impression that arty was the "Queen Of Battle". However, I could be wrong. I would be interested in your sources. I actually do not have any sources that I can put my hands on & present. I would doubt that a dogface on the ground would feel like the "King Of Battle" when they are the most numerous, most vulnerable, most targeted, and suffer the most casualties. However, I would 'guess' that infantry is the King Of Battle. Here is a thought! In order to hold ground, dogfaces must occupy the ground. Everything else (arty, armor, air, blah, blah) 'supports' the dogfaces to hold the ground. Logically, everyone supports the king (infantry). Thus, infantry is the "King Of Battle'! Ta Da!! (Impecable logic, eh? ) Jason C, come in here & give us your sources & knowledge & settle this 'important' (really, it is not important at all) subject. Indeed, in light of the recent tragedy, this is the first time that I have smiled in almost a week. No Cheers, I am sad and angry :mad: , Richard

In a computer troop selection, all infantry, USA assault scenario against a good player in thick fog, I attacked with a mere 3 elite US rifle platoons & 1-105 spotter against, as it turns out, 8 conscript german rifle platoons plus log pillboxes. I advanced carefully through the 80 meter LOS fog into a portion of the German line. My elites got chopped up with about 40% casulaties & the 105 spotter dead. I thought that I had lost the game. I looped all my remaining men to my far right and formed into an almost Napoleonic style combat column. Low & behold, I broke into the German line & swept down it. My elite GIs literally herded the conscript Germans like cattle. Every time my guys fired at the conscripts, the conscripts fled. After my rawhide type herding down the German line, the game ended as a draw after my stupidity had gotten my guys nearly annihilated. I have a friend defending against the AI in an attack scenario with his elites against AI conscripts. I understand the elites slaughtered scads of conscripts but the elites simply ran out of ammo and were overwhelmed by warm conscript bodies. The long and short for elites/cracks is to treat these infantry quite carefully like you would treat all your forces (infantry & vehicles). Don't let them get caught in the open by any fire or in cover by arty. They can advance or hold against substantial odds. However, if possible, one must let them take on even numbers. If that occurs, they will probably prevail, unless the queen of battle (arty) makes a mess of them. No Cheers right now because of the recent disaster, Richard

PzIV = uck! :mad: They make Shermans and even Stuarts look good. Cheers, Richard

JasonC, Thanks for the info. Cheers, Richard

Fords ?? :confused: What about Chevrolets, Oldsmobiles, Ramblers, Buicks, Plymouths, Chryslers, blah, blah. Just kidding, y'all. Cheers, Richard

As if I would have to remind anyone, tonight, 900pm EDT, Band Of Brothers on HBO. Should be a moving experience. I (&, I suspect, most other CMBO players) will not be playing CMBO between 900 and 1100 pm tonight. With deep respect to the real life participants ... Cheers, Richard

JasonC, Thanks for the information. The wealth of infomation and analysis is most useful. Now historically, would the real big guns (8 inchers, 210 mms, 170 mms, & such) have had any reasonably high probability of being attached to a realtively faster moving and/or advancing combat-team/kampfgruppen like CMBO presents in MEs? My feeling (yep, no real at hand facts) is that such real big guns had a very small probability of being attached to a CMBO ME type force in an ME. Also, my feeling is that such real big guns should somewhat reasonable availability for the attacker in an assault or attack, but none for either side in an ME. Further, a defender in an assault or attack should have almmost no chance of receiving such real big guns. Although, having some 8 inchers on defense whould be real fun. Cheers & Thanks, Richard :cool:

Nope, have not had any problem with using the withdraw command for good order (& for that matter, somewhat bad order) troops. Are you sure that you are not having your men going too parallel to the front lines & not too the rear? Also, are you withdrawing you men into the line of fire of your enemy? If you are in these two situations, then these may be your trouble. Cheers, Richard :cool:

To JasonC (I know my stuff, but your backgound impresses me) & to other erudite posters, fix us straight regarding northwest Europe. 'In CMBO game terms', I feel that in mid sized (1000 - 1500 pts) & maybe in even larger cmbo MEs (& I'm not talking about attacks & assaults here), 8 inch guns & 150-155 mm (big guns) are just 'too' big & too destructive & they grossly imbalance such scenarios. :eek: :eek: Further, 'in historical terms', such big guns were just not normally attached & were not flexible enough to be used in such MEs or, for that matter, in most any ME. Such big guns would be appropriate for the attacker (not defender) in assaults & attacks. In fact, such big guns should not 'normally' or frequently be available to the defender. Now in both 'game' & 'historical' terms, in mid sized MEs, medium guns/mortars (105s, 4.2s, 120s), should be appropriate. Personnally, I submit that such big guns should not be present in almost all moderate sized (& in most large sized [3000 - 5000]) MEs in CMBO. We await the learned responses. :cool: Cheers, Richard

MB, I fully agree, whatever you said. Cheers, Richard :cool:

Andrew, That was great. & most well done. :eek: :eek: Thanks for the laugh, not just a chuckle. Cheers, Richard

Richard, I fully understand what you presented and I agree. Women just do not have the brute strength that men have. Period. Also, the detrimental morale effects of women casualties upon their male comrades is nearly obvious to anyone (1) with brains, (2) uses those brains, and (3) understands basic human genetics. Cheers, Richard :cool:

Enoch, You sandbagger!! :mad: You knew the truth all along. Letting all these people, including me) waste their time and effort blabbering and surmising. We are just crushed. We could have used this time to discover the cure for cancer or to discover the genetic key to aging. :eek: Bad Enoch. Cheers, Richard

That zook team deserves the Medal Of Honor. :eek: :eek: Your opponent deserves ... Cheers, Richard

Maybe that M4 had a slightly arced shot that hit your Hetzer's top. Maybe the Hetzer armor had a penetratable defect. Maybe the shot hit the ground just under your Hetzer's front and bounced into the Hetzer's bottom. Maybe aliens destroyed your Hetzer & you only thought that the M4 wacked you. :eek: Cheers, Richard

Unfortunately, in my prior post in this thread, I did not include Montague's shoot & scoot plus withdrawal command. However, I very frequently use this tactic. Montague, good advice. Cheers, Richard :cool: :cool: :cool:

Any time that my men are (1) about to get pounded by large arty (105 mm & larger) and (2) any time that my squads are getting bested in a fire fight (and, gee, I wish that I would take my advice more frequently on this second point, but I am learning & getting better), I use withdraw. In these getting pounded situations, withdraw is generally better than using run plus the command lag. Every literal second that one is getting heavily pounded costs casualties and morale. Further, if I want to move men to the rear with no command delay (especially if the troops have large response lag times) use withdraw. They can always move laterally or forward in subsequent turns. I have not had any bad experiences the withdraw command. However, others may enlighten us on bad experiences. Cheers, Richard :cool:

Yes, I did know that one definition of decimate means "to select by lot and kill every tenth man." Oh, my goodness, I am crushed to have not stated every definition. However, decimate also means "to destroy a large portion of ..." Websters Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary. Gee, I feel better. Further, years ago, I had read somewhere that during the German rout after Kursk, a German infantry division did up & run. The Germans subsequently decimated that division. I am not sure if literally every tenth man was kill or if just a smaller representative selection was made. Cheers, Richard

In computer troop selection QBs, it would be interesting and quite realistic to have different troop quantity levels. This would reflect prior battle and other attrition. I would suspect that troops of any side would almost never be at full strength except possibly during the moments at the start of a major operation (the big push). The troop quantity levels might be at the approximate levels following (I'm sure that someone with more time, desire, and ingenuity can come up with better and more realistic names & levels based on more historicity than my quickies here.): 1. decimated - 25%; 2. beaten to death - 50%; 3. wacked - 75%; 4. full - 100%; :eek: 5. overstuffed for the big push - 110%. :mad: This is just food for thought. :cool: Cheers, Richard

Yep, those truck drivers were psychic. In fact, they may have been 'double parked in the Twilight Zone'. :eek: :eek: Cheers, Richard

The only good use for Brit 2 inch mortars is for taking out Axis guns at up to 150 meters. Those 2 inchers have magnetic shells that are attracted to Axis gun barrels. Well, that is not the true reason, but the net effect is the magnetic shell reason. In fact, 2 inchers wacking Axis guns at close range is just about the only use for those suckers. Cheers, Richard

If you are under arty fire of more that 81 mm mortars, withdraw like hell into cover & out of the effective line of fire of your opponent's infantry & vehicles. 105 mm, 4.2 inch, 120 mm, & larger will wack the crappe out of your men. 4.5 inch, 150 mm, & larger will destroy your men. :eek: :eek: If, as a result of your withdrawal, you have to withdraw into the effective line of fire of your opponent's infantry & vehicles, you got a problem. In this case, just run far enough to get out of the effective LOF. Cheers, Richard

Steve, Thanks for your update to us, the unwashed, or maybe the washed, masses. When CMBB comes out, it comes out. Take your time; grind your nose into that stone; and don't spend too much time responding to us. We should be big boy adults & let you do your work. Cheers, Richard

Oh my goodness! The Brit vehicles have no markings. They are trying to go incognito so that they can stealthfully sneak behind German lines and perform nasty deeds upon the German troops. Cheers, Richard