NameUsedBefore

I've never understood why people cheat in online gaming. Seriously, it's not like you're going to win a prize or somethin'.

Where are these scenarios everyone's always talking about?

Many years from now I can see people coming to that site assuming some sort of massive battle took place,

On Extreme fog of war you can kill a squad yet still not know how many people were in it. I've eliminated something that only said "Infantry" next to it, so I had no idea if I had destroyed an ad-hoc or a full squad... or just tank hunters. So, basically, you wont get a whole lot of information on some fog-of-war settings (namely, Extreme).

Don't use move to contact in woods. I accidentally had that as my command once and got two of my squads anniahlated (sp) upon "contact" of the enemy. Use advance... a lot. Speaking of advance, it tires out troops; how less effective are troops who are "Tiring" and ones who are "Tired"? And what's the usual rate for them to recover?

Hey who sent me an e-mail about this scenario? I have the file ready to send back but I lost your address.

What? I'm just talking about what happened. Whenever I get the chance I'm going to play the scenario again and just hope for better luck. What am I supposed to do about my guys missing every damn shot they take? Especially on a then-unaware target? Hell I did a lot of what everyone has said they did, yet none of it worked out for me. My tanks got blistered and failed to land enough (if any) shots on the opposing tanks themselves.

The only time I did show my tanks was when they were occupied with other targets or I was planning to hit them from the side. I think I simply didn't have any luck, period. I don't even remember having landed any of my shots, actually.

I'm saying that the Germans had a pretty good idea of what the Russians had, but after the Finnish campaign/debacle, they took it with a grain of salt. Also note the purges which took out most of Russia's outstanding officers and the military-reformation.

^ Strange. Everytime I crested that hill my tank(s/ if I did it simultaneously) would usually shoot (miss), then get blown apart before it could sneak back away. Also all the Germans tanks would come into that big field pretty much together and not one or so at a time.

It seems okay to me. Sharpshooters on the attack... Maybe one or two, if any. For balance purposes, namely.

The IS-2 armor "grades" looked so promising... damn. That cannon is a shocker, though. It decimated all infantry I used it against.

" As for Russian mech, it was worse than useless. Every mech corp evaporates on contact within days. Leaving gapping holes, because it was unexpected and other units relied on them. " I remember reading somewhere about an entire mech division getting lost into some marshes because of an inept commander. Eventually the entire division was completely terminated wandering about through German lines. Isn't there some memoirs of some of the commanders commenting on how they'd send a mech division then ask for its status and then learn, after mere days of sending the division forward, that it had already been anniahlated (sp)?

JasonC is right. Look at the production around 1944. You have factories that have been or being flattened still reaching and going past qoutas that were substantially higher than the ones in 1940/1941 (or ones at all, as some factories were only recently switched to military production).

No... I set up very slim firing lanes. The plan was to bush-wack the Panther from the side. The Panther never knew my tanks were there till they fired. I figured such a gifting set-up would give them time to aim and land hits. The Panther, after the misses, killed one tank at the end of that minute. The next minute I had them fleeing, they fired as they reversed; Panther tagged the second tank and the third barely managed to get away. It was set up as an ambush; it was executed well except for the whole accuracy part. I basically over-estimated the crew-man and their ability to hit an unaware target. If I knew that they would be lame-shots then I definitely would've prepared the shoot-and-scoots. Lesson learned,

Again, that was on the first attempt when I didn't even know the Germans we're going to have heavy armour. On my SECOND try I didn't even crest the hill. I put three tanks into a slim firing range in the valley between all the tree-lines. They all fired their shots before the Panther even turned his turret all the way; they all missed. Panther destroys one. Remaining two fire their last shots before one is downed and another escapes the scene. The platoon, which slowly flanked around the village, was so efficient in taking or at least "?'ing" the two middle flags, I figured even just one extra platoon would do the job. On the second attempt I had only five tanks go with the platoon, flattening a few buildings. The rest of my tanks sat just behind the crest. I still consider it bad luck to have the perfect angle on a Panther and have all of your tanks miss over and over again.

But you've got all this in CM too. It's called a sound contact. And firing on a ? counter is pretty damn close to area fire on something in CM that you don't have an ID for yet. And seeing ? on the map at game start can be seen as the results of preliminary recon before the battle starts. It's not _that_ gamey and is actually kind of elegant. The one type of scenario where ASL shines compared to CM, IMHO, is when one player has to handle a fixed defense where not too much will be moving around. In CM, there might not be much to do if the set-up is sound; is ASL the defender still has to call the shots and is quite active. And as for playing against the AI - hate to say it but defending against the "AI" using solitaire ASL guidelines can result in a much better game than defending in CM against the AI. Different games each with their own strengths. It's kind of futile to compare them. </font>

I meant I took that platoon on the extreme left of the flank leaving the IS-2's and the SU's in the field between the trees to blast the outlying houses. The infantry entered themselves. I had three tanks shooting down a very slim firing lane that one Panther happened to enter. I hoped to bust it open from the side... alas, the tankers all missed in the saddest display of "accuracy" I have seen so far. Infantry led all advances I made. Problem was I only put one platoon into that flank. I had weighed putting the others straight up the middle to make the 100m across to the forest-line near the church. That bid failed as I did it by the time the Germans had moved their tanks up. All the tanks accompanying the platoon did was guard it for about half-way, released it, then sat in firing lanes to hit the Panthers from the side (which failed, even with near-perfect set up). The platoon did quite a bit of damage. Captured one of the flags and left the other to the good ol' "?" mark. After such brilliant success with so small of a force, I figured even just one more platoon would instantly get me that entire middle-sector.

UDF, Jason is saying that Germany knew of all the existing Soviet forces. What they didn't expect was the civillian population to come to arms so quickly.

So basically just do what I did again, except with more forces? I sent two IS-2's and 3 SU's but they all got blasted. I only sent one platoon of infantry, however, on the far left-flank. I guess I should send more of just everything. I destroyed most of the buildings before the platoon moved in. My problem is still: time to capture what I need and get set-up; and the fact my tanks have terrible crews that have SUB-PAR hit-percentages facing up against far superior Germans who hit almost every other time (if not every time). I once had three tanks locked on a Panther; all shots missed, Panther destroyed two tanks, one at at time (all the while my guys still missing), then I fled my third tank (SU') which eventually was abandoned (had lost a crewmember to a 'schreck early in the battle). Question: the FO's I have, when I first used them at my first crack at the scenario I did so at the first (repeat...) turn. There was a "FIRING PLAN" signal at their orders box. I could no re-coordinate the 76's or the other cannon. The second time through I decided to wait to use 'em; except when I did the wait time was substantial; 14 and 6 minutes (out of LOS due to that bugging hill). Can someone explain this...?

I've played this scenario a few times now as the Russians (haven't played as Germans yet) and so far as I can tell it's impossible to win. The most success I had was this: Took a platoon and flanked all the way around the woods to the west of your starting position. I got them to eventually conflict the middle flags by the end of the game. I ended up having one. ANY tank or group of tanks (simultaneously) that decide to go over the hill in the middle of the map are instantly blown apart. IS-2's are constantly destroyed by Panthers and my tanks literally couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. I believe the Germans have multiple Panthers and a Tiger or two. They also have a few guns in the woods on their side of the map. My real problem is that I only have 30+ turns to complete the map... about 30 less turns then I'd like. I got the game to go to 35 turns while contesting the middle-flags with the flanking platoon. The two IS-2's and three SU-122's that were helping along the platoon's right flank were taken out of business once the Panthers rolled into their view. They simply couldn't hit the Panthers, and the Panthers would almost always hit them. (They had a 20% hit chance... pretty damn low if you ask me) The problem is this: the hill in the middle. There's little cover there, and anything to the right or left flanks is blanketed by trees making tank movement rough. So the only real place is to go over the hill with the tanks. However even if I did so with all the tanks simulataneously they'd all go over, then it'd become a mess. Most would start reversing immediately, others would try to fight but their utterly terrible aiming would get them killed. Everybody was mince meat. In a last ditch effort I tried a nearly-company-sized 'human wave' to the church. The cluster was blown apart by a few Panthers. After that the Panthers moved to their side of the hill, and my tanks to mine. Nobody moved and most of the action was with my flanking platoon. Is it possible to win this scenario as the Russians? You're supposed to attack, yet everything is against you. Sucky tank crewman and terrain incredibly fit for defending. Plus the complete and total lack of given time doesn't help at all. Is this just not a well-made scenario or am I doing something wrong...?

I'd still go for light-tracked vehicles to send a small contingent to your enemy. Expect them to die eventually, but you can drop off a squad or two (or snipers/'schrecks) right at his front and do some temporary damage. Or just use trucks/jeeps.

What fog-of-war setting are you playing on? And why would your opponent set up defence around an area that you are obviously not going to cross? If anything he is going to be looking for you in the 'cover' area of the neighborhood where you'll more than likely get bottled up. Again, smoke it; shoot the light-armour to his front while he's organizing; try to move across silently. If your fog-of-war is on Extreme (like it should be, really); I'd "Move" my main contingent across that open area, and "Run" a few guys in the bottle-neck area. The "Move" will give up some visibility, but how many you are moving will be largley unknown; while a bunch of guys running about on the right flank will look like a lot more activity then what's there.

And here's another idea: shoot some light armour up the streets at your enemy to post-pone any movement he will be trying to make. They'll more than likely die (the light), but keep them alive as possible and just bugger the enemy. Hell, if possible hitch a group of infantry on the light armour (a squad or two) to really tie him up. Or maybe even the sharp-shooters. Do all this while you get your main force across that open patch. Or smoke the hell out of that area... or mortar the areas he may be passing through.