stoex

boche, that is incorrect. It is quite possible to have engineers blast twice between the same two action spots. I have done it often. It is the common way to make holes through bocage big enough for tanks to go through.

Isn't the .pdf manual included with the demo version? Check the folder you installed the demo to. That would be pretty silly...it's certainly there in the actual game. Worst comes to worst - got a dropbox or something? If you do I would be pleased to send you the manual (17MB). Let me know.

So, back on the DAR after RL got in the way yet again. The plans and maneuvers outlined in the last installment are carried out without incident, and something of a lull ensues for a few minutes. The only thing to happen during this time is that my 81mm mortar reports back in and is trained on main ridge beyond the church by my FO. This is where I expect a major push by the GIs to happen as soon as they have formed up behind the ridge: The 81mm mortar strike planned on main ridge. On the right you can see the 120mm strike on the road, which should begin firing spotting rounds any moment. Just as I am getting bored with watching the seconds tick by, something finally happens: at 40:50, a good nine minutes into the battle, several infantry contacts start popping up moving towards the intersection closest to the church. First to be spotted is a platoon HQ near the knocked out M8, followed a few seconds later by an "XO team" (CO level?) charging across the open field from the left flank. Within 30 seconds, 2 infantry squads join in, one behind each of the original contacts. All of them are moving toward the vicinity of road objective 2: Top left: The platoon HQ (note the radio), Top right: The XO team, Bottom: all four spotted units, plus the mortars they are hopefully running into... So, a platoon sized force seems to be scouting here. I decide not to take the bait yet, waiting for the 120mm strike to come down, and for the enemy to come closer. I let no-one fire, though a few of my units by the church and in the building down the road can see the approaching infantry. Then suddenly (40:05) another unit is spotted: Another Greyhound comes into sight, moving quickly over the open field towards the intersection. Note my PSW in the background. This is going to be interesting, I think...and the last chance for Bergmann and his PSW crew to redeem themselves. If they can't spot this vehicle, they will be toast for sure. I bite my nails as the two vehicles spot each other practically simultaneously. The Greyhound opens fire first with its MG (39:55), the rounds spraying off the PSW's hood in all directions. Then the main gun of the M8 fires and penetrates Bergmann's vehicle, incapacitating the driver. "Dammit", I think, "that's it then." But surprisingly seems to have been what it took to wake up Bergmann's crew, for a second later (had to wipe the driver's blood off the sights) his gunner pulls the trigger and sticks a short burst of 20mm rounds into the Hound. Then he has to reload. Crap. The exchange between the M8 and Bergmann's PSW. I bite my nails some more as seconds tick by, but the M8 doesn't seem to be able to respond. A red cross appears above it, and at 39:45 the crew bails. Huzzah! Bergmann has pulled off a kill (and I have suffered my first casualty). After an incredibly long 9 seconds, the M8 crew exits their vehicle. So, another small victory. At this point I allow my infantry in and around the building down the road to open fire on the approaching enemy squishies. Between them, the PSW (only lightly damaged by the 37mm round to the front), the SPW, and the 120s, this daring US platoon should not last long...find out in the next installment!

Excellent stuff as always, Aris...I can hardly wait! Thanks so much for all your work, it makes a great game that much better!

Have just downloaded and had a peek at them and I agree, they look excellent! Muchas gracias Juju!

I agree, it's very interesting to see the battle unfold from each of the players' perspectives. However, I find I often have trouble getting oriented on the screenshots. The map is kinda convoluted, and the perspectives in the screenies, the darkness, and the varying use of terms such as "east" and "right" or names of soldiers get me pretty darn confused as to where on the map I am looking at in some of the shots. Anyone else have this problem? Oh, and while we're at it...not to hijack this thread, but as I am posting my own DAR here, and trying to do better in this respect for the benefit of the readers who feel the same way I do - does anyone have any comments on whether I am succeeding?

Nice one...revenge is best served cold, they say! Wonder how BletchleyGeek will describe this encounter

Following the initial sightings and exchanges described above, the action peters off for a while – leaving me time to survey the battlefield, analyze the situation and adapt my plan and orders. Speaking of time...let me explain in a few sentences exactly how I play CMBN. Some comments have been made regarding my playing this battle in real time, and the challenges and advantages provided thereby. Fact is, CMx2's RT mode is a godsend for me as it suits my play style just about optimally: First and foremost, I hate wrist-twitching click-fests like the plague. Second, I like to have as much control as possible over every aspect of a strategy game like this. I want to micromanage and babysit my units to make the most out of their capabilities (since the AI isn't going to help me much there), and yet I don't want to miss any action or events, even if they are small. Combined with the lack of a replay function for RT play, my gaming attitudes equate to my pausing the game rather a lot. I might average one pause every 10 seconds or so for the whole battle, but several micro-pauses per second are not rare when the action is intense. So what I do is this: I let time pass only while watching in a camera perspective that lets me see all of my unit icons if at all possible (usually level 4, but may be lower when I am watching a particular firefight more closely). Whenever anything happens (new enemy spotted, friendly casualty, reinforcements arrive, orders need to be given, etc.), I pause the game, zoom in on wherever it is I want to see or do something, and take my time about giving orders. When I'm good and ready, I go back to the overview perspective and run the time again (sometimes only as long as it takes me to hit ESC again...it's kinda fun trying to catch rounds in midair just before they hit). This stop-and-go style is exacerbated by the need to take screenshots for the DAR in this particular battle. It also means my games in RT probably take quite a bit longer than most folks' games take in TB mode. Yeah, I can hear some of you groaning at the thought, and I see the understanding smiles of a few others in between. I'm not here to argue in favor of any style of playing CM – there are plenty of other forum threads out there for that purpose. I intend neither to participate in any of them, nor to turn this into another RT vs. TB discussion. As far as I am concerned, everybody is free to play any way they like, and I think it's wonderful that CMx2 caters to so many different styles of play. I like the way I can play it, and if you like the way you can play it, then it's all good. Mind you, I have nothing against a good PBEM at all. They can be tedious, but that's always only due to issues with reliability regarding the players themselves (and I am no exception). If there are any questions regarding this discourse, go right ahead. But please take any opinions as to whether my way of playing qualifies me or you as the better person or "more realistic" CM player elsewhere or keep them to yourself. With all due respect, you may think I'm nuts or gamey or a ham and cheese sandwich if you like – I couldn't care less. We all bought the game and each of us can do with it what he (or she) likes. Soooo...with that out of the way, lets get back to the battle. I'll start you off with a slightly crowded and confusing overview shot taken at about 44:00. Don't worry, I will explain all my sloppy, unprofessional markings: Overview of the battlefield at 44:00. Enemies: The red arrows show the expected possible attack routes of the two platoons of US infantry with their support. Since the Amis have no real reason to attack anyplace but the church (as far as I know), I strongly expect the platoon from the northeast, which is moving quickly onto and across the stone bridge, to assault the church objective at close quarters by coming over main ridge where the blue line is. It will take some time for them to arrive and form up for the attack, as there are still men who haven't reached the bridge yet. I expect them no sooner than 5 minutes from now. The platoon approaching from the northwest, whose vehicle support was decimated by Obgfr. Hanker, may do one of two things: they might join up with the other platoon behind main ridge for a larger assault. This would make it pretty difficult for my 3rd Platoon to hold the church, I'm afraid. However, my gut feeling is that these units will attempt to approach the church from a more westerly direction in order to flank 3rd Platoon. Whether they will come along the road or thereabouts, or take a larger hooking approach (the interrupted arrow) to stay behind the loping hill on the western side of the map as long as possible, I don't know. Whichever way they flank, though, they will come into the sights of the ahead elements of 1st Platoon gathering around the southernmost building and hopefully be blunted before they can get close to the church. Friendlies: The yellow lines show the orders I am giving to my two vehicles at this point: Hanker in his SPW will reverse off spotter ridge and hurry over to the southern building to support that flank along with 1st Platoon. He is intended to find a good position with some tree cover and LOS to as much of the road, and the sloping open field ahead of the building as possible. This way he will also be able to fall back behind the building if things get too hot for him. Meanwhile, the hitherto completely inefficient PSW, commanded by a certain Bergmann, will reverse away from the infantry taking potshots at it and move over east behind a fence on the forward slope of spotter ridge, concealed from the expected main assault on the church by the trees around it, and with a good view towards the second road objective and the field beyond. If Bergmann can ever take off his blindfold, he should be able to get flanking shots on any vehicles pushing down the road, and possibly move quickly to help defend the church directly if need be. Finally, the overview shows two support missions in green: the area target in the northeast corner is the one ordered by my CO HQ on the Amis approaching the bridge, but will be cancelled as I expect them to have vacated the area before it comes in. I think I can get my FO to direct the 81mm mortar onto a better area – more on this below. The linear mission along the road is a 120mm mortar strike. I had forgotten to mention in the last installment that this valuable asset was the first of my reinforcements to arrive at about 45:00. This "multi-purpose" stonk is intended to keep the northwestern enemy platoon from linking up with the northeastern one behind main ridge, and also to bomb the crap out of them if they decide to rush up along the road to flank the church. Following are individual shots of the orders for my two vehicles to give you a better idea of where they will be going. Please note that these screenies were not all taken at exactly the same time, thus you may notice orders from the previous installment overlapping. This is just because I try to put things that belong together tactically in the same post while having to meet the "5 image maximum" requirement. The difference is a mere couple of seconds: The orders for Bergmann's PSW. The orders for Hanker's SPW. Here is where I intend to order a fire mission for the 81mm mortar as soon as it acknowledges the cease fire order. The FO has marginal LOS to the area, but should be able to pull something off that will hurt the enemy (and hopefully not 3rd Platoon): The next target planned for the 81mm mortar. Finally, looking closely at 3rd Platoon's positions around the church, I find several of the fireteams either out of C2 or with bad LOS to the crest of the ridge, so I jostle them around a bit to improve their defensive setup. You can't really see this well in the shot, but I had one left in this installment, so there it is: 3rd Platoon crawling to better defensive positions around the church. And that wraps up this installment. Tune in tomorrow to see whether I was far off the mark in my assessment! Remember one of the good things about RT is you can skip right over the boring parts so quickly...I promise there will be action!

So, it's finally time to revive this DAR after a prolonged hiatus. You may remember that we left the battlefield after Obgfr. Hanker and his crew in the SPW 251/10 halftrack took out two approaching US recon vehicles. The "cliffhanger" was my mention that things hadn't gone so well everywhere, which brings us straight to the next chapter in this report (happening concurrently to Hanker's exploits), which as you will see is very appropriately entitled... I had previously mentioned that on my forces' right flank (on the crest of main ridge), the scouting LMG team had spotted a platoon of enemy infantry running through the open field across the river towards the bridge, and the PSW 234 sitting nearby (with an even better view of the terrain) had basically failed to notice anything. This state of affairs sadly not only continues, but soon proceeds to get worse to the point of being plain silly. The PSW has not been able to convert its excellent LOS to the area the GIs are running through into anything besides a single "?" for the better part of three minutes (admittedly, they have been buttoned up for most of that time, but still...). At 44:57, the LMG team spots a new unit near the single house by the bridge objective: another M8 which is pulling up to the bridge from behind the house. A Greyhound rumbles into view close to the bridge at 44:57. Almost needless to say, the three stooges and their rear-facing friend in the PSW fail entirely to notice this. To be fair, the M8 also doesn't see my scout car – in the Americans' defense, their vehicle is in motion and not pointed towards the PSW, but on the other hand they are not buttoned. Patient as I am, I give the PSW crew about 10 seconds to peel their eyes away from their naughty pictures – but to no avail. They can't even manage a "?" icon. WTF? Range is 140 meters, visibility is fair (overcast) and there are no obstructions in the LOS to the position of the enemy vehicle! Disbelievingly, I order the PSW to unbutton and give it a narrow target arc covering the M8. This isn't even gamey as far as I am concerned, since the LMG team which can see the Greyhound clearly (even though they are in a far worse position) is less than 50 meters away from the PSW. For a moment I even consider ordering the PSW to area fire the location of the Greyhound, but dismiss that idea as a bit on the gamey side. Plus it might not work anyway, and cause the M8 to spot and kill the PSW. Seconds tick by and nothing happens. The M8 is stationary on the road near the end of the bridge. Occasional rifle shots start coming in again aiming for the PSW, but they do not hit the vehicle at first and the PSW suffers no suppression. After about half a minute of stalemate, the M8 begins to turn slowly towards the bridge. Still no reaction from the PSW. Check out these two screenies showing the positions of the two vehicles. It's completely unbelievable to me that they fail to spot each other: The M8 as seen (or not) from the perspective of the PSW (zoomed slightly for emphasis). Would be funny if it weren't so sad. The PSW as seen (or not) from the perspective of the Greyhound. Could the circular MG mount be blocking the commander's sight? God only knows... About a minute into this farce (44:53), the PSW finally buttons back up after a few rifle rounds have hit it, and shortly thereafter, the M8 moves onto the bridge and is lost to sight. This again is kind of weird, as both the LMG team and the PSW have "reverse slope" LOS to most of the bridge, and the M8 is noticeably taller than the low wall forming the bridge's "railing". The scout car remains invisible, however. I am appalled. In my opinion, this result was extremely unrealistic, not to say impossible. If I get a chance, I might just run a test on spotting for scout cars in the editor, because it almost feels like a bug to me. Opinions welcome, by the way... Anyhow, I decide to leave the PSW in its place just in case I get lucky somehow, but mostly because I am so furious with their performance. Let 'em at least draw some bullets so the LMG can maybe spot a few more men (though the entire platoon of Amis seems now to have moved across the bridge as well)! Another minute later (with no further spottings by anyone), however, I am wrenched out of my sullen childishness by a rifle grenade landing near the PSW (43:54) and causing minor damage to the wheels: My stupidity and anger nearly cost me my PSW (43:54). This is not long after Hanker and his men have finished off the M8 and Jeep on their side of the map, so I decide to move both my vehicles to new positions, before the enemy has enough time to hurt them and hopefully to be better prepared for the inevitable attack on the church objective. While I didn't lose anybody in this "encounter", I am still very unhappy with it, as it is further proof of the blindness of the PSW crew (I am now skeptical of placing this vehicle anywhere as a defensive asset), and it also means I have wasted a good chance to hurt the enemy before he attacks the church. All the more work for 3rd Platoon, then... Finally, to end this installment on a positive note, the US opening barrage has also ended while all this was going on (at about 45:30), and it caused no casualties. Thus I have been able to send 1st Platoon up towards the first building on the left flank before the enemy is able to cut them off. As a bonus, while the men of 3rd Platoon are running towards their destination, they intersect the first road objective, and it turns out to be of the "touch" variety. I therefore expect the other two road objectives to be the same, which would make it easier for me to gather the points for them. Two squads and the LMG team of 1st Platoon arrive at the first building along the road unscathed (44:55). Since things are relatively quiet at this point, the next installment will feature a current situational overview, orders for my two vehicles as well as my expectations, hopes and plans for the next phase of the battle.

Hi all, sorry to have interrupted the DAR so suddenly - don't worry, I haven't bailed on it or anything. Just got massively caught up in work and Christmas preparations and had absolutely no time left for anything. Since Christmas I have been out of town skiing with my family with no access to my gaming PC. BUT, tomorrow I return home and will have the next installment up asap. And since my girlfriend and son are staying here with her folks for another week, I should be able to post updates regularly for a while . Thanks to everyone who has been reading so far, I hope for your continued patronage!

Thanks, bardosy...I am somewhat proud of having caught my screenie (the one with the Schreck firing at the Stuart) in a real-time game. And yes, it is a gravestone, Erwin...there is a cemetery off to the left of the shot (which is apparently about to be extended one way or another...). I didn't even notice the headstone when I took the screenie, but it is kinda morbidly fitting, isn't it?

How about this one, then:

Erwin, the US mortars are in Aris' M4A3 Mod Pack (link to repository just in case), in a folder entitled "Extras" inside the RAR file. The .50 cal and other bonus materials are in there too. Might wanna re-check or re-download. And to Aris/Fuser: Many, many thanks for your great mods, nothing compares to them! When I see one of the few unmodded vehicles in game now I find it just stands out like a sore thumb. Have a great Christmas and enjoy your break from modding! Recharge those batteries

*sigh* Is it just my impression or do you do this somewhere on the road to every release, Sergei? Maybe we can use your coldhearted and despicable mischieviousness to gauge the time until releases...if only I could be bothered to dig up older instances of this tomfoolery and run some statistics. Merry Christmas, or more precisely... Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta!

A brief lull ensues at this point: the western contacts remain stationary as far as my men can tell, with the M8 still hidden from view of the SPW behind a tree, and the US platoon in the northeast corner of the map continues to make its way towards the bridge. Some of these men are occasionally spotted by the LMG team, but the well-positioned PSW continues to steadfastly see nothing. Maybe this is a downside of having full resupply levels between battles – this vehicle crew may have been given letters from home which they are reading, or worse yet, a new set of naughty pictures to hang on the inside of their tin can (presumably right over the vision slits). Just as I am beginning to wonder in earnest what to do about this situation, there is movement in the west which diverts my attention and forces me to leave the PSW crew to whatever it is they are doing besides looking for enemies – for now. The previously spotted M8 Greyhound gets in gear and quickly moves towards the road intersection nearest to it, remaining in the damp plowed field. It is travelling diagonally across my SPW's line of sight and towards it, and not long after it leaves the concealment of the large tree, the two vehicles spot each other at 45:33. The scout car's turret begins to traverse, but the halftrack under command of Obgfr. Hanker is already facing the right way and he gets the drop on the 'hound: Obgfr. Hanker fires and hits the M8. It appears to be a 'glancing blow' only, the shell impacting on the rim of the turret, but the Greyhound is immediately stopped in its tracks and the turret ceases to move. As Hanker's loader hurries to rearm the 37mm gun, the crew of the M8 is seen exiting, and the vehicle's status display changes to 'knocked out'. That's definitely first blood to my German boys now, yay! The US scouts evacuate their destroyed Greyhound. Hanker has no time to celebrate his victory, however. Only a couple of seconds later, he spots a Jeep approaching the fence not far from the destroyed M8. The Jeep has an MMG mounted in the back. Still 'hankering' for more glory (sorry, had to do it...), the Obergefreiter orders fire on the Jeep. The first shot is a full hit this time: Obgfr. Hanker plants a shell in the middle of the approaching US Jeep. Although the round appears to detonate against the folded-down windhsield, I am surprised to see all three men aboard survive the hit. The Jeep starts backing up and the gunner opens fire on Hanker's SPW. One or two of the MG rounds hit their target, but do no damage; the rest goes high. Unphased, Hanker's gunner calmly lines up another shot: The driver of the Jeep is wounded by the second hit. The second round appears to hit the right headlight of the Jeep and takes out the driver. While the SPW reloads again, my sniper plinks a shot harmlessly off the Jeep's hood. At this point, the other two crew members have had enough. As they jump off the vehicle, Hanker's third shot hits the fence a few meters ahead of them. While the two survivors crawl off and become '?', the SPW finishes off the Jeep with a fourth round (44:46) that hits the engine and sets the vehicle ablaze: The two remaining men exit the Jeep before Hanker blows it to smithereens. Now that is what I call commendable fighting! Hanker and his men have taken out two enemy vehicles and at least one man in the space of only 45 seconds. They will be awarded a medal if they survive. However, they have also made their position known – and there are sure to be plenty more Amis where these came from, probably cursing the men in the SPW and organizing their revenge already. Obgfr. Hanker will have to displace or risk incoming fire of dangerous caliber soon. Next up: The Mexican Standoff, or: It's Never ALL Good...

Glad to hear you're enjoying it, vincere (and anyone else I'm not boring stiff...). I am also glad to hear any and all comments on my playstyle, plan, and execution as well as on the style (or lack thereof) of this DAR). As for the Schreck, yeah I guess it is more aggressive than some folks would place it. Several reasons for that. First, as I said before, playing in RT allows me to be a little more aggressive than I probably would be in TB mode, simply because in the really tricky situations, the extra micromanagement that RT allows can offer that extra bit of protection or timing that my men need. And audacity tends to pay off when playing the AI . Second, I hope not to have to use the Schreck at all, as my plan is to have one or both of my vehicles covering this approach at all times and destroy any enemy vehicles approaching from the northwest. Third, I do need that Schreck to provide last-ditch protection against vehicles (maybe even at the cost of his life) for 3rd Platoon by the church, if all else fails. If the enemy is allowed to park a vehicle at the intersection, that vehicle could hit 3rd Platoon in the flank or rear when they need to fend off an attack coming through the trees along the ridge. Fourth, from where he is, the Schreck also has fairly good LOS to the part of main ridge hidden from the rest of the map by all the trees, so if vehicles show up there, the Fusiliers won't be alone with their two Fausts (total for the whole platoon). At worst I think I should be able to delay and distract the Amis until my reinforcements show up, at best I hope to hold position around the church and destroy the first major push by the enemy, if it comes there, then strengthen my position with the reinforcements. Speaking of delaying and distracting, the next installment is coming up right now...

Not to worry, BletchleyGeek - I am experienced enough to know that anything can happen at any time in war and Combat Mission. My guard is as far up as it will go. However, in regard to the possibility of artillery coming down somewhere: the only really devastating thing that could happen at the moment in terms of barrages is a pre-planned, delayed stonk of the Church Objective. Admittedly, that is a risk I took with my initial plan, and something I wouldn't be able to mitigate at all now. I would be left praying for 3rd Platoon. As far as any other surprises go - for the most part my units should have remained relatively invisible to the enemy so far, therefore any new contact should leave me with enough time to make a rational decision. I hope . The only thing that has me worried is the possibility of the US having a serious advantage in armor from the get-go, and rushing that armor up to meet my men. That would really suck as I have no counter to it as of yet.

A good two and a half minutes into the battle, both my PSW on the eastern flank and the SPW on spotter ridge have reached their positions and wait to make contact. The SPW still has very little to go on – the Platoon HQ spotted way back in the northwest has vanished from sight and nothing else is happening in that area at this time, though I expect that to change soon. In the northeastern corner of the map, by the Bridge Objective, the scouting LMG team on main ridge catches frequent glimpses of various units hurrying towards the lone building near the bridge. It appears to be a platton of infantry with at least an MG in support. Of course my LMG is holding its fire, as I want the PSW to do the shooting. While this vehicle is not ideally equipped for killing infantry with its 20mm cannon (with a very small magazine, I might add), it does sport a coax MG. It is also adequately protected from small arms fire and the range to the area the enemy is running through is about 200m, so I don't expect extremely threatening hand-held AT fire either. Now if only the damn crew could spot anything! Finally, after 30 seconds of staring at 40 men running through an open field, the PSW gets a bead on an enemy infantryman and lets off a burst of 20mm rounds at 46:53: The PSW 234/1 fires at the enemy infantry running towards the building and bridge. Unfortunately, the only noticeable effect this has is to elicit return fire on my vehicle. A few individual rifle rounds plink off the front armor plates, causing the commander to button up. This further inhibits the PSW's spotting ability, and while the nearby LMG team continues to watch great hunking gobs of enemy move towards the bridge, the PSW cannot even find another '?' contact for the next minute. Slightly underimpressed with its performance, I have the CO HQ order a fire mission on the area around the building. It will take a while to come in, and I am relatively sure by now that the enemy want to cross the bridge (to which I have no direct LOS, and don't want to risk destroying either) ASAP, so I may have to cancel the strike eventually. But it can't hurt to call it in in case the GIs do take up defensive positions in or around the building: CO HQ calls in a mortar strike on the enemy-infested area. Meanwhile, rifle rounds ricochet off the buttoned PSW. At about the same time (46:31), something happens on the other flank. My FO on spotter ridge sees an M8 scout car moving through the field northwest of Road Objective 3, close to where the Platoon HQ was spotted earlier. The Greyhound stops in a place where it is shielded from the view of the SPW by a tree, but if it eventually continues to move towards the road intersection, it is bound to traverse the field of view of my halftrack soon. The first enemy vehicle spotted in the battle – an M8 Greyhound apparently scouting towards Road Objective 3. Meanwhile, in the center, the men of 3rd Platoon have reached their final positions around the Church Objective. The squads are split into fireteams, and everyone is given hide orders except for the Platoon HQ and fire team in the church itself. The platoon's one remaining MG42 team has a good view of Road Objective 2, as does the Panzerschreck team (once it unhides, if anything shows up) snuggled in behind the low wall on the left – the intersection is about 100 meters from their position. In the following screenshot, I have also illustrated the approximate course of main ridge to the north and east (blue line), showing about where units assaulting the church from these directions would come into view. 3rd Platoon's positions in and around the church. Finally, here is an overview shot of most of the battlefield for your orientation. The time is 45:51. Annoyingly, the opening mortar barrage on Road Objective 1 is still going on, so 1st Platoon are still stuck waiting. I hope the enemy doesn't move up too fast for these men to get into more useful positions. Battle overview (minus 1st Platoon) at 45:51. I know what you're thinking now – that was kind of underwhelming for first contact, wasn't it? Well, I promise that in the next installment, the action will pick up a notch – there will be blood, and fire, and plenty of movement, and things will continue to be pretty intense from there on out. So stay tuned!

Thanks for the input, Fredrock. Basically what put me off, then, was just that the barrage came in a little off target. It was what I thought it ought to be to make sense, but looked like something else. Should have known it wasn't anything gamey. Anyhow, as I suspected in my previous post, and you just confirmed, this battle is really a "double attack", and "meeting engagement" is just the game term that most closely resembles that concept, but not a true equivalent. So no hard feelings about the barrage - had it come in on spotter ridge, it might have caused some trouble for my FO and sniper, but as it is, I guess I got lucky and will just have to wait it out before I move 1st Platoon. By the way, I am finding that you really did an excellent job designing this map (or whoever designed it, credit where it's due). There are some interesting and unexpected lines of sight involved here - as always I hope I can use them to my benefit, or at least avoid getting bushwhacked by them!

Back again after my brief hiatus! <OT> My mom is going to be fine. She is bruised all over and has a nasty scrape on her leg, but nothing serious. She retained her humor, too – when I said "Despite not breaking anything, I bet falling off a horse onto near-frozen ground isn't much fun when you're 67, is it?", she replied "Damn right, I think I'll wait until I'm 68 before I do that again!" :-) </OT> I hit the start button with some apprehension. Having commanded similar battles (in terms of map size and unit count) in RT in CMSF and CMBN, I'm not really worried about losing track of things (more on the old RT vs. TB debate later), I do wonder how wise my decision of rushing the central church objective is going to turn out. In hindsight, I now recognize that I have a dire lack of AT weapons at my disposal, and will not be able to deal well with any type or number of armoured vehicles turning up anywhere near my units until my reinforcements show up. I only have two vehicles of my own, and both are ill equipped to deal with anything more than the occasional scout car or Jeep – I have noticed in the previous battles in this campaign that both my PSW and SPW have considerable trouble with spotting sometimes (compared with most tanks in the game, at least...), and the rain isn't going to help with that. I have to see my original plan through as well as possible, but I'm not going to risk these important core assets in crazy firefights with US vehicles or let them get within effective range of any instance of Tube Guy, for sure. 3rd Platoon is more or less stuck with defending the church in case of – well, anything, I guess – but I swear to myself that everything else will just be scouting until the reinforcements show up. Thus the thing I want to see happening least of all in the first few minutes of this battle (besides an opening barrage, which would be unexpected indeed) are enemy vehicles. If some of those show up and move aggressively, I will probably be in trouble. That said, I give you the first screenshot of the battle proper, taken after a mere 22 seconds, at 49:38, and the follow-up shot four seconds later: Opening barrage on the first crossroads in front of 1st Platoon; the men go to ground and stay there. Whaddayaknow, it's an opening barrage. Don't we all love it when a plan works out? At first I admit I am kind of disgruntled by this. What's an opening barrage doing in a Meeting Engagement??? I pause the action and try to rationalize what I am seeing. While it's considered bad form in H2H, I guess one could argue in the battle at hand that the whole 'Meeting Engagement' part is something that I know, but the enemy doesn't. After all, these Americans are moving inland after landing at the beaches. Their intel is probably limited as yet, and maybe they don't know this sector is not solidly defended – that instead I am rushing in to meet them before they make too much headway? It would certainly be prudent of them to bomb the crap out of possible defensive positions before moving in. BUT, then why are they shelling this tactically relatively uninteresting crossroads and not the church or at least one of the ridges on the map? It does appear that Fredrocker is doing this to deny my forces ground that the enemy shouldn't really know is along my route of advance. Finally, I accept that I can't change it anyway, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth – I don't quite agree with the realism of this particular bit of the scenario design. So I have my men hide (none of them has been hurt yet) and wait for the bombardment to subside, hoping it won't cost them too much time or a lot of lives. The barrage seems to be coming from 81mm mortars, so 1st Platoon should be relatively safe 120+ meters away. Other parts of my plan thankfully work out better: 3rd Platoon begins to crest spotter ridge en route to the church objective at about 49:10, and take no incoming fire until arriving in the vicinity of the church at about 48:20. Shortly after the second screenie below, I have them spread out in and around the building and hide, waiting for the nearly inevitable appearance of the enemy at close quarters. So far, so good. 3rd Platoon cresting spotter ridge and reaching the church safely. Between the two Fusilier platoons, at about 48:30, the FO and sniper teams reach their final positions on spotter ridge. They have spotted nothing and not been fired on as far as I can tell, so I let them hunker down and train their binoculars on the open areas in front of them. The mortar barrage is also far enough away to not affect these men. Since they do not spot anything in the course of the next 30 seconds, I decide to move the SPW with its 37mm cannon up to a nice hull-down position on spotter ridge alongside the FO and sniper in order to hopefully get a few shots off at any enemy units moving through the open areas. Due to the SPW's vulnerability, it won't be able to stay there if anything sizeable turns up, but it can reverse out of sight quickly from its new position so it should be all right. The spotter and sniper teams in position on spotter ridge, and the new orders for the SPW. At about 48:00, everyone except 1st Platoon (waiting for the mortar barrage to end) and the CO HQ team and accompanying units on the eastern map edge are more or less in position. Those eastern scouts are slowly cresting main ridge now, with the LMG team in the lead. While they are closing in on their final destinations, the LMG finally gets a first contact: The LMG team on the eastern part of main ridge catches a glimpse of enemies (an infantry squad, though not visible in the screenie) in the field near the bridge objective. A few seconds later, enemy infantry (a platoon HQ) is also seen running through the plowed fields near the furthest road intersection objective, on the open western part of the map: Infantry seen running towards Road Objective 3. Interestingly, I took this screenshot in the split second between the spotting unit's icon (my FO) no longer being lit and the contact actually turning into a '?' again, seemingly vanishing behind some terrain feature. No shots are fired yet, but the SPW is almost in position near the crest of spotter ridge, and might get a bead on the platoon HQ approaching the intersection, and I also send the PSW hunting up to the crest of main ridge next to the CO HQ to see whether it can ruin the day of the GIs running towards the bridge objective. So at 47:35, we have two infantry contacts dashing out of the enemy setup zones towards their closest objectives, with guns soon to be trained on them, and all my men except 1st Platoon (the barrage continues, though at the pace it's going it will probably be done soon) are in position where I wanted them. Not too bad so far, I think. In the next installment, first shots will be exchanged (and there will be more screenies, don't worry!).

Sounds to me like you are trying to order the mortar to fire directly on the chosen target as opposed to via the spotter (HQ unit). If the mortar doesn't have LOS to the target area, it can't be ordered to fire directly. Instead, select a spotter with LOS to the target area, then click the support button and order your fire mission.

Brief update: I have played about the first 10 minutes of the battle, but private life currently prevents me from creating the posts to go with the action - my mom unfortunately fell off a horse yesterday. She'll be okay, but I am over at my folks house for a while helping out with stuff. Look for the next installment on Friday!

My initial gut feeling is that I need to try to be first to the church if I can, since it is such a defensible position. A platoon of Fusiliers positioned well there (with their massive short-range firepower) should be able to fend off a much larger force of infantry attacking from just about anywhere. The briefing does say to go slow, and I really need to protect my core forces for the numerous battles to come, but I decide to take the risk and send 3rd Platoon Fusiliers (plus the Schreck team, but minus two MG teams, more on them later) to the church on the double. I determine a path over spotter ridge that should leave them mostly unexposed to possible enemy starting locations and tell them all to dash into the depression. Even if the GIs should attempt a similar rush, they will have to cross the river on their way if coming from the northeast, or have a much longer path if coming from the northwest – so I should be safe. I also don't expect an opening barrage on a central objective in a meeting engagement *prays*. If this doesn't work for some reason, I will likely be royally screwed, but in my experience audacity and initiative generally pay off in most CMBN battles against the AI, and while I am being somewhat daring here, I try to tell myself that the risk I am taking is nowhere near ludicrous. Just...risky. Orders for 3rd Platoon as well as my spotter and sniper teams (on the left) Anyway, I have other orders in mind to support 3rd Platoon. One thing I need is some intel on the northeastern area of the map, which will be out of view of my spotter. I decide to send the Company HQ team (the only other 'unattached' spotter) over to the easternmost part of main ridge and have them crawl into a hopefully good position I have located amongst the trees to see what they can see. They will be accompanied by 3rd Platoon's LMG team (a fairly dispensible unit) for local protection, and by the PSW 234/1 (PSW henceforth) in case anything juicy turns up. One of the two HMG teams from 3rd Platoon (which was placed outside of my setup area, probably by mistake), will set up on the little corner of land southeast of the river with good LOS to the eastern part of main ridge. I don't think I can find adequate positions for two HMGs around the church anyway, and in case there is determined movement by the enemy along the eastern map edge, this HMG can delay them if they show up on main ridge while I extract the CO HQ and accompanying units. Orders for the CO HQ and accompanying units On to 1st platoon, the other 'half' of my recon force. They are going to start in the southwest corner and advance more cautiously along the road with a view to occupying the first building along it and give some flank protection to 3rd Platoon against enemies scouting or attacking along the road. I don't think they can get much further than the first house without exposing themselves too much, but they will give me some extra eyes and guns on a few more areas of the map that can't hurt. I don't intend to let them open up on anything unless absolutely necessary, though. Orders for 1st platoon Finally, the SPW 251/10 (SPW henceforth) will remain in position on the road behind spotter ridge as a mobile reserve. Once I get some intel on enemy lanes of attack, I can maybe position it to cause some trouble for the Amis. In the next instalment: Kickoff!

Time to get into this battle. First off, the basic parameters: July 8, 1944 – 1030 hrs. The temperature is warm, but there is a light rain falling and the ground is already damp from it. A light wind is blowingfrom the northwest. So while I will not have to contend with any Allied air, I will also have to be cautious moving my vehicles. Battle duration is 50 minutes (+10). Apparently, US forces consisting of recon and mechanized elements are moving into sectors 114 and 124. My hastily deployed men are to move against them, secure several objectives and drive the Amis from the area. My on map forces consist of two platoons of my trusty Fusiliers (along with their Company HQ), a formation I hadn't played before this campaign but have grown to like quite well. They are supported by their company HQ, a sniper, a single Panzershrek team and a FO with a section of 81mm mortars on call. Also on map are a PSW 234/1 and a SPW 251/10 with a 37mm gun. All units are thankfully at full headcount and supply levels. Reinforcements due piecemeal within the first 20 minutes are a company of regular infantry with (one or more, the briefing is not entirely clear here) attached StuG IIIG and SPW 250/10. They will be joined by their Battalion HQ and a section of 120mm mortars. Now let's have a look at the map and some of its key features. First, an overview with the objectives marked: Map overview You can see my units on the south edge, the US will be moving in from the north. Some things are immediately clear from this image. One, the map is open on the west side and more congested on the east. Two, considering that I will have close to 2 companies on board when my reinforcements arrive (assuming, of course, that most of my starting units are still alive by that time...), and I wager the enemy will have a similar contingent, this place is likely to get rather crowded, since the map is only roughly 500m by 500m. A semi-open, relatively small map, a short time limit and two companies per side are guaranteed to cause some pretty frenzied action somewhere along the line. I believe the term they use for this is "a fluid situation". Well, I just hope I can get the better of that frenzy when it ensues. You can see the objectives marked on the map overview: There are three intersections along the road that I am to secure, as well as the church in the knoll of tress slightly east of the map center and the bridge over the river in the northeast corner. The briefing states that the enemy is also interested in occupying the church and bridge, as well as the railroad bridge on the northern edge of the map, basically in their setup zone. The forested areas on either side of that bridge also look like a good place to set up on-map mortars since they are well protected from view. I will keep that in mind. Lastly, both sides will also be awarded victory points for destroying enemy forces. Now for some interesting map details. The terrain is a lightly rolling one overall, and there are several tactically interesting ridges and dips running across the map. It's always hard to show such terrain features in screenshots, but I'll try anyway. The first notable feature is a ridge right in front of my setup area with a view over a good deal of the open part of the map, including the intersection closest to the church and the one closest to the enemy map edge. Spotter ridge as seen from the eastern map edge, note some of my units on the left, in my setup area This seems a nice place for my FO to take up position, hidden under the scattered trees atop the ridge. For an extra pair of eyes, I will send the sniper team up there as well. I will also refer to this rise as 'spotter ridge' for now. The next interesting ridge is the one running through the center of the map from east to west. It starts on the eastern map edge with probably a good, relatively concealed view of the bridge objective, then splits in two around the sunken church and its small attached cemetery all the way to the main road. There it peters out – only to be replaced by a much wider rise in the ground going on up from the road to the western map edge. It is the main map feature that separates my staging area from the enemy's, therefore I will be calling it (including its spur north of the church) 'main ridge' henceforth. It also nestles the church with its surrounding trees into a snug little hole with no noteworthy LOS to anywhere but the central road intersection, making the church objective extremely well defensible. The southernmost of the two spurs of main ridge hooks around south to become spotter ridge. The lay of the land means that I will have to be careful exactly where my men cross the eastern part of spotter ridge, as there are some places that probably are in LOS of the whereabouts of the bridge objective, through the scattered trees on the easternmost part of main ridge. Main ridge as seen from the eastern map edge The church and surroundings as seen from the road intersection Finally, the enemy's map edge is split in two by the river physically, and optically by two groves of trees protruding south along the river. The river itself is crossed by two bridges as mentioned before, and two obvious fords (crossable by vehicles) relatively close to either end of the river where it meets the map edges. The river is mirrored on my side of the map in the southeast corner (with one ford), but has much less tactical relevance here due to there being no objectives on my side. The river on the Allied (north) map edge with the shallow fords marked Overall the map is largely mirrored, with my side seemingly being a little better shielded from view. That is good, but on the other hand, two of my objectives are off on the enemy's side of the map. But those are things I will worry about later on. Stay tuned for my setup and first orders in the next instalment!

Hello all and welcome to my first CMBN DAR on the Battlefront forums! With permission from Fredrocker, I hope to regale anyone interested with a During Action Report of my playing of the third battle (a meeting engagement entitled 'Sector 114, 124') in his recently released excellent campaign 'Sie kommen II (Axis)', which I understand is based on some scenario design work he did for a game in the CMx1 series. First off, I would like to thank Fredrocker for this (so far) very fast-paced and exciting campaign, it is wonderful design work indeed and I highly recommend it to all players of CMBN. So far, it has been relatively small-scale, infantry-centric battles with furious action involving recon and Fusilier elements on my side facing off against GIs supported by Stuarts and recon elements. But who knows what the coming battle will bring? I should mention beforehand that: A) I am not a military man, so please bear with me if I occasionally don't use entirely proper terminology. I will skip ranks and designations of formations (for those interested in geography, historicity and org charts, I suggest you download the campaign and read Fredrocker's beautiful PDF manual that ships along with the actual CMBN campaign file). I will refer to platoons and individuals, as well as terrain features, as I see fit in the context of the battle and try to maintain the same designations for groups of my men throughout the fight. That's as good as I can do. I play in real time. For some people this may be sacrilege, for others it may be gospel. All religiousness aside, RT has its pros and cons in terms of writing a DAR, I think. Of course I will occasionally miss just the right screenshot, or a few seconds of action while I watch something else happening, but on the plus side, the DAR should proceed faster than a PBEM, and I get the chance to coordinate my units and time my actions perfectly without having to leave it up to guesswork whether I have set the right amount of pause for squad X or HQ Y. If you are still reading this lengthy introduction – bear with me just a little longer! The next post with the map and briefing is just a single sentence away... Hope you enjoy the DAR, and please feel free to comment or give feedback on anything whenever you like! In particular, please let me know whether the screenshots are of adequate quality and size for you to actually see what's going on. Cheers, stoex