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Sandokan

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  1. Upvote
    Sandokan got a reaction from Artkin in A Word on Follow-on Modules   
    Or maybe the 32nd. BF likes this kind of jokes. 😄
  2. Like
    Sandokan reacted to Bil Hardenberger in U.S. Thread - CM Cold War - BETA AAR - Battle of Dolbach Heights 1980   
    The Twenty-Fifth - Thirtieth Minutes - The Wheels Come Off
    “Be the hunter not the hunted: never allow your unit to be caught with its guard down.”
    James Mattis
     
    My AH-1 has been flying overhead for several turns now, and as far as I know this BMP is its only kill.  But in its defense it was being chased by AA missiles for most of the time it hung around and did lose it's mate so I'm lucky it made even this kill.

     
    After that the wheels started to come off....
    ...one of my M-150s exchanged ATGMs with one of Warren's BMPs...


    ...both missiles passed each other on flight... the M-150's hitting a tree... sigh...

    ...of course Warren's didn't miss.  Damn!

    One of Warren's T-64Bs... (in fact one that had been beaten up, in what seems like another life now, by my 1st Platoon tanks) fired and destroyed one of my M-60s still sitting on the Short Route... damn.  That means 2nd Platoon has now lost three of four tanks. Triple damn.

     
    Now with Tank Section 2 joining in on the fun I order all four 1st Platoon tanks back into the breach!

    Tank 1/9 had it's career cut short when it exchanged rounds with a T-62... 1/9 fired first, however... it missed.. the T-62 did not.

    Uh-oh... have I pushed too far?
     
    Third Platoon's tanks have also started moving down the highway... 


  3. Like
    Sandokan reacted to BornGinger in A problem with a railway bridge over a ravine.   
    I changed the tiles and made all of those connected to the bridges into rocky red, or whatever they're called but it didn'make any difference.
    The 26 meters tile and a bit above and below are ones which are under the bridge.
    I had earlier made all tiles around the areas where the bridges connect to the ground having the same elevation but that didn't make any difference which is why I went back to how I wanted it to look.
    I think I have found the solution to the problem.
    I had earlier lowered the elevation a bit were the bridges connect to the ground but didn't see much difference so I went back to how I wanted it to be. 
    But I decided to try and lower the elevation even more and made the 47 and 46 meter elevation tiles into 43 meter elevation tiles and it looks a bit better now although not perfect.
    From this problem I think I have learned that there is a limit to how high up bridges can be placed. It seems that bridges, or at least the 56 meters long stone railway bridge, can't be higher above the sea level than 42 or 43 meters. If they are higher up than that we get the problem with bridges sunking into the ground.
    Thank you all for your advices and thoughts about what I could try to make it work.
    Now when this problem is solved I can continue with this map and also add some AI plans to it.
  4. Like
    Sandokan reacted to stikkypixie in Hull Down Not Working for Me   
    Have you seen this video already? I find this a clear explanation: https://youtu.be/ahCRncgVrqA?list=PLYvL90uFbwhOsyXZJ0wWuRdqLWIv1Bj6e&t=167
    As for the LOS tool, it always starts from the unit, but actually gives you information on the LOS from the "white ball". One of those game quirks you quickly get used to.
  5. Like
    Sandokan reacted to Sgt Joch in A Word on Follow-on Modules   
    I was a very militant communist during the late 70s-early 80s when I was young and thought I could change the world, but that is another story.
    Most young "communists" back then were actually Marxists who thought of the Soviet Union as being only slightly better than the USA. Most Marxists believed the type of state controlled economy in the USSR set up under Lenin and Stalin had little to do with Marx's original concept and was just a different style of imperialism and capitalism with a governing class made up of top Party bureaucrats. The left-wing political filmmaker Costa Gravas released "The Confession" in the early 70s which was a powerful indictment against the Stalinist show trials in Czechoslovakia in the early 50s which had a big impact on many of us back then.
    The point is that it is extremely doubtful any of the Euro communists who were actually more social-democrats than real hardline communists would have seen a Soviet invasion as a "liberation". They would actually be more likely to want to defend western democracy which despite all its flaws is still better than Soviet style "People's Democracy".
  6. Like
    Sandokan got a reaction from Rice in A Word on Follow-on Modules   
    Or maybe the 32nd. BF likes this kind of jokes. 😄
  7. Like
    Sandokan got a reaction from Jambo in A Word on Follow-on Modules   
    Or maybe the 32nd. BF likes this kind of jokes. 😄
  8. Like
    Sandokan got a reaction from Dr.Fusselpulli in A Word on Follow-on Modules   
    Or maybe the 32nd. BF likes this kind of jokes. 😄
  9. Like
    Sandokan reacted to Bil Hardenberger in U.S. Thread - CM Cold War - BETA AAR - Battle of Dolbach Heights 1980   
    The Twenty-Third & Twenty-Fourth Minutes – Saga of Tank Section 1
    “If the tanks succeed, then victory follows.”
    Heinz Guderian
     
    Tank Section 1... quite an exciting turn to watch actually... well, it was for me.   
    As tank 1/8 came around the corner it immediately spotted a T-62 presenting its flank.  It appears that Warren did not see their approach!! 


    Kill 1 - T-62 While the crew of 1/8 was exchanging high-fives a BMP-1 popped into shooting range and fired it's gun... which surprisingly hit 1/8 and penetrated! 
     


    Though shocked and surprised 1/8's crew got its siht together, neatly pivoted its turret and destroyed the BMP.  Damage from the BMP's gun  round was minor, though the crew would remain shocked for the remainder of the turn and would start to withdraw in the next.

    Kill 2 - BMP-1 Tank 1/9 drove up alongside 1/8 and while it was dealing with the BMP, 1/9 spotted and destroyed another T-62... these were almost simultaneous actions.


    Kill - 3 T-62 So overall a successful foray.  Warren did have some infantry teams in this area by the way... luckily none were in position to attack my tanks and they were following his armor up the hill.  After these two turns some of these teams started skedaddling back to the woods.
    Tank Section 1 will now withdraw a bit and wait to see what Warren's response is.
     
    One of the Dragon teams joined in the fun launching a Dragon at another BMP.


     
    After these turns Warren started to pull back on this approach. The following image shows his high-water mark...  if he had kept pushing he would have run into my three M-150's kill zones... Warren's foremost BMP was meters from entering the killing zone of the M-150 shown in this image when it started to retreat.
    The three surviving Dragon teams are withdrawing to their next line, in case the Soviets decide to push their luck.


  10. Like
    Sandokan reacted to BletchleyGeek in Catching rare events on film   
    ... like this one
     
    The AI was driving those two tanks very close to each other, and I have seen proximity kills of soft-skinned vehicles (or as my buddy @Lethafacepointed out, something to watch out for when around vehicles like the BMP-3), but in 10 years of CMx2 I haven't even seen a proximity kill of a reasonably armoured AFV... by another AFV blowing up.
     
    Any other rare events like the one above people would like to share? Spotting stuff like this highlights how much happens under the hood with CMx2... and also how much more could this game tell us about what it does.
     
  11. Like
    Sandokan reacted to Bil Hardenberger in U.S. Thread - CM Cold War - BETA AAR - Battle of Dolbach Heights 1980   
    The Twenty-First & Twenty-Second Minutes – Beyond Here, There be Dragons
    “Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver.  The greater the General, the more he contributes to maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter.”
    Winston Churchill
     
    There was a second T-62 in Dolbach, and this one caught one of 2nd Platoon's tanks.. after two penetrations...

    On my far left with the delay force, Warren's T-64B across the map caught one of my M-113s trying to withdraw and took it out with one round.

    It's obvious now that this Soviet force has taken the bait and is pushing into my Scout teams, obviously trying to go on an APC killing spree.  Note my Tank Section 1 (1st Platoon) is moving up carefully.. if they are spotted Warren hasn't shown any reaction. 

    The Soviets are leading with their tanks... oh joy... well my lead 3rd platoon Dragon team takes a quick shot (note this took about 10 seconds from spot to launch).  

    The result.. another burning T-62.

    This team was heroic.. firing a LAW at a BMP, which alas went high (you can see the rocket just above the BMP)...

    ...but also a 40mm HEDP round which hits and penetrates!  The BMP was withdrawing as the turn ran down. 
    This team has another T-62 in its sights for next turn... if that damned Dragon can finish reloading before they eat an HE round!

    Tank Section 1 is closing in... note how I am staying close to the trees to remain out of the LOS of that damned T-64B across the valley.  I'm curious to see Warren's reaction when he notices these guys coming up his rear.  I really hope he didn't leave a couple dismounted teams in these trees...  ..but I think this is an armored attack.. I have seen no hint of any dismounts (other than the dismounted tank crew)... still.

    Oh.. and my support started to arrive.    Including my mortars and 155mm battery falling on Dolbach.. and my two AH-1s arrived in zone... though I do lose one to a MANPAD.
    Oh!  And some great news!  My Cluster munitions Battery freed up and I was able to plot them this turn too.. it'll arrive in six minutes.  

    After looking at my options with the Short route.. now that my tanks are here.. the less I am liking it. I wanted to drive up the flank of the enemy BMPs in the treeline overlooking my right.. but that looks hazardous.  
    So.. remaining ever flexible, I have decided to pull all of the 3rd Platoon tanks out of the stream bed and push them around the right and deep onto the Soviet held road.  Note the smoke rounds used to block Warren's eyes on this movement.  Once they get on the road there will be very little left to stop them.  On my right (Warren's left) he has two damaged T-64As and some BMPs.  But this type of fight will not be to the BMP's advantage, it'll be fast and close.


  12. Like
    Sandokan reacted to IICptMillerII in Pre-orders for Combat Mission Cold War are now open.   
    For those looking to see the Soviet infantry:


  13. Like
    Sandokan reacted to Bil Hardenberger in U.S. Thread - CM Cold War - BETA AAR - Battle of Dolbach Heights 1980   
    The Nineteenth & Twentieth Minutes
    “The important thing in strategy is to suppress the enemy's useful actions but allow his useless actions”
    A Book of Five Rings - Miyomoto Musashi

    Starting to get HOT... this is a long one.. so buckle up!!  
    These two minutes of action unfold a lot of important developments for this battle.  On my right, 2nd Platoon/s tanks made it to the low ground that composes the Short Option...

    ...one of them gets a spot on Warren's star killer BMP-1P in the treeline across the map and after some back and forth missed shots it finally lands one... damn fine shooting for a vanilla M-60A1 on the move.

     
    One of 3rd Platoon's M-150s spots and fires at the T-64A that was beaten up by 1st Platoon's Tank Section 2 last turn (and again in these turns) as it withdrew through the woods into the open ground... the M-150 does hit with its TOW.. but the T-64 shrugged off even that blow.  However.. I would be surprised if any of Warren'e two surviving T-64As have a working gun now.  


     
    On my left Warren is indeed up to something, the action was preceded by an artillery strike on the the woods in this area.  Sadly the only casualty was the Scout team that was calling in my Cluster mission... isn't that the way it always works?

    ...initially three BMP-1s and two T-62s broke cover.

    The 2nd Platoon leader team fired a Dragon at one of the BMPs.. which missed long.


    The BMP then oriented on the 2nd platoon Leader's M113, which was caught too far forward and put one gun round through it's front armor... killing the vehicle and it's crew.


     
    After reloading, 2nd PL's Dragon gunner took aim at the T-62 traveling with the BMP and succeeded in killing it.  FYI, the Dragon firing animation is still a work in progress, so I am keeping zoomed out from it.  Hopefully losing this tank will make Warren pause or change his tack towards my Scout teams.

    Remember that my units on my far left were originally meant as a decoy.. and hopefully his attack will orient itself on them and away from my main combat power. 
     
    By the end of the twentieth minute there were five T-62s (including the dead one) and five BMP-1s identified... so I think at least two Platoons of tanks and two platoons of BMPs.  I suspect these BMPs do not contain any infantry, so this is probably meant as an armored raid into my rear.  That's how I see it at this point in the game anyway.

    I have started moving 1st Platoon's Tank Section 1 across the map to hopefully hit his attacking force in the flank, or better.. the rear.  It'll take a few minutes for them to get into a position where they can begin hunting.

     
    Back on my right, Warren has pushed at least one T-62 forward to blunt my tanks coming up the stream route.  Spotted by the same M-60A1 that just took out the BMP, with this result:


    So to recap... if Warren pushes towards my Scout teams on my far left.. then that suits me.  It's less fire power for him to devote to blunting my tank movement on my right. 

    My scouts and M-150s (which are withdrawing as fast as they can) will transition into a Delay operation now.
     
    Final bit of action... on my right, 1st Platoon's 2nd Tank Section (tank 1/7) took a penetrating hit from the T-64B across the valley (should be the final undamaged T-64 on the map).  The M-60 suffers one casualty and minor damage.  Damn... well hopefully I can pull it out of the line before it gets hit again.


  14. Like
    Sandokan reacted to Bil Hardenberger in U.S. Thread - CM Cold War - BETA AAR - Battle of Dolbach Heights 1980   
    The Eighteenth Minute - Relearning Old Lessons
    “Lost in a blurred confusion of yells and groans... down, and down, and down, he sank and drowned, bleeding to death. The counter-attack had failed.”
    Siegfried Sassoon
    I seem to be relearning the same old lessons over and over again.  I had my 2nd Platoon tanks driving through the open to get to the low ground for the Short Option… the lead M-60A1 was spotted by both the T-64B and the BMP-1P across the map, and after exchanging fire with them, the BMP (of course) hit…

    …at least the smoke from the burning tank should mask two of the three tanks which are following.  They are too far forward to reverse and use a covered route, so pedal to the metal boys!
    Lesson learned.. again.
    The 2nd Platoon tanks that are already on this “open route” will continue as fast as possible behind the burning and smoking wreck of their comrade… the tank that hasn’t broken cover yet will remain and take a safer route. 
    3rd Platoon will also be taking a safer route.  Details next turn.

    1st Platoon Tank Section 2 moved forward slightly and was able to take the T-64A in the blocking position tree line under fire...

    ...actually got a couple hits, but alas, no penetrations.  However this tank did start to withdraw from the line.  By the way, this was the final undamaged T-64A... but these things are very hard to kill.



  15. Like
    Sandokan reacted to Bil Hardenberger in U.S. Thread - CM Cold War - BETA AAR - Battle of Dolbach Heights 1980   
    The Fifteenth through Seventeenth Minutes
    “I would rather you made your appraisal after seeing what the enemy does, since it is certain that, angered and outraged, he will soon launch a determined counterattack."
    Isoroku Yamamoto
     
    The fifteenth minute saw the loss of another M-150.. I swear the track of that ATGM fired from the BMP-1P... it's like magic the way it hugs the ground comes over the top of the hill and hits him in the lower hull.. must be a crack gunner!  Pretty sure I was hull-down to that BMP and T-64B too.  C'est la guerre. 

    Pushing on... 
    So over the next few turns Warren, who has finally figured out that the central approach is masked from my view, has been pushing his T-62 Company and some BMPs far forward...

    ...is he planning on defending the town?  Pushing into my rear area?  If the latter.. then I have no defense.  Just don't have the combat power available to fight off a determined push. 
    What to do.. what to do... well first of all, I need to confirm one or the other.  If I need to react and push some support units over towards my M-60s for protection then so be it, but I plan to continue my movement with the tanks.  That, hopefully, will force him to redeploy the assets in the center, maybe weaken any attack into my rear area.
    In the above image.. note the contact icon (BMP) which Warren has pushed forward... very close to one of my Dragon teams.  Bad news.. the visibility here is very dodgy and it'll be tough to get eyes on that BMP unless it moves forward.  I am pretty sure this is one of his remaining BMP-1P's that I lost sight of a few turns ago.  Probably followed up by the BRM-1.

  16. Like
    Sandokan reacted to A Canadian Cat in U.S. Thread - CM Cold War - BETA AAR - Battle of Dolbach Heights 1980   
    That would be cool - for sure.
    In the mean time theBlitz.club records are public here is a link to CMBN:
    https://www.theblitz.club/scenarios/combat-mission-battle-for-normandy/b-15.htm?action=scenarios&game=153
    The club picks a couple of scenarios per month and tries to get a handful of play tests for those scenarios.
    There is also @Ithikial_AU's CM Record where individuals can record their own battles:
    https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/cm-mod-warehouse/combat-mission-battle-for-normandy/cmbn-other/cm2-ww2-combat-mission-career-record-system/
  17. Like
    Sandokan reacted to The_Capt in CM Cold War - Beta AAR - Soviet Thread - Glorious Soviet Victory at Small German Town 1980   
    March to Glorious Victory - Post #6  "The Devil's Red Right Hand" (12-15)
    First off I apologize for the long return on this one, beyond Bil's glacial return pace, the main reason is that nothing really happened on the Soviet side of this thing.  I am sure Bil is doing a frame-by-frame Warren Commission-esque analysis (because that is what int nerds do) but frankly he has already missed his early victory boat.
    When I left you we were discussing options and landed on the least suicidal of the bunch given the somewhat less-than-optimal starting position.
    The only question left is "what will Bil do?".  I have thoughts on this but let's leave them til the end (someone remind me if I forget).
    So the only interesting thing to happen before the big push was the loss of another T64

    This little fella bought in on my left, which was unfortunate but I also observed something interesting before the kill.  

    These two T64s soaked up over a dozen hits between them from those M60s on the ridge.  Clearly not bullet proof but from the front these beast are very hard to kill.  This also speaks well for the Plan, as I would rather Bils tanks pinging off my T64s rather than killing my BMPs and T-62s. 
    So here was ol Bil's shot to end this thing about 13-14 mins in:

    You can see here we are all bunched up moving into position for the slot.  If Bil had DPICM'd this traffic jam, that pretty much would  have been it.  The bridge may have saved a couple but it would have been a bloody massacre.
    But he missed that boat.

    Turn 14 and I can start to breathe, the troops moving up the slot saw no direct fire.  Bil is lobbing shells into the area but frankly the steel soldiers of mother Russia give exactly zero F's about artillery.

    All that arty has about 2-3 casualties on me so far but I am sure it makes the old man - sitting in a faded bathrobe, the one from the 70s, his old-lady slippers, old man underwear with the torn waistband - feel better.   By end of Turn 15, we are about 1/3 through.

    So on the far side of the slot we have pretty much a tank pl and 3 x BMP.  In turn 16 I should be at 50%.  The dismounted pl on my left is looking good and pretty much unmolested.  They are going to link up with that scout pl and be my hands.  You can see on my left I have a screen in place of 2 x T64s and about 4 BMPs, that is a very good position in case Bil gets frisky on my left, which based on that smoke I am guessing is a possibility.  The biggest threat now is a DPICM strike but I am less worried about it now as my Tank Coy and BMPS are spread out and moving fast, so at worst I may take a few casualties.  Main concern now is getting that inf platoon on my right into those buildings.  The HQ and squad did get pinned so I need them to get going.
    And let's not forget the Eyes on my Right.

     So I have 2 x T64s on the right with good LOS (I just noticed one got immobilized, which is a pain but it is in a solid position).  That little BMP in the little clump of woods nails another M150.  These guys on my right can actually cover the ridgeline and the left, so pretty happy with that for now.  I am very happy at nailing the M150s.  It may seem odd to a bunch of tank nerds but these thing are actually more dangerous right now.  They have TI, so can see through smoke and those TOW are not going to take 6 hits to kill me.
    So now what?  Well finish moving through the Slot and then we spread out and start the knife fight in the woods.  So what is Bil going to do?  Well my bet is he is looking longingly at my left flank, two or three columns of smoke are singing sweetly to him do doubt...I welcome him to try.
    Next he could focus on the village and do a center push but in about 120 seconds I am going to have 2 x Inf platoons at near 100% with options for tank and BMP support.  Bil has ACR scout teams, M113 which are basically halftracks and a bunch of M60s who will not do well in an urban fight. 
    So that leaves the woods on my right.  Here he has better approaches but if thing go even half decently I will have a another Soviet infantry pl back up by a lot of armor for this little dance against Scout teams, who are not really designed for this sort of thing.  So all in all, I am liking my odds...but...and there is always a but....the next 120-180 second have to go well.  That and I know that Bil has Cobras...so this thing is not over yet.
     
  18. Like
    Sandokan reacted to Bil Hardenberger in U.S. Thread - CM Cold War - BETA AAR - Battle of Dolbach Heights 1980   
    The Fourteenth Minute - Spoiling Attack Plan
    “Be like water making its way through cracks.
    Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.”
    Bruce Lee
    Bruce said it… “…adjust to the object…”, that is how I play… remaining flexible and adjusting my planning according to the enemy position and movements.  For several turns now I have been building to something… and the moment is close to when I put it all into action.
    The 14th Minute
    This one changed the battlefield calculus some.  Warren has moved a BMP-1 platoon and the surviving, undamaged T-64A to the tree-line overlooking the approach I wanted to move my M-60s down.  This complicates the approach, but doesn’t change my mind.  I may have to delay my move for a few turns so I can drop a mix of cluster munitions and standard artillery on this position.  But then again... I may start a movement through some masked terrain, or under a smoke screen to keep him busy and interested.

    I don’t know if Warren has spotted my tanks starting to assemble, or if this is in reaction to my 1st platoon tanks, which up to this point have been pretty effective.  From that position though, Warren cannot spot my 1st Platoon tanks, so he is probably attempting to close his left flank.   
    In this turn I had moved my 2nd Platoon Tank Hunters forward into Hull Down positions to cover the center-right of Warren’s force.  Immediately the M150 highlighted below spotted and fired one TOW at the BMP-1P indicated.  It missed long but is reloading for another shot next turn.

     
    Spoiling Attack Plan
    My initial goal in this fight was to clear Warren’s left flank (my right) and open it up for a tank heavy spoiling attack into his center. 
    I am not interested in the Dolbach objective... my objective is the Soviet force.  My intent is to kill as much of his long range firepower as possible, then his infantry won’t matter.    

    All of my positioning up to now was in support of this move.  The 2nd and 3rd Platoon’s tanks have joined the 1st Platoon’s tanks on my right and are currently in their assembly area, or entering it.  What I wanted to do was, using my 1st Platoon tanks as over-watch, drive all eight of the 2nd and 3rd Platoon tanks deep into Warren’s left flank and then drive toward the center, disrupting his assault on Dolbach and hopefully attrit him to the point where his combat power is significantly reduced.
    The way I see it I have two Courses of Action (COAs):
    COA 1 – Deep Attack.  This was what I had hoped to do, but with Warren’s flank security position this one comes with increased danger for my tanks. COA 2 – Short Attack.  I actually like this one as well, it will unhinge Warren’s flank security and force him to react to my move, plus it will provide some pressure on the center and Dolbach. Follow on Force.  Regardless of which COA I decide on, I do intend to follow the 2nd and 3rd Platoon tanks with 1st Platoon’s tanks as indicated in the planning map below.
    I have moved two platoons worth of scouts to my left flank for a dual role:
    As a decoy force The scouts, armed with Dragons as flank security and a reserve I have called in my attack helicopter support on the main enemy assembly area, but that is still several minutes away. 

  19. Like
    Sandokan reacted to sawomi in U.S. Thread - CM Cold War - BETA AAR - Battle of Dolbach Heights 1980   
    It has nothing to do with postcards or street view. It depends on the location. If you drive up these hill at 500m and 2.5km distance in your pic, how far could you see? Hard to tell. Depends on the landscape and the features in it in a particular direction, atmospheric conditions etc. It also has nothing to do if you are on a road or a field. Just drive some kilometers on a rural road in central Germany. The view distances change constantly in all direction. If it leads you up over hills or plateaus you can have far reaching panroamic views for some time and then it goes down in a valley again und you can see maybe 100m or 200m.



  20. Like
    Sandokan reacted to sawomi in U.S. Thread - CM Cold War - BETA AAR - Battle of Dolbach Heights 1980   
    Thuringia. Right beyond Fulda Gab. Same landscape. It always depends if you are in the valley or on a hill. But there are many hills with just agricultural fields, not all have forests on top. And there you can have wide and far views.
    The point is there IS open space for 3000m tank duels. Not everywhere, everytime, maybe even more often not - but certainly not just in "rare" cases.

  21. Like
    Sandokan reacted to The_Capt in CM Cold War - Beta AAR - Soviet Thread - Glorious Soviet Victory at Small German Town 1980   
    March to Glorious Victory Post # 5 - The Bitter Tonic of Sacrifice (Turn 8 - 11)
      So the theme of todays post is to validate The_Capt's rule #5 - never play by their rules, play by your own.  So in this episode we are building to a decisive moment one way or the other.  I posted the kill shot on the M150 for turn 8 previously, beyond that not much to report as I continue to move into a broad tree line position of Eyes.
    Turn 9 we score another M150 kill as my tanks pull onto the shoulders on either side.  That is an AT3 and sabot round...it was the AT 3 that does the job.
    You can get a good sense of the setup laydown on this shot of the kill.   I have infantry in the center and the two T64 pls on either shoulder.  The setup here is for the impending arrival of The Boys

    So the good news is that is a Tank Coy (10 tanks strong) but the not so good news is that they are T62s.  The T62 can still do the job and can kill an M60 from the front pretty well, problem is that they are a little blind.  So I am re-thinking my approach to Kill Bil and Teeth.
    Turn 10 is when my original thinking is validate.  If I stay in this tree line and play Bils game he will pick me off from that ridge, mainly because the optics on the US tanks are simply better.
    Ok, this first one actually hurt the worst.  There was a Coy HQ and a FO in that BMP.

    And the T64s are tough but not invincible, this one on my right.

    And on my left another T64 (this one of those frustrating TAC AI shenanigans) and another BMP.  So the tree line and play peekaboo is not going to work, particularly with T62s...we move or die. 
    Turn 11 sees no further losses but those T64s do take some bounces as the M60s on the hill have them well dialed in but by the end of Turn 11 we are in position.

    So, dear reader, here we are at the edge of eternity.  I have two infantry platoons dismounted because I really do not want them to die inside their vehicles.  They are pushing up a bit towards the town.  I have a tank coy in a good position to push out and I still have a pretty good force on the shoulders.  Hmm...so what should the plan be?  Seriously...discuss.  
    Right now, I am thinking about not swinging to the left and up but going straight through the town and up.  The primary issue is that those T62s are deadly up close (1000m or less) but I have to get them there and all that open ground to my left is not looking good.  There is probably at least a US tank Pl on that ridge to the left and another covering from the right both sweeping that open field.  If I can get into those wood beyond the town, we will have the knife fight and I will be in a better position to overwhelm.  The other option is to go right, lotta dead ground there.
    So here is a shot of the map from the (included) scenario editor:

    Very interested to hear from the audience cause I really have not made my mind up on this one.
  22. Like
    Sandokan reacted to Rinaldi in U.S. Thread - CM Cold War - BETA AAR - Battle of Dolbach Heights 1980   
    Gun depression is not modelled in game in the strictest sense, but it will become apparent as a large negative time addition to engaging a target after acquiring. Most often you'll notice this when fighting infantry with armored vehicles in close quarters - that's been in game since the Market Garden module. EDIT: I want to clarify this is strictly noticeable at extremely close range, this was an addition in MG to better represent the difficulty a tank (of any era) faces in fighting infantry in built-up or close in terrain. It was meant to even the odds for light infantry when conducting close attacks on armour. 
    Soviet-era tanks are squat with a low centre of gravity and a longer or comparable barrel to NATO counterparts. As a rule they had worse gun depression as a result. Again, not modelled in game unless something has changed beyond my knowledge. 
  23. Like
    Sandokan reacted to Bil Hardenberger in U.S. Thread - CM Cold War - BETA AAR - Battle of Dolbach Heights 1980   
    The T-64 is a bad-ass tank.  Take M-60A1s of any flavor (and I have all three types in this game) against it one on one on a flat map and the T-64 wins the majority of times.. mainly because its armor is so tough against the rounds carried in the M-60A1... not until the M-60A3 and M-1 does the curve start to flex the other way due to the superior ammo and optics they carry.
    What you are seeing now is a difference in positioning... my M-60s are all hull down, Warren's tanks are not.. plus he is moving into my line of sight, mine are stationary most times... a moving tank is easier to spot.  My tanks are keyholed... his are set up in non-hull down positions in treelines.. now I'm a fan of treeline positions for armor, but I will take a hulldown position over them any day.  One T-64A presented its flank to me in front of the trees.. it lasted seconds after getting spotted.
    On average it is taking me multiple rounds to kill the T-64s, in the case of the most recent T-64A it must have taken 8-10 hits (lost count) over two turns before the tank was destroyed... if it had been the T-64A firing at my M-60A1, the M-60A1 would have been destroyed with the first hit in most cases.
    Bil
  24. Like
    Sandokan reacted to Bil Hardenberger in U.S. Thread - CM Cold War - BETA AAR - Battle of Dolbach Heights 1980   
    Thirteenth Minute - The Board is Set
     
    “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.”
    Art of War, Sun Tsu
     
    Minute 13:
    1st Platoon's Tank Section 2 continued to harass the two T-64As on the Soviet left (my right) flank.  These are the two T-64s that took a beating in the 12th minute... and they each take several more rounds into their front hull and turret, both backing into the woods the whole time.

    T-64A (right side) manages to escape.. but it has to be damaged.  I am considering it a mission kill until I know otherwise.  If it pops back up later I will address it then.
    T-64A (left side) takes a penetrating hit at the end of the turn.. and this one kills it:

     

    CURRENT SITUATION
    This is a busy image, and I apologize for that. 
    Enemy Situation:
    Recon Company remnants are pushing forward and are on my extreme left. Warren's dismounted infantry and scouts continue to push toward Dolbach, supported by the Recon Company BMP-1Ps/BMR-1 and the Infantry Company's BMP-1s BMP-1s in overwatch are starting to move forward some, but are remaining behind the infantry for now T-62 Company is still being held in reserve, but is moving forward slightly T-64B Platoon is down to one fully functional tank and one wounded and probably gun damaged tank T-64A platoon is down to one wounded and probably disabled tank
    My Support Plan:
    2 of my 3 available M-106 Mortars are starting to drop rounds in front of the Soviet infantry.  Timing with indirect fire is always a challenge, but I am liking how this is shaping up
    One of 155mm batteries is dropping spotting rounds for a linear fire mission as shown below.  Fire for effect should start in a couple turns.
    I do have more planned, but am saving that for the next report!  Yes, I will finally let you in on the planning that I have been working toward for several turns now... stay tuned! Finally, some Tank Porn!!
    BMP-1P:

    BMR-1 (Recon Company CO's ride:

  25. Like
    Sandokan reacted to Bootie in TSD III, TPG II & The CM Mod Warehouse Update area.   
    The latest "new" mod to be uploaded at the CM Mod Warehouse.  Also if you fancy please do support the new CM YouTube channel. 
     
     
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