Sgt Schultz

Looking for a large/btn-sized combined forces battle. QB or scenario is fine. Any battle type, ME, Attack etc. I can defend or attack. I would prefer Germans, but either side is fine. Map size and force balance is more important than other variables for me. Room to maneuver, and a good force mix and I am a happy camper. I can play at least one file per day in evenings EST, with multiple files on weekends. PM me if interested. Thanks for your attention. P.S. HTH No Exit, HTH Valley of The Shadow and HTH A Morning Run are mine so choose those scenarios at your own risk. My Germans, on my map, will give you maximum challenge.

Overall, it may been the sense of mission, and the "true believer" mindset that did more than anything else to thwart all Western attempts to pacify the area. The communists truly believed that anything could be forgiven in the pursuit of their goals,while Western powers had to abide by those darn morals/rules/laws... pesky things that they are. The Viet Minh and related operations used people up with little to no regard for anything other than the completion of the task at hand. To use a loose analogy, it was like the Crusades. Any horror is permissible for the greater good and glory of God/Ho/insert concept. Once you get enough people on that kind of twisted bandwagon, incredible things become possible. That level of cultural dedication, coupled with both the terrain and the lack of true dedication of the Western powers, ensured defeat. DBP was insanity from day one. Alamo with no greater purpose attached. Then the Americans doubled down on the firebase concept and threw resources at it to "do it better with helicopters". Hedgehog defense worked for the Germans, in the winter, in WW2, in Russia. And they tried for Regimental strength to do that right. It was foolishness in the extreme in Asia to drop a Btn in the jungle and expect any kind of positive result. But your work is freakin' awesome LLF! I look forward to playing with the new guys once you get it all done.

I am looking forward to the results of that test under fire. It seems to me that anything under 200 meters or so may be trying to gild the lily in terms of penetration ability for the 75mm L/48. The STuHs probably had no business near the Churchills, but it seems you have found that out. I was caught by the 105mm HEAT trap too once. Churchill crew takes an aspirin for the ringing and continues on with the mission. 88mm and 75 L/70 have been the only reliable tools that I have found for use against those rolling blocks of steel. Schreks are iffy at best. I wish you luck. The pics and story have been great. Thanks for taking the time to share.

If that is directed at me, I am making the map. If you own CMBB, go to the proving grounds/scenario depot. Find the scenario "Meatgrinder" that I made a long time ago. The map and battle is based closely on that one, but larger in all dimensions. Well over 2km X 2km. The Town under construction ... The warehouse district... Opposed water crossing... attack through rural, and then increasingly urban terrain. That should soak up troops like a sponge. No damn assault boats kills me a little, but we soldier on as best we can. Starting smaller and getting steadily reinforced helps mitigate commander overload. Brits come from the West, Amis from the South. German town is in the NE corner. Think of it as a static operation CM1-style, without breaks in between. If we had persistant damage/static ops, I would not be doing it this way. It will be an all-terrains, all the toys, epic slug-fest. The TOEs will be reasonable and balanced. No companies of Elite King Tigers or anything absurd. Neither will they be "historical" and conscript, weakend or unfit. Just combined arms in proportions and unit choice that a grog may take if the Divisional commander let him take his pick of the realistic choices available. Units from green to vet. Numbers from 80-100% strength. Leadership -1, 0, +1. I do my very best to walk the line between an immersive fictional battle, and gamey fantasy. Long way to go, and testing will be a cast iron b*tch, but I love doing this type of battle. -

This is a nice series. While my plans never go as well as his, I get the point that it is for instruction. I agree that the next one should be on the proper way to conduct yourself when things go "mammaries inclined towards the positive Z axis". -

Yes, that's right ... three person PBEM. Once 2.0 hits, this project will get under way. First the mechanics, so I can have your complete attention for the reasoning and mission. Player1(P1) German Defender Player2(P2) Ami Attacker Player3(P3) Brit Attacker P1 sends file to P2. P2 watches, and gives orders for Ami forces, then SAVES(NOT RED BUTTON), and sends two(2) files to P2. Initial movie and saved file. P2 watches movie and discards file. Opens saved file and gives orders for Brits. Sends file to P1. Lather, rinse, repeat. ----------------------------- Why... pray tell? Because the Germans will have a reinforced Btn, and who wants to field the proper attacking force alone? You want to move just over a regiment full of teams and tanks? This way everyone gets about the same force. If reinforcements are done right, things should stay manageable and fun throughout an epic struggle for a large town and surrounding area. Folks can or course play it as a 1v1 if someone is into large forces. However, the two attacking forces will have their assigned sectors, setup zones, and complete chains of command. It must be stated that higher-end computers are the order of the day when Regiments are on the field. Hopefully 2.0 will help as well. I suppose the FI folks could have 2v2 with Italians being the axis partner. Where are my Rumanians when I need them? --------

Yes, all my rivers have Shallow Ford shores. Using these tiles creates a much smoother land/water interface. It is possible to walk or drive a good ways out into one of my rivers, but the phrase "fish in a barrel" comes to mind. The stream is made up of Shallow Ford tiles as well. By dropping most(not all or you're right back to looking artificial) of your shore tiles one level below water, you can get rid of that nasty stair step pattern when you run a watercourse diagonally. By alternating even, and one lower, on your straight stretches in little runs... you can add some character to an otherwise ruler-straight river. This also widens your rivers a bit, as they flow into the shore tiles a few meters. Four tile river becomes a five tile river by taking up half a tile on either shore. Go walk the shores on my battle map. If you feel like stopping to fish, I did my job right.

I am always a little conflicted when I see that. I want to say "I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you". Or I could say "Download it and slap it in the editor silly". But since I like to prattle on about my own little personal discoveries, you get a blog on stream building. You can thank our resident brain in a jar for inserting the neat little physical property that water will always seek its own level. Water does not need a water tile to exist on a tile. It just needs the proper elevation and proximity TO a water tile. Water can be constrained by adjoining locked elevations. The elevation difference between the locked stream tile and the gully tiles determines the width of the stream. ---------------------- ---------------------- ---------------------- If you will notice that the water tiles are all at elevation 13. By making adjoining land tiles 11, the water will flow downhill into the adjoining tile. By making the majority of my river shoreline 12, I get a much smoother look and nice water grasses. --------------------- I did something similar on my very first map with a small swamp, but never thought of it in terms of constrained watercourses. The adjoining stream tiles is a new personal discovery as well. These are things that I have no doubt are in a lot of designers' toolboxes, but it is always fun to find a neat trick on your own as well. There are a lot of nice options for flooded roads etc in my head now. It will be a dark and stormy night next battle. -

My latest humble offering is finally done, and up at the Mod Warehouse. GAJ gets it first for a week or so. Let us get the acronyms out of the way shall we? CMBN, CW, HTH, ME, PBEM, Ohh Youu Sss Eeee It is an attempt to create a running battle with the objectives to the front, and the enemy on the flank. Situated in my standard district of Outer Whatifia in mid '45(somewhere between France and Germany), there is a sprinkling of varied units caused by the jumble of TOEs during a long campaign. More green, less veteran. I tried to improve on the granular feel of the forces from my previous offerings. Previews .... This is from just in front of the Allied setup zone looking towards the objectives... Here is the German's view... From the East looking back towards the setup zones... ------ While the map began as The Valley of The Shadow, it has had quite a few changes and upgrades. The river shoreline has much less of that 8-bit look that diagonal water can experience. Vinyards and fields have been ripped out and replaced by orchards for more concealing terrain. Stronger structures and more devious keyholes of ungodly distance. And I discovered how to make me a tiny crick ... -------- -------- Old hat to some designers I'm sure, but now that I found it... there are flooded roads in your futures... -------- I hope you all can enjoy this with a friend. Any feedback is always welcome.

The perfect British Officer line ... "Relax Private, I seem to have located your legs." Upper lip stiff enough to land an aircraft on.

Yep. IMHO, for QBs Vet/High/+1 is the proper setting for armor/vehicle purchases of any type beyond truck. Some folks place even more faith in armor and go Crack and up the Motivation even more. Elites are like having Terminator T1s on the field. They see it, target it and kill it in an orderly, proficient, and military manner. Penetrations help vent propellant smoke, and are welcomed for the cool breezes they provide.They are first tanks to bog in wet weather of course. -

It seems to be getting a tad peng in here. Someone open a window please.

I was hoping for the SPR "bonk the pin on a rock and throw it" option. Mortar Team loses its tube and starts chucking the rounds at the enemy. I mean, come on, we already have the "Lunchbox of Doom" demo charges.

If the enemy is anywhere near the clear side of the road(spotted units with the info through entire C3 chain), then vehicles will travel as close to your order as possible, but will travel behind whatever concealment they can find. You give the orders, but in CM the units decide whether they will follow your insanity. I have no clue why the original HT did what it did, but I have seen numerous examples of vehicles shying away from road travel to move behind concealing terrain. They do NOT like roads if the bullets are flying and the enemy can see the road. I have no clue how this is done, but I do know that it happens.

What really truly matters is the mechanical reliability, which is 100% in each and every battle I have used them in. They are fine examples German pixelated engineering. And each and every one I purchase shows up for duty as well. To tell you the truth though, I would rather use JagdPanthers every time. No nooks and crannies to grab a round. Just a big slab o' steel.

LOL I have lost so many things to brew-ups, that I now avoid burning vehicles like the plague. One tile minimum distance.

The only difference other than basic personal weapons load, is that the actual mortar teams have to lug around an empty mortar everywhere they go. They work just fine in all types of combat, but are not the most mobile, agile or robust of the infantry choices. They will plug a gap, but I wouldn't use them on a charge up a hill, unless they have abandoned their mortar.

IIRC Defenders on Hide at battle start get a stealth bonus. I use Hide for defense at start for all units that do not need to either move or be spotting on turn 1. The concealment bonus that this action gives for defenders is worth having blind men for a while. If Hiding in concealing natural terrain such as XT Grass, the occasional "spotting" soldier is enough to activate short covered arcs(<100m). Walls and buildings and hedges block too much LOS for that quick peek to do much, if any, good. Close C2(face/voice) from Hiding units to non-hiding HQ that sees valid targets may also activate covered arcs/unhide. If the Lt sees something and yells to his platoon "they're right in front of you!", things should happen once the info goes down the chain according to whatever experience/motivation/leadership modifiers are plugged into the equation. --------- This is all anecdotal, as I do not have the time to do lots of testing ATM. I have witnessed these behaviors though.

Sneaking(SLOW) away from the enemy with a covered arc facing back towards the enemy works. Your men will spin around and engage until enemy is dead or ?, then spin back and keep crawling. This works wonderfully when engaged in tall crop fields like #4, and Xtra Tall(Ninja™) Grass, as well as Heavy Forest. The attacker is by definition making more racket than SLOW if he is catching up, and the covered arc seems to partially negate the facing attention attributes. Slow Retrgrade Ambush. Try it when the terrain allows. -----

Hehe, that is why it is so difficult for me to play scenarios now. I look at my OOB and say "WTF! I am missing some things that I need to accomplish my objective in a orderly proficient and military manner." See HTH Valley of The Shadow for what I consider to be a good mix for both sides. Balance, and opportunity for both sides, is more important than historical accuracy for me. I like to feel like I am bringing my force onto the battlefield fresh, not taking over for some loser that had his force smacked around until he was relieved of command, or was killed in action. I take care of my boys, they more truppen than pixel to me, and seeing a half-crushed force as my starting units in a scenario just makes me mad. lol --------------- For defense in a scenario, one may wish to closely examine the terrain, forces available, and objectives. Think of what you would have liked to have. Look at what you got. "Missing" capabilities usually equate to greater casualties and smaller area available for coherent defense. Don't let the designer or the briefing sucker you into defending three objectives, when keeping one, and greater attacker casualties, will get you the draw and a "historical" win. Look up sadism, and you may see portraits of CM scenario designers. I use the Reagan approach to briefings... "Trust, but verify." Pick your spots, then fight like a cornered badger for them with the best mix you can create with what was given to you. The attacker will usually try to flow around to a point of lesser resistance. He may be working with a less than optimal force choice as well. ---------- In either QB or scenarios, distance = time. Depth is the defenders friend, and that is completely map-dependent. The more depth you have before the objectives, the more ticks off the clock you can force if you can resist JUST enough to force deployment and artillery response, without incurring casulaties. - SMOKE! - I sometimes feel like a lost voice about my favorite tool in the box, for either attack or defense. Gentle or Light Wind in any direction but straight in your face, or away, can be a critical help. Smoke is sometimes the only way to remove a force from a situation that has gone t*ts up. I have occasionally used TRP placement on defense more for where I know I will need smoke missions to GTFO than for HE missions. Imagine the frustration of an attacking commander when a force ambushes him and gets away clean into a smoke screen. Sure, go ahead and chase them into that screen. Nothing bad ever happens then. Any limited counter-attack to retake an objective should use smoke support. By the time something like that needs to happen, the forces involved will be quite brittle. Look at EVERY smoke-capable infantry unit. Keep the ones you want to burn first upwind. Having three teams with smoke grenades sitting at the downwind side of a battle can make one feel rather foolish when noticed too damn late. Know how many pop smokes your vehicles have. JagdPzIV is just sick, and all Sherman models have like 12-16. Risking a tank for the time it takes to pop smoke to save an entire infantry platoon... you do the math as the situation warrants. If he wants the spot that damn bad, then let him have it .... for now. Smoke allows you to come back later for a rematch instead of making some Alamo last stand. Martyrs all have one thing in common... they're dead. ---------

I play large/huge QBs for the most part, so this will be biased towards that battle type. I got the bucks for enough toys and tools to do it right. The average CM battle area is usually too constrained to use true mobile tactics. You have to draw the proverbial line in the sand somewhere. I usually attempt to place the bulk of my forces(MLR) well ahead of any occupy objectives. The objectives are held by HQ/FO/support troops for scoring purposes. Better to stop the enemy than try to take an objective back. The psyop factor also comes into play. If it takes all that effort just to get near the objective... what awaits the attacker now??? Scouts forward to at least attempt to pluck out the enemy's eyes. Scouts back after first contact. TRPs on your forward positions, which should be the enemy jump-off to an objective, or other area needed by the enemy. One hard slap with forward forces, then pull back under smoke. Fire mission on TRP. Second(main) line opens fire on whatever comes out of the barrage, while initial forces catch their breath and become reserve. Main line should have foxholes/trenches(sparingly, they are not all that cheap), as the enemy will barrage the area, and your forces cannot leave. Vet/High/+1 troops for QBs make very steady main line defenders. Extreme Motivation should usually help keep 'em in their holes instead of running willy-nilly in a barrage. If German, use best armor available to destroy enemy armor. JagdPanther is basically a win button if used intelligently, and with just a little luck. lol If Allied, use numbers, movement, smoke and numerous other tactics to achieve flank shots. If defending against German heavy(Tiger+) armor, buy zook/PIAT teams and hide the f*%kers very well and deep near likely advance lanes. SLOW move them when you hear the rumble and the enemy troops have(hopefully) passed by. Pray that the glare from your burning Shermans distract the enemy long enough for a shot or two. ATGs/IGs are sacrificial units on defense. Make sure you can get your money's worth before they go poof. Ensure their foxholes can be occupied by reserve troops once the gun is out of action. It was a good spot right? Keep it as long as possible. Single HMG bunkers behind main line can help defend against rushes and may cause enemy to use more smoke. HMG teams are like trailers in a tornado's path. The more you need them, the greater the chance a random mortar round will land right on the gun crew. The bunker is worth it for that last-ditch support weapon. 81mm off-map mortars and all the TRPs you can afford are better than squandering points on large-bore silliness. You must react quickly, and Vet mortars paired with Vet FOs working with TRPS helps make that happen. A decent TRP web and three to five batteries can just flat out ruin an attacker's day. On-map 81s for point targets. Purchase at least one with ammo vehicle whenever possible. Share ammo with cheaper teams that can be purchased separately. Just pay shipping and handling. EDIT - German tip - Scout and Tank Hunter Teams can be used to make an old-skool supertoon/SMG toon. Not cheap, but will puree anything within 80 metres. Strip a platoon of all squads. Replace with 4-6 Scout Teams, 3x Tank Hunter Teams, and 2-3 LMG teams. Voila. Buy a vehicle and stock up on 9mm, as these fellas can go through it. Urban, or reverse-slope foxhole/trench... anywhere you can engage at short range, this line should hold until something heavy comes by. Again, this is also a psyop experience for the enemy commander. You have to see them at work from both sides to appreciate it. ------------------- Then there is the Fionn Kelly "Defense". Load up a flank, and hit the attacker with everything you have. Pre-planned barrages that seal off your lane. Smoke everywhere and massive infantry charge. Break through with armor into the enemy rear and just have a grand old time watching the enemy react. EDIT - Germans are just wonderful at counter-attacking. The equipment mix available makes a schwerpunkt force that can be quite a handful. --------

A picture of the tactical problem at hand can yield more relevant advice. Personally, I would use a combination of things stated above. First, check wind direction and strength. Your smoke preferences in order of usefulness may be... on-map direct-LOS mortar, armor pop smoke drifting in, armor/Gun direct fire smoke, personal pop smoke. Smoke should cover the target area after 2-4 minutes of steady suppressing fire. Attack from two directions, engaging from an upper story of a nearby structure if at all possible. If you have any demo charges, use them to blast through a wall into the alley the target unit occupies.

Excellent concept and execution. Huge seems too small for me now, so this idea is perfect for me. I do hope you have ammo'd up from all those soft vehicles before putting them in harm's way. It can suck to see thousands of rounds go up with a truck from a random HMG burst. Better to waddle after a long ride than run and use up all your ammo.

There is a retreat button. the unit will FAST to the closest AI-assumed safe spot, and then FACE towards the enemy. I have no empirical evidence to back this up, but it 'seems' to me that retreat will activate while pinned, while other movement commands will not. You still need smoke though, or you need to suppress the units firing on your position. HIDE will help for a while.

There is no extra ammo available for any Gun. 81mm Mortars for both Ami and German have Hannomag and Truck ammo respectively. If you do not purchase the Infantry Btn with these as organic units, then your non-HMG bearers are security, scouts and medics. If there is an ammo bearer team that is organic to a combat platoon, then one could possibly load them down with small arms ammo from a vehicle, then let them waddle around as needed when folks run low. This means keeping teams within the 1-2 action spot sharing limits though. ---- Buy the Btn with the vehicle-supported mortars. It's nice to have that cushion of being able to take ammo from anyone's truck/HT and cart it off to another mortar.