owenjones

It has saved my neck in one of the Road to Nijmegen campaign missions a platoon or 2 of paratroopers landed in an open field (where else?) and I plotted Move commands for both platoons to the nearest cover. Unknowingly they landed in LoS of a German mortar team who promptly starting a barrage. Thankfully my men changed to a Fast command automatically and only took a few casualties in what could've been a devastating situation. I thought this was new behavior for MG as I hadn't seen it before but I was thankful either way. I have also seen it operate in a detrimental fashion when men Moving across a field where ambushed by a MG towards their front, they changed to Fast and were nearly instantly pinned. In the second example though I blame myself more than the TacAI. Maybe the men could have different reactions, change from Move to Fast OR hit the dirt depending on the proximity and visibility of the enemy?

Glad to know I'm not the only one who, dog and girlfriend asleep, sometimes sit down to some CMBN and instead of playing just reads a book as I realize I have no battles in progress and the thought of starting a new one is too daunting.

Just completed this battle what a slog! Getting to the fort was quite the ordeal! I think when I finally crested the ridge the ensuing 5 minutes was possibly the largest exchange of lead I've seen in this game. Also talk about defense in depth and covering fields of fire! Such a good infantry scenario, what a great map!

This is really the only improvement I dream of. Especially playing Road to Nijmegen mission 3, follow command would be ideal for this scenario.

My mistake, I did mean to say teams, I still find them too bunched or column-y and liable to all get hit by one MG burst from the direction they are moving towards.

My biggest wish is for a 'Follow' command. I'm in Mission 3 of Road to Nijmegen and the tedium of moving the column down the road is high. That and infantry squads moving in line formation or something closer to it than the current death-column.

Mission 3 of Road to Nijmegen, my kingdom for a 'Follow' command...

I thought tank crews being strangely lethal was acknowledged at some point and fixed, was this not the case? Also what is that smoke mod?

I considered splitting the company but it seemed so risky, especially in hindsight! The platoon taking Stuwwel could've been undermanned to take the farm The AA could've stuck around Stuwwell and really out the hurt in them Conversely it could've caught the other two platoons in the open as they crossed! Also then pretty much any engagement would be full without reserves! If you won then I guess it was the right choice though Was this sort of thing done for real in the field and at such great distances?

I recently lost this battle and was wondering if I could get some advice as to what worked for you guys. The battle went as follows: Sent 1st 2nd and 3rd platoons to take Stuwwal farm https://www.dropbox.com/s/8c75c4ei6bcs1lh/CM%20Normandy%202013-11-04%2020-44-55-42.bmp This goes well, take it with light casualties from 1st and 2nd, 3rd platoon in reserve During this battle a mobile AA is scene retreating towards Breedweg Farm After Stuwwal is mine, my FO in the tallest building in the farm can spot the mobile AA as well as a German armored car in Breedweg This is where I think the battle starts coming apart for me I use my mortar squads to destroy the AA and call in smoke to start moving 1st 2nd and 3rd through this orchard: https://www.dropbox.com/s/uypypqqlgzemuaz/CM%20Normandy%202013-11-04%2020-45-20-99.bmp. I can't really get any LOS for covering fire at all so I've called in smoke and artillery fire from battalion mortars on Breedweg 1st 2nd and 3rd cross the open fields in bounds and the artillery has suppressed the Germans a little but I take some casualties and the process takes a very long time(50 meters quick move with 30 second waits as per Bil's esteemed advice) Finally Typhoons are called in on Breedweg and I move 1st and 2nd down this field in the back of the farm with 3rd in support: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lloianrl46wbxmq/CM%20Normandy%202013-11-04%2020-45-34-07.bmp There are multiple German MG emplacements as well as fortified troops and this process takes an excruciatingly long time with a lot of casualties Finally with the Germans routing, the mission ends, out of time with basically my forces intake and the Germans routed (as per the Review Map screen) but in possession of none of the Breedweg victory points. I'm not sure how I could've crossed the fields quicker with an acceptable number of casualties than I did. Once my company was in Breedweg and recovered from the long slog, I didn't have time to really scout any avenues of attack and had to choose between the long narrow road (hard to mass fire for me and high possibility of MGs in keyhole positions) and the field (easy for me to mass fire probable MG positions) How were you guys able to tackle this one? Thanks for any advice!

Hey Bil, just found the time to try the Infantry Attack Drill, got a Tactical Victory on my 1st attempt with 2 KIA when my scout team got attacked by the HQ element. I actually faired better than I was expecting, I guess I have a decent grasp of the Find Fix Flank Fire concept. One issue I have, in general and related to the various methods of Overwatch you describe is the timing of my various elements. Despite whatever pauses I give them they always seem to be moving at once and never in a cohesive Overwatch + Covering Fire / Maneuver organized fashion. Do you have any rules of thumb or advice related to how to get this timing down? Or is it purely practice / feel for the game? I'll attempt the Armor drill and let you know. Thanks! Owen

Very exciting! Thanks for your hard work!

John that's a very interesting read! (What I read so far) Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for this undertaking Bil, your AARs are both entertaining and educational (edutainment? ugh!) I was curious if your plans for this included small scenarios that illustrated a specific topic? Or possibly an example from an existing scenario you break down the doctrinally correct solution to a specific problem and then we can work through the same scenario giving your tactics a try (homework?) Thank you for your efforts!

It's amazing, it ends with the enthusiastic narrator saying "A study in contrasts, the captives and The Victors!" Only, I can't see much contrast. All I see are some terrified, post-adrenaline surge young men, angrily waving the intrusive camera out of their revery. Honestly I can imagine some "victors" envying their captives whose fighting days are most likely over. EDIT: Or HA! I thought it was actual footage from WWII, not a clearly anti-war 1960's movie. Thanks for your elucidating posts, Erwin & mjkerner.