Heirloom_Tomato

MINUTE 17
@IanL yes it was exciting and now the calm after the storm... I continue some area fires on my left wing.


My plan is now the following:
I will advance on the left and destroy the remaining opposition in the woods, Then, I will move my guys toward the main objective in the center of the map. 
 

When they are ready, they will be out is the usual way to look at things.
I hate waiting as much or more than the next guy. It has gotten easier as I have grown older but I still hate it. I drive way too many extra kms on backroads and through small towns to avoid waiting in traffic jams. I'll waste an afternoon driving to pick up something myself rather than wait the three or four days it would take the store to ship it to me. 
I would rather do almost anything than have to wait. So instead of waiting for the patch to come out and not play the game, I play the game. Find an opponent who will agree to play with rules limiting the amount of off map arty and play a pbem match with them. For that matter, play a pbem match and both of you take large quantities of off map arty and blast each other to pieces. The game will treat your troops and his the same. Unless of course you decide to make a DAR and then you can count on the game intentionally screwing with just your side. Right @RockinHarry? 😁
At this point, I would challenge anyone who is impatiently waiting like me to make a 1.5 km x 1.5 km quick battle map based on the area surrounding your house. Use whichever game family you like to play the most. Put your house right in the center of the map and try as hard as you can to get it to look as close to your neighborhood as possible. Make it an attack battle with the player as the attacking force. Pick units for both sides that seem appropriate for what your map looks like. If the using the AI editor is easy for you, setup an active defense and multiple AI plans. If not, take your time and setup the defenders as if you were playing a multiplayer game. Pick your victory conditions, assign the points, write up a quick briefing and your done. A simple scenario, ready to play. 
If everyone who can't wait for the patch makes a simple scenario like this, think of all the new content available to play on once the patch finally does comes out!

MINUTE 16
This turn was exciting. To avoid losing my halftrack, I have ordered it to advance a little while I am sending my tank into a search and destroy mission against this armored car.

The armored car is indeed trying to destroy some of my men near the halftrack.

But, the cavalry arrives...

And the unthinkable happens. The Stug III is spotted surely also looking after the halftrack.

Meanwhile, one of my squad in the woods on my right wing is firing with a bazooka against the armored car.

I think that is what we call a near miss. 😕


Luckily for me, my Sherman has seen the Stug III and is aiming at it.

Too late, the Stug III is firing... 😨

But, a micro second later, my Sherman also fires. The two shells are under the green arrow.

Boom!!! Boom!!! Stalemate...

The Stug III is out of order as well as my lonely Sherman...

Exciting indeed 😅

No idea what is the movie but this selection of scenes is quite awesome. Just in case @Battlefront.com is considering upgrading the text messages and the decals...
 

When they are ready, they will be out is the usual way to look at things.
I hate waiting as much or more than the next guy. It has gotten easier as I have grown older but I still hate it. I drive way too many extra kms on backroads and through small towns to avoid waiting in traffic jams. I'll waste an afternoon driving to pick up something myself rather than wait the three or four days it would take the store to ship it to me. 
I would rather do almost anything than have to wait. So instead of waiting for the patch to come out and not play the game, I play the game. Find an opponent who will agree to play with rules limiting the amount of off map arty and play a pbem match with them. For that matter, play a pbem match and both of you take large quantities of off map arty and blast each other to pieces. The game will treat your troops and his the same. Unless of course you decide to make a DAR and then you can count on the game intentionally screwing with just your side. Right @RockinHarry? 😁
At this point, I would challenge anyone who is impatiently waiting like me to make a 1.5 km x 1.5 km quick battle map based on the area surrounding your house. Use whichever game family you like to play the most. Put your house right in the center of the map and try as hard as you can to get it to look as close to your neighborhood as possible. Make it an attack battle with the player as the attacking force. Pick units for both sides that seem appropriate for what your map looks like. If the using the AI editor is easy for you, setup an active defense and multiple AI plans. If not, take your time and setup the defenders as if you were playing a multiplayer game. Pick your victory conditions, assign the points, write up a quick briefing and your done. A simple scenario, ready to play. 
If everyone who can't wait for the patch makes a simple scenario like this, think of all the new content available to play on once the patch finally does comes out!

When they are ready, they will be out is the usual way to look at things.
I hate waiting as much or more than the next guy. It has gotten easier as I have grown older but I still hate it. I drive way too many extra kms on backroads and through small towns to avoid waiting in traffic jams. I'll waste an afternoon driving to pick up something myself rather than wait the three or four days it would take the store to ship it to me. 
I would rather do almost anything than have to wait. So instead of waiting for the patch to come out and not play the game, I play the game. Find an opponent who will agree to play with rules limiting the amount of off map arty and play a pbem match with them. For that matter, play a pbem match and both of you take large quantities of off map arty and blast each other to pieces. The game will treat your troops and his the same. Unless of course you decide to make a DAR and then you can count on the game intentionally screwing with just your side. Right @RockinHarry? 😁
At this point, I would challenge anyone who is impatiently waiting like me to make a 1.5 km x 1.5 km quick battle map based on the area surrounding your house. Use whichever game family you like to play the most. Put your house right in the center of the map and try as hard as you can to get it to look as close to your neighborhood as possible. Make it an attack battle with the player as the attacking force. Pick units for both sides that seem appropriate for what your map looks like. If the using the AI editor is easy for you, setup an active defense and multiple AI plans. If not, take your time and setup the defenders as if you were playing a multiplayer game. Pick your victory conditions, assign the points, write up a quick briefing and your done. A simple scenario, ready to play. 
If everyone who can't wait for the patch makes a simple scenario like this, think of all the new content available to play on once the patch finally does comes out!

MINUTE 15
The halftrack starts an area fire on the suspected enemy position. 🤗

It reveals that some people are fleeing. 🎅

The German on my right wing are too far away to provide any kind of support.

The 10,5cm round of the turn... No casualty this time. I really think this is one harass mission.

And a little surprise, a recon armored car is showing up.


And it looks like it is after my halftrack... 😨

Strangely enough, I am observing more suppressive fire than expected and I realize my tank is also after something.


Ouch! One of my men was a little too exposed and is hit.

Ah and a smoke potting round, my assault is near.

In the middle, one AFV was able to spot an MG team at the end of the last turn. I gave them a target light order and they spend the turn hosing the building down. 

The rest of D company was trading a few pot shots with some of RH's men. Nothing serious happened until the last few seconds of the turn. A large HE round hit the front of the houses in support of the church. One man was hit, a guy all the way behind the house, completely out of harms way, or so I thought. I assumed a shingle fell off the roof and onto his head.

This is the situation at the end of the turn. The areas circled in red are where I know his men to be. I have started to call in some 81mm mortar fire onto his strong points and will be slowing the combat down if I can, while I wait for those rounds to come in, approximate call time of 6 minutes. I have also ordered a couple more of the AFV's to begin moving in support of C company. Hopefully the mortars and AFV's can suppress his men long enough for me to flank and then destroy them.

Turn 1:52-1:51
Last turn we left this Daimler and his supporting infantry from C company firing away at a MG nest in a building. At the start of the turn the MG crew is spotted again and engaged by everyone who can see them.

Within a few seconds of heavy incoming fire, one man is spotted fleeing the building. Unfortunately for me, the guy running away is carrying an MG. Too bad they didn't nail him but at least they got him suppressed enough to flee.

At the end of last turn a section of RH's men was spotted in the Laundry, lower window of the tile roof building. I gave a two inch mortar team orders to fire smoke in front of this position, to hopefully blind these men and allow me to move my men out of their line of fire. 

There he is!

While my rifle crews can't seem to hit anything, my mortar crews appear have paid attention during training. INCOMING!!

What a shot! Right in the window!

The smoke rounds from the 2 inch mortars are all WP rounds. I know the manual says WP rounds can cause casualties and really hope it happens in this case. I would find it hard to believe a WP round going off in the confines of a small building would not cause some kind of injuries even if they are just light ones. If nothing else, those guys had better be suppressed!

The vehicles in over watch between the companies come under fire from some sort of HE round. It falls short but causes both Staghounds to turn their attention in the direction of the shot.
 

It is a Schreck team and they come under a hail of fire from the Staghounds and flee for safety.

I am replaying this turn to get the screenshots and I missed this sequence on the first play through. I am glad I did not give these guys any target armour arcs or they may have been knocked out due to my neglect. It is a good thing the TAC AI knows how to look after the men, even when their commanding officer ignores them. This next picture is for you @JoMc67. While looking at this turn a second time, I found these guys. I have no idea where they came from, who took them out, or when it happened. It did not happen this turn as they are already casualties at the start of the turn. To me it is another example of how when playing with all visual clues of the enemy off, it is best to let your men have the freedom to fire at will!

 

The following sequence is one of the reasons why I absolutely love the CM series. It is also the reason RH wanted to give the name Sexton House to this little building. I still don't know why, but I am sure he will explain it in his DAR. At the end of the last turn some smoke rounds were starting to fall, giving cover to my men from 15th platoon sent to clear out Sexton house. I ordered this three man section lead by Corporal Morrissey to move in and flush out RH's men. I assumed they would be suppressed and hopefully easy targets for my men. As the section closes in on the house, they see a smoke round falling and fail to spot the men laying in front of the house.

They do however, spot a two man team just behind a barb wire fence. The Germans greet them by throwing gifts....

The first grenade explodes harmlessly off to the side while both side trade inaccurate rifle fire.

Corporal Morrissey falls to a shot from RH's men and a second grenade goes off taking out the nameless private behind him.


The view from the German vantage point

Private Purval has had enough and breaks for the safety of the church.

As he flees, the Germans take a shot at him. Big mistake. Private Purval feels his blood boil and stops to get some revenge for his fallen comrades, readying a grenade of his own.

His throw appears to be spot on, while the German's shot goes just wide.

Seconds later the grenade goes off,

lifting the German off his feet

and dumping his broken, lifeless body back to earth. Haven gotten his revenge, Private Purval continues his run for safety in the church.

As the turn ends, the men in the church spot the other German from this team and bring him under fire as he runs away.

This weekends challenge battle features an Italian attack on an American held position in a "What If" battle. It is for CMFI and you will play as the Italians. The Gustav Line bundle should not be needed for this battle. There is some AFV support for this battle, however use it with caution. Each AFV spotted by the Americans will award them points and could tip the battle in their favor. Use your infantry as best as you can!
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/k5v42gds4y7e2so/AADyXv9MCabs64EVeJJFv0jua?dl=0

I should have added it is also the reason I play WeGo only. I watched that little section of the battle, over and over and over again. As the player, when you bring the camera down to its lowest level and get right in and watch the battle playout as if you were the fourth man in this team, I am always impressed by all the little details the game models.

I will assume the HT means me, anyone else with an HT name feel free to jump in with your user friendly rules
If you are looking to add realism and want to introduce some command delays, play the game on Iron mode and use the following rules for C2 sharing. These screen shots were taken in the most up to date version of CMFI.
I setup a quick battle with D Company of Canadian infantry. Here are all three platoons marching across the battlefield with no unit selected. Notice how you as the player have no problem seeing all the units and where everyone is.

If we go in nice and close to 10th platoon and select the platoon HQ we can see the units he can see. You will also notice that since he has gone over the crest of the hill, his line of sight to D Company HQ is gone, as well since they are still moving his radio link is out. 10th Platoon has no C2 link with the rest of the Company. Any information they may have about the battlefield is then off limits to all other units in the Company. In other words, 11th and 12th Platoons will have no idea what is happening to 10th Platoon and cannot come to their rescue if they are in trouble. These Platoons will also not be able to modify their current orders based on something 10th Platoon might be able to see. Somehow 10th Platoon will have to make contact in order to share what they can see. A runner would need to be sent or the Platoon HQ will need to stop moving in order to reestablish radio contact. At the end of this turn, 10th Platoon HQ can issue orders to any of his men as they are all in contact. If any of them get out of contact, those units will be considered "lost" and somehow contact will need to be reestablished with Platoon HQ before they can given new orders. Lost units are allowed to complete the last orders given to them, ie their current movement plans and allowed to fire at will. They can also attempt to move back to the last known location of their HQ in an effort to restore C2 themselves. However any offensive moves must wait until contact is made with the Platoon HQ.

Looking behind them, 10th Platoon has an idea of where everyone was before they crossed the ridge.

But notice how one of the sections from 10th Platoon is still on the edge of the ridge? What can they see?

Why that is the 2nd section of 12th Platoon and they have a visual/audio link with them. According to my rules, it can be assumed 2nd section has all the knowledge of 10th Platoon at the end of this turn and can begin to react to any threats potentially facing them, but only 2nd section. The rest of 12th Platoon will have to wait one more turn, the time it would take 2nd section to relay this information to their Platoon HQ. So at the end of the next turn, all of 12th Platoon could break from their current plan and begin to move in support of 10th Platoon.

You will notice 12th Platoon has a visual link still with D Company. My rules require a further minute for all C2 sharing with the next level higher. So in this case, if after a second minute has passed, 12th Platoon still has contact with D Company, it can be assumed all units in contact with D Company know the situation of 10th Platoon and can begin to move in support of them. Here you can see D Company HQ and all the units it has contact with.

If C Company was also involved with this battle, and both C and D Company have radio contact with Battalion HQ, it is assumed a further minute of delay to share information between Companies.
A quick summary:
If a unit spots the enemy, they may react to what they see immediately. Any units in direct contact with them, like the visible ones shown above, will also be able to react immediately.
Any units outside of direct contact will need to reestablish contact before they can be issued new orders. If Platoons have radio contact with Company HQ, it is assumed a one minute delay to share information within the Company.
If multiple Companies are on the map, it is assumed a two minute delay to share information between Companies.
If multiple Battalions or Formations are in the same battle, it is assumed a three minute delay for sharing information between them.
The simplest way to prevent these big delays is to have units stay in close contact with each other so information sharing can be instantaneous. For example, keep 9th Platoon of C Company in contact with 10th Platoon of D Company and both Platoons in contact with a tank from the Armour formation. This will cut the delay down to one minute for all the units in C and D Company and the Armour formation.
What happens if a Platoon HQ is wiped out? In this case, the men would either stay in place until contact is made by another HQ unit or they will begin to fall back to the last known friendly locations and join up with the first unit they come into contact with.
Clear as mud?

This is what the good Canadian boys saw right before he got whacked. From my angle it appears to have been a burst of fire from a Sten gun @RockinHarry.
 

 

I should have added it is also the reason I play WeGo only. I watched that little section of the battle, over and over and over again. As the player, when you bring the camera down to its lowest level and get right in and watch the battle playout as if you were the fourth man in this team, I am always impressed by all the little details the game models.

I'll give more detailed comment later but in the meantime, some reference pics …

 
This really is just to show what my arm looks like for those curious about such things.
 

So here we've got Green Zone plus Dasht, a river and some of that mountainous stuff.

More of that river, desert green zone and mountain stuff.

Mountains plus just a bit of awesomeness running into the target.

One of the target villages with compound detail.
 
 

The following sequence is one of the reasons why I absolutely love the CM series. It is also the reason RH wanted to give the name Sexton House to this little building. I still don't know why, but I am sure he will explain it in his DAR. At the end of the last turn some smoke rounds were starting to fall, giving cover to my men from 15th platoon sent to clear out Sexton house. I ordered this three man section lead by Corporal Morrissey to move in and flush out RH's men. I assumed they would be suppressed and hopefully easy targets for my men. As the section closes in on the house, they see a smoke round falling and fail to spot the men laying in front of the house.

They do however, spot a two man team just behind a barb wire fence. The Germans greet them by throwing gifts....

The first grenade explodes harmlessly off to the side while both side trade inaccurate rifle fire.

Corporal Morrissey falls to a shot from RH's men and a second grenade goes off taking out the nameless private behind him.


The view from the German vantage point

Private Purval has had enough and breaks for the safety of the church.

As he flees, the Germans take a shot at him. Big mistake. Private Purval feels his blood boil and stops to get some revenge for his fallen comrades, readying a grenade of his own.

His throw appears to be spot on, while the German's shot goes just wide.

Seconds later the grenade goes off,

lifting the German off his feet

and dumping his broken, lifeless body back to earth. Haven gotten his revenge, Private Purval continues his run for safety in the church.

As the turn ends, the men in the church spot the other German from this team and bring him under fire as he runs away.

In the middle, one AFV was able to spot an MG team at the end of the last turn. I gave them a target light order and they spend the turn hosing the building down. 

The rest of D company was trading a few pot shots with some of RH's men. Nothing serious happened until the last few seconds of the turn. A large HE round hit the front of the houses in support of the church. One man was hit, a guy all the way behind the house, completely out of harms way, or so I thought. I assumed a shingle fell off the roof and onto his head.

This is the situation at the end of the turn. The areas circled in red are where I know his men to be. I have started to call in some 81mm mortar fire onto his strong points and will be slowing the combat down if I can, while I wait for those rounds to come in, approximate call time of 6 minutes. I have also ordered a couple more of the AFV's to begin moving in support of C company. Hopefully the mortars and AFV's can suppress his men long enough for me to flank and then destroy them.

It is now time to take this DAR into dangerous waters, unbuttoned halftrack gunners and their totally useless shields. I should be able to be dropping these guys like flies, am I right? D Company's 14th Platoon has been spotting behind a house near the church. It appears they have spotted something. One man is peeking around the corner of the house and is taking aim.

A closer look down his rifle sights reveals his target, an unbuttoned halftrack gunner blazing away. Ah fresh meat.


He steadies his rifle against the side of the house, takes careful aim, exhales slightly and gently squeezes the trigger.

His shot is away and somehow he manages to miss.

A Bren gunner from 15th Platoon, high in the houses to the left of the church also has a spot on the gunner. He blazes away and only manages to hit the gun shield. The ricochets fly off harmlessly into the sky.
 
So what gives?? What did I do wrong?? I thought these guys were bullet magnets. I thought they died within seconds of being exposed. I thought they didn't stand a chance. I thought those gun shields were useless. Maybe it is only when they are under my command that they die like flies but when the enemy uses them they are safe? 

I should have added it is also the reason I play WeGo only. I watched that little section of the battle, over and over and over again. As the player, when you bring the camera down to its lowest level and get right in and watch the battle playout as if you were the fourth man in this team, I am always impressed by all the little details the game models.

The following sequence is one of the reasons why I absolutely love the CM series. It is also the reason RH wanted to give the name Sexton House to this little building. I still don't know why, but I am sure he will explain it in his DAR. At the end of the last turn some smoke rounds were starting to fall, giving cover to my men from 15th platoon sent to clear out Sexton house. I ordered this three man section lead by Corporal Morrissey to move in and flush out RH's men. I assumed they would be suppressed and hopefully easy targets for my men. As the section closes in on the house, they see a smoke round falling and fail to spot the men laying in front of the house.

They do however, spot a two man team just behind a barb wire fence. The Germans greet them by throwing gifts....

The first grenade explodes harmlessly off to the side while both side trade inaccurate rifle fire.

Corporal Morrissey falls to a shot from RH's men and a second grenade goes off taking out the nameless private behind him.


The view from the German vantage point

Private Purval has had enough and breaks for the safety of the church.

As he flees, the Germans take a shot at him. Big mistake. Private Purval feels his blood boil and stops to get some revenge for his fallen comrades, readying a grenade of his own.

His throw appears to be spot on, while the German's shot goes just wide.

Seconds later the grenade goes off,

lifting the German off his feet

and dumping his broken, lifeless body back to earth. Haven gotten his revenge, Private Purval continues his run for safety in the church.

As the turn ends, the men in the church spot the other German from this team and bring him under fire as he runs away.

The vehicles in over watch between the companies come under fire from some sort of HE round. It falls short but causes both Staghounds to turn their attention in the direction of the shot.
 

It is a Schreck team and they come under a hail of fire from the Staghounds and flee for safety.

I am replaying this turn to get the screenshots and I missed this sequence on the first play through. I am glad I did not give these guys any target armour arcs or they may have been knocked out due to my neglect. It is a good thing the TAC AI knows how to look after the men, even when their commanding officer ignores them. This next picture is for you @JoMc67. While looking at this turn a second time, I found these guys. I have no idea where they came from, who took them out, or when it happened. It did not happen this turn as they are already casualties at the start of the turn. To me it is another example of how when playing with all visual clues of the enemy off, it is best to let your men have the freedom to fire at will!

 

Turn 1:52-1:51
Last turn we left this Daimler and his supporting infantry from C company firing away at a MG nest in a building. At the start of the turn the MG crew is spotted again and engaged by everyone who can see them.

Within a few seconds of heavy incoming fire, one man is spotted fleeing the building. Unfortunately for me, the guy running away is carrying an MG. Too bad they didn't nail him but at least they got him suppressed enough to flee.

At the end of last turn a section of RH's men was spotted in the Laundry, lower window of the tile roof building. I gave a two inch mortar team orders to fire smoke in front of this position, to hopefully blind these men and allow me to move my men out of their line of fire. 

There he is!

While my rifle crews can't seem to hit anything, my mortar crews appear have paid attention during training. INCOMING!!

What a shot! Right in the window!

The smoke rounds from the 2 inch mortars are all WP rounds. I know the manual says WP rounds can cause casualties and really hope it happens in this case. I would find it hard to believe a WP round going off in the confines of a small building would not cause some kind of injuries even if they are just light ones. If nothing else, those guys had better be suppressed!

In the middle, one AFV was able to spot an MG team at the end of the last turn. I gave them a target light order and they spend the turn hosing the building down. 

The rest of D company was trading a few pot shots with some of RH's men. Nothing serious happened until the last few seconds of the turn. A large HE round hit the front of the houses in support of the church. One man was hit, a guy all the way behind the house, completely out of harms way, or so I thought. I assumed a shingle fell off the roof and onto his head.

This is the situation at the end of the turn. The areas circled in red are where I know his men to be. I have started to call in some 81mm mortar fire onto his strong points and will be slowing the combat down if I can, while I wait for those rounds to come in, approximate call time of 6 minutes. I have also ordered a couple more of the AFV's to begin moving in support of C company. Hopefully the mortars and AFV's can suppress his men long enough for me to flank and then destroy them.