gnarly

@John Kettler, Many thanks for your comments, there is so much to learn! -> Re the arty, I had actually bought 3 TRPs, having learned the hard way in previous games, that without these, the call times are almost unusable to deal with a dynamically changing modern battlefield. Thus my call times are actually about 3 minutes around the TRPs (one of which is on the minor objective) and no spotting rounds are required. In fact, they impact in the next minute of action, as you will see shortly. -> Re the house, yeah its overkill with the arty (and now I've looked, its wooden too...). I actually hedged my bets; an anti-tank IFV has been ripping up both buildings this turn already.. Anyways, its only a few shells.. ! -> My second lesson is that I am always 'hoarding' arty , and invariably finish the match with a significant quantity of shells up my sleeve. So I am trying to actually use them, rather than never use them at all -> I'll need to check into whether I actually have many precision shells; I must admit I didn't even think about that when I purchased the arty battery up front. I just wanted the biggest BOOM! I could afford.... -> No airborne eyeballs; game rule was no air of any kind. Hence I wasn't too worried about precision shelss; the chances of getting the FO onto a viable target for such was slight... -> I am actually tempted to run a linear mission along the treeline atop Big Hill, where a few BTRs have been seen; I think there are a few ATGM teams amongst the trees there (1st & 3rd platoons keep getting lased), but it would be nice to have some visuals first. But we'll see.

I got the next turn back from Art in the wee hours, and the action is starting! A preview:

For a thread I am following (well actually, my own), I want to get instant email when someone posts. So I click: and then want to select the highlighted below, but get the byline message/warning So I go to Notification Settings, and all looks fine: What am I missing?

Lols at the original thread topic....

See my post above; I've reposted the images a bit further down the thread @IanL

Thanks Bud. Unfortunately these forums don't allow you to edit your posts perpetually; not sure if there is a timer, or if it occurs as soon as someone quotes a post, but I lost the ability to edit those links by the time I read your original heads-up about the links. (which means you cannot do the classic trick when starting a new thread, of posting rapidly thre times, as placeholders for future content...) Which is why I had to embed them as new followup posts...

@Wicky and @Bud_B, I've re-added from imgur, does that work now?

Aside from reading these AAR's, I think that's a fair summary of the board member's activities.... Is there anyway of 'ignoring' an entire (BS argument) thread??? PS keep up the great report @Baneman.

Minute 56-55 A few more team-sized infantry contacts among the Medium Ridge woods, suppressed by the IFV's with some airburst crossfire from a 2nd platoon tank. 2 BTR's are briefly spotted reversing from the copse of trees on the west base of Big Hill; they are lost before they can be fired upon. My tanks are putting down area fire on any vehicle contacts, with the hope of at the least forcing them to retreat and perhaps revealing themselves, if not actually damaging them. A missile detonates harmlessly in the trees in front of 2nd platoon.

Gah! Stoopid Image URLs..... Recoiless team firing Target BTR End of turn 57-56 Can someone confirm they can see these?? Seems I can't directly embed Google Drive images, have to upload them..

Minute 57-56 That BTR ineffectively engages the Antitank IFV's whilst under a barrage of rounds from the 1st recoiless team; it takes them 7 shots before the BTR is neutralised. One of the ATGM teams briefly spots another BTR to the right. The firefight continues on the medium Ridge, with another 3 man team spotted ln the middle of the ridge. On my right, 2nd platoons Oplots dart forward unopposed (whew!). 1st platoon's HQ tank gets a visual an another BTR in the trees at the west base of the Big Hill at the turn end.

Minute 58-57 The bunfight amongst the trees at the north end of the Medium Ridge continues; a member of the 2nd ATGM team is critically wounded. A BTR-82 is spotted by a recoiless team high and to the back of the Big Hill. With an extensive IR-blocking tank-deployed smoke screen (due to laser-warnings) in front of my right flank (moving rapidly NNW), I've ordered the two tanks of 2nd platoon to rush forward to the little copse of trees to their front left, to try and get some LOS down onto the minor objective, and Art's right flank.

Yet another very informative thread..! I'd be curious what 'level' of export-quality tank us Aussies have?

I know your question was for Ian, but I was curious why you instead didn't use a single panel at the bottom (instead of two), with the right hand one as the base, vis: Thereby indicating both abandoned tank, and the over-watching Assassin. But I guess you were also keen to highlight the hidden assassin without zoom, for Ian's benefit?

I'll bring the wine if you bring the candles!

Thanks @Abbasid11, being a relative noob to BS, I am still rather overwhelmed at the subtleties and variations of the smorgasbord of kit. So your comments and advice are invaluable, many thanks! Re upgrading the ATGM's, as always it takes me a few sessions to get the army purchase right (first time I forgot the antitank platoon entirely), and so when I dis remember to purchase it, I totally forgot to play with upgrades/variants. -> I sooo wish there was a Save feature in Army purchase; each time I get it wrong, I have to restart from scratch, and in the process of correcting my wrong, I almost invariably always forget something I had previously corrected. Gah! Good point too; I keep forgetting that the more recent ATGMs have tandem warheads and such; I'm sure I will get annoyed soon with solid hits that simply blow off T-90 ERA panels. Sigh... My UKR FO certainly can't see thru the IR-blocking smoke. Thankyou both re the info about the BRM-1K; I'll try that next time. @Bud_B iIt's why I am really looking forward to CM: FB, as I don't own any WW2 titles yet, and am really looking forward to much more simple/linear shooting, where guns and projectiles are 'simple', without forcefields, blow-off panels, and special optics!

'Save' button in the army purchase screen. Can't think of how many times I've bought the army, gone to setup, and realized I'm missing X, Y or Z. So had to repurchase from scratch. And if this occurs over multiple nights (I only have short periods of computer-time available at night), it then introduces errors; I resolve the missing X or Y, but then inadvertently miss item A or B on the following purchase session. Also this would allow the saving of your favorite/standard armies as a base, particularly for PBEMs.

Drives you mad eh @Euri? +1 for some toggle/setting to preference/use missiles over guns seems to be critical in BS +1 for a better way of implementing shoot and scoot, in tandem with the above. Ie move to this position, fire on this target or fire on armour spotted (with whatever is toggled above) and then retreat. For missiles this would be for one shot, then retreat as soon as it hits/misses. Shoot and scoot options would also be useful for Jav and RPG teams; right now, you have to guesstimate this with the pause command, as you have to take account of not only the flight time for say the javelin, but the acquisition/spotting/fire prep time leading up to this. Ie move them to this overwatch location, with an Armour Target mode; Pause for spotting/fire prop time, then add further time for missile flight, then move them fast back into cover. I think for gunfire, one already can do this with pause and reverse commands?

Sneaky @Bud_B! Sliding your comics into other threads! SNEAKY! But very nice. My only critically constructive comment is that on your last panel, I feel the bottom left picture, with the US tank circled, is unnecessary, and sort of yanks you out of the feel of the strip. The following pic does a more than ample job at the same task. You've gone to such pains to keep the view as seen from the tanks; the highlight circle detracts from that. There is a lot more menace in the last pic, which I really like; the hunter over-watching his latest kill.

Many thanks @Abdolmartin for the info. I think that's where I was leaning; arty smoke seems to really only be of use when confronting infantry.

Russian ATGM guy under return fire....

Frackin stoopid URL image links.....They work, then they don't. Then they work... Lets try that again; ATGM missing a tank:

Good question @Bud_B. I am still struggling to understand who/what is not impeded by smoke (and by which type of smoke; some vehicles have IR-blocking smoke canisters, but I think arty does not?). Generally I think recent model vehicles have suitable thermal/other sights to not be impeded by arty smoke? But not always. But I think it is safe to say most RUS and UKR infantry cannot see through any smoke, though again, I am perpetually confused as to whether crew-served weapons have the gear to see through it. Certainly my Oplots cannot see through their auto-triggered smoke screen (launched due to a number of laser warnings). Hence I have never really thought about smoke screen use in BS, as it's so confusing. But the problem with being safely hull-down behind the Sparse Ridge, with only LOS (and therefore exposure) to Big Hill, is that most of the Oplots can't see 'down' onto the plains and therefore the objectives. I'll need to check, but that Oplot smoke screen is drifting NNW-ish at a moderate pace (i.e toward my left flank). I've already tasked my 152mm battery with a heavy, short barrage in 3 minutes on the SW house in the minor objective, which has a window facing directly towards me, and is a prime location for an FO or ATGM team. Instead, I am tempted to leapfrog the tracks of either 1st or 3rd platoon under the cover of their smoke screen to the little thicket to their front, which has some hull-down potential.

Lastly, a single heavy calibre spotting round impacted the road just west of the bridge (you can see the dust below). I'm surprised that Art hasn't TRP's dialed in for both the Medium and Sparse ridges...

Meanwhile, 3 BMPs from the antitank and infantry platoons converge on the infantry contacts on the Medium Ridge, providing area fire, whilst the A team of 1st Squad/4th moves in, providing protection for the weapon teams. First blood to Art (I think?) as the machine gunner in the A team is killed, after crouching up to engage the (I presume?) Russian scouts.