gnarly

Thanks Heinrich. Normally I would do exactly that anytime after the first turn, or as an attacker in Probe or Attack. But this is a Meeting Engagement, and Art had exactly the same terrain on his side (slight rise to hull-down overwatch). So I think this was more a fast-draw-McGraw shootout. And perhaps I should have put the now crispy Panther into overwatch from some trees or something (the fact that we didn't even get a sound contact suggests Art probably did such.). C'est la vie. Certainly in CM: BS, getting these hull-down overwatches in the first turn is imperative; he who moves into such positions later will almost always succumb to he who is already there, regardless if you know the opponent is already there. Anyway, I'm sure more happy snaps of mutilation and carnage on my side will follow shortly....

Minute 60 So the arrogant little colonel commanding my left-hand Panther was so busy polishing his monocle whilst luridly regaling his crew of his exploits with a Bavarian waitress, that he froze with shock when a tank (?) round screamed past. The second round? F%&*^^ING fantastic, just like every other WW2 armour battle I've done; 50% of my 'heavy' tank assets gone early, though this takes the cake for it's demise, something like 15 seconds. Didn't spot crap either. Useless prick . About the only thing of interest to my was my first ever use of tank riders, though likely they'll die when the Stug gets imploded shortly. Here's a shot to immortalize them before they are torn to meaty charcoaled chunks, with a bonus view of the afore-mentioned tracked BBQ. Oh, the AA halftrack you can see above I've moved up to be a little behind where the advanced mortar team will be, just cos I can. Turn end: Edit: totally forgot to mention enemy activity. As you can see above, only an armour and infantry noise contact in the NE. Edit: totally forgot to mention enemy activity. As you can see above, only an armour and infantry noise contact in the NE.

It's bloody difficult to get motivated to write a DAR, when your first turn is a disaster, as it seems almost all my WW2 PBEM's tend to be. So I'll keep it brief, to minimize your exposure to my frustration and venting. Rough plan (already gone to crap) is this: Panthers (far left and far right blue) advance to overwatch positions. Left Panther is moving to hull-down looking straight down the road in front Stugs (middle two blue) advance to more narrow overwatch over the town, primarily to beat down any buildings containing Yanks.. One Stug is carrying a squad of 2nd platoons infantry (parallel yellow dashed line) who will provide reserve/support for 1st platoon from the treeline south of the town 1st platoon (orange dashed) astride 3 halftracks is to race into the southern edge of the major VP town, and spread out amongst a number of houses. I will try to ensure that these are not exposed to Art's dominating treeline to the north, so can only be fired upon from nearby houses. The Stugs shall support these troops. 2nd platoon (yellow dashed) advance one squad to overwatch their VP and the ground in front from the left, and another squad to advance down the right map edge, to get eyes of Art's left flank. Their attached LMG will overwatch from the right. Their remaining squad is hitching a lift on one of the Stugs (yeah, I know no command linkage, but whatever...) 3rd platoon (green dashed: 2 squads) moves up to SW VP, to get eyes N and NE. Emplacing attached LMG into house overlooking VP Mortars (red): 1 section to lay down a smoke screen immediately E-W across the center of town to help mask 1st platoon's positioning. 2 section will advance as shown, from where I think it can get LOS over the area and treeline north of town I'm pushing the Batt/Comp HQ's and the FO up to locations in the tree-lines in the middle of the map, to try and get LOS TRP's as shown, for likely positions Art may use for infantry base of fire, and troop concentrations.

At the rate I'm going, my force is going to be 'uncombined' rather quickly.... I think I do a better job (in the WW2 period) of providing my opponents with a mobile shooting gallery, than actually doing anything of value

Thanks MJH, though I fear, this one will not be much of a fight, as I've already lost significant assets in the first turn. And writing a DAR merely compounds my frustration.

And vehicles, I'm bringing non-specified vehicles... That contain at a minimum firearm ammo... So make sure you bring some non-specified vehicles to counter my non-specified vehicles....

Many thanks guys, I'll have the troops draw their ammo loads before they march, reassured that it will be of use!!!!

Some of my men have Kar98K's, and their ammo load is listed as 7.92mm. Their vehicle comes with 7.92K (I assume Kurz shorter round) and 7.92mm AP. When I add a small amount of each to the squad, these ammos are listed separately to their 7.92mm. Can their Kar98K's use either of these?? I'm guessing the AP rounds are for their vehicles MG? And that the answer is no..... Which means yet again, I am completely buggered before the battle has already started. Sigh

Other terrain I've only had a cursory look, but the forest on Art's center baseline has good LOS down onto the major town, which means I do NOT want to be occupying/exposing troops anywhere there but the south side of town, or they'll likely get sledgehammered by tank/howitzer fire. Instead, my major town over-watch is the thick treeline close to its south side, which is also hidden from LOS of Art's treeline. Intent Neutralize the point value of the major VP Defend my VPs Attempt to at least neutralize the point value of Arts NE min VP. Quick and dirt approach Rapidly try to occupy some buildings on the south side of town with a few mechanised squads, specifically buildings sheltered from Art's center overwatch treeline by other buildings. Initial smoke barrage to mask ingress of these troops. Support these by further infantry and howitzers in the adjacent southern treeline. Some reserve troops here as well. Emplace a squad at each Minor VP for defensive purposes Put out infantry recon teams to get a picture of Art's forces and intent. Troops I've hedged my bets, and picked a combined force of: 1 platoon (1st) of mechanized Volksgrenadiers (halftracks) 2 platoons of Volksgrenadiers (3rd platoon has only 2 squads, and both have an extra LMG attached) 1 platoon of 4 x 81mm mortars (on-map) An FO and 5 TRPs 2 x Pz VA Panthers 2 x StuG IIIG assault guns 1 x AA haltrack

The objectives: SW min VP (my left flank) is a gully/depression in the road, over-watched by a two story building to the rear. This should be fairly defensible with minimal troops. SE min VP (my right flank) is a thinly tree-ed road junction sloping gently down to the north. A few E-W low walls provide minimal cover. Best defended from adjacent tree lines either side, with good LOS over the open country in front. Major VP is a sprawling township, with solid long-range overwatch from Art's baseline treeline (yikes!), and closely bordered by a treeline on my (south) side. Neither side is likely to cotnrol this zone, and it is therefore a zone to merely neutralise with a token presence by game end, and hopefully not get too bogged down in house to house fighting... Yeah right..... NW min VP (Art's right) is a small town, easily defended. At best I could try neutralising his points here, but that's gonna be tough.... NE min VP thickly tree-ed road sloping gently south. Of Art's two min VPs this I have the most chance of dislodging him. If I can get troops all the way over there safely; the approach shares the same downfalls as my right / SE min VP....

Artemis has chosen a Meeting Engagement, which is interesting as he's always been a fan of probes over meeting engagements. My Heer are attacking from the south over a 1km x 1km map as below, medium sized armies (approx 2800 points). No airpower is allowed. Ground is dry, weather is clear, and a playful light wind brings the delightful bouquet of rotting meat from the east... Looking west across the map: Looking from the left flank to the NE: From my center to the north: And looking from my right flank towards the NW:

But perhaps this option is more tempting....

Flow charts, venn diagrams, sand-table dioramas, cost-benefit analytics and random guesses to follow... Like this

So a month or so ago I got a message from my most frequent BS opponent, Artemis Yes, he guilted me to another match with promises of parallel DAR reports, this time in the WW2 theater, in which I am still a veritable babe-in-the-woods (having twice been crucified thoroughly by @Meat Grinder): Kinda hard to weasel out of that gambit, so I replied: My previous DAR to which Art refers: It is only today that we both realized, the lazy sod never actually did a reciprocal DAR!!!!!!!!!! Art, that was a......

Lols. I had totally forgotten about that!!! Originally CM: FB wasn't going to be released till the new store was live? Good thing they didn't carry through with that....

Some excellent posts here providing some very good food for thought around effective arty employment on the modern CM battlefield. Thanks for the detailed explanations all!

Any collateral damage on the infantry in the adjacent buidlings?

AS always, Bud, many thanks for the ongoing story!

And I believe in Windows 10, the Game Bar allows this as well, but only for certain graphics cards (not mine....). See here

Very interested to see how you implement this.

I must admit (as a primarily UKR player) that my experiences with the Corsar have been excellent. In fact, the only PBEM in which I've encountered Khriz's, my Corsar's dispatched i think 3 out of the 4 Khriz's my opponent fielded.... I also work on the philosophy that pretty much any ATGM system (infantry or mechanized) is unlikely to get more than 1 missed shot off in the modern CM battlefield before they are neutralized, unless they are supremely lucky, or the opponent badly orientated (or hasn't got their vehicles working in teams/pairs). So I would rather a cheap (=disposable) effective infantry system, than an expensive (though admittedly quite mobile) vehicle (=easily spotted) system. But the Russians don't have a Corsar equivalent (in-game at least)?

WHOA! Christmas has come early!!! 20+ emails in my inbox said something was again happening here.... Welcome back Bud, and sorry to hear of your wife's medical issues; very glad that to hear that she is 'hopefully' out of the woods. Like a good stout, you stories can easily be put up on a shelf for ages, and still be opened far down the line, and taste just as good, if not better, than when they were brewed... (Well I cheated there: beer always tastes much better well after its been brewed; secondary fermentation and all...)

@Artemis258 may be your man. See his post: He might be open to other 'titanic' maps as well... ;D

I'd be guessing it's from the sound mod. I am using one as well, and the infantrymen's language is definitely much more 'colourful' than stock...

Nice find @StieliAlpha, thanks for the headsup.