Kinophile

Great work! My thoughts exactly, all that white space feels very wasteful.

Really?? Wow. That's worth setting up a scenario, test how many can be penetrator in one go!

It didn't, i believe. Hit one, then the secondary explosions pierced the godawful side & rear armor of the adjacent BMPs. I think.

Hmm I better relisten to turn 1 & 2. Otherwise a great danger of nasty HATO cheater smart bombs.

Sorry, yes it's Tunguska not ZSU. Yeah I've seen the AARs of Tungus stripping Abrams blind, and at long (1.5km+) range.

Wooow. That's quite the lesson for me!

Yeah I'm a big fan of the ZSU. Got some HATO Fanatic Evil Doers suffering under a heavy, sustained fire right now. Very satisfying.

Fully engaged all along my line. Intense suppressive fire by both sides. I've commuted my right flank reserve to form a stronger line, and pump that attack to seem larger than it is, also bringing my central reserve forward, to act as reserve for Center and Right Flank. His m1A2s seem to be displacing constantly, trying to get a fat armoured target I suspect. This is fine by me, gives me more time to build my ATGM FOFs. LEFT HOOK has achieved it's initial objective (capturing and passing through the Housing Row). My empty BMPs hooked cleanly around the gable end, suppressing as the went. However, once they were clear of the Housing Row disaster struck when a BMP was too slow turning it's turret and got nailed by an AT4, fired from across the main diagonal Boulevard, perfect keyhole strike. Especially vexing as I was fully aware of that danger, but manoeuvred the supressing BMP (that died) before its turret was ready. It didn't end there, as that dead BMP blocked in a second, close follow-on BMP, which also died.These two carcasses then slowed a platoon racing around the corner, with HMG fire through that keyhole cutting them down in seconds. One man survived. This complete cluster **** blocked one approach street, forcing the following second wave of empty BMPs through a parallel gap where, despite heavy suppression, a Javelin team nailed a THIRD BMP! That JAV team actually fired from deep within an apartment building through the disintegrating stone and glass as BMP fire stripped away the facade in front of them. About 15 men dead in 90 seconds. So, that happened. After the second BMP died I directed my Right Flank ZSU to fire north east along the entire length of the boulevard. Boy, that thing lays down a hell of a smackdown! It's revealed it's position now though so I'm going to move/fire next turn. I've also pushed into the diagonal housing row facing onto the main boulevard. MMainly nade launchers and Snipers for now, but I've a breach team blasting it's way north within the Row itself. Very heavy Inf fire on that row, the cross fire is lethal. I'm bringing up a third wave of empty BMPs, going to use two of them to blast a gap in that diagonal housing row, then fire through, enfilading his central positions. This will happen just before my Left Hook begins it's final assault. Of course, all this contact has had the intended effect - it's revealed l the primary US positions, especially facing my Left Hook. And hey look, my FO is unsupressed! So, about 12-18 tubes of 152 are receiving firing solutions. I'll hold on by the fingernails, reorganize, until that Arty smacks home then it's gonna be a full left hook rush across the Boulevard, swamping his front line. For that Ill bring up BOTH ZSUs and blast through the smoke and dust into his second line. I'll take the chance of losing AA cover for the unholy bollocking his infantry will receive! My biggest problem right now is that his M1a are still very much alive and intact. Realistically I cannot attack until I've either killed at least one, or distracted two if them over to my right flank. An alternative is to blast gaps in his central positions and enfilading his armor as it displaces across to counter my left hook final assault. My second big problem is his Bradley's... Or even strikers. I've seen zero of either. Perhaps they're sitting at the far back, as a counterstrike force. Oh well, I'm sure they'll reveal themselves at a singularly bad moment!

HUNTER TWO ACTUAL, THIS IS KINGMAKER. WHAT IS YOURE CONTACT STATUS. KINGMAKER, WE ARE FULLY COMMITTED. ALL UNIT'S ENGAGED. FREE FIRE IN EFFECT. FORWARD ELEMENTS ARE REJOINING MAIN ADVANCE. HUNTER TWO ACTUAL, SOLID COPY ALL THAT. WHAT'S YOURE MECHANIZED SIT REP? ... . HUNTER TWO ACTUAL, ARE YOU MOBILITY POSITIVE? KINGMAKE, KINGMAKER, THIS IS HUNTER XO. HUNTER TWO ACTUAL IS KIA. I REPEAT, HUNTER TWO ACTUAL IS KIA. HOW COPY? HUNTER XO, SOLID COPY. YOU ARE NOW HUNTER TWO ACTUAL.WHAT IS YOUR CONTACT STATUS? KINGMAKER, SOLID COPY ON CHANGE IN COMMAND. WE HAVE FLANKING INFANTRY FIRE, MULTIPLE FORMATIONS WITH HEAVY A.T. SUPPORT. F.O. IN OVERWATCH HAS ID'D TWO, COUNT TWO HOSTILE MBT INBOUND, OUR VISUAL IMMINENT. OBJECTIVE WRENCH IS ACHIEVED. ADVANCING TO PHASE LINE GREEN. HOW COPY? HUNTER TWO ACTUAL, KINGMAKER COPIES ALL THAT. STATUS ON YOUR FIRE SUPPORT. KINGMAKER, NEGATIVE COPY ON THAT. 12 TUBES OF 155 FIRE REQUESTED THIRTY PLUS MINS PREVIOUS. NO EFFECT YET. STAND BY FOR F.O. CONFIRMATION. EAGLE ONE, EAGLE ONE, THIS IS HUNTER TWO ACTUAL. HUNTER TWO ACTUAL, UNDER MBT FIRE, STATE YOUR QUESTION. EAGLE ONE, UPDATE ON THAT 155 FIRE. SUPPORT. HUNTER TWO ACTUAL, PROVIDE REQUIRED SECURITY CODE EAGLE ONE, HUNTER TWO ACTUAL IS KIA. THIS IS HUNTER XO, ACTING ONE PER KINGMAKER COMMAND. HUNTER TWO ACTUAL, PROVIDE REQUIRED SECURITY CODE. YOUR AUDIO IS SCRAMBLED, SOLID COPY? . EAGLE ONE, HUNTER TWO ACTUAL IS KIA. REPEAT, KIA. I DO NOT HAVE SECURITY CODE. I NEED UPDATE ON THAT 155 FIRE SUPPORT REQUEST. HUNTER TWO ACTUAL, PROVIDE REQUIRED SECURITY CODE. YOUR AUDIO IS STILL SCRAMBLED. (f*ck me )EAGLE ONE KINGMAKER HAS UPDATED COMMAND STATUS. CHECK YOUR SCREEN, EAGLE ONE. *Transmission garbled * EAGLE ONE, HOW COPY? KINGMAKER, KINGMAKER- *Channel Override -* ALL UNIT'S BE ADVISED THIS CHANNEL NOT LONGER SECURE. PROTOCOL CHARLIE ALPHA IN EFFECT. Hello my ruskie friend! Enjoy these incoming rounds, courtesy of the US Army! KINGMAKER KINGMAKER! NEGATIVE! DO NOT FIRE ON THIS TRANSMISSION! FOR GOD'S SAKE DONT- *Connection Lost*

Contact! Contact! Contact! Crosee fires all across my line - small, but building. Left Hook steadily advancing, only outpost type resistance. Center holding, suppressing overlooking buildings. One T90 has mmaneuvered to a very nice keyhole pos, staring right into his inside right flank that faces the open ground. Great pos, but badly vulnerable to precision arty... Right Flank is in flux - definite M1A1 targets, clear contacts. However ATGMs not in good position and vulnerable to tank defensive strikes. FO is shaken by suprressive tank fire. It appears his tank displacement earlier was a feeler move, subsequently scared off by the ATGM laser tag. Right flank reserve company is keeping pace with the advance, ready to jump in. Next two turns will reveal all, I believe.

You've mentioned this before.... I'm a bit surprised. Is it really that common a mistake for PBEM virgins ? Surely it's common sense to take a supply truck or two.

Yah, I dont have enough to go on yet to gauge his skill. He seems quite conservative. Personally I wouldn't have initiated that armor move so early, BUT if he is gearing up for a full attack on my right then it makes sense, I guess. However, I now have the advantage of room to manuever back; also the urban grain favours my intention to draw him in and then hit him in the flank. Essentially I will pivot my armor on my left flank to cut across the center in the side of his attack facing the open ground. Still, everything is up in the air. Its intriguing to fight a battle that is this strung out in the initial, contact phase. I have to be very careful not to commit my reserves too early..the classic commander's dilemma!

LEFT HOOK advances, only light intermittent contact. CENTER holds position, watching...waiting... RIGHT FLANK has made contact, US M1A1s are approaching. Perhaps he feels this is my main effort? Or is he ganging up on my weaker flank?

Pics later this eve. LEFT FLANK advance continues. Infantry with Snipers and an ATGM team are about to take the full housing row. BMPs are hooking around the end of the Row, pounding every single building with an eye line on them. This is a highly dangerous moment - a well timed Arty strike, or well placed minefield, could cause serious damage. I have the reserves to push through but I don't want to burn out my strength here. I expect a heavy fight here. If not, then that will help me deduce his actual defence zone. Still no fix on the US mainforce. My impression so far is that he's gathered behind my intended 2nd FSL (see first post map). What if he's waiting to counter attack? I'm not over extended, my centre has taken a beating but I have the reserves to fall back without breaking my line. My right flank is not terribly strong but can still hold up any attack long enough. CENTER lost another T90, precision Arty strike. I've brought my left flank ZSU closer to cover the airspace better. There's a drone or two up there, I want it down, now RIGHT FLANK has made definite contact with some form of US defence, lost a BMP to an AT4. I've a company pushing forward here, with strong ATGM support on the flank. I've pushed my right flank reserve Coy forward into the slowly dissipating cloud bank. It's a good trick to use, lay a cloud bank and use to stage/hide reserves. My FO in the cathedral spire is still unmolested. He's slowly id'ing US armour, but too goddamn slow. My 152mm are all back online, hot and ready. Continuously pounding any building with good eyeliner to my forces. This reveals my vehicles but better than unfettered javelin strikes! Basically, advance continues, contacts growing, lost another precious T90, no firm I'd on US mainforce yet. Tense.... moments... While... Advancing...

This. I couldn't articulate it any better myself.

Sshh, Adults talking. The game is set in the Ukraine, there will always be references to events there.

That's a solution, but doesn't really answer his question though. I'm pretty surprised at that M1 behaviour. You're patched to 1.03, yes? Can you upload the game file to Dropbox?

The brz files don't unzip any shader folders....

Fantastic! How did you do this?

Also, my second ZSU will be used for super long range building suppression. Possibly also blasting building gaps in the weaker structures. Essentially, I'm going to break the urban terrain to my needs.

Once I lock in his M1/Brads AO I'm going to use my on-site mortars to blast gaps in flanking housing rows and sideswipe the bastards.

BTW, just the one platoon hit by FF. Although 2-3 casualties scattered on the left flank. Is there a medic mechanism for wounded? I tend to let em drop and keep running...

I've learned a lot about Arty placement from these few turns. Especially about timing... My Arty layout was a bit too close - no resistance meant I cancelled the FS much earlier than expected. Basically, I suspected a forward defence - it's not a big map, and not as much space for those long range shots beloved of US commanders. Abbassid is getting pushed/sitting tight in a relatively narrow zone... I don't think realizes just how much Arty I have (4 batts x152, 2Plats x152, 2x81 mortars, maybe more). Once I have a lock on his main force (casualties are irrelevant) it'll be Rain of Hell time. Tbh,I'm very concerned at the lack of contact. I droveSsome eome Inf out of an excellent building in the centre, but absolutely no sightings otherwise. I've kept my BHQ on the move each turn, random directions but close to his men. The ZSUs are also not static,moving with 20-30 second pauses to scan. Generally keeping right flank ZSU close to the smoke bank. The left hook ZSU is going to drift closer to the centre. This one took down two "aircraft" in the second turn - is this a general term, covering drones and air support? Or did I really decimate an early CAS strike...? Missiles were fired, but I didn't count how many. Although I expect BMPs to start popcorning very soon, I'm not concerned. I have the numbers to take a lot of hits, I have almost a full company in reserve and my armor is still available and being very, very careful. Next time I'll take more FOs, more on site mortars and more, wayyyy more breach teams.

Current status. Death of a platoon.

I'm interested in how your Arty comes down, especially. For r me, it seems to be single best equalizer to balance the US precision arsenal. To paraphrase a Film/TV production saying, you have Fast, Precise or Heavy Arty - pick any two.