A Bit of QB Purchasing Advice Needed

[xian]

I'm just about to start a Meeting Engagement QB (large map 4500 points), and I have been given the Axis. So far I have had no experience of a battle of this size, so I just wanted to ask a few questions about unit purchasing:

1) Should I purchase a whole battalion formation 'as is', or is it far better to use a 'combined arms' approach and delete a few companies to add specialised single units and vehicles?

2) When purchasing vehicles such as tanks should I attach them as individual units to my existing battalion, or add them as a completely separate formation? What are the advantages/disadvantages of the two approaches.

3) What is the main difference between panzer grenadiers and fusiliers, in game terms?

4) Any other purchasing advice for a large battle would be helpful.

I hope that my questions are not considered as cheating - I'm just overwhelmed by the purchasing choices.

Thanks.

[MattMulder]

1) it actually depends on the map and your style. Usually I break the Orders of Battle of battalions, and I keep the core force (infantry) and I take out unnecessary elements such as weapons platoons, I use single teams added to each platoon for better mobility and piecemeal support. Then I take a couple of tank platoons, a few halftracks and light recon vehicles for scouting/transporting heavy units and I add a platoon or two of pioneers, because usually Normandy has a few hedgerows in its landscape that will need to be blasted at some point for protection/ assault. On top of that I add artillery ( usually those expensive 150mm and a couple 81mm ). If I have remaining points after that, I add flavour by choosing elite sniper teams ( excellent killers ) and scout teams which can be used in various ways.

2) I suggest for C&C purposes that you take a whole platoon instead of one-by-one buying. When it comes to halftracks or assault halftracks you could attach it to a platoon or company if you want, but when ot comes to fighting ,it’s better to have a whole platoon. Normandy provides probability of single vehicles being cut off from their elements and tagging along with other ‘lost’ units , but this is very rare in terms of realism. But whatever, it’s virtual combat so it’s your choice 

3) The Grenadiers have various weapons, and the riflemen have mostly...rifles. Grenadiers for close combat, riflemen for distance combat.

4) Never forget to get an forward observer, it;s definitely more useful than any radio-equipped unit to do difficult spotting jobs .

[Agua]

4200 points worth of rockets and a platoon of fusilers to walk into the victory location.

j/k

[Vanir Ausf B]

1) Should I purchase a whole battalion formation 'as is', or is it far better to use a 'combined arms' approach and delete a few companies to add specialised single units and vehicles?

I would modify the battalion as you fit and as your points allow.

2) When purchasing vehicles such as tanks should I attach them as individual units to my existing battalion, or add them as a completely separate formation? What are the advantages/disadvantages of the two approaches.

I don't know I would probably go with the separate formation because it is cheaper. What I am not sure of is how well different formations share information with each other. A possible advantage of attaching individual vehicles to the infantry battalion is that they would get all the information the battalion HQ has shared with them. But they may get that anyway.

3) What is the main difference between panzer grenadiers and fusiliers, in game terms?

There are significant differences in battalion TO&E, and also differences between motorized and armored panzergrenadiers. As for the individual squads, PGs have 2 MG42s per squad to the fusiliers' 1. Fusilier squads have 2-4 MP40s per squad with one MP40 occasionally swapped out for a MP44. PGs get 1-3 (I think) MP40s also with the occasional MP44, but they also sometimes have G43s which the Fusiliers don't. PG infantry is more expensive (41 vs 37).

[A Canadian Cat]

Hey, don't help him - he's talking about the game we are about to start:D

Oh, hell I'll throw in my 2 cents too...

1) Should I purchase a whole battalion formation 'as is', or is it far better to use a 'combined arms' approach and delete a few companies to add specialised single units and vehicles?

So far I have never bought a whole battalion as is - except for some large scale tests but that don't really count. My experience with QBs that combined arms are the way to go but I tend to be armor heavy.

Humm perhaps I shouldn't be telling you this stuff...

2) When purchasing vehicles such as tanks should I attach them as individual units to my existing battalion, or add them as a completely separate formation? What are the advantages/disadvantages of the two approaches.

In a small scale battle I have done this - attached a couple of tanks to the platoon of infantry. But not in a large battle like this. I usually buy an infantry battalion and an armor battalion and then strip then down to get the balance I want between armor and infantry. Then I might tweak things with a single vehicle or four here and there. For example I have bought a Stug based assault gun battalion (stripped down to a single company) and then added two Panthers to the company. While I like Stugs it is nice to have a few Panthers around too. Also I have bought a single truck and attached it to a company just so I can strip it of extra ammo during setup - gamey I know:)

3) What is the main difference between panzer grenadiers and fusiliers, in game terms?

I'm glad someone else answered this cause I had no idea.

4) Any other purchasing advice for a large battle would be helpful.

I hope that my questions are not considered as cheating - I'm just overwhelmed by the purchasing choices.

Certainly not cheating - great questions.

My only other advice is think about the plan you would use for the map you are on with a combined tank and infantry operation and then think about where you want artillery support during that plan and pick up a few howitzer batteries and or mortars to help you make that happen.

Also consider breaching. Is there bocage to deal with - what about walled compounds. Then depending on need add breach teams.

Looking forward to this.

[xian]

Thanks to everyone. I have a much clearer idea of purchasing now.... and Ian, a surprising and very helpful addition to the thread. I suspected that the 'combined arms' route was the way to go, but I just wasn't too sure considering the size of the battle.

I also like getting a good balance of forces, but at the same time I don't want to end up purchasing in a ridiculously un-historical manner.

So, I enter the battle with a little more confidence that the initial purchasing won't necessarily result in my inevitable defeat.

[A Canadian Cat]

Thanks to everyone. I have a much clearer idea of purchasing now.... and Ian, a surprising and very helpful addition to the thread. I suspected that the 'combined arms' route was the way to go, but I just wasn't too sure considering the size of the battle.

It was all part of my SYOPS plan...

I also like getting a good balance of forces, but at the same time I don't want to end up purchasing in a ridiculously un-historical manner.

Indeed - lots of room for mixing and stay in bounds for historical formations. My first few games I was armor light and those games ended badly - I would loose the armor battle and then my infantry would die to HE. Then I went way the other way but that did not work either. I would win the armor battle but my infantry screen would be stripped. Eventually my tanks would succumb one by one to close assaults or rocket AT weapons. There defiantly is a happy medium there some where.