Unit density--I think I am finally "getting it"

[DavidFields]

So, 3 squads on the attack, say, go around an obstacle, and engage an enemy squad which is in good cover.

In some siimulations, the 3 squads could overwhelm the attacker because the defender could only fire on one "unit", and the other 2 would be free to attack cleanly.

But, in CM2, as in RL, if the 3 attacking squads are bunched up, the defender's firepower could, in essence, be almost triple in potency because the "metal" outgoing in defense could have triple the number of targets in the space it is traveling to. This is particularly evident if the defensive squad has something like rifle grenades or a panzerfaust--raw HE to put into the fight space.

So, as the attacker, even if the natural strategy is to isolate a defensive area and then put maximum firepower on it, attacker density is an issue, and a "killer stack" is not always best--some simulations would have "stacking limits" or penalties, but in CM2, the reason for those limits/penalties follows organically from the realistic battle conditions.

Right?

The same goes for moving company(ies)--spread so as to avoid having a follow-up platoon getting hit by something shot at a lead element, directly or by indirect.

No clumping.

And if a unit is not needed in the battlespace, keep it back out of harm's way--more is definitely not always better.

Maybe, one of these days, I will try CMSF, where this is likely even more evident...but first, I will be very interested to see the CM2 dynamic with Russian WW2, particularly early war, forces.

[womble]

But, in CM2, as in RL, if the 3 attacking squads are bunched up, the defender's firepower could, in essence, be almost triple in potency because the "metal" outgoing in defense could have triple the number of targets in the space it is traveling to.

Possibly more than that, since the number of good places to fire from, which minimise your exposure, doesn't go up the more men you cram into a given area. So while a 4 man team might be able to all find a rock or dip or somesuch to hide behind, a 12 man squad would mostly be limited to going prone. As well as tripling the CSA of tender bodily particules that bullet trajectories could intersect.

So, as the attacker...

Applies as the defender too. Perhaps more so because the attacker will be able to throw more firepower at a given spot than the defender will, once the Schwerpunkt has been selected and the attacker's ready to go. Hence "defense in depth" tactics.

...a "killer stack" is not always best...

Yeah. Or, at least, it changes the definition of a "killer stack"...

...some simulations would have "stacking limits" or penalties, but in CM2, the reason for those limits/penalties follows organically from the realistic battle conditions.

Which is, I suspect, one of the reasons we love the game.

[Wodin]

I expect esp early war east front games you will have large Russian platoons that you can't split..thus stopping the player from using advanced tactics and forcing them to use clumps of Russians to attack.

[Hister]

Will be so much fun to mow them down all them Ruskies!