ALLIED - CMBN-Market Garden - BETA AAR (the better beta beater reader)

[Maarten]

"After the Battle - THEN & NOW: Dutch Windmill Debacle"

There is a run down and ivy covered seldom-visited chapel in the Dutch countryside.

On it's west wall is stained glass panel.

The panel -dedicated to the brave c3k Para's who died so others could be fed to his meatgrinder.

There. Fixed that for you.

[herr_oberst]

Nooooo, don't reverse straight away from the JgPz, you gotta get outside the 10 degree barrel swing and make it move or I fear that last Cromwell is toast.

[c3k]

^^^

Well, I was faced with a conundrum: if I angled away, it would pause at the turn point and be a sitting duck; straight back, and it may have a chance to get below some terrain before the JgPz could reload. I went with a single, straight, reverse.

[c3k]

TURN 51:00 to 50:00

Let's see how my Cromwell fared!

Not well.

I was hoping it would make it.

I'll post some more pix, summarize the turn, then go over my orders and outlook. Then I'll attack.

[c3k]

51:00 to 50:00, cont.

My center forward Piat team (Plucky Piat) got further than I expected. In fact, they spotted the Panther...

A miss. However, their threat should give Bil a bit of a pause. More on that benefit, later.

Over on my left, the Piat team which was being shelled by the Panther On High disobeyed my explicit command:

To give them credit, they TRIED to go where I said, but got spooked by a burst of mg fire and ran back to the underbrush. Where a 75mm shell took care of one of them. The piat is still in capable hands.

Over in Town Center...

and a little closer

My orders, and my plans, next.

[c3k]

The objectives in Bil's backfield are out of reach. I will continue to pressure him about them to keep him from freely moving his forces.

Mobility: his armored strike force has far more mobility than my paras. I pushed hard and fast to gain some ground, expecially when I saw an opportunity on the right. That group, Company B, is getting TIRED. I'll try to get them a little more in cover, then button them down. My lack of mobility will be crucial. I have one truck. Period. It won't do well if it gets spotted.

Overall, I'll clean out the Germans in the Town Center. I spotted an HQ unit, and killed one of them, in the church steeple.

- One AA Crusader will shred the tower while a 4-man sten team storms it.

- A Piat team will enter a house near the church and get a flank shot on Bil's 20mm halftrack. Another Piat team will distract it. My CS tank will HUNT forward towards the church

- Goal: clean out the church and woods. That will give me a clear field of fire where I can observe any approach. Germans in that corner (church) will be a big headache.

The other end of town (Den of Death), also needs to be cleared. The Den of Death is destroyed. Seemed a bit fast, given the ordnance I used. Similar purpose as above. Clearing out his toehold will afford me a wide open field of fire. Of course, having a weapon or two to influence movement over such an open space would be nice. Ooops.

My AA tanks and CS tank have to be husbanded carefully. But they also need to be used.

A Company, with Vickers and Brens, are in a few fields to put some mg fire out on Bil's approach. His tanks can move with impunity.

On my left, C Company will poke forward a little, just to keep Bil honest. If I can, I'll try to entice him to attack, even with just a few squads. I'll ambush them, and celebrate. (I'm setting a mortar up at the edge of Arrakis, near the burning Cromwells, to be bait. )

My earlier mortar calls are just starting to come down near the windmill. I don't think it'll do much. However, maybe I can crawl the windmill piat team closer to some juicy targets. Heck, I may even rush the darn thing with the brave lads of 4 platoon.

Overall, I'm going defensive. Well, my version of defensive. I've lost my tanks in a gamble. Crapshoot? Maybe. I thought the one Cromwell had a good position near the knoll. I'd checked the LOS, but obviously that tool didn't help. The others, similarly: using hulldown positions was risky, but I thought doable. Ach.

Ken

[womble]

^^^

Well, I was faced with a conundrum: if I angled away, it would pause at the turn point and be a sitting duck; straight back, and it may have a chance to get below some terrain before the JgPz could reload. I went with a single, straight, reverse.

What I'd do there is plot the shortest possible Reverse, as straight as possible, then make a gentle curve (how gentle depends on what the flock is trying to "retrograde advance") until heading for a LOS-break. Don't know about Crommies, but a Sherman can usually handle about a 30degree turn without having to slow.

The first leg gets them moving, and the subsequent (short as possible, tight as possible) legs change the angle. You still might not have made cover, but it's a way of not just backing straight.

[Vinnart]

Any particular unit you're interested in?

All that can be improved.

Which one feels more visually comfortable? The #1’s, or the #2’s?

#1

OR

#2

#1

OR

#2

I will bet all said the #2’s. Artist use techniques to react with the subconscious mind that most do not realize. Compositions done in a way that coincides with the way the mind reacts naturally with what it sees feel good, and direct the eye to where the artist wants. Doing the opposite makes the subconscious mind react in an unnatural, awkward way. The #1’s feel a bit awkward because the face is looking to the left leading your eye out of the picture. Your subconscious wants to be pulled to look where the face is looking which if off the page, but you want to look in so there is this conflict that makes #1 not feel as comfortable as the #2's. The player’s eyes will move more comfortably across the UI to the information you want him to concentrate on by having the face looking in directing the eye to it improving the flow of the UI. Whether you are painting a picture, taking a photo, taking an artsy screen shot, or laying out a UI it is better composition to have things facing either into the page, or forward. Never out. My advice to BF is to take the 2 seconds to bring the portraits into Photoshop, and flip them horizontally before release to improve the visual composition in a functional way that feels more comfortable in directing the player’s eyes to the info in the UI.

There you go grogs composition 101 to improve any visuals. Now back to the action!

[c3k]

^^^

LOL, yes, no. 2's and for the very reason you expounded upon. The faces "looked" better.

[Seedorf81]

C3k, only now I see how cunning your strategy is, and that you sacrificed armor in order to distract us from the one and only real important battle: which of you two gets the most thread-views.

YOU'RE WINNING!

[ridethe415]

Your subconscious wants to be pulled to look where the face is looking which if off the page, but you want to look in so there is this conflict that makes #1 not feel as comfortable as the #2's.

I disagree.

Perhaps it is my being left handed, but the number 1's seem more natural to me, looking away to MY LEFT...of maybe I prefer more visual conflict.

[Michael Emrys]

I disagree.

Perhaps it is my being left handed, but the number 1's seem more natural to me, looking away to MY LEFT...of maybe I prefer more visual conflict.

Or—quite possibly—you are utterly deranged. I too am left-handed and Vinnart's thesis makes perfect sense to me.

Michael

[Oddball_E8]

Or—quite possibly—you are utterly deranged. I too am left-handed and Vinnart's thesis makes perfect sense to me.

Michael

I am utterly deranged and both look fine to me...

[c3k]

C3k, only now I see how cunning your strategy is, and that you sacrificed armor in order to distract us from the one and only real important battle: which of you two gets the most thread-views.

YOU'RE WINNING!

Move that lad to the head of the class! I'm gonna keep my eye on you. You're going places; important places.

[Seedorf81]

And Bill doesn't even suspect anything yet, I presume!

It's a kind of generous and spiritual victory for you, too, I guess. Because isn't it the wisest of things to gain the upper hand, while allowing your opponent to feel that he is still the better man?

[mjkerner]

My advice to BF is to take the 2 seconds to bring the portraits into Photoshop, and flip them horizontally before release to improve the visual composition in a functional way that feels more comfortable in directing the player’s eyes to the info in the UI.

Or...we could wait until you or Mord fix it for us!

[Mord]

My portraits face outward, oriented to the right of the box with pertinent Division/Battalion patches on the left. THERE is no way in Satan's fiery hell I am redoing them to face to the right!

The mod already covers about 95% of the MG module, unless they renamed some stuff. I'll only need to add a few new portraits (most notably the Falls). Unfortunately, Bil and c3k can't use them in official AARs.

Mord.

[c3k]

Oh, wait until I manage to post pix of the turns we've just exchanged! Fun action abounds!

[Mord]

Cool. I like how you guys have been adding videos into the equation as well. Very novel approach...I hope it's something that everyone starts doing in their AARs.

Mord.

[BletchleyGeek]

Nice to see that the British Cavalry sticks to their traditions, this guy would be proud

Very good read, Ken. You really need to turn the battle into a knifefight - and seems to me that you're on closing the engagement range with Bil's fancy pants panzerthings.

A different thing is whether Bil will or not allow you to set terms. Good luck!

[Michael Emrys]

...this guy would be proud

Didn't he have a sweater or something named after him?

Michael

[Vinnart]

Mord, your portraits are fine, and certainly more work to change than just taking it into Photoshop and clicking "flip horizontal”. I think you missed this part of my post “Whether you are painting a picture, taking a photo, taking an artsy screen shot, or laying out a UI it is better composition to have things facing either into the page, or FOWARD. Never out.” Out leads the eye off the page.

If anyone wants to learn more about what are good visual composition concepts there are whole books on the subject (some I have read/studied), and sure there is stuff online too. I’m sure we would all rather not stray too much into what this thread isn’t about . It was just a tip I wanted to pass along to BF to improve if they still have time.

[sburke]

My portraits face outward, oriented to the right of the box with pertinent Division/Battalion patches on the left. THERE is no way in Satan's fiery hell I am redoing them to face to the right!

The mod already covers about 95% of the MG module, unless they renamed some stuff. I'll only need to add a few new portraits (most notably the Falls). Unfortunately, Bil and c3k can't use them in official AARs.

Mord.

I vote for keeping Mord sane and continuing his unit mods, #1 it is!!!

[Mord]

Mord, your portraits are fine, and certainly more work to change than just taking it into Photoshop and clicking "flip horizontal”.

No Worries. I was just jerking MJ's chain. BUT you have that right, there are over a thousand portraits IIRC.

I vote for keeping Mord sane and continuing his unit mods, #1 it is!!!

Actually, they'd be #3, 'cause they face outward, but your vote for my sanity is duly noted.

On with the death and destruction!

Mord.

[c3k]

I’m sure we would all rather not stray too much into what this thread isn’t about . It was just a tip I wanted to pass along to BF to improve if they still have time.

Stray? Why, that would imply that there is a PLAN for this thread! There is none! Forward, always, unless we're turning a flank, then sideways, but briefly, keeping a weather eye cocked and... I forgot where I was going with this one.

Onto the turn!