Axis - CMBN Buying The Farm - Crowd-sourced DAR

[c3k]

^^^

 

Womble and I crossposted. I've made several edits and PS's to my post, just above his. We make similar points wrt the atg.

[MethodGamer]

This thread continues to deliver.

 

I'll review the information in more detail later tonight, but based on what I'm reading, I think there's one big change I need to make to my defensive game:be far more "aggressive" on defense. My general approach has always been to turtle up close to the objectives, but the consensus seems to be that it's the wrong approach, so I'll definitely stop doing that

 

Two quick questions.

1. I realized I don't understand how to plan and use reserves at all. What's their purpose? How big should reserves be?
2. Can trenches be rotated? I tried moving trenches that were aligned east to west (top to bottom in the map), since they were empty and they could be more useful if they were close to the attack line, but I couldn't reorient them north-south, which would have made them parallel to the defensive line. Does it even matter?

I'll have more tonight. But thanks for what you've provided so far, it's a huge help.

[womble]

I don't remember if you have the freedom to move the mines as I've indicated.) The big linear field will be about as effective if it only has 75% of the mines there. Use the extras to bleed Ian in unexpected places.

 

Yes, all the mines but one are in the pink deployment zone and can be moved to any other pink deployment zone.

[womble]

This thread continues to deliver.

 

I'll review the information in more detail later tonight, but based on what I'm reading, I think there's one big change I need to make to my defensive game:be far more "aggressive" on defense. My general approach has always been to turtle up close to the objectives, but the consensus seems to be that it's the wrong approach, so I'll definitely stop doing that

Inspired by this brace of threads, I started up the game as the attackers and went for a "north field" push with almost everything. Even a couple of teams in a hedgerow will slow the infantry down, as they can't just bum's rush you for fear of that third infantry team with an MG42 that opens up at 80m or an MP40 that opens up at 50.

 

 

1. I realized I don't understand how to plan and use reserves at all. What's their purpose? How big should reserves be?

 

A classic deployment is "two up, one back". Your "one back" is the generally flexible part of your force. In my suggested deployment, the reserve consists of the Panzershreck team and 4-5 A teams (with MP40 and Faust). In this case, by the time you can put a reserve into action, you'll be at knife-fight range, and those weapons are pointless sat in a trench being shelled by tanks, so keep them covered and push them to the direction the enemy turns out to be advancing from.

 

I disagree a bit with Ken about the Shreck. Pushing it forward in the south field will just get it spotted and gunned down if that's the way the tanks come, from out of range. Hiding it behind the bocage (first on the south side of the road, then falling back to the the north side (last line surrounding the farm) will give it the best chances to score kills on that side. Having it forward to provide anti-armour cover for the minefield and hedgehogs on the north flank (make sure it's got an Armour Target Arc so it doesn't give itself away until there's something juicy to shoot at) would be a more useful forward deployment. Though you might get away with hiding around the swamp.

 

To sap the speed out of Ken's advance, you want a layered defense, to make him stop and suppress as much as possible. You want that defense to be diffuse so his suppression doesn't affect more than one element at a time, and you want it spread over a wide front so he can't apply adequate suppression to the entire contact frontage. As an example of the contact frontage being narrow enough for complete suppression, in my run through of the scenario, advancing across the north bocage field, the ATG, its ammo bearers and two plain infantry teams were in the hedge; I believe they may, between them, have gotten off one rifle shot. I've inflicted more friendly fire casualties by forgetting to switch the tanks to Target Light than have been inflicted by that row of fighters before they up and ran. But it's taken me 13 minutes to get a tank into the first defended bocage (to engage the trench line the AI put in the orange area behind that, with the IG in it - it's almost like the AI has been reading my posts here! If I'd gone south flank, it would have been a cakewalk... apart from the mines which weren't present in the north field in this case). This shows the value of even an ineffectual line of defense: it slows the attacker up by forcing them to take the time to make it ineffectual; if I'd just merrily tripped across the field, it would have been  directly effective, and killed a tank or two, and ruined the morale of a platoon, slowing me down anyway.

[c3k]

 

I disagree a bit with Ken about the Shreck. Pushing it forward in the south field will just get it spotted and gunned down if that's the way the tanks come, from out of range. Hiding it behind the bocage (first on the south side of the road, then falling back to the the north side (last line surrounding the farm) will give it the best chances to score kills on that side. Having it forward to provide anti-armour cover for the minefield and hedgehogs on the north flank (make sure it's got an Armour Target Arc so it doesn't give itself away until there's something juicy to shoot at) would be a more useful forward deployment. Though you might get away with hiding around the swamp.

 

 

 

I may have been unclear. The 'schreck only STARTS near there because that's the closest allowed setup location to the DESIRED location. It moves (as I stated) INTO the road on the first turn (by going through the gap) and sets up in the road, hugging the bocage, with a FACE towards the marsh.

 

 

Great job placing the 'schreck where it can't be shot at. They'll survive to surrender after you've lost. Sheesh.    What good will a short range anti-tank weapon do at the back of the map? Same critique as your HMG: get 'em up so they can fight when it matters. Where? The mines and wire help make your right "tank proof". Or, at least, you should be able to strip infantry away from tanks on that flank. The ATG has good LOS on the left. (And the marsh also pins Ian's tanks.) That leaves a zone from the road to the edge of the marsh where his tanks can roam.

 

I'd place it in the zone ahead of the farmhouse, next to the road. Their job will be to move across the road and use the bocage as cover. They'll shoot to the left, or up the road (and backup your ATG) if Ian tries a road dash. There's a line of pink, next to a gap in the bocage where a lane enters the field. Put it there. Across the road, on your left, is a similar gap. At game start, move them onto the road, AHEAD of the gap on the left. FACE them towards the left. That should be a nice spot. Plus, the gaps allow him to easily shift left or right as needed. (If it cannot setup in pink, then put it in the orange near the left gap. Then move it to the place I indicated above. (I've advised elsewhere to put some entrenchments in that orange zone. Use it if your need it for the 'schreck setup.)

 

 

^^^ that is the relevant 'schreck info from my upstream post. Womble and I are in total agreement (I think) about where to put it. (bolded for emphasis)

 

Womble's point about TARGET ARMOR arc is excellent. (His other positioning ideas for the 'schreck are also good.) Do NOT try to get into a duel with that 'schreck. Think about the bazooka in The Matrix III fighting the flying robot squids: one shot, then move, or get diced up. Similarly, your 'schreck is an ambush device. One shot, then displace.

 

 

Reserves: a small unit (even a team) which is unsuppressed and has good morale, can deliver a crippling blow against a worn out attacker if they fire at the right time and place. Womble indicated the classic 2 up and 1 back formation (good on attack and defense). This scales at almost all levels. A platoon would have 2 squads up, 1 back. A company would have 2 platoons up, and one back. In this particular case, your men IN the farmhouse are not protecting it. It's a nice central spot, however. You may consider them your reserve.

 

Do NOT retreat other units towards the farmhouse. That gives Ian safe flanks. Retreat to PROTECT the farmhouse. Units in it will die. Units outside of it can protect it.

 

 

I don't remember which way is north on the map, hence my use of AHEAD (meaning towards Ian's side of the map) or "wheatfield", "minefield", or "marsh" for orientation.

 

Note how Womble has specific missions for each team based on their weapons? Team "A" of each squad gets auto weapons (mostly). Notice how the teams break up if you use the different split commands. That can be important. You want ambush guys? Use ASSAULT TEAM and take the "A" from that split. Etc. Play with it and you'll see some VERY nuanced (but important!!!) differences. You can sculpt your force into a very task organized unit. MG34/42 teams are murderous. Use them and enjoy the field of crosses they create. (Then move them away. Don't gloat: it's unbecoming.  )

Edited April 17, 2015 by c3k

[c3k]

This thread continues to deliver.

 

I'll review the information in more detail later tonight, but based on what I'm reading, I think there's one big change I need to make to my defensive game:be far more "aggressive" on defense. My general approach has always been to turtle up close to the objectives, but the consensus seems to be that it's the wrong approach, so I'll definitely stop doing that

 

 

 

Defense is an excellent opportunity to kill the enemy. They just have to keep coming! It's awesome! No need to hunt them down, pry them out, and bayonet them. A bit of fast footwork (ALWAYS SHIFT POSITIONS), a few sharp jabs, one or two counterattacks, and Bob's your uncle. (Is he, really?)

 

Nothing more fun than watching attackers fleeing... Well, maybe collecting the white flags from them or seeing all the red crosses sprout up.

 

Defense should be aggressive. Sitting there and PLANNING to fold up into a nice little waxed takeaway chinese food box is NOT the way to win.

[A Canadian Cat]

Awesome, this is brilliant. This level of advice could not be given by just one person. This is exactly what we wanted. Thanks everyone!

[womble]

I may have been unclear. The 'schreck only STARTS near there because that's the closest allowed setup location to the DESIRED location. It moves (as I stated) INTO the road on the first turn (by going through the gap) and sets up in the road, hugging the bocage, with a FACE towards the marsh.

 

Apologies for potentially misrepresenting you. I may have been guilty of reading on one device, and then replying on another without carefully going back and checking references. Glad we do agree!

 

 

Do NOT retreat other units towards the farmhouse. That gives Ian safe flanks. Retreat to PROTECT the farmhouse. Units in it will die. Units outside of it can protect it.

 

I have a suspicion that units defending the farmhouse from within the farmyard compound may survive relatively well against a south side (marshy field) attack. The long range weapons will have done some damage, and the bocage lining the road on the "outside" gives a good defensive step from which to strike and fall back safely to the "inside" line of bocage. Tanks trying to support infantry in crossing the road will have to be vulnerable to the A team Fausts, possibly the only time that will be true, except maybe as they exit the woods and approach the very first low bocage line before entering the field with the marsh. Given that you want to defend those hedgelines with A teams, and the corresponding B teams will need HQ support to be returning effective fire from their entrenchments, if you can get a PltHQ back into the farm compound to help stiffen the resolve of the stubborn last-ditch defenders, that would, I think, help. I don't think your B teams are going to be in any fit state to be providing additional resistance, personally, once they've been forced out of their firing positions. You might get some mileage out of crawling them along trenches to get a second pop, but they're toast as soon as they clamber above the parapet; your HQs might not attract as much attention, as they shouldn't be firing much.

 

 

 

I don't remember which way is north on the map, hence my use of AHEAD (meaning towards Ian's side of the map) or "wheatfield", "minefield", or "marsh" for orientation.

I just remember that the amis are coming from the west. And if I've got that wrong, all my cardinal directions are off

 

 

 

Note how Womble has specific missions for each team based on their weapons? Team "A" of each squad gets auto weapons (mostly). Notice how the teams break up if you use the different split commands. That can be important. You want ambush guys? Use ASSAULT TEAM and take the "A" from that split. Etc. Play with it and you'll see some VERY nuanced (but important!!!) differences. You can sculpt your force into a very task organized unit. MG34/42 teams are murderous. Use them and enjoy the field of crosses they create. (Then move them away. Don't gloat: it's unbecoming.  )

 

I'm not sure I've placed enough emphasis (for my own bias, naturally; it's just my SOP) on splitting up the squads. Lots of people seem to be happy with how they get on with whole squads, but personally, and having been forced to use full squads in FI as the Italians, I can't see any reason to keep a squad intact (having to deal with extra micromanagement is not sufficient reason, IMO ). I had a play with "Assault" for the Grenadier squads that I believe have been used as the basis of the OstBattalion, and discovered that Assault team gives all the Fausts to the MG42 B-team element, whereas "Split Teams" keeps them with the A team. I didn't take especial note of the grenade count, though, but that's something that is definitely affected by how you split teams up: Assault teams are definitely given the lion's share of the grenades, in all the formations I've tinkered with. Whether those grenades get split out that way when you use the plain "Split Teams",  I don't know. For future reference, when you've got squads with 2 MG42s, you need to use "Assault Team" to get them into the same team for a "range-biased" split. Just using "Split team" gets you a setup where each team is less specialised, which has its uses.

[MethodGamer]

Ok, I've made a few adjustments to my plan. One thing to remember: Even though I know what Ian's plan is, I'm pretending that I'm defending against the bulk of his force coming through the field south of the road, with a small harassing force coming through the road.

 

Also note: I've rotated the map so that North is up. I was getting confused with "my left" and "Ian's right", etc. So now, North is up, East is right, etc.

 

 

Here are the adjustments I made:

1. I've moved the panzerschreck team up, closer to the front of the line, near the road. Their initial orders are to move into the road, between the two openings on the south hedge, and take up position there. From here, they can cover the road and the south field, or move to the north field if he does go north. There's also an assault team in that spot. They'll stay put for the first turn, and they'll move where they're needed as I get a better picture of the attack.
2. I've moved trenches and an MG team. They have a pretty good field of fire here, especially just across the marsh and north of them.
3. I've moved foxholes and an MG team just north of the road and west of the farm. Again, good coverage of the north field, but close to the road and the south field if they need to be somewhere else
4. I've moved a few mines in front of the openings in the center hedgerow. It's thinned my mine field on the right, but the gaps are still pretty small, so if that's his main line of advance, they'll still probably do damage and slow his advance down.
5. I moved the HMG team into foxholes just in front of the main INF gun trench network. They're still close enough to the road to displace if I made a mistake in where Ian's force is coming.
6. I've moved trenches and foxholes, manned by MG teams, as far west as the deployment zones allowed

All of this has thinned the amount of men I had in the two big trench networks in the back, so if arty starts falling into that position, there's a lot less to kill.

 

That leaves me with two questions:

1. Is the TRP in the right spot? Right now, it's just in front of the gap left of "4". I figure that would be an ok spot to start a fire mission, and I can adjust up and down the line, depending on where Ian puts his force in cover.
2. Should I move units into the red zone left of "6"? I don't have many units eligible to deploy in the red zones, other than the teams in the farmhouse, and I'm out of fortifications that are eligible to move there, so I'd have one unit without foxholes or trenches if I do that.

 

Thoughts?

[womble]

 

1. Is the TRP in the right spot? Right now, it's just in front of the gap left of "4". I figure that would be an ok spot to start a fire mission, and I can adjust up and down the line, depending on where Ian puts his force in cover.

Remember that the TRP will call fire very quickly, so you'll only be able to adjust it if it is a long mission. Your mortar hasn't been topped off, so  a long mission will necessarily be low intensity. This isn't a bad thing, though. You want to harrass Ian as much as possible. If what you want out of the mortar is a harrassing of his positions in and threatening the swampfield, you have HQs there to direct the adjustment of the mission; you could call a "speculative" Harass-weight Maximum duration mission either  as a 5 minute delay pre-planned or in the first proper "orders" phase and it will likely be dropping as Ian starts to exit the woods. So you could put the TRP elsewhere, where you have eyes but no support-eligible units. To cover the road, perhaps, or the big minefield.

 

1. Should I move units into the red zone left of "6"? I don't have many units eligible to deploy in the red zones, other than the teams in the farmhouse, and I'm out of fortifications that are eligible to move there, so I'd have one unit without foxholes or trenches if I do that.

Putting a unit out in the open without foxholes will just get them killed to no end; their lifespan will be briefer than a Mayfly's. With the amount of firepower an american company can dish out, the foxholes and trenches will let them survive for a bit longer (which is all you can ask), even if they don't get to fire very much.

[c3k]

Minor point about your minefield. It looks like you took some mines from the northern half of the linear field. Yet, it's the southern half which has the two units covering it. I would suggest taking from the part which has units (the southern half) not from the northern. Very minor, but nits are meant to be picked.

 

Oh, and what Womble said.

[umlaut]

that is not a good shorthand/nickname....

I'd say it all depends on how you use capitals:

Meth OD gamer isnt fortunate :-)

[c3k]

....Arrested Development...

 

Method One Clinic. (Tobias thought it was an acting clinic. Raved about the acting and emotive abilities of the other students enrolled in the clinic.)

[MethodGamer]

Minute 30-29

 

This minute was completely uneventful, until the very last few seconds, when I heard a bang. I quickly scanned the map, and saw a little puff of smoke, at the end of the road. Someone or something stepped on a mine.

 

 

This confirms what I already know: something is coming down the road. My initial assumptions were that Ian's main force is coming through the woods, a smaller secondary force is coming up the road, and no units are coming through the north sector.

 

Orders Minute 29

 

The way I see it, I have three choices at this point:

1. Move all units from the north sector near the road to cover/ambush it
2. Move most of my north sector units near the road to cover/ambush it, but leave a few in the north sector, as reserves and as scouts just to be sure nothing come through there
3. Move a few units from the north AND south sectors near the road to cover/ambush it

I'm thinking option 1 would be the correct choice (assuming I didn't know what Ian's plan is).

 

If that's correct, the question is now what do I move where, and how? Here's what I'm thinking:

 

 

Now that he's mines in the road, my question would be, does he continue down the road, or does he change his plans and try to see if the north field is any better (indicated by "2"). Because of this, I'm going to keep the units near "3" where they are. They can spot and suppress Ian if he does come through that field. If he doesn't, I can shift them closer to the road.

 

Units near "1" seem like good candidates to move forward to help cover the road. They're equipped with fausts, so they can deal with infantry and armor.

 

Team team at "4" is in good position. They're likely to make first contact with the enemy coming up the road, so they'll stay put for now.

 

I'm not sure what to do with the ATG and the schreck near "5". I right now, they're both facing the south sector. I can either (a) leave them as is for another turn, until my team at 4 can get a better idea what's going on, ( turn the ATG towards the road and leave the schreck as is or ©, leave the ATG as is, and move the schreck up closer to the gun, facing towards the southward curve in the road NW of the ATG. I'm thinking option ©.

 

My last question is: what do I do with the units near "6"? They're my reserve. I'm thinking they hold tight for now, until I get a bit more information, then I'll send them where my defenders need them most. Is that how you determine when reserves should be activated?

[womble]

I think you're mostly on the right track. Pushing 1 up a bit to get eyes on the road (make very sure they've got a short target arc, and make sure they crawl the last Action Spot into position) would be a good plan. I'd put the MG42 team in the hedge so it can see all the way up the road. Ken doesn't seem to have set anything up to put speculative fire on that first kink in the road (he could've had a mortar or a tank tucked into the hedge in the wiggle dropping HE behind that hedge on any potential ATG/MG sited there. As soon as that team opens up, I'd imagine there will be a degree of Hell let loose on them, though, so don't expect them to stay in situ very long, and wait for the whites of their eyes...

 

A thought occurs: you could now scurry the platoon commander forward to the hedge, to call mortar fire on units in the road that have been delayed by the mine encounter. You might be too late, and the places he could potentially spot from might become uninhabitable before he could call the fires.

 

Don't touch the ATG! There won't be any tanks suddenly appearing on its flank, because of the 'jacks' in the road, so trust other units to keep infantry from seeing it until it's done its work on any tanks in the south field it's bearing on already. If you want the Shreck to defend the PaK, have it do so from behind hedges. If it's just sitting in a road, the team will be suppressed by speculative fire from any advancing armour before it can get a shot off.

[A Canadian Cat]

The way I see it, I have three choices at this point:

• Move all units from the north sector near the road to cover/ambush it
• Move most of my north sector units near the road to cover/ambush it, but leave a few in the north sector, as reserves and as scouts just to be sure nothing come through there
• Move a few units from the north AND south sectors near the road to cover/ambush it

I'm thinking option 1 would be the correct choice (assuming I didn't know what Ian's plan is).

 

I would simply point out that at this point in the battle all you actually know is that someone tripped a mine on the road. If you had no other knowledge option 1 could be a mistake because for all you know the enemy is getting ready assault cross the field and the road action is just a distraction.

 

Also, your reserve is for shoring up a weak spot or taking advantage of an opportunity.  At this point in the battle you have neither: therefore it is to early to start sending them into be fray.

[c3k]

I'm with Womble: Option 1 makes sense. The road gets beefed up by them. If Ian comes through the north, they're ready to reinforce "3". If the road, Ian's hosed. South? Well, they're not committed and can make crossing the road very difficult.

 

Team 4: great location, but does he have a cover arc??? You want devastating ambush, then run away, not long-range plinking. Cover arcs do that.

[womble]

... Ken doesn't seem to have set anything up...

Well of course not. Cos he's not playing... I meant, of course, Ian. Got the last letter, and the number of letters right... :-/ Apologies both.

 

And I did mean to mention reserves.

 

Classically, the axiom is never to reinforce defeat. So your reserves aren't there to try and prevent Ian's forces rolling over defenses they've already broken. They're there to strike in a place which will turn the tide: ideally, that would be a place where you've got Ian stalled and an extra fire team or three will have his men start running instead of cowering. For example, if Ian's push down the road isn't enough to clear you out, having the reserve enter the fray from the road (and therefore on the flank of Ian's force in the south field) might be enough to catch a second wave trying to push through the troops you've got pinned down there...  You do have "interior lines of communication" (routes that are not subject to observed fire and interdiction by the enemy) to maneuver on, but the timing of any "counterattack" (which might just be some additional firepower popping up) is going to be finely judged.

 

One place you do have to counterattack from is the farmhouse itself. While it's an obvious target for tank fires, it's also pretty good cover and can reach out and touch infantry. You'll want to Slow any troops up into position, assuming Ian doesn't just leave one tank tasked with shelling the storey to oblivion... but if he does that, you'll have closer to parity in your bocage fire positions.

 

I don't know if the scenario has a hard timer, or a soft one, but even against the AI, it took me 28 minutes (15 KIA, 11 WIA, 11 yellow silhouettes, no vehicles lost) to force a Surrender. Oh, and don't offer a Surrender Even one routing guy that Ian can't shoot, left in the VL will "contest" it, and then it's down to who killed the most Surrendering gives him all the VL VPs automatically.

[MethodGamer]

I would simply point out that at this point in the battle all you actually know is that someone tripped a mine on the road. If you had no other knowledge option 1 could be a mistake because for all you know the enemy is getting ready assault cross the field and the road action is just a distraction.

 

Also, your reserve is for shoring up a weak spot or taking advantage of an opportunity.  At this point in the battle you have neither: therefore it is to early to start sending them into be fray.

 

And this is the dilemma: do I shift more forces to the road, or wait for more information. Given the small map and short distances, do I have time to move units in a position to defend if I get the initial call wrong?

[c3k]

Your ATG is exposed to anything coming down the road. There are not too many positions to support it. Moving units as shown in 1 merely protects that ATG. It does not commit the troops. In fact, it puts a force in the center, easily able to pivot as needed.

 

I'd do it... even with the fog of war which means you don't know what set off that mine. SInce you didn't SEE  what triggered it, you don't know if it's a scout or a tank reinforcing a platoon.

 

It's about force leverage and location. I'd do it. The road MUST be a kill zone. For that, you need bodies.

[womble]

Wot Ken Sed. I probably stressed the vulnerability of that OP too much in my assessment of the situation and deterred you from putting some eyes there ab initio. Bad Womble. No biscuit.

 

Another reason that road has to be covered is that if Ian has engineers (likely in a Bocage scenario with so few pre-existing small gaps in hedges), giving him free rein on that road means he can use that hedge as a firebase to support an attack on the north field that comes from the road, and if he's lucky, and comes through the hedge far enough down, completely avoid the mine belt. Which would be a Bad Thing. So having something keep the road an unhealthy place to be is a Good Thing.

[MethodGamer]

Minute 29-28

Absolutely nothing happened, other than the few units that were ordered to reposition themselves did so.

 

Minute 28 Orders

None, just waiting for contact at this point.

 

Questions:

• Is there any way to figure out what terrain type I'm dealing with in game, other than visual recognition? For example, in this thread, there's been mention of bocage vs hedgerows, and even experienced players didn't seem sure which of the two a particular hedge row was
• Similarly, is there anyway to figure out ahead of time if a piece of terrain is passable or not? One of the units I ordered to move had to take a long detour because I though a piece of terrain was passable, but it wasn't. It won't make a huge difference to my plan in this case (the unit isn't running out in the open or anything, it'll just take it two turns to get into place, rather than one). But in other games, a mistake like that could lead to a dead squad or worse.

[delliejonut]

There really isn't a sure way of figuring out the difference between bocage and hedgerows. Under bocage the terrain bulges upwards slightly- that's your only real visual clue.

Infantry can walk through very low hedgerows, or through gaps in bigger hedges and bocage. With tanks you have to guess whether they can roll over it or not. As far as walls, it's good to remember wheeled vehicles can't drive over low ones, but tracked vehicles can.

[Warts 'n' all]

Using overhead view.. such as camera level 6.   The three different types of hedgerow are a different thickness.

 

Whilst using ground level view.. i.e. camera level 1  You can see that they are also of a different height.

[womble]

 

Minute 28 Orders

None, just waiting for contact at this point.

I was thinking that's a bit of a surprise if you've now got eyes down the road, but then I remembered something I didn't notice til late in the day and kept forgetting to mention: the conditions are hazy, and it's early morning. At this stage, I expect there are heavy spotting penalties.

 

 

Is there any way to figure out what terrain type I'm dealing with in game, other than visual recognition? For example, in this thread, there's been mention of bocage vs hedgerows, and even experienced players didn't seem sure which of the two a particular hedge row w

 

There are no hedges on the map as far as I could tell, only high and low Bocage. For my part, if I refer to "hedgerow", I mean Bocage of either type. In my head, it's about the difference between an agricultural field border and a manicured piece of horticultural topiary (the "Hedge"); you wouldn't call a garden hedge a "hedgerow", though you might call a farm hedgerow a hedge. The high and low types of Bocage are easily differentiated (the clue is in the name ). Without seeing them side by side, it can sometimes be difficult to tell the difference between a low Bocage hedgerow and a plain hedge; the low Bocage has a "berm" at its foot and is generally a bit taller and shaggier.

 

 

• Similarly, is there anyway to figure out ahead of time if a piece of terrain is passable or not? One of the units I ordered to move had to take a long detour because I though a piece of terrain was passable, but it wasn't. It won't make a huge difference to my plan in this case (the unit isn't running out in the open or anything, it'll just take it two turns to get into place, rather than one). But in other games, a mistake like that could lead to a dead squad or worse.

It can be difficult. In Bocage, sometimes the edges of two tiles generates what looks like a small gap in the hedgerow that infantry could get through, but that is a pure visual effect. You can eliminate this as a possibility by selecting your infantry unit, giving it a move command and hovering the destination cursor over the hedgerow near the "gap". If the apparent gap is in the middle of a side of the highlighted area, it's probably a way through, whereas if it's at a corner, it's more likely to be a visual artefact at the 'join'. Another way of checking is to back your view off til the Bocage lose their textures, and become a flat green "fence"; the real gaps are then obvious. Zoom back in and take a look at how they're drawn and you'll start to learn the differences for a no-comparator look "at first glance". Also, when the sun is low and the shadows long, they're easier to spot because light spills through them.