How I seem to play the Brits

[John1966]

"Possible anti-tank gun spotted."

"Four 25 pounders until we're out of ammo. I can wait."

Edited August 6, 2020 by John1966

[danfrodo]

now, that is funny

I love playing as the brits though I don't know why.  All that goofy gear, goofy tanks

[John1966]

Her Majesty's finest goofy gear, thank you very much.

[John1966]

Actually it was "His Majesty's finest goofy gear" back then.

[Warts 'n' all]

Paddy sits in his Bedford bottle of Guinness in hand, "Will yer'se listen to these here feckers, they wouldn't have no 25-pounders if me and me mets didn't tow 'em".

Edited August 6, 2020 by Warts 'n' all

[Freyberg]

I play mostly with British Commonwealth forces of various sorts, who are similar although different. They have less infantry firepower than US infantry, but some nice units and vehicles - recon troops, flame vehicles, Fireflies and similar.

I tend to play then quite stealthily on the attack - Firefly is a magnificent long-range sniper - and, yes, they do depend on artillery quite a lot, although in QBs I tend to choose the carrier-based on-map mortars when available, which add a lot of punch to the infantry.

[John1966]

5 hours ago, Freyberg said:

.. and, yes, they do depend on artillery quite a lot...

And they turn up with a lot of it and generous supplies of ammunition.

I've just got back into CM so I download the Commonwealth mod for the first time. Haven't played the Brits since CMx1. As they seem to be a bit under firepowered in the infantry department, flinging arty about is the way. It'd be rude not to use it all up. So most of the time they're making tea waiting for the arty to demolish the objective.

Last two scenarios had explosions going off for the whole game. And yes, I really did turn a field into a moonscape because someone spotted an ATG. Think we got him though.

[Warts 'n' all]

I always smile when I see "25 pounders" in the mission briefing. There used to be one near the entrance to the National Army Museum in Chelsea, I assume it is still there, but my last visit was about 15 years ago.

[John1966]

2 hours ago, Warts 'n' all said:

There used to be one near the entrance to the National Army Museum in Chelsea, I assume it is still there, but my last visit was about 15 years ago.

There used to be one in front of the artillery battery in Bristol but I think it was removed in the early-'80s.

[John1966]

In the current scenario I'm playing, one of the objectives was a château. I hope they didn't want it in tact because it's already rubble.

[Freyberg]

3 hours ago, John1966 said:

As they seem to be a bit under firepowered in the infantry department

I quite like the challenge of the Commonwealth, as well as having an affection for them.

They're quite a 'stand-offish' force - they fight quite well outside SMG range, nice accurate rifles, those little 2" mortars that set up in seconds. They feel a little bit WWI-ish sometimes. But they're not strong on close assault. You have to be patient, and in QBs, I give myself plenty of time.

For the complete opposite experience, I like playing the Soviets.

[Erwin]

IIRC Both Brits and Soviets relied on lots of artillery which made up for the lower firepower of the (esp Brit) infantry.  Presumably the way it worked in RL was that the Allies were supposed to advance vs shell-shocked and suppressed enemy.  CM2 designers often restrict the artillery to make a more entertaining game. 

[Warts 'n' all]

"Ah, Mr Jorrocks Sir, will yer'se take a listen to these 'ere fellas? "Stand-offish", me left foot. You always get yer round in, nothing "stand-offish" about you Sir. Although the Field Marshall is a bit of a tight wad, but that is only to be expected with an Anglican. As for the "Soviets", didn't the Bolsheviks do away with them in the 1920's?"

[Vacillator]

As a Brit, I always (well okay not always) play as the Germans.  Isn't that the correct way to do it?  Works for me anyway...

[John1966]

You know what? When I got to that field the ATG was still manned and functioning!

Bloody 25 pounders...

[John1966]

I take it all back. Just took out a Tiger by unloading an unfeasibly large amount of 25 pounder on it. As we all know, it was worth the unfeasibly large expenditure of ammo.

[Bozowans]

I too love the Brits and their goofy gear.

They might not have as much infantry firepower but they go through ammo much more slowly. Once you have fire superiority built up, you don't have to frantically rush the assault teams forward before you burn through the ammo. You can just take your sweet time. It makes an attack an almost leisurely experience. So after you've had your tea waiting for your arty to demolish the objective, you can sit back and have some more tea waiting for the infantry assault.

Reminds me of that scene in "They Shall Not Grow Old" where a British soldier talked about using the hot water from their water-cooled machine guns to boil their tea on the front lines. 

[John1966]

1 hour ago, Bozowans said:

So after you've had your tea waiting for your arty to demolish the objective...

This. Playing the Brits isn't about taking the objective. It's about taking the rubble that used to be the objective.

[Warts 'n' all]

"Mr Jorrocks, sir. Who the hell are these "Brits" that these here feckers keep going on about? I never met a single one all through the fecking war. You and the boys from Middlesex were "British", and me and the lads from the Free State were "Micks" . Now would yer'se like another "G" in yer "T" whilst I get meself another pint of black?"

[LukeFF]

People need to remember that the British military adopted a philosophy of "steel, not flesh" by the time WWII came about. The horrendous casualties of WWI drove that lesson home quite brutally. 

[Erwin]

...and also was a reason why Montgomery was relatively cautious due to orders (from Churchill) to conserve lives.  The quote, "His guts our blood" re Patton was that he had less scruples about friendly casualties.

Edited August 9, 2020 by Erwin

[DerKommissar]

The british were quick to mechanize during the interwar years. Even after Dunkirk, they had one of the most mobile armies.  They also have some very accurate platforms -- like the bren gun or 6 pounder.

I find they have the greatest plethora of recce units. With universal carrier scouts and FO cars, they definitely hold the intel advantage.

This allows for clever use of support assets and the elimination of obstacles prior to any attack. Works well with a slow, methodical, battle but still retains flexibility.

[Erwin]

2 hours ago, DerKommissar said:

They also have some very accurate platforms -- like the bren gun or 6 pounder.

IIRC the Brit 3" mortar was reputed to also be very accurate (it certainly was in CM1).

[Freyberg]

31 minutes ago, Erwin said:

IIRC the Brit 3" mortar was reputed to also be very accurate (it certainly was in CM1).

It's certainly accurate in direct fire, but I guess all mortars are...

[Lucky_Strike]

On 8/6/2020 at 5:20 PM, Warts 'n' all said:

I always smile when I see "25 pounders" in the mission briefing. There used to be one near the entrance to the National Army Museum in Chelsea, I assume it is still there, but my last visit was about 15 years ago.

Still one at the gate of Middle Wallop next door to the Army Air Museum

Google maps plus code: 5C3J+JR Kentsboro, Stockbridge

Did they carry these things strapped to helicopters?