M. Bates Posted December 23, 2000 Share Posted December 23, 2000 Last two PBEM games I have had great success by hiding or putting all my units behind cover. The exceptions are: arty spotters and heavy machine guns. The former can rain shells on the enemy player's men as he takes positions, and the machine guns can spot the enemy and dish out casualties. If your opponent can't see your units, then he has nothing to fire at. Originally in games I had tried advancing slowly or quickly with infantry, and then edging out my tanks to try and kill his vehicles. But I am now of the opinion that this is asking for trouble and casualties. Also, originally I took the view that the German player holds many advantages. In reality, the Allied side with their larger squads can hold their own better. Artillery can be disasterous for German infantry. Allied armoured cars appear to be superior. I seem also to have more luck by going light on the infantry and buying lots of SP guns, then destroying all the buildings around victory locations. More tips are welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jshandorf Posted December 23, 2000 Share Posted December 23, 2000 Ahhh.. See, Croda, I told you it learns. "Give it time and it will learn." Is what I said but you said, "NOOOOOOooo, way! You nuts!". Hah! No give me my 5 bucks. Jeff ------------------ I once killed a six pack just to watch it die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samhain Posted December 23, 2000 Share Posted December 23, 2000 Regarding squad sizes, try the German Sturmkompanie, with Sturmgruppe squads of thirteen men each and the following fine firepower numbers: 283, 172, 87, 43, 0. ------------------ I rode a tank, held a general's rank When the blitzkrieg raged, and the bodies stank. --Rolling Stones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Bates Posted December 23, 2000 Author Share Posted December 23, 2000 Read the signature Monsieur Shandorf!! Mr Yoda - or I forget what his name is - can keep his 5 dollars, because my contempt for your good self is demonstrated by your contempt for Professor Stevan Hawker. As a great fan and admirer of Mr Hawker's work, I am shocked by your attitude. ------------------ Great Quotes Maximus: "And what's that Rob? The rest of the world doesn't care? I can assure you that when Boris Yeltsin stepped down in Russia last New Years, the world cared. Oh wait, you live in Canada. That's right, Canada only cares 'aboot' Canada. The whole world could be on the brink of destruction and as long as Canadian soil isn't involved, they could care less. Does the phrase, "Isolationist China" mean anything to ya?" Rob/1: "Lets just say I dont like americans ok... if you have a prolbem with that Minumis is one of the resions." jshandorf: "Suck" jshandorf: "How about Stephen Hawkins! Yeah! I would kick his skinny, whellchair ass any day of the week! Bring it on roller boy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maximus Posted December 23, 2000 Share Posted December 23, 2000 That sounds about how my last PBEM went and I got my ass-kicked because of it. Damned Ami Arty tore me a new ass-hole. BTW, I have always hated and still do hate the QB editor. You can't finely edit your purchases to take advantage of every point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Bates Posted December 23, 2000 Author Share Posted December 23, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Regarding squad sizes, try the German Sturmkompanie, with Sturmgruppe squads of thirteen men each and the following fine firepower numbers: 283, 172, 87, 43, 0.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Aren't they 9 men squads? Anyway, most German players get three standard Cannon Fodder, ie a company of riflemen and a couple of mg42s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moriarty Posted December 23, 2000 Share Posted December 23, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Maximus: That sounds about how my last PBEM went and I got my ass-kicked because of it. Damned Ami Arty tore me a new ass-hole. BTW, I have always hated and still do hate the QB editor. You can't finely edit your purchases to take advantage of every point.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> So build a map and place your own units. For example, you can use the scenario editor to delete the 60mm mortar from a platoon and add an MG. ------------------ "Moriarty, you suck." -- Dunno, but somebody must've said it somewhere along the line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilhammer Posted December 23, 2000 Share Posted December 23, 2000 I am firmly in the "wait to you see the whites of their eyes" camp. The way to really fine tune it is to force the enemy to stop to fight, and then drop the Arty on him. This is also a good time to bring in your Priests or M-8 HMCs. Read about Wellington's tactics, or American "Indian Fighting" and you will know my methods. Good old Fionn called it "Don't fire at greater than 40 meters", for at close range, anybody will break, and German uber-tanks (excepting the uber-uber Tanks) are just as vulnerable as any Sherman, and the Sherman comes out on top as a result of its fast turret. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilhammer Posted December 23, 2000 Share Posted December 23, 2000 And Bates, Mr. Hawkins is a great man who publishes his own work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ezmartini Posted December 23, 2000 Share Posted December 23, 2000 I say hope your opponent is a beginner so he doesn't think a password is important or what he possibly needs it for, then watch as the attackers ambush [This message has been edited by Ezmartini (edited 12-22-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Commissar Posted December 23, 2000 Share Posted December 23, 2000 I, too, consider myself a member of the "fire at no farther then 40m" camp. Through numerous PBEM's and reading the AAR's of other folk (Fionn included), I have established that for the defender to open up at far range is an invitation for the defender to expose his positions and have heavy artillery and mass concentrated fire to be dumped in his direction, resulting in heavy losses. Much better to hide a squad 10 metres or so into a wood, and eliminate the enemy squad which comes running in. Then, when done cleaning up, back your men out of the impending enemy concentration to avenge their comrades. Proceed until you run out of new hiding spaces, by which time your enemy will have a large disadvantage of wasted arty, massacred infantry, and (if you're lucky), brewed up AFV's. I also feel it is important to keep a large caliber FO around for when your opponent gathers up his last fresh troops for a large concentration. Well, at least the good opponents do this. Cheers, and best of luck! ------------------ "...Every position, every meter of Soviet soil must be defended to the last drop of blood..." - Segment from Order 227 "Not a step back" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooper Posted December 26, 2000 Share Posted December 26, 2000 My case, it depends to a large extent as to just what I've got vs what he's got. Witness recent PBEM game. MkIV and JagdpzIV in ambush with a 50mm AT, 'Shreck and a platoon of infantry. Given the positions, the tanks were set to open up at maximum range. I don't like the concept of a Jgdpz IV in a knife-fight. Infantry and the rest set to hide. Knocked out quite a few enemy before I decided to pull the AFVs back. (Both were subsequently destroyed due to some dodgy AI IMHO..) Enemy gleefully pursues, and I get my first ever Panzerfaust kill at about 10 meters. My rule of thumb is to apply superior effective firepower than the enemy can bring to bear no matter what the range. If this means Pak40s and Tigers at huge range, great. If I have to use infantry to defend with, there's no point in setting up to shoot at 40 meters if you're at the front edge of the treeline. Overwatching units will massacre you. You shouldn't be there in the first place! Thus use terrain to filter down the amount of enemy that can see your positions. Stay as far back as you think you can get and remain effective against the expected opposition. The corollary to this is that if you have to go somewhere blind, (i.e. around the corner) go with everything you have at the same time, else be defeated piecemeal. NTM ------------------ The difference between infantrymen and cavalrymen is that cavalrymen get to die faster, for we ride into battle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gremlin Posted December 26, 2000 Share Posted December 26, 2000 Imo, there are definitely times as the defender when its better to let loose with long-range weapons once the enemy enters their effective ranges, than it is to wait for the hordes to be right on top of you, especially since the attacker usually outnumbers you. Just as they can break, so can you, though you at least get foxholes to cower in It seems better to attrit them as they approach, assuming you have well placed defenses with fall-back positions for when the arty comes in. (Admittedly irrelevant with things like AT guns.) ------------------ War is cruel and you cannot refine it. --Sherman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Aitken Posted December 26, 2000 Share Posted December 26, 2000 M. Bates wrote: > Last two PBEM games I have had great success by hiding or putting all my units behind cover. I would agree that this tactic has its merits. I am usually inclined to keep my infantry hidden until I'm ready to attack, although I don't think hiding armour is a good idea. If my opponent hid all of his forces, I would relish the opportunity to establish positions where I could easily do away with his forces when he chose to move them out. My philosophy is that the enemy cannot 'cheat' or benefit from 'gamey' tactics. No matter what he does, you can take advantage of it. I have learned from others that patience is a virtue – I didn't notice that myself, because I am typically patient and cautious, but some of my opponents have got into trouble and blamed it on impatience. The key is, you need to wait and see what your opponent is doing before you make your move. If he rushes into the fight, lie low and whittle his forces down. If he holds back, get yourself into ambush positions. Of course, it's never as simple as that, and you should never be doing the same thing with all of your units. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeski Posted December 26, 2000 Share Posted December 26, 2000 M. Bates/The Commissar: Ok I've got a question. Are you setting ambushes? Or just letting your troops popup on their own when the enemy gets close enough? ------------------ "If you're in a war, instead of throwing a hand grenade at the enemy, throw one of those small pumpkins. Maybe it'll make everyone think how stupid war is, and while they are thinking, you can throw a real grenade at them." - Jack Handey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer_n_Pretzels Posted December 26, 2000 Share Posted December 26, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by David Aitken: M. Bates wrote: >I have learned from others that patience is a virtue – I didn't notice that myself, because I am typically patient and cautious, but some of my opponents have got into trouble and blamed it on impatience. David B]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hi David, your post is a little gem and should go into the little Green army book for the best posts of the year. I totally agree with you. Often you can spook your opponent if you wait to see what he does while at same time conducting aggressive recon to find out what he has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Bates Posted December 27, 2000 Author Share Posted December 27, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>M. Bates/The Commissar: Ok I've got a question. Are you setting ambushes? Or just letting your troops popup on their own when the enemy gets close enough?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> My aim is to destroy the enemy's armour, or at least part of it. I also destroy immediately any buildings which enemy infantry occupies. My advice is let the enemy come to you. Once the key engagements have been won, only then is the correct time to bring up your infantry to occupy important positions. Of course, all the time my infantry perhaps advances a little bit, but the main aim is to kill enemy tanks, then move in for the kill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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