John Kettler Posted February 21, 2000 Share Posted February 21, 2000 Last night my detestation of Hellcats (played German in Last Defense) rose further. My Tiger, ably supported by MG-42s, a mortar salvo and considerable infantry fire, shot the defenders of the stone wall to pieces and routed the rest, allowing the stone house to be seized. The Tiger was behind the wall and was buttoned. My skirted StuG was pointed straight up the road toward the hill and seemed to be firing suppression MG fire toward the American road entry point. My unskirted Stug was in the trees on the German right after having helped shoot in a combined mounted and dismounted assault which took the stone house on the German left, wiped out an entire American squad, damaged and drove off a second one. My Panzergrenadiers, minus a partial squad and a halftrack destroyed by an MG-42 I overlooked, had remounted, were suppressing several American MGs, and had seized several of the houses on the angled road, preparatory to a drive on the American HQ and the main road. I was in great tactical shape. Enter the M-18s. The Tiger survived the first hit, but was brewed up by a shot right through the turret front. The StuG pointed right at the Americans took a lower front hull penetration and fought no more. The StuG in the woods met a similar fate. All this in one turn! The next turn cost me two halftracks and any hope of seizing the objectives with infantry. You see, in a single turn an M-18 raced all the way from the top of the hill, across the bridge and ended its move opposite the American battalion HQ, effectively blocking any further infantry advance by its command of the approaches. Since the scenario doesn't provide Panzerschrecks and because Panzerfausts don't work in the Beta demo, all I could do was try to keep heads down and maybe lob a grenade in from above. Ha!!! My halftracks started backing up but died. The cursed Hellcat then started blasting away at my stone house strongpoint in the wheat field, at one point practically sticking the gun muzzle into the house. I tried to close assault the thing, and I thought at first I killed it, what with the huge column of smoke pouring out of the fighting compartment, but I was wrong. My friend and I then decided that maybe what we were seeing was a smoke discharger grenade which hit the house wall and bounced back. The Hellcat didn't like all that infanry and backed up, leaving some sort of smoke dispenser burning on the ground. Next thing we knew, there was another pillar of smoke pouring from the fighting compartment. Whatever was going on, the Hellcat still moved okay, but it was strange to watch. Could someone tell me what really was going on? Thanks. John Kettler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fionn Posted February 21, 2000 Share Posted February 21, 2000 Simple.. The Hellcat got spooked by all the infantry and backed up popping smoke dischargers as quickly as it could. (thus two smoke clouds). BTW good AI to place the Hellcat in such a commanding position so quickly eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Germanboy Posted February 21, 2000 Share Posted February 21, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fionn: BTW good AI to place the Hellcat in such a commanding position so quickly eh? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I just love the lowest level of the AI, although I am not sure about the higher levels in the demo (I know it has been vastly improved). In a PBEM turn I just watched, one of my Shermans nailed a Stug and was then fired on by a Schreck team, distance about 130m. It immediately ran off to seek cover behind a house. Another Sherman has had a another Schreck team fire at it from about the same distance for about two turns and just slugged it out/ignored it. I think that is brilliant work on part of the AI, you really can not predict it. ------------------ Andreas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hakko Ichiu Posted February 21, 2000 Share Posted February 21, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Germanboy: I just love the lowest level of the AI, although I am not sure about the higher levels in the demo (I know it has been vastly improved). In a PBEM turn I just watched, one of my Shermans nailed a Stug and was then fired on by a Schreck team, distance about 130m. It immediately ran off to seek cover behind a house. Another Sherman has had a another Schreck team fire at it from about the same distance for about two turns and just slugged it out/ignored it. I think that is brilliant work on part of the AI, you really can not predict it. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The Sherm that legged it actually got hit, IIRC, while the incompetent former LW ground crew with a 'schreck missed your other tank. OTH, perhaps one tank is more experienced than the other and less susceptible to panic? Whatever the case, it seems I can't buy an armor kill in this particular game. Ethan ------------------ Das also war des Pudels Kern! -- Goethe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Germanboy Posted February 21, 2000 Share Posted February 21, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Hakko Ichiu: The Sherm that legged it actually got hit, IIRC, while the incompetent former LW ground crew with a 'schreck missed your other tank. OTH, perhaps one tank is more experienced than the other and less susceptible to panic? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Just checked the movie again, no hits on the part of the schrecks, but two near misses for the one that chased the Sherman away. Both tanks are Veteran. Not surprised about the performance of the LW ground crews though - having been a Luftwaffe Ground Security soldier myself Some things never change... ------------------ Andreas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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