TacAI pop quiz

[xerxes]

My royal canadians move forward smartly to take position behind a stone wall (clear terrain) and commence a firefight with germans 70m away in the woods beyond the wall. Almost immediately 105mm arty hits my canucks hard and rattles them.

So......

1. Do they stay put using the cover of the wall?

2. Retreat back into some scattered trees or some woods (away from the germans and back towards their side of the map)?

3. Decide to rush over the wall, over clear terrain, at a 45 degree angle from the entrenched germans in an effort to reach some exposed woods less than 50m from the german positions? (the germans are probably smgs but no firm ID on them).

What's your guess?

What would you do?

- marc

[FFE]

This is an easy Quiz.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>3. Decide to rush over the wall, over clear terrain, at a 45 degree angle from the entrenched germans in an effort to reach some exposed woods less than 50m from the german positions? (the germans are probably smgs but no firm ID on them).

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I had a Priest versus pillbox situation two days ago. The veteran Priest enjoyed hull down position 600 meters directly in front of a 75mm pillbox. When the pillbox noticed the Priest, the Priest thought it advantageous to crest the hill and charge to cover behind a two story building. Needless to write: the Priest made a very poor choice. The end result was a knocked out Priest. It should have put itself into reverse and backed away. Even if the Priest made it behind the building, my opponent would have simply used the 75mm Pillbox to level the building.

I was not amused.

[Joerg]

Hmmm... depends mostly on how much troops you've left and how much you're facing, I think.

Staying put using the cover of the wall may provide cover vs. small arms fire, but most of his artillery will fall on your side, so the wall is not much help. And staying put won't get you anywhere.

If you retreat into scattered trees or woods your opponent can easily walk his artillery aim there, too. Treebursts are fun to watch, but mostly for him. But if you have lost so many men already that you can't assault him anyway (less than 2:1 ratio, better 3:1), you'd better run now than never.

If not, rushing over the wall might be your best bet. I mean, you either move forward to attack or move back to retreat. Staying put in enemy fire is the worst you can do in my opinion. If you have the numbers, attack _now_ or retreat _now_.

If you face SMG squads, it's better to fight them from 100-150 m plus your support weapins from even greater distance, where they can't hurt you that much. This costs ammo, but it saves lives.

Afterthoughts :

If you weren't so close already, you could think about splitting your force so he can't concentrate his artillery. Possibly too late now.

Smoke (artillery, mortars, tanks, whatever) comes quite handy in such situations. A few rounds could allow you to advance into that cover. Mortars + tanks are ideal, because it only takes them ~ 30 seconds to deploy a small smoke screen.

[xerxes]

I responded with my own massively concentrated 4.2", 3", and 2" mortar stew on another part of the map.

Right now I'm in cover and as typical, he's moved his arty barrage on pursuit of jucier targets. My opponent is General Petrovsky and he wields his artillery with a surgeons skill, always adjusting his barrage.

-marc

[General Petrovsky]

Hey Marc I know an option that you didn't think of...you could do nothing and your opponent (Yours Truly) could think that those troops behind that wall aren't there anymore and move my men from their nice entrenched positions out in the open so you can shoot them in the back! Bad move on my part, still kicking myself, but with every mistake comes a lesson. Thanks for the compliment, I just hope I can hold you off you have a lot of troops coming my way.

[Wilhammer]

I have always considered the "run away" model of morale results in wargaming to be suspect.

My reading suggests that well trained and/or experienced troops rarely, if ever, did this. Most of what I have read suggests the real problem is that units "freeze" more often and get killed by staying frozen.

[Pak40]

With 105mm falling on your troops in the open, I'd use the Withdraw command and get them out of there ASAP. The wall doesn't provide much cover from a 105 barrage and your men arn't in foxholes. They'll be beaten badly if they dont get out of that barrage.

Use the withdraw command and if possible, have them withdraw to cover without retreating in the line of axis of the barrage. In other words, have them go towards the corners or sides of the map. They can get clear of the barrage quicker if they move towards the sides, but the Withdraw command will only be available if you use it towards the rear.

[SGTHenry]

I would advance my troops forward and attempt to rush their positions. :eek:

[xerxes]

What happened was petro dropped 1 turn of 105s, my troops broke and ran forward into his smgs. The withdraw command (or any other command) was not an option.

I don't sit under heavy arty barrages unless I'm in buildings.

-marc