Chance Encounter: Axis Total Victory

[LibertyOrDeath]

I just played Chance Encounter for CMBO. I played Axis with default settings and annihilated the Allied force. All the Shermans were dead, and the two surviving Stugs had driven the Axis all the way back to their setup area.

[LibertyOrDeath]

What I meant to say is "driven the Allies all the way back to their setup area." Heh.

[lewallen]

that's pretty impressive. i once managed to kill i think 2 shermans with stugs, and 2 with 'shreks, and i may have immobilized the 5th, but can't remember. all my stugs were killed pretty quickly though. it was, however, far and away the best i've done as the axis in that scenario. and then my infantry got chewed up in the big woods... :-p

~Sam

[ September 18, 2002, 02:24 AM: Message edited by: lewallen ]

[Silvio Manuel]

Originally posted by lewallen:

that's pretty impressive. i once managed to kill i think 2 shermans with stugs, and 2 with 'shreks, and i may have immobilized the 5th, but can't remember. all my stugs were killed pretty quickly though. it was, however, far and away the best i've done as the axis in that scenario. and then my infantry got chewed up in the big woods... :-p

~Sam

I like to send 2-3 StuG to the left of the Church, so they go hull-down behind the tiny ridges. Sometimes I send a 3rd one off the the right, to get a cross-fire going (though that usually doesn't work) or get pot-shots at infantry in the woods.

The best tactic for the Germans seems to be a move along the FAR left flank, w/ a maximum of SMG squads, I use two Company HQ's plus two Platoon HQ's and all of the SMG (not Heavy SMG) squads. I use the Heavy SMG squads in the middle and right for firebases. I put the Conscript Volksgrenadiers in the middle also.

Against the AI, I can usually get some Panzerschrecks into the road junction houses before they get spotted. I put them alone in small houses b/c in a big house w/ other troops, they may ignite the house w/ the backblast.

The SMG push on the left should grind up the US infantry, and hopefully be able to swing right and threaten the Shermans w/ Panzerfaust-100m attack.

I've never PBEM'd this (only AI play). I wonder what it would be like vs. a real player, who will do the most basic smart moves (inf screening for tanks, tanks doing area fire vs. houses, etc.).

[Shosties]

Silvio,

Your fave approach as the Germans would make an interesting one against my fave approach as the Americans.

I have the 5 Shermans go hull down in a very broad arc for shoot-n-scoot crossfire on any STUG that tries to drive up over that hump of land connecting the two patches of woods.

I have the spare Loot take the Ma Deuce and the mortars to the center, behind the wheatfield to discourage a grab of the road junction or the big farmhouse in front of the woods.

Everybody else moves up the woods on the right in line formation, in anticipation of a pivot based on the scattered trees flag. Company CO sets up there with the M1919s.

[ September 18, 2002, 11:36 AM: Message edited by: Shosties4th ]

[Silvio Manuel]

Shosties,

Sounds interesting...what a balanced scenario, eh?- at least infantry wise. It's hard for me to see how the German player can win the all-important armor war. Even just 1 Sherman survivor (vs. no StuGs) should wreak havoc over those 35 turns vs. generally low-to-med. quality troops.

The Germans have an apparent edge infantry FP in the woods, except for the American's greater squad size...US Rifle 45 is nasty anyway though.

[Shosties]

Silvio,

If you run your SMG squads on the left from the get go, then it would turn into a pretty bloody melee in the woods, as I never rush my deployment based upon how the AI acts.

At least I wouldn't be taking fire from HMGs, HSMG squads, and STUGs at the same time, though.

I agree with you on Rifle 45, even Rifle 44 makes it a tad difficult to consider playing non-Airborne Commonwealth and Poles instead of American (Badgers, Wasps, and Fireflies are damn tempting though).

Anybody have a sound mod ripped from the beginning of SPR where you get the BAR going and the M1 clips going ping?

[flamingknives]

The AI's stupid though, and will often drive the M4s close enough to smash with PzShreks. I managed a good win by setting up a couple of platoons, 'shreks and HMGs in the centre woods, behind the central ridge, with the rest along the ridgeline on the right centre, in the woods with an advance party further right at the forward woodline. The Stugs were behind the right hand woods, sighted on the crossroads. I killed all but two of the shermans, which were bogged in front of the right hand woods. The US infantry had gone into the woods one at a time and had been munched up. I smoked the remaining M4s with the 81mm FO, and then jumped them with two platoons and two remaining Stugs.

Big Win

[Silvio Manuel]

Yeah the AI is stupid. A good player would keep his Shermans away from the woods (flanking Faust threat), probably in the middle like it seemed Shosties4th was saying. The last few times I played CE, the AI bunched all of its Shermans right near the small flag in the scat.trees...easy meat, but mostly b/c of Faust/Schreck kills, I still find it hard to do well w/ the StuGs b/c I give the AI +1 or +2.

Also, the AI likes to send piecemeal and/or out-of-C/C troops across open ground w/ little suppression.

[Shosties]

My siting of M4s hull down for Chance Encounter, from left to right:

one at the back edge of the left rear wheatfield

one behind the two houses, or sometimes I put it on the spur of the road to their left and roll it forwards and back to engage/hide from targets on the ridge

one in the depression behind the center wheatfield

one (the platoon leader in the uparmored one) beside the road behind a small rise in the setup zone

and the last one on that diagonal strip of low ground behind the scattered trees where it can go forwards and back to make/break LOS to the ridge.

Since they have ample open space in front of them (or cover that I will sweep through), I don't feel the need for an infantry screen.

Last time I played CE I lost the M4 that rolled out from behind the scattered trees to engage, but that was it. Knocked out the three STUGs piecemeal in the heart of the kill zone (clear space on the ridge right next to the woods I cede intially to the Germans) brewing two of them nicely. Nothing satisfies like presenting widely spaced threats to a turretless vehice and raining fire down on it immobilizing it, getting gun hits, and eventually a full KO. The key to the 75mm-armed M4 for the armor battle is volume and spread of fire in my book.

When I started playing, I bunched my tanks like crazy as I played West Front and East Front II with my armor stacked up for local concentration. *LOL* Facing issues were handled very abstractly in those games (you could even turn facing off and have a single all-round defense factor). I quickly learned that bunching your tanks means they all have the same shot... which is naturally the front turret or hull slope of your enemy, right down his gun barrel! American optics mean you'll rarely hit on the first or even second shot at reasonable distances, so you need to play very cagey or you will burn. What I do now is look for the open spots from which enemy armor can appear and find the broadest possible spread of sites that are hull down (and further back, turret down) and have LOS to the spots. I also learned tanks operating singly are doomed, esp. those on 'overwatch', it's all for one and one for all unless you want to brew.

If you can nurse your M4s though the armor/ATG phase of the battle, they save your infantry's bacon on the close assault.

[ September 18, 2002, 04:00 PM: Message edited by: Shosties4th ]

[Fieldmarshall]

It is a terrible PBEm/IP scenario. I have smashed my opponent every time hands down as the allies. Its no trouble if you aren't little miss tiptoe cautious foot.

Everytime I place CE as the Allies against a human, I waste no time in getting my Shermans to the church, and infantry close behind. The speed of the Shermans is a great advantage, and the five of them just hit the ridges, and blast all three StuGs. Occasionally I may lose a Sherman. But usually the lack of turret and speed stops the Gerry in their tracks if you just Blitz em as the Allies.

[Patrick Moore]

Shosties and Silvio,

Enough of your textbook tactics!!

You two should play a PBEM of Chance Encounter against each other and post the AAR for us to read!

[Shosties]

Originally posted by Fieldmarshall:

Its no trouble if you aren't little miss tiptoe cautious foot.

So nobody's managed to give you a bad day with the schreks then I take it?

*shrug* I had some sucsess the first couple of times I played the scenario by sending Shermans forward quickly, but then I started reading advice on the forum about Tophat and Lowsky and such. Trying to apply it my game went to hell. LOL What I do now is the result of reconstructing from that debacle.

[Kingfish]

Bil's AAR for Chance Encounter

[Silvio Manuel]

Originally posted by Patrick Moore:

Shosties and Silvio,

Enough of your textbook tactics!!

You two should play a PBEM of Chance Encounter against each other and post the AAR for us to read!

Shosties: how 'bout it? Maybe even do the CE version 2 (for full CMBO, not the demo), although I would have to be the Germans, b/c I've looked at their OOB. Hint: there are more toys for the armor war. e-mail's in my profile.

I would just as soon play a CMBB match (PBEM) if you prefer. I do avg. maybe 7 files/week (i.e. some days no file, some 2, letcha know if I'm away for too long).

[ September 19, 2002, 02:22 PM: Message edited by: Silvio Manuel ]

[LibertyOrDeath]

Here's how I defeated the Allies. I shifted all of my infantry and armor so that the church and the scattered trees with the flag were directly opposite them. I then had them move at march speed until contact. Once contact was made, the Stugs were taking flanking shots at the Shermans and chewing up the Allied infantry that emerged from the treeline. German mortar fire was hitting the infantry in the scattered trees, so that when the battered US infantry met my relatively inexperienced troops and 2-3 Stugs, they were further demoralized and killed. Because the German reinforcements arrived to the far right, I had them run across the woods and take up firing positions in the building to the right of the cornfield. I was able to cut down the US infantry caught in the open in the cornfield.

[ September 20, 2002, 01:51 AM: Message edited by: LibertyOrDeath ]

[LibertyOrDeath]

The basic combat principles that won it for me were 1) avoiding open spaces in the attack 2) attacking aggressively en masse 3) engaging the opposing forces piecemeal.

[billcarey]

Originally posted by Kingfish:

Bil's AAR for Chance Encounter

In my own defense, I was young and foolish. And terrible at CM. Bil whomped me good in that game, but I came back to beat him in Last Defense.

He smoked the whole map with the beta-lasts-forever smoke and assaulted the town with all possible haste. I had a platoon in cunning ambush on my right which he completely bypassed in his haste to wail on my guys in town. When turn 10 rolled around, my 'cats ran into town along with the platoon of reinforcements. Simultaneously my formerly-ambushing platoon swung into his rear. So he had three depleted and low on ammo platoons being attacked from the front and rear by fresh men. The culmination of the game was one hellcat engaging his Tiger at a range of 0m and delivering the knockout blow. I think I got a tactical victory.

Those two games hooked me on CM bigtime. Aah, memory lane...

- Bill

[Kingfish]

Originally posted by billcarey:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Kingfish:

Bil's AAR for Chance Encounter

In my own defense, I was young and foolish. And terrible at CM. Bil whomped me good in that game, but I came back to beat him in Last Defense.

- Bill</font>

[CombinedArms]

Originally posted by Patrick Moore:

Shosties and Silvio,

Enough of your textbook tactics!!

You two should play a PBEM of Chance Encounter against each other and post the AAR for us to read!

I'm all for that! It's neat to see that there's still interest in Chance Encounter with CMBB heading toward us in the mail.

For the record, I once got a 98-2 win as the Allies vs. the AI. I raced all five of the tanks forward down the road and created a smoke screen for he tanks on the ridge to the left of the church, then drove through it to blast all three Stugs. My infantry, who had been riding on the tanks, raced to the church, while a platoon headed for the house facing the woods and then my protected infantry plus the unchallenged tanks mowed down all the infantry that tried to take the VLs. When all the Axis infantry was dead, I just walked into the woods and took that VL. I've never been able to duplicate that result.

Sometimes it's nice that the AI is so dumb. I've never played this one PBEM.

[ September 22, 2002, 08:29 PM: Message edited by: CombinedArms ]

[Patrick Moore]

I would like to see a couple of veterans dueling in this scenario!

I need all the help I can get in CMBO! I suck so bad against the AI usually on the losing end regardless of which side I choose! lol

[Jarmo]

Played it god knows how many times while waiting for the game to be released.

I agree it's a bit hard for germans after both sides know what to expect.

Did someone actually race to the church the first time he tried it??

When you have no idea where the enemy is..

Despite all, playing against an equal skill opponent, I won sometimes,

lost sometimes.

The best win was when my Stugs were just invulnerable, crept

over the hill and toasted every sherman from perfect hulldown positions.

Opponent surrendered right after that.

Stugs vs Shermans at under 500 meters is a coin toss.

Get heads enough many times and the game is yours.

[CombinedArms]

Originally posted by Jarmo:

Did someone actually race to the church the first time he tried it??

When you have no idea where the enemy is..

No way! This scenario only becomes really unbalanced when an experienced player who's played it several times fights the AI. Under normal circs, I think it could go either way but slightly favors the Allies. It helps a lot for the Allies to know they shouldn't fight SMG squads in the woods and also to know how to keep their armor alive through concealment.

When I first played the demo, I didn't know about close range SMGs and got my infantry slaughtered around the forest VL, plus my Shermans displayed themselves too prominently and were instant toast, before they knew what hit them. But, live and learn.

[Silvio Manuel]

Originally posted by Patrick Moore:

I would like to see a couple of veterans dueling in this scenario!

I need all the help I can get in CMBO! I suck so bad against the AI usually on the losing end regardless of which side I choose! lol

Actually, Shosties4th and I are going to play some other battles, we're both kinda burnt out on CE...although CE version 2 is a new ballgame, I've only seen the German setup (never played it) but it is *different* all right

[Shosties]

Originally posted by Jarmo:

Did someone actually race to the church the first time he tried it??

If you mean my comment to Fieldmarshall about my first runs through CE, no. Not so far as the church initally. I sent a couple of the tanks, some squads and zooks up to the houses. Not sure how things developed after that but I did have some Shermans left after the AI's STUGs were gone.

[ September 24, 2002, 08:52 PM: Message edited by: Shosties4th ]