PureTank Fights: Use Diagonal Boards

[sightreader]

When creating a pure tank battle, we had trouble with Germans (or whoever has better armor) camping on the side of the board to prevent side shots. We suggest a remedy: turn a square field sideways and start forces in opposite corners. As long as the German starting corner is not good high ground, it seems to make the battle more interesting.

[Louie the Toad]

I always thought the maps were too small for the forces engaged Causes edge hugging like you said and eliminates at least half the effectiveness of tanks. Was it Guiderian who said something like " tanks have two weapons,

guns and engines". Lets not start the attritionists vs the maneuverists though.

Motoring Toad.

[sightreader]

My apologies for not being clear. I'm suggesting turning the board 45 degrees, like a diamond. Start enemy forces on opposite corners of the diamond. This helps prevent stronger tanks from hugging the edge to avoid side shots.

[WWB]

I was actually toying with this idea recently. It is very workable in most respects, but there is one sticking point. CMBO's map editor likes non-rotated grids alot, so some of your terrain chioces might be limited, and some things might come out looking a bit funky.

But it is a damn good idea none the less.

WWB

[Louie the Toad]

Dear Sightreader,

I understood what you meant. It is just that I usually construct battles using QB. If I want to avoid the edge thing, I pick a huge map, 5000 pts and then use the tools to reduce the size of the forces by half or even more. Gives a lot of space to move around in but there are some LOS oddities if the map is too big.

Optional Toad

[sightreader]

Yeah, I toyed with the idea of a huge map with small start zones. If there was a lot of terrain, though, it took forever to engage, and most of the scenarios I play are designed to be quick (we're busy guys, ya see). I thought this might work.

By the way, sorry about posting this to all the forums, I didn't know which forum it belongs to and didn't know it was a sin to post to all of them. My lunch.

[Moriarty]

You could also d/l a battle map from Web sites like Der Kessel or Scenario Depot and put the setup zones in the corners using the scenario editor.

And if your recon shows your opponent is hugging the edge, then maneuver your armor over that-a-way and attrit the livin' snot out of him. (Sorry, Louie, I couldn't pass that one up).

[sightreader]

Thanks Moriarty! I've been trying diagonal maps using the auto-generator, since most of my battles are very small. Do you think some of the maps on those web sites would benefit from the diagonal treatment?

Ya kinda lost me on that edge hugging comment: I assume it's an inside joke over this newbie's head. Hopefully, if the diamond map works right, edge hugging is suicide unless you've gotten past the halfway point.

[Moriarty]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by sightreader:

Thanks Moriarty! I've been trying diagonal maps using the auto-generator, since most of my battles are very small. Do you think some of the maps on those web sites would benefit from the diagonal treatment?

Ya kinda lost me on that edge hugging comment: I assume it's an inside joke over this newbie's head. Hopefully, if the diamond map works right, edge hugging is suicide unless you've gotten past the halfway point.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

On the Der Kessel site, there's a battle map called "Tank Country." It's 1600m square, as I recall, and pretty open ... so the AFVs can air out their main guns a little. But, there's enough variation in the terrain that it's not a shootout at the OK Corral.

You can make the map smaller by cutting down the size in the scenario editor. If you load the map into the editor, you can use the minus button to make it smaller from the North and West. Hold down the shift key, and you can decrease cut it down from South and East. This way, you can tailor the map to as much or little of it as you want ... and then put your setup zones in the corners, if you like.

Edge-hugging is when your opponent moves his forces very close to the edge of the map, thus protecting his entire flank on one side. Some view this as gamey and as such it has been discussed to death. (Personally, I view the flank security of my forces as my responsibility and therefore not a gamey tactic as it also limits his ability to move).

The references to maneuver and attrition are to separate schools of thought -- the maneuverist and attritionist theories -- on the most effective way to win a battle ... and the subject of very long debates (sometimes heated), which I was poking some fun at for Louie's benefit.

[sightreader]

Aha... thanks for the clarification, Moriarty. This begs the question: does turning the board diagonally fix the problem of edge hugging in these scenarios or does it only swap one kind of edge hugging for another?