Jeff Heidman Posted June 28, 2000 Share Posted June 28, 2000 Well, I guess people really liked the Wiltz scenarion, but I was a little dissapointed with it, although in retrospect it might not be the scenario designers fault. Two things occurred that made it rather easy for my Americans to pretty much wipe out the Germans, one of which was lucky, the other was a flaw in the AI. First, my 105 spotter called down arty on the four German tracks moving up the left side of the map, through the woods. With abpout 34 seconds left on the TOT countdown, a sinlge 105mm spotting round came down and blew away two tracks. Talk about lucky shot! That put an immediate damper on that attack. But the disturbing thing happened on the right flank. The 57mm was setup with a LOS to the frontal armor of a Puma, which it killed immediately. Then a Hetzer drove into the exact same spot, and had its gun destroyed. Another Puma drove up in front of the first Puma and was killed. Next, the Panther decides to join the party, and I am thinking "Damn, the 57 isn't going to do anything to that things frontal armor!". So I tell it to hide for now. The Panther pulls in front of the destroyed Puma AND TURNS ITS SIDE ARMOR TO THE AT GUN!!!! The At gun takes a shot, and misses. The Panther finally "remembers" that something killed those wrecks he is jsut about bumping in to, so starts to rotate around to get his armor facing, but the 2nd shot kills him. The thing is, the 57mm was spotted by the first Puma, which actually amanged to shake up the crew before it was killed, so it is not like the AI did not know the 57 was there. It just forgot. So anyway, the Americans won without losing a single tank, although my M10 commander got killed by a near miss from a StuH42. After my littel 57mm AT gun killed two Pumas, a Hetzer, a Panther and two tracks, the battel was pretty much over. The StuH42 just sat there popping smoke, driving through the smoke, getting shot at by the TD, popping smoke and pulling back, repeat until the TD kills both of them. Jeff Heidman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckeye Posted June 28, 2000 Share Posted June 28, 2000 Hey Jeff, it does sound like you had some luck with the arty. The second problem isn't so much a bug as the inability of the Tac AI to "remember" an existing threat. However, I'd also say that it's rather lucky of a 57 mm AT gun to take out all the AFVs that it did. So you were to some extent the beneficiary of lots of luck (and a Tac AI problem). In my playing, as the Axis, my Panther and Hetzer took out all the American armor in one key exchange. I then got a StuH42 on top of the hill overlooking the city, and the others were on the right flank together with all the halftracks. I just hosed Ami infantry. Lost both Pumas to the 57, but that was it. Still fun. Probably a very interesting scenario in double blind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Bill Wilder Posted June 28, 2000 Share Posted June 28, 2000 My first impression upon reading of your battle Jeff was that the 57mm won that war for you. That is not a frequent occurence in this scenario and the team should up for medals! I playtested it six times and never had that kind of good fortune Don't be disappointed! Enjoy your victory. The next one you play may not have lady luck on your side Just as in real war, these things do happen. I'll never forget reading of an M-8 that killed a Panther with it's 37mm pop-gun. Round hit the road in front of it (missed the Panther!), ricocheted upward throught the bottom armor plating and forced the Panther crew to evacuate. The possibilities of war are endless and a further tribute to the game itself. ------------------ Wild Bill Lead Tester/Designer Combat Mission-Beyond Overlord billw@matrixgames.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juardis Posted June 28, 2000 Share Posted June 28, 2000 I just finished that one last night at 2:00 am . So far it's my fav. The ambient sound effects are awesome as is the action. I played as the axis and managed to take out one Sherman with my Hetzer and the other sherman with my Panther G within the first 3 turns. The TD killed my Hetzer then my Puma killed the TD. So basically, the Allies were screwed from that point on. It was just a matter of me not doing anything stupid while advancing my forces (like not providing cover fire). I did manage to lose another Puma and two half-tracks to anti-tank teams, but my Stugs and Panther survived and wreaked major havoc. Now, how realistic it is for a Puma to take out the allied TD I don't know. I was at 330m or so from it and it was a frontal shot. Hit the upper hull and knocked it out. I don't even know what type of TD it was, but I was damn glad when it was knocked out. ------------------ Jeff Abbott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Heidman Posted June 28, 2000 Author Share Posted June 28, 2000 Jeff, the Puma killing the TD is not that unlikely. The M10 has extremely thin armor. It was supposed to use its speed to protect itself, a fundamental flaw in US Army tactical doctrine. Jeff Heidman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Heidman Posted June 28, 2000 Author Share Posted June 28, 2000 Thanks for the responses from everyone. I realize that my 57 was rather lucky, but it took some really bone headed moves on the AIs art to let it get that lucky. I was frankly disgusted when that Panther turned its side to the 57. It kind of ruined the whole thing for me, even if it was fortuitous at the moment. I *like* that feeling of "Damn! A Panther! How am I going to kill that thing! Let's see, maybe I could ambush him by... oh, never mind, he jsut committed suicide. Problem solved..." Guess I will have to play some PBEM! Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maximus Posted June 29, 2000 Share Posted June 29, 2000 Well, I just played it with the Germans and pretty much wiped the Amis ass with my 81mm mortar spotter and fellow armor support. The two StuH42s came in handy when I drove them around on the right flank (the long way) and pounded the area to the left of the town. Made pretty quick work of the two Shermans once I got LOS to them. Hetzer took out one, while my Panther took out the other with a "catostrophic" explosion. ------------------ "I for one, am pretty damn close to Genius"--Ol' Blood & Maximus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted July 4, 2000 Share Posted July 4, 2000 *Spoiler* ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' That Panther had a green crew. So did one Puma and a Stug. So don't be surprised if they do stupid things. They have that right.HeHe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Turret Posted July 5, 2000 Share Posted July 5, 2000 I Lost the 57mm on turn one (duh). I made a desparate run to the middle hill with one platoon. One squad got pinned down in the road but the others survived. I got my veteran bazooka teams up to the right side of the middle hill and as the armor shows up they gave them a lesson on effective use anti tank weapons (I think the sharpshooter helped keep the vehicles buttoned). The M10 sat back on the right most hill with its barrel sighted down the road and cleaned up after that when the Stu42 and the Hetzer show up ( they got my middle Sherman). On the left side my Sherman sat on the hilltop and shot up most (or all) of the half tracks. The Sherman's supporting troops were somewhat upset by all the arty raining down on them but their leader rallied the survivors and they did good work keeping the axis thrust pinned down. I got a total victory. (first time played) Yeah! I think it would have been harder had the Germans sent a massive infantry surge through the woods en mass down the center mini bulge style. Perhaps I'll play the Germans and see if it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts