General battle feedback.

[Sten]

Bullethead said:

What are you calling "large"? In this French-Gebirg scenario, I had the better part of a battalion. And I was trying flank moves; 2

platoons in the middle with flanking help from 1 on the right and 2 on the left, with the 6th in reserve for exploitation. I was just

defeated by a combination of defensive terrain and lack of firepower to blast out defenders.

[/QOUTE]

This could happen to anyone. ("On any given sunday...")

I don't have CM right here (working) so I can't check out the specific scenario. But from your description it sounds like yo could try som other approaches:

1. Use only one flanking move. It sounds like your forces are a bit on the weak side for a three-pronged attack.

2. Improve the timing. Your right flank move could do some serious harm, but only if the AI was surprised by it. That requires that the AI doesn't even see it before the fighting is really started on the left flank. And the defenders in the middle should not have LOF to the right flank.

3. Exploitation with inf only is hard. Are they mechanized? If not, you might ne better off thinking "Shwerepunkt" (sp?) and just commit everything at once.

These are just a few ideas that usually work well for me. Other things might work better for you.

You prob have even better tricks of your own. I'd be happy to take you on in a PBEM, so you can show me some of them.

Sten

[Bullethead]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I don't have CM right here (working) so I can't check out the specific scenario.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You couldn't anyway, it was an instant battle .

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>1. Use only one flanking move. It sounds like your forces are a bit on the weak side for a three-pronged attack.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, once it became apparent that my left side was a dead end, I threw everything else onto the right. This included the platoon that was already over there, plus the 2 in the center, plus my mobile reserve (2 squads in my only 2 halftracks, the CO and zook on the back of an M5 Light--my only tank--and the other squad split and running ahead as faust and daisy chain detectors).

The problem with this was that while the left side had almost no cover, the right side had too much. Couldn't bring up the vehicles except on a very exposed and dangerous route. Don't know if they had the firepower to really help anyway, but I lost the scout cars to mortars just making the 1st attempt. Then the grunts got shelled in the woods. Enemy observation was a big problem. I was attacking down their side of the hill so was very exposed. Sort of the reverse slope defense on a bigger scale.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>2. Improve the timing. Your right flank move could do some serious harm, but only if the AI was surprised by it. That requires that the AI doesn't even see it before the fighting is really started on the left flank. And the defenders in the middle should not have LOF to the right flank.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The right flank platoon reached the bottom of the hill OK thanks to moving through the woods, and this was after the left side had been chewed up. But the Germans in the center could see the bottom of the hill on my right, thanks to being on a hill in the main village on the map. So when my right flank guys reached the bottom and ran into Germans there, the Germans in the center could shoot them up also, as well interdict moving stuff from the center to my right.

Most of my grunts made it across and into the woods OK but vehicles had to not only cross but advance around the German end of the woods to help with the firefight. They couldn't make it.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>3. Exploitation with inf only is hard. Are they mechanized? If not, you might ne better off thinking "Shwerepunkt" (sp?) and just commit everything at once.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Nope, I didn't have enough vehicles to transport even 1 complete platoon, plus the terrain really limited where I could use vehicles anyway.

As to doing a human wave, that's not my style. I'm not out to win every battle, I'm out to win the war and go home and start the baby boom. Sure, maybe I could have swamped them with bodies in this case, but WHY? Just to say I won a scenario? That lacks both artistry and realism. I figure realistically the French CO would have done what I did--make a good try but then, upon discovering the ratio of forces (including enhancers for the terrain advantage of the Germans) and locating German strongpoints, pull back and get some help. Yup, this wasn't an operation, but I play as if it was.

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-Bullethead

It was a common custom at that time, in the more romantic females, to see their soldier husbands and sweethearts as Greek heroes, instead of the whoremongering, drunken clowns most of them were. However, the Greek heroes were probably no better, so it was not so far off the mark--Flashman