SitRep ca. 44:00
Following the initial sightings and exchanges described above, the action peters off for a while – leaving me time to survey the battlefield, analyze the situation and adapt my plan and orders.
Speaking of time...let me explain in a few sentences exactly how I play CMBN. Some comments have been made regarding my playing this battle in real time, and the challenges and advantages provided thereby. Fact is, CMx2's RT mode is a godsend for me as it suits my play style just about optimally: First and foremost, I
hate wrist-twitching click-fests like the plague. Second, I like to have as much control as possible over every aspect of a strategy game like this. I want to micromanage and babysit my units to make the most out of their capabilities (since the AI isn't going to help me much there), and yet I don't want to miss any action or events, even if they are small. Combined with the lack of a replay function for RT play, my gaming attitudes equate to my pausing the game
rather a lot. I might average one pause every 10 seconds or so for the whole battle, but several micro-pauses per second are not rare when the action is intense. So what I do is this: I let time pass
only while watching in a camera perspective that lets me see all of my unit icons if at all possible (usually level 4, but may be lower when I am watching a particular firefight more closely). Whenever
anything happens (new enemy spotted, friendly casualty, reinforcements arrive, orders need to be given, etc.), I pause the game, zoom in on wherever it is I want to see or do something, and take my time about giving orders. When I'm good and ready, I go back to the overview perspective and run the time again (sometimes only as long as it takes me to hit ESC again...it's kinda fun trying to catch rounds in midair
just before they hit). This stop-and-go style is exacerbated by the need to take screenshots for the DAR in this particular battle. It also means my games in RT probably take quite a bit longer than most folks' games take in TB mode.
Yeah, I can hear some of you groaning at the thought, and I see the understanding smiles of a few others in between. I'm not here to argue in favor of any style of playing CM – there are plenty of other forum threads out there for that purpose. I intend neither to participate in any of them, nor to turn this into another RT vs. TB discussion. As far as I am concerned, everybody is free to play any way they like, and I think it's wonderful that CMx2 caters to so many different styles of play. I like the way I can play it, and if you like the way you can play it, then it's all good. Mind you, I have nothing against a good PBEM at all. They can be tedious, but that's always only due to issues with reliability regarding the players themselves (and I am no exception).
If there are any questions regarding this discourse, go right ahead. But please take any opinions as to whether my way of playing qualifies me or you as the better person or "more realistic" CM player elsewhere or keep them to yourself. With all due respect, you may think I'm nuts or gamey or a ham and cheese sandwich if you like – I couldn't care less. We all bought the game and each of us can do with it what he (or she) likes.
Soooo...with that out of the way, lets get back to the battle. I'll start you off with a slightly crowded and confusing overview shot taken at about
44:00. Don't worry, I will explain all my sloppy, unprofessional markings:
Overview of the battlefield at 44:00.
Enemies:
The
red arrows show the expected possible
attack routes of the two platoons of US infantry with their support. Since the Amis have no real reason to attack anyplace but the church (as far as I know), I strongly expect the platoon from the northeast, which is moving quickly onto and across the stone bridge, to assault the church objective at close quarters by coming over main ridge where the
blue line is. It will take some time for them to arrive and form up for the attack, as there are still men who haven't reached the bridge yet. I expect them no sooner than 5 minutes from now. The platoon approaching from the northwest, whose vehicle support was decimated by Obgfr.
Hanker, may do one of two things: they might join up with the other platoon behind main ridge for a larger assault. This would make it pretty difficult for my
3rd Platoon to hold the church, I'm afraid. However, my gut feeling is that these units will attempt to approach the church from a more westerly direction in order to flank 3rd Platoon. Whether they will come along the road or thereabouts, or take a larger hooking approach (the interrupted arrow) to stay behind the loping hill on the western side of the map as long as possible, I don't know. Whichever way they flank, though, they will come into the sights of the ahead elements of
1st Platoon gathering around the southernmost building and hopefully be blunted before they can get close to the church.
Friendlies:
The
yellow lines show the orders I am giving to my two vehicles at this point: Hanker in his
SPW will reverse off spotter ridge and hurry over to the southern building to support that flank along with 1st Platoon. He is intended to find a good position with some tree cover and LOS to as much of the road, and the sloping open field ahead of the building as possible. This way he will also be able to fall back behind the building if things get too hot for him. Meanwhile, the hitherto completely inefficient
PSW, commanded by a certain
Bergmann, will reverse away from the infantry taking potshots at it and move over east behind a fence on the forward slope of spotter ridge, concealed from the expected main assault on the church by the trees around it, and with a good view towards the second road objective and the field beyond. If Bergmann can ever take off his blindfold, he should be able to get flanking shots on any vehicles pushing down the road, and possibly move quickly to help defend the church directly if need be.
Finally, the overview shows
two support missions in green: the area target in the northeast corner is the one ordered by my
CO HQ on the Amis approaching the bridge, but will be cancelled as I expect them to have vacated the area before it comes in. I think I can get my
FO to direct the
81mm mortar onto a better area – more on this below. The linear mission along the road is a
120mm mortar strike. I had forgotten to mention in the last installment that this valuable asset was the first of my reinforcements to arrive at about
45:00. This "multi-purpose" stonk is intended to keep the northwestern enemy platoon from linking up with the northeastern one behind main ridge, and also to bomb the crap out of them if they decide to rush up along the road to flank the church.
Following are individual shots of the orders for my two vehicles to give you a better idea of where they will be going.
Please note that these screenies were not all taken at exactly the same time, thus you may notice orders from the previous installment overlapping. This is just because I try to put things that belong together tactically in the same post while having to meet the "5 image maximum" requirement. The difference is a mere couple of seconds:
The orders for Bergmann's PSW.
The orders for Hanker's SPW.
Here is where I intend to order a fire mission for the
81mm mortar as soon as it acknowledges the cease fire order. The FO has marginal LOS to the area, but should be able to pull something off that will hurt the enemy (and hopefully not 3rd Platoon):
The next target planned for the 81mm mortar.
Finally, looking closely at
3rd Platoon's positions around the church, I find several of the fireteams either out of C2 or with bad LOS to the crest of the ridge, so I jostle them around a bit to improve their defensive setup. You can't really see this well in the shot, but I had one left in this installment, so there it is:
3rd Platoon crawling to better defensive positions around the church.
And that wraps up this installment. Tune in
tomorrow to see whether I was far off the mark in my assessment! Remember one of the good things about RT is you can skip right over the boring parts so quickly...I promise there will be action!
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