Drifter Man vs CDavid DAR

Support is the key: will he be able to hit me effectively with on- or off-map artillery or tanks? Until he does, I should be able to hold.
Also agreed.

Apart from the North, I'd say you have the tanks covered. Although difficult to see from top, it seems you have most of the front covered by multiple PaK's behind hedgerows that can support eachother. Unless he can find out and suppress those guns (with indirect/infantry), or blocking them by use of smoke, tanks can't effectively suppress the guns without major risks.

He probably doesn't know you only have one in the north, so it might be interesting to make the North look strong or other parts look weaker.
 
Also agreed.

Apart from the North, I'd say you have the tanks covered. Although difficult to see from top, it seems you have most of the front covered by multiple PaK's behind hedgerows that can support eachother. Unless he can find out and suppress those guns (with indirect/infantry), or blocking them by use of smoke, tanks can't effectively suppress the guns without major risks.

He probably doesn't know you only have one in the north, so it might be interesting to make the North look strong or other parts look weaker.
Yeah I don't believe he knows where my guns are, but I bet he will be cautious. If he continues to focus on the "North" (it's west actually, but its the top of the map), he can break through. Or may be he'll do something entirely different that will leave me in shock and awe. That's how CM works.
 
Yes, the psychological game of guessing and counter-guessing your opponent is a big part of the fun...

And the counter-counter-guessing too!

Still waiting for my opponent's turn but I have to keep my audience entertained. Here's a snapshot of Unterfeldwebel Wagner, in command of a machinegun section, joining the fight with his MP40. His HQ is in a building on the objective, that's why the grass outside is so shiny... The MP40s and rifles of the MG teams also add to the firepower of the HMGs, which is good to see. During my tests they only fired at 40 m but not at 80 m when the MG was deployed, but here they join the action at much greater ranges.

Turn10_Wagner.jpg

The HMG's take some time to turn to a new direction. I've observed that if they locate a new target that is outside ~60-degree arc in front of their current direction, the Gunner changes to the "moving" state and crawls around until the weapon is set up in the new direction and ready to fire. This team could not choose between the two enemy units in front (the two allied icons) and wasted half of the turn just turning the gun back and forth. I don't like telling my troops what to shoot at but here I should seriously consider setting up target arcs.

Turn10_MGmoving.jpg
 
wasted half of the turn just turning the gun back and forth.

Yes it's an annoying thing that happens sometimes. I had the same thing with a Panther a couple of days ago. It clearly spotted an enemy tank, but just sat there turning its turret back and forth spasmically while the enemy Sherman pummelled it.

I think it's because enemy contacts are assigned a threat rating, and in some cases, two contacts have the same rating.

Sorry for making every post into an analysis. Onwards with the AAR :)
 
Yes it's an annoying thing that happens sometimes. I had the same thing with a Panther a couple of days ago. It clearly spotted an enemy tank, but just sat there turning its turret back and forth spasmically while the enemy Sherman pummelled it.

I think it's because enemy contacts are assigned a threat rating, and in some cases, two contacts have the same rating.

Sorry for making every post into an analysis. Onwards with the AAR :)
Or maybe just a hit chance in the case of infantry. All it takes is for the infantry to duck and suddenly the other target becomes more attractive.
 
Turn 11. Still no pre-planned artillery falling on my head. Still no activity at all on my right flank.

Your two-turn estimate may be accurate - the whole U.S. line near the center of the map suddenly pulls back into the woods under heavy MG fire. Clearly they have been taking too many casualties and achieving too little.

Turn11_pullbackJPG.jpg

But near the western edge of the map, my opponent continues to increase pressure and I feel that the engagement is moving to its critical stage here. While my mortar pummels the enemy medium mortar position in the rear, a 60mm mortar round lands close to my AT gun - not too close to cause any trouble but close enough for me to notice. Did he aim for the gun - does he know? Or did he aim for the MG nearby? The 3rd AFV contact turns out to be another M10: my opponent wanted to be prepared for a Panther but now, as I don't have tanks, he prefers to feed the less valuable tank destroyers to my AT guns. An M10 carries 13 HE rounds, a 76mm Sherman carries 39. The M10 parks outside the hedgerow barrier and outside the FOV of the AT gun.

Turn11_obliqueJPG.jpg

I think I heard the sound of a U.S. HMG - probably M1917A1 - but don't see where it fired from or what it fired at.

Three of my own HMG's are reloading, for the first time since the start of the battle. This includes both HMGs guarding the critical westernmost approach. That's 30 seconds out of action.

The crew of the disabled AT gun, which is in direct contact with the Americans, gets under fire and runs around in panic - one man gets hit, but the leader also joins in with his MP40 and takes out an enemy solider, for a total of 5 confirmed U.S. casualties this turn. Also, it is them who identify the AFV as an M10 - no one else has LOS. The kill tally is 21:10 now, but the actual U.S. losses are certainly higher than 21.

Turn11_overheadJPG.jpg

What's next? I make a difficult decision and order the AT gun to hide, hoping it will survive a light mortar attack this way. If the M10 moves forward in the next turn, hopefully it won't do much damage. At the same time I target the presumed light mortar position with my own mortar - which has been far too busy since the start of the battle but I hope I can relieve it soon with fresh reinforcements.
 
I think at that range the AT gun has almost certainly been spotted, even behind bocage and hidden a gun of that size will show up quite readily to the enemy. It's also the reason why I don't like using AT guns much, once spotted, they're dead.
 
I think at that range the AT gun has almost certainly been spotted, even behind bocage and hidden a gun of that size will show up quite readily to the enemy. It's also the reason why I don't like using AT guns much, once spotted, they're dead.

Agree on the spotting at this range, but not really on how quickly the AT guns get taken out. In bocage, you usually need a mortar to do it, and it can be tricky getting LOS. At close ranges, the mortar also gets spotted and dealt with quite quickly by overwatch.
 
Keep count if you can and see what you get at the end versus actual losses. I usually can only spot half the actual losses in a full blown battle. So your kill count could be up to 40.
I'm guessing maybe 30, but yes, many casualties occur out of direct sight. I only count "red crosses" here. I often get to see a body where I didn't see a red cross before.

I think at that range the AT gun has almost certainly been spotted, even behind bocage and hidden a gun of that size will show up quite readily to the enemy. It's also the reason why I don't like using AT guns much, once spotted, they're dead.
Agree on the spotting at this range, but not really on how quickly the AT guns get taken out. In bocage, you usually need a mortar to do it, and it can be tricky getting LOS. At close ranges, the mortar also gets spotted and dealt with quite quickly by overwatch.

I agree. They weren't even hiding, just having an armor arc that prevented them from firing. I hope at least to make the gun last. Even if my opponent knows about it, he will probably not risk his armor as long as it is there. And I've been targeting his mortars as the main priority.
 
I just finished a battle with @DoubleD . There was a bocage lined field that he used as a screen and cover to pack his Infantry behind. I hit it every turn with MG-42 area fire, mortars and "target briefly" fire from squads. I didn't see the red crosses either, but when I finally breached the hedgerow, his troops were stacked up like cord wood. I lost a lot of troops getting to the hedgerow, but did get enough to turn the tide and force a surrender.
 
I just finished a battle with @DoubleD . There was a bocage lined field that he used as a screen and cover to pack his Infantry behind. I hit it every turn with MG-42 area fire, mortars and "target briefly" fire from squads. I didn't see the red crosses either, but when I finally breached the hedgerow, his troops were stacked up like cord wood. I lost a lot of troops getting to the hedgerow, but did get enough to turn the tide and force a surrender.
Yeah I suppose this serves as a warning for me. I feel uneasy about the way my troops are packed together. The hedgerow provides some cover from the front - as much cover as my opponent has on the other side - but they don't get any protection from the rear, so they can be wiped out by mortars or artillery.
His small arms aren't doing much harm, at least not yet. I'm concerned about his mortars and HMGs but he has to bring them up to the hedgerow first and expose them to my return fire, because the map has poor lines of sight beyond the nearest hedgerow.
And, of course, he has tanks.
 
What's next? I make a difficult decision and order the AT gun to hide, hoping it will survive a light mortar attack this way. If the M10 moves forward in the next turn, hopefully it won't do much damage.
I think that units with hide + (armor) cover arc, will unhide if they do spot something inside their arc.
 
I think that units with hide + (armor) cover arc, will unhide if they do spot something inside their arc.
That's what I was used to from CMx1, but from the little experience I have in CMBN this is not happening (i.e. cover arcs don't matter when the unit is hiding). I may be mistaken. We'll see!
 
That's what I was used to from CMx1, but from the little experience I have in CMBN this is not happening (i.e. cover arcs don't matter when the unit is hiding). I may be mistaken. We'll see!

They do unhide when they spot enemies in their covered arc. But since they spot much worse when hiding, it sometimes doesn't happen. Especially because of a quirk with tall bocage.
 
That's what I was used to from CMx1, but from the little experience I have in CMBN this is not happening (i.e. cover arcs don't matter when the unit is hiding). I may be mistaken. We'll see!
I use hide + cover arc as my SOP for ambushes with infantry. I have some memory it helps them to prevent getting overrun and shot up before having the chance to unhide them. But can't really remember how factual this is..
 
I use hide + cover arc as my SOP for ambushes with infantry. I have some memory it helps them to prevent getting overrun and shot up before having the chance to unhide them. But can't really remember how factual this is..

It's completely factual, apart from one thing that I don't think most players are aware: It doesn't work in tall bocage.
The reason is that tall bocage has a berm of earth at the bottom, and since hiding troops are prone, their LOS is physically blocked, so they can't spot the enemy and unhide.

So, counterintuitively, the terrain that should be best for ambushes is actually the worst. Low bocage, hedges, etc. work fine.
 
It's completely factual, apart from one thing that I don't think most players are aware: It doesn't work in tall bocage.
The reason is that tall bocage has a berm of earth at the bottom, and since hiding troops are prone, their LOS is physically blocked, so they can't spot the enemy and unhide.

So, counterintuitively, the terrain that should be best for ambushes is actually the worst. Low bocage, hedges, etc. work fine.
Very, VERY good to know.
 
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