Crossing open ground - 'move to contact' v. 'advance'

[The Coil]

So, as a part of a discussion on another website, I've been running a bunch of tests comparing using move to contact (MTC) and advance (ADV). I thought I'd post a couple of the tests here as well, as it seemed like they might be of interest to others.

The hypothetical situation - 2 vet American plts crossing a bit of open space between 2 groups of trees, 1 opposing vet German plt either (1) in front of the 2 plts or (2) on their flank. The Germans have cover arcs set about halfway across the open space in each trial. Here's the setup:

Situation (1)


Situation (2)


For each situation, I ran 3 trials moving the 2 plts across the open space on MTC, and 3 trials moving them across on ADV.

Situation (1)
MTC: results given are casualties for Americans/casualties for Germans

1: 46/3
2: 46/1
3: 41/5

ADV:
1: 60/0
2: 56/0
3: 53/0

Situation (2)

MTC:
1: 32/0
2: 20/0
3: 29/3

ADV:
1: 24/0
2: 23/0
3: 23/0

As you can see, with the Germans directly ahead of them, the MTC platoons fared a lot better. As soon as they took fire, they stopped moving and returned fire, whereas those on advance kept moving toward the enemy and got slaughtered.

On the flank, however, the casualty numbers were so close as to be identical. Also, the 'ADV' folks fared a lot better in terms of morale, and about half of them made it to the woods and cover, whereas the MTC folks started cover sneaking backwards, ending the turn in the open. With the defenders on the flank, the 'ADV' movers were able to carry on through the fire, while the 'MTC' movers stopped in place and got hammered.

Something to keep in mind next time you cross open ground with a platoon...

[Ratzki]

What is the range that the Germans are firing at?

[The Coil]

In test one, about 55m, in test two, 35m to the near platoon, 95m to the far platoon. The gap the Americans are crossing is 2 terrain tiles wide.