How do you go to battle?

[Narwan]

Division is to big, it will go over the max number of units allowed. Brigade is about the biggest force you can get. The dutch mech brigade had an artillery battallion, two mech infantry battallions, an armor battallion and an engineer company. The mech and armor battallions are big ones too.
Add to that some arty from corps level, heavy AA assets to represent area defense, a dozen or so aircraft and a couple of helicopters and you're set.
That's about as large as the game will allow.

Narwan

[RightDeve]

Maybe I will taste that brigade against you, someday!

[Panzafahra]

I often trie to buy "realistic" formations, and then make a plan. How to deploy the units to have the largest use of their weapons.
As an example the German infantry regiment 1940:
-infantry gun company 6x7,5cm 2x15cm
-anti tank company 12x3,7cm
-engineer platoon
-3x infantry battalion:
-3x infantry company
-machine gun company 12x hmg 6x 8,1 cm mortar
This formation might be supported by parts of the divisional units.
-reconaissance department
-anti tank department
-artillery regiment
-engineer battalion
A formation formation like this can attack a section 3 to 6 km wide or defend a section 4 to 10 km wide.
In attack it can be usefull to support this formation with parts of a tank division.
For WW2 battles I have some good books about formations and tactics, but I only have few informations about realistic formations to play big battles in MBT. Maybe someon knows, where I can get these informations.

[RightDeve]

Upon deciding the overall plan by purchasing the forces first, ofcourse it is more realistic. And we have the feeling of a "sudden" battle where formations in real world are actually encountering. And sure, it's a lot of fun, too.
But again, I think it's perfect in terms of Wargames if applied to campaigns, where you have your core forces experiencing different battles with much same troops.

Or when you and your opponent have agreed only to buy historical forces in a battle, that'll be fun and fair. But if there's nothing agreed upon first, then you're sacrificing a part of your fortune (you won't know that your opponent has bought a force that can cover his perfect plan on a whole; you want a realistic force whilst your opponent want an overwhelming success against you).

That's just my two-cents anyway...
Cheers, RightDeve

[Cross]

I don’t use the following as a check list. But if I analyze roughly what how I plan, it would usually include most of these items.

Study the map from offensive point of view

Spend long enough to become familiar with the terrain, all its features, and some details.

Look at objectives and their values.
Try to estimate the minimum objectives I will need to capture in order to win, if the force losses are equal or weighted either way.

Determine the best paths to these objectives.
Which areas will be hard for my opponent to defend.

Look for positions with good fields of fire for overwatch of advancing forces.

What sort of units will be needed to capture these objectives?
What sort of units are best suited to the terrain. (use more infantry in wooded and built up areas, more armour in open areas)
How much mobility will my offensive forces need?

Is there a way I can work a feint, or some other sort of trickery into my plan?

Study the map from my opponents point of view

Where is he most likely to attack?

Look for good defensive positions, and ambushes along his likely routes.
Consider where I might employ cone traps.
Where can I form a second line of defense?
Where and how will I defend my flanks?

What units can best defend against probable attacks?
How much mobility might my defensive forces need?

Can I afford to lose a couple of objectives, but still win because of objectives I should gain in other areas of the map?

Visibility
What is the visibility, and how will it effect offensive, defensive and scouting operations? Lower vis may require more scouts.
Buy longer range weapons for higher visibility. For high vis buy HMGs and high power ATk guns, for low vis avoid HMGs and I may only need low power ATk guns.

Force choices
1. How many infantry companies will I need to implement the plan?
2. What support will these infantry companies need? (Armour, Artillery, FOOs, ATk guns, HMGs, Scouts, Transport, AAA, Engineers etc.)
3. What will my reserve consist of, and where will it be deployed.

NB. I should add, that I now mostly play PBEM campaigns. I typically field 3 or 4 infantry companies with 1 amoured coy and 1 support coy. The above process helps me decide what to spend 'support' points on. Sometimes it will be an extra infantry coy, or armoured platoon, but most is spent on support forces.

[Gordons HQ]

Wow! you guys really take this seriously, no wonder I never won at this game.
In these encounter battles I think you are just supposed to be bumping into one another. I don't think all this planning ever happened you just fought with what you had at the time.
You all seem to take it to like another level of chess.
Well all I can say is good luck to you, I wonder what you do for fun.
In case you intend to get serious here with replies this was meant to be a lighthearted comment.

Gordon

[RightDeve]

Thanks for the "planning sequence" Cross!
Some of your techniques are the same as mine, except yours is a bit more complex.

Wow! you guys really take this seriously, no wonder I never won at this game.
In these encounter battles I think you are just supposed to be bumping into one another. I don't think all this planning ever happened you just fought with what you had at the time.

That's it, for me, Wargame will never be fun without any ingenious plan. It suits the fact that it's a wargame, not a "throw all your forces" like games.
You know, maybe if it's not because the "simple" graphic and interface (and it's turn-based nature), I could play it for fun without any mambo-jambo plans. But again, I prefer a "general's tabletop" wargame to "adrenaline-pumping" RTS games like Close Combat, Faces of War, etc (sorry, no offence).

Cheers, RightDeve

[Narwan]

You all seem to take it to like another level of chess.

That's exactly how I take it. I like chess. I think it's fun.


Narwan

[Cross]

Wow! you guys really take this seriously, no wonder I never won at this game.
In these encounter battles I think you are just supposed to be bumping into one another. I don't think all this planning ever happened you just fought with what you had at the time.

Hi Gordon,

Sometimes I don't have time for planning. I just buy a balanced force, take a brief look at the map and quickly distribute companies along the start point, and hope I have enough transport and the right support.

Those 'ad hoc' battles are fun too.

My list is a bit ideal. More of wish list of things to remember if I have enough time and purchase points.

One thing I left off my list: I may even consider what I know about my opponent. Easier if I've played them before, but I'll confess that I have, on occasion, even looked up their After Action Reports and posts to get an idea of tactics and strategy they might use.

Where SP comes into its own, is that it allows you to plot and plan similar to how a Commanding Officer would do IRL, if he had enough time, and access to intelligence and resources.

This game is hugely flexible. Plan and play, in your own style.
But rememeber the sage advice of Sun Tzu:

The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.
Sun Tzu, the Art of War

[jadpanther]

Hey Guys,

I've played this game a couple times. It usually takes me about 15-20 minutes to buy my troops and another 10-15 minutes to set them up. After that turns with 500 unit games common, usually take between 10-20 minutes apiece. I try not to have to much of a plan, because they ussually change as soon as you meet the enemy. I use the KISS method, most of the time I just stumble around until the game ends as most of my opponents know.

Jad