Attacking

[PoorOldSpike]

LINE DANCE

This sequence illustrates the importance of formations and how your moves must be choreographed like dance steps with near inch-perfect precision, it's simple commonsense really and becomes second nature, although in this case I came off second best, but hey that's war..


PIC 1 - My 3x T-34/76's in the foreground want to have a crack at Monkeybutts 2x PzIV-longs up on the hill in the background.
At the moment we can't see each other through the blocking trees, but I know his line-of-sight will extend along the red dotted line (a 'line of death') and the T-34's will be zapped the instant they cross it.





PIC 2 - So it's to the key '6' top-down view (it's the ONLY way to do precision plotting), and I give each T-34 a 'hunt' order as shown, so they'll all reach and halt on the line-of-death together and open up.
I also unbutton them so they'll spot the panzers quickly, and I also give them an armour-arc so their guns will be pointing smack at the panzers when they reach the line..





PIC 3 - The T-34's arrive beautifully together on the line, but shock horror - there are four panzers up there (not 2 as I'd thought) and I begin taking hits!





PIC 4 - My T-34's are cut to pieces before they can get their act together, they fire back several times but miss, they had their chance..
A shocked survivor slams into reverse (purple line) to get off the line of death but was killed later..
Not a single panzer is hit..





PIC 5 - The panzers view. They just sat there in classic line-astern pouring fire into the kill zone below.




SUMMARY - Yes I know I was trashed even though I did everything right,that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. But let the action serve as an illustration of how to shake out into a formation suitable for poking its nose out from behind trees, coming out TOGETHER as a solid pack into the line of fire in order to return fire together rather than one by one as if on a conveyor belt.
Also note Monkeybutts panzers excellent line astern formation ready to pour concentrated fire straight down the line when I emerged.
(Incidentally he killed all 6 of my tanks in this game for the loss of only 2 of his own)
This was only our second training game, he contacted me recently to ask me to help him understand tank tactics, and I replied yes I'd be glad to help teach him how to kill..
He knows now... ;)