Tips from the Frontline

[RNL Tiger]

Probing the defense

The game shifts gear as the Allies try to probe the defense. “After the cataclysmic opening exchange of fire in Phase One we're now in a peaceful Phase Two as we jockey for position like in a chess match, its normal in real life too. Problem for both of us is that I mistakenly set the tree density to only medium instead of heavy, so there are not too many tree clumps for us to jockey around, hence the need to cling to what cover is available, making the game slower and somewhat paralysed, think 'blander'. That's why my preference is always for heavy trees, they create a more interesting game because there's plenty of cover to manoeuvre around and through.

Your inf in particular no doubt wish there were more trees so they could sneak closer to the flags through them. Inf lurv woods. Regard clumps of trees as the black squares on a chessboard. Throw a lot of them out and the chess match would be kinda bland, the queen and bishops would just sit at the far end keeping everybody in perpetual check..;)

PS - I think I've solved the Stalin HE puzzle, it was sheer LUCK that saved my panzer, as 9 times out of 10 the HE would have killed it.”

The Stalin has redeployed on the left and tries a long range shootout where its heavier armour and big gun should give it a distinct advantage:



However, that is not the case as the Stalin tanks behave very strangely. The Stalin hunting at just over 700m fires HE again and misses but the Panzers are on target, scoring a partial penetration and a casualty. Rather than continue the fight the Stalin then bizarrely decides to move on and fires again at the Panzers without stopping but as is now becoming usual - ineffectually and with HE.

The second Stalin also on hunt has lost its tank commander and does not either see the fire-fight in progress or spot the enemy. Consequently it simply passes by its partner Stalin and continues on its merry way and even reversing it back into LOS has no appreciable effect as it takes a couple of shots from the Panzers, ignores them, and moves on. The Stalin tanks have acted strangely and between their poor spotting and even worse gunnery they have not performed well - is this just bad luck?

I noted with POS: “Maybe its not luck maybe these Stalin veteran crews are just particularly poor or had some dodgey porridge this morning. I am not sure they can get a kill at the moment... I thought I was being clever by shooting at distance and taking advantage of their strengths. Maybe I need to get much closer :-)” “Maybe the crew is on crack, they're still firing HE and they seemed to panic forward after taking a partial hit. I might as well let my panzers shoot it out with him, 2 onto one are good odds against one Stalin with a junkie crew.” “I am completely confused now. I even reversed my Stalin back into LOS and it took a hit and just rolled forward again without a care in the world. I think you are right - they must be on drugs.... :-)" "Yes I give up trying to figure it out. At least you had some luck, I scored 2 partial pens and the beast is still alive, trundling around like some enraged wounded T.Rex, it usually needs more than two blows from a club to kill a Stalin.”

“One on my Stalin tanks then had another opportunity but it was a shame that I had my Stalin on "fast" when it got a side shot at the Panzer, again I missed the LOS and didn't have it on "hunt". I am going to need to pay MUCH more attention to LOS as it is costing me dear! :-) After saying that it was still using HE and with the gunnery skills displayed so far it wouldn't have got anywhere near the target. :-)” “Yes the crew is fighting like girl guides, not your fault, just remember in CM all units have an AI (artificial intelligence) mind of their own and sometimes do things on their own initiative whether you want them to or not, so strictly speaking it might not be a bug.”

Whilst this Stalin action is not good it does not compare with the disaster on the right. I have decided to move the T34s further around to the right and I move them in what I thought was an out of LOS path on the reverse slope of a crest of a hill, even though it was close to the crest of that hill. However, I was wrong and even worse, I had one of the T34s just stop and present its side to the Panzers – of course, they were more than happy to take advantage of this stupidity. I have no idea why it stopped, I am guessing that I must have had two fast commands an original one and a new one and it finished the first move and waited in command delay before executing the next one. Unfortunately for the tank it was in LOS of the panzers when it stopped - it never even saw where the knockout blow came from.



My T34/85 stopped just behind the crest of a hill and presented a lovely side shot for your Panzers. “Yes he was behind the crest but not quite enough behind. Lesson - if in doubt about whether the enemy will get LOS on you, play it safe and give him a wider berth for insurance. "Walk wide o' the widow of Windsor" - Rudyard Kipling.”

There is one spot of good news and that is the sniper has finally arrived at the ATG and has LOS to it. So, hopefully that will get knocked out soon.



However, a few seconds later the ATG disappears again:



Presumably the target that the ATG was following has gone and so it has returned to “hiding”; in the process it is [surprisingly] no longer in the sniper’s LOS. I was curious about this and asked “Have you been "hiding" your 20mm Flak? My sharpshooter has had LOS on it and then lost it again, which was a surprise?” “Yes my flak sometimes speaks, then falls silent and invisible again when he has no targets. No hide, I simply reduced the size of its arc so it'd stay silent concentrating on the area near a flag and hitting any inf entering the area. Losing lock-on is quite normal in CM if the target stops firing or moving, especially at longer ranges. For example my panzers have been saturating the woods near the flag on your right with area-fire to flush out your inf but I can't see any infantry, just a bunch of red stars, so I'm firing at and around the stars in the hope there are still inf there who'll eventually start running backwards in fear away from the flag. Remember, the further units are away from a flag, the less chance they have of owning it at the end.” Clearly, I will need to get that ATG firing at something so that the sniper can do his work… Does "Hide" also reduce exposure to 0% for infantry? [Useful for artillery/HE barrages except it seems to me that it doesn't? “'Hide' seems to reduce exposure (but not necessarily to zero) It plants the units face in the dirt and sometimes (but not always) breaks any lock the enemy might have on him. He can't fire while on 'Hide' unless the enemy gets close and his spotting ability is also reduced while on 'Hide'. I also slap a minimum arc on him too and cancel any firing he's doing, to urge him to hold his fire and stay invisible, but they sometimes get jumpy and refuse to stay hidden and will also fire beyond their arc. In fact I've been putting some of my inf on Hide at the flag on your right because your inf were engaging them and making them get panicky, but Hide doesn't seem to have broken your lock on them and they're still taking punishment.”

Preparations for the final attack are becoming unstuck. I was supposed to have 2 Stalin tanks coming from the left and 2 T34s coming from the right and shortly afterwards the infantry making their attack on the flag outside of the village. Ideally, I would have knocked out a couple of tanks by now and also killed the ATG crew to even up the odds. I do not have time to change the plan again and the loss of the T34 makes a difficult situation worse but there is still a lot of firepower and if they can keyhole just one or two tanks they may be able to tip the scales back towards the allies. However, it is looking increasingly like a very long shot.