Tips from the Frontline

[RNL Tiger]

Waiting for the Initial Engagement

What would you say is really important for the defender to do? “Ideally, just sit quietly holding the flags until the end of the game without firing a shot...:) Remember - he can't kill you if he can't see you, so don't fire and give away your positions until you have to, or you'll face the full fury of a huge attacking force in your face. ('Have to' means when the enemy is getting awful, awful close and is about to see you anyway)

Of course you can always squeeze off an AT-gun or tank shot if you get a keyhole shot on an isolated section of his force when his main body can't see you. It’s best not to expose your tanks too much until you've gained intelligence about what tanks the enemy has got and where they are. "The whole art of war consists of guessing at what is on the other side of the hill" - Duke of Wellington

You can also open up anytime if several of your guns and tanks can all clobber his tank force at the same time, even if he is a superior force, because by getting the first blow in you'll hopefully give him a bloody nose and daze him enough to be able to keep hitting him over the following turns before he can get his act together to hit you back. "The day goes to the side that is the first to plaster its opponent with fire." – Rommel. As always, play with your brain first and your weapons second.

Attacks work best with the slow methodical approach needing over 30 turns or more but I don't have the patience for it. For example, an Attacker might plump for a preparatory arty barrage, smokescreens, s skirmish line of cheap spotters on foot, engineers on hand to deal with any mines, a reserve force to be committed when the initial forces begin running out of ammo, etc. That's why I prefer ME chess games, far more exciting. And on the rare occasions when I do play Attacks (like now) I just buy loads of tanks and hurl them forwards, life is so much simpler that way.”

Well, I was waiting for the initial engagement but it was too quiet. My sharpshooters could see nothing; no movement at all. That could only mean one thing the attack was coming down the right. I ran the sniper in the centre to the large building on the right hand edge of the village. As he started to move the attack opened…