Latest Opinions on Assault/Defend PBEM Ratio

[seabolt]

This is not far off from what I meant with a mobile defence. There will always be static units when defending but mobile fire-brigades are essential to keep the enemy at bay.

When defending a really long line, a risky substitute for tailored-force freaks (*cough*me*cough*) is reserve transport units that can pull inactive static units out of the line and into counterattack. A savvy opponent might make you regret "lateral reserves," but if points are really scarce it can be worth the risk.

By using the terrain and smoke for cover the attacker can make sure that the only long range "force projection" will come from artillery and MG area-fire.

In practice I still think the attacker needs a lot of terrain augmented by a little well-placed smoke. With SPWW2 smoke loadouts, in an open field the smoke does a pretty good job of telling the defender where to aim ... very difficult to make it last long enough to cover an entire advance.

The problems of defending do not come from lazy deployments or eagerness to move units around. Steel Panthers clearly favours the offensive player in any type of battle. The moving player can do a lot of moving/firing with his units plus the in-turn rallying. Defending units are at a clear disadvantage.
This can be compared to the Campaign Series where a unit only can move-fire or move-move-"not fire" making it easier for the static defenders.

Specifically, opfire gamesmanship means your defenders will fire at 2% targets 25 hexes away and have no shots left for the tanks that roll around the corner 2 hexes away. Plus, it appears that opfire is significantly less accurate than in-turn fire. These are the attacker's two biggest assets, IMO. Not that a clever static defense can't mitigate much of the risk.

I think mining VHs is a gamey tactic. There's a 100% chance that the enemy will visit the VHs so it's a no-brainer to lay mines there.

Yea, even I won't go there. ;) I'm also not one to "detrench" clear fire zones, because to my reasoning that should cost you a fortification point, same as laying wire or mines in that hex.

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