How do you go to battle?

[RightDeve]

Real life tactics come in use and work at some level but at the end IMHO it´s all about playing a TBSTT game or chess, meaning you have to anticipate moves and know what your units can do thus the necessity for planning, control the center, etc.

The feel of playing chess comes due to the fact that tis a TB hexed game, and each turn covers 3-4 minutes roughly.
Moreover, the graphic and sound are simple too. So you don't have a good deal of "adrenaline pump".
But in terms of real-life tactics and plan, it always works. The only thing most player should care about is, don't move your units the full speed unless it is really safe. Most regular players, including me, tend to "rush" the pieces easily, because it's easy to move em (and it's a good feeling, dunno why, rather than move them hex by hex, one hex at one turn esp. at urban warfare).

For a simple addition to the above tactics, look at Sun Zu's saying:

17. For should the enemy strengthen his van, he will weaken his rear; should he strengthen his rear, he will weaken his van; should he strengthen his left, he will weaken his right; should he strengthen his right, he will weaken his left. If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will everywhere be weak.

That means that in a battle (esp. attack), one should not diverge his forces vastly, put one schwerpunkt and concentrate your forces there (this one is true particularly when using tanks, as German doctrine said).
That is why mobile reserve troops are really important.
In meeting engagement, the only way to know exactly your enemy's disposition is by engaging him (using advance guard or so). Once you know his exact weak point, commit your main force (mobile reserve) there. Drive as fast as possible to wreak havoc on his rear and to take him off balance. Then your regular frontal troop will do the mop-up operation.
One thing to consider if you're afraid your enemy might break your weak point (that is, the force that is not doing main offense), set up a rather static defense (don't advance too much ahead on enemy territory) and place ATG. Don't expose your main infantry to direct fire field, keep em hidden as long as possible (say one hex behind a treeline). Then place spotter or scout or any small sized infantry to watch the enemy. The ATG and arty fire can slow down his advance. Once his forces are near you (maybe even one hex in front of you), destroy his forces ASAP. Then take another ground. This one is good for dealing with hordes of AFV when you don't have enough ATG or AFV to counter with. Make him think as if the treeline ahead of him is safe, then wreak your ambush at 50 yards.