Mius Historical Campaign

[Philippe]

Just thinking about the concept of Delayed Disruption reporting, I may be about to start using the rule.

My point of reference for all of this is my experience with CMx1, that is, CMBO, CMBB, and CMAK.

Most of what happens in a CM scenario is what in Panzer Campaigns would be considered an assault.

My sense has always been that time (and perhaps losses) was a bit too accelerated in CM when you compare what happens in an historical scenaro to historical accounts.

But my sense has also been that losses were a little too low in Panzer Campaigns. If you were to set up a CM battle in Panzer Campaigns you probably wouldn't get the same results, partly (but only partly) because when a commander knows he's got to keep using his units for the next six months or so he's a lot more cautious about exposing them to losses (i.e. CM players tend to play more recklessly and aggressively than their real-life™ counterparts).

In CM you can tell that a half dozen squads or so closest to the front line have been shot up to the point that if you send in a reasonable assault, you'll overwhelm their positions. But what you can only guess at is the condition (or even presence) of what is sitting two kilometers behind the point of contact. So if I use CM as a weak proxy for realty, I suppose there is no very great obstacle to the concept that you can't really tell how much damage your prep fire did until you wade in there.

Still a little uneasy with it, but then again, in CM it is very difficult to impossible to execute a phased withdrawal without sacrificing the squads that are in closest contact with the enemy. [ I have actually been successful in using the withdraw command, but the not very satisfying trick to it is that you have to give that particular order *before* you experience significant incoming fire].

No system is perfect and is going to have anavoidable abstractions. I suppose delayed disruption doesn't really do violence to verisimilitude -- and at least you can conduct a fighting withdrawal in Panzer Campaigns.