CMx2 tactical notes and observations

[PoorOldSpike]

QB v AI
This may interest noobs, the AI is usually easy to beat and is good for training against.
Small size Attack, Armour only, me defending as Americans against German AI. Turn-based, Basic Training level




The computer threw up this random map-




My random computer-generated force




I place all 4 tanks (circled) in the lane so they'll get side shots on anything emerging from the gaps (arrows).
IMPORTANT- In this setup phase click a unit and select 'Target' so you can stretch its light blue LOS line around the map to see what it can see.
My Shers can see along the road but not across bocage, and that's ideal. I shall 'own' any enemy crate that come onto the road..The HQ are watching the lane on the lerft, and I'm holding my Priest and 2x halftracks well back for now.
I've placed nothing in the Obj Area in case they get an arty bombardment in their laps, I'll move stuff into the obj area before the end of the game.




The game begins, and the AI drops a poncey smoke barrage-




But it's only a diversion and a Stug comes sniffing around a gap in the bocage-




and is toasted.
Incidentally my Shers can't see through the bocage into the ploughed field because they haven't got their noses in the leaves; I deliberately kept them back from it so that it'd give them cover from anything approaching frontally through the field because I didn't want a frontal battle, I wanted side shots
And the only reason I placed them facing the boc is so that they'd be able to pivot left or right quicker to present their front armour to whichever gap the enemy came through, right or left. -




Suddenly one of my halftracks goes up in flames, I can't see what fired, but from the angle of the tracer the perpetrator must have come through the circled gap, the only gap I hadn't got covered. I thought the htrack was safe behind low bocage but obviously not-




Suddenly all hell lets loose, a gaggle of light armour comes trundling through the centre gap and a Panther breaks cover on my right flank.
My Shers quickly fry the lights and one get a shot against the Panthers side, but it ricochets!
Note how the Shers automatically begin pivoting to face the threats without me having to issue 'Face' orders-

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Meanwhile my Priest gets in on the act by pouring 105mm HE into the fleeing German light armour crews at the centre gap, proving again that low boc doesn't block veh LOS-




Briefly halting, the Panther brews a Sherman-




and a Stug races past going hard for the objective area, but a shot neatly takes him out. Another Sher takes a pot at the Panth, but its shot hits the low boc (circled) so obviously low boc does sometimes interfere with a shells flight-




At the moment none of my remaining 3 Shers has LOS on the Panther, but rather than hunt him down, I decide to sit tight and let him walk into my fields of fire when he resumes his advance on the objective. "It is best that the customer should come to the shop"- Manfred von Richthofen
I use the 'Target' line to check LOS, the blue lines indicate it's clear-




And it works like a dream, the Panth starts moving and is almost immediately hit by two simultaneous shots.
As usual the enemy AI makes every mistake in the book, presenting side armour shots to my boys, operating in sloppy loose uncoordinated attacks etc-




It's nothing personal muchachos, strictly business-

11 turns gone, 19 to go, surely the Gers have nothing left to throw at me?
I move my halftrack and Priest into the objective area to get occupation points at the end of the game. (the manual says just one unit will do)-




But the Gers launch one last attack by sending a PzIVH (circled) through the centre gap, and a Stug down my right flank.
The Pz and a Sher kill each other in a simultaneous exchange of fire, and another Sher picks off the Stug-




And the game automatically ends with a win for me, I guess jerry had run out of tanks.
X's mark the dead 'uns on both sides-





SUMMARY- the AI is usually easy to beat and I only posted this as a training tutorial for noobs. The key to winning against the AI is to remember that it usually sends its tanks against you in useless dribs and drabs like on a conveyor belt, so it's easy to pick them off one by one.
Note- throughout the whole game I never issued a single fire order, I simply let the tanks choose their own targets, nor did I issue any 'Face' orders or 'Firing Arc' orders in case it confused them.
It's fun to put our tanks into positions where they can strut their stuff and do the most harm.
"I have a high art, I hurt with cruelty those who would damage me"- Archilocus (Greek mercenary) 650 B.C.