Tips from the Frontline

[RNL Tiger]

Introduction

As a newcomer to the Blitz I started a quick battle [QB] with Poor Old Spike [POS] because I wanted to learn by doing/playing and to ask questions. So, from start to finish I asked lots of questions about:
• Force selection
• Understanding force capability
• Making and changing plans
• How to execute particular manoeuvres
• General tactics
• Theory versus practice

I got lots of answers. Of course, if I had asked someone else I might have got a very different (or similar) set of answers, however, that did not matter because what I wanted was a starting point. Beyond that starting point, as a Combat Mission commander, we need to find our own way and our own truth!

At the end of the battle POS and I agreed that there was a lot of good material and tips captured in the email dialogue and that it may prove useful to others too. So, what follows is a combination of an AAR, my own thoughts and observations about the battle and POS’ answers to questions, which will be quoted in a different colour.

[RNL Tiger]

Force Selection

I have mainly played scenarios for two simple reasons
1) Location, date, terrain and weather are all pre-set
2) Forces are pre-set including whether there are any reinforcements
Easy! Just get on and play it.

Of course, it is then tempting to not seriously think about what forces you want or need in the situation or to fully appreciate their strengths and weaknesses – you simply use what is there. POS noted “QB's can't be examined in the editor, that’s one of the reasons they're so popular, neither of you knows what the other person has bought and you can surprise each other..:)”, that sounded good.

So we would play a QB and immediately I was confused, because of all those options that you jointly agree on:

[If you wish to use this picture or edit it please go right ahead]

Seeing the QB parameters for only the second time in my Combat Mission experience I truly realised how little I understood these options and how they might affect force selection. In short, there is no real substitute for playing with the parameters just to test the result and to see what the available forces are for a given year and especially what the terrain looks like.

However, setting the options is easy compared to force selection and buying – infantry, armour, support… After all what do most of these things actually do and how do they compare? If those selected forces are put into battle how are they likely to perform? Looking at the armour I recognised a number of the tanks but not much else. Equally “The armour readout as you run your cursor over tanks at the buy screen gives only a ROUGH guide to armour thickness. The cost is no guide at all, because higher prices don't necessarily mean better tanks. So the ONLY way to fully check out each subtype is to line them up on parade in the editor and examine them that way..:)
And remember when you select a year and month, only the models in service at that time will appear on the buy screen. So buy those, then re-set the date to a later period (say 6 months on), and buy the newer model, then set the date another 6 months forward until you've bought all the models there are.”

So, what is really needed is a way to see the unit details and perhaps even test their performance in a staged scenario. Enter the Scenario Editor, which I had never used. The instructions from POS: “Just go in the editor and place units on a blank map so you can look up all sorts of data. To set up a test -
Click Scen editor> Parameters> Set Date> OK> OK> Unit Editor>
Axis> Armour> Quality> Click 10 times on unit in list to 'buy' it>
Allied> Armour> Qual> Click 10> OK>
Map Editor> Preview> key 5 overall view> click on unit> key P> click to place unit, then place rest> GO>
Done>Save> type a name and save it>Exit
Start Game> choose any side> Hotseat> OK> don't bother with passwords> GO, and hit GO several more times until the shooting starts”

“Never start a game without knowing the capabilities of your and your enemies’ weapons. So when in doubt, set up a test (like we all do) in the editor, by lining up say 10 tanks (or guns etc) against 10 enemy tanks then leaving them alone (don't issue orders) to shoot it out and see which side comes off best.
I've just done that in a scenario called High Tide, I examined it and saw that it was Russian T-34's and KV-1's versus German PzIII longs and IV longs. I had a rough idea of their capabilities but to be sure I ran several tests pitting type against type, and discovered they rank like this (best at top)
IVG
KV1
PzIII
T-34
So I began the battle knowing exactly what each type can do, it's priceless intelligence…:)”

The key point that POS was making was that - “games are often won or lost at the purchase screen”, so reviewing unit details and perhaps setting up small tests to understand performance is important. “Don't forget to buy by the platoon (tanks) and by the company (infantry), they cost much less that way, but by all means buy individual tanks and infantry platoons if you've got cash left… And don't forget to set your quality… Incidentally players often agree not to buy Tigers or Panthers or Stalins or whatever during the parameter discussion stage, that's another option.”

So, making progress but how about unit quality? “Quality-wise, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS buy VETERAN Armour and VETERAN AT-guns, as anything worse (Regular/Green/Conscript) is a waste of cash. Don't bother with expensive Cracks and Elites, as Vets can do the job well enough. However you CAN buy Regular infantry if you want, as they're fairly reliable.”


I was starting to get the idea but I wanted to get an understanding of force selection in the overall context of the type of battle: “ALL the tanks and ATG's are VETERAN. (the infantry can be only regular to save cash)

2000 points QB MEETING,
10x tanks
5 x inf platoons
1x sniper
3 x HMG's
3x shreks/baz/piats

2000 pts ATTACK
2x cheap armd cars
15x tanks
9 x inf plats
2x engineer plats

2000 pts DEFEND
2 x tanks
6x ATG's
9x inf plats
1x sniper
9 x HMG's
2x light mortars
4xshreks/baz/piats
4x ATmines/ 4x anti-pers mines/6x wire/3x roadblocks (discuss with opponent first the max number of mines/wire/blocks to be allowed)

Here are two typical force ratios for 2000-point Meetings -
https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards...?tid=42413
See, about 8 tanks and 5 infantry platoons plus a few support vehicles, MG's, shrecks etc.”

Seeing that force selection gave me a number of questions:
a) Why no scouts for the ME but you do have them [2 cheap armoured cars] for attack? How do you use them?
b) For larger numbers of platoons why not choose a company?
c) Would you select all of the same tanks or mix it up a little? If mixing, why?
d) Similar to above would you choose a selection of infantry i.e. SMG and rifle?
e) You have selected light mortar for the defence - why?

“1 - In ME's we know the enemy is starting on the far side of the map so we don't need scouts to tell us that, I just race hell for leather at top speed for the flags and therefore have no need for recce vehicles. Also there are no mines in ME's so I don't need cars to sniff them out..:)

2 - Yes the word 'company' also usually means '3 x infantry platoons'

3 - I don't mix tank types, I prefer the bulk of my force to be the same type so that they all have the same speed, same gun, same armour etc. Likewise a formation aerobatic team wouldn't dream of having a mix of F-16's, Boeing 747's and Sopwith camels.. My standard force of 10 tanks would consist of something like 8xPanzer IVH's and a couple of Tigers, or 8x T-34/85 and a couple of Stalins

4 - Choice of infantry is far less critical than choice of tanks, and you can therefore mix SMG's/ Infantry etc

5 - Mortars are good on the defense because you can plaster clusters of enemy infantry, the blast effect can pin a whole bunch and make them crawl for cover. By contrast a burst of HMG fire doesn't pin more than about a couple on squads per burst. However, mortars quickly run out of shells so my main choice in defense would be lots of HMG's”

So, I looked at the unit details and ran a few simple tests and then I happily made my force selection for this QB using 1992 of 2000 points:
• 1xPlatoon Tiger PzVIE Late [what self respecting Axis player doesn’t love the big cats?]
• 1xPlatoon STuG IIIG Middle [cheap!]
• 1xCompany Jager 44
• 2xPlatoon Jager 44
• 1xSharpshooter

I was feeling quite confident at this stage that I was making progress but I was about to get a rude awakening.

[RNL Tiger]

Plan

Here I was with my carefully selected forces taking my first look at the map:


This was not good heavy tank country, this was not tiger country! I immediately thought back to the advice about tanks: “In case you're wondering, the Panzer IVH is the equivalent of the T-34/85, they can both drill each other easily. Or you could plump for Tigers instead which are near-impenetrable except at short range but they're more expensive and you won't be able to afford so many. A third option is to go for Panthers, they've got excellent front hull armour but have weak turret and side armour.”

There were very few places with good open LOS so choosing tigers in this terrain was mistake. I now also had to think about ensuring their safety and include that within the plan. The key vulnerability here for the tigers: “If enemy tanks can get close to Tigers they stand a good chance of killing them, especially if they use tungsten ammo. In open maps the attacker can blind them with smoke and get close that way. The German player must therefore try not to let enemy tanks get close..:) From experience I know that T-34/85's have a hard job penetrating Tigers at much more than a couple of hundred metres.” OK, so I had purchased forces without taking into account the terrain or weather so now I had to adapt. However, POS added a footnote that I would come to appreciate much more fully later: “Don't rely too much on printed statistics, I never do, just use them as a very rough guide and play by gut instinct and experience most of the time.”

Of course, it was easy for POS to talk about playing by gut instinct, especially when you have played hundreds of battles but this was only my second QB and I had not played that many scenarios. As for the comment on not relying on the printed statistics, well, I had just spent ages in the unit detail screen comparing and contrasting armour, guns, penetration… so I had no idea what that really meant.

Anyway, the next step is to define the plan now that I can see the map. So what was the plan? “NEVER begin a battle without a PLAN, then MODIFY it during the battle if need be, by constantly re-evaluating what you NEED to do to win. See, in every game you must decide when to attack and when to defend as the situation fluctuates. Of course, you can always decide to surprise the enemy by doing something expected. Another important thing is to be TIME-CONSCIOUS, which means your overall plan must fit into the length of the game. A typical mistake people make is rushing things when they don't have to.”

Now that all makes sense but I still need to put that into the context of the plan here for this meeting engagement. So, time to ask a few questions: “In Meeting Engagements THE big boo-boo 99% of my opponents make is to not race for the flags at top speed in order to dump their infantry there before me. In 5 years of playing hundreds of Meets, I don't think anybody has ever beat me to the flags more than 3 or 4 times.”

So, that tactic effectively makes the game an attack/defend where the attacker does not have the usual numerical superiority...“Not necessarily... If somebody seizes the flags first it means his forces are spread out thinly between 2 or more flags. A wily opponent can therefore throw his full weight against just one flag at a time at odds of 2 to 1 (or better) and capture it before attacking the next flag, and the next (think 'Domino Effect'). As Rommel said - "He who defends everything defends nothing", but that's the risk we take by trying to hold more than 1 flag ..:)”

However, isn't it dangerous to "fast" your armour forward to the flag? Even in a crazy map like this you do not know what LOS the opponent has to it? I think in an earlier email you recommended having the infantry in front of the tanks? “The two sides are so far apart at the start of Meets in mixed terrain that they rarely have LOS on each other, so racing at top speed carries no real risk if he can't see you..:) But later on, when the forces get close and manoeuvring, that's the time to start screening your tanks with infantry in case nasty bunnies are sneaking through the trees to throw eggs at them”

On this map specifically, [lucky!] you have two roads from your setup position into the flags whilst I have none, presumably, if you know that your opponent can get there faster [or assume that he can] you do not still rush the flag? [i.e. try to get there whilst he is still disorganised] “Yes I'm lucky in having 2 roads, but that's random maps for you…But at least as you play more random maps the luck balances out under the Law of Averages. Look on the bright side - you know I've got roads and you can therefore predict where I'm likely to be racing, and you can plan where to attack accordingly, whereas I have absolutely no idea where you'll be coming from, it could be anywhere…”

If neither of us had roads would you still rush your tank to the flag through wooded areas? Presumably if both forces arrived at the flag you would just "hope" that you would win the fire-fight? “Yup! Roads or no roads I always go fast and hard for the flags, even if he's got roads and I haven't. In such cases I hope to at least arrive while he's still disorganised and getting into defensive posture, rather than give him time to deploy at leisure”

So I needed to convert some of these ideas into specifics for this map. It was clear that POS would get to the flags first so what I needed to do was to plan for how I would attack them. Thinking along those lines reminded me of earlier problems I had attacking:
1) Lead with light armour, with armour in over-watch support with follow-up infantry - scouts destroyed too easily for no real gain
2) Lead with an armoured fist with following infantry - armour destroyed too easily for even less gain
3) Lead with scouting infantry with armoured over-watch, with following infantry - seems best in most situations

“1 - Light armour in the lead will draw fire and quickly die but at least it'll have served its purpose and made the enemy give his positions away so that your main force can blast it. Light stuff is also good at finding buried AT-mines by driving over them and getting blown up, but at least it'll allow your main force to then avoid the mines. But in QB's don't spend too much cash on them (just 2/ 3/4 will usually do, (cheap cars armed with just an MG are ideal), otherwise you'll be draining cash from where its needed most - buying good tanks.

2 - If the maps not too big, lead your with an infantry line out ahead of your armour to comb clumps of woods and stuff to flush out enemy AT-guns and shreks etc.
The main body can then blast them.

3 - You use the term 'following infantry'. That's okay I suppose if you want a reserve force, but as I say, infantry is best in front of the tanks as a screen. And don't forget infantry can ride on most tanks, that’s useful if you've got lots of ground to cover before getting near the enemy, it'd be too slow if the infantry walked.

Here's a good example of an attack -scroll down to the pic entitled "Punching with your fist" https://www.theblitz.club/message_boards...885&page=1

One more thing - once the enemy is encountered, STOP moving most of your stuff, deal with the enemy you can see before continuing the advance.”

So, what about the specifics of a plan? In short, I decided that the overall plan would be to find fix and flank. The find part would be easy as the Russians would likely be holding and clustered around the flags. The fix part would need to be frontally by the infantry and the flank part would primarily be by the armour. The infantry would then go around the left flank and then head left to right to roll up the defence like falling dominoes.

Given that the initial deployment plan:
• Use 4 platoon to protect the left flank and to turn inwards take the left flag and to roll up the enemy line
• Use A company to attack the main flags in the middle with supporting HMGs
• Use 5 platoon to protect the right flank and potentially to go for the far right flag
• Use STuG platoon to support the centre flag attack
• Use the Tiger platoon on the left as a mobile reserve and to attack enemy armour

So, I had the forces selected, a plan defined and expectations about where the enemy would be and the probable enemy forces. However, I also knew that I had made a mistake at the purchasing screen by picking:
• Tigers – terrain lacks good open LOS and being able to fight at long ranges
• STuGs – no turret and very slow turning times make them vulnerable to attacks from unexpected directions

[RNL Tiger]

Force Selection Revisited

So, I had made mistakes on purchasing the wrong tanks for the terrain. What would have been better? “I'd have chosen mostly Panzer IVH's, with maybe a couple of Tigers or Panthers or Hetzers thrown in (the Hetzers a tough little s.o.b. frontally) Or maybe I'd have plumped for an all-PzIVH force on a whim.. ”

Just looking through the German tank statistics recently I had selected the Pz IVG Late as a better choice than the Pz IVH with the H as the second choice for a medium tank - although I did not do any tests against opponent tanks. What makes you say Pz IVH? “I've just looked at the IV stats, and yes the G(late) has fractionally better armour and is 1 mph faster, but its price is an outrageous 273, (compared to the H's 158), so no way would I buy it at that price, it's just not worth it.. ALWAYS take prices into account (don't forget to use 'Standard Rarity'). Also I see there are 2 other IV models available at this period, the IVJ and the IVG(early), both are MORE expensive than the H but they have WORSE stats so don't even consider them.. (The G(early) has a weaker gun and the J has a slow turret). Battlefront only include them for historical sake but nobody in his right mind would buy them instead of the H.”

If it was earlier in the war what Panzer III would you choose? [I have Pz IIIM Late with the Pz IIIN Late as second at the moment without considering cost!]. Clearly I chose the Tiger in this QB, the question I have for you is in what circumstances would you choose either a Tiger or King Tiger platoon. I want to separate selection from throwing the odd Tiger into the mix. “If I knew the map was going to be wide open, I'd definitely buy a Tiger or King Tiger platoon because I know I'd be able to pick off his tanks at long range with unimpeded LOS … But in mixed hilly/ wooded terrain I'd buy mostly cheaper PzIVH's because Tigers/King Tigers are too big and lumbering to nimbly thread between clumps of trees and stuff.”

“As for PzIII's, they're obsolete by about mid-1942, the best one has a 50mm L/60 gun and 70mm armour (run your cursor over the buy list and note when it says 70mm armour) But in 1943 and onwards they're definitely only second fiddle to Panzer IV-longs”

“You might notice a small proportion of tanks are not the quality you bought, that's normal because the computer randomly mixes in a few other qualities. If you're lucky it'll have given you a crack or elite tank or two, or if you're unlucky it might give you a regular or green…”

[RNL Tiger]

Approach

The Allies have occupied the flags and are now waiting for the Axis forces to show themselves:


The Axis forces are following the basic plan:


However, notice that the Allies have sent a platoon of T-34/85s around their right flank and they are about to run into the Tigers on the left.

Things are going according to plan so far, let’s see how the armour engagement goes…

[RNL Tiger]

First tank fight

The tigers manage to fire first and score a quick knockout:


Three against two, I hope to see three knocked out T34s:


Unfortunately, the return fire forces the veteran crew to bail out but not before getting another T34:


I am surprised and disappointed that my tiger got taken out. It seemed to have all of the advantages [stationary, front-facing, shooting at side]. I noticed that your medium tanks did not reverse away from my heavy tanks - is that purely down to the better [veteran] crew? “Yes. As for the shootout, you won it because I lost 2 tanks and you only lost 1 so cheer up.”

"Loose tank crews on foot can spot the enemy just like any other unit so at least they have their uses as spotters. You can also move them to flags to claim ownership. They can fight but very poorly because they only have pistols."

The next turn saw the remaining T34 knocked out:


So, the first tank fight is over and the Tigers have knocked out the T34 platoon. Given the result of this engagement should the plan change? At the moment I felt that the original plan was still fine and that whilst I had won this tank battle I still didn’t know where the rest of the Allied forces, especially the armour, were located.

[Der Kuenstler]

Both this and your helpful link post are very nice posts, RNL Tiger - you are going to be a valuable person to have around here...don't be discouraged by early losses...

[RNL Tiger]

Initial Plan Complete

The initial plan is complete in that all of the forces are in place.
• 4 platoon has arrived on the left flank and it is now ready to turn inwards to take the left flag and to roll up the enemy line
• A company is in position and ready to attack the main flags in the middle with supporting HMGs but is taking a little area fire from the Allied tanks
• 5 platoon is protecting the right flank and potentially ready to go for the far right flag
• Use STuG platoon to support the centre flag attack has been redirected to the left flank to add more weight to the attack about to start
• Tiger platoon has knocked out one T34 platoon and is ready to attack the first flag in concert with the infantry


It was at this point that I decided to review the plan and see if it needed to change with enemy contact. I still hadn’t seen much infantry movement but I now knew for sure, rather than guessing, that there were another two T34 platoons. One was sitting on the hill dominating the centre and fully able to help repulse any infantry attack in the centre.

The second T34 platoon had just moved up from the far flag and had then dipped behind the trees to go out of LOS. It seemed clear that the Allied infantry must be near the flags and that the T34s were providing covering fire. However, what was less clear was whether the T34 platoon that had gone dark were looking to sneak around the back of Tigers and STuGs to pick them off whilst they attacked the infantry/flags.

I had also decided to move the STuGs to be with the Tigers to provide additional mass of firepower but also to get some safety in numbers. However, the movement had not been without its own hazards as I lost two tank commanders to sharpshooters without even seeing where the shots came from - “if you hear sharp single 'cracks', its a snipers high-velocity rifle having a go at your unbuttoned tank commanders..”.

So, continue with the plan or change it? I decided to change it. It seemed I had an opportunity to penetrate to the Allied rear with my Tigers and surprise the T34s from behind or the 9 o’clock position on the map. If I could win the armour battle then the flags would fall easily. The Axis infantry in the centre had to simply hold their position until those T34s could be dislodged from the hill.

I knew I had an advantage in armour and I wanted to exploit it. What I hadn’t realised was that I was starting to dissipate my advantage. Why and how will become clear soon.

[RNL Tiger]

Second tank fight

Things seemed to be going well, I had repositioned the Tigers deep into the Allied rear and the range to the T34 platoon on the hill was well over 500m. Looking at the statistics this should be an easy contest: the Tiger armour was 102mm and the T34/85 gun was 76.2mm L/42 with an armour penetration reading of 73mm at this range.

It looked like the other T34 platoon was spread out at different points but out of LOS so I should be able to engage the T34s on the hill and then go after the others. The firing starts:



Surprise!!! My veteran crew starts to bail out after a partial penetration. However, what is far worse is that there is a T34 on the reverse slope with a point blank shot. This is not good by any stretch of the imagination…and inevitably a second Tiger is knocked out:



The plan focused on the Tiger manoeuvre has failed miserably. The biggest problem was that I had initiated an attack without knowing exactly where the second T34 platoon was, although I did know that they were in the area. This directly resulted in being surprised by a T34 at point blank range. It was also clear that the second problem was over confidence in the statistics and POS’s comment “Don't rely too much on printed statistics, I never do, just use them as a very rough guide and play by gut instinct and experience most of the time.” was clearly true. I had not expected my Tiger to bail out from a partial penetration but that is exactly what happened. Of course, that may have been a little unlucky but practical battle experience has just been shown to have a greater insight into the possible outcome than a reliance on the statistics.

Inevitably, I had a few questions that I wanted to ask. Can a single T-34/85 take on a single Tiger at distance [500-1000m]? Looking at the statistics it should have no chance... “A T-34/85 can certainly take on a Tig at 500m +, but it's got little chance of penetrating unless it gets lucky. You saw how mine at closer range only got partial penentrations, but at least partials mount up like bludgeoning a beast with a club until it falls, to rise no more..”

Tactically, I split the tigers off and put them into the rear to both scare your tanks, dislodge them and kill them. It didn't work. My question is tactically should I have kept them with the STUGs or was I just unlucky this time? “In your place, after wiping out my 3 T-34s early on, I'd have kept the Tigs and Stugs together to make a concentrated attack on the defenceless Russian infantry at the flag, subjecting them to a merciless saturation of area-fire followed by a German infantry assault to finish them off. Then I'd have moved on to attack the next flag.

Splitting your Tigs off to go T-34 hunting cost you a lot of time.
Remember, my infantry at the flag are happy to sit tight and undisturbed to the end of the game, happily ticking off each turn and willing the clock to run out.”

What if I had left the tigers down there for a couple of turns whilst I tried to establish where your other T-34/85s in the valley were? What would you have tried [if anything]?
“Nothing. I had 3 T-34's down there so it was 3 against 3 at very close range, very even. I was looking for a fight for the fun of it and waiting for your Tigs to appear.”

If I had left the tigers with the STUG how would you have tried to get the tigers? “I wouldn't have bothered trying, the odds would have been too stacked against me, 6 v 3”

I've noticed that on occasion my orders seem to get lost i.e. the unit ignores them - is that part of the game? “It's normal. The units artificial intelligence sometimes over rules us, especially if its infantry, they're very jumpy.”

[McIvan]

Great stuff, enjoyed the read.

You need infantry leading for the tanks to spot the way, as you learned. There is no substitute for knowing where the enemy is.

A T34/85 can take down a Tiger, especially if it has tungsten ammo, and an 85mm shell is quite a large shell and dangerous even on a partial penetration.

I know Spike likes his tank-heavy force ratios, but in a cover heavy map it can be beaten by a more balanced combined arms force. I would usually take a full infantry battalion as Germans.

Also you have to try and get to the flags first in my opinion. I know some disagree, but in my experience the situations where it is not worthwhile to grab the flags are few and far between.