More questions about Danube front

[vionville]

Well, my opponnent managed to show more tricks.

1. He blew a bridge that connects two marsh hexes. How did he manage to do that? He had an engineer unit belongs to air mobile brigade, that he flew around to do those dirty works. But shouldn't all engineers blow bridge only on deployed mod?

2. An artillery unit of a czech division, that safely sit in opposite side of danube, suddenly become disrupted. It is in deployed mod. He may have SF unit around, or may not. How did my unit become disrupted?

3. A division headquaters becomes disrupted and seems to take casualty. It agains sit safely in rear area. Again, he may have SF unit around, or not.

4. This is about artillery mine. Until now I fire them with missile unit. My question is, could I fire it with an artillery unit that without WMD ability?

Environment: Night turn. On map strike by air or artillery unit forbidden (The optional rule is not checked).

[James Ward]

He may have also put his engineers On Foot to blow the bridge.

HQ's can be sighted behind the line by Electronic warfare, I've lost many that way without even knowing it. Artllery units can be revealed as ? units when they fire.

You can fire mines ith most artillery units. Use the Alternate fire mode.

[Mr Grumpy]

vionville,
It is fine to ask general questions about what is or is not possible in a MC game but make sure you understand the game system completely before asking questions that hint that you suspect your opponent of unfair behaviour (that is how it reads to me), if you have issues with an opponent and feel you have strong evidence of unfair play or tricks, then approach Dog Soldier or myself off forum and we will investigate the matter.

Remember that your opponent may have a much more complete knowledge of the game engine mechanics and may able to use that knowledge to achieve things that might seem impossible to you.

[Elxaime]

Here are the tricks:

1. Electronic warfare will reveal an enemy HQ behind the lines from time to time. If you have air recon available, recon that hex - many times the HQ won't be alone but will be in the hex with some other units, and some of them may even be in travel mode. Any of your artillery units in range and/or capable air units can hit those units with full force. Remember, unless you air recon the EW spotted hex, while you can still hit it you will be firing blind at lesser strength. EW + air recon revealing who is there is the key

The best ways to reduce your losses:

- try not to have other of your units end the turn in the same hex as one of your HQ units, since every HQ potentially could be revealed through EW. If you get hit, the HQ gets hit but the others aren't there to also suffer

- try to have your HQ end the turn deployed and/or in non-clear terran - if revealed by EW they won't get hammered as badly...this is especially important with the high level army group HQ which can be a pain to lose

- you can also put lots of AAA around your HQ...this will hinder enemy air recon of the hex and make it less likely your HQ will be revealed.

2. On bridge blowing, some of the NATO engineers are able to deploy in marsh hexes, I think these are the truck borne ones - any NATO unit can go on foot also, and sometimes this can help to get an engineer into a hex they might not otherwise occupy. The NATO West German helo borne engineers are a different story altogether and they are worth their weight in gold...they can land anywhere to blow bridges, lay mines, etc.

3. On rear area artillery getting hammered, if the counter-battery option is enabled then every time one of your artillery units fires there is a chance it gives away its position. Like EW, you can then air recon the hex to reveal the arty unit (and any other enemy units in the hex) and hammer the revealed ones at full strength. If you don't reveal with air recon, you can still hit them but you fire blind.

NATO usually spends a lot of energy hitting Warsaw Pact artillery if they can, since Pact guns are the real killers. If you whittle them away from turn to turn, it can make a long term difference.

4. Artillery units can fire mines.

Hope this helps.

[vionville]

I never suspect my opponent cheating or anything. Because I am inexperienced to MC so I want to ask question before advance. Actually I could view the replay, and then maybe I could draw a conclusion myself. But for such a scenario as BoTB it is very long. Now my computer has some mysterious problems and it likes to freeze after a while. I tried twice but never managed to view the action before the restart becomes necessary. Of course I could ask him, but it gives me an unrealistic feeling that WP should ask NATO about their tactic. So I ask here to see if answers are avaiable, before I ask him. But you see, he answers anyway... :-)

I do try to read manual before ask anything but manual sometimes not all clear about everything.

[Volcano Man]

If your opponent is honorable, then maybe it is better to ask him how he is doing all of these things -- he *should* tell you how its done. Well, at least if I am playing someone and I do something they did not know was possible then I explain how it was done. It is a good way to learn (by talking to your opponent). :)

[timshin42]

VM, that has also been my experience, and I have usually played against players far more game savvy than I am. They have been most generous in sharing their expertise!

[Elxaime]

I am happy to answer any questions about game mechanics, to the extent I understand them myself. I especially welcome helping opponents who may not be fully English proficient, since it is easy to miss a nuance in the rules.

It is no fun for either side if misunderstandings about how the game works deprive a player of options on their strategies or tactics. For example, I would hate to think I held a major river line only to discover that it was because an inexperienced opponent didn't understand how you lay a one-hex long pontoon bridge.

The only way the wargaming community grows is if we talk to each other about these things.

Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[P.Ako]

BTW, is it possible to modify the maximum amount of artillery mines that a side can have?

[von Schwarze]

It is possible to modify, quite simply, select MCEdit, Scenario, Header dialog and then adjust the number in the box at the bottom in Artillery Mine Limits.

Dave