|
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Yes German Long Campaign but start date was set for Italy as I normally do Eastern Front in this time period so not tried it.
All maps as created by map generator so far, first few in my view good representation of none mountain parts of Italy. Only adjustments' added a few Fords to a previous map to help the AI path find. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 15
Well the Yanks have been busy fierce fighting has broken out in the North a further 14US & 8 German units have perished and several squads have been badly mauled. Tempted fate saying I thought the AI was struggling with the map. SOUTH FIRST https://i.imgur.com/iPMlRcg.jpg Detected more infantry but now think we have them running, only Baz team is not routed. Had to stay of the hilltop 105 Bat & 60mm Mortar are pinning everyone. Most now have the dangerous job of heading SE into the rear for the distant VHex & to find that 60Mtr while the rest grab the VHexes here & try to get LOS on the Northern Cliff face. NORTH https://i.imgur.com/4k9aX2w.jpg Thought we had just about won the push West but the AI regrouped & counter attacked. Merry little dance with both sides trying to flank with fairly punishing results. https://i.imgur.com/DcddqbX.jpg We had just about taken the buildings when the US decided to reinforce them, all tanks on both sides missed & casualties here were light. At the same time they came over the cliff, far more than I knew were there. Several vanished again as repulsed, got the M4 but heavy fighting much of it close quarters & on rough was costly for both sides. Single plane flew over again but could not find a target. Give the AI some credit I am certain the forces on the cliff were massing for a few turns, the M4 was parked for a while along with a couple of squads I knew about. Kicking everything off at once was a good effort it hurt. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 16 start
https://i.imgur.com/GZ8VlJa.jpg We got a handle on the situation this turn 14 kills no losses, its been a tough battle over this bit of real estate we gained another 100m & might actually break out of here soon. It has been slow going though we have advanced less than 1000m (20hexs) since leaving the tree line on turn 3 or 4, good fun. https://i.imgur.com/PPXllvI.jpg AT Team failed here that tank smoked then moved in to our sights during its turn. Got the others & a foot hold in the buildings but need to withdraw in case arty drifts, 17cm on full-bore (0.0) Several others plotted as expecting more units the ones we saw approaching the Fords should turn up this go. As we lost transport & resupply for arty most are going to empty the bins in these locations as soon we will be beyond their reach. Only 17cm & SPMortars will be able to support us by moving up. They are still trying to come over the clifftop including near the buildings as well now. We had a quick peak which revealed a fair bit before needing to smoke, Sturmpanzer had LOS to the discovered units & surprised me by scoring 2 solid hits at 1000m causing disarray & destruction. Got to love this thing when it hits a packed group, the attack was light because of it more running than attacking. Air is probably coming back which could cause problems if it attacks near the buildings where I think ground forces will appear. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 18
Glad we traded in the Pz Grenadiers 251/9 halftracks for AAA as expect more of this, planes in numbers are a menace. Despite most exiting straight over 2 of my AA units we only hit 1. 2 went for arty crews have left their guns. Rest hit the North resulting in a Halftrack & MKIII immobilised & without any weapons - StuG no weapons - MkIV damaged but operational. Due to the planes we only managed to get 1 of the tanks that turned up & more infantry arrived than expected mainly appearing North of the buildings. We have since managed to eliminate the infantry & all but one tank but lost men in the process, units damaged by the planes left holes so we could not counterattack at all against the incursion North of the buildings. More worried about protecting the damaged units & driving the ones that could to safety. I would think this is the last hurrah anything else that turns up will get hit by artillery & they will soon be encircled. We should take the buildings & Vhex there in a few turns, paid a higher price for it than I would have liked though. Elsewhere things are better South force is heading for the only other VHex we do not control. Little hiccup when 2 Baz teams appeared 100m from my FOO he is okay. Broken out to the West busy killing artillery 3 so far, now swinging round to approach the houses from the West. Mainly I think due to the Sturmpanzers actions units on the cliff crumbled we are in hot pursuit & will arrive South of the Houses in a couple of turns. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 22
Just mopping up last couple of turns, no drama pinned or routed only a few offered minimal resistance. They were surrounded so picked off quickly. The AI got in one more airstrike however it was ineffective, lifted the artillery to close with enemy so placed a ring of smoke & fired all dischargers to rear. All the planes failed to get target lock & just attacked the hex rather than the unit in it causing zero damage. Only US units left were 2 mortars, HQ & FOO, we were 3 hex's away from HQ 5 from the FOO when it ended. Marginal Victory pleased with that result the South was pretty boring but the North battle was great fun, the AI played well here. Combined Arms all the way rather than unsupported tank charges. The airstrikes caused major problems particularly the one that happened while ground combat was ongoing. Air also hobbled my artillery, luckily there was a lack of ATGs in the rear area. We are now approaching an average experience of 80 with close to half the force veterans, a fair amount are still mid 60's Went with downgrading 4 StuG's to MkIV's but upgraded the other 2 to Panthers because I can & I love them, allied air probably does to So armour now consists of 14 MkIV -2 Panthers - 2 Sturmpanzers - 2 250/11 gun halftracks Date is now 10/43 next Battle is in Termoli against the Polish equipped with British equipment I assume, we will find out shortly. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
https://i.imgur.com/J8Gj2Xy.jpg
Sorry forgot |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Meeting engagement standard 70x90 map visibility 2000m (40 hexes) against the Poles.
Turn 2 No one has fired or been detected yet. https://i.imgur.com/xkyEIvq.jpg Hilly map with a small settlement along the road, plenty of rough for the artillery park though most is not safe from view till sure the area is clear. AUX Not used planes yet so a spotter & 2 Me410A-1, surprisingly cheap at only 60 points, will try not to get them shot down PLAN Top force will meet any end run by the Polish then swing round to put MG fire into the enemy rear & or search for artillery. The rest depends on what the Polish do but aim to take central VHex group while just holding ground in the South. With luck the whole force will pivot round the Southern units. We want the top force to get ahead for the first few turns so will try setting up some kill zones with fires from different angles to get flank hits. If the Poles make a major push in the South happy to fall back & contain them till we are ready. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Nothings happened I have used my Gold Spot near the map centre to send the spotter plane in twice.
Result spotted 2 Dingos, 2 Rolls RoyceAC & a squad, where are the other fast moving vehicles?? There is not a lot of cover expected to see more, loaded encyclopaedia at this point to see what they have. Either the Poles are kicking off really late or this is going to be a slugfest as I have hordes of infantry heading my way, possibly with some slow tanks like Valentines. Either way they are coming slow or late risking riders & full speed advance till the spotter finds something. We can run the 250/11 around the top 5 Vhexes in the centre with low risk then scarper & see what artillery comes in. Hope our CB fire is better than last time we might need it, only did once last battle but has 79 experience now as set it to killing stuff last few turns, 7 kills under its belt. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 5
What a nightmare the area North of the road is pretty self contained so we threw caution to the wind & put the pedal to the metal. At hex row 55 already here, fair way back elsewhere but with visibility 40 we can see every hilltop. No other vehicles in sight not a one, what we can see is odd splattering's of infantry that have reached row 60 across most of the map. Screen shows LOS to lone infantry in the far North & a couple of the vehicles which probably collected the VHexes. https://i.imgur.com/7yUSOCZ.jpg Did not expect to be here yet the idea was to ambush armour letting the infantry clear the buildings. Engage them grab the Vhexes & using the woods as cover from ATGs put MG fire on the back of the hill, doing a reverse slope defence on the other side. Against a lot of infantry this is not the ideal spot to attack we would have been better coming from the South as its open. Let vehicles & MGs poor fire in relative safety with infantry finding targets. So options not driving all the way round Probably take out the group North of the buildings. Let the group advance along the road if they want to & deal with them next. Bound to be more in the far North they can waste time heading through the woods if they desire, nice open area after let them get on the fields before taking out. Trying to take on everyone at once is probably not wise. Normally in meetings I like to push forward but verses massed infantry need to use mobility to try & pick sensible fights. Already gained stacks of ground I will fall back if we have to. My MG are twiddling there thumbs at the moment need places I can use them, not here way to close. Wish I had paid attention to see if they got an arty overload penalty otherwise I am facing a lot of infantry. We need a plan & a turn to get in position before it kicks off. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 8 start
Delay is due to pushing in that area being a no go, we would clash head on with over 2 companies of infantry. https://i.imgur.com/9Ys9Vbr.jpg Screenshot is from end of turn 6 some are still visible, pulling out to try a breakthrough to the SE. Note spotter plane plot if it goes from the gold spot it takes fire but okay 2 hexes back. Its currently plotted to do a run in the South as we have eyes here now. This screen is start of turn 8 smoke has fallen & we have put some shots into them. https://i.imgur.com/a6YpXAp.jpg Up till now all casualties have been Polish - Patrol - Piat Team - Sniper - 2 Rolls Royce A/C & around 20 men. Then the arty came in around 7 batteries did not count, 2 are those $#@% 5in man they hurt. It killed 7 men a halftrack & immobilised a MkIV in a problematic place . Anyway smoke came in OK tanks can fill in South edge, as it looks like there is no armour support we are going to risk a rush. Bound to be a few unspotted Piat teams in there but halftracks are loaded Mech Assault has a green light if we can put some suppression in. A good portion of my force has moved here we aim to come down the map behind them killing as fast as possible to try & avoid that artillery. Centre has been largely cleared if possible we will close the pincer from the South once the spotter plane gives some info. Then its hit artillery & back to deal with that infantry in the North. We may be able to thin them if they head SW near the road which is likely, some will probably hang around the VHexes. All tanks set to range 8 so only engage locals & have dischargers on just in case a Piat sneaks up. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 9 Start
Smoke off as between us & routing Poles fair amount placed https://i.imgur.com/AZOTNVF.jpg After softening up the Mech Assault went as well as can be expected, we lost 2 men to a squad in the woods as one unit unloaded so placed smoke. No PIAT teams but detected a couple of patrols on the way in. 3 Damaged squads & partial patrol are all that escaped & tanks killed another one in this area. Down South we killed a marksman for 9 kills in total - 7 by assault. Down South we lost a further 2 men 1 to a sniper & 1 in an exchange of fire between squads. Unfortunately those 5in took out a Halftrack & its HMG passenger. Giving up on CB fire its not happening plotting on the group in the South, there are around 15 batteries getting one wont make much difference. We should probably get off the hill the Sturmpanzers are on I expect it to get hit hard. The squad protecting the immobile MkIV fended off 2 adjacent attacks. We can defend from a front push he is the weak link, considered supporting by moving couple of squads & a tank. Just changed my mind have a halftrack on hand to pull him out if arty hits we could lose both of them. Pulled out AT Teams to act as spotters as no armour however funny situation arose ended up going head to head with a Piat team & killing a man. Piat & SMG are both range 2 my weapons are range 4 & 3 yippee. That poor Dingo keeps trying to approach but keeps taking fire & running its nearly at the map edge now. Probably need to kill it & see if we can send a few squads through the smoke to the back area. Risk sending the spotter a bit deeper then to try & locate the AA so I can send the planes in. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 12 start
We have relocated including our artillery, still a bit to do its quite now but expect incoming in areas A-D in that order. Its more like 10 batteries & 6 on map I think, we lost contact with 17cm so it CB fired! https://i.imgur.com/kArt6vK.jpg Relocating caused problems we lost control of the North group who gained ground & took some casualties. Two of our Squads caused problems deciding to go heroic instead of retreating as I wanted them to. We can finally pull the top squad out this go instead of committing units to save him. The bottom one was the only unit on the hill & decided to rally twice & take everyone on by himself, eventually giving up when down to 3 men. I made a silly move killing an AT team in the process. We did bail out the tank crew, not done that in ages. We have some decent fields of fire for the MGs now. We have lost 4 units around 55 men including damage, a few squads would do well to head for our rear. Killed 44 Poles got one Dingo the other vanished & killed our first AA unit. NORTH Fall back slightly in case of arty & head back on the hill if its safe. Under cover of woods & smoke gone searching for AA & with some luck the HQ. Also to cover road if they route here & tell tale smoke puffs say arty lies this way, halftracks heading back before they run into AA. SOUTH Minor risk 2 tanks went looking for AA think its in an area we cannot see. Tank is exposed 11 hex blind spot but still in kill zone for an ATG so dischargers are on. There were a lot of Piat teams on the flank spotter plane missed most of them. Not great position here due to expected arty more have moved East than I would have liked. A few moved West but till we know the situation hiding or selective shots - there are 3 snipers somewhere in there. Letting them exit the depression MG has LOS & we have brought up the SPMortars using in direct fire mode. Be nice if we can move into the tree line behind the depression. Planes are plotted to come in here tank is going to risk a look it is vulnerable at short range to AA fire. If finds nothing cancelling & sending in to the North as we should have cleared AA there in a few turns. Hope those 5in miss all transports are empty. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Off topic but who needs war to thin the masses what is the US playing at with COVID 19 I thought they had the CDC. Only a handful of countries have an upward trend in cases but the US curve is truly frightening. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Quote:
Let's put this into perspective and look at the really big picture https://www.worldometers.info/ These numbers change upwards constantly and the stats all come from UN or similar sources The number of deaths worldwide from the Hunan virus as I type this is 605,587 ( call it Covid if you like , I will use the same naming convention they used for Ebola ) Certainly that is a high number but the number of deaths worldwide from all Communicable disease this year is 7,121,141 of which Hunan accounts for 8.5% Road traffic accident fatalities this year to date is 740,494 Deaths caused by malaria this year to date is 538,070 Deaths caused by HIV/AIDS this year to date is 922,161 The number of Abortions this year to date is 23,332,916 And the "Big "C" --Deaths caused by cancer this year = 4,508,393 and with all that the Net population growth this year to date is 44,589,299 ( and that growth HAS slowed considerably since 1963 but it still is growth worldwide ) WW1 and the Spanish flu combined didn't slow that trend.( 20 million for the war + 50 million for the flu ) In 1900 the world population was 1.6 Billion and by 1927 it had grown to 2 Billion and it's getting near to 8 Billion now ( 7,799,091,129 and climbing) That is little comfort to those who are most susceptible to this latest outbreak or their families but the numbers say this current pandemic is doing nothing to "thin the masses" as you say. Cancer and HIV/AIDs has taken nearly 9x more than Hunan/Covid has so far and traffic fatalities contiunes to lead Hunan/Covid so you are more at risk driving to the store to pick up a face mask statistically. And one final number....0.1% ( one tenth of 1 % ) the number of reported confirmed Hunan/Covid infections (14,468,218 ) as a percentage of the total world population ( 7,799,109,384 right now ) and that's not deaths just confirmed infections "Don't worry....be happy" |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Just an update found the Polish HQ 3 hexes West of where I wrote the top AA on the screen.
Bad news is I had better run towards him or the woods what a view - only 1 arty fell at B |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 14 start
So we finally got a HQ that will make dealing with the remaining forces easier when morale dips. Bonus to that I pulled further back as he has had a good view for a few turns after the smoke cleared. NORTH https://i.imgur.com/fTSZPL5.jpg Did not pull West quite enough but 5in only damaged the halftrack its still operational, it missed the squads or just minor effect. We can move back onto the hill now so all is good. Rest moved SE further than I was going to, Pioneer caught it heavily routed & 2 men down. Restricted ranges on all vehicles here as fast moving & wanted to let them out off the rough hexes they may get hit by their own artillery if we let them come, letting them into the woods is not ideal though. We could have done a better job of finding the AA Panther was waiting for the squads that killed the HQ. Poles turn bottom AA truck moved to treeline & attacked the squad there killing 2 men before our HMG dispatched it. The AA Gun just off shot revealed its self by opening up on both MkIV's damaging one. They returned fire & the Panther joined in, AA truck then appeared, it missed but MkIV's turned to engage & the AA gun damaged another one with a flank shot. We caused no damage in the exchange but took 3 & 2 damage on the MKIV's Infantry will have to risk a shot at the truck to break target lock, Panther should get the gun range is 7 hexes. Planes are plotted to come in from NE on the infantry but delaying by a turn as spotter should come in next turn so can fine tune target hex. SOUTH https://i.imgur.com/xNoSdzp.jpg 3 Squads & a HMG got hit by the artillery halftrack can pull the HMG out (not shown) &the others can clear the area themselves. Have support from the North including MGs when smoke allows so aim to make some inroads here in a few turns. The 2 MkIV's will pull back enemy is getting to close, we killed one of the snipers here. Tank searching for AA only had a quick look before returning after receiving no fire. Squad can take a better look but low priority planes will not be used here. Kills now 62 for 4 losses with no supporting units against armour the poles face an uphill struggle, not seen a ATG or MG yet. Sturmpanzers will be pulling out shortly to reload. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Quick update spotter plane made its pass remember at the start I said attacking here was not viable here is why.
Artillery has bunched, my guess several hexes with 2-3 units. Have been killing them for quite a while now it was a lot more than a couple of Companies - 4-5 probably. Planes are coming in on them this go they should find a target okay :) We have started intercepting Scouts that made the run just North of the road, killed 2 so far. Also found 2 more AA units without problem this time, spotter did not take fire so clear in this area. Let them advance this turn but Poles cancelled the artillery here so not the effect I was hoping for. I was wrong 3 squads got hit by 5in last turn thought it missed, really getting a dislike for them. https://i.imgur.com/kjCFRse.jpg |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 16 end
NORTH Planes wondered what type I bought one attacked the infantry the other strafed the infantry then dropped its bombs on my MkIV 11 hexes away - its okay but not sending them again. We have closed the gap again pushing them back, had to head into woods as some Poles are in it. Killing artillery up here & moving 2 MGs round to there rear. Noticed the Poles seem pretty good at going to pinned status after retreating routing in the same turn. Seen several times this game & lost 2 men because I assumed a squad was broken. SOUTH Full on route going here see if I can wipe them out without losing anyone by using area effect weapons to keep them running. Unless its important have been switching off tank main guns to conserve HE & putting it on in my turn to make it count. We have a Mg 2xAA 2XSPMortrs & 5 or so tanks with area weapons carefully placed shots should finish this. Polish losses should be well over 100 if this turn goes as expected. Plotting all artillery on North force to finish this. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
|
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 19 start
https://i.imgur.com/1SEL6yp.jpg It will all be over soon this is all that remains & the MG should keep them running, other MG will turn up this turn it got delayed by artillery. We lost another soft halftrack to artillery so our losses are as follows. AT Team, HMG, 3 halftracks (2 of which are soft) & around 40 men over 20 damaged squads 5 have taken heavy damage. Artillery has been the problem not the Polish infantry who have killed less than 20 men, AA guns gave us a scare though nearly lost a tank to them. The Poles did not stand a chance really winding up just as tanks are running out of HE, most AA units are also out so should gain some valuable experience. AA units seem to be my units most prone to dying normally to enemy artillery & air. 62 Polish units died in the last 2 turns South force was wiped out at the cost of 2 men & the halftrack all due to arty. Star of the show has been the Sturmpanzer's (I play with Blast Circles on) a shot into the packed infantry could hit 4-6 units causing a ripple as they all move. Found out that big gun takes a long time to reload only 6-7 rounds a turn. They are not in the same league but made me think of the Jagdtiger at Bovington Tank Museum go if your in the area they have a working Tiger & fair assortment of other stuff. That Jagdtiger though man it has a presence like no other the thing is intimidating. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Got lazy last couple of turns so lost a few more men to artillery, 1 of the soft halftracks crews must have survived we lost 2.
Marginal victory in the end only remaining Poles were 2 men from a crew. 5 battles in on average we are losing 120 men a battle the enemy averaged 806 for the first 4 battles losing 3225 men. This one was costly accounting for 2/3rds of their men lost. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next battle takes place at Torrebruna & has the potential to go badly. I moved 2 Vhexes - moved the one by the North road East a few hexs & placed the top one on the top group of buildings. Defending against the British visibility is 17 hexes - screenshot extends 19 hexes past my deploy line. AUX UNITS Spotter plane meant to buy a couple other things but forgot, not deployed yet difficult map. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
https://i.imgur.com/hrnydE8.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/A6YJPoo.jpg Yellow some elevations they range from 30 - 60 Top is woods on low hills - middle the red bit has clear lines of sight - bottom is congested only decent LOS is from the ridge shown. Can see virtually nothing to the SE from Vhex area. Also only LOS down road is from trees at the end - LOS to 2 hexes from North of the road - No LOS at all from the South. Defending the woods & below the South road could be punishing, no overlapping fire & short range so can be picked off. It may make sense to defend the North from the crossroads & try retaking the Vhexes. Gut feeling we could take heavy losses in this one. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
I am beginning to worry that I use too few troops in my scenarios... what a slaughter!
|
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Defending wise, it's sometimes better to have short LOS so that your AT weapons are more guaranteed to hit. Your units have probably gotten pretty good experienced by now so they will be very accurate on short range quick draw shoot-outs.
Only thing is short LOS also means you have very little time to prepare for EN follow-on forces, especially when your ammo starts running low. Depend on how the EN runs their armour, you don't want to waste good AT sabot ammo on light armour and armoured cars, while their slower heavily armoured infantry tanks come together with the infantry. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Quote:
|
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 3
Screen shows only visible incoming as seen by the spotter plane - 2 Patrols a Squad an Armoured Car plus transport. The Bombardment is heaviest here & main push probably will come here as most VHexes are located in the North. No need to worry about the map being a bit tricky its not quite as bad in the South as I thought this is another artillery onslaught. Don't think you can do anything once AI% is set I think that's it for the duration of the campaign. My force is now worth 5,400 points due to rise in cost from experience. Don't know exact calculation but while 25% advantage is okay for meetings or us attacking delaying I guess it gets around 13,500 points. If we assume it buys 4 batteries & on map stuff Under Command & the rest as General Support that's 4,000 points. That still leaves 9,000 plus for ground forces, now I have looked at it are some scary figures. Counted 32 batteries (8 are 5in) On map about another 10 units (4 are 5in) & 4 Hurricanes. Losses so far -Infantry 14 men, most are pinned or worse in the North - AA 3 destroyed 1 damaged - Halftracks 50% destroyed or damaged - Artillery 2 damaged - 1 Tank immobilised. There goes the plan the tanks here were going to engage then fall back as expected some artillery. Planes got a halftrack but also flew directly over arty park & my HQ who is pinned. Its going to be a rough ride chances of avoiding that amount of arty are slim, the good news is with so many targets we have CB fired twice. https://i.imgur.com/8B0NMWI.jpg |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
AI Advantage is a game global variable - it will be used at the point troops are bought at whatever you have it currently set to. It is not "locked" to your campaign. (Campaign difficulty level is locked to your LC, but that reltatesz to how many buy points you get awarded for your victory level after a game ends).
So feel free to change it if needed, provided you do so before any AI troop buy, the new value will stick. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Thank you learn something new all the time in this game, unfortunately you cannot adjust it to match the mission type.
The first opportunity you get to save after knowing the mission type is on the deployment screen & I assume the AI has already made its purchase by then. Did some testing using 5,500 points (no AI bonus as battle) player 1 delay letting AI purchase but me deploy player 2. 4 battles per nation looking at artillery purchases. Germans - Buy the least - most likely to buy rocket artillery USA - Average - Off map mainly 105s but some heavies in there up to 8in. Russian - Above Average - Off Map mainly a mix of light & medium plus the most onboard units, consistently the most plots of the 3. Levels look right to me I would expect Germany to have the least & Russia the most. US is actually a good mix of suppression & hard hitters those 8in have to hurt - bought 3 out of 4 times. UK - Nearly as many plots as the Russians but majority are off map, consistently buys 40+ off map units, so guessing I miscounted or some are still to fire. Looking at the purchases it consistently buys the regiments. Modifying British OOB Regiments units 53, 54, 55 so they have 2 troops instead of 6 or 8 brings artillery purchase more in line with the US with around 20 off map units. It bought 19 to 26 still with a decent percentage as 5.5in - 4 to 8. In view of this I have a hard save from the end of the last battle so going to reload using AI at 20% & modified OOB. Its supposed to be fun & we will still be facing a lot of artillery. Current levels most of my infantry in the top half of the map are pinned or worse & the majority deployed on rough hexes. Only other option is a bigger map so arty is spread thinner but that means its ground forces are to. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
First off I would like to say updates will not be so frequent for the next 6-7 weeks.
Its winter here so I work 50-60 hours a week as that lets me cruise the rest of the year & enjoy the summer sun. Gave up trying to get a delay vs the Brits after over a dozen reloads so went with anything but a meeting. The bonus to keep loading is I can say batloc 215 produces good maps. Advance Vs British visibility is 17 no AUX units. Was stuck on trying to recreate previous battle so changed visibility to what that was & went to buy a spotter but had no air so hit go. I did re spin the Vhexes they were to far forward initially. Turn 3 start Screens are an overview & a close up so you can see what most of the terrain is like. Figuring out LOS will be a problem a lot of those hills have high grass, orchards etc. Managing to get several units targeting the same hex could be a problem, we are bound to find some units do not have the LOS I was expecting. This is not tank or halftrack country I need to look after my AT teams there are very few areas you can see any distance at all, higher visibility would not change that. I have marked the areas in yellow where MGs or ATG's can operate otherwise its mainly short range. Mud is also a problem the high ground is directly behind the main splodge. As LOS is congested we made made use of the roads to reach hex row 43 (2 rows from British deployment area) without incident now the fun begins. A few units were hit by a turn 0 bombardment but it caused no damage. Hopefully the British do not have air either it would have been very useful on this map. https://i.imgur.com/0UQQBdf.jpg https://i.imgur.com/maQFqcO.jpg |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Did I say there is also a lot of rough, some is brown so not so obvious
|
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
38 turns for Advance?
You'll definitely need to move along the roads so that you can reach the objectives in good time. Once the roads are clear, it's going to be an infantry slog to clear through the mud and rough terrain. Your AFVs are probably going to have to stay on the road or risk getting bogged down in the terrain. Are you playing with timed objectives? If you have 5,400pts, I assume UK is delaying with around 2,700pts. What arty have you spotted so far? |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Quote:
38 turns was what the game gave me & yes timed objectives set to 6 so from turn 10 on the British will get 126 points a turn. As you say I need to take some risks advancing by turn 18 they will have a 1,000 points if still own all the Vhexes. Artillery so far was just 2 6 pounder batteries on first couple of turns. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 5
Contact & it could have gone better. NORTH No contact & spread out, terrain here is more open trying to check both sides of the road for surprises. 2 Squads will proceed up the road at 3 hexes a turn. SOUTH https://i.imgur.com/gEvLhH8.jpg The first squad to make contact moved 1 hex into an orchard & still lost 2 men to fire from 150m, suppressed could not see firer so another squad looked & lost a man. First blood to the Brits but at least we can see them now, he is resilient bringing up other units to engage 4 other squads suddenly open up & we are down another man. (the squad above the smoke is double stacked 2 squads there) Then it gets worse I bring up a MkIV & discover that turret is vulnerable to rifle grenades. So used to anything but lights being safe from the front. 4 men & MkIV's main armament gone & we have not killed anyone yet so not a great opening. Tank fires smoke & we rout & pursue the first squad killing it & discover the 2 squads further North. As the ATG has a good field of fire show the tanks above the orange line & we can engage the top squads from here. We can see along the E>W road seems safe. At the bottom things went better scout & sniper discovered 3 squads without taking fire, scout pulled back. Waiting to see if we can get behind them using the road before we engage so we do not end up chasing them. In this terrain we will have to find them again. The squad we killed was the only damage caused of the 10 squads found 1 is in a field, 1 is on rough & the rest are in Rough + Orchard or Wood. They are not making life easy. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
I find the long-barreled Mk4's glass jaw to be one of the real annoyances of playing as German - and if it is hull down or dug in then the effect is worse since hits will be more likely on the weak 5cm turret face!
They could not increase the 5cm turret front armour with the long gun on it - the turret was at max capacity. There is a P4 with decent frrontal turret armour, but a short 75 which can deal with shermans and T34s with HEAT ammo, however its a bit "iffy" relying on WW2 tech HEAT. So I tend to prefer the long-75 stugs, but those get annoying when immobilised pointing in an inconvenient direction. The stug with short 75 is OK-ish in North Africa if it has a decent supply of HEAT - useful until the early MK4 specials show up as a unit that can support the P3s charge to APCR range with longer ranged shots. But in a German LC, I often have absolutely no P4 or P2 in the core till the P4 'specials' show. Its all stugs and P3s for me, may have some P2 that came as part of a company buy in Poland, upgraded to a real tank for France onwards. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
I agree only dabbled with 4's previously I normally go the 3's plus a few StuG's route myself.
So first time using 4s to any extent & in my wisdom changed my StuG's to 4's as everyone can engage at medium to long range. Thinking was till the Allies get APCR the StuG has a clear advantage at range being virtually impervious to frontal fire. Turns out not only are 4s vulnerable to most tanks at any sensible engagement range they need to give infantry a wide berth to. That makes them not much better than Marder's especially on hilltops in a battle I would take a few Marders over the 4s as they are less than half the cost, you know to be careful with them |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
I'm not sure. Just personal anecdotal experience. But Pz4s seem to be better at reaction fire than StuGs. Does the game compute this? I had in a number of occasions, gotten the drop on the flank of a StuG and not received reaction fire, while Pz4s seem to react. The StuG was stationary and ready.
|
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
I seen to remember seeing something somewhere saying there is a minor difference.
From my experience I think they are slightly worse than tanks if it is not in their covered arc. Did manage once to walk a couple of hexes up a road facing directly behind one undetected & hit it with a flamethrower, mild or no suppression. Not managed it since though. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Stug-type vehicles are less likely to turn to face (and possibly fire in reaction fire) than tuirreted types. Turreted vehicles can turn just the turret, if not the hull - stugs do not do turret-only turns to face firer, only the rarer "whole-body" turns to face.
|
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Seems like I can follow this battle better. The earlier ones were too confusing.
Absolutely agree with sticking to movement along roads where possible. Just purely moving through the terrain is going to take up all your turns, not mentioning fighting through the terrain. With 2,700 points, I'm estimating at least 6 infantry companies. Guess you found the 1st one in the South. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Quote:
The first screenshot in the battle is normally an overview showing the whole area of the map that the action will take place on & Vhexes. You could bookmark that or save the screen shot to refer back to the big picture if needed. Normally take a few turns in rather than at deployment as I might be able to zoom in more. Also rarely bother with more than a basic plan nowadays as they normally go out the window within a few turns of contact. Done a big screenshot (4 screens joined) for the next turn showing general situation & likely moves. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 7
No finesse here accepting a few losses because we have a timetable, we could just go straight for Vhexes & let them come to us & I am sure that will happen but I like to clear on the way. Stuck between a rock & a hard place a lot of the action is going to happen at 150m or less. Only 4 vehicles the Panthers & Sturmpanzers are safe from attack at this range so the infantry will have to take the load. Losses are inevitable at this range even if they are slow moving. Much of the terrain offers good cover hit chance seems about half what it would be in clear terrain. This means we can suppress them but actually killing men is not frequent. To speed things up we are therefore suppressing & moving adjacent using halftracks if necessary. Smoke if practical but risking hidden AT units is worth it at the moment. Trying to get some spacing now to give the artillery several targets but due to our current speed of advance it is falling behind us. https://i.imgur.com/1wkIVJ2.jpg Screen shot shows Likely paths & the high ground on this map. A + B are giving the flanks a rough lookover & will probably leave a unit to check for any movement later. C has found & routed one squad they have a couple of MGs that will take up position to cover the front of the hill. Squads will then load up & head for it. NORTH ROAD group are yet to make contact however VHexes are not that far off & there are gaps in the trees lining the road so contact is imminent. SOUTH ROAD group 3 things happening trying to get some space. 1 Pathfinding along road to objectives 2 Started attack against far South group artillery is incoming. The units moving to cut off the retreat lost 2 men killing a squad, 150m hurts no longer shots available. 3 The battle in the fields has been hard been a bit reckless for speed & could have done better. Forced 3 squads off rough hexes straight onto another rough hex bad planning cost me a couple of men, several field hexes have rough under them. Found another couple of squads & a sniper here, lost the 250/11 taking him out as he was causing problems. We have lost 18 men got caught out one squad routed in view of the enemy & lost 7 men. British fire has been pretty accurate to date. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Can you also show your targets for bombardments? That'll be a nice Ops plan then.
|
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 9 end
Things are going better now we have managed to start engagements at range, wont last North Force is approaching the orchard, Squads only lost one additional man. Losses to date 19 men, Halftrack (to ATG) + 1 immobile - 250/11gunHT the other is damaged no gun & MKIV no gun. All vehicles are in South force which is now short on transport. The British have lost 19 units including a Sherman. Getting LOS on it was extremely difficult but managed to get 3 on 1 in the end. https://i.imgur.com/YXt6HX0.jpg NORTH FORCE Still quite here only contact so far is the routed PIAT team, smoke puffs tell us Sextons are about 10 hexes away from the lead squad. These can be a problem they normally carry AP ammo. GROUP C Discovered a platoon of Brits, leaving MGs to deal with them when force route, Arty & assisting forces should get them moving. Squads are moving out now as North Force desperately needs more. SOUTH FORCE Both battles are nearly over here the 3 units on the hill slowed progress considerably in the field, trying to figure out where they could see was a major headache, a MG has finally taken up position on the ATG Progress is to slow here & now we have a transport issue. Artillery is probably inbound on C or the field & Brits get VHex points next turn. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 14 Start
https://i.imgur.com/NqDEint.jpg NORTH We encountered several PIAT teams on the SW edge of the orchards along with a couple of Squads but have now started taking VHexes. Along the N>S road we had surprising difficulty dislodging the squad there, 4 units for 2 turns & it was only when the sniper joined in that it became pinned. Moving down the road the Sturmpanzer received fire from an ATG & smoked. We still cannot find it so artillery is falling here. That & discovering the Honeys has slowed progress, ATGs are about to move into position. LOS is open here fairly sure no infantry present nearby unless armed with short range weaponry. 3 of the 4 Sextons are dead. CENTRE Just finished an encounter with several squads & MGs upon passing through the treeline. This went well as MG were to close & far easier to takeout. Got caught by 3in Mtr losing a soft halftrack & most of its MG passenger. As suspected upon cresting the rise there are more Shermans there, the Panther should be okay against them so long as we do not let accuracy climb & an overpenetration shot happen. SOUTH Was going well despite moving quickly due to time then a Squad entered the road he the Panther is in now receiving fire from all directions. Trying to attack from the South we lost 2 men to the PIAT team, smoked to let the 250/11 move up & route 2 squads from its location. Tanks had already laid fire on them. We will head for the VHexes & deal with the remaining units here when they try to retake them. We have lost another 12 men & the soft halftrack but have killed another 17 British units. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Quote:
|
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 15 start
https://i.imgur.com/9IA0c6U.jpg We are a bit bunched up as expecting artillery where we were, think only 1 3inMtr & the 2 6Pdr batteries remain so going to CB fire. My arty plots are from previous turn, just plotting in front especially in areas where contact is expected at short range to try & get a bit of suppression. GROUP A Acting as spotters & on the hunt for British HQ. It only took 1 ATG to kill both Honeys, they will go after the next one shown. Group N can move past it without being seen as road is depressed. GROUP N They have nearly cleared the Orchard out now, found 2 ATGs not 1. The units on the road killed the routers & will now spread out again, do not like being bunched like they are. GROUP C Play was stopped by a 17pdr ATG - it missed & Group S should eliminate it this turn allowing the attack on the Shermans. If the situation allows some halftracks will head here to speed the journey East. GROUP S Had a bit of a rough ride just West of the road, due to elevation changes adjacent LOS only then the squad to the NW joined in - killed 3 squads & a Mortar here. VHexes - 2 squads will check Y - X is a problem all LOS is adjacent only so Pioneers taking up position for when the South Brits move on it. We will probably need to defend both these from what ever is in the area. Big jump in kills mainly due to clearing orchard which now stand at 53 for 4 plus about 3 squads equivalent men lost. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Sorry turn 15 end arty to plot only - work interfered is my excuse
|
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 16 Update - turns out killing that 17Pdr was not a simple process.
https://i.imgur.com/jjPI1Hm.jpg The squad with selection hex round it moved into position expecting to exchange fire & let another move adjacent to the ATG (Sturmpanzers position) for the kill. That obviously went out the window when discovered a scout in the same hex as the ATG & the AA gun opened up. MkIV,s took out the Honey & tried approaching from SE - that resulted in taking fire from the East Squads & the one below the AA gun. Decided to smoke kill the scout & cause retreat status on the ATG. Sent the Panther to deal with the AAgun only to discover the Churchill - 7 damage from 2 hits its not a problem anymore. Other units here had to deal with the squad shown (near C) or take fire from multiple units. Sniper at top left got LOS on AAgun & discovered hex had no LOS to Shermans so it & a MKIV forced the AAgun to retreat. Sturmpanzer moved up discovering squad below Churchill & put a shot in it & the ATG & routing it. MkIV & squad moved up below it killing the ATG & routing the squad above. Panther took out the 2 Shermans & units there laid as much fire as possible at 2 visible units. Fired a bit of smoke up there to finish so halftrack can move out, need a look see through those trees I bet there are more Churchills. Squad going after unit in Orchard banged heads with a hidden squad there & came off worse. Will need to be 6 hexes to East of C for any chance of LOS. Managed to take 1 Vhex |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Turn 17 End The Brits started moving earlier than I anticipated.
https://i.imgur.com/LSpbxQl.jpg NORTH The Orchard is now cleared of the last squad & patrol & the Honey was destroyed, artillery did fall here as we expected. Moved as far along the road as we can without exiting the depression, AT Teams near the front as anticipate Churchills. CENTRE Has nearly joined up now & squads have loaded on transports. As we had 3 tanks lined up capable of Z fire on hidden squad (C from last turn) decided not to wait. Z fire allowed Squad to move on it with no problems & its virtually destroyed now as is the other squad that was in the Orchard. 2 British squads also tried moving to Orchards edge here but were destroyed, one appeared at point blank range. SOUTH Armour is taking on the infantry to the East, a couple more squads moved here through the trees, also had to deal with another AAgun which is destroyed. A sniper & scout will be in position to act as there eyes next turn. A couple of squads & AT Team will head North searching for Churchills, we have enough forces here so the rest will move back to defend X & take Y. 2 squads have already been driven off from Y & we have placed some fire missions to persuade them to keep running or kill the remains. If there are Churchills they are hemmed in only a area 5 wide so it will be an infantry attack at least initially. Way to risky to end in the tanks at that range & we cannot wait forces here need to move on & take the remaining Vhexes. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Chimed in to see excellent progress. Maybe in the last turn AAR we should have a quick discussion if Group Centre was required. I kind of think they lag too far behind and don't really get to contribute.
But sometimes the road axes only allow so many units to travel. Too much bunching up increases vulnerability to EN arty fire. I like your maps with the sectors of LOS. It takes alot of effort to go back to the game and draw on the maps. |
Re: German Campaign using War Cab
Its all over on turn 22
Chased & destroyed the squads East discovering but not destroying the British HQ there. There were 2 Churchills & a squad we lost a few men taking them out over 2 turns, smoked on first attempt leaving the squad vulnerable. 3 Churchills & a couple of squads attempted to retake the X Vhex which made reinforcing it difficult as they had LOS down the road. Took out 2 with tanks & the 3rd fell to the Pioneer. Marginal Victory we were to slow the Brits got 1000+ points from the timed objectives. https://i.imgur.com/eLDR7aT.jpg I have borrowed Siggeena's idea of making a GIf of the progress using War Cab Turns 3-21 https://i.imgur.com/JjuyMjP.gif |
| All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:23 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©1999 - 2025, Shrapnel Games, Inc. - All Rights Reserved.