[Charles22]

RERomine:

(P1) Aircraft not expected with 20 visibility. how do you deduce that? Sure, there's less space to shoot them down, but I don't get it. I see your game guide quote, but I still wouldn't take chances. Good to know though, maybe half to a good AA defense, the rest to maybe add to attacks (of course 'unlikely' may mean 49%). I was trying to clarify that I think HT's are technically AFV's anyway, but I don't really think of them as such. They are armored, and they can fight, just not very much is all (at least early GE ones) and their being open-topped very often, makes them definitely not precisely on the level I usually think on an AFV as, but still.

(P2)Woah, so the 'unlikely' came to pass afterall. You got set up.

(P3)Yes, I realize you do, but that was part of my point, that most air attacks aren't worried about unloaded infantry and unless it is level bombers, is unlikely to cause enough damage to make it worth the strike at them if it does. If they have no AP rounds left though, that's a pretty good place to go. I can see too, with FB's that the thing is to shoot them down so they don't pester you as much, even with no AP rounds left, but naturally that is best achieved if you can figure out where they will go. I haven't studied the AP-less FB, as the combat way of doing it is to know how many flights the AI has, and be aware of their loads, and keep track of how many times they have dropped what. Not having access to their roster, I don't think one can tell whether the next attack is the same FB or not, further complicating things. Perhaps if there is only one or two of them this is quite easy?

(P last) No I have scouts. I said they're "combatively" useless, not that they're useless totally. With Gerry anyway, I carry a scout section and an AC section. Scouts become more interesting if they carry some form of satchel charge, as indeed some of the USSR and Finn ones do; later for Germany I guess. Besides, now that you know more clearly my secondary reason for having something in core, they could fit into the category of being there to soak up just time in the core promotions for a later blossoming in hard times. With such a large map, that's not very wise though because their main purpose is to recon. I frequently lose one or two of them, and unlike some of my infantry that I might be a little protective about, since they have currently little to no weaponry, therefore my main purpose with units neglected for the time being (exp gained by combat through the core) without useful weaponry, is to use them more boldly in doing their job, which I if I have any sense, will be for them to fire little or none at all but just very forward. IOW, if a unit has a front line duty of sorts, and has no real combat value, then they're more expendable. But it's hard to really expend them, even if you want to, when you're trying not to fight with them.

As for pnzrfsts being useless for them, I was referring that only to what I would think is their secondary role, attacking rearward guns. We only got on the subject because I entertained your idea of dropping airborne scouts in the rear, otherwise my scouts would probably never be sniffing around back there. BTW, I know you can't cover everywhere with everything, and we usually think of the flanks as not being overrun, so pnzrfst scouts in the role you described could be fine, but I think you would agree that, if you could, you're much better off stopping AFV's in that situation with full squad pnzrfst capable units, not scouts.

No, don't even go the unarmed unit track with me, as obviously they have weapons (they just die far too easily once they're spotted). I'm not too aware of their stealth getting to the rear, and I would question why they would want to get as close as 2 hexes from enemy infantry and then peel back. Can't they see the infantry before then? I would think that moving to that second hex away, and then peeling back, if on the same turn, would have them spotted for all that close movement, LOS still being the same. I seem to have mine spotted far too easily against allegedly somewhat inferior infantry, but they're still not useless in my book nonetheless.