Hi guys,
I have a few questions if someone would be so good as to help...
1: I'm having trouble with travel mode. Either when crossing rivers or approaching the front when using the mode through necessity I wind up having artillery rain down. Is it something to be exclusively used far back in the rear?
2: having read all of the strategy articles I could find, I understand the need to attack with infantry and exploit the gap with armour, however in the shorter scenarios I find that by the time I've got arty set up and in range, got inf up to attack positioned up at weaker point with armour ready to break through, its either 6/20 turns gone and I feel that iv wasted too much time, or my units are fatigued and/or depleted. I've tried rushing in with less set up time but it always feels like. I'm too weak to break the line in strength.
3: finally, I worry about the stacking of my units, but am I right in thinking that as units are attacked separately that it makes no odds?
Sorry for the vague questions I'm just struggling after mastering the interface to get into the mindset of winning and I'm desperate for pointers on this great game!
Thanks.
Nick
About travel mode, it depends whether your unit is soft or hard in travel mode. Motorized infantry is very vulnerable in travel mode, so you will never want to move them in travel mode anywhere near the front. If you know where the front line is and where the enemy is deployed, use the line of sight option to make sure your units are deployed out of sight of the enemy. If you don't know where the the enemy is deployed, use scouts to find out. Recon units move faster when deployed than regular, they travel light because it's their job to scout.
If you are playing as germans they are more often than not strapped for time. It's a race against the clock in all their offensive operations because of the way the objectives have been set. So if you are setting up your attacks for minimum casualties it will cost you time. Instead you have to rely on the superior quality of your troops to force a breakthrough. If any specific unit(s) take a more severe beating in the attacks you can put them in the rear of the formation for some rest before going into action again.
Stacking units, I think only a special rule for artillery and air strikes can affect a whole stack in one single attack. Other than that the units are always attacked one at a time, unless under assault by any number of ground units.
I'm no expert, but hope that helps you somewhat. :)
(05-13-2010, 07:51 AM)Flibby Wrote: [ -> ]Hi guys,
I have a few questions if someone would be so good as to help...
1: I'm having trouble with travel mode. Either when crossing rivers or approaching the front when using the mode through necessity I wind up having artillery rain down. Is it something to be exclusively used far back in the rear?
2: having read all of the strategy articles I could find, I understand the need to attack with infantry and exploit the gap with armour, however in the shorter scenarios I find that by the time I've got arty set up and in range, got inf up to attack positioned up at weaker point with armour ready to break through, its either 6/20 turns gone and I feel that iv wasted too much time, or my units are fatigued and/or depleted. I've tried rushing in with less set up time but it always feels like. I'm too weak to break the line in strength.
3: finally, I worry about the stacking of my units, but am I right in thinking that as units are attacked separately that it makes no odds?
Sorry for the vague questions I'm just struggling after mastering the interface to get into the mindset of winning and I'm desperate for pointers on this great game!
Thanks.
Nick
1) Yes, any time an opponent sees a unit left in LOS in T mode they will bring down every bit of fire on it because in that vulnerable state they can reduce it to a shambles quickly, in PzC T mode= death, one of the first lessons i learnt when i joined up!!
Most people use T mode in conjunction with the "save movement points" feature (button on toolbar), this ensures you always have enough MP's left to deploy a unit after it has moved.
2) Well of course setting up your arty and getting your forces into the correct positions is the right way forward, unfortunately often events didn't give commanders all the time in the world, so in short scenarios you may have to perform a hasty attack and the best way to learn that is just experience of playing the game system, try out different moves against the AI to try and get a feel for how quickly you need to move, this is one of the most difficult attacks to get just right and it is impossible to provide a "what to do when list" as it would vary from situation to situation.
3) In most titles units are attacked separately and stacking density is not a factor, but in T41, N44 anf F40 which have the Alternative Indirect Fire Resolution, Alternative Air Strike Resolution and Alternative Direct Fire Resolution optional rules as default then stacking density will greatly increase losses caused by direct fire, air strikes and arty, the more men/vehicles packed into a hex the more will be lost to enemy fire.
Many thanks for your answers, that sounds pretty straight forward and something that I will take into my next battles. take into my next battles. A couple of other things have come up however that are possibly obvious questions but I haven't been able to find the haven't been able to find the solution thus far.
1. Whilst I appreciate the notion of attacking against a small[ish] front, thus making a focal point and concentrating fully on this and concentrating fully on this point to get into the enemy's rear, should direct fire be directed against the enemy on the other points on the line, or is this just needlessly taking casualties when they could be idle? And in fitting with this very point, in a full campaign that I have going in Moscow '41 there is clearly the front nearest Moscow where the main force is located and the main effort taken forward, however there is a salient in the north that is many miles from Moscow, is there much point in directing local attacks on areas not vital to the main objective?
Recon: In order to find the enemies' line and in the absence of aerial recon, it's often the case of aerial recon, it's often the case that I find my motorcycle that I find my motorcycle battalions coming face to face with any enemy and becoming disrupted before the chance for a usual 'spotting' comes along. In this case (low visibility) is it beneficial just to move larger inf battalions forward, because their losses will not be as significan
Finally (phew) engineer battalions appear to me to have the same, and sometimes more amount of personnel as a rifle battalion, with the same combat strengths however in some of the guides I have read it's dis-couraged to use them in a combat role, why is this? That's it for the questions I promise, I'm just going to have to put some more hours in!
Whether it's worth the effort to attack in a different direction other than the main objective is entirely up to you. It can be worth it in some cases where the enemy is still unaware of your main direction of attack. Concerning Moscow '41 the main objective is quite obvious, nevertheless you might be able to make progress elsewhere and/or tie down valuable reserves. However, if your front line is weak and you expose your weakness to the enemy, you may find yourself struggling to hold the line as the enemy counterattack.
Recon is another case of your own decision making. You deploy your troops somewhere you are suspecting to find the enemy positions, but out of sight, then move methodically only between hexes that are in sight of eachother. This way you can minimize losses, as your recon troops are combat ready and moving slowly anticipating contact.
Engineers are just a precious resource that you shouldn't waste. They are useful in attacks on fortified positions, but otherwise they shouldn't take on the infantry role. There's infantry for that. Engineers are specialists, use them to build bridges, clear mines/obstacles and dig trenches (E dig trenches faster than regular inf).
Re engineers, I would suggest that the type and ratings impact how you use them. Some are bridging engineers critical to river crossings, and their loss could lose the battle for you. Also, depending on the title, the engineers are NOT always as powerful as infantry, there are many of the games where there might be 2-3 or more types, with some effective in combat - being combat engineers, usually with a high assault rating also - and others are rear area engineers with very low firepower and assault ratings. So look at the ratings, determine what you need and use them as they best fit those needs.
And regarding engeneers and digging in, I believe their sole benefit is in helping other units digging in with them in the same hex, rather than digging faster themselves. At least that is how the manual reads, not sure if there might be more to it than that.
Rick
(05-13-2010, 07:03 PM)Flibby Wrote: [ -> ]And in fitting with this very point, in a full campaign that I have going in Moscow '41 there is clearly the front nearest Moscow where the main force is located and the main effort taken forward, however there is a salient in the north that is many miles from Moscow, is there much point in directing local attacks on areas not vital to the main objective?
Sometimes you want to just shorten the front. Just beware of enemy reinforcments that may appear along a board edge.