Combined Tip Thread/Grunt School

[Rabbit]

I am sure this has been bantered about before and in varying forms, but I figured I'd start up a new thread for people to post any general tips and strategies they might have. And to kick things off:

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Whenever you start a new scenario, read and understand:
1.) the scenario description (particularly if there are any special victory requirements)
2.) reinforcement schedules and locations
3.) withdrawals and releases
4.) available illumination, smoke, and remote support

On your first turn in a scenario, click through all of your units and make equipment adjustments. For instance, drop extraneous equipment, set weapons to desired loads, and set appropriate units to Hold Fire. This is also a good time to set appropriate units into Ground Mode.

When I use up my last available remote support, I immediately drop all of my radios. This prevents me from wasting any of my leader's valuable movement points in future turns checking to see if I have any support remaining. (I usually forget if I have any support left when I have a number of PBEMs going at once and/or there is a significant delay between turns.)

On defense, one of your primary weapons is concealment! Set your weapons to “Hold Fire” until the enemy is in a vulnerable location. Aside from the benefits of ambushing the enemy and avoid getting shot at, concealment provides a couple of other less appreciated benefits. First, it keeps the enemy guessing - information is power and the enemy will move swifter and with more strategic intent if they know your positions. Second, if you have weak weapons but decent morale, a very potent attack can be to simply lie in wait and let the enemy move into your hex thereby accidentally assaulting your position. This might not work well against an M-1, but otherwise the enemy often will lose more units than you and - more importantly - end up pinned in an adjacent hex, all the while your weapons still remain at full effectiveness ready to mow the enemy down further in the ensuing turns.

Try to fire weapons at half their maximum range or less, since anything greater than that will halve their firepower. An exception to this is snipers which can be fired at maximum range without loss of firepower. Try to set your weapons to hold fire until the enemy is within half each weapon’s range so that you don’t lose the effectiveness of your weapons while firing at half firepower.

Often the best strategy on defense isn't to kill the enemy but rather to slow their advance sufficiently that they cannot take the objective(s) in time. With that in mind, it often is best to focus your firepower on pinning/disrupting the enemy units (and killing off leaders if and when you can) rather than achieving kills. In other words, once you have a unit pinned or disrupted, pick another target rather than try to kill every man in that unit.

Having said that, you still will want to make certain that you fire at least once at every pinned, disrupted and demoralized units, so as to make it harder for them to rally. But this doesn't mean your whole squad has to fire at them. Selecting just a single gun to fire at a pinned, disrupted or demoralized unit is enough to make it harder for them to rally without wasting the effectiveness of your entire squad's weapons.

Never assault uphill unless absolutely necessary (it halves your assault factor).

Vehicles that begin an enemy’s turn unseen by any of the enemy units will remain unseen throughout that turn (unless that vehicle opens fire against the enemy, if the vehicle is assaulted, or if the enemy uses detection devices such as night vision). This is true even if an enemy vehicle moves into a hex that is adjacent to your vehicle even in an open field. This might seem to be a minor point, but it can be extremely important given that armor battles are often won by the side that gets in the first shot. With this in mind, an excellent strategy is to get infantry units into positions where they can scout out enemy vehicles prior to you advancing your armor into exposed positions.

As you approach the last third of a scenario, take a moment to do a high level assessment of your situation. Otherwise, you may often enter the last two or three turns of a scenario suddenly realizing you don't have enough time for your units to move the remaining hexes to reach the objective(s) - even though you might have been doing well otherwise. And during your assessment, pay particular attention to elevation levels, since it has a tremendous impact on movement.

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Let me know if you would like any clarification about any of the above. And feel free to post any good tips and strategies you think would benefit others.

Best,
Rabbit