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PzCampaign - question on air power usage

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 22:49:35 +0000

Does air support rollover if I don't use a specific bomber or fighter in a given turn? I was wondering if I could hoard air support for a few turns in preparation for a big assault. Or is it a situation more akin to: 'if you don't use it, you lose it' for each turn?
I'm thinking particularly of France '40 though wondering if it is different for other PzC games too?

Hints on assaults in First World War Campaigns (FWWC)

Sat, 08 Oct 2022 12:47:48 +0000

One of the many ways in which FWWC differs from Panzer Campaigns titles is in the way you handle
assaults, in PzC the procedure is pretty standard throughout the titles i.e. disrupt the defenders
and then assault, here is the section of Ed's France ‘14 notes that handles that issue and just in
case you have not read to page 147 of the notes (shame on you ) here is what he says on the subject....

When to assault
The most important thing to know in First World War Campaigns, is when to press home an assault and
when not to assault. Generally speaking, you should of course get accustomed to the particular strengths
and weaknesses of the units in general. For example, an infantry unit can almost always assault a mounted
(Travel Mode) cavalry unit, bicycle unit or engineer unit with success, without having to disrupt them
before hand. "Success" in this case is defined as taking the ground. You should also always to have at
least a 2:1 advantage when making an assault, try to avoid 1:1 assaults as much as possible.

In the case of enemy cavalry, you can usually tell whether it is a pesky cavalry squadron or a full cavalry
regiment by seeing what the effect is of their return fire.

If the enemy is deemed to be nothing more than a cavalry squadron, then you can press home the assault to
great effect, again without waiting for the enemy to be disrupted. This is also true for engineer units which
might also be broken down into companies. Bridging engineers have a very low assault value and can also be
assaulted without being disrupted first.

If you have a pesky engineer unit barring the way somewhere, then simply overrun it with a massed infantry assault and you can probably rest assure that the enemy is throwing "the kitchen sink" in the line at this point if they are wasting engineer units in this manner.

And finally and most importantly, you should NEVER wait for field gun or machine gun units to be disrupted before
carrying out an assault if they are stacked without infantry support, if they are stacked with a infantry unit
then it would be best to disrupt that unit first before you assault, if you still don’t take the hex rest assured
the field gun or machine gun units will take the brunt of the casualties/fatigue.

In the Trenches: Playing a Team Game

Sun, 11 Oct 2020 00:14:31 +0000

Having played to completion 1 team game and in the middle of another, here are few things that I have learned. Note there is an article on playing team games, see http://www.theblitz.org/message_boards/s...?tid=72305. There are many out there that have already completed team games and I hope that they will give their input.

Forming Teams
I strongly recommend that team members have experience playing the game. Having a member new to the game system may lead to frustration as a mishandled sector could lead to a game-winning break through or a mishandled offence that is key to keeping the game competitive. Having said that, one could consider giving nubes a small portion of the game in an inconsequential sector so they can learn the ropes. Remember, though, the more players on a team the longer the game will take.

One of the interesting aspects of a team game is mapping players to the historical command structure. This gives the players a meaningful context of their role in the overall game, and to history. My recommendation is to avoid dividing multiple commands among multiple players. For example, two players commanding portions of two corps is not typically historical and can lead to confusion on the field. On the other hand, forming kampfgruppes from different corps is an alternate option, and there is always the option to adjust the command structure using corps attachments at the beginning of the day. Following the historical command structure may lead to unbalanced roles. One player could end up with a quiet sector with nothing to do, while another player has the bulk of the action. One player could have all the armour while the other has to slog through with infantry; alternatively, having mainly infantry to command may be very instructional and be in line with historical role the player assumes. This can be offset if releases or reinforcements give them something to do in the future. Be open to give units to other players through corps attachments. Select games that are conducive for force division. One game may be more suitable for a team game then another. Carefully consider the game you select.

Should you have a team captain? The team captain or designate should be responsible for forwarding the completed move to the opponents. A team captain is recommended for large games because there needs to be coordination. The team captain could solely provide high level commands with few units to move or be given some portion of the game. They should be responsible for overall strategy (of course in consultation with the team members), for the decisions that have to be made, and give out orders that the rest of the team follows. In smaller team games a team captain is less important. Either way, a good game plan is necessary, drawn out, and constantly updated.

Selecting a game
Selecting a game depends on what the teams want to get out of a team game. A team game does not have to be a monster scenario. A smaller number of counters and turns may lead to a better success and satisfaction, and lead to faster turn-around time with better odds of completing a game. A small number of counters may be a turn-off for many, but for some games the organization of the armies may make the division amongst players meaningful even with a smaller number of counters (e.g., operation Crusader two Axis players German and Italian).

Turn length should be considered. Short game lengths, e.g., 50-100 turns, give a reasonable chance that the game will be finished, and in a reasonable period. But if a shorter game is bungled early there may be no chance to pull it out of the fire. For games >100 turns the players need to be committed to completion, but at the same time be open to terminating the game if the game goes off the rails. For longer games, e.g., Indragnir’s Kharkov '42 449 turn game, the players can consider taking checkpoints to determine whether they want to continue, although that particular scenario is divided into phases which provides natural checkpoints. If a player wants to quit, think of gang pressing another player into your game. The longer the game is the more likely for game not to be completed.

Logistics of playing the Game.
There should be a file with a fixed name that is passed between teams. As recommended in the referenced article it should be sent to all players. The email subject line should be something like "Turn xx Russian Move”, where xx increments every turn. Avoid creating large emails chains with multiple attachments, each attachment containing different turns. Also, replying to an email entitled "Turn 29 Russian Move" when it has turn 30 will lead to confusion.

Once the fixed file name is received from the opposition, every player should review the replay. Valuable clues can be missed if you ignore the replay, e.g., a tank unit doing hit and run attacks and ends its turn out of LOS. The first player making their part of the move should save it to a file name with the side and turn number that is passed amongst team members, and when all players have completed their moves, save the file under the fixed name and advance the turn. Example, if the game file passed between teams is "Kharkov43" the German team should pass the file internally with the name "Kharkov43 Gnn" where nn is the turn number, and the Russian team passes "Kharkov 43 Rnn. This avoids mix ups in files.
(I’d be interested if there are alternate email/turn naming conventions)

If you are not the first person on a team making a move, make sure you have the right file when you make your move. Look at the units for the person before you and make sure they have expended movement points. In one game, I looked at the replay, and forgot to use a file that my team mate sent me. I completed my move on the replay file, and dropped my team member’s move. This was caught after the opposition made their move. So, we had to redo the turn.

Be flexible! Unless the teams have agreed to play hardball in advance, and accept only what is sent, the teams should be flexible and allow re-dos of turns. Also, some games may have fixed units that force players into unwanted situations. In one of our games some fixed units were left them vulnerable as the movable units fell back (in a game the fixed unit happened to be the highest HQ on the side!). Our opposition self-imposed a house rule not to cash in on fixed units and allowed the units to escape to make the game better.

Watch the junctions between your units and your team mates' units. Make sure the seam is sealed. If the team is unable to close the gap the hole can be exploited and result in a collapsed line. This is totally historical and part of the fun of a team game. On the other hand, on the offence, use intelligence to figure out where the seams are and attack there. Look for clues for who on the other side is commanding the forces; a weaker player may be a tempting target.

If you start a team game I recommend that you return your move within 24-48 hours. This keeps the game flowing. Think of this. A four-player team game with 100 turns where every player completes their move every 48 hours will take 4 * 100 * 2 = 800 days! Be prepared for real life. Vacations, illness, etc. may delay turns. I also recommend a fixed order in which players make their move. This avoids confusion - did my team mate make his move? One might break this recommendation if a player indicates that they are on vacation so all the rest of the team could make their move while waiting for the vacationer. If you can’t keep the turn rate up don't start a team game. Having said that I am notorious for delayed moves because of my life , where as our opponents are true grognards returning their move usually within 24 hours.

In conclusion, I have had a blast playing team games. Having a portion of a larger game fits into my life well. I recommend it to anyone.

Article on how to organise a Teamgame

Sun, 27 Jan 2019 15:24:52 +0000

Teamgames are a fun way to experience playing the larger scenarios that are often beyond the ability of a single player to manage without a huge investment of valuable gaming time, they also allow you to meet new players and as part of a team to discuss and plan strategies.

There are no rules covering Teamgame etiquette and in many ways they function just like normal scenarios but this article contains my suggestions based on my experiences to allow a Teamgame to function with minimal fuss.

If you don’t already have the teams and scenario organised you can post on the forum to advertise your game stating the scenario you wish to play, optional rules, number of players you are looking for and how the various forces on both sides might be divided between the players.

The minimum players for a teamgame is three and there is no maximum number that can take part, however in my experience once you have more than six players the turn rate becomes very slow which might be an issue for some players?
The two sides do not need to be of equal numbers, if a scenarios forces divide up better with an uneven number of players or one sides players have less free time than the other players that is no problem, so you could have (for example) one vs three or two vs four and any other permutation. The only small complication uneven sides bring is when you come to report the game which I will cover at the end of the article.

One player from the first moving side set’s up the scenario in accordance with the agreed optional rules and with a filename recognisable by all players, that player play’s his agreed portion of friendly forces (including airstrikes, artillery and reinforcements linked to his area) and when finished clicks “save battle” on the toolbar, do NOT end the turn.
The file is then “internally” emailed to ALL of the first team (so everyone can see where the file is) but ONLY the player next in the agreed order moves his forces as above and so on, when the file reach’s the final player he might want to play his forces and then review if any arty/air/ground forces have been missed by other players on his team before hitting “Turn > Next” to end the turn. *Note on the first turn the final player will need to register the password that the team has agreed on and that every player from that side will use from now on*

The final player of the first moving side “globally” email’s the finished file to ALL of the players in the game so the first side’s players can see the file has been sent to the second team and each player of the second team can see the file has arrived and can review the replay if they wish.

The second team follows the same procedure with each player playing in an agreed order clicking “save battle” until the final player reviews and ends the turn registering the second sides agreed password (on the first turn only).

The game continues along these lines until conclusion, in my experience it is very important that you maintain the same player order that each side moves in as changing the order only tends to end in confusion.
In my opinion (although not necessary to the operation of the teamgame) sending email’s to every team member (internally) or to every player in the game (globally)is very important because if you don’t then it is very likely that when there is a delay players will start to fire emails to everyone to find out where the file is?

At the conclusion of the game the game has to be reported in a particular manner, if the sides have an even amount of players then the two sides need to organise each player on one side to report against a player on the other side.
So for example if side one with players A, B, C reports against side two with players X, Y, Z then A reports against X, B against Y and C against Z. The important point to remember is that each reporting player needs to click the “Teamgame” check box (see image below).

If the teams are of uneven number then the player(s) left over after everyone else has paired up should report against the Blitz Shadow Player again clicking the “Teamgame” check box (see image below).

So for example if side one with players A, B, C reports against side two with players X, Y then A reports against X, B against Y and C against Blitz Shadow Player.

Article on the evolution of the PzC supply rules

Thu, 09 Mar 2017 20:35:42 +0000

At the launch of the first PzC title (Smolensk ‘41) the supply rules were both basic in nature and not particularly representative of historical supply issues in the larger scenarios, but as the series evolved two additional layers of supply rules in the form of the Virtual Supply Truck (VST) and Explicit Supply (ES) optional rules were added to improve historical representation of supply issues and provide players with a choice of three different supply models to choose from, of course with more choice has also come more complexity, but I hope this article will go some way to helping players understand their supply choices and the mechanics of how the features operate.

Default supply rules (no supply optional rules selected)

Supply is determined by a unit being able to trace a continuous line of hexes free of enemy units or their ZOC (negated by friendly units in a hex and crossing rivers via bridges or ferries) back to either any map edge (Global supply) or to a friendly supply source (if they included in the scenario), where supply sources exist they take precedence over Global map edge supply, if a continuous line cannot be traced to a source of supply then the unit(s) are considered isolated.

*Note unlike Global map edge supply, supply sources can be located anywhere on a map and not just at the map edge.

At the beginning of the turn the supply value of each hex containing friendly units is determined and this value is used to determine the state of supply for the units in that hex, this value is known as the Local supply value the higher the number (on a scale of 0-100) the greater the odds that a unit will not suffer low ammo/low fuel supply issues. If a unit is isolated then the local supply value is zero.
To view the local supply values go to the “View” tab and then select “Local supply values” and the values will appear on the map, you should only use this feature at the very start of your turn when the values will be displayed on top of your units before you move them.

When using the default supply rules the local supply value is the same as the Global or supply source value regardless of how far from the supply source the unit is and what terrain it occupies, so the advantage of this rule is its simplicity but does not reflect historical supply situations in scenarios with large maps.

Virtual Supply Trucks (Optional Rule)

With the release of the third PzC title Kharkov ’42 a new “Virtual Supply Trucks” supply feature was added to the optional rule list. If there are supply sources included in the scenario and the VST optional rule is selected the base supply rules covering tracing supply and isolation are retained , but supply is only drawn from friendly supply sources located on the map and the game engine automatically calculates the local supply value using a movement algorithm which effectively reduces the efficiency of supply delivery the further you are from a supply source. The algorithm uses the movement cost for a motorised unit in travel mode, hence the road network on a map becomes very important as tracing supply along roads will reduce the amount of local supply value lost as the distance from the supply source increases, on the flip side a unit in terrain that has high motorised movement costs will see a marked drop in the local supply value.

*Note road stacking limits are ignored for the purposes of calculating the VST values and the local supply calculation will be made using the highest supply source value available.
In the best possible situation with supply being traced along a primary road, the local supply value will be reduced by 1 for every 16 primary road hex’s covered.
The advantage of VST is that it reflects historical supply situations with the advancing force's supply reducing and withdrawing/retreating force's supply increasing without really adding any more complexity to the game, the VST rule will obviously have a greater effect in scenarios using larger maps and on very small maps the effect will be negligible.

Explicit Supply (Optional Rule)

With the release of the fourth PzC title Tobruk ’41 a new “Explicit Supply” feature was added to the optional rules list, selecting this rule will only have an effect if the OOB of a scenario supports this feature by including ES units in the form of mobile truck, cart, pack animal and static depot units which actually provide the unit resupply, under this rule supply sources are retained only for the purposes of determining isolation and not resupply.
*Note that the Scenarios containing Explicit Supply unit counters are designated by the small *s* after the number i.e. #01s_Mersa_Brega_31Mar.scn and be aware that some games do not contain any ES scenarios.

Under this rule the local supply values are set at 80, the ES units have two supply related attributes which are the range that they can provide resupply and the amount of supply “vehicles” they possess, to resupply a ES unit must be able to trace a continuous line of hexes free of enemy units or their ZOC (negated by friendly units in a hex) to a friendly unit that is within its range, the ES unit must not be in travel or rail mode (marked unavailable), disrupted ES units have their supply range halved and a broken ES unit has a supply range of zero and can only provide supply to units in the hex it occupies.

Any friendly units that are low ammo/fuel that meets the above criteria will be resupplied until the ES unit vehicle value is reduced to zero at that point the unit removed from the map.
Mobile ES units will arrive as reinforcements as detailed in the scenarios reinforcement dialogue, ES units can be “captured” and its vehicle supply value can be used by the opposing side when the unit is left alone in a hex after a successful enemy assault, the value of the ES units vehicles are halved if this occurs.
ES units have no ZOC and if a player does not want his mobile ES unit to provide supply they must be left in travel mode or out of range of any friendly units that might become low ammo/fuel, a static depot cannot be placed in travel mode.

The advantages of this feature is that it allows players to micro manage their supply determining which units are resupplied, it also allows players to recreate those historical situations like the North African campaigns or campaigns fought in difficult terrain where supply was a vital element in those operations, unlike the other supply rules this feature allows units to be resupplied even if they are isolated provided they meet the ES resupply criteria.
The disadvantages of this feature is that it adds to the number of units a player has to consider when moving his forces and requires a player to plan very carefully where his supply units are located and the value of ES vehicles required if parts his forces are not to suffer low ammo/fuel effects be that on the offensive or defensive.

So when selecting your supply rules...

The default supply rules are used if neither VST nor ES optional rules are selected.
VST cannot be used if the scenario does not contain supply sources, in this situation selecting the optional rule has no effect and the scenario will use the default supply rules.
ES cannot be used if the scenario OOB does not support this feature, in this situation selecting the optional rule has no effect and the scenario will use the default supply rules.
If both VST and ES optional rules are selected and the scenario can support both feature then ES takes precedence over VST or if only one of the optional rules is supported then that will be used.

I would like to thank Glenn Saunders for coming up with the original idea for this article, unfortunately the original article that was displayed on his website has been lost but I did manage to recover some of the original images, thanks also to Volcano Man and Ricky B for their input and checking my facts were correct.

Fighting through Fortified Positions

Tue, 21 Feb 2017 05:13:43 +0000

I wrote this 14 years ago! It was posted in another part of the Blitz, but I believe is now gone after 2-3 site upgrades. But the other recent contributions made me think to add it back in.
Rick.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASSAULT ON A FORTIFIED POSITION

Strategy Guide

Assaulting fortified positions in the PzC and MC series games, where they are present, can be a difficult, slow and bloody affair that can make the difference in some scenarios between success and failure in the overall results of the game. The earlier games have relatively minor fortifications, but some of the more recent releases, especially Kursk, Rzhev ’42 and Korea ‘85, have much heavier fortifications to penetrate in some scenarios. Experience, especially in play against another person rather than the AI, is the best teaching tool for this, along with many other aspects of the games. However, here are some tips for attacking and penetrating a fortified position for those players having difficulty with this part of the games.

The article will concentrate on penetrating heavy defensive positions with minefields in front and BUNKERS/TRENCHES for the defensive forces, but also covers weaker positions.

Planning the attack

You must develop some kind of plan for attacking the defensive line before just blindly attacking. As a rule, you cannot just move forward all along the line or losses will be horrendous. You must plan where you want to penetrate defensive minefields, especially when your number of mine removal engineers is limited. Trying to penetrate everywhere is normally not necessary and can lead to higher losses to enemy fire.

In determining where to penetrate the minefields, there are a number of things to look at.

Minefield density, and consistency of the density (are there weak spots?).
Defending fortifications – bunker vs. trench locations.
Terrain, both for the minefields themselves and for the defending fortifications.
Visibility to the enemy forces, to allow artillery preparations to be placed on them.
Bulges in the enemy lines.

These pieces of information all fit together to make the big picture. Being able to see the enemy defenders can be critical, as being able to see them means you can hit them with artillery fire. Normally, weaker minefields are the best location, but if the defending fortifications are heavier, then you must consider alternative locations also. Bunkers are very difficult to hurt, especially if in terrain that boosts the defensive value further, and should be avoided if there are sectors defended only with trenches. For heavy minefields (strength of 3 for example), choosing to penetrate in terrain that will provide protection to the mine removal engineers can be a benefit, even though it may slow down the attack forces. But weak minefields of strength 1 in clear terrain can be moved through by regular forces with fairly light losses. This can allow the defenders, if disrupted, to be assaulted immediately, limiting defensive fires to opportunity fire only. This can lead to a quick breakthrough of the enemy lines. And bulges allow enemy forces to be more easily isolated, which means they will then be destroyed relatively easily.

General Tactics

Isolation can be critical in achieving a breakthrough. It lowers the enemy morale by 1 level directly, and the defenders will automatically go low ammo after firing, dropping their morale another level. This will greatly improve the odds of a disruption from losses to either fire or assault, and once a unit disrupts, it is normally only a short time to total destruction of the unit. Also, assaulting even a good order defender that is isolated and low on ammo generally results in lower attacker losses than assaulting an unisolated defender.

Avoid moving non-mine removal engineer units into level 3 minefields in most cases. Losses will be much higher than in level 1 minefields. However, the specific situation, including a chance to isolate defenders or to take advantage of assaulting the defending units behind the minefield before the defender can move reserves up, can make this a good option in the right situation.

Generally, concentrate the attack on trenches rather than bunkers, or even worse, pillboxes. But the stronger positions like bunkers and pillboxes can be good targets if they can be isolated fairly easily, say in a bulge exposed on 4 sides.

Elevation differences can make or break an attack. Entrenchments that are at a higher elevation than the attacker are less susceptible to losses from direct fire. In one series of game play against heavy defenses, TRENCH's in forest hexes, total modifier of (-70%), were nearly invulnerable to direct fire from adjacent units at lower elevation, but when fired at from the same or higher elevation by similar attacking units, these same fortified units fairly more consistently lost men and disrupted more quickly.

Armor units can often move into weaker minefields without loss, but they are not very good at clearing out good order defenders by assault. They are best used to penetrate the flanks of a defensive position, or using direct fire on the defenders of bunkers, where they can use their normally high hard attack factor to cause losses or disruption.

If you attack a point and find it more heavily defended than expected, you can pull back and try another location. Losses will mount quickly if you attack the stronger positions.

Finally, it is almost always faster, and only slightly more costly in terms of casualties, to assault isolated enemy units in bunkers while preventing retreat through ZOCs. Some players feel that it is better to push the unit out of the bunker through assaults and then prevent retreats to finish destroying the unit (a defending unit that is assaulted, is disrupted and at least one attacking unit is not disrupted “loses” the assault and must retreat or it loses half its remaining strength in lieu of retreating). But this takes more time and the unit will not retreat unless it is disrupted, and if disrupted it will lose half its remaining strength if it can’t retreat anyway, so normally it is better to assault the defensive unit in the bunker and destroy half the unit than to push it out and waste the assault. Also, any defensive unit that “loses” the assault will have its defensive positions reduced to the lower case strength of the position if it is still a full strength, all capitals, position, thus lowering the benefit of bunkers anyway.

EXAMPLES

1. Assault on heavy fortifications, rough/wooded terrain.

Minefields: Density 3 throughout.
Terrain: Forests, hills, low visibility.
Fortifications: Mix of bunkers/pillboxes and trenches.

Moving units into level 3 minefields is a recipe for heavy losses, if not disaster. This situation requires patience on the part of the attacker, and concentration on the best locations to penetrate the enemy lines. Limit the number of attacks to important areas to so that support weapons can be concentrated on a few sectors.

In this case, try to identify defending positions in clear terrain and trenches, with the mines in forested areas, if some enemy units are visible. In particular, defending positions lower in elevation than the minefields you can move into are even more susceptible to fire from the attacking units. Concentrate artillery fire on the defending units, move mine-removal engineers into the mines. Do not move in other units until the mines are removed or lowered to level 1, if at all possible.

As the mines are removed and defenders disrupted, concentrate your attacks on those locations. If you are making multiple attacks in a fairly small area, you should probably stop some of the other attacks to lower casualties and provide the strength to open up successful ones.

In the example below, the defensive minefields are level 3, with a mix of bunkers and trenches for the defender. The best position to attack would be the circled location near the center of the picture. This minefield is in a forest, providing some protection to the engineers removing the mines. Also, the defender is in a trench in open terrain. A second attack can be launched through the minefields to the left that are indicated, although it will be through open terrain, meaning the engineers will take heavier losses. But these 2 attacks will open up the defensive positions and help isolate the bunker position in between them, allowing it to be attacked with a better chance for success.

2. Assault on medium fortifications, rough/wooded terrain.

Minefields: Density 1-2 throughout.
Terrain: Forests, hills, low visibility.
Fortifications: Mix of bunkers/pillboxes and trenches.

Weaker minefields like this can be moved into without suffering too heavy of losses in most cases. More locations to attack should be selected, assuming there are enough units available, to spread out the defender’s reserves that may respond.

In this case, identify locations where your units can reach the defending positions through open terrain, without streams slowing down your movement, allowing an assault to be carried out in the same turn, unless the weather is bad limiting movement in all cases. Best are defending positions in open terrain with minefields also in open terrain. Fire artillery at the best locations for an attack until the defender disrupts, if possible, then shift further fire to other locations that are also good candidates.

When the defender is disrupted, move combat units into the adjacent minefields, taking the losses, and assault the defenders. This will allow the units to have an excellent chance of pushing the defenders out of the entrenchments. It is important in this situation to follow up with engineers to remove the mines, or the attacking units may be isolated unless other units move into the minefield.

Generally, do not move units into the minefields if the defenders are still in good order, especially when the defender is in a bunker. However, you may want to do this to isolate the enemy, or to bring direct fire onto defending units in trenches. Also, if the enemy units are weak, a quick attack can be a good idea, even without disruption.

In the situation pictured below, successful attacks on the three marked hexes will result in isolating 2 defensive positions and quickly open a hole that is 7 or more hexes wide.

3. Assault on light fortifications, rough/wooded terrain.

Minefields: Density 1 throughout.
Terrain: Forests, hills, low visibility.
Fortifications: Trenches.

Weak minefields such as these can be entered as needed to penetrate the defensive lines as quickly as possible. Artillery fire should be massed as needed to disrupt the defenders of the best penetration site, then shifted to other sites to maximize enemy disruption and speed the penetration.

Engineers should be saved to remove mines after the defenders are pushed back or eliminated, or moved into heavy defensive terrain to protect them as they remove mines. Meanwhile, the attacking troops should move forward and assault where possible, when the defender of a position is disrupted. This can allow engineers to remove mines while not under direct fire. Even if the defender is not disrupted, the attacking forces can move into the minefields to place direct fire on the defenders to speed the process of disrupting them, if needed.

In the below situation (from Korea ’85), the engineers and weak recon forces are near the defensive minefields, while the main forces are further back. To speed the attack, the engineer unit can move into the marked minefield (in a forest hex) to begin the process of removing the mines on the road while the main forces move up. The recon unit could attack through the minefields also, but probably only if the defenders of one of the nearby hexes are disrupted. Generally, in situations like this time is of the essence before the defender brings up reserves, unlike in attacking heavier fortifications where a hasty attack will usually hurt in the long run.

These are just general guidelines to help develop a plan of attack. Use your judgement, and as you gain experience, you will be able to develop your own strategy for these important operations.

Rick Bancroft

  ASSAULT Strategy Guide.doc (Size: 453.5 KB / Downloads: 58)

Modern Campaigns - Tactics and Strategies!

Mon, 20 Feb 2017 15:17:47 +0000

Gents:

It’s time for some Modern Campaigns tactics and strategies!

Here’s what I have learned since purchasing my first MC title – Fulda Gap ’85 back in Sep 2016.

These tactics and strategies are in no order. Feel free to comment and add your own to this thread!

(1.) Guard against vertical envelopment. Objectives behind the lines, critical terrain features (Road junctions, bridges), units in T-mode, and valuable support units (HQ, artillery) must be defended against enemy helo troop insertion. Position flak units on top or adjacent to these valuable targets. Defend these hexes with dug in troops (if available). Have your artillery dig in immediately on reaching support positions. Remember, artillery can dig in AND fire on same turn – provided you issue a dig in command BEFORE you initiate bombardment.

(2.) Move or die. The modern battlefield is lethal. If something can find you, it can generally kill you. Therefore, units need to stay mobile. Warsaw Pact armor companies and mechanized battalions need to use their speed and off road capability to quickly advance to contact and be ready to exploit any breakthroughs with rapid maneuver. The trick is to remain intact and combat effective moving into attack positions. Use covered terrain to your advantage and try to come out of T-mode before coming adjacent to enemy units to minimize losses. Use recon air assets and scout helos to range ahead of your columns, looking for enemy ambushes and defense positions. Be ready to attack revealed enemy units with artillery or airstrikes.

(3.) Air interdiction. It’s a fact of life on the modern battlefield. If you travel in T-mode, be prepared that a certain percentage of your units will suffer losses from AI-controlled air interdiction. Usually the losses can be shrugged off, but every hit grinds down your units a little at a time.

(4.) Air power. Effective management of air assets can go a long way in maintaining momentum and keeping the enemy off balance. 1.) Recon. Use recon to scout ahead of important offensive thrusts and search out suspected enemy HQ and artillery positions. Most Warsaw Pact artillery has relatively short range (e.g. 7 - 9 hexes). Count back from where enemy bombardments fall and send a recon asset to a hex behind enemy lines that provides good visibility into covered terrain - especially town and forest roadways. Artillery likes to hide in these hexes. Also, recon primary road networks for suspected enemy reinforcements traveling in T-mode to the front lines. Always fun to watch enemy armor and mech infantry units traveling in column formations get brewed up by a well-directed air strike. 2. Air strikes. As stated earlier, allow recon air assets to vector in the strike bombers to revealed enemy HQ, artillery, and T-mode traveling units. Be prepared for 1 or more air strikes per turn to be driven off by Surface to Air Missiles (SAMs) or enemy aircraft. Can be annoying, but a fact of life in modern air warfare. Always try to keep 1-2 air strikes on call while you execute the movement phase of your turn. You never know what your offensive movement may reveal. In a recent MC game, as my WP armor raced along a primary roadway, it bumped into a couple of NATO towed and SPA artillery units blocking the path. I did not have enough action points to either attack or assault the enemy stack and it was out of range of my artillery. Called in an air strike and watched 6 towed guns get destroyed. It’s a target rich environment.

(5.) Helicopters. Love them or hate them, helos are a fixture of the modern battlefield. It’s easy to see why there is a love / hate relationship with these rotor -wing aircraft. Of all the modern warfare units, helos are subject to the most bizarre and unrealistic tactics ever devised by the human mind. I’ve seen players fly attack helos deep into enemy-held territory where they use these flying gun platforms to range far and wide for the entire game, shooting up enemy ground units with a seemingly endless supply of missiles. Or using the attack helos to block enemy retreats like a combat unit blessed with extra long movement. Thankfully, the designers set (starting with Danube Front ‘85) the Blocking Helicopter Elimination Optional Rule as a default one and introduced the Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FAARP) HQ with a short range to discourage these unrealistic practices. Players can still choose to employ their attack helos in an unrealistic manner, but they will be penalized in game for such practices. 1. Scout helos. Use them to range ahead of your columns, looking for enemy ambushes and defense positions. Be ready to attack revealed enemy units with artillery or airstrikes. Use them to have eyes on suspected enemy advance routes and as airborne warning for enemy units attempting to slip through your defense lines. Don’t allow them to be engaged by enemy air or ground units as these units are thin-skinned and can’t take a lot of punishment. Scout helos should standoff 2 or more hexes from enemy units. Keep forest hexes and other blocking / movement limiting terrain between your scout helo and enemy ground units to discourage them from closing the distance and engaging you with flak. 2. Attack helos. Stand off 2 hexes when engaging enemy ground units to minimize flak. All ground units have a flak capacity - even artillery. Best to stay out of enemy flak range when possible. Be sure to review attack factors. Most attack helos have good hard target attack factors - most effective against armor, but there are some units that have a more efficient soft attack factor. Plan accordingly. Use attack helos to ambush enemy ground units and to keep eyes on likely enemy avenues of advance. Attack helos are best employed as surgical strike instruments against specific targets of opportunity and to help blunt enemy attacks by picking off lead vehicular formations with Disperse and vehicular destruction results. Stay close to your FAARP HQ’s and always land - get out of movement mode near your FAARP (usually within 3 hexes) to refuel and rearm when low on fuel /ammo. 3. Helo airborne troops. In many ways, your helo troops are your most valuable airborne asset, but for some reason, players don’t always think so. The helo troops allow players to correct a lot of tactical wrongs. For example, forgot to guard a valuable VP hex with regular ground pounders? Fly in a helo airborne battalion. The enemy is putting a lot of pressure on a point in your defense lines, fly in the helo troops to shore up your defense. Need to guard a bridge or hold a vital road junction until the friendly cavalry arrives? It’s a job for the helo guys. Helo airborne troops are also very useful as offensive weapons. Strike deep into enemy territory against targets such as HQ’s, artillery parks and unguarded VP hexes. They are also effective at blocking enemy retreats (when deployed as ground troops). But, your helo airborne troops are somewhat fragile and will suffer horrible casualties when going against enemy armor companies and infantry battalions. It’s never cowardice to fly away to fight another day. There are never enough of these helo airborne troops in scenarios and if used optimally, these units will suffer significant casualties. But, if their use can carry the day for your forces, then their sacrifices will be worth it.

(6.) Keep HQ’s mobile. Due to random AI detection of enemy HQ radio transmissions, it’s best to keep HQ’s mobile and moving into new positions every few turns - especially high value Divisional and Army HQ’s. Always stack flak units with HQ’s and never leave HQ’s in T-mode at the end of their turn movement. T-mode leaves HQ’s vulnerable to artillery bombardment and airstrikes plus reduces their effective command radius. Keep HQ’s in covered terrain (Forests, towns, cities, etc.) to provide some defense protection. Reminder, HQ’s cannot dig in and don’t generate a zone of control so don’t use them as front line units. However, some HQ’s have large numbers of personnel (100+) and can be used as secondary defense units, provided another combat unit digs in first to construct trenches for the defending HQ unit. Always keep parent HQ units within command and control (C&C) range of their formation combat units to maximize supply and readiness status of the units under their command.

(7.) Getting all wet. The Warsaw Pact has many recon and mech infantry battalions that are amphibious. Being able to swim across major rivers without the need to cross at a bridge opens up numerous offensive possibilities. Amphibious units can outflank enemy river defenses and make surprise thrusts behind enemy lines by making unobserved river crossings. However, these units are very vulnerable while crossing rivers since they must be in T-mode for 2 turns. Therefore, do NOT attempt a forced river crossing against entrenched enemy defenders with amphibious units! As a newbie MC player in my first PBeM game, “Next Stop Aschaffenburg” (Fulda Gap ’85), I attempted a forced river crossing with 5 Warsaw Pact mech infantry battalions against an entrenched NATO defending force and promptly lost 1,600 troops within a 2-hour game turn!

(8.) What shell to use? Selecting the correct artillery ordnance can make or break your tactical plans. 1.) Regular artillery ordnance. Very effective against soft targets like infantry and effective against hard targets like armor. Modern artillery bombardments are so lethal that you can’t go wrong by turning your gun tubes against any available enemy target. 2.) Mine-laying ordnance. Always nice to artillery deliver a 1 strength mine along suspected enemy advance routes, bridges, chock points (e.g. Road networks that pass through forest hexes), road junctions and even in VP hexes – especially if these VPs are either unreachable by your forces or you want to leave a “nasty gift” for advancing enemy units after your forces vacate the hex. 3. Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Now, we get into the really “nasty” artillery ordnance! The use of WMD’s is a double-edged sword and once you open this Pandora’s Box, battlefield conditions can spiral out of control – especially given that NATO response to Warsaw Pact use of chemical weapons is the release and use of tactical nuclear devices! Therefore think long and hard before using WMD! However, WMD usage may be justifiable if your Warsaw Pact forces are experiencing significant setbacks, offensive stalls due to stubborn NATO defenders, or you have suffered enormous and irreplaceable losses in men and equipment and the victory counter is dipping dangerously into an enemy Minor or Major Victory. 3a. Persistent chemicals. These WMD will disperse entire enemy stacks and leave the affected units vulnerable to artillery, air strikes and direct fire combat results. Good for “busting up” enemy stacks and reinvigorating stalled offensive drives. Also can be used in defensive operations to “bust up” advancing enemy stacks to blunt enemy attacks and to be deployed in chock points (similar to mine-laying ordnance). Also, once deployed, persistent chemicals remain for the duration of the game, affecting both enemy and friendly units that enter these hexes. Over time, units in chemical impact hexes will become undispersed – reflecting troops donning chemical retardant suits and vehicular filtration systems dispersing some of the toxic gases. Be careful that when you deploy persistent chemicals, you do not create a second breastwork / defense line for the enemy! In one MC game, my Warsaw Pact opponent was advancing to secure a city VP hex. He deployed persistent chemicals against my defending NATO forces. I simply moved back one hex into prepared entrenched positions secure knowing if he advanced into the chemical impact hexes, his units would suffer Disperses and be vulnerable to attack. 3b. Non-persistent chemicals. Same usage as persistent chemicals; however, the chemical impact hexes will disperse over time allowing unhindered movement of both enemy and friendly units into these hexes. 3c. Tactical nuclear devices. The “grand daddy” of “nasty” WMD and slippage into the unthinkable – joint annihilation. The effects of a tactical nuclear impact hex are devastating – enormous men and equipment losses, stack Disperses and a radioactive contaminated hex for the remaining of the game. When to use? Maybe when all else fails?

More MC Tactics and Strategies!

Bypass and flank enemy positions. The threat of being surrounded / isolated will cause the enemy to abandon positions.

Moving units in Travel (T)-mode. You should NOT move stacks of units in T-mode!

The probability of air interdiction in a hex is based on the following:
- Number of units in T-mode moving into hex.
- Modified by any terrain.
- Probability is halved at dawn and dusk.

Engineers. Keep these units near your offensive axis to clear mines and obstacles.

HQ's. Don't stack other units (except AA) with HQ's. These units may be detected each turn (radio interceptions) and then can be targeted by enemy airstrikes and/or artillery.

Heavy armor (M1's and Leopard II's). When this armor is entrenched in urban / forest hexes, it is nearly impossible (short of using WMD) to extract or destroy. Enemy must bypass and flank.

Entrenching. I believe entrenching has a nearly 100% success rate per turn. This reflects armor and mech infantry units having specialized mechanized entrenching equipment that travels with the units. I believe non-mech infantry does it the "old fashioned way" and uses a manual entrenching shovel - one per man!

Mech Infantry: WP fields several carrier models. The BMP-2 are the most lethal. These carriers have a hard attack range of 2 and can knock out armor effectively. Also, all WP mech infantry are amphibious and can cross major rivers without using bridges.

Quality versus Quantity. NATO has Morale A and B units that have superior attack range and sometimes thermal imaging sights (TIS). In night combat, a non-TIS units that fires on a unit that has TIS, the fire value is halved. When a unit that has TIS fires at a non-TIS unit, the fire value is doubled. WP has Morale C units and LOTs of troops per unit. WP armor units usually have 20-25 tanks and WP mech infantry units have 500 men!

Evolution of the First World War campaigns series through the first three titles

Tue, 03 Jan 2017 21:37:59 +0000

In this article I will highlight how the FWWC series has evolved since the launch of France '14 and the subsequent launch of East Prussia '14 and Serbia '14, some of the changes were driven by many hours of post launch play and some where introduced to address unique elements that a WW1 east front title required in the case of S14 some completely new features were added, it should be noted the after the launch of S14 the first two title's will be updated so all three titles are identical in the rules, features and parameters that they use.

Changes from F14 with the launch of EP14 (I have included the particular page within the EP14 designer notes so anyone who wishes to read about the changes in more depth can do so).

Fields (farms), Eastern front vs. Western front p43
In France '14, the Field (farms) terrain type had a protection of -25% and a height of 3 meters, and a movement cost of 12 Movement Points, in East Prussia ’14 Field (farms) only have a protection of -10%, a terrain height of 0 meters, and a non-mechanized movement cost equal to that of Clear terrain.

Infantry movement p54
In France ’14 the regular infantry speed was set to 3 clear hexes per turn, after much post release play it was decided to increase this to a standard 4 hexes per turn, and light infantry unit speeds was set at 5 hexes per turn.

Fragile Morale Nationality (Unenthusiastic Nation rule) p41
Under this new rule any forces belonging to a Fragile Morale Nationality that are not considered elite (A & B quality) are automatically eliminated when they are forced to retreat after an assault but do not have a valid retreat hex.
This rule only affects nations flagged as a Fragile Morale Nationality, currently this only affects Russia and Austria Hungary.
*Note that this new rule is over and above the optional surrender rule which only eliminated broken units and imposed an additional 50% loss on other units in the same situation*.

Wireless radio interception p34
This new rule only affects the Russian forces, any HQ that is corps level and above (i.e. corps, army, army group) will reveal its location, you can detect Russian corps or higher HQ units that are within ten times their command range from one of your units (see your Command dialogue), also any other units currently stacked with the revealed HQ will also be seen.

Disrupted unit movement allowance change
This change was made to encourage players to retreat from unsustainable positions rather than hang on to allow disrupted units to escape to the rear and often suffer an even worse loss of units cut off and destroyed. To stop players taking advantage of the change to be able to push disrupted units forward an additional terrain cost in MPs to move towards known/spotted enemy units was imposed, (in practise most units will only be able to move a single hex).

1) During DAY turns, disrupted units now have full Movement Points (instead of 2/3rds under the original system)

2) During NIGHT turns, disrupted units have 2/3 Movement Points (no change)

3) During DAY or NIGHT turns, disrupted units expend 3x terrain cost in MPs to move towards known/spotted enemy units (of course a unit will always be allowed to move one hex, as per standard movement rules)

In another slight tweak to disrupted unit movement when a good order unit is adjacent to an enemy, and that unit is disrupted by defensive fire during the current turn, its remaining MPs are reduced by 1/2. This keeps units from moving up, getting disrupted and being able to speed away at full speed (or being able to fire twice).

Changes from F14/EP14 with the launch of Serbia '14

Limited Objectives
These are objectives that expire after a set number of turns. When an objective expires, the side that held it at the moment it expired will gain the points and the objectives will then be removed from the map. When objectives are removed from the map then they can no longer change ownership, the ownership and points awarded are permanent. If an objective is a Limited Objective, then the Objectives Dialog will now display an "L" and a number. The "L" stands for "Limited" and the number listed is the turn number that the objective will expire (the objective will expire after that turn has been completed).

Rail Capacity Variation
This allows the rail capacity of both sides to be adjusted on certain dates during the scenario. Any changes in rail capacity will be listed in the Command Report dialog.

Replacement Rate Modifier
This is a Parameter data value in the PDT, which allows the overall replacement rate of both sides to be reduced or increased depending on campaign specific considerations. After this change, standard replacement rates will now be 1/2 in general, but in Serbia '14 specifically replacement rates are very low, or non existent due to the theatre.

Bunkers
In certain scenarios it is now possible to build bunkers, there has to be a percentage value greater than zero for bunker probability in the PDT table.

Field gun units
Change to Field Guns so that they are now always in Low Ammo status if Local Supply is < 20%, due to that fact that these rapid fire guns would not have enough ammo in that condition to ever be considered to operate at full capacity.
Field guns can now choose a specific target when firing alone, rather than the target unit being chosen randomly, also when a Field gun unit is fired upon there is an increase in the probability that Field Gun type units will be disrupted by enemy fire.
Lastly Field Guns and Machine Guns are now a little more effective at long range fire (firing at enemy units that are 2 or more hexes away).

Water mine hex’s
Mine hex’s that did not appear in either F ’14 or EP ’14 are included in Serbia ’14, they are located in full river hex’s to represent minefields located on the Danube river, they can add fatigue or reduce the strength of Riverbarge units that move into such hex’s.
These mine hex’s are very effective at damaging and eventually sinking River barge units, so be aware of this if you attempt to enter such a hex before it has been cleared by a minesweeping unit (if you have any).

Partisan effects
Change so that disrupted partisan units will not exert the Deception Range feature (only non-disrupted partisan units will have this ability).

Patrolling
Change so that Machine Gun type units cannot go into "Patrolling" status.

Detached units
Change so that detached units will no longer gain replacements.

Night movement
Change so that it is now possible for units to move tactically at night without becoming disrupted (70% chance of disruption per hex, rather than 100% in the first two titles), mainly in order to allow for night assaults, but also short emergency movements.
The 70% disruption percentage is modified up and down by the quality of the unit attempting night movement (see manual).
Movement at night in T mode via road or rail lines where units where not disrupted (provided they did not exceed road stacking limits) is unaffected by this change.

Engineers ferrying
Engineer units can now ferry units who utilise foot/horse/bicycle/ski movement class across rivers/canals and full water hex’s if the engineer unit has the "Has Boats" tag.
No ferrying of units is now possible during storm turns.

Recon Aircraft
Change so that recon aircraft are no longer "high flying" in the First World War Campaigns series, which means they can now be fired at by light AA guns.

Siege Guns
Change so that Siege Guns have 10x their nominal fire value when firing at bunkers, rather than having no increase. That said, Siege Guns are still less effective versus bunkers than redoubts and forts, because bunkers are much smaller targets to hit.

HQ units
HQ units with more than 50 men now automatically go Out of Command whenever they move (rather than just when moving in T mode) HQ units with 50 men or less are unaffected by this change (but will still go Out of Command when moving in T mode).

Elevation combat modifier
This modifier has been increased from -10 to -20 per 100m of elevation between firing unit and target unit, this will make direct fire at units at a higher elevation much more ineffective (note that Mountain units only suffer half this effect).

Digging in modifier
The digging in modifier can now be a decimal number to reflect that in the early days of WW1 there was not a doctrine to dig in nor did troops have the necessary equipment to complete such an action, there is now a 1% chance for a battalion to dig in early 1914 which will increase to 1.5% in late 1914 and then 2% in 1915 scenarios.
Remember that engineer units digging in with a unit boost this percentage by x3.

Pontoon storm effects
Pontoon bridges cannot be completed during storm turns (the process is put on hold), nor can units cross a pontoon bridge during storm turns.

New unit types
Mountain Units
This is a flag which can be given to all types of units. Mountain Units have...
* The ability to move through cliff hex sides
* 1/2 the normal combat modifier associated with terrain elevation differences
* 1/2 movement penalty associated with embankment and escarpment hex sides
* 1/2 the movement penalty associated with moving up terrain elevations
* 1.5 times higher VP value than normal infantry

Irregular Infantry units
In Serbia ’14 Irregular infantry refers to Montenegrin Infantry units, Irregular units represent unconventional military forces, similar to partisans, but slightly different abilities.
They are mainly used in hit and run tactics, attacking where enemy lines are thin and retreating when those positions are reinforced. Irregular units do not have a Zone-of-Control and do not interfere with the movement of enemy forces. They never suffer Low Ammo or Low Fuel,
nor can they become Isolated, but they can become detached. Unlike partisans, Irregular units can be used to spot for indirect fire or air strikes.
*Do not have a ZOC
*Ignore enemy ZOC
*Cannot become low on ammo or fuel
*Cannot become isolated
*Can spot for air and artillery strikes
*Can become detached from their HQ
*Do not disrupt enemy movement

Chetnik Partisan Units
Chetniks were Serbian guerilla forces that did everything from partisan activities such as raids and disruption and sabotage of enemy rear areas and supply lines, to reconnaissance. They even donned captured Austro-Hungarian uniforms to disrupt enemy movement. Because of all this, the Chetnik units in Serbia '14 are very powerful.

*Can disrupt enemy Travel Mode Movement up to three hex’s away (provided they are not disrupted themselves)
*Cannot suffer from isolation or low ammo
*Cannot be detached from their HQ
*Ignore enemy ZOC
*Cannot be isolated
*Can disrupt enemy bridge demolitions (in the 1915 scenarios where wired
bridges will not be used)
*Do not have a ZOC
*Cannot spot for artillery or air

River Barge units
These are similar to Naval units but represent river monitors , river steam boats and torpedo boats and they come with a variety of soft/hard attack and defensive values, unlike Naval units they exist only on full river hex’s and unlike Naval units do have the ability to use opportunity fire.
Barge units will be attacked by minefields located in full river hex’s when they move into such hex’s.
Some of these units are minesweepers and can remove minefields that are located in full river hex’s.
Barge units can move past friendly pontoon bridges at the cost of all their movement points, they can also destroy enemy pontoon bridges by expending all their movement points to enter the pontoon hex provided there is no enemy units located on the bridge.

PzC Tips & Tactics Time Again!

Wed, 26 Oct 2016 20:15:34 +0000

Gents:

After a year of playing this superb and classic game series... it's time to share some tips and tactics again!

PzC Tips & Tactics - In no order.

1. Don't allow your units to be surrounded and cutoff from supply. Isolated units will eventually Disrupt and are eliminated.

2. Use Travel mode when your units are traveling behind the lines or you need them to move a set distance - then deploy at the end of their movement. Never leave them in T-mode near the front lines. Always screen units in T-mode with deployed units. IF you must leave a unit in T-mode in a stack near the front lines, always move a deployed unit to the "top" of the stack so your opponent cannot "see-at-glance" that an enemy unit was left in T-mode. Same goes for "shielding" HQ units in a stack - move a non-HQ deployed unit to the "top" of the stack.

3. Disperse ALL enemy units in a stack before Assaulting them. It increases the chances of a successful assault.

4. Use recon and motorized units to provide flank protection and to make surgical thrusts behind enemy lines as needed.

5. Never use HQ units as defending units in your front lines. These units cannot attack and do not have ZOCs. In a recent PzC game, my German opponent used a HQ unit in such a manner and I was able to surge past the enemy HQ and was able to move many of my armor and motorized units into his back field!

6. Use recon air assets to search for suspected enemy HQs, artillery, and units in T-mode behind enemy lines. You can then follow-up with any revealed enemy units with either bomber assets or (if in range), some well-placed artillery bombardments.

7. Keep your formations intact. Keep battalions of the same regiment together (either stacked or within 1-2 hexes of each other) so you do not suffer a mixed formation penalty (using other units) when attacking / assaulting the enemy.

8. Keep HQs within supply / command range of their attached units so your units do not suffer "out of supply" penalties - e.g. attack at half strength.

9. Practice good morale and fatigue management of your units - especially in the longer turn scenarios. Units that suffer yellow or red fatigue levels will have their morale reduced. This will result in combat ineffectiveness by increasing the chances of Disruption and having your units Broken. Cycle out fatigued units and have them rest (do nothing) behind your lines for several turns. Fatigue increases during night movement / combat so avoid these activities (if possible) during night turns. Also, units reduce more fatigue during night turns - again if they do nothing. I recently played a German opponent in an El Alamein '42 scenario. He aggressively attacked my British defense force nearly across the entire map and non-stop (day and night cycles). By not effectively managing his German and Italian unit fatigue / morale levels, his force rapidly lost combat readiness and cohesion. At the approximately halfway mark of our game, I was able to mount a counter offense and rolled up his right flank!

10. Cycle through every unit / every turn to ensure you do not overlook them and make sure you consciously do "something" with each of your units - Attack, defend, use as a reserve, etc.

11. It's best to stack armor with assaulting infantry and not have armor assault alone.

12. Check the hard / soft target ranges of your units. Some infantry MG's has a 2 range against soft targets and some armor has a 2 range against hard targets. If you are fortunate to have some superb AT assets (e.g 88's), check their attack value + range. You may be surprised how far these units can project their firepower and against both soft and hard targets!

13. Use infantry units (when possible) to "dig in" as these units will build IPs and Trenches faster then armor units. Use engineers to "dig in" as these units have a better percentage change of successfully digging per turn. Note - artillery units can "dig in" too, but seem to do better with constructing IPs then Trenches. HQ units cannot "dig in."

14. Use your Artillery dialogue box so you don't miss using your artillery assets. It's usually best to bombard enemy positions before the ground pounders go in.

15. Save your game turn often. It's a good practice to save periodically during your move / combat phases so you will not lose any moves if you experience a SW crash, leave your PC unattended, curious kids or pets come to visit, etc. I once had a cat that loved to jump up on the desk and lie across my PC keyboard!

16. Try to move dispersed units in the front lines behind deployed units so they may recover from disruption and cannot be attacked / assaulted by enemy ground units.

17. Ensure you understand any engineer unit and their capabilities that are part of your OOB. Note on the unit description if the engineer unit has a bridge. For example, in Kharkov 42, the Russian has engineer sapper units that do NOT have a bridge and some that do! You don't want to move an engineer unit adjacent to a river only to find out that it does not have a bridge!

18. Enjoy and have fun! I "discovered" the superb PzC series about a year ago and I have never looked back at CS or most other PC games. The PzC series is "elegant simplicity" with the right mix of grognard features. I get to re-live my early war gaming years of pushing around stacks of cardboard counters on a paper map with the familiar NATO symbols - now digitized for the PC screen. Often, I will conduct my turns early in the AM with a hot cup of coffee and a quiet house. Many times I will sit down to conduct my turns and when I look up - a hour or more has passed. Enjoyable times!

What other "tips and tactics" do PzC vets have to share with us?

Guide of how to PBEM in Panzer Campaigns/FWWC titles.

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 22:30:06 +0000

*Updated Dec 16*, note that this article uses images from Win XP but the info is still relevant even if you are using Win10, also the folder shown as "HPS Simulations" may now be shown as "John Tiller Software" and it is possible that some people may have both folders with the older disc games in the HPS folder and the newer digital download games being in a JTS folder.

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This is a step by step guide on how to set up a PBEM game in any of the HPS/JTS series of games, in this example I have used Sicily '43.

First player sets up the scenario

1) Open the title you wish to play and the game will default to this dialogue box...Select New-> Play-By-Email-> The scenario you wish to play -> OK

2) Click on which Side you wish to play -> tick the Fog-Of-War box and then click Rules...

3) This opens the Optional rules dialogue box, if you are new to these games (or the rules to be used have not been discussed) it is best to select the Default Optional rules, to exit click OK...

4) At this point the scenario will open and display the command report for the side you chose (in this case the Allied side)...

5) At this point you need to check you have set your game to require a password, go to the Settings menu and make sure PBEM Encryption is ticked..

6) Play your move.....Advance! Advance!!!!

7) When you are sure you have completed your move end the turn either by clicking the toolbar button or use the menu...

8) The Save as dialogue box will now appear and you need to give the scenario a filename, this is the file that you and your opponent will be sending back and forth for the entire game (as a hint if you place an "i" in front of the filename i.e. !Foul_is_the_best.bte it will always show at the top of the file list an hence be easier to locate), click Save...

9) You will now be prompted to enter a password, do not forget this password as there is no way to retrieve it! Hit OK...

10) You will now see two dialogue box's informing you the turn has ended and the file is ready to send to your opponent...

11) Exit the game, you now need to attach the game file to an Email and send it to your opponent, you just attach the file to your return email...

..the file is located by opening the new Email, clicking "attach file" and then navigating to your the game folder (in our example Sicily '43) and within that game folder to the .bte file you are using (Foul_is_the-best.bte in this example) then hit "open", this will attach the file to the Email.

Second player receives the new game file

A) The second player should save or unzip the game file from the Email into the title folder that is being played (in our example Sicily '43) *Note the folder will be named John Tiller Software for the newer digital download games*...

B) When the game is opened you need to select the file you wish to play by selecting Old (by name) -> Play-By-Email -> Foul_is_the_best (for this example) and then OK..

C) You will now be asked if you wish to view your opponents battle replay, select yes to see the replay or no to move direct to your own move...

D) The Axis command report will appear...

E) At this point the second player also needs to check they have set the game to require a password, go to the Settings menu and make sure PBEM Encryption is ticked..

F) Play the Axis move, Pedal to the metal, get to the bridge!

G) When you are sure you have completed your move end the turn either by clicking the toolbar button or use the menu...

H) The Axis player is now prompted to enter a password, do not forget this password as there is no way to retrieve it! Hit OK...

I) You will now see two dialogue box's informing you the turn has ended and the file is ready to send to your opponent...

J) Exit the game, you now need to attach the game file to an Email and send it back to your opponent...

Both players now follow the steps laid out for player two (apart from step E) for the rest of the scenario.......

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Article on the First World War campaigns series vs. PzC

Fri, 28 May 2010 16:12:51 +0000

First World War Campaigns vs. Panzer Campaigns

With the release of France ’14 the first title in the First World War Campaigns (FWWC) series, I thought as one of the testers of this title, it would be a good idea to write an article to help players familiarize themselves on the main differences between FWWC and Panzer Campaigns (PzC). I cannot stress enough that this article is just a brief overview of the major changes between the two series and players should fully read the rules and especially the comprehensive notes provided by the designer to fully appreciate every aspect of this exciting new series.

Any player who initially played PzC and then moved onto Modern Campaign titles will understand that while the game engine is similar in most aspects, there are subtle differences in rules and tactics that you have to master to become a proficient player.

Night Movement Disruption rule
Any movement on a night turn that is not performed in T mode via a road or rail line or in rail mode has a 70% chance (adjusted by quality) of the unit being automatically disrupted. Special care has to be paid to road stacking limits as any unit that exceeds the limit will also be disrupted. Unlike PzC, armies now tend to stop operations at night because of this rule.
In testing it was found to be very easy to miss the fact that the next move was a night move ruining that perfect attack you had planned, so unlike PzC it is very important to keep an eye to how many more moves there are until nightfall.

HQ Movement & Command
Any HQ unit that moves in T mode and any large HQ (50+ men) that moves deployed is automatically “out of command” and cannot perform its command function, as soon as a HQ unit deploys or stops moving it will become eligible to be back in command.
It is also worth noting the very small command ranges in FWWC compared to PzC which leads to another very important change in that any unit that is detached (out of the command range of its immediate HQ) drops one morale level and receives only half of possible replacements.
Some supreme HQ units are held off map with a 0% chance of arrival, this was done intentionally to represent the effects of an extended LOC.

Forced Bridge Movement
In a major change to the ZOC rules is that a unit can now, in Travel (T) mode and at the cost of its whole MP allowance, cross a bridge moving from enemy ZOC to ZOC (without a friendly unit being in the hex moved into). This rule was introduced to prevent units “straddling” a bridge hex and exploiting the existing ZOC rules to prevent enemy movement across (see example below), I should be noted that this is the only case in which this new ZOC to ZOC movement is possible.

Artillery & MG unit movement and set up.
Artillery is divided into two types, units that can fire indirect (Heavy Artillery & Siege guns) and units that can only fire direct (Field Guns & MG’s).
Field guns and MG units can only move in T mode and use a new procedure to move and deploy. Once MG and Field Gun units are placed into T mode they can deploy only when the unit has its full movement allowance remaining, this is due to the fact that Field gun and MG units require their entire amount of movement points to deploy from T mode. This means that these units when on the attack and being direct fire only, will frequently be exposed in T mode to enemy fire for at least one turn prior to deploying into a firing position, once deployed Field guns and MG units are automatically set up and can fire from the next move.
It should be noted that Field guns and HMG units that use direct fire and have a LOS to an enemy unit can fire the normal three times per turn.

Indirect fire units have to set up once deployed from T mode just as in PzC , once set up their fire now has to be “plotted”. This involves selecting an eligible unit from the artillery dialogue box and right clicking on the hex where you would like its fire to fall. With the exception of mortars, each plotted unit only receives one shot and the fire is resolved at the start of the turn after it was plotted (before the command report); so it is possible the units in the hex you targeted may have moved away, or you may target your own troops by accident.

Fire Effects
FWWC by default uses a modified version of the Alternate Fire Resolution optional rule from PzC to determine losses. Some PzC players may be aware of this rule and its effects as it is used in the Tobruk, France, and Normandy titles of that series. In FWWC it is on by default and there is no option to use the fire resolution that most PzC players are used to. The main differences are that if there are more than one unit in a hex you cannot target a particular unit and the losses the units suffer are proportional to their size, hence it is often necessary to assault units with a small number of men to completely eliminate them rather than use direct fire.
It is very important to understand that losses are proportional to the numbers of troops/guns stacked in a hex, so the tactic of “killer stacks” or (“Death Star stacks” – as Volcano calls them) seen in PzC may lead to very heavy losses in FWWC titles, in tests I have seen losses of up to 372 men for a single combined stack shot, you have been warned!

Attachments
An attachment in FWWC is now corps to armies, whereas in PzC it tended to be divisions to corps.

Stacking
Although the stacking rules are the same as PzC, it should be noted that these limits are far higher in FWWC than PzC to reflect the different nature of early WW1 tactics. As noted in the Fire Effects comments, the more units you stack in a hex, the greater your losses to fire will be (you have again been warned!). On the other hand, the greater the stack density then the better the results will usually be in an assault. The dilemma is knowing just when to stack densely and when to stack sparsely.
Also to prevent players taking advantage of the higher stacking limits and massing field guns and/or MG units in a single hex, a new “towed gun” stacking limit has been introduced, in effect only 450 men (1 gun=10 men) can deploy in a single hex, this limit does not affect greater amounts of guns/MG’s moving through the hex in T mode, only those wishing to deploy and fire.

Engineers
Engineers function very much the same in FWWC as they do in PzC but with the following important exceptions:
•Only Engineers flagged "Has Boats" can ferry units over full water or river/canal hexsides (but not in a storm).
•Engineers cannot lay or clear mines or clear wire obstacles (read the designer’s notes on why).
•Only engineers can damage ferries or rail lines.
•Engineer bridges are considered only to be medium bridges for the purposes of movement, but the lack of any armoured units (apart from armoured cars) in F14 means this has a limited impact in the early war titles.

Assaults
Any assault at night will result in the automatic disruption of the attacker, the night disruption effect will be applied after the assault is resolved.

Fortifications
There are two new types of fortifications in FWWC, Forts and Redoubts. The effects of these and other such defensive works are fully explained in the rules and notes.

Cavalry
In testing the new rules dealing with the movement and tactics of Cavalry produced more discussion than any other subject. The designer has gone into great detail about this subject in the notes so I will not repeat what is said there in this article, all I will do is list the main characteristics:
It costs a cavalry unit 2/3 of its MP allowance to change from deployed (dismounted) to travel mode (mounted). It is far easier to dismount from a horse and have it move to the rear than it is to gather the horses back up to remount. Just remember that dismounting comes with the sacrifice of mobility in more ways than one.

As mentioned above, travel mode (T mode) when applied to cavalry units represents those units being in a mounted formation and in a position to launch a cavalry charge. When a mounted cavalry unit assaults (charges) in T mode, the cost of the assault is only 1/3 of the unit’s MP allowance. Hence, a cavalry unit can potentially assault three times in one move, also a cavalry unit conducting an assault has its assault value quadrupled.
Cavalry defending an assault in T mode only suffer 1/12 of the normal losses, but you will be forced to retreat if the assaulting force contains a non cavalry unit.
As it states clearly in the notes, a cavalry charge should be a carefully considered act. Even if a charge seems to have been successful on your move it can turn into a disaster on your opponents move when infantry, MG & artillery fire mow your cavalry down like corn. Since cavalry units are worth considerably more victory points than infantry, a badly thought out charge could cost you very dearly.
When on the defensive, it pays to leave cavalry in T mode to reduce losses from a surprise charge and avoid the penalty for changing from deployed to mounted, but of course this leaves these same units vulnerable to fire.
Mounted cavalry units (cavalry units in T mode) cannot recover fatigue while they remain mounted. This means that in order for your cavalry to recover from fatigue, it will have to deploy from travel mode and sacrifice mobility. This was done to allow for historical cases where cavalry forces were literally rode into the ground by constant movement without respite.
You should also note there are several different types of cavalry often with different attributes, so take time to familiarize yourself with the types of cavalry under your command.

New Toolbar Button

A new toolbar button has also been added, “Highlight Travel Mode” aids players in spotting those all important MG & Field Gun units that may need to be deployed and might have been missed in a large stack.

Conclusion
It is my personal opinion that FWWC is a fantastic addition to the HPS range of titles based around the original PzC engine and I hope that players will try out F14 to see if they enjoy playing the title as much as I have testing it.
I would like to thank Ed Williams (Volcano Man) for allowing me to be part of the test team and have an input into this great new project.