Subject: Combat mission tips From: arseno@phy.ulaval.ca (Henri H. Arsenault) Most players seem to be getting the hang of this game, probably because it models reality so well that real-world tactics seem to work well most of the time. But for newbies or those [maybe Steel panthers players ;>)] who are having difficulty winning, here are a few tips. If you are winning the game with more than 20 killed on your side and less than 100 casualties on the other, you can probably use some help... 1) Have a plan -any plan, even a bad one, is better than no plan at all. Remember that your plan will probably not survive contact with the enemy. Your plan should be flexible so that you can adapt to exploit enemy weakenesses that you discover (such as an unprotected flank). 2) Don't divide your force unless you have a specific reason (you should have no trouble finding one). See the next tip. 3) The worst strategy is probably to go straight down the middle with everything. Unless the enemy has decided to weaken the center to protect the flanks, you should be massacred. Remember that it's a lot easier to bring in units from the flanks to the center than from one flank to the other. 4) Maneuver so that when combat occurs, you can bring more firepower to bear locally than the enemy. 4) Don't lead with your tanks when the enemy has significant antitank capability as he does in Reisberg. Lead with infantry supported by tanks. It is usualy better to keep your tanks close together so that they can concentrate fire on any antitank guns uncovered. As the German in "Last Defence", if your tanks are not all in positions to view the hilltop when the US tanks arrive, you can kiss your ass goodbye. In "Resiberg", if an 88 can get a bead on your tanks one at a time, you can kiss your armor goodbye. When I played that scenario as the Germans, I destroyed three of the US tanks with my 88 off to the right before they fired a single shot. 5) Use cover to move forward. Your first order of business is to determine where the enemy weaknesses are. If your unit finds a concealed enemy machinegun when it is in the open, there had better be some nearby cover available... 6) Tanks should almost advance using the "hunt" command. Use the "move" command for tanks only if you have a good reason, and if you are fairly sure that there is no nearby enemy antitank capability. 7) Try to always fight from woods or buildings. Units in the open won't last long against covered enemy concentrations. 8) Remember that enemy units are more affected by strong concentrations of fire in a short time than by the same firepower spread out over a longer time. So whenever possible, concentrate as much firepower as possible on a single enemy. However when there are a number of enemy units, you should consider having at least one of your own units firing on each enemy to rattle them. If the enemy has more units than you do in a firefight, maybe you are not fighting in the right place... 9) Units are much more rattled by fire if it is coming from different directions, so try to get enemy units in a crossfire. It's bvad enough to have bullets whistling over your head, but when tey are coming from different directions, the pucker factor increases considerably. 10) Avoid advancing in the open against enemy units that are not severely shaken. If you have to do it, make sure that some of your other units are covering you with supporting fire, otherwise you will probalby be massacred (yes, it happened to me last night). 11) If you are playing against a human, remember that your primary objective is to unhinge his mind. When uncertainty begins to plague him, he is ripe for the knockout punch. Remember that the most frequent mistake of inexperienced warriors is 1) to neglect recon and to barge in; 2) to attempt to resolve unstable situations even when it is not in their interest to do so. Check out the story below. There are probably a lot more tips that I could write, but it's time for me to go to lunch... Henri World Chess champion Emmanuel Lasker was a master of strategy. One time, during a tournament, he took out a big cigar and stuck it in his mouth. His opponent called the tournament director over and complained. The director told Lasker that it was not allowed to smoke in the tournament room, and Lasker put his cigar away. Ten minutes later, he took it out again and put it in his mouth. His opponent once more called the tournament director over. "But the cigar is not lit, so he is not smoking it", said the director. "No", exclaimed the rattled opponent," but he is threatening to light it, and everyone know that in chess, the threat is more dangerous than the its realization!" Guess who won the game... Subject: Re: Combat mission tips From: Mike Zeares In article , Henri H. Arsenault said: > >4) Don't lead with your tanks when the enemy has significant antitank >capability as he does in Reisberg. Lead with infantry supported by tanks. >It is usualy better to keep your tanks close together so that they can >concentrate fire on any antitank guns uncovered. As the German in "Last >Defence", if your tanks are not all in positions to view the hilltop when >the US tanks arrive, you can kiss your ass goodbye. Boy, you ain't kidding. I tried to use speed and shock to get my force into the town before the Hellcats arrived. Bad move. The Tiger and StuGs did do a beautiful job of causing one platoon to run for their lives, but the Tiger was caught in the open when the M-18s showed up. A Stug knocked out one, but it was destroyed by return fire, and one shot penetrated the Tiger's front. The crew was ok, so I had them join the infantry. At this point you might be thinking that I lost the battle. You'd be wrong. :-) Shooting at long range might be ideal, but there's more than one way to skin a 'Cat. My last Stug had gotten up to the town, and was hiding behind a 2-storey building. Meanwhile, my infantry was going house-to-house (it was great to hear the Americans shouting "Let's get outta here!"). I noticed that if I had the Stug "hunt" from around the corner onto the main N-S road, it could get shots on both Hellcats. With luck, it could get both of them before being destroyed. Obi-Wan was wrong in "Star Wars" -- there *is* such a think as Luck, and she was a lady today. The Stug poked around the corner, and shot a couple of HE's at a squad (which turned out to be very helpful). Then it spotted one of the Hellcats, which spotted the Stug at the same time. The Cat fired first, but missed. The Stug did not miss. Two Cats down. The Stug was still covered from the other one (which hadn't moved from its original position in the middle of the road on the hilltop). I though of bringing down some 105 on it, but I got impatient. So I ordered the Stug to "hunt" again, and crossed my fingers. This time the Hellcat never saw what hit it. The first shot penetrated, the second blew it to Hell. The triumphant (and VERY lucky) Stug chugged across the bridge, and the remaining Americans surrendered. Total victory... except that I had only two afv's remaining, and a badly shot up company, so I'm not that impressed with my performance. I should have followed the computer's example and kept that Tiger in the back for long-range sniping. But it's just so much fun to watch the enemy run from it, that it's very tempting to say "Charge!" This is a mistake, more often than not. -- Mike Zeares (it would be neat if you could hear the German tank commanders shouting, "Achtung! Panzer!" when they spot an enemy tank)