Hank vs L’Emmerdeur

[General Staff]

Here's move 5. All comments welcome.

1) Utah. I'd be defending with the CA units along the coast. First they are a major deterrent to naval units moving up in support and secondly they have some decent intrinsic firepower that can be useful (MGs, Squads, Arty). You're maybe a bit far back here to hope to hold Cherbourg for another 8 turns.

2) I don't use anything other than IL settings unless it's arty, HQs or engineers or it's routed or retreated and needs to get away pronto (ML). Rationales explained elsewhere.

3) 43,36 as example. I always try to leave a unit 1 MP when moving up to dig in- you never know when you can use that trench on the way back. Also a lot of TR- I use very sparingly. And I can't remember the last time I used LR- a good opponent if he sees it will have your unit dancing ditties/foxtrots/tangos (really whatever amuses him) in no-mans-land using heavy shelling to keep time for your lads while they still have both legs. Units not dug in get hurt more by interdiction and when moving up in the open to support through enemy arty. Best to keep heads down unless you've a good reason to stand up and be counted (and shot down). But good placement and nice secondary lines at Omaha. SP units in the towns (really read roads) work wonders.

4) Points east. Nice aside from TR and other points already made. Also I try not to put AA units by themselves- easy overruns. Also HQs and arty when I can avoid if not fairly far behind lines.

5) Think combined arms stacks. Some infantry, some armour or AT (88s). Don't overstack infantry- best to defend in depth rather than all in one hex, and this I believe was (effective) German tactical doctrine.

6) Watch east river- he has engineers to get over this.

7) Some arty not dug in. Remember if in mobile mode it can get hit hard by interdiction plus it won't support anything defensively- to do this it must be dug in or on LR (don't) or TR.

Hope this helps. These are of course my opinions and I do appreciate you are all out there testing your own theories. Keep it up. Good luck!

[Hank2]

When an arty is defending ("D" on the map counter) in a hex with some entrenchment value (+12% or so) ... is it less vulnerable to interdiction?

... will it provide support when in Defensive mode? I thought it did but I could be wrong. (at work and can't look) sshhhh!

Or do I have to tell the arty to dig in every turn? Or tell it to be in TR?

... I'm sure I missed a few arty units and their sitting out in Mobile status ... oh my ... Maybe they wont see me.

hank

[General Staff]

When an arty is defending ("D" on the map counter) in a hex with some entrenchment value (+12% or so) ... is it less vulnerable to interdiction?

... will it provide support when in Defensive mode? I thought it did but I could be wrong. (at work and can't look) sshhhh!

Or do I have to tell the arty to dig in every turn? Or tell it to be in TR?

... I'm sure I missed a few arty units and their sitting out in Mobile status ... oh my ... Maybe they wont see me.

1) The greater the entrenchment value ("D"/"E"/"F" modes up to 100% fortified) the better the protection against any form of fire or attack, including interdiction. Really just common sense at work here.

2) In your opponent's turn arty dug in ("D"/"E"/"F" modes) and within range of a defending unit will supply defensive fire benefits if it passes a communications check and if it's a co-operative unit of some sort- the less cooperative the arty unit obviously the less likely to support, so internal support arty of a different formation may not support. Check cooperation in the manual for more details- also there's no quantitative measure of this that I'm aware of, though personally I tend to ignore most of the time and hope/count on some form of support.

3) Whether you have to tell to dig in has two answers. Somewhere in the manual it indicated (in earlier TOAW versions) that units with MPs left would dig themselves in at the end of your turn, though empirically I've found this dubious and tend to go through my formations unit by unit at close of turn to make sure everything that can dig does. I use TR very sparingly at the best of times and with arty only in my turn when I want fire support AND may need to move the unit later to support a breakthrough or just go somewhere else. Otherwise I pretty much always dig in when I can though if you use in direct fore support and your turn ends early obviously you're screwed. In TR the last thing you want is for your arty to move up in your opponent's turn to support defensively in a hex under attack, where it just gets thrown in as essentially infantry, and will often/usually take heavy losses given its passive role and the fact it's out in the open and not dug in.

Hope this clarifies/helps.

[Hank2]

Turn 6 ... for your enjoyment

I'm going to try and post some screen prints I saved. I wish I could post them up here like I do a move (instead of having to first put them on another site).

Later
Hank

[Hank2]

http://www.flypicture.com/bin/?id=r9D9lqvc

Hope this works. I'm using flypicture this time.

As you can see, the invaders are pounding their way south toward Caen.

Shoot ... this uploading of images is unnecessarily complicated. Why can't I simply upload a jpeg off my puter?

I don't think this is working. help

[Hank2]

Lets try this again. ... using imageshack this time ... no luck

Oh well, I give up.

[General Staff]

Oh well, I give up.

Actually I find the SAL file (in a ZIP) easier to deal with. It seems to download faster than some of these 3rd Party image outfits that can be soooo slow.

[Hank2]

Move 7.

My first move without using the attack planning window. A learning experience it is.

later

Hank

[General Staff]

My first move without using the attack planning window. A learning experience it is.

It's a bit like bungee jumping- initial terror followed by an exquisite sense of freedom and exhilaration.

On move, a few issues covered elsewhere- some arty not dug in, a hex with 2 units on TR where both will probably bounce into the same hex if it's attacked and therefore duplication of effort, plus some units not broken down.

But overall looks very promising. I suspect Cherbourg will fall. Carentan too. And he may stretch you east of Caen. But I think still in with a good chance of victory here. Carry on! Good luck!

[Hank2]

Move 8.

I hope to have corrected some bad things ...

... Like messing up and leaving an arty unit with no MPs to dig in ... there's a few but a couple were emergencys

... I think I will be doing a mass pull out of the Cotenten soon ... I just hope to hold back the southern thrust long enough for the north units to get out ... "thrust" ... ?? that's a good word ...

... I'm building another line of defense south of the Aure River, south of the bocage in some hills and woods ... I hope to make a killing field in front of them ...

... He keeps creeping closer to Caen ... and east of Caen I have troubles ...

And again ... no attack planning dialog used .... none at all ...

later
Hank