Goliath vs robarrieta

[Heldenkaiser]

BTW this looks good. You have done by turn 2 what I needed three turns for.

Personally I shy away from having orange stacks in the front line. Chances are they take more damage than they inflict in a combat.

[nemo]

Others are a lot more qualified to answer this than I am, but in my limited experience after a couple of turns all artillery is permanently in the red. With only 10 turns like here, I use them anyway. I reckon they would never recover sufficiently to be of use again before scenario end, so what the hell.

Exactly. I for one seldom bother to check the supply level of any unit. Well-supplied units take precedence in the attacks over glowing-red ones and I try to ensure no unit has its supply lines cut by the end of the turn and that's about all.

A fact of life ... defenders are on IL, or have simply a high proficiency, or are some of those magically undefeatable unit types, like AGs or recon. It's not an exact science by any means ... but then I believe we have a maximum rounds per combat setting here? At least so far I've never burned more than 30% in one round of combats.

Yeah - beware the dreaded StuG or Sd.Kfz. 234 unit
As for the MRPB factor, it's set at 5 in this scenario.

[Goliath]

The attached images below show the situation at the beginning and end of British turn 3. The Germans had withdrawn from the bridges near Montecalvo and Monteccio, destroying them in the process. Lacking engineers within range, this made any advance towards Monteccio impossible this turn . However, near Montecalvo, where the river no longer is "super", I finally made contact with the Gotic Line. This turn I managed to capture Montecalvo, and barely failed to advance into the hex SW of it.

On the coastal plain, advance was hampered by German straddlers, which were mopped up. In the final combat round, I nearly captured Pesaro.

Victory points before the final round was 85 against 15 in German favour. Loss penalties were 16 against 10, resulting in a British victory level of -64.

Next turn, I hope to hold and widen the gap in the Gotic Line near Montecalvo, and using engineers to bridge the river near Monteccio and by the coast, so that I can put some pressure against the Line in these areas. My biggest worry is that German reinforcements may arrive soon. I need to get through the Line before the defence thickens...

Questions:

(1) I sometimes use air units in direct support of attacks. Is it better to set them to "Combat support", in which I suppose they support all attacks?

(2) I just want to check that I have understood support and icon colours. For example, when a Canadian formation (white on blue with brown background) has "Army support", does it mean that it will fully cooperate only with Canadian units, partly cooperate with e.g. British (red on white with brown background, and not cooperate with the Poles (red background)?

[Heldenkaiser]

(1) I sometimes use air units in direct support of attacks. Is it better to set them to "Combat support", in which I suppose they support all attacks?

It is my understanding that the difference is the same as for artillery units. In a direct fire mission, it will use its full power, but only once per combat round. Being in support, it can support several combats per round (actually I believe an infinite number, but I am not sure), but only at reduced power.

[Veers]

(actually I believe an infinite number, but I am not sure)

Correct.00

[Telumar]

(2) I just want to check that I have understood support and icon colours. For example, when a Canadian formation (white on blue with brown background) has "Army support", does it mean that it will fully cooperate only with Canadian units, partly cooperate with e.g. British (red on white with brown background, and not cooperate with the Poles (red background)?

Basically it means this. But beware. As the manual states: "The degree of cooperation is based on the best possible Cooperation Level between two units." (18.9.2.) So, if the Poles were on free support there would be absolutely no problem with cooperation.

[Goliath]

Apparently, the Germans were not aware of the British engineer units' ability to bridge super rivers. This made it possible for me to advance through the Gotic Line and into the plain beyond . Also, the Germans opted to move reinforcements into Pesaro, which I chose to try by-pass and cut off. Unfortunately, I was faced with a premature turn end , so the cut-off was not realized this turn.

In the center, Monteccio was surrounded, but not captured, in spite of vicious fighting (perhaps that was the turn-burner).

To the west, I managed to advance one hex before the turn ended...

In summary, it seems that the Germans made a grave mistake in leaving parts of the defensive line unmanned, but it worries me that most artillery were left mobile at turn end and will not give supportive fire

Here is the situation at end of turn:

[Goliath]

During their turn 4, the Germans managed to push the Brits back in one or two hexes, but were otherwise concerned with a difficult disengagement near Pesaro and patching the front in the centre.

British turn 5 started with maneuvering as many troops through the gaps in the Gotic Line, flooding the plain behind. After the first round of battles, almost the entire Line was in British hands. The second round softened some defending units along the Conca river, and in the following combat round, British units crossed that river at one or two places. The turn ended in this combat round, due to the fierce defence by a batallion of Pz IV:s (3x"British continue attack", despite "minimize losses" ). Luckily, my artillery units are entrenched and will give defensive support.

In summary, situation looks good - almost all german units are retreating. The only cloud is the panzer division that popped up in Rimini. They will beat the Brits to the victory point hexes north of Conca river.

Some questions:

(1) When I move artillery units and fortify them, do they support attacks within range from their new location during the whole turn (irregardless of number of moves spent)? It is my impression that they do.

(2) I have been warned about the turn-burning tendency of, e.g, the StuG III unit, and also learned it the hard way this turn. What is the common characteristic of units with this ability? High proficiency? Armoured equipment?

Here is the situation at end of turn:

[Telumar]

Some questions:

(1) When I move artillery units and fortify them, do they support attacks within range from their new location during the whole turn (irregardless of number of moves spent)? It is my impression that they do.

(2) I have been warned about the turn-burning tendency of, e.g, the StuG III unit, and also learned it the hard way this turn. What is the common characteristic of units with this ability? High proficiency? Armoured equipment?

1) Yes

2) High proficiency, Armoured, High Recon.. generally a battle goes on and on if both sides do not inflict enough damage to the other side to force the other side to break off or retreat. So, if you have a unit with a low AT value (or better: no assets with high AT value) fight against an armoured unit with low AP value, combined with high proficiencies (so that they are unlikely to break off) you'll have a round burning situation. Experience shows that Armoued Cars and Assault Guns are very prone to round burning. It's very seldom that you will see it in a pure infantry battle.

[Goliath]

The German reinforcements managed to patch up the front line between the coast and the mountains reasonably. However, this left the mountains open. I managed to dash a unit along mountain roads into San Marino, which meant that the entire German-controlled territory became observed.

I moved artillery units forward into the plain N of the Gotic Line and fortified them there. In this way, the majority of my combats this turn had huge indirect artillery support. The following combats pushed the Germans back along the Conca River, which was crossed along its length. The weared-down German units N of Montecalvo broke and retreated. Almost all previously encircled units were evaporated. Vicious defence burned my turn - I only had two rounds of combat.

Notable victory point hexes gained were (W to E) Gemmano, Misano Adriatic and Pesaro.

This screenshot shows the situation just before resolving the first round of combat. The front at end of turn is indicated by the red line.