Arjuna
Posts: 16448
Joined: 3/31/2003
From: Canberra, Australia
Status: offline
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There are many places to go for an understanding of operational concept of war. Just google it. But basically, like tactics, it boils down to fire and movement. You can google "fire and movement" as well. Essentially you want to suppress an enemy with fire while you move close enough to destroy him or force him to retreat. From this basic manouvre all other concepts are derived, whether it being conducting attacks, pursuing an enemy, defending or delaying.
You don't need to have a detailed understanding of all the equipment to play BFTB. But you do need to understand what units are capable of. For instance, if you want to build a bridge over a blown crossing you are going to need an engineer unit with bridge. You can use the display fileters to show you only engineers on the map and then just look at their icon to see if they have a bridge symbol. Pretty easy really. If you want to attack an enemy, then the golden rule of thumb in WW2 and today is to have three times as much combat power as the enemy. A force with less ( say 2:1 ) can still prevail but the probability of success is less. As a rough rule of thumb attack a company ( a single unit of arounf 120 men ) with a battalion ( three line companies plus support mortars and a HQ ).
Combat power is a complex thing. In part it is derived from the firepower of your weapons ( ie the "hard" factors ) and this can be determined from the firepower values displayed in the side bar when you select a unit or group of units. So all you need to do is compare them. Just lassoo the enemy units; note their firepower; lassoo the frienly units and note their firepower; then divide the friendly firepower by the enemy firepower and you have a base combat power ratio.
But there are other "soft" factors to consider. These include the force's current morale, fatigue, cohesion, experience, training and fitness. Not to mention that much depends on the quality of the commanders and their staff. Supply levels and weather conditions also play a part as does the deployment of the defenders. So even though you may have a battalion of infantry attacking a lone enemy infantry company if that enemy company are entrenched veteran troops with high morale and plenty of supplies they may still defeat a poorly trained battalion low on ammunition with a timid commander.
Within the game we try and make it as easy as possible for you to assess this information. Use the display filters to see different states of data in the unit Info Box at the top right of each unit icon. At a glance these can show you what units have good morale, cohesion and fatigue; what their supply levels are like, what their deployment state is ewtc. There is even one that indicates what their current combat power is. Before I copnsider an attack I usually cycle through the display fileters to gain a good appreciuatioon of wehat units are fit for attack and only use those. Committing poor unready and unfit units to an attack is a good way to have them destroyed or routed.
One of the good things about our engine is that you can readyly experiment and learn. You can easily play a scenario in an hour or so. If you make some mistakes, so what, try again. We learn the best when we make mistakes, reflect and retry.
_____________________________
Dave "Arjuna" O'Connor
www.panthergames.com
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Is this a good game for a general strategy gamer? - 
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