Detailed Combat Example

[Barthheart]

But first I want to see if any of the HQ units of this formation has any way to help out with action cards.

Looking at the counter for it’s direct command, II Corps HQ, it has no cards available. Same for he next level up, 4th Army HQ.

But Army Group North HQ has this card which could help raise the experience of all the 32nd Inf Div. by 10 points. Experience increases the effectiveness of units. Experience is also gained from combat.

[Barthheart]

Clicking “Play Card” brings up this screen where you select the unit you want to affect. You can only play cards on units in the same chain of command. Selecting any part of 32nd Inf. Div. will affect the whole division. The affects last until the end of the current turn. (If I had played this card before my arty attack it might have helped the 32nd Inf. Div. arty unit do more damage.)

[Barthheart]

Now we see the unit’s effectiveness has increased.

[Barthheart]

To make the attack select the target unit again, click the land attack button and then select all the adjacent units you want to attack with.

Again stack points limit the amount of effective fighting forces in this attack. If you have more than the number on the right you will still do more damage but you will take many more casualties yourself.

The maximum stack value increases for each hex side above 2 that you attack across. So 1 or 2 hex sides it’s 100, 3 hex sides it’s 150, 4 is 200, 5 is 250 and 6 is 300. This simulates the congestion on the battle field.

Also notice the Concentric Bonus for attacking from more than 1 hex side and the Division Bonus for having more than 1 part of a division adjacent to the target hex - doesn’t have to be involved in the combat just next to the target.

[Barthheart]

Click the attack button to see the results. You can see here that I caused the Polish unit to retreat and the losses that we both suffered. Also note that instead of dots there are now numbers under each icon. You can change back and forth by going to the Prefs tab at the top of the main screen and selecting “Combat Numbers”.

[Barthheart]

Here you can see that the Polish unit has retreated directly away from my attack. Use this to predict retreat paths!

I can now select my attacking unit and advance into the vacated hex. This costs no AP’s since the cost was paid to make the attack. The small red arrows show hexes that the selected unit has enough AP’s left to move and attack. The grey hexes show possible moves based on available AP’s.

You can also see in the unit info area that it’s integrity and readiness have dropped a little since it took some losses in battle and it’s moral and experience went up a little since it won the battle. All of these affect how it will fight in later combats. If allowed to rest, ie not move or fight, it will recover it’s readiness.

[Barthheart]

So I occupy the hex. Notice on the very top line is some info about the hex. Most interesting right now is the AP penalty for this hex. Because it started the turn in enemy hands it cost 5 extra AP’s to move into and because a battle was fought here there is an additional penalty of 6 AP’s. The larger the battle the larger the penalty.

[Barthheart]

Now I can exploit the hole with my armour. Panzer Lehr moves first.

[Barthheart]

Then 3rd Panzer Div. will spread out through the gap.

You can see that I gain control of some hexes that I haven’t entered. This is because each unit exerts a ZoC, zone of control, and if my ZoC value on a hex is 4x the enemy value I get control. ZoC’s also make it more expensive in AP’s to enter hexes.

[Barthheart]

Then I move my Motorized units to help keep the gap open.

This is only one way to conduct an attack. There are many many more.

I hope this helps some newer players and shows some of the fence sitters ([;)]) how the game works.

[oldspec4]

excellent write-up...thanks for doing this.

[Blind Sniper]

excellent write-up...thanks for doing this.

Indeed.
It helped me to understand how some symbols work.

Thanks

[Seydlitz69]

Thx. Great write-up- This explained a lot to me.

[Barthheart]

Glad you all liked it and it helped some.

Hope you all enjoy the game as much as I do.

[Puhis]

So, combat works pretty much like in AT?

[dougb]

Just like to chime in with my thanks as well. I'm really enjoying the game so far though I've spent the little time that I've had just tinkering and reading the manual. I think that these examples are tremendously helpful as a few things appear to get only very short explanations in the manual (and some none at all).

Best wishes,

Doug

[G Felzien]

Excellent post. My first game was Case White as the Poles. Of course I was really uncertain of what I was doing: read everything but its still new. Everything was set for historical. Every turn was tense. I must admit, it was only until the last couple of turns did I realize that I was going to win. Lodz ended up being a smoking ruin for a week or so!

Very tense and your post clearly demonstrates the ability of the game to model combined arms. Thanks

[Barthheart]

ORIGINAL: Puhis

So, combat works pretty much like in AT?

Similar but with reworked values and some routines. [8D]

[TPM]

ORIGINAL: oldspec4

excellent write-up...thanks for doing this.

Again, thanks...this was really helpful.

[sanderz]

thank you

that really helped - several little tips i hadn't noticed


most useful to me was the explanation of the combat stacking info on the combat screen (which i don't think was explained in the manual) - i had been trying for BIG numbers which must have made my combs very inefficient - but if i read you correct attackers should be aiming for a attack stack value of equal or just below the the def stack value

presumably the combat values on the actual units will give you a better idea of the likely combat outcome?

once again thanks

doc