What's Next General?

[MrFancypants]

Originally Posted by Destroyer25

You guys gotta get some solutions in, I posted this on the Supremacy1914 forum too, you dont want another forum to win do you? I think I might have a winning solution there.

Originally Posted by Destroyer25

Supremacy1914 has won the race. The next scenario will be posted later today.

No offense, but their solution is pretty much the same as our solution: flank to north, use heavy weapons in south for distraction/suppresion, proceed to city and then worry about the hill. So your decision seems a bit arbitrary.

[Huffardo]

Originally Posted by MrFancypants

No offense, but their solution is pretty much the same as our solution: flank to north, use heavy weapons in south for distraction/suppresion, proceed to city and then worry about the hill. So your decision seems a bit arbitrary.

Not only that, but they somehow force the companies we were not supposed to have under our command, i.e. D and F, to move. They also attack the heavily defended town, which was not only not part of the orders, but also will undoubtedly lead to company E at the very least being weakened to a point where it is unable to harm the ridge defenses if the Germans have a company in there. Since taking the town is not necessary and only slows down the capture of the ridge the significant extra losses from urban fighting can not be defended even if the defenders only had a squad in there.

[Destroyer25]

They did not move D and F companies, and attacking the town would have been the next step anyway. Also you suggested that the offensive be made in the night. And that is what the main difference is. Fighting at night is not smart.

[Huffardo]

Originally Posted by Destroyer25

They did not move D and F companies,

Alright, I guess I misread their plan then.

Originally Posted by Destroyer25

and attacking the town would have been the next step anyway.

Yes, but since you are supposed to be a mere Captain that would be a decision left to your superiors to make... Someone who risks loosing or bogging down his entire company for a town he were not ordered to take would have to face the consequences of his recklessness.

Originally Posted by Destroyer25

Also you suggested that the offensive be made in the night. And that is what the main difference is. Fighting at night is not smart.

Only partially, I'd leave as much as possible of the actual fighting to daylight as soon as a foothold on the ridge would have been secured to save the massacre that would follow moving towards it in daylight. Unfortunately the map was so incredibly useless I could not tell at what point the terrain would allow the foothold to be kept until dawn, but any further night time operations would be due to lack of time if the enemy was stronger than expected, I made the plan according to the worst scenario, so if the enemy forces were not as big and determined as they might be the fight should be over during the first day.

By the way, you can never trust a plan to hold. You'll have to constantly modify it according to the circumstances, but you seem to be locked on not telling us how our plans progress. Instead you have one ready solution which happens to seem good to you based on what only you know of the enemy that you made up, but don't realize you in reality can not know all those things and that basing your plan on such assumptions would be very foolish.


I guess I should point out that I know that my plan wasn't that great as I hardly put any effort into it, it could certainly fail in a number of ways, but I would prefer your explanations of its failure to actually make sense. Things like not telling us HQ platoon is magically glued to its position and not understanding basic realities of combat make you look like some uninformed teenager making up things based on computer games.

[Roaming East]

Since when has night fighting against a fixed enemy position NOT been a more ideal approach? The problem with night fighting is cooridinating dissimilar units in a fluid battlefield, once the battlefield becomes a static one, i.e a cutoff enemy in an exposed position, night fighting not only becomes a viable option but an effective one at that.

During the Korean war the majority of fixed postions overrun were done at night because of the ability to move in place undetected and dictate the beginning of hostilities on a proactive basis. This is assuming use of US VT fused artillary hadnt reduced any cover not deeply fortified into a sieve. How long have the germans had to fortify their position?

[Destroyer25]

Fine, go ahead and attack a night, try and coordinate your artillery and Heavy MGs to cover you without losing men to FF. This scenario is over. I will post the next one shortly, and the map is better this time.

[Anlushac11]

Advancing at night would still be better, you could at least close to be able to launch a massed assault from close range.

A number of battles were fought at night in WW1, WW2, and Korea. You did not see regular usage of night vision gear til Vietnam.

How do you supposed engagements were fought at night before the usage of night vision?

The enemy force would be at same disadvantages fighting at night, the odds would still be even except attacking troops would have cover of night to get closer to the enemy.

[Roaming East]

Originally Posted by Destroyer25

Fine, go ahead and attack a night, try and coordinate your artillery and Heavy MGs to cover you without losing men to FF. This scenario is over. I will post the next one shortly, and the map is better this time.

hey dont get pissy cause real life doesnt read out like you think it does. Terrain doesnt move and if you have an enemy in a fixed position arty isnt going to magically start lighting your own boys up just cause the sun went down. German generals complained mightily about the ability of US artillary to appear very accurately and in great volume at all times of the day and night and special mention was paid to HMG crews ability to place highly accurate plunging fire on German positions. US forces didnt rely on LMG so much as highly stable tripod mounted HMG's and static warfare was what they were designed to do.

peruse WWII Intelligence Articles by Subject, U.S. Military Intelligence Service (Lone Sentry) for a bit more realistic summations of forces if you dont buy what im saying.

[Destroyer25]

Originally Posted by Anlushac11

Advancing at night would still be better, you could at least close to be able to launch a massed assault from close range.

A number of battles were fought at night in WW1, WW2, and Korea. You did not see regular usage of night vision gear til Vietnam.

How do you supposed engagements were fought at night before the usage of night vision?

The enemy force would be at same disadvantages fighting at night, the odds would still be even except attacking troops would have cover of night to get closer to the enemy.

In this situation if the US attacks the ridge then they would be blind shooting up hill at entrenched Germans, while the Germans only need to open fire with and they'll catch the Americans in the open. In this perticular situation night fighting is not the solution. Now enough with that, I'll post the new Scenario shortly.

[MrFancypants]

Originally Posted by Destroyer25

In this situation if the US attacks the ridge then they would be blind shooting up hill at entrenched Germans, while the Germans only need to open fire with and they'll catch the Americans in the open. In this perticular situation night fighting is not the solution. Now enough with that, I'll post the new Scenario shortly.

I think in such a situation any light sources would show the silhouettes of the guys on the top of the hill against the night-sky while the guys at the foot of the hill would be relatively well hidden as they blend in with the shadowy terrain.

Besides, even if the defenders saw anyone sneaking up the hill they'd be immediately blinded by the muzzle flashes of their own weapons (which, by the way, would probably only light up the immediate surroundings and not the advancing troops).

Anyway, let's see if we can find the "right" solution for the next scenario.