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C'est magnifique, mais n'est ce pas le guerre  Entente Germans Bonkers. Utterly, utterly bonkers. Three cavalry companies just changed the course of the battle. It is 7:30pm and the light is fading fast. n.b. I will gladly discuss the specifics of my rules for close combat and my analysis of why that went so catastrophically wrong after the second 1914 battle begins; they will be a lot less useful in 1915 and I don't want players knowing exactly how it works just yet. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Feb 28, 2017 |
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Feb 28, 2017 04:42
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The German Roll20 is eerily silent. The French Roll20, on the other hand... (Warning: chatlogs, feel free to skip.) quote:Hunt11 (97th Brigade) (GM): The man of the hour is here quote:Loel (lucky 99th) (GM): really wondering what the germans could have done differently quote:Slim Jim (Chief of Staff) (GM): They could have sent a brigade up la cote as easily as we did quote:my dad (Corps Commander) (GM): question: Who drew all the dicks? quote:my dad (Corps Commander) (GM): Remember this, though: They still have a chance of winning quote:Bacarruda [22nd Div] (GM): I feel like much of this battle has been my dad and I misunderstanding each other quote:my dad (Corps Commander) (GM): heh The Great Goon War: A Lunatic Brigadier on a Horse 
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Feb 28, 2017 16:38
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Hey, want to know the really funny thing? That runner is 99% going to reach St C in the next couple of turns, they'll phone to General Kuno, and General Kuno is then going to tell them, "very well, hold on to the last man, casualties be damned, hold on until dawn!" and revoke the 3/4 losses auto-lose condition for them. Ain't I a stinker?
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Mar 2, 2017 01:06
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The win condition stays the same as it ever was; but the reward for a team getting to the corner objective is that, once they've done that, if they're going to lose the battle, they have to lose by being pushed out of the objectives they've taken, and not because the enemy accidentally at night bumblefucked into a brigade that's nowhere near anything important and caused a cheap end-by-bookkeeping. The end-by-bookkeeping result condition was only ever there as a backstop to ensure that the battle would end if neither side was going anywhere, without the need to fluff around looking for a negotiated draw like at the end of Grey's 1914.
Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 03:51 on Mar 2, 2017 |
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Mar 2, 2017 03:48
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Update links: this time with a both-sides map so we can see exactly what's going on, being omniescent observers and all: Entente Germans  It's 9pm; the next update will see us through to 1am. (Also just noticed there's some fieldworks on there that need to be filled in, one of many excellent reasons why I'm considering replacing the Divisional/Corps assets system with making everything into its own brigade, including engineers and artillery.) And it's now time for Episode 4 of " Crazycryodude posted:The comedy option is hoping they don't leave a garrison in Q and I can just walk back in when everybody goes to pound on Croissant. Comedy option is right, dude  Vando posted:I think people giving up and neglecting to put orders in is a very good representation of falling battlefield morale if you ask me It's pretty much literally MoltketheYounger@theMarne.txt, although it's one piece of historical accuracy I think we could do without! Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Mar 2, 2017 |
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Mar 2, 2017 21:17
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Paul.Power posted:Look at xthetenth go. Assuming the runner gets back to Clemenceau: the French victory timer activates, their 3/4 requirement goes away, but they get a nasty surprise when the game ends before they think it's due to; the German timer will finish first, and the Germans will still be credited with a minor victory.
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Mar 2, 2017 23:29
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But they would have lost their objective 1 and been beaten to the punch of getting the heavy mob in as reinforcements. (This is why I plan two levels of analysis: assuming things stay as they are, General Kuno will think it's a minor victory, General Lyautey will see it as a minor defeat, and The Historical Consensus 100 years later will think of it a rough stalemate; just another, and relatively obscure, component of the incredibly-inaccurately-named Race to the Sea.)
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Mar 2, 2017 23:47
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Not to mention that, even if Cassandra is actually cheating (if he is, which I don't believe for a moment, he's also an exceptional liar and rationaliser), cheating's no good at all if nobody else actually listens to the intelligence you've gained...
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Mar 3, 2017 14:49
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It is now 1am. Germans French Look at that morale bounce on the German side! As I see it: if both sides move forces, the French have a decent chance of pulling this back to at least a stalemate; if only one side moves forces, the Germans probably win more than they are doing at the moment. And now, the action replay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4NJc7oT-jQ Turn 31  Turn 32  Turn 35  Turn 36  Turn 37  Again, please note that that wire isn't actually there until after Turn 38 ends. edit: the way to win, if there is one, is surely for the French to circle round behind the enemy under cover of darkness and then charge their artillery from behind, but I doubt they have time/will think of it. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 23:46 on Mar 3, 2017 |
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Mar 3, 2017 23:41
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The only way those units can be given orders is if another BHQ comes within 8 inches of a leaderless chit, it can attempt to press them into service with its brigade (as happened with the French 97th after the first attack on St C, and the German 77th after the disaster on Dejeuner).
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Mar 4, 2017 00:12
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Ending the battle does not automatically equal a victory. If Mon Pere had pulled off a miracle and ended up in control of St Croissants and Quatreprouts as well as Faibleimpot when the timer expired, the result would almost certainly be no better than a stalemate, and possibly a French victory of some sort, since they would have been in control of their objectives at the end of the battle and the Germans would not be.
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Mar 4, 2017 20:54
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It's now 5am, and it's almost certainly all over bar the shouting. French Germans Instant replay:      [Turn 43 absent, apologies]   edit: just been in Roll20 and it seems almost certain that we have a consensus for knocking the final six turns on the head and proceeding to the end of the battle, update pending Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 22:51 on Mar 4, 2017 |
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Mar 4, 2017 22:16
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The last six turns have been played. Full analysis in each team's thread: in short, this battle is a minor German victory and there will be another battle here in 1915 on the same map, with the following approximate trench line. French End German End  All threads are now open to all players.Signups for 1914 Part 2: From La Dand to Effyaders, will begin on Monday, with the battle hopefully beginning the Monday after that, 13 March. We're going to need plenty of players, so don't get discouraged if there are already 20 other signups before you. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 23:46 on Mar 4, 2017 |
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Mar 4, 2017 23:36
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Response pending, but just for the avoidance of doubt: we're cool, no whiteknighting required edit: I'm gonna give this one 24 hours to marinade. For now: he's right about some things, some other things I don't think are quite as clear cut. I'm not going to spoil the next map just yet, but I will say it looks and plays completely differently to this one. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 00:06 on Mar 5, 2017 |
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Mar 4, 2017 23:55
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You're all allowed into all threads.
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Mar 5, 2017 03:15
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steinrokkan posted:You are missing the part where Germans sent in an overwhelming force five hours ahead of French reinforcements and connected the gains made by us. Partly what this man said, with a small slice of "well, if my initial instincts tell me the line should go about there (which was slightly more generous to you in places), if I move the line back to halfway on Dejeuner and back off Pasteur to about here, that opens up some more interesting possibilities for 1915". I may tweak that line further, and you will have some discretion in where you place the actual trenches before the battle begins; that might mean an opportunity to shove forward again some more with (abstracted) local attacks before the big push.
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Mar 5, 2017 11:39
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Signups for 1914 Round 2: From La Dand to Effyaders, are now open. Here is the map. Further explanation of the various terrain features is available in either thread, but new for this round. Most importantly, waterways, some with bridges! On the left, a canal; in the middle, a shallow, fordable river; on the right, a deep river. Changes of elevation are much less important than round St Croissant, but the hill spotting rules have been tweaked, and there is also a depression on the left of the map and a sunken road, the Chemin Creux. (There are a few unnamed features that you are welcome to submit names for in here.) Also, you will get to play with indirect artillery fire for the first time! All this and more, if you consider Northern France for your holidays this autumn! Players intending to sign up may read either thread, up to and including the clearly-marked introduction post for Round 2, at which point you must go no further. Choose your side and sign up by posting in their thread. The observer thread remains open to both sides, for the time being, and I encourage players who sign up in a thread to also post in here to let people know which side they're taking. We are going to need a lot of commanders, and part 1 has shown how vital it is to have plenty of other players waiting in reserve. Don't be discouraged if there's already 10 or more signups for your preferred side! There may well be a chance for you to get into the game very quickly. Warning: these links go directly to my intro posts for Round 2: you can go back from them, but not forward. Entente thread German thread These links, on the other hand, go to the OP of both threads. Entente OP German OP (For the observers, I am probably going to wargame at least one scenario for a poo poo-or-bust French attack on St Croissant, based on the finishing positions, during the week once the observer thread closes for good.) Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 15:44 on Mar 6, 2017 |
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Mar 6, 2017 14:55
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JcDent posted:I still don'tw get the rules and I don't want to gently caress up like I did in Grey's game, so, ugh, you can take the glory, guys. Seconding that non-playing staff officers who want to restrict themselves to one thread and give advice and opinions without having to command their own brigade are more than welcome.
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Mar 6, 2017 16:30
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Tevery Best posted:Hey Trin, got any way to contact you if I don't have PMs? makersley.com/war , send me an email via the contact page, mourn for the lost time that means I'm still struggling to get any kind of update schedule together
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Mar 6, 2017 17:54
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Just get stuck in, both sides need as many warm bodies as they can get. edit: any undecided players reading this, go join the Germans please Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 20:41 on Mar 6, 2017 |
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Mar 6, 2017 19:44
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Volunteers will kindly proceed immediately to their team's thread and post in it 
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Mar 6, 2017 23:27
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Players, please be extremely careful about what you say in here; once again, different sides are being told different things and you'd hate to blow something that was supposed to be a surprise.
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Mar 7, 2017 00:40
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The observer thread will close to players tomorrow, on Wednesday, but I'll leave an extra day or two for last-minute signups before I start talking spoilery.
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Mar 7, 2017 14:59
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There's not a massive disparity, but we could use a few more Germans.
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Mar 7, 2017 18:29
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THE THREAD IS NOW CLOSED TO PLAYERS If you are reading this thread for the first time, at some point after midday on March 8th, this is your last chance to sign up for either side. If you read any further, you are committing to not playing in this round of the game. Right then! Spoilery analysis of the map and etc to follow tonight.
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Mar 8, 2017 16:19
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About the Map The map for this round is directly informed by the last map; it's specifically designed to be a contrast to the last map and to provide a different experience. It's pretty obviously and unavoidably based on the First Battle of Ypres, the final gasp of mobile warfare before the trench lines were completed. The BEF was horribly outnumbered and battered to poo poo, and the Germans psyched themselves out of a victory that was there for the taking because of faulty intelligence. Let's see if lightning strikes twice, shall we? In general: the last map was nearly square, with a lot of unknowns about where exactly the enemy might be coming from and where they might be going to. The counterpoint to that was that they got plenty of tall hills and suchlike, so the teams could judge by the observed movements of the enemy where their objectives were. They also got a lot of forces on-board at the start and then a few reinforcements, but not much control over when the reinforcements would arrive. So this time, we've got a big long rectangular map with a big fat juicy objective at each, and then a pile of chokepoints to restrict options even more. On the other hand, with little useful high ground and the anti-spotting area of the depression, while the general question of "where does the enemy want to go?" is far more obvious, this time the question "which way do they want to go to get there?" will be the one to answer. Trouble is, since I've taken all the hills away, it's going to be rather more difficult to find them. Likewise, this time we've got only a limited force arriving on-board, and then a lot of reinforcements to come, who will arrive on a predictable schedule so their arrival can be planned for. (With the new fatigue point mechanic, I'll also be offering commanders the chance to accelerate their reinforcements' arrival at the cost of them arriving with a fatigue point.) As to the map itself, it's quite clearly set up for attack/defence. The Germans cross the big river unopposed, and then the sunken road has been carefully located at a position where both sides will blunder right into each other if they both rush for it; it could either be a valuable forward advance line of resistance for the BEF or a solid baseline to underpin further German advances. Then there's hopefully an almighty scrap to defend the stream and its fords, then the twin obstacles of the depression and the forest, and then a final run across mostly-open ground to the canal; but also, hopefully, the map is resilient enough to cope with unexpected happenings like the BEF digging in at the edge of the hill or the Germans rushing across the stream quicker than anticipated. I've also set things up this way to give engineers a bigger role in the rear, preparing fallback positions and erections. The spotter plane becomes much more important; what will they use it for? I think its best use, even on Day 1 is held back until late afternoon to check the rear for trenches and gun-pits and wire, locating things to be dodged around, and potential targets for indirect fire. How will indirect fire change the battlefield? Should be a good laugh - but there's one thing I'm more interested to see the answer to than everything else put together. We'll save that until tomorrow, though.
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Mar 9, 2017 00:46
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The first things that pop into my head are: my dad's suicide squad, lenoon's doomed reservists, xthetenth the Lunatic Brigadier on a Horse dunking on everyone, the Amazing Disappearing Howitzers, Hunt11 gets lost, Slim Jim Pickens puts the "Chief" in "Chief of Staff"
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Mar 9, 2017 01:10
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The Elephant in the Room So, here's the One Big Question, on which the answer to every other question about this round depends. The rules for combat in this game are hideously complicated, but at the end of the day, they seem to end up producing results surprisingly close to what you might get from a game of Diplomacy. If equal forces meet each other while both are equally prepared, they cause roughly equal casualties. If the balance of forces is unequal in some way (either because of an outright numerical advantage, or a problem setting up the guns), the stronger force wins. That's pretty much what we saw during every major attack last round, to whit: When the French attacked the Nainville road, they ended up attacking 4 brigades to 2, all the French brigades attacking together as one force; they were aided by some crappy German dice-rolling, but they still wrecked poo poo. Then the 119th advances too far, is met with two enemy brigades, and gets its poo poo wrecked. Around St Croissant, on the other hand, they only ever managed to direct one brigade at a time against the enemy; they may have devoted equal forces to the attack as the Germans did to the defence, but instead of their men attacking together, they attacked in two separate waves and were consequently shot down (and even then, one company of the 98th made it into St C and killed a machine gun). If the right-hand division had all attacked at once instead of in waves, I'm pretty sure they'd have had a 3:2 advantage and may well have carried the day, or at least made it much harder for the Germans to occupy St C and forced them to take heavy casualties defending it. Then we look at Dejeuner Ridge, which is absolutely the story of successive attacks and each one with superior numbers. The French cavalry arrives first and deals with the Jaegers, then two more German brigades arrive and now it's 2 vs 1-and-a-bit, so they force a French retreat on Graisse. Then the German forces separate again; the strong brigade goes to Quatreprouts and leaves the weaker brigade briefly vulnerable, at which point the remnants of the 97th and cavalry come right back, with the major force multiplication of the power of a cavalry charge, and they wreck poo poo at the cost of heavy casualties. The stronger German brigade makes Quatreprouts and is then attacked nearly 3:1 by Mon Pere and the BEF and gets summarily thrown aside; then Mon Pere turns on St Croissant, attacks with a 3:1 disadvantage, and gets his own poo poo wrecked. (If, as he'd hoped, he'd caught the Germans dancing around trying to reshuffle themselves...) The correct answer to this war is, therefore, the old Hacker's Dictionary argument for building reliable systems: first ensure that you have built a really, really, really good basket, and then put all your eggs in it at once. I've slipped a few things into this scenario that will encourage people to do that ( like the frequent terrain-based chokepoints), and a few things that will encourage them not to (dribbling their forces into the battle slowly, rather than in large clumps). He who gathers his forces and then acts boldly will win. He who throws forces piecemeal into battle as they arrive and then acts tentatively will lose. (This is also the answer to some of Mon Pere's quibbles about the last scenario; St Croissant was meant to be a difficult-but-achievable objective that in the event could have been taken by a coordinated assault, and if I get some spare time I'll re-run some modified game situations to see whether it would have been possible, and how it might have been done.) Lazyfire posted:I wonder if the rules will allow for this: Get this ahistorical shite out of my thread, you rotter 
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Mar 11, 2017 16:21
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First update will be adjudicated this evening; look for it at any point after 7pm GMT. Let's have a look at the two teams' plans. For the Germans:  For the BEF:  Everything now depends on who exactly arrives where and at what time. Both sides have once again obligingly took the bait and rushed headlong to the carrot in Stethoscope. Now, without having looked too closely at the details of anyone's orders (which I never do until after deadline, to make sure I don't get confused and start using orders that were later superceded but "oh I remember what you wanted to do here"), I think the ACs are probably going to get overwhelmed by weight of numbers unless they can manage perfect positioning or they somehow arrive late enough for it to be after the German cav brigades have split up, and the best-case is that they can withdraw after taking about half casualties, terrifying the poo poo out of the Germans with their confirmed existence, and then withdraw in good order to [$DEFENSIBLE_LOCATION], keeping the Germans off-balance for long enough that they don't realise they actually have a numbers advantage. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 15:18 on Mar 13, 2017 |
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Mar 13, 2017 15:08
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Adjudication is up. British thread German thread So, let's now use our Observ-O-Vision to have a little look-see at how exactly that went down, shall we? End Turn 3:   Overview Turn 4:  The lead AC is about 22 inches from the southern German brigade. Then the Germans win initiative, both their brigades enter Stethoscope, then the ACs move up, seeing nothing: and so... End Turn 5:   Remember that, per the adjudication, both those German brigades are considered to be inside Stethoscope and cannot be seen from outside. End Turn 6:  Then it all goes off outside Stethoscope, and here's what Observ-O-Vision sees at the end of Turn 8.  So many questions! I think the most cromulent one at this stage is "will the British twig that they're facing two cavalry brigades, not one?" The Red ACs have an even-money chance of escaping with, oh, about three or four cars intact, and may well get away with more. edit: unless the Germans turtle up like big cowardly cowards, in which case they'll pull back in good order. What the Germans appear not to realise at this early stage is that they've more-than-halved the amount of firepower that Red can send at them... Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 21:53 on Mar 13, 2017 |
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Mar 13, 2017 21:41
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Speaking of Gold Team, Pater Meus makes a highly cromulent point in Roll20.quote:my dad (GM): The plan is working pretty much as intended. All that is left to see if we pay for not comitting fully to it. One extra AC would have been important here, and we're in serious danger of our forces fleeing by orders while already being commited and taking casualties but before they can deliver the killing blow. What was that I was saying about eggs and baskets? (The Germans confidently predict that there's no way at all that the BEF could possibly want to attack, and strongly consider re-jigging 2nd Brigade's defensive deployment. The BEF is unanimously agreed that yes, that cavalry brigade is indeed going to attack; and nobody has yet suggested that there might be a second lot of Uhlans lurking inside Stethoscope. Is it Wednesday yet?)
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Mar 14, 2017 02:47
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They literally are just a turbocharged MG chit. What I think's misled the Germans is the sudden and clear appearance of a rule that hasn't really been obvious before; a company which is charged has a house-ruled small chance (improved by being in a trench or the sunken road) of resisting the charge, and an MG gets another bonus to this attempt on top of that for being an MG. (IIRC one of the MGs in Quatreprouts repelled about three enemy units before being overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers.) Since this time there was only one cavalry company that survived to close combat, there was no chance for the success of another company to obscure its failure, and they're (not unreasonably) inferring that the repulsion must have had something to do with it being an AC, not because it was an MG. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 18:32 on Mar 15, 2017 |
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Mar 15, 2017 18:29
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Oh, you didn't  Update is up. British German And here now is Observ-O-Vision, starting with Turn 9:  Turn 10:  Turn 11:  Turn 12:  And Turn 16: here's the situation as the BEF sights the Germans and exits, stage left:  and the overview  So, here's my instant takeaway. The Germans are currently sitting upon the carpet and telling sad stories of the death of kings and the British are feeling extremely smug about how things have gone so far. Here's the thing: the German plan to sneak 3rd Brigade over the stream by having steinrokkan build a bridge for them is absolutely a good and cool one that will poo poo the Entente up good and proper and I'm quite certain it's going to work, even if the BEF deploys the 8th to defend the south, they'll gently caress up and defend the fords and not the whole map. The question is, will the German nerve hold? Right now I see them going "okay, let's devote everything to well and truly winning back Stethoscope and then try the fords in the morning with indirect fire", which I'm pretty sure is exactly the wrong thing to do. Secure the southern road and hold that and their erection overnight as a bridgehead, that's the correct play, but of course they lack much of the information they'd need to be sure of it. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 00:43 on Mar 16, 2017 |
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Mar 16, 2017 00:19
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Tevery Best posted:Wait, am I correct that the allies receive no further reinforcements until tomorrow? Because if so - and if the Germans grasp that the plane told them the southern fords are virtually unprotected, the British will be utterly hosed and the Effin' Zeroes could easily reach Blob before sundown. You're quite correct, but the Germans* are too busy going "oh, it must be equal forces" and inventing spurious extra brigades of armoured cars all over the place because "why would they split their cars 8/2 like that???" You have no idea how hard I'm having to resist the urge to go "yeah, that's what I said!" * It's actually just mossyfisk in Roll20, love you honey, thanks for playing, nothing personal, but you're on a hella hot streak of being completely and totally wrong about literally everything right now  edit: for fairness, the British Roll20 is currently tying itself in knots over Pater Meus's proposed cutting-out expedition to La Dand. Which is hilarious, but they absolutely shouldn't do it because the only thing it'll achieve is sticking the Germans into one huge lump on the east bank, and when they finally do get back over (and believe me folks, they will get back over) they'll be encouraged to use everything at once in one big lump instead of penny packets. edit edit: on that note, remember what I said about evenly-matched forces and eggs and baskets? 1 brigade vs 1 brigade in Steth, but the German brigade fails to bring all its firepower to bear at once. That's why they lost that one. Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 01:47 on Mar 16, 2017 |
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Mar 16, 2017 01:41
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We're up, and night's fallen. German thread British thread There's not much insight to be gleaned from Observ-O-Vision, but here's turn 18:  and turn 24:  Operation Sneaky Bridge is very much go; even if the BEF scrambles something round there, it's highly unlikely that they'll be able to spot the bridge or anyone crossing it.
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Mar 17, 2017 22:45
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What can I say, I just can't resist the urge to say "...sure!" when my players want to do ridiculous things.
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Mar 19, 2017 02:22
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Tevery Best posted:EDIT: it would be hilarious if they set up shop in that trench, then the BEF infantry shows up first thing in the morning and tries to walk into it It's better than that...
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Mar 20, 2017 23:18
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Jeez, Tevster, give me a chance to get the Observ-O-Vision up... Germans British Hopefully later I'll have time to do maps of exactly the route taken by the German 3rd Brigade (they're lucky they couldn't just wander off the map and just disappear off to the south) and suchlike, but here's Observ-O-Vision. It's from Turn 47; this is how close the BEF and Germans came to tripping over each other.  Here also we can see that as things stand, and as long as they hug the bottom of the map for dear life, the Germans can have their infantry cross the river unobserved during daylight hours...  This is as winning a position as you could surely hope for. Let's see if Roll20 and the Spirit of Sandman will take it away from them. Full position, Turn 48: 
Trin Tragula fucked around with this message at 01:14 on Mar 21, 2017 |
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Mar 21, 2017 01:12
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Mooddr posted:What do they think the Germans are doing - playing Taschenbillard in Stethoscope? They don't know what the Germans are doing. quote:The Main Body is attacking Foret de Effyaders, and the Entente is sending in a lonely Brigade to counter that. They don't know what the Germans are planning. quote:Oh, and they are deploying their They don't know where the Germans intend the action to be. quote:Never Mind that the German plan with the Bridge was a stroke of Genius, all the Germans need to do now is just play okay to win against the Entente here. And it is def. not the Scenario to blame this time. The Germans are certainly in the pound seats, but let's not forget that nobody's tried to do indirect fire yet and I fully expect them to start jumping up and down and squealing like stuck pigs once they realise that BEF brigades have even more infantry in them than French ones. The decision to pivot north could well pay dividends, but I reckon it's equally possible that they get tangled up in the so-far-unspotted wire, their timetable gets thrown off, the supporting fire lands in the wrong place, the brigades end up attacking one-after-the-other instead of all converging on the forest at the same time, and they get defeated in detail like the French at St Croissant.
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Mar 21, 2017 20:39
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Mooddr posted:The Entente have no information about the Germans, yet they send a single Brigade North. What is that supposed to accomplish? Either a) the Germans attack there - the Brigade is dead, because it is alone without support If the Germans attack perfectly, with artillery support and a 3:1 advantage in men all arriving at the same time, sure, it's dead. How likely is that, though? There weren't many perfectly-planned attacks last round and they were all on a much smaller and simpler scale. They seem currently to be targeting a 12 noon attack with no more than two brigades. If they don't, the defenders are in a big fat brigade that can take a lot of losses before they have to morale-check; it stands a reasonable chance of either driving the attack off or at least damaging it bad enough to affect the enemy's morale in the next round of orders. Even if it rolls terribly and disappears quick, it still at least spots the enemy and provides vital intelligence. quote:or b) the Germans do not attack - the Brigade is useless up there and helps noone. Calculatus Eliminatus. If you want to find a certain something, you've got to find out where it's not. This is the fork the defenders are trapped in; to be sure of winning any given battle they need to concentrate their men, but to be sure of even knowing that there's a battle to be fought, they need to spread out. No good committing everything to the south and then finding out that you've been headfaked and the enemy's taken the Foret de Effyaders without a fight and is marching through Trois Freres towards the canal. The way they're playing it seems to me to be about the best they can do with a bad hand.
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Mar 21, 2017 23:35
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