David F. Wall
Posts: 158
Joined: 5/25/2000 From: Waltham, MA, USA Status: offline
|
And now, some slightly pedantic references to the manual:
P. 34 of the manual states:
"The minimum chance for close assault of hard targets has been increased from a base of 2%, to a formula that uses the number of men assaulting. So, for example, a 10-man
squad has a base 10% chance. The effects of experience on infantry combat have been
enhanced. Experience more directly affects the men killed in a target unit."
So, the more men you have, the better off you are to start.
P. 36 goes on to say:
"Morale for fortifications units has been increased. Units that are in cover or entrenched now have a greater chance of success when close assaulting vehicles."
So, you're better off assaulting from cover than from the open, because of the effects on morale.
P. 53 tells us:
"The Skill ratings for armor, infantry and artillery are used when the leader checks to see how successful the unit is at a variety of tasks like spotting for artillery, assaulting tanks, using anti-tank
weapons, hitting targets and avoiding being spotted."
I wonder which, exactly, influences computation of chances for close assault success? If it's armor, this could go some distance to the long-standing mystery of why bailed vehicle crews are so good at close assaults.
On P. 54 we read:
"Pinned units can’t move and buttoned vehicles do not spot the enemy very well and are much more vulnerable to infantry assault."
No real mystique about that. Close assaulting when some joker is waiting with a machine gun and a 360 degree field of fire is problematic.
On that same page:
"Experienced units are less susceptible to
suppression, have a better chance to hit enemy units, spot enemy units better, are harder to spot themselves, and close assault tanks better."
We'd expect that as well.
And still on P. 54:
"The morale value is used in some circumstances to see if a unit takes certain action, like withdraw under fire, or assault a tank."
This might be the one people are overlooking.
Close assault starts here -- failing this morale check leaves them deer-in-the-headlights suppressed, and a leader who can't rally them is gonna find himself sans command in short order.
All of which is summed up on P. 65.
I've never had real quibbles with this in the game. In response to all the unlikely successes people have had close assaulting, I submit the poor, hapless airborne guys I've been trying to get off of Utah Beach.
(1st battle of Utah to the Rhine). These guys are bristling with bazookas, grenades, et. al., and don't seem to be capable of hitting Mount Everest with Moby Dick. You know things are gonna be grim when an otherwise undamaged squad can't get up the wherewithal to close assault an empty halftrack.
We'll leave the pair of AT-Guns that malfunctioned on the first shot for another note.
DFW
_____________________________
|