KG Erwin -> RE: Maps need to be 10X bigger. (4/23/2007 4:43:07 AM)
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This is a point in which Vahauser and I agree : the force-to-space ratio in this game is skewed. I suppose this goes back to the game's beginnings, in which unlimited sightlines and fleets of tanks fighting each other was the name of the game. Now, as we all realize, the game has transformed into a depiction of combined-arms warfare, but the scale has never altered. Thus, the classic doctrine of deploying "two up and one back" cannot be meaningfully applied here. Reserves can only be created from local resources, which in my battles, usually means the attached tanks and engineers. In many cases, I've been forced to use the valuable engineer assets as front-line units. This is another reason I do not use mines. Jungle fighting requires a cordon defense, as sightlines are often extremely limited -- this is a fact of life in this game. To prevent enemy infiltration, every hex on the line, on even a small 40-hex-wide map, has to be covered. An outpost-style defense is simply inviting getting your troops isolated and destroyed piecemeal. I learned this early on. Once again, to expect a single reinforced infantry battalion to cover a 2000-yard front is asking a lot -- to expect it to cover 4000 yards under those conditions is asking the impossible, no matter how good your men are. Recently I've been re-reading Merrill Twining's "No Bended Knee". He was the 1st MarDiv's operations officer on Guadalcanal, and he discusses the problems of defending the beachhead, and the inland approaches, at length. Early on, the division's entire reserve consisted of one single rifle battalion. The southern (inland) flank was covered by nothing more than a thin outpost line -- they had no other choice. How they held on is nothing short of miraculous.
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