REQUEST: Winning Videos with Commentary

[uneducated]

Hopefully, somebody can actually win this game, even on easy.

I would like to see somebody video their game, explaining their choices, and discussing their tactics as they proceed to victory.
The point of the video would be to illustrate the pitfalls and tactics that are there.
The commentary would not be describing what happens, it would be explaining why something is or isn't happening.

How about it? Can anybody actually win?

[Surtur]

Hi,

There are a couple of good videos out there. Dastactic has some good stuff, as well as the Historical Gamer and others.

What mission are you struggling with?

[uneducated]

Kasserine Pass

DasTactic is a good guy but doesn't mention the decision rationales in the way I hoped. It is like he doesn't have the choices available in his mind at the time of making the comments. Also, there is scant mention of the concessions lost and won by making choices.

I shall check the Historical Gamer site.

I truly believe these instructional videos ought to be produced (or commissioned) by the developer and Slitherine should ensure all their games have this. If this doesn't happen, a lot of people will fail to appreciate the depth of the game, and all the efforts will be for naught.

I can't see how to make such a video myself. When I tried before, I couldn't create a scenario with few enough units, and now there is no scenario editor as far as I can tell.

[Surtur]

Kasserine pass is a difficult one (and is supposed to be difficult). There are various ways of dealing with it.
- First you should be aware that the enemy has Panzers, and you do not. So take any AT unit you can.
- The tanks mean they also have fire superiority, so holding the high ground might be tricky. It will give you an overview of the battle, but against all these MGs, you will suffer.
- Finally you have some mortars and artillery that can be of great help. Make sure you pick the right time and place to strike.

One thing you can try is to hold most of your units back behind the hills, only leaving some scouts (ambush mode) up there. This way, when their infantry reaches the top, you can engage them without them getting to use their tanks in support. To take out their armour, try and lure them into where your defenses are. Use your AT halftrack against the Panzers, or try and get some rifle grenades to track them.

[SteveMcClaire]

Suggestions for Kasserine Pass:

Deploy most of your infantry on the reverse slope of the hill with machine guns covering them from the rear. Just have a unit or two (preferably scouts or sharpshooters) on the crest or forward slope to spot the direction of the German attack. Keep a few units in reserve near the center rear.

The middle of the hill is impassable to vehicles so put AT guns on the flanks. Mobile AT (like the M3 tank destroyer) can be in the center so they can shift to either side depending on where the Germans go. Don't go out hunting the German tanks -- let them come to you and try to have a setup with multiple guns engaging a lone tank, preferably in a way where one has a flank shot.

Shoot up the German infantry as they come over the crest of the hill. If they take the hill victory location try to take it back with your reserve.

If things go too far south, fall back to Bou Chebka where you get reinforcements.

[Werewolf13]

Just a bit of history here that might help explain the difficulty of the Kasserine Pass scenario.

In real life the Americans got their asses handed to 'em at Kasserine Pass. No experience, poor training and poor leadership (Patton was not in command at the time) are the primary reasons why. Well - that and Erwin Rommel commanded the German troops. To maintain any sense of historocity in CC it should be impossible or at least very difficult for the American player to win it without gaming the system.

If ever there was a scenario that shouldn't be balanced - war ain't balanced by the way - Kasserine is it.

I applaud the scenario designer. Seems like they definitely got it right!

[uneducated]

Yes, it is a great fun battle! After reading this thread and after attempting it a few times, it makes me want to hear somebody who was at Kasserine Pass tell us what it was like.

Seeing the fun videos elsewhere on how infantry can defeat a tank, I can well imagine telling that to my units on those hills, and them responding we don't have any bazookas etc.

How many centimeters away from a tank must the AT gun be to have any chance of damaging it at all? I try and get it 2 or 3 cm away, but that is tough. The mobile AT is rapidly destroyed by the tank once it is engaged, and then we spend the rest of the campaign without AT!

[Bradley62]

Felt confident starting a Campaign playing The Bloody First map. Played several times previously. Awesome map. Keep going back to it. When I started Campaign on this map I was nearly ran off the map[:)] Being familiar with a map does not ensure better decision making or better results I've learned. Charming game.

[uneducated]

Thanks, Steve McClaire and werewolf13.

I think I have "solved" Kasserine Pass: don't be there! I am going to start from the beginning again, and next time, I shall have just one scout unit on the hill camouflaged and calling in artillery. When that is gone, even they are bugging-out!

I have a feeling that veterans of that battle might concur!

[ineffable]

Historically, the First Blood scenario was a close-range meeting engagement atop Djebel el Ahmera (Longstop Hill) in the rain at midnight on the 23rd. Due to a botched handover from the Coldstream Gds to the 18th Rgt/1st Div, the Germans were able to filter back into many of the positions they'd given up to the Gds the previous evening. Thus the Americans got an unexpected kick in the teeth as they approached the abandoned Brit positions. By 0900 on the morning of the 23rd, when the game scenario begins, the remnants of the US force was clinging to the western end of the hill (which was 2km long) waiting for the Gds to return and bail them out.

Wouldnt that scenario make a raw welcome to CC:TBF?

[Markowicz]

Here are 2 videos of Kasserine Pass. One Americans vs. Axis multiplayer and one Axis vs AI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ifug12rwM4A&t=5s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWLZhWItGsE&t=2s

[ringoblood]

I'm a former beta tester for this game and I'm former Seminary Assistant, now on SSDI for muli-medical reasons, which is why I been quiet since launch, but I can say outlying the technical reason for looking at the game, this battle was a pain in the bottom. If you didn't know the history of the battle or general military tactics there's no way you were going to be successful at this fight, its plan hard and has history puts it the American got there butts handed to them in Africa and most of Italy, it was the Brits to saved them.
For those that stuck with it and didn't give up good job.

Josh