Getting in cover

[Mars_the_bringer_of_war]

Could someone help with a couple of quick questions from a newbie please?:

1. The manual tells me that rough ground gives good cover. How can I tell if a particular hex is rough ground? Hovering the pointer over a hex tells me things like "mixed"?

2. What is the best way of concealing anit-tank guns to set-up an ambush. I wanted to place one in a stone building, but of course you have to tow in inside the building and the half-track demolishes the building.

Happy hunting.

[Flyboy]

1. You can usually tell rough terrain by looking at it. The cursor trick should tell you too. Mixed means just that. The rougher the terrain, the better the cover (i.e. rocks are better than long grass).

2. You can set an AT gun on a house while on the deployment menu, or if it's a lighter gun that can be moved by its crew, it can "move itself" into the house. But a collapsed structure still provides good cover, but does give away your position somewhat. I find the best ambush tactic is to set up defilading fire and/or reverse slope defense.

You should read Larry Holt's tactics guide (there's a link with the same name at the top of this forum).

[KG Erwin]

Three things you need to establish, when setting up a defense or delay mission: line of sight, cover, and height. Even against the AI, my defensive line takes some peculiar twists and turns, but terrain is both your enemy and your friend. In this game, height DOES matter, but be careful that you don't allow your enemy to see you as easily as you can see him. It's tricky, which is why I spend much time just on my initial deployment. If terrain permits, establishing killing grounds and ambush positions are vital.

While SPWaW is not, in the strictest sense, a military simulation, the proper application of accepted military principles does apply. Online period combat manuals do exist--I found one for the USMC for Amphibious Assaults (1944), and one for the conduct of "Small Wars" (anti-guerrilla and domestic disturbance ops, circa 1940). Some may find these historical manuals quaint and inconsequential, but I think they are invaluable resources --most of the basic lessons they provide are timeless, and only have been updated by the armed forces to reflect the changes in modern weaponry and tactical thinking.

[Poopyhead]

1. Just as the "floating cursor" revealed that a given hex was "mixed", so can it also reveal a "rough" hex, as well as other useful info.

2. Terrain can conceal your position, but not forever. Plan for an escape route and choose your target well. Try to envision the opponent's route of advance and pick someplace to the left or right of that route. That way you can fire on the less well armored sides of the tank. I like an ambush team consisting of an anti-tank gun (ATG), a sniper and a medium machinegun (MMG) grouped together. The sniper (a recon unit) can spot for the ATG and provide smoke so that the gun can "shoot and scoot". Once you've fired at your target, most people will fire back with infantry (less vulnerable to Armor Piercing cannons) and that's where the MMG comes into play. Your opponent may even flee for the nearest cover himself. That's the location where you put your minefield!

[rbrunsman]

Mars, two things:

1) You can set the delay for terrain messages to pop up in your preferences screen. If it is set too long, you won't be inclined to use it, if it is too short, you will find it annoying that the messages pop up when you don't want them. You have to find the best delay for your own tastes. I think my delay is .3 to .5 seconds.

2) Notice that all the advice you are getting is targeted towards using ATGs as defensive weapons. It is very hard to use ATGs in an offensive capacity. It can be done, but leading with ATGs isn't very wise. From your message, it seems to me that you may be trying to use your ATGs offensively. You should focus on using them to hold ground you have taken, not to actually take ground.

[MOTHER]

Eternal wisdom from all of the above-take it ,use it and develop it;all rules are there to be broken[&o].
"FROM THE SPWAW BOOK OF FENG CHUHI"-available from any non reputable book store:make sure you read it from 'cover to cover',yuk! yuk!