Using the "Melee" feature

[KG Erwin]

I don't hear of many players actually using this game feature. To do it, an infantry unit actually enters the hex of an opposing unit, and you hit "alt-M". This triggers hand-to-hand combat. The code automatically factors in all of the "hidden" weapons of the squad (bayonets, swords, knives, brass knuckles, etc).

The trick, of course, is keeping your unit's suppression level low enough to allow this "up close & personal" type of attack.

[Gun Nut]

I don't know everytime I use it my troops usually get routed I have only had good results with overrun, probably just doing something wrong. [&:]

[Puukkoo]

Thanks for mentioning it KG Erwin. Perhaps I take the Japannese for the next game.

[JediMessiah]

i use it ofeten, tho founf it works best with high morale elite troops (especially facing a low morale, green troop)


effects can be fantastic


-jedi

[junk2drive]

It works well when the enemy retreats into your hex.

[Puukkoo]

Well my ID "puukkoo" plays at least a role in Finnish OOB. In the movie "Talvisota" there's a line: "Meirän poika kuulemma tappoi heti ensimmäisenä päivänä 30 ryssää puukoolla"

Translates:"Our son was rumored to have killed 30 enemies with a knife during the first day of the war."

This is just brutish humour and not really ment to be funny.

[Goblin]

Melee and overrun kick ass! I use them all the time, regardless of the results. Love the sound effects. My favorite is when your special forces infiltrate into the same hex as an enemy unit, and then there is a flurry of knives and bayonets. Awesome.



Goblin

[KNomad]

I hardly ever initiate a melee attack.
If an enemy retreats into my hex I find it better to unload the ordanance on 'em.
That, and I can move out of the hex after a shot or two.

Overruns are another story - I love 'em! Especially the sound effects! [:D]

[Twotribes]

With 8.4 I learned that overruns result in tanks dieing. I dont do them anymore. I move in and unload on the unit in the hex, they cant retreat and dont shoot back. No chance the tank gets destroyed in this fashion.

And I dont use melee, again the computer seems to gain an advantage from it. why allow a beaten enemy the chance to fight back when you can just kill him with no loss by fire?

[Svennemir]

I think overruns were highly useful some versions ago, like 6.something. At that time it was difficult to hit dug-in infantry even when you were adjacent (actually you could do it rather easily by attacking the hex instead of the unit, but that's another story). By now it's probably more efficient just to shoot, unless you have low-caliber guns, but the coolness of overruns is still extremely high.

On the other hand, I never had much success with meleeing infantry, it's too difficult to get close compared to blasting away at range 1, which is safer because it's generally going to rout the squad anyway. One time there was a single enemy soldier left in a house, who had survived countless volleys of direct fire. I then entered the house and initiated melee combat, and he survived several attempts. Maybe he was hiding under the bed or something.

[Alby]

I use overrun quite a bit...[:)]
Need to use melee more!

[Terminus]

Always thought melee was too dangerous. If an enemy squad retreats into one of my squads, I just shoot at them. A lot! [:D]

Use overrun a lot, though...

[RUPD3658]

I like using overrun vs guns and mortars. It is more effective than shooting at a unit with a crew of 15-20. I have had a few AFVs immobilized as a result of performing an overrun however.

Never tried melee.

[Terminus]

A tank can fail to overrun and become routed, moving away very rapidly.

[Twotribes]

A tank in 8.4 can be DESTROYED by the target of its overrun attempt. I know it happened to me.

[chief]

I like "MELEE" option when going into a Antitank gun (that has no HE) emplacement [;)]and into Mortor sites, and into fleeing infantry units. Works for me under those conditions, will also use Overun for all of the above[&o]....a combo of overrun, and tank riders jumping off and a melee does a good job of closing the job site.[:-]

[Korpraali V]

I have used melee when destroying abandoned guns. If my troops are small or they don't have grenades (or sachel charges etc.) they can't destroy the gun if they just stand in the same hex. Sometimes they have failed... yes, in melee attack against empty mortar!! ...and fleed in panic. [X(]

[steelpanther]

I like both but dont use melee as much as overrun, I still cant understand why some ACs cant overrun smaller units and such. But you have to be careful about the immobility thing, lost a few units overrunning and immobilized then the crew assaulted it and destroyed it. But as far as melee goes make sure you have some grenades and short range weapons, SMGs rule in a good melee. Also melee works when you have a routed unit in the same hex as an enemy, rather that shooting at the enemy and killing some of your own, send another unit in to melee.

[Goblin]

I use them both, regardless of the consequences. The game is about fun, and they are wildly fun for me. Since kicking the computers butt is almost guaranteed, losing a units to a melee or overrun attempt really doesn't affect the outcome, but the sound effects alone are worth it to me, lol.


Goblin

[RockinHarry]

I use and like overrun whenever the possibility offers itself. Getting units moved into melee is already a difficult affair since most of the time the targeted unit will retreat from the target hex before (...or the attacking unit is mowed down). If I got it working, hitting ALT-M provides lots of extra fun usually. [:D] What I don´t like is the computer opponents tendency to shoot into melee hexes from outside, which is very unrealistic.[:@]