Newbie - advice please

[petesnook]

Hi
I am pretty new to wargaming (have spent years in flight sims). Have dabbled with Battleground Waterloo and Civil War, but haven't got anywehere near competency with these. I was intrigued by the Panther games, and have recently purchased HTTR and COTA. Thought I'd try HTTR first (so I'm not confused having to go backwards from COTA's new features).
I've bought the strategy guide, read through the mini guides and some of the AAR's, and these 'games' look amazing!
I can see how much depth there is here!
It seems that one 'attribute' you need to really get the best out of these games is to be able to look at the map, the counters, all the status information that's available etc, and to picture in your mind what's happening....kind-of extrapolate from the information you're being given (that's what the AAR's seem to show).
Hope I'm making sense.
I guess you get used to this (I'm not being at all negative here...I can see how great this system is...just realising what a newbie I am).
At this stage, I find things a bit confusing, even my own OOB...I know the way COTA displays this makes it easier to follow, and I understand the use of the arrow keys to navigate your way round the command structure. But I still find it hard to remember what I've got, especially when trying to formulate some kind of plan, where you need a good overview of your own troops.
Are there any tips in terms of making the learning curve here easier? I presume after a while this all comes a lot easier. Until I can work up to the kind of thinking process that's demonstrated in the AAR's, should I keep notes, maybe 'fill-in' a checklist or something?
Interested to hear any thoughts on this.
Thanks

[Arjuna]

Welcome petesnook!

I appreciate your comments. Can I suggest that if you haven't done so already try Markshot's Mini-Guide:
tm.asp?m=554123

This has a plethora of tips for playing HTTR. I acknolwedge that tracking OB info is not that easy in HTTR and that is why we provided an OB tab in COTA and have significantly enhanced this in the soon to be released Battles from the Bulge ( BFTB ). However, I do recommend that you take advantage of the OB display in the ScenMaker app that comes with HTTR. Open the scenario in this and select the Units tab. Then select the desired side and expand the OB tree to the desired level. You'll have to trust yourself, though, not to look at the enemy's structure. [:)]

Another suggestion is to start with the smaller scenarios and work your way up to the bigger ones. This will get you more familiar with the typical groupments and with using the cursor keys and command lines.

Good luck.

[Arjuna]

BTW please excuse the fact that I have taken a screen dump from one of the BFTB scenarios. ( It was closest to hand. ) However, the SM interface for the Units tab is the same.

[petesnook]

Hi Arjuna,
Thanks for the welcome, and the tips. I'll have a look through the mini-guide, and the tip re ScenMaker...I'll give it a try.
I'll probably be back soon with some more dumb questions.
Really looking fwd to getting into these games,
Cheers

[petesnook]

I said I'd be back with some dumb questions (well, just one for the moment).  I've read some AAR's which have talked about building road blocks, but can't see anything in the game manual about how to do this?  Apologies if it's there and I've just missed it. 

[RayWolfe]

It's not exactly road blocks, it would be the detachment of, say, an AT Gun and/or MG unit and placing it in a position to cover a road up which you might expect an enemy to travel.

[Arjuna]

Thanks for responding Ray. I hope you are well mate.[:)]

[RayWolfe]

Oh, people like me and Markshot pop up from time to time like bad pennies. You never know but even Eddy may be lurking in the undergrowth!
Yes, thanks, I'm terrific.
Cheers
Ray