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I've tried this scenario a few times now, and just finally got a decisive victory, but it was because of causing casualties, not taking the objective area by the midday mentioned in the briefing.

For anyone who has played it, when did you actually take the objective? I think it was about 2pm before I got it.

I guess it is silly to keep playing this one, but it really is a good learning tool, since the armor and recon units are so limited in the rough/forest terrain and need to stay in clear/roads (decreasing their usefulness). It would be great to see the HttR scenarios using the CotA engine!

Well, at first I had some trouble as well. But now I can get the objective at 12 am the latest. I first move up my recon as quickly as possible and push agressivly against the inf company hiding in the forest. Then my inf bt is moving up, getting ready for a tough fight a little south of where the recon is fighting it out. Now I did attach aa and at evenly to both, the recon and the rangers. The following part is I think essential. I set aggro on both, the tanks and rangers on a low setting, so like this, they don't engage this inf coy, which is really annoying. Then I launch an attack at first with the tanks along the road, quickly followed by the rangers, all the way up on the hill (don't forget to change aggro again, once you passed the inf coy...). Also important I believe, is to wisely use the rising sun. Try to get your attack preperation done right when the sun is rising. This has a fairly big impact I believe. If you're still reorging when the sun's coming up, you run into troubles...
Also, once the road is clear, I move my tanks up to the bridge to get some covering fire on the northern part of the hill... Easy victory and a very good tactical exercise...

Thanks for the tips!

The quickest plan that can produce a Decisive victory for me (painfully realistic order delay) is the following. Using this approach, I have managed to clear the ridge long before noon, IIRC. I'm not in front of my home PC, so I can't remember formation names or objectives, but you should get the idea.

Basic principles
There is not enough time, so risks will be taken, especially concerning a) parallelism of operations, b) inadequate recon and flank protection, c) armor engagement in close terrain, d) the keeping back of no reserves initially

The infantry Bn will be the main attacking force (terrain and arrival time reasons), with recon units acting as screening forces, and armour acting as moving firebase.

Step 1: Recon by force. Send the recon formation en masse to screen the FUP area (open space just south of the path through the forest (where the enemy's first line is hiding). Their mission is to engage possible enemies and allow space and time to the main attaking force to form up and attack. Since they're supposed to clean up the route of advance and FUP, max Aggro, quickest route, rapid fire, medium losses. Once the main attack starts, the recon formation will be kept in reserve for fast intervention.

Step 2: Main attack. As soon as the infantry Bn arrives, order it to attack the hill, using as FUP the open space that hopefully by then will be cleared by our recon formation. Max aggro, quickest route, rapid fire, high losses. Using an open space to form up has the disadvantage of being easily spottable and might suffer artillery. However, since a) time is limited (so open space FUP works out quicker), the formation is large enough and the attack distance short enough for the enemy to spot them in forest with the additional devastatig artillery treeburst effect, an open space FUP is the best option. Attacking right away with the infantry Bn is crucial, since orders take long to propagate and I can't afford to wait for a two step attack.

Step 3: Provide an attacking fire base. The armour is ordered, as soon as it comes, to move via the quickest route towards the ford on the NW of the hill, with Max Aggro and rapid fire. Losses are kept low, tanks are expensive and the terrain is bad enough. These tanks will start moving and fire at anything that opposes either our infantry or our recon. They have a long enough AP radius to be useful while being relatively safe. Slowly bypassing the hill will put them in a position to flank the objective should the main attack prove to be difficult.

This should be enough, with the minimum set of orders per formation.

One last note, I always approach the formation of a plan with pure situational criteria, that is disregarding my previous knowledge of where enemy forces are deployed. It's more realistic and fun this way, and a better learning experience overall.

The best thing about the series is that they force you to deal with the chaos that the battlefield is and to plan realistically in order to prevail. Enemy units will infiltrate, formations will become a mess if left in the middle of it all unattended, plans will have to be reconsidered. No sanitization here, and no pretty hexes and rules to hide behind. I just love this game! [:)]

/coralsaw

Coralsaw: Much better and preciser formulated than me... My english just isn't brilliant... Question: When you order the tanks to the fort nw, are they using the route? With me, they get stuck sometimes, trying to move through the forest... How can I make them use the road?
I didn't play HTTR, and just started with CotA. It really is brilliant. I also bought TOAW3, but this just has to wait for quite a while... [:)]

Your english is perfect, don't worry phil!

Glad we share opinions. I decided to write in a bit more detailed manner in order for newbies to understand a bit better the philosophy of the series, which is miles ahead (or away) from everything else.

As I said, I'm not in front of my PC now, but AFAIK the tanks would follow the road no problem, if I gave them the quickest route. If in doubt, give them a couple of waypoints and they'll obey.

COTA is brilliant. But to enjoy it fully you have to forget anything and everything that you know from other operational systems and start afresh with an open mind and the will to act like a real commander (probably) would.

With the only other series I've had this same feeling of immersion is with the Battlefront Combat Mission series, at the tactical level of course.

/coralsaw

ORIGINAL: coralsaw

Your english is perfect, don't worry phil!

Thanks, but still, I feel kind of "handicaped" in a way...

The feeling of being a commander in charge on a battlefield in CotA is really amazing. I talk to myself like: "OK, my intention is as follows: I want to take point... and so on..." really cool. I never really got into combat mission. I own all three parts, tactical level is my thing, the game seems to be perfect, but I always had trouble with the differences between "abstract underlying engine" and the 3d presentation (am I still in the forest, or is half of my platoon compromising my position? questions like this...)

I would love to play CotA against a human opponent. This must be a blast! Never played wargames online, but with this one, I might just get into it...
Maybe I even try to write an AAR. Never did this before either...

ORIGINAL: coralsaw

Your english is perfect, don't worry phil!

Thanks, but still, you feel kind of "handicaped" in a way...

The feeling of being a commander in charge on a battlefield in CotA is really amazing. I talk to myself like: "OK, my intention is as follows: I want to take point... and so on..." really cool. I never really got into combat mission. I own all three parts, tactical level is my thing, the game seems to be perfect, but I always had trouble with the differences between "abstract underlying engine" and the 3d presentation (am I still in the forest, or is half of my platoon compromising my position? questions like this...)

I would love to play CotA against a human opponent. This must be a blast! Never played wargames online, but with this one, I might just get into it...
Maybe I even try to write an AAR. Never did this before either...