COTA (mini-guide): Tutorial, AAR, and tips!

[Arjuna]

re Safe path - in theory the unit should use the safe path drawn by the tool. However, there is a  time delay imposed between the order you gave and when the unit receives and acts on it. In this time conditions may have changed eg intel on enemy, ground condition etc. So it may not always be exactly the same.
 
 

[Henri]

No one may read this given that the last previous message isyears ago, but I just read this AAR after reinstalling the game in view of the upcoming Bulge game.

I am no Rommel, but I think I have discovered a couple of flaws in your plan, Markshot.

1) You have the armored force plan to head straight through all the way, a plan that had to be modified when the tanks reached the main bridge area where the main allied defensive was, which involved some additional command delay. The plan had the tanks driving right through this area, and it should have been obvious that there would be the main Allied defense there.Given the speed of the armor, it should also have been obvious that the tanks would reach the area before the main German force would. So would it not have been better to give the armor probe or attack orders at the bridge? If the bridge defense had been considerably stiffer and armed with AT weapons, this could have led to disaster as the tanks with move orders and without infantry support began to reorganize.

2) Apparently the Allies at the bridge had delay orders (which is a mistake as pointed out by someone else since giving up the key objectives without a fight is a no-no) and they retreated before the Allied infantry could engage them. But then you used the armor to protect the bridges while the main force crossed and deployed. It seems to me that using your only armor to defend a key position is not the best way to use them, especially given the spirit of your original plan which was to drive the armor down to Larissa as fast as possible before the Allied defense could get organized. Would not a better plan would be to keep driving down as fast as possible with the armor while the infantry already across defend the bridges as best they could? Even assuming that the Allies retreat was a feint and that a counterattack took place against the bridges, the Germans have an overwhelming superiority of infantry forces, and if they originally had enough to take the bridges, they certainly had enough to hold them without the armor once they were taken.

Anyway it is a great AAR, as is the one you posted over at the Bulge forum. Your AARs give a very good taste of what the game is like.

Henri

[MarkShot]

Henri,

Glad you enjoyed it. It's been so long ago that I am ill equipped to discuss the merits of my approach. If I recall, the main focus of this AAR was speed, since the Allies were not prepared. So, my plan was "hasty attack".

You refer to the BFTB AAR, but perhaps you mean HTTR. The BFTB AAR thread was never completed.

As you can see from the thread create date, Dave told me exactly a year ago that he was releasing BFTB and so I began to scramble to get an AAR done. Well ... When, it comes to OODA loops, no one does a better job of messing with mine than The Wizard of OZ himself, Dave O'Connor.

I am sure you will have a great time with BFTB in the months to come!