MR vs thewood AAR

[Mad Russian]

I told thewood (TW) that when the game was ready I would fight him in the first game I played.

So, here we are. I never said I'd let him win though...[:D]

Since he set up the game I'll let him post his options selections and then we can post our screen shots for the game. I think he won't like the force he rolled up for me. But then again, I may not like what he got as well.

Good Hunting TW.

MR

[thewood1]

OK I'll upload my option screens in a bit...I am going to start a seperate thread for my turns though. MR and I will stay on the honor system for not peeking at each other's threads.

[thewood1]

OK here is my options screen...

[thewood1]

And here is the random battle I selected.

The way it works is pretty simple. I used the seperate "Random Battle Generator" to define the battle. It creates a scenario file that begins with the letter "R". All I do then is go into the scenrio selection and choose it.

[benpark]

MR, what size map is that?

[Mad Russian]

I'm sure it's a 1k map since it's one of the older Kursk maps.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Josh]

Thanks for the AAR guys, much appreciated.

[Mad Russian]

In all PBEM games there is a question of cheating. Especially with a game as open as PCO. Where anything and everything can be modded.

Is that really a PzIIIG or did he mod that to a Panther???

PCO checks each turn for the integrity of the of components. If they don't match it warns you. If you get that warning, which Thewood and I did, you see what is causing the problem. Usually it's something simple. But any changes to the scenarios or maps on either side will generate a warning.

Here we have cleared the issue and the game has said our data files match.

With each file you are able to communicate with your opponent. While PCO can't be played hotseat we've played using Skype to talk with each other as we send the turns back and forth. It's almost identical to playing live while you're waiting on your opponent to finish his moves.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mad Russian]

We both got a flag in the same phase.

That should prove interesting to see who can hold what they've managed to take.

Good Hunting.

MR

[thewood1]

Something I should point out...
 
I do not play a lot of MP games.  I have played CMBB a little in MP because I have a few friends I used to play regularly with, but no other game.  I am also fairly new to PCO.  I played PCK for a little while and have helped test PCO over the last couple months, but still am no where near an expert in PCO.  I still have to reference the hot key list every turn.
 
So you can look at me as somewhat of a noob in those aspects of this AAR.

[Mad Russian]

Hold down the 'k' key and it will display the hotkey list for you onscreen. That might help some.

For this battle I should have probably taken the Soviets. I thought we were in 1944. Where you would have heavier tanks.

Also, I play a lot of H2H play. I play alot of vs the AI as well when I do playtesting but I also have played considerable H2H or MP. So, in this contest I seem to have better equipment, which may not matter, and I seem to have an experience edge with H2H play and I definitely have an experience edge with PCO game play.

All in all, I BETTER WIN!

Good Hunting.

MR

[thewood1]

I have no issue with playing Soviets.  I generally prefer to play them over the germans, as long as they modelled right.

[Mad Russian]

This is just how close I came to losing this battle. If TW had managed to coordinate this move one impulse sooner I would have nothing but smoldering Panthers on this field.

Good Hunting.

MR

[thewood1]

It all came down to those flanking T34s not spotting quickly enough and then reversing when they saw they were up against Panthers. If I had just managed to kill one more panther then, it could very likely turned the tide. Too many 76mm bounced off the Panthers to make this winnable. I am not really sure what I could have done differently. In hindsight, If I had charged with the flanking T34s a little earlier and kept them charging later, I might have done it.

[thewood1]

Good game MR.  Tonight, I'll write up my thoughts on PCO in this scenario.

[Mad Russian]

Battles with T-34/76's against Panthers of any age are always tough. You had a good plan.

I was surprised when you took out one of the Panthers from the front. That had me nervous for a second. If I had lost another one I  would have probably pulled back and tried to get some distance between us.

Any plan gets thrown out  the window in short order once contact is made. In this case I kept the same plan, to protect the Panther's flanks while they went nose to nose with your tanks, against both your groups. It worked to an extent but I got the PzIII's too far forward and it almost cost me the engagement.

Good fight. I think the results were typical of the Eastern Front. The Germans lose a few vehicles they can't replace and the Soviets lose a lot of vehicles they can replace. In those rare instances where the Germans lose a lot of vehicles you get to read about them in all the history books.

I look forward to seeing your thoughts on PCO.

Thanks for the battle. I know you were a bit out of your element. I'll be glad to give you a rematch anytime you like.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Erik Rutins]

This was a tough fight for thewood. Random battles on random maps can give you force mixes that are sometimes not ideal and I think in this case the Red Army had a difficult job. A few T-34/85s or other heavier tanks might have helped and larger battles can also even things out.

Regards,

- Erik

[thewood1]

The first Panther died to APCR. I think each 34 had a couple rounds.

[Mad Russian]

I would like to make sure that the parameters he used for this battle were 1944.

Good Hunting.

MR

[thewood1]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

This was a tough fight for thewood. Random battles on random maps can give you force mixes that are sometimes not ideal and I think in this case the Red Army had a difficult job. A few T-34/85s or other heavier tanks might have helped and larger battles can also even things out.

Regards,

- Erik

And that is why I love random battles...fight with what you have. Its the best way to learn tactics for force on force...or its best way to learn how to game the system. Its your choice.

The funny thing is, as soon as I saw where the panthers were, I rememberd the old US Army axiom; grab em by the nose and kick em the ass. It almost worked.