Unsupported tanks behind enemy lines

[Imp]

I must admit Andy having not played the AI for quite a while the routines you have set up for deployment tend to be very good. Reckless charging about will get you killed, it occasionaly deploys tanks or fortifications without adequate covering forces but this is not the norm. Generaly it manages to set up some good little killing "nests" & the odd little surprise, top marks.

You are right about humans I am prone to it on occasion moving something thats waiting to spring a surprise because its just sitting there. Normally to find 2 turns later I am rushing it back but of course its to late now so it spends the rest of the game chasing its tail.
Makes me laugh when I do it as imagine them swearing at their inept commander issuing new orders every 5 minutes.

[RERomine]

Once the surprise has been sprung, moving is probably a good idea unless the unit is actively engaged. The steel rain won't be too far off in the future. You just don't want it loaded when the arty starts. I usually won't pick it up unless I can move it a couple hexes from the hex it fired from that turn. This is rough with big guns, but most stuff 75mm and under can be loaded and moved away in one turn.

[Lt. Ketch]

Originally Posted by Imp

Reckless charging about will get you killed... Generaly it manages to set up some good little killing "nests" & the odd little surprise, top marks.

You hit the nail on the head Imp. This was the whole reason for this thread. Bravo to Andy and Don for building a fantastic game that does a great job of driving the players up the wall and then bringing them back for more.

To sum up a few of the comments below, having a mobile reserve is key to both attacking and defending. When attacking the reserve can be used to exploit gaps or be applied to difficult defensive positions. In defence it should be used to provide reinforcement to buckling defenses or to deal with break throughs. In my current battle, I've set up (as an experiment) a reserve of an entire company of infantry, a platoon of tanks and a section of TDs. The Infantry are loaded in trucks (as HT are not available to me yet) and I'm am trying really, really hard not to move them until at least turn 10 to keep from jumping on a brush fire with a fire truck when the blaze is happening somewhere else.

Somethign else I'm trying in this battle is sending a AO with a scout team (the carrier section had three units and I didn't want to waste the ride.) I hope that I'm able to get them through (or at least up to) enemy lines and reak some havoc with the artillary.

I'll try to keep you updated on the success of these elements in the battle. My main goal in this battle is not to go losing everything to the 2nd line of defense.

[Imp]

sending an AO with a scout team

This is a personal thing but even before the arty changes I push my FOOs forward as I feel the gains outweigh the risk.
For a battalion size force I often have 2-3 FOOs, if I lose one then one wiil fall back to safety but otherwise they follow the main force often having a platoon tasked with looking after them. They even fill in with scout duties as well at times in open terrain but generally if follow slightly back they can call fire down effectivly on anything that turns up. My thought is if I have spent points on arty you may as well use it to full effect which only tends to happens if you can see what you are hitting.