Frustrating! :( Suppression mechanics, how do they work?

[heyhellowhatsnew]

Hello! I am an absolute newbie to this game so on the first mission in the first campaign where you have your three tanks ambushing the Italians, I am having problems with it.

I get the ambush fine, but when I move up, I get ambushed my italian troops hiding in the bushes. The thing is, every turn I use my tanks to use suppressing fire on those bushes but nothing happens, then when I advance my infantry, they get ambushed and they die and get suppressed themselves.

I am firing at these question mark hedges non-stop, nothing happens. I don't know what is supposed to happen to flush them out, all I know is that despite using my tanks to suppress fire in those spots, my infantry will die no matter what if I move them up.

It gets very frustrating. Can you please tell me the proper way to clear an area like that without losing infantry? Thanks!

PS: I read the manual and did the tutorial but I still don't get it. I'm sorry, i'm a huge idiot

[pipfromslitherine]

Hidden infantry are one of the key elements of the game, and flushing them out with a combination of suppression and your own infantry is an important skill to learn. As in real life, you often have to use your infantry to get shot at to find the enemy, or supress a lot and hope you have pinned them down.

Suppressing fire will reduce the enemy morale by an amount each time you fire at them - a single suppressing attack will probably not suppress the enemy. It might take more than one, especially if they are in good cover.

Cheers

Pip

[heyhellowhatsnew]

So for example, there are three bushes with those question marks on them. With my tanks, I continue to suppress fire on them, and then I move my infantry up? Is that the tactic? Or do I just suppress fire on those question mark bushes until they are flushed out? Or is it a focus fired suppress fire until they are flushed out, and if so, how do I know if its clear or not?

I'm sorry, i'm a huge huge newbie in this game but I love it a lot Thanks for the quick answer?

edit: I feel so dumb and embarrassed to admit all of them too

[kingt]

It doesn't mean that behind all of those bushes with question marks you'll find infantry hiding. Sometimes you may be suppressing an area that doesn't have any units in it. Also one thing you have to pay attention to is sound. If you don't hear the enemy scream when you fire at woods, it means that maybe there's nothing there. Or it means that your tanks aren't doing enough damage. Try to concentrate fire on one single tile, but maybe scout first.

I'd try to find the location of the hidden units even if that means sacrificing units of my own, and then get them with a combination of shots. Use scouts to find hidden units, as they see them two tiles away, and hunt instead of moving to minimize damage taken from anyone waiting in there.

[heyhellowhatsnew]

Oh wow. Thanks for the tips!

[johntindall]

Another approach is to get an infantry unit within 5-6 tiles of a suspect location (depends on how open the terrain is) and then advance towards it in hunt mode. You'll still get shot at when adjacent but the chances of revealing the hidden infantry is significantly improved. Then hammer with more distant units until the target is suppressed before firing with adjacent unit.

Scouts are obviously best at this. Other inf are good. Planes are next. Mech units and tanks are pretty blind. Which is pretty much what you'd expect!

btw - see the bullets on the enemy's bar? This (plus 1) is their reaction fire potential. So if the AI has used this up shooting other units, then you can charge right up to it (relatively) safely.

[GottaLove88s]

Another approach is to get an infantry unit within 5-6 tiles of a suspect location (depends on how open the terrain is) and then advance towards it in hunt mode. You'll still get shot at when adjacent but the chances of revealing the hidden infantry is significantly improved. Then hammer with more distant units until the target is suppressed before firing with adjacent unit.

Scouts are obviously best at this. Other inf are good. Planes are next. Mech units and tanks are pretty blind. Which is pretty much what you'd expect!

btw - see the bullets on the enemy's bar? This (plus 1) is their reaction fire potential. So if the AI has used this up shooting other units, then you can charge right up to it (relatively) safely.

+1.
This is absolutely the way to do it.
A scout will see a hidden ambusher up to 2 squares away too, so use 'em to the max.
Armour has long range, so stand further back and pound the stuff you don't like.
Good luck HHWN!

[MrsWargamer]

The thing with the ? locations is the game is informing you of EVERY possible location. But the thing is, the enemy will only be in some of them.

The snag is learning how to spot a logical location from a location that simply won't have worth to the enemy.

Then you begin by hitting a spot you wish to take. One shot is not enough, nor is shots from everyone some times. Plus you need to remember, some weapons have limits on their use on some targets. A Matilda has a 2pdr which has no HE so it has limits on value vs an infantry target. Fine for blowing up lousy Axis armour though.

In the battle you are fighting, you sling a couple of shots from Matildas, but you won't get a great response. Then you drive up with a Bren and shoot a few shots (from a distance though). Then another bren carrier hits same location. Then dismount some infantry, not close though. See if they draw fire from a distance. If not they provide over watch. Then you unload some others a bit closer. If they are ok, shoot the guys that are further, and see about a response. If they get shot at your closer guys are in a better location to counter the hidden attackers better if they revealed themselves.

Paranoid troops live longer. Pretend YOU are on the map, how would YOU do it considering you don't get to re spawn eh. You need to be methodical in this game.

[heyhellowhatsnew]

Ohhh I see. That makes sense. The sound thing that was mention before threw me off because I play in window mode at work and it's on mute. Hehe.

I'm not that familiar with these types of ammo, like I said i'm a newbie with a love of strategy and turn-based games. I will use these tactics. This is such a great community! I love you all.

[bruce1944]

How about units that show being suppressed but still fire when advanced on.