Christmas Present - Hints & Tips for Sword
Merry Christmas guys... Thanks to everyone who's given me such great Sword games these past few days (a fun prezzie to receive!)... It's cool to be on the player side of things rather than the designer side for awhile...
SWORD SPOILERS... Don't read if you're a purist... With that warning given, I've noticed several things about BA that are worth passing on... With apologies to Al, Mike & Justin, you gents aren't going to learn anything new here, but it might help the newbies give us all a bloody nose...
Allies - Use cover. It's amazing what an Allied general can hide in the Rommell's asparagus on the beach... Remember LOS for most units is 5 squares... Unless he's got a scout in the cliffs, he can't even see your Shermans, until you fire... That is going to be one very lonely volksgrenadier in about 2 turns time...
Allies - Infantry can climb cliffs that are covered with dune grass, haha. A new route off the beach! Use hunt mode across the mud. Unless he's got a scout, he won't see you coming. Drop your ATGs into the dune grass on the cliffs, then swap with neighbouring infantry over subsequent turns. You can gradually roll your guns right up to places where they can take out those pesky tanks. And if you're worried about PzIVs, use a smoke barrage from both mortars. You'll protect yourself and worry the heck out of him...
Germans - Your 88s are your key weapon. Here Mike deployed a single 88 in a bunker and he TOOK OUT BOTH FIREFLIES AT MAX RANGE with just two shots... 88s can really mess up an assault... Gee, thanks Mike!
Germans - Hide your 88s in cover at strategic locations. Sometimes a forest is better than a bunker, because it's less obvious. They're lethal at close range. Here, one's got a 47% kill on a Sherman frontal facing... and that's without the "accurate snipe shot" that they'll inevitably earn through promotions... If you can blast your enemy's transports, then his ATGs become pretty much grounded, and his mortars aren't going far... Consider "transport chaining". If you're not using 'em, leave a couple of trucks on a road in the middle of the map. Then, when you want to move something, e.g. an 88, from one side of the map to the other, pick it up from your left flank, drive your 251 to your trucks in the middle of the map, drop the 88 from the 251, pick it up with the truck, and drive the rest of the way... You can (almost) get from one flank to the other in one turn... And there's noooooo way he's expecting your 88 in two places at the same time...
Germans - Don't be scared to visit the beach. If you've got scouts or recon cars up, and you're confident you've beaten off an assault, counterattack. Below, the Germans made a lucky guess where the main strike was coming, and fluked out with two 88s, two mortars, two StuGs and HMG cover in the right place at the right time... Crush your enemy and take his beach flag... Johntindall did something similar to me with a multi-unit infantry attack on a poorly defended beach flag. It works...

PS. Smoke works two ways too. Here, the German dropped smoke to prevent the Shermans taking a pop at a newly placed 88... Of course, the tanks could move up to the cliffs to take a pop, but there's another 88 waiting... Crosscover.
Germans - Smokey mortars really do work both ways. Here, the Brits have used smoke to screen off some infantry from an 88 in a bunker, little realising that the rest of the clifftops are lined with HMGs... However, the Germans have used a dual mortar smoke barrage too, to lock off their armour from two 6pdrs on the beach... The panzers can now safely turn the Allied mortars at the back into mincemeat... Suppress this turn, to avoid mortar reply... Kill next.
Leci taught me a new word.
Schwerpunkt. As I understand it, it's all about force concentration. And it's the only way for the Allies to win (imho)... If you're the Allies, put 1-2 units somewhere where they can make a lot of noise and distraction... Then put EVERYTHING else, somewhere else. That's going to be your schwerpunkt... The Germans have to stretch thin to cover a lot of territory... Create a weak point, fight your way to cover and even up your odds... But don't lose your beach flag before you get another one!
Merry Christmas everyone. Happy battling...
