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Post by deltav on Dec 5, 2014 23:49:13 GMT
Heh, yes, the scholars and scientists would be a greater hindrance than a help to the actual defenders.
Our greatest enemy is going to be the weather, but you're right, we can't ignore the other factions. Here are the steps I propose for building a base: First, pick a defendable site close enough to Minerva that we don't wear ourselves out getting from it to our attack positions, but out of range of the defenders' weapons. Terrain may force us to build further away than we want, but we'll see when we get there. Second put up tents and covered areas to protect the men, equipment, and supplies. Third, construct a walled compound big enough to hold the entire force, and begin building barracks, the infirmary, the mosque, and other quarters and buildings including an armory and stores. Fourth, send the trucks back to Astrakhan to be refitted for cold weather operation and to pick up the next contingent of troops and more supplies, including cold weather gear for the men. The armored cars and enough guards would be sent along to discourage bandits. Fifth, move the men into the barracks and the stores and equipment into storage areas as soon as they are ready, and finish the defenses.
As soon as the site is chosen, we send out spies and scouts to find out where everybody else is, and what they're up to.
What do you think, and what else would you like to see us do?
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Post by thatevilwolf on Dec 6, 2014 1:24:27 GMT
I can't entirely see anything else that needs to be done. Although I am curious as to how much Artillery we have, Mortars, mounted cannons etc and the general range on them.
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Post by deltav on Dec 6, 2014 19:23:33 GMT
Because of the rough, uncertain roads, and the possibility that we may have to walk/climb the last 10 kilometers, the biggest thing we're bringing is a 2B 14 Podnos-style 82mm mortar. On the brighter side, we should have around 240 of them. They're lightweight (42kg each) and break into three man-portable sections. The shells weigh only 3kg each, so our warriors could easily carry one or two with the rest of their load, allowing us to lay down a fairly heavy fire pattern. They have a 4km range, which is plenty in mountainous terrain where the effective artillery range is often less than 2km. Their main function would be minefield clearing, bunker/autoturret destruction, and suppression of enemy return fire.
At one point , I toyed with the idea of having our engineers build a couple of ANFO-drum throwing trebuchets out of local trees just for the symbolic nature of it, but trees are heavy, and trebuchets easy to damage.
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Post by thatevilwolf on Dec 7, 2014 0:10:08 GMT
I was just thinking because if we can, although I doubt we can do so 100% successfully, destroy all defence systems within the area we're assaulting from. We could launch a barrage over the walls to make all footman defences set up behind run to cover, giving our Hashashin an easy time cleaving through a lot of them, especially if they all scatter and take cover in groups of 2 or 3, or they go to ground alone. And with the dust created from both the destruction of the wall and artillery barrage, we could have the upper hand of getting in and getting a foothold inside the walls of Minerva.
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Post by deltav on Dec 7, 2014 20:41:42 GMT
That's actually more possible with mortars than with field guns. A field gun's flatter trajectory would land it's shells much further back behind the walls, missing the defenders completely.
They would do a better job of reducing or breaching the walls, however. If we use Arkjut for a template, the walls are wider at the bottom, and mortars will have a harder time knocking them down. What I was hoping we could do is to reduce the defenders on a section and roll drums of ANFO against the base of the wall.
Another reason I opted for mortars is that they would be much easier to dig in and protect from counterattack.
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Post by thatevilwolf on Dec 7, 2014 21:36:48 GMT
That is actually true. I didn't think about that part till now, and if the walls are set up like that it may be a pain to get through them.. Mortar pits on the front line sounds like a good idea. Although we may need to set them up after we've given the defences a nice beating or else setting them up could be fatal to say the least. Will we be going by a straight line/trench idea or using separate pits spaced apart a distance with a set amount of men and mortars per pit?
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Post by deltav on Dec 8, 2014 0:17:53 GMT
According to the specifications, we can set them up to 4km away, although 2km would be better. I was thinking of a more separated, staggered pattern, with one mortar/crew per pit, so a direct hit on one wouldn't destroy others. I was also thinking along the lines of a fairly narrow, steep-sided pit with a bermed lip that would require a direct hit, rather than allowing splash damage to destroy the mortar.
We can expect Minerva to have projectile-tracking radar that will pinpoint our locations for interdiction and counter-fire. I'm counting on sheer numbers to allow at least some rounds through. That, by the way, is another reason I chose the 82mm mortars over the 102's. You can literally hold an 82mm round in each hand, and a good crew can put out one round every two seconds or so. You can't do it for very long because the tube will heat too much, but even an AI with fast-cycling lasers would have trouble with that many targets.
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Post by thatevilwolf on Dec 8, 2014 1:06:48 GMT
I think 2km might also be a better idea. We'd just need to defend the crew till they're set up. Either that or attempt to destroy the defences all together in hopes of getting set up well instead of rushed.
I wouldn't say expect, we can more or less count on it. The question is will they be using Flak, Lasers or Gatling turrets. With that in mind we should probably prepare a lot of Mortar ammo in advance. Can we make any special rounds, possibly ones that will create an inferno in their wake.
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Post by deltav on Dec 8, 2014 6:59:02 GMT
We're probably going to need to use the mortars to do most of the work of destroying the defenses. Our Rocket Propelled Grenade launchers fire much more slowly, and expose the gunners to direct fire. If we dug/constructed the pits as part of a larger preparation process and then covered them with tarps so we could set the mortars in place without being seen, we could completely prepare before unmasking and firing.
Yes, there are several types of specialty ammunition. You're probably thinking of white phosphorus for fire-causing shells. I'd hesitate to use poison gas shells for fear of killing our own troops if the are exploded by defensive fire while they are too close to our lines.
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Post by thatevilwolf on Dec 8, 2014 12:46:40 GMT
Nothing like poisons, if the suits that Minerva use are anything to go by, they're likely using an air-filtering tech. On second thoughts. If the suits are anything like Tactical Dreadnought suits I've seen. 1: Fire is going to do pretty much nothing more than activate a coolant to the pilot or extinguish it all together.. And 2: We're going to need more ammo.
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Post by Admin on Dec 9, 2014 1:44:58 GMT
All I will say is...MUAHAHAAH! Oh, and this is great planning and discussion
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Post by thatevilwolf on Dec 9, 2014 2:46:03 GMT
THAT DOESN'T MAKE ME FEEL ANY MORE CONFIDANT IN MY ASSUMPTIONS ADMIN!
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Post by Admin on Dec 9, 2014 3:09:42 GMT
Nah I'm just messing with ya Besides, a big part of the game is you factions' assumptions about Minerva and how strong they are
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Post by thatevilwolf on Dec 9, 2014 10:08:02 GMT
I had figured that out rather quickly. Because lets face it, they don't leave anything more than corpses behind at the scene of one of their attacks to free some little town.
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Post by deltav on Dec 9, 2014 23:06:11 GMT
He likes you. He only teases people he likes. The trucks have to make at least one more trip home and back so we'll plan on a lot of rounds, but I'll be surprised if even half of our mortars survive the first minute of battle. We'll hold out some of our mortars until we see where the counterfire is coming from, and try to take it out, and we'll definitely have white phosphorus mixed in that barrage Here are some things to keep in mind about Minerva. The land they control has some resources, but the city does not, which means that everything they have had to be transported. Nothing we've seen of theirs is exceptional for either range or payload, and the vehicles that WOULD have large payload capabilities would require wider roadways. This means that they have a lot of limitations for very heavy things like forges, foundries, refineries, and the like (I'm still talking about the city itself). thanks to the Tien Shan Range, they probably have water, and have hydroponic farms, but what they DON'T have is unlimited ammunition, or the means to make more when they run out. This limitation is also the reason they don't have interior defensive walls or a citadel, since every sack of cement they used to make concrete had to be carried in, and up 'til now they haven't needed more. Under classic conditions, a besieged city usually fell to starvation and disease, but that won't happen here. Minerva will fall when the defenders no longer have the ability to keep us from breaching the walls. Every round they fire is one less round they have, and if we can make them waste those rounds, so much the better. This brings me to another point. I strongly believe that the Russians have tanks (see turn submission), and if they do , we're going to let them have the roads to attack from while we crawl up into the hills. If you were a defender, would you rather focus on some dangerous wall-destroying tanks, or a bunch of half-baked peasants digging holes in the rocks? Thoughts? Try putting yourself in their shoes with the limitations that I outlined, and consider how you would set up your defenses. Then look for holes in what you thought of that a sneaky attacker could exploit. Because that's what we're going to do.
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