Hedges

[jon8798]

Is it possible to make some of the hedges thicker/look more formidable? First time playing this evening and no idea what map (had piles of hay, mostly rural), but I was surprised I couldn't push through some of the hedgerows between fields that looked pretty wispy. Chuck in some stonework, brambles, make thicker and taller and they will be more obviously impassable.

[fidd]

Good post. There's generally always been a disconnect in ww2ol, and now, it seems in CP, between the apparent size and type of a linear-obstacle such as a hedge-line, and it's realistic function as an obstacle for movement to some or all unit types. This is a really important aspect to get right in both games, for similar reasons. Most European field boundary hedges are stock-proof, and therefore are a significant obstacle to infantry movement - generally they have to route around them - and also to a degree, to tanks. Wheeled or half-track vehicles should generally be unable to cross-them, and tanks (unequipped with "Rhino") will generally "climb" the hedge, exposing thin armour underneath, unless very heavy. I would suggest 38 tons or so be the cut-off point, so that Churchills, Tigers, Panthers and the like can cross without "climbing", but anything under 38 tons does?

During the Normandy fighting, it was common practice for both sides to dig small emplacements behind hedges with a very small aperture in the hedge to fire  through.

The other aspect that I think should be concentrated on, is the difference in exposure to being seen, of an infantryman close by the hedge looking through small gaps in the foliage, and that of a unit far away, looking at him. The unit close to the hedge should be almost impossible to see from a distance, with the reverse being true for the chap behind the hedge viewing a distant object unconcealed by foliage. Currently there's no scope for concealed observation.