Sulman

CMRT would not start from the Launchpad for me, but it would run if I navigated to it in Finder and used the right-click > open method. Weird.

I returned to Red Thunder having never really given it a fair shake (I don't have F&R but will soon) and resolved to try and grind through the Soviet campaign.
I struggle with the Micro at Bn scale but have got used to it now, and I enjoy trying to apply lessons from @Bil Hardenberger's great blog. 
 
Honestly I am struggling a bit. The issues with Hammer's Flank are well known (there's at least one huge thread) and It is what it is, but I'm able to get some successes but still can't quite work the Soviet infantry properly.
Specifically, I've got competent at scouting but on the third map It's extremely difficult to achieve fire superiority. Time and again I try and set up a base of fire and a defending MG squad overwhelms them with relative ease. The 2 81mm mortars I have for battalion support take 10 minutes for a fire mission and aren't particularly effective as keeping the spotter alive that long is a challenge. The map is wide flat with hedgerows and cottages for cover. There is a slightly elevated railway line towards the back but I am not there yet...
The fundamental issue is a base of fire from concealment (hedgerow or treeline) is vulnerable
Usually I'd bring up an assault gun but the map is laced with AT guns and they simply can't maneuver into firing positions. Plus the SU76 is probably the most brittle thing out there.
I'd picked an approach using the nearest edge of the town, which went okay but as soon as I find a dug in position (just beyond, right on the railway line) the I struggle to get effective fire on it. Then of course the arty comes in, exacerbating things.

I cant bring up an SU76 because it'll get popped by an AT asset (there's a big AT gun under the 'Depot' label, plus some others off to the right). The one mortar strike I managed did nothing, and if I position supporting fire troops in the hedge rows they get wasted after a turn or two. Anything inside of 200yds vs an MG42 team needs very good cover.
It's really, really hard to pull it off with just infantry. Any tactical pointers are appreciated. I'm thinking I need to use the hard cover of the houses more. I'll try that, but there's a whole company on this flank and bringing them all to bear is difficult.

Interesting video. Thanks for sharing.

Just as special forces deployed to Northern Iraq in 1991 had the wrong camo, no cold-weather gear, and inadequate maps. It snowed.

I had no idea of the characteristics of the small sunken tracks. Unreal.

It may be good that the Bren Carrier is getting some advantage - such vehicles are hampered by the fact they cannot maneuver doing sharp skidding turns in the game as they can in RL (and therefore being harder to target than in the game).  

Not only are they bulletproof up to rifle calibre, enemy infantry won't even open fire on them until the occupants dismount.

I don't know about WW2 but one of the armor field manuals specifically mentions the TC dismounting to check corners at city intersections. There's a couple of scenarios in CMSF2 where this would be very welcome if you don't happen to have any infantry nearby (for whatever reason).

I think the rehabilitation of Stalin and Marxist/Leninism has been as fascinating as it is depressing. On social media, Nazis are apparently everywhere and communism is fashionable again. I think it is the politicization of schools and colleges, and a culture of not reading anything.
I'm a bit of a fan of TIK on YouTube, and he frequently battles revisionism on both sides of the narrative.

A knocked-out Panther burns merrily in the grounds of the Granville Church rectory during operation Epsom.

A Flak 88 engages targets during the defense of Assenois, December 1944.
 

I think the rehabilitation of Stalin and Marxist/Leninism has been as fascinating as it is depressing. On social media, Nazis are apparently everywhere and communism is fashionable again. I think it is the politicization of schools and colleges, and a culture of not reading anything.
I'm a bit of a fan of TIK on YouTube, and he frequently battles revisionism on both sides of the narrative.

...Than towing an AT gun to  a spot you picked, dismounting and deploying it, and that little 6pdr making a difference for that whole flank. I love the crewed weapon mechanics in CM2. Fabulous.

Scouting in CM (to me) is about moving to contact and losing as little forces as possible in that contact. @Bil Hardenberger has some superb guides about how to do this, and honestly it took me a lot of play to really grasp the subtleties of it. Covered movement really is important, and it's easy to forget to do it.
Vehicle recon (jeeps, universal carriers etc) is really handy for very rapidly finding out where they are, but just as importantly where they are not. There's a caveat though: If the vehicle is impervious to rifle fire you won't discover infantry until you dismount, which must be done in cover or the forecast is usually lead rain. Dependent on what side you play try and use units with binoculars, for some forces like the British it makes a huge difference for spotting. This means your HQ officers are at the front, as they should be.
I don't tend to use 'recon pull' very much, I normally have an idea where I want to go during planning and use scouts to proof the route.
After many hours playing vs. the computer you start to get a feel for how to approach certain tactical problems, especially given the AI's inability to organise any meaningful maneuvers. Human players are much less predictable. For a start the AI has zero fire discipline and will open up at any target, unable to consider the bigger picture.

...Than towing an AT gun to  a spot you picked, dismounting and deploying it, and that little 6pdr making a difference for that whole flank. I love the crewed weapon mechanics in CM2. Fabulous.

...Than towing an AT gun to  a spot you picked, dismounting and deploying it, and that little 6pdr making a difference for that whole flank. I love the crewed weapon mechanics in CM2. Fabulous.

As soon as I manage it I'll let you know.

...Than towing an AT gun to  a spot you picked, dismounting and deploying it, and that little 6pdr making a difference for that whole flank. I love the crewed weapon mechanics in CM2. Fabulous.

@chuckdykeIt is the ww2 titles that gave me an understanding of the assault gun. I could not underrstand really what it was for, until I started regularly assaulting buildings with little artillery prep...Having a big HE thrower is very handy. It's a shame you can't open walls with them, like the breaching charges because that would open up many possibilities. Sure, you can blow out an entire wall, but that's not quite what I'd prefer. An infantry-sized hole would be great.
The Bradley's 25mm cannon is quite excellent for sweeping floors. Be careful though, it will easily kill your men (ask me how I know...). Make sure there's no AT enemy in the room as a covering Bradley will happily light the room up even with your guys in it. The Russian BMP-3's 30mm autocannon is similarly powerful, and that can handle tanks surprisingly well too. I'm a big fan of the BMP-3. Sure it explodes like a box of dynamite sometimes, but it's a pretty versatile beast.

I certainly hope I can do that when I'm 70. Remember that most people don't run at all. My wife's recently taken up 5ks and it's been great seeing her progress.

Good points. Something which is imo easily overlooked is the protection HTs give against mortars/artillery.
For a example the situation where you have to attack an enemy position with good observation / TRPs and mortars/artillery on either area denial missions or targeting your infantry moving to their attack positions.
Without HTs your infantry would be vulnerable to harassing fire along their approach, weakening them before they are able to join in battle or suppressing them enough to keep them out of the fight. HTs can make a big difference in such cases, transporting infantry with speed and reasonably protected against HE fragments and stray bullets.
Of course good blocking terrain or a smoke screen are required to limit the chances of your infantry laden HTs being targeted by direct fire weapons. 
 

Scouting in CM (to me) is about moving to contact and losing as little forces as possible in that contact. @Bil Hardenberger has some superb guides about how to do this, and honestly it took me a lot of play to really grasp the subtleties of it. Covered movement really is important, and it's easy to forget to do it.
Vehicle recon (jeeps, universal carriers etc) is really handy for very rapidly finding out where they are, but just as importantly where they are not. There's a caveat though: If the vehicle is impervious to rifle fire you won't discover infantry until you dismount, which must be done in cover or the forecast is usually lead rain. Dependent on what side you play try and use units with binoculars, for some forces like the British it makes a huge difference for spotting. This means your HQ officers are at the front, as they should be.
I don't tend to use 'recon pull' very much, I normally have an idea where I want to go during planning and use scouts to proof the route.
After many hours playing vs. the computer you start to get a feel for how to approach certain tactical problems, especially given the AI's inability to organise any meaningful maneuvers. Human players are much less predictable. For a start the AI has zero fire discipline and will open up at any target, unable to consider the bigger picture.

Scouting in CM (to me) is about moving to contact and losing as little forces as possible in that contact. @Bil Hardenberger has some superb guides about how to do this, and honestly it took me a lot of play to really grasp the subtleties of it. Covered movement really is important, and it's easy to forget to do it.
Vehicle recon (jeeps, universal carriers etc) is really handy for very rapidly finding out where they are, but just as importantly where they are not. There's a caveat though: If the vehicle is impervious to rifle fire you won't discover infantry until you dismount, which must be done in cover or the forecast is usually lead rain. Dependent on what side you play try and use units with binoculars, for some forces like the British it makes a huge difference for spotting. This means your HQ officers are at the front, as they should be.
I don't tend to use 'recon pull' very much, I normally have an idea where I want to go during planning and use scouts to proof the route.
After many hours playing vs. the computer you start to get a feel for how to approach certain tactical problems, especially given the AI's inability to organise any meaningful maneuvers. Human players are much less predictable. For a start the AI has zero fire discipline and will open up at any target, unable to consider the bigger picture.

Scouting in CM (to me) is about moving to contact and losing as little forces as possible in that contact. @Bil Hardenberger has some superb guides about how to do this, and honestly it took me a lot of play to really grasp the subtleties of it. Covered movement really is important, and it's easy to forget to do it.
Vehicle recon (jeeps, universal carriers etc) is really handy for very rapidly finding out where they are, but just as importantly where they are not. There's a caveat though: If the vehicle is impervious to rifle fire you won't discover infantry until you dismount, which must be done in cover or the forecast is usually lead rain. Dependent on what side you play try and use units with binoculars, for some forces like the British it makes a huge difference for spotting. This means your HQ officers are at the front, as they should be.
I don't tend to use 'recon pull' very much, I normally have an idea where I want to go during planning and use scouts to proof the route.
After many hours playing vs. the computer you start to get a feel for how to approach certain tactical problems, especially given the AI's inability to organise any meaningful maneuvers. Human players are much less predictable. For a start the AI has zero fire discipline and will open up at any target, unable to consider the bigger picture.

I do agree with @chuckdyke to the extend that the LOS tool has some shortcomings that can bite. Norman orchards and the the effect of a reverse slope are a good example. In some scenarios you can test LOS over a field and see it blocked by a reverse slope, even if this is not quite evident from the '1' pixeltruppen view. Often, as the scenario plays out vehicles can be spotted well beyond this apparent limitation. Likewise I"ve seen actual LOS through orchards and multiple tree lines be surprisingly good. Often I hear myself saying 'well ****, they got LOS through all that?" 
That being said I still like it as a simple planning tool, but you learn its foibles through experience.