Who plays iron difficulty?

[Paul T]

Just curious I always play RT elite and even with a lot of saves I find it

quite difficult depending on the battle or campaign of course. I learn about what I should have done:)

Iron is probably more authentic and not cheating as some would say. Where you get only one chance to make your decisions and little to no mistakes, just as you would in a H2H battle. But it would seem quite hard and at times impossible and maybe even take more time if you are restarting the whole battle which I sometime do.

[Apocal]

I usually play iron/RT, including most of my MP experience.

[Wodin]

I play Elite WEGO..though I get confused about the settings..Iron has the one where each one of you units has friendly FOW and you don't see the, unless the unit sees them is that correct? I've never thought that was really making the game more realistic as such myself.

Tunr based and save when you know your taking a serious or hasty risk before you click end of turn..thats what I do..cheating yes..do I feel guilty not really. Othergames I would do but not this..aslong as I only do it when I know I'm taking a risk.

[Vanir Ausf B]

I play on Iron. It's a little bit more realistic than Elite in that your own units do not automatically spot each other when in LOS of each other.

[WallysWorld]

I also always play on Iron with both my own battles and with PBEM.

[Paul T]

your own units do not automatically spot each other when in LOS of each other.

__________________

Something I'm a little unclear about here. So does iron not allow you to save through the entire battle or does it just have to do with friendly fire and LOS?

[Vanir Ausf B]

Iron has no effect on saving the game. It affects friendly LOS but not friendly fire (AFAIK)

[Paul T]

Ha, I assumed it was like XCOM where you can't save anytime during the battle.

I've "save scummed" as they call it like crazy on some of those long battles were the odds were against me.

[Paul T]

Though I guess its good to not save your during battle. In a MP game no one can reload.

I most believe I saved alot when I was playing the razerback ridge battle.

[Vanir Ausf B]

No, if you want to play that kind of Iron mode you just need self discipline Heck, some people have been known to play with the self-imposed rule that the camera cannot ever rise higher than eye-level.

[Wodin]

Paul..well I save after plotting my moves then hit the turn..if it goes pear shaped I can go back to the save and replot...naughty really as it can give away enemy units..but this game is so hard and as I'm not playing against anyone I do it..and still get a buzz..usually though as a game foes on I get cocky and rarely save at all and can still get wasted..Like when I mentioned the air attack..I lost near a whole platoon all my reserves but that time I didn't go back to a previous save..one it took me by surprise so my save game file might have been a few turns previous and two I was happy with what had just happened it wasn't due to poor Inf spotting etc..

[agusto]

No, if you want to play that kind of Iron mode you just need self discipline Heck, some people have been known to play with the self-imposed rule that the camera cannot ever rise higher than eye-level.

Rumors have it that some even slap themselves for every casualty they take!

Ever since i ve got CMSF i wanted maximum realism, regardless of difficulty. That is why i play Combat Mission after all, isnt it? So I play Iron/Wego. When i started with Shock Force i played RT because i had never played a turnbased game. But WEGO is much more enjoyable! Love it to rewind time an not just to be able to observe all your units actions, but also take a close look at all the little micro dramas that ensue during a battle.

[Quintus Sertorius]

This is a topic I'm interested in. I've been playing on Warlord, but I'm perfectly willing to move to a different setting if it plays better or more realistically. It sounds like you chaps recommend Iron? WeGo of course...that goes without saying.

[Vanir Ausf B]

Iron is the most realistic, although to be honest the difference from Warlord is not very noticeable. It was actually more than a year after the game came out before someone was able to point out the difference.

[Wodin]

Maybe I play iron?? I play second from hardest setting..

[Collingwood]

Heck, some people have been known to play with the self-imposed rule that the camera cannot ever rise higher than eye-level.

And for added anxiety inducing claustrophobia, don't roam with the camera beyond your forces.

[TheDudeAbides421]

I use warrior for the realistic call for fire times. Wasn't sure of what microAI adjustments take place on the different levels though. Could anyone explain that?

[Sgt Schultz]

Elite/WEGO here. At the battle sizes I play, Iron is a bit too much of a workload, and RT would involve the use my my Ronco™ Pocket Difib Unit.

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[Pete Wenman]

Just to help people understand the order.

Basic Training

Veteran

Warrior

Elite

Iron.

From the manual

Basic Training

This is the easiest setting. The following special rules apply:

- Friendly units are always spotted

- Spotting information is instantly shared among teams (aka “Borg Spotting”)

- Troops suffer slightly fewer casualties and are less likely to panic

- Treatment of wounded soldiers (“buddy aid”) is extremely fast

- Artillery and air support arrives extremely fast

- Enemy units, once spotted, are always fully identified

- The life/death status of enemy vehicles is displayed immediately

- Enemy weapons and suppression are displayed

- You can hear the voices of unspotted enemies

Veteran

Most people familiar with the Combat Mission game system will prefer this setting.

It is a fair balance between realism and fun that does not burden the player with

unnecessary details or long waiting times. The following special rules apply:

- Friendly units are always spotted

- Enemies, once spotted, are not always immediately identified and can appear as generic

“Enemy contacts” (but less often than at Elite level)

- Spotting information is distributed among teams using the standard Command & Control

rules (See Command & Control chapter)

- Treatment of wounded soldiers is faster than in real life

- Artillery and air support arrives faster than in real life

- The life/death status of enemy vehicles is hidden until the crew bails out or the vehicle

starts to burn

- Enemy weapons and suppression are not displayed

- You cannot hear unspotted enemies

Warrior

Warrior is similar to the Veteran setting but introduces more realistic time delays

for a number of tasks and events. Hardcore players will favor this setting. The

following special rules apply:

- Enemies appear as generic “Enemy contacts” until they are positively identified by your

forces on the battlefield

- Treating wounded soldiers takes a realistic amount of time- Artillery and air support take a realistic amount of time to arrive

- Artillery and air support take a realistic amount of time to arrive

Elite

Elite is identical to Warrior with only one difference:

- Enemy infantry icons are always the plain “soldier” type, regardless of their armament or

function

Iron

Iron is an optional setting that goes even one step further than Elite, and introduces

special restrictions on what the player can do and when. While even more realistic

than the other settings, this option introduces a number of interface limitations

which might put off the casual player, so it is strictly an optional choice.

- Friendly units need to be spotted just like enemy units. If you have a friendly unit not in

line of sight or in contact with another friendly unit, then the only way to find this unit is by

either re-establishing contact with another friendly unit or by clicking through the chain of

command in the game interface, jumping from unit to unit.

[agusto]

I use warrior for the realistic call for fire times. Wasn't sure of what microAI adjustments take place on the different levels though. Could anyone explain that?

On all levels below veteran, spotting info is instantaniously shared between friendly forces (borg spotting). On all level including veteran and above, info takes a realistic amount of time as it is shared up and down the chain of command. On warrior level and above, spotting friendlies works the same way.

I think this is most obvious in tank engagements. If for example the HQ unit of a tank platoon spots a contact first, it s subordinate tanks will sometimes turn their turrets towards the new contact and thus spot it faster. That works the same way with inf afaik. When you leap frog tanks forward, you can alway keep the HQ tank in the overwatch element and have the commander open the hatch and observe the surroundings (not recommended in close proximity to infantry, though).

And for added anxiety inducing claustrophobia, don't roam with the camera beyond your forces.

for maximum realism, keep the camera locked to the CO unit for the entire game.

[Wodin]

I play Elite then..

Just wondered why at the higher level settings the soldiers go deaf? Surely you can hear someone within hearing distance without having to see them?

[poesel]

Just to help people understand the order.

Iron

...

- Friendly units need to be spotted just like enemy units. If you have a friendly unit not in

line of sight or in contact with another friendly unit, then the only way to find this unit is by

either re-establishing contact with another friendly unit or by clicking through the chain of

command in the game interface, jumping from unit to unit.

From the manual

This is very misleading. It does NOT mean that you can't see your own units. If no unit is selected you see all of your units and all enemy units that are currently spotted by any of your units.

But if you click on one of your units you just see what THIS unit can currently spot (including friendlies).

IMHO Iron is somehow easier to play than the other modes because it makes C2 immediately clear to the user. Click on the mortar team and see its HQ vanish and you know why you can't call in the artillery.

[altipueri]

I play basic training with multiple re-loads. I don't care. It's a game.

[womble]

On all levels below veteran, spotting info is instantaniously shared between friendly forces (borg spotting).

You mean in "Basic Training", the only level below Veteran?

On all level including veteran and above, info takes a realistic amount of time as it is shared up and down the chain of command. On warrior level and above, spotting friendlies works the same way.

That's only true of Iron isn't it? Or at least only relevant. Vet-thru-elite, you can still see all your units when you select one of them. And whether any given unit of yours can see another is only relevant to HQs for C2, which applies (IIRC, though it's a long time since I played in Basic Training) to all levels.

for maximum realism, keep the camera locked to the CO unit for the entire game.

People who make this claim in seriousness don't understand the paradigm in which they're playing.

AIUI, there is one material difference in game mechanics between Warrior and Iron. That being that the range of "Distant vision" C2 level is decreased for Iron level. All the other changes in "Elite" and "Iron" are UI embuggerances which make "playing the game" harder, but not, if you're prepared to put up with the inconvenience, winning against the AI.

I'm happy to be corrected by someone authoritative, but that's the state of play as I've gathered it from posts official and semi-official on here, and no horse's mouth has yet shed any correcting light... or unmixed my metaphors.

[Hister]

What ever makes it for you altipueri!