Enemy Weapons effects on different missions

[Mortarman Deke]

I have to say this is a great game! I've cleared all the campaign missions, and I've noticed a few things throughout the game play.

It seems that enemy weapons systems have varying effects depending on the mission I'm playing. Some missions my T-72 gets openned up like a sardine can by a T-55 and on others it shrugs off horrific hits. Is this effect variance really happening or is it just my perception?

Enemy T-72's seem to be nearly impervious compared to my T-72. Aren't the enemy ones T-72M's or Yugoslavian M-84's? How is it that they fair better under fire than a T-72B?

The enemy T-55's are lethal in the Commando, Cemetary, and Convoy missions and less effective on the other missions. The SU-100's are lethal in Crossroad and Farms and less effective on the other missions.

The RPG Gunners have a significant effect on my T-55 in the Breakthrough mission and less of an effect on my T-55 and T-72 in other missions. Also, in the final mission, Assault, I'm starting to have RPG Gunners placed way too close to my formation. They attack my T-72 and my IFV's (MTLB & Shturm-S) before we are even starting our engines. Basically I'm stuck having to start out the mission with a tread blown off and my IFV's destroyed or disabled.

Finally, I've run into situations where I couldn't clear missions. I would repel assaults and or complete the other objectives, and yet I don't get a declaration of "victory". At this point getting a mission victory is no longer a necessity since I cleared all the missions, but I'm still stuck in the mission without getting any statistics about the battle.

This is indeed a great game. I love it! Way to go to everyone that was involved in its creation.

Mortarman Deke

[sgtBilko]

Mortarman, I'm not as far along as you - probably 10-15 hours so far. The creators have really come up with an outstanding piece of software in many areas. However, I have to agree with your perceptions. The AI cheats are pretty transparent in this game, taking away a lot of a sense of reality and even fun: The enemy can see you when you can't see them. It's virtually impossible to place your tank carefully and intelligently in order to evade detection or destruction. No real cover ever seems possible. When even the smallest segment of your tank comes into LOS of the enemy you are toast - instantly! Opponents show up in your vicinity, no matter where you go on the map, even when running the same scenario again and again, rendering the idea of trying to spring an ambush virtually impossible. Some software elements don't seem to work properly, contributing to the frustration. For example, the same terrain looks entirely different when viewing it from each of the four different positions. And, often, the indicated compass viewing position does not correspond to the view as seen from the tank - very disorienting. They have really done an outstanding job with the simulation itself, but I feel the game play is disappointing, unrealistic, and frustrating, which really drags this title down to a level it doesn't deserve.

[Mortarman Deke]

Hey Sgt Bilko,

Don't let the game get you down. Here is what I noticed... Constant movement is way better than a solid hull down position. Stay on the move, turn frequently, stop only to fire, then get back in gear and take off immedeately! Also, All the enemy vehicles are on the map somewhere from the very start to bitter end of each mission. If you sneak around you can kill the enemy IFV's and AFV's before they deploy. The Commando mission is a good example of this. You can knock out the enemy T-55's if you stay far south and head to the mountain in the southeast part of the map. Go to the top of the mountain and pick them off while they are parked. They will shoot back so try to do a hot postion/cold postion tactic by popping up to the top of the hill, line up a shot, fire, and duck back down to the south side of the mountain. Keep doing this until you take them out. In other missions like Farms, for instance, don't engage any enemy units at all, sneak/skirt past the whole area to the east then head west around the north side of the map and pick off the Officer from long range. Another secret for foggy missions/areas - day or night - use the night vision to scan around a lot and you can literally see the enemy before they can see you. This works with tall grass too. Another tip is MTLB's and Shturm-S's can be taken out with OFS (HE fragmentation) shells, so if possible try to lob OFS shells at them indirectly from behind hills and knock them out that way. Also, be patient with yourself. Everytime you play any of the missions the enemy units will be distributed differently at the start, and you will have good days and bad days when you play the game simply because of this.

This is a great game, just give yourself some time to get used to it.