SgtMuhammed

There are lots of engagements that were onesided because of decisions made by the commanders or even higher up. By gaming them out you can see what could have happened if, for instance, the Iraqis had proper security and were ready for 2ACR's attack. One scenario I made for CMAK was the battle for Hosingen which pitted 300 Americans against large portions of two German Panzer divisions and an entire infantry division. It turned out to be nearly as epic as it was in real life.

It seemed to work when I tried it during the training campaign. My guys were taking heavy fire till I moved a Stryker up and popped smoke.

I am going to have to throw in my vote for "Tank Warning" as well. Putting yourself at ground level from the German perspective after you have ordered a battalion of T34's to charge was a religious experience. That scenario kept CMBB on my harddrive a lot longer than anything else. It is the only scenario I have ever written an AAR for because it was so much fun. Welcome back Franko. I am looking forward to seeing what you can do with the new engine.

Or you could be less cheesy and have the unit announce over the radio that they have reached the AO.

I would like to see this as a full NATO op. The Germans and Dutch have some pretty neat stuff. Of course then they would have to put in 10 minute command delays to simulate each order having to go through a committee first.

They are designed to operate in two separate combat environments. The Brad is designed to be able to slug it out toe to tow (pun intended) with BMPs and other light armor, with a secondary anti-armor role while transporting a small infantry squad. The Stryker is more like the M113 in that it is primarily transport and light support for a full infantry squad. The infantry are supposed to be the primary fighters with the Stryker supporting where it can but any encounter with AT capable enemy armor is going to put the Stryker at a sever dissadvantage as it is not always possible to dismount the squad so that they are in position to deal with the armored threat. (Which is why I am a big advocate of putting Javelin mounts on the ICV Strykers.) So if you need a bunch of grunts in a specific location that has a fairly low enemy armor threat then the Stryker's speed and range gives it the advantage. If, however, there is the threat of even light enemy armor then it is best to bring one of the big boys. And before anyone starts, yes I know about the TOW and MGS Strykers but there will be times when every vehicle will have to fend for itself. This is not an if, this is a when. Right now the ICV Stryker cannot do this unless it gets lucky.

I have had that happen without taking fire. I gave a movement order to a squad and when I came back to them they were scattered between the building they were in and their destination. There were no enemy about and no casualties but part of the squad ended up in the new building and part in the old with a couple strung out in between. The squad icon was still in the old building. Even repeated orders to move to the new building failed to get the squad together. They only moved after a new destination was given.

I don't think I have ever seen an M1 generate smoke other than with the grenade launcher (which is really cool to watch). I saw a couple M60s use their smoke makers once but that was about it. I didn't know they were disconnected in the M1. I just thought they were a bitch to clean or something, so guys just didn't use them in training.

The only ones I have ever spotted have been the ones I have set off. I have quit using roads.

I have seen this as well. When trying to move a platoon out of a building complex, after several minutes I managed to get 2 squads to move but the HQ and the remaining squad refused to leave their initial positions. All were in command and had good morale, in fact they hadn't recieved fire for nearly 20 turns, which was why I was moving them. I have found that I often have to give orders two or three times to my infantry (actually reminds me of the real army "rimshot"). Vehicles seem not to have this problem, although they have their own issues.

I haven't tried the smoke with the M1 yet but with the Stryker it looks like a big dust cloud. Unless things have changed the smoke clouds should be white. Overall I am rather shocked by the lack of smoke in the game. Our guys may not be using it in Iraq right now but during a conventional war in Syria the whole country would look like a London fog had rolled in. Especially in MOUT ops over open terrain. By the way, do they still have the smoke generator Hummer?

I have noticed that nothing returns to beginning turn state when you replay a turn. Ammo counts, crew status, everything remains as it was when the turn ended. Well dead things come back to life but that is about it. I had an M1 take a hit that I think took out the driver. As I was cussing my stupidity I believe I saw the driver status change back to driving and the Commander's status change to casualty. All within one minute. I was going to ask about this as unless the M1HC comes with a transporter there is no way the TC and Driver (a wounded driver at that) could switch positions that fast. The replay, however, remained at the endstate and so I could not be sure of what happened. Also, can the remote turret on the Stryker be operated from the driver's station. I had one of my Strykers hit by autocannon fire from a BMP and become immobilized. The same attack also took out the TC. The status messages then showed the driver firing (which he was, gotta admire his spunk). I suppose the driver went back to the TC station to fire but I would have expected his status to change from driver to commander. This isn't really so much a bug as something I have noticed. I like to know what everyone is doing (old NCO habit) and better status messages would be a big help. By the way, does anyone know how easy or hard it is to move from the drivers position to the TC position in the Stryker? I've never been in one but I know in vehicles like the Brad it is a pain in the rear.

Keep your head down Splinty and come back to us in one piece. Thanks.

I printed off the manual at work. My poor inkjet could never have handled it. I am waiting for my map and mousepad. I think I will do a lot better with those.

Haven't seen that one yet.

Playing Brandenberg: I had a Brad 5 meters from a BMP that every other unit on the map could see and he sat there for 2 minutes before finally noticing. The BMP must have been braindead as well as he didn't notice my Brad. The Brad had all communication icons active and was a veteran with no crewmembers out of action. I purposely let him sit there when I noticed that he didn't seem to notice the enemy. I am also becoming quite annoyed with the MOUT proceedures of the squads. Windows are entry points. When you enter a room the first thing you do is clear it. I am tired of watching my troops run around a building to find a door and then enter a room filled with enemy soldiers and proceed to run across to the far wall before anyone thinks to open fire. I am starting to prefer the old infantry system.

Can the back door of the Stryker still open with the slat cage on or do you have to use the ramp?

As for physically opening the ramp; unless it it different than every other US APC, it is the driver who has the control. Other people can open it but I don't know how easy it is to reach into the driver's compartment and manipulate the lever.

I rolled through this one as well. I got a little sloppy while cleaning up and lost two M1s to missile fire. While I was patient I only had one M1 mobilized while killing the entire left side force with two tanks. I don't know if this one has different plans so I will have to try it again.

I forgot about tank fired ATGMs and saw one of my M1s get absolutely riddled by a platoon's worth as it tried to climb a hill. Haven't messed with them as the Syrians but the do give some interesting tactical options.

One of the reasons the US felt the need to develope bunker buster versions of their AT systems was to increase their destructive power against enemy buildings and fortifications. An AT4 hitting a cement wall will punch a neat 84mm hole through the wall and spray the inside of the room with shrapnel but it won't take down the wall. I just recently had an AT14 destroy a 3 story building with a single shot and a Javelin destroy a floor with a shot as well. That's just a tad over powered. During operations in Mogadishu the US fired 16 TOW missiles into a meeting of Somali warlords. Not only did the building not come down but there were survivors in the room.

I kind of feel that the ATGM explosions are a bit much as well. I just don't think the Javelin is going to make a crater big enough to stick a fireteam in. A sabot hit looks like a shower of sparks. Of course a secondary explosion can follow but they don't make big fireballs from the hit itself. HEAT rounds direct their explosive force towards the target and so have a lesser blast effect than a like size he round. This is a good clip of a TOW against a BMP. Lots of sparks and dust but pretty localized. Certainly not enough to take down nearby buildings. TOW in A-stan At weapons have a lot of energy and can produce very spectacular results but they tend to be channeled into a small area. Which, of course, is the whole point since it is trying to cut through some of the hardest stuff known to man.

How is this done? It would be just as good. For now I don't really care if the firing starts at the beginning of a turn and ends after 30 sec. for example or if the firing starts at the end of the turn after a 30 sec. pause. A pity that this is not in, I think I remebered one of the devs said something like this will be in, but apperantly my memory is wrong or it is not in... As for directly targeting an enemy: right, the firing unit will cease fire once the unit is in cover and invisible. But units in buildings for example are never really visible in my experience and the only way to fire at them is by area fire which will last unitl cease fire command by the player or the unit running out of ammo. </font>

According to Global Security it's 100m. No date for that figure though, yours is probably more accurate. I need to update my own books haven't gotten a new one in years.

I'll have to make a test scenario just for that one.