George MC

Most of my playing time et the moment is PBEM. My opponents tanks, infantry and artillery are always way more accurate and effective than mine. Fact

German tank gunners training had em firing at targets at around 1200-2000m - guns sighted for up to 1200m which means, all things considered the round when fired will travel a flat trajectory for 1200m. At ranges sub 1200m they were trained not to bother acquisition firing i.e. getting the range but to fire for effect, if the round missed then the target was greater than 1200m then they would adjust accordingly. Training also was done against a target moving across their LOF at same range - to learn and practice leading the target. In each case they around 4-3 rounds - exercise stopped when a/ they hit the target or b/ fire all the rounds. Combat would be a different thing though, vehicle movement, IDing targets, smoke, dust, barrel wear, damage to optics etc would all impact on this. But all things considered anything below 1200m that is IDed and engaged would most likely be hit. In game various crew soft factors impact on this. Combat engagement ranges do seem to vary. Even on the Eastern Front its seldom totally flat. Rolling terrain, fields, trees etc would impact on LOS and LOF. One event that stands out for long range engagements between German armour (Tigers and Panthers) would be Targu Frumos with ranges in excess of the 1200m and up to around 2000m. I'm pretty sure that who fires first will win mainly held true for WWII- though obvs that assumes that the target you are firing at can be penetrated. The game would be not engaging from the front but tackling (ambushing) from the flanks. Off course if you are a Tiger I in 1943 you are pretty confident that taking on T-34/76s at around 1200m will see you kill em whilst they won't be able to kill you. That changes once T-34/85s and IS-IIs come along... In CM the AI has no advantage - it plays with the same game mechanics as the human player. There is no advantage and that's been stated multiple times over the years.

I played as Germans. i did well initially as my oppo came out swinging and my Panthers managed some long range kills, which spooked him. Then I moved forward to see if I could find where he'd hid and that's when i started rolling into ambushes. Then became tad too aggressive and rolled into even bigger trouble.. It was fun though and my oppo played a brill game. Ah cool - be interested to hear how it goes

That's Part 3 up and live.

Yeah work took a turn which combined with RL gave me a bit of a kicking this summer, so lot of stuff went on hold or just deleted as no time. I'm back up and on a more normal keel now. Ah cool - yeah I don't think I've played Mit Karacho PBEM think it could be a tougher fight for the German player. Yeah I had my arse kicked in a recent PBEM of 'cat and Mouse' It was fun though! I've a few unfinished projects, thanks for asking, plus vid stuff bubbling away. Next finished project will be the tank training scenarios. Think the wrinkles have been ironed out so will punt them to TSD soon. I've a modern Syrian REDFOR campaign in very early stages, though at the moment I'm super invested in CMRT just cos like playing it! Thanks again for your kind words. Cheery!

Thank you Always gratifying to hear people enjoy my stuff, so thank you, appreciate it.

Heart of the Dying Sun Tank Combat Sequence https://youtu.be/xYZKLskEhrQ

He! I don't need to know ;)

I suspect it would be significantly easier IIRC 3rd Pz Div didn't have Panthers at this time as their battalion were away being trained in them.

Thank you Appreciate you continued with it and a decent result too, weel done! Its good to know that this is winnable as I have heard of players having a very tough time in this. Coincidently another player recently completed this (posted the DARs and AAR) on the unofficial Combat Mission discord and likewise he did a decent job in completing it. Look forward to seeing how the alternate path works out for. Many thanks again for taking the time to share your AAR results and let me know how it went. Cheery!

One thing to note German “Superior optics” don’t often = marvellous at spotting. The gunners optics whilst excellent do not have a wide field of view. Think looking down a straw. once the tank commander buttons up spotting in both Panther and KT becomes more problematic. Once they do ID a target they have a high chance of hitting the target. That’s where their optics come in. Field of view is key in spotting. Hence why turned out tank commanders using binos have a higher probability of spotting than a buttoned up tank. this article gives a good summation of German optics. https://panzerworld.com/german-armor-optics For example Panther optics field of view was 28 degrees decreasing to 14degrees at max mag. Spotting is and can be problematic and as has been pointed out there are ways you can increase the chance of spotting enemy units - key thing is taking advantage of C2 and ensuring tanks in a unit share spotting info. This is where tactics comes in. This video gives a good idea of the T-34/85 optics and vision viewfinders etc.

I've used runners as part of an AI plan. If the player manages to kill the runner (not that they know there is a runner) before they reach the HQ can give the player an advance. If not... I suspect in your case the runner reached shouting distance. I don't think the game engine differentiates between receiving a briefing and a shouted order.

Ah gotcha, thank you I'm working on Part 3 so hopefully I nail it in that

Thank you - aye appreciate the feedback. Yeah the text thing is finding the sweet spot for users. First time around it was too fats, this time too slow, so reckon I know where the sweet spot is now Re delay between images - yup I'll take that into account. Its been a steep learning curve so feedback like yours is super useful thank you. Cheery!

Thank you - appreciate it

Aye so did I - well three times different during AI plan testing and fettling. One attempt included the route 37mm took but it didn't work out as well for me

Ah brill Nice to hear. Trust you deal with the tactical problems? Have you checked out @37mm ‘s excellent vid of the first scenario?

This is Part 2 of a short series giving a summary and overview of the tactical fundamentals and principles behind WWII German and Soviet armoured unit tactical drills and combat formations commonly used in 1944 using examples from Combat Mission Red Thunder to illustrate key points. Part 2 Covers how tank formations helped German panzer commanders control their units, stay aware of potential threats, and use their firepower effectively. It follows on from from: Part 1 which covered the difference between formations, drills, principles and tactics?

All good points. But just to clarify - this series of wee vids is firmly fixed on the tactical level - platoon/company I might stretch to battalion... So I'm only covering the sort of stuff that might be relevant or useful within a Combat Mission setting. Once you move to the operational many other factors (operational and strategic) start to impact on the effectiveness of the German armed forces, especially the panzerwaffe. Its useful to put this into that wider picture so thanks for adding the background. I'll chuck in my own view re the wider picture. With the wider industrial, societal and geographic factors the German war effort was doomed to failure in the long term. Very little in the amount of 'superior' training/tactics was going to fundamentally change that, though a few limited tactical 'successes' might slow that bloody process.

Thanks for this. re the result - I think you are perhaps missing the point of these missions. They are training lessons - designed to enable the player to explore and try out RL tactics, within the restraints and idiosyncrasies of the Combat Mission game engine. In this case a result of a draw is fine. Keep in mind players completing this will often score a victory of some level. So yeah you can cease fire however long in, and as long as you suffer no casualties you'll at least get a draw. But the outcome of this is you have learned nothing regarding using SPWs, support and dismounts to conduct aa tactical recce. Thats the point of this mission. Like I totally appreciate you posting comments and your excellent graphics but what i would ask is being cool regarding spoilers. Both post have given a potential player a heads up as to what is there. For some (many/most) this breaks the Fog of War and the immersion factor. Could I politely ask if you intend posting possible spoilers re a mission a/ create a separate post and b/ put the spoiler info behind a warning. that way players can choose whether they wish to read the post (and uncover spoilers) or leave alone till they play it. Like its brill to hear your thoughts and see your playthroughs so hope you continue doing that, just mind the possible spoiler bit please? Many thanks

We do - its called the briefing and the format is set. In this case commander's intent is stated: "Your parent platoon is tasked to advance west along the road as far as Bridge ‘A’. Its key tasks are: To protect following units from ambush/surprise attack. To clear any obstacles. To break weak resistance. Ensure the undisturbed advance of the main body. Secure Bridge A (OCCUPY - Angr.z WILHELM) no later than 1245Hrs, allowing the main body to pass through its positions and maintaining the tempo of the advance. Your platoon should ensure it remains operationally viable – taking no more than 10% casualties and remaining at 80% or more combat effective." You can complete this anyway you like in the scenario. I've seen players approach this in different ways - successfully. that's the point. Maybe I'm missing something here though?

Ah brill - good to know it works! Re the second one - crap that's me probably uploaded the wrong briefing. I'll double check. Good catch ta. Actual briefing below.

Hi Thanks for the comment (cool graphic BTW). I’m unclear what you are suggesting? Donyou mean this should be mentioned in the briefing? As is the actual plan and related course(s) of action is for the player to devise. The briefing only lays out the situation and your mission. Bit maybe I’m misreading your post?

I think @domfluff has given some pertinent advice for dealing with one of the key challenges in this mission. Anything I can add at this point risks spoilers, so I'll hang fire for now. But I will add the map is not flat and there is key terrain that allows long line of sight (and correspondingly (line of fire). Brille gave some useful tips re using smoke, though keep in mind some of these Panthers are early versions so not all have smoke dischargers. Your attached SPW unit has more reliable smoke dispensing capabilities with the 251/2 and 251/9 tracks. If push comes to shove the grenadiers have smoke grenades. Combine both bits of advice and I'm sure you'll crack this. Cheery!

Roger - aye noted thank you. I'll go slower in the next one