Pak40

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by aka_tom_w: Um I could be wrong, but I thought anti-tank teams make GREAT cheap scouts. They run fast and Can kill armour if you guess right and get lucky. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Im with Tom on this. CM doesn't really have a leg "scout" unit. It was common practice in WWII to have a 1 or 2 man scout team out in front of every platoon or company (Read Donald Burgett's books for some references). The only way to simulate the 1 or 2 man scout is with a sniper or an AT team. Sometimes I like to have a half-squad up front to have some firepower. Sometimes I take an extra platoon leader from the Heavy weapons platoon and use him as a scout.

It is true that U.S. platoon leaders had radios and were able to call down artillery with them but it is a lot more complicated than that. The radios that the platoon leaders had were very unreliable. Terrain, buildings, trees often weakend the signal and they were not even able to contact the company leader. Also, these radios could take some shrapnel or a bullet and be rendered useless. If the platoon leaders were able to contact the company HQ AND the company HQ still had contact with Batallion (usually via phone line), then they could put in a request for artillery. But this is even a longer process than what you see with the FO used in CM. FO's were an organic part of a battery in WWII and they usually had bigger more powerful radios to contact them from a good distance. Modeling those weak radios is a complicated issue due to the dynamics of how they worked. Instead of spending lots of time and resources modeling some sort of Radio Contact on the platoon level, BTS decided to just include FO's as the only way to call offboard artillery. It's not the most realistic solution but merely a logical one given the computer resources and time available to programming. [ 06-26-2001: Message edited by: Pak40 ]

I don't think this is gamey at all because: 1) He obviously used the terrain to his advantage. approaching behind that hill makes all the tactical sense in the world. Not only did he capture the hill but his men were relatively safe in doing so. 2) The attacker has the advantage of choosing where and when to attack and he used that advantage to the best of his ability. 3) In contrast to #2, the defender has the disadvantage of not knowing when and where the attack is coming from, therefore he must account for all possibilities. 4) <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>because your opponnent is exploiting the the fact that the map is only very small<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I'm not sure how you exploit a small map in this way. If anything, a small map makes it very hard to flank down the map edge. He did well to do it on such a small map. To be honest, you should have recognized this obvious appoach and planned for it. TO ALL CM PLAYERS: Flanking down the map edge is not gamey. Even BTS has a stance on this.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Slapdragon: There is also the term "cherry picker". As in the guy buys British tanks, US infantry, British PIAT teams, US artillery, Canadian APCs, US Hellcats, etc., to get a dream team. MAYBE it could have happened, and QBs are not all that historical (more like "could be scenarios")<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I certainly don't agree with the "cherry pickin" but I'm ok if my opponent uses two different nationalities that did happen historically. One of the most common were British Armor and U.S. Infantry/Airborne. Market Garden, 84th Division & Gaurds Armoured Divsion near Gilenkirchen (spelling is wrong), and the latter stages of the Ardennes battle. Also, I think there were some U.S. and French collaberation near the Siegfried line.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Detroit Guy: Unless there is one single country that is "better" than the others... also seems like , in the demo anyhow.. that tanks are king.. is this historicly acurate? D Guy<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> No, that's not true. Almost every game I've played against competent humans has resulted in all or near all tanks knocked out. Yes, tanks can deal a lot of damage if they've survived the entire battle, but it's not too common. Once you buy the game you be saying this phrase a lot: "Well, there's another 140 points down the drain"

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Stalin's Organ: Just a point here - buildings in CM do not explode. The shock-wave yuo see on the screen is dramatic effect only and does not inflict any damage on anything.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> True, and I personally don't look at it as a shock wave, just the inevitable cloud of dust and debris that would occur due to a building collapsing.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by glacey: 1. Order smoke - they fire HE 2. tell the 85mm to fire at a Sherman..oops it's a Yank...I'll fire at the spotter instead. 3. Even with a 25% advantage the allies fire seems far more deadly and co-ordinated. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> 1. I think there were some smoke/HE ammo switching issues that were patched in the real game. The Demo has never been patched to my knowlede. But, if your unit was an onboard mortar, then there's an explanation: it probably had a clear LOS to an enemy unit and it considers HE higher priority than smoke. 2. 85mm? Hmmm, I must have missed that unit on the OOB lists. Anyway, as people mentioned before, the FOs are high priority. I, however, would consider a tank higher priority over an FO (if my unit was a tank or AT gun). If your "85mm" was a mortar then I'm not surprised at all that he changed targets. The mortars at that caliber can rarely hurt a tank, although I did have a sherman immobilized once by it. Anyway, the target "sticking" was also tweaked in one of the patches. If you issue a targeting order to a unit, then he will usually stick to it rather than change targets (unless the new enemy unit is dangerously close). 3. Welcome to the best A.I. in wargaming. BTW, it's very hard to win as German in those demo scenarios, so you're not alone. [ 06-25-2001: Message edited by: Pak40 ]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Smack: I can't comprehend using the American forces, they seem almost weak in june '44. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Weak? The 76mm can punch through most German armor. Sure the 17 pdr is much stronger but the 76mm is usually enough. The U.S. infantry is much stronger than the British at any range. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> In Urban fighting, their Bazookas blow more of my men up then the enemies! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hmm, I've had this happen once, maybe twice with a schrek. There's a simple remedy, don't put your infantry in the same building as the bazooka. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> Their infantry seems ok, <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> OK? see my comment above about U.S. Infantry. The Brits have pitiful MGs(Vickers is slow to move and slow ROF) and use bolt action rifles as their main infantry weapon. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> but thier lack of support destroys that one small advantage. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Lack of support??? 1)The .50 MG is the best leg infantry support you'll find 1) The Sherman 75 is an infantry killer. 3 mgs (one is a .50) and 70+ rounds of HE. Use this against infantry instead of chasing enemy tanks and you'll do major damage. 2) The Priest: 50+ rounds of of 105mm HE and dirt cheap. Another infantry killer. Enough said. 3) The Sherman 105 is a major infantry killer. all the benefits of the regular sherman but with a 105mm. Now, none of these has the thick armor as that Churchill VIII but they are all much faster than it. You can learn to use the speed to your advantage. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> no fireflies to play with <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> If you're into spending a lot of $ for one tank that can easily be killed by any german tank, then the Firefly is your tank. Otherwise, try spending less for two tanks or TDs. Buy M10s and Greyhounds and put them on the move. The Greyhounds can take out almost any German Armor from the side and since they are fast, they make excellent flankers. Once the Hellcats are available buy them instead of the M10s. They are just as fast as the Greyhound and shoot well on the move (not that it needs to flank in order to kill) <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> 81mm mortars aren't near as effective as 3 inch ones. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> The Brits have stronger blast in this department but the U.S. 81mm has 200 rounds which makes up for lack of blast. Learn to use the tools you have and you can kill anything.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Rex_Bellator: After more checking it appears that the M3A1 variant also remains totally unmodded for all nationalities <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Dude, all of these mods can be found at: http://www.afv-uk.net/cmoutpost/ Look under Units, then under Magua's mods. They have winter and regular of all allied halftracks.

Is this that silly little sitcom that makes the Germans out to be a bunch of bumbling idiots worse than Hogan's Heros made the Germans seem?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Moon: It's not a "runaway" command that is being asked for, it's a "boy-I-screwed-up-make-yourself-invisible-instantly-and-do-not-get-killed-by-enemy" order. "Withdraw" is the order to instantly (no time delay) get out of a hairy situation that you are looking for. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I agree with Moon. There is no need to have a runaway command. Richard, If you waited until an ememy squad got that close then it's obvious you kept your squad there a turn too long. You should have used the withdraw command (or pause and run) the turn before. Command in real life takes timing by the leaders and sometimes the leaders have very poor timing, CM models this beautifully. If your RAC is implemented then all of your commanders will have "perfect timing" which is just plain unrealistic. Anyway, there are a whole new slew of commands for the CM:BB, they're mentioned in the interview on gamespot.com. All of these new commands pretty much cover anything we could possibly want.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mattias: I did a bit of counting and by the looks of it the UK 4.2 inch mortar is the single most cost effective (blast cost) artillery FO available in CM (not counting the rockets due to their inaccuracy). <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> That's true if you only multiply the blast X the number of rounds divided by the cost (BLAST X ROUNDS/COST). But if you take AREA into consideration then you're talking a different ballgame. We know from trig that pi*r(squared)= AREA of a cirlce. Since all blasts in CM are circular we can use this to calculate effective area. For example, an explosion with an effective radius of 5 meters covers appoximately 78.5 square meters. An explosion with an effective radius of 10 covers approximately 314.2 square meters. That's more than 4 times more area than the the 5 meter radius. So the question now becomes: Is the BLAST value in CM directly proportional to a radius or is the area already taken in to account when calculating the BLAST value?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Stalin's Organ: Also the 3" is a steal at 111 pts vs 200-something for the US 81. Sure it has a bit less ammo, but it's got much better blast. Is the points cost supposed to represent relative availability or something like that?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I think you're getting your point costs mixed up. The U.S. 81mm does not cost 200 points, but it does have 200 rounds of ammo. IIRC the U.S. 81mm Regular costs 99 points. Well worth the price. Maybe you're comparing regulars to veterans or cracks?

Cooper, Sometimes Yes, Sometimes no. If your men are in foxholes and the incoming is 81mm, then just stay there. You'll take some casualties and some suppression but you should overcome it. Veterans shrug it off pretty well, regulars are a little more shakey. If you watch your replays closely you can recognize the "Spotting" shells that usually fall about 20-30 seconds before a barrage starts. Usaully the command delays don't give your men enough time to run away from an incomming barrage but there is an option: The WITHDRAW command. This will get your men moving immediately but only towards the rear. If you're attacking and big artillery is going to come down on you soon, I'd use the withdraw command or normal run command if possible. Let your Enemy waste a turn's worth of artillery and then resume your attack again. Sometimes you can play cat and mouse with your men.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Dr. Brian: Sheesh … what the problem if he stop's playing? If you're pummeling the guy and he is losing, why should he keep playing? So you can humiliate him more, and where he doesn't enjoy playing? I've stopped many times in the middle of a game, because it was pointless to continue. It wasn't fun as I had zero chance to win. However, I notified my opponent the match is his, and I would quickly start (or offer to) another game. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> You miss the point Dr. Brian. We're not mad if they surrender when they know that they're beat, we're mad because the just break off all communication without resolving the battle. If you want to quit, fine, just send your oppenent that last email with your surrender. We all like to see the final stats in a game and look at the final map. So the least the losers can do is send that last file.

I guess I've been luckier. I think I've only had one maybe two people the past year who have quit emailing me after things didn't go their way in the beginning. I've almost given up in a couple of battles in the past because I got my arse handed to me early, but I'm really glad I stuck it out because: (a) I ended up pulling a draw or minor win due to my opponents over confidence ( it's the right thing to do © I expect the same from my opponents. I've learned to never give up until that battle summary shows up. People who bail out are depriving themselves of a possible win or draw. NOTHING is more satisfying than getting a draw or minor win when just turns before you thought all things were hopeless.

thanks guys, it worked. OK, Matt, you can close this one out

I loaded a mod a while back that changed the Landmark label font. It's rather ugly and unreadable. I've looked in the mod list on the Combat-Missions site but it doesn't have the bmps for the font listed. Does anyone know which bmps to replace? thanks

If you run through a building you will possibly miss an ememy unit on the top floor unless he fires at you. Running reduces your spotting capabilities considerably. I don't think it's necessary to go to the top floor to clear out every building. But you do need to have a unit stop inside on the first floor. It will usually take a few seconds to spot a hiding enemy if he does not shoot at your unit. More than likely he will shoot at your unit, even if he was hiding. AT teams are an exception so you may want to clear out the building completely if you're worried about AT teams. You could set up a self made scenario and test this out. Play Hotseat with full fog of war. Advance some infantry into a big building with an AT team hiding upstairs. Replay the scenario a few times to get an accurate sense of what the odds are in finding the AT team.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jaldaen: This is an offshoot from the "which tank is best" thread... My question is what would you get if all you had was 100 points to spend on armor? When Attacking? When Defending? Axis? Allied? and Why?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Tough one. Attacking: I'd get armor that fits the anti-tank role. -PUMA for the Germans. It's fast and has a decent gun. -U.S., You cant get a tank destroyer so I'd get a M5 or Priest Defending: I'd get armor that fits an anti infantry role. Leave the antitank work to the AT guns and bazookas. - StuH or STG III for germans. - Priest for the U.S.

I right there with you Scott. I don't get around to playing the CW forces much so I don't know a lot about them. But I have learned a little playing against them. The infantry are weak. A normal infantry platoon is comprised of mainly bolt action rifles, not very effective. So, in order to make up for the weak infantry, you'll need to buy some extra infantry or get some more Infantry support like a vanilla Sherman or anything will a lot of HE. As for tanks, I've learned that the Churchill with the exrta armor can be a real pain to kill. I've had trouble knocking those out with Hetzers and PzIVs. But, this Churchill isn't really a tank killing machine, the gun doesn't have the power. It's better used for infantry killing but you have the extra insurance of thick frontal armor incase enemy tanks try to tangle with it. I noticed that you didn't mention anything about Tank Destroyers. For me, tank destroyers are a necessity. I always get at least one for the sole purpose of killing tanks. Fireflys and Sherman 76s are good but they're too expensive to lose so I turn to the cheaper Hellcat or M10 or in the Brit's case, the Achilles.

LC, I do something a little different than what you're asking about. If I buy an armored vehicle for the purposes of tank killing, I usually go for quality crews on cheaper vehicles. Veteran Hellcat, Veteran Hetzers etc. I want my first shot to count. But if I buy a tank/SP gun for the purposes of infantry killing then I get regular crews. Regular Priests, Regular Stuh42 etc. If I know it's going to be a small map where I can't be outflanked, then I usually get a better armoured vehicle.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by KnockOnWood: This is probably a stupid question but is it difficult to write batchfiles for mods? How is it done, c++, VB? Is there any sourcecode available or any tutorial or something? I would be happy for any answers you can come up with. Take Care!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> It's a text file. You can make one in notepad. Just give it the .bat extension. It uses the old DOS command line so you'll have to dig up an old DOS manual. You're better off opening a batch file that someone else has already done and learn from that.

As a Russian player I will be scared to hell when I hear that dreaded Stuka dive bombing sound on the battlefield. That sound signifies that tanks and men are definitly about to lose their lives.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gen-x87: Mensch: I am not arguing the merits of a fighter\bomber in a 5000 point game. I was expecting it fully. But I am wondering why they would wait 15-16 turns to show up on the scene. And why they only showed up after the Tigers and Panthers started moving. That seems a bit strange to me. Gen<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Do you think the fighter pilot really knows what "turn" it is? I think BTS programmed the airstrikes to be random. I once had an air attack come in closer to the end of the battle than the beginning, but that was a user made scenario. I think the QB battle scenarios are very random, though. As for the planes coming in one or two rounds after your tank was moving, its pure coincidence. In no way does the computer AI cheat.