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Joachim

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Posts posted by Joachim

    Casualties in QBs

    in Combat Mission: Afrika Korps

    Posted

    Medium or huge battles:

    2000pts ME, no casualties

    1 Plt of 5 Panthers: 1030 pts

    4 Panthers: 920 pts

    (from memory)

    Probably can't afford a plt and even 4 will leave you without much inf.

    2000 pts ME, 20% casualties = 2500 pts

    1 Plt of 5 Panthers with 20% casualties = (averaged) 4 Panthers for 1030 pts.... and you might even get a full inf bn (with organic arty and guns) for those 1470pts left.

    Small battles:

    If you play small QBs where you can't get plts of Über-tanks, buying them is a gamble.

    Gruß

    Joachim

    0

    STRANGE...map exit for points not understood by AI?

    in Combat Mission - Scenario Talk

    Posted

    Give the AI cover for its approaches. Out of LOS (e.g by hills) won't work.

    The AI likes to bunch up. If he has lots of forces, he will first assemble, then attack. So even if the AI set up spread across a wide map, all forces will assemble to attack the flag that is closest to its start line. Those close to it will wait, all others run/advance etc. If the troops are weakened/unfit, they'll soon have to wait to get some rest.

    I had a QB where 40+ tanks tried to get on a hill... all wanted to go the same way... but lots of slopes and no traffic-control -> bunching up. Guess lots of reverse orders leading to total chaos.

    The infantry tried to move thru a canyon (IIRC Theike's "leaving hell-again" map with zones and flags added by me)

    What might work in some cases:

    - the forward flag is in the center

    - the AI infantry is fit

    - give the AI enough cover for several routes

    - don't use wet ground for lots of armor

    - restrict AI setup zones so he can't spread forces.

    - small neutral zone

    And while playing....

    Show him targets!

    From my understanding, the AI moves to the flags, but deploys to attack targets.

    Gruß

    Joachim

    0

    size of battles

    in Combat Mission - Tips and Tricks

    Posted

    10 minutes? Treeburst155 mentioned sumfink about 30 minutes in his last mail... 10000+ in the desert.

    Cals are influenced by LOS (10000 pts in woods are faster than 10000pts on a flat barren map), smoke/dust/fire and the amount of units. Arty barrages take some calc time, too - especially if they hit bunched up troops and each hit forces the TacAI to plan something new for that unit.

    Gruß

    Joachim

    0

    Grenades

    in Combat Mission: Afrika Korps

    Posted

    If I'd expect close combat in a house, I'd make damn sure there would be some cover against grenades. Moving wardrobes/matresses into the center or as cover for the rear etc. Then again a squad can spread over the whole house and a grenade in a room won't find too many tagets. (If it's just a hut that won't help much.)

    And there are instances when grenades take out more than one person - you just need some squads close together :D

    I doubt that a grenade sends 3 men into the air - the fragments kill, the explosion is to spread the fragments but won't move 80kg into the air. Nevertheless it might kill/wound more than one.

    The bigger the grenade the more deadly it is. A 81mm mortar round coming down at the same place would have a bigger effect than a hand grenade. Yet I usually only get more than 2-3 kills per 150 rounds when treebursts occur or when firing at a massed enemy. Using up the 25 or so grenades of a squad gets a bigger score. So grenades are already deadlier than mortar rounds.

    Yet still close combat is less than optimal. Excessive ammo use for small arms and grenades seem to assume spread teams/squads.

    ... only below a few metres it gets better when advancing/assaulting with hand-to-hand combat.

    It's hard to model everything perfectly.

    Gruß

    Joachim

    0

    What are recon troops for?

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    German recon troops were not used to defend ground or to assault but to

    a) capture ground and hold it till regular reinforcements arrive. That's why they have less men but more LMGs (or less men per LMG if you want it that way). Usually btn has some organic hvy wpns like IGs and ATGs. They are equipped to operate on their own, but not for long.

    B) patrol areas that are thinly manned, establish contact but not fight it out.

    c) stop enemy recce

    d) quickly move to threatened areas (see a))

    They are usually better troops than line infantry and to valuable to waste in assaults.

    Most GE divisons had a recce btn.

    Lack of hvy wpns in the Soviet recce formations suggests they were just armed for self defence and thus their only task was scouting. IIRC their number was smaller per divison (and per 10000 men).

    For CM:

    Soviet recce makes cheap scouts while German recce is usually better in the overwatch role where they take less casualties.

    German recce btns are usually good combined arms forces. Add some tanks, StuGs or TDs and you have a good task force.

    Gruß

    Joachim

    0

    Jabos' They Are The Death Of Me

    in Combat Mission: Afrika Korps

    Posted

    Level of threat, terrain, weather, availability, mobility.

    There are many incidents where SPAA was used to replace tanks as supporting elements, so they were used forward.

    In CM you don't need lots of AD. In scen tests, 2 40mm AAs on a dominating hilltop regularly killed at least 1 plane out of 3.

    Their location is very important. Clear field of fire is a must.

    Gruß

    Joachim

    0

    German mobile division forces in midwar Russia

    in Combat Mission - Tips and Tricks

    Posted

    Dunno what Jason uses, but my armor choice usually consists of:

    a) Type 1 that can stand most of the incoming and deal with minor threats

    B) Type 2 that can deal with any threat.

    c) Type 3 that can kill the enemy's Type 2.

    Kind of a rock-scissor-paper selection. Often one type is absent, depending on the possible enemy setup. But if you might face hellcats - have some 20mm autocannon or 37mm AD around.

    Stuarts are very good at killing hull down PzIV or Marders - with a higher ROF they hit faster than Shermans. But they die from 20mm at the sides. Even plain ole' 3.7cm PaK reliably kills them... revealing only sound contacts.

    Another consideration is having a dedicated overwatch element that needs only frontal armor and something than can move in and take lots of punishment from all sides - or take some punishment but is cheap.

    And I try to use common types that operated together. Mixing JagdPanthers for overwatch and Tigers that move in ain't "historically correct".

    Gruß

    Joachim

    0

    Tips on scenario making needed

    in Combat Mission - Tips and Tricks

    Posted

    The AI often goes for the nearest flag from startup. It is a real pain to see him set up on a broad front and then concentrate his forces on his side of the map to attack that "forward" flag. The 2nd flag the AI attacks will be the 2nd nearest to his friendly side of the map - no the closest to his position.

    Very annoying.

    So either

    - use dynamic flags (too bad the AI usually always chooses the same flag, so no replay value),

    - use a line of flags that have the same distance to the AI map edge

    - place all flags in a small area that is behind any defensible terrain.

    - ...your ideas here

    Gruß

    Joachim

    0

    Infantry Fighting in woods

    in Combat Mission - Tips and Tricks

    Posted

    If you can bring them to bear, they are deadly. Well worth the effort. If you have only one HQ with sufficient command range - combine all mortars under its command.

    Don't forget to cancel their area fire when you assault. A move command with a pause will cancel their fire in the middle of a turn if you want to arrive on top of the enemy immediately after the barrage.

    Gruß

    Joachim

    0

    unwanted cease fires

    in Combat Mission: Afrika Korps

    Posted

    What was your ammo level? How many squads were out of ammo? What was your morale level?

    Either can trigger a cease fire.

    Hmm.. reading the first post - morale should not have been the problem. 18 casualties from a company are not that much. So check for the ammo.

    Gruß

    Joachim

    0

    Armored Vehicle Company HQs

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    Guess the designers never thought we would really play btn sized armor battles.

    I'd question the current model for infantry formations. Why can any Co HQ take over any squad, but a "lone" plt HQ can't? Why doesn't the senior squad leader take over a plt once the HQ team is gone?

    Why doesn't the 2nd in command take over if the HQ tank is gone? Why doesn't the Plt commander just board another tank? Why can a killed/wounded TC still command a plt if his tank is still alive?

    You solve one question and lots of other problems arise.

    Gruß

    Joachim

    0

    Road to Minsk

    in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

    Posted

    The Stug frontal armor (80mm) is impenetrable for the T34s. Don't try to shoot it out.

    Advance behind smoke.

    Scout with infantry - make sure you locate every gun that opens up so it gets off as little shots as possible.

    Have mortars in overwatch to deal with ATGs. Guns behind small rises or walls are very hard to kill in CM using direct fire (near impossible if you don't have v1.03). Mortars usually do the trick. Especially if the gun is in trees or woods.

    Gruß

    Joachim

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