Vergeltungswaffe

The M1A2 APS is the best killing machine ever produced.

Started february 2015, and because i'm unimployed at the moment its been many hours, every day almost.
This game is like a drug, if you get hooked, and i'm hooked on combat mission    time goes fast when
playing this game.

The fact that this roster concept was brought up and heavily discussed over 3 years ago only solidifies my fear that not a damn thing in the Combat Mission series is ever going to change.  

For those of you who like to play in the snow. DiSaronno, a fictional battle in the winter of '45. At the Repository now.
 
Let me know what you think of it!
 
LiveNoMore

I made a mod some time ago, porting stuff from CMSF with few adjustments, which adds civilian vehicles (and other kind of) flavour objects:
 
http://community.battlefront.com/topic/117795-kiemes-modding-corner/?p=1598976

Speaking of which...Happy Fathers Day guys.

Hi guys
 
The Relief of Army Group North - Campaign ready for download at :
 
GreenAsJade
 
http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/mods/5546/details
 
German campaign with 5 missions
 
Campaign text here :
Situation: Eastern Front 18th August 1944 84km SW of the Gulf of Riga. The destruction of Army Group Centre in June 1944 and the collapse of the Western Front following the Allied invasion of France in the same month caused a major drain of German manpower and materiel. Within two months dozens of divisions were wiped from the German Order of Battle by the sweeping Russian offensives in Byelorussia and Ukraine, or bled white in the war of attrition in the Normandy countryside. During the summer of 1944 the German army was beaten both in Russia and in Western Europe and fell back in full retreat. The German army reserves could not cope with the dreadful losses and ad hoc measures had to be taken in order to stabilise the situation. New kinds of units saw their birth that summer: infantry divisions were raised as so-called "Volksgrenadier-divisions" and new tank forces were created in the form of "Panzer-Brigades". The first of these was Panzerbrigade 101 under the command of the highly decorated Generalmajor Hyacinth Graf von Strachwitz und Camminetz (Major-general Hyacinth Count of Strachwitz and Camminetz), known as the Panzergraf or ‘Panzer Count’. Von Strachwitz was awarded the Knight’s Cross with Swords as commander of the Grossdeutschland (Greater Germany) Panzer Regiment, the lowest ranking officer given the award at the time, and was then the third Army officer to be awarded the Knight’s Cross with Diamonds for the relief of the Cherkassy Pocket. The appearance of Panzer-Brigades was no novelty within the German armed forces. From the beginning of the war in 1939 Panzer-Brigades were present and operational in the German Order of Battle until at least the summer of 1943. Apart from the official Order of Battle, German tank forces often operated in ad hoc formations, especially after the reverse of fortunes on the battlefield required makeshift units to tackle mounting crisis situations. One of the most successful battlegroups, so-called "Kampfgruppen" (KG), was "schweres Panzer Regiment Bäke", called after the commander dr. Franz Bäke. This unit operated in Ukraine during the beginning of 1944 and managed to knock out hundreds of Russian tanks with the permanent loss of only five tanks. The success of Bäke undoubtedly inspired Hitler to create strong and well-equipped regimental sized tank units. Unsurprisingly he was one of the first commanders assigned to the Panzer-Brigades. The philosophy behind these brigades was that smaller but stronger tank units could manoeuvre and counteract swifter than cumbersome tank divisions, which can be easily detected by enemy intelligence. Nevertheless when Hitler ordered the creation of the Panzer-Brigades in July 1944, they were rather born out of necessity than a new defence doctrine of the German armed forces. On paper it looked strong but the Brigades had at least two major drawbacks, no artillery Battailon and only one Infantry Battalion. We are fighting alongside SS-Panzerbrigade Gross under command of Stubaf. Gross and the plan is to link up with them on the 19th August to create Panzerverband Strachwitz, Panzerbrigade 101 and SS-Panzerbrigade Gross in one formation under command of Major-general Hyacinth Count of Strachwitz. Mission: Destroy enemy forces from Soviet 51st Army and make contact with 16th Army, part of Army group North, to establish connection between Army Group North and Army Group Center in 5 Missions : Mission 1. Clearing the way. Mission 2. Obstinate Russians. Mission 3. Throwing Down the Gauntlet. Mission 4. Turning North. Mission 5. Breakthrough to 16th Army. Friendly Forces: Core unit - Panzerbrigade 101, 4 units. German-English translation at the bottom of the page, text on units in game will be in german. Unit 1. Panzerabteilung 2101. 36 x Panther G Tanks 3 Companys of 11 tanks each, each coy. 3 Platoons with 3 tanks and HQ with 2 tanks and Battalion HQ with 3 tanks. FlaK Platoon (Zug) 4 x SP 37mm Möbelwagen. Unit 2. Panzergrenadier (PzG.) Bataillon 2101. 2 x PzG. Company, each with 3 Infantry Platoons and one Heavy Platoon (3 x HMG, 2 x 251/9 and 2 x 81 mm. Mortar) all in SPW 251/1 D, each Platoon HQ in 251/17 (20mm). 1 x Heavy Company with 8 x 120 mm. Mortars, FO Team and 6 x 251/9. Unit 3. Panzer-Pionier-Kompanie 2101. 3 Platoons : 2 Pionier Platoons with 1 portable flamethrower each, one Platoon in 251/7, one in 251/1 and one Platoon with 6 x 251/16. Unit 4. Aufklärungszug 2101 (Recon). 1 x Recon Platoon, 3 squads in 251/1. Enemy Forces : Soviet 51st Army formations : 417th Rifle Division. 3rd Guards Mech. Corps. 51st Army attached units : SU Regiments, Artillery Battalions etc. Soviet Airforce. German-English translation Brigade - Brigade Regiment - Regiment Bataillon - Battalion Kompanie - Company Zug - Platoon Gruppe - Squad Trupp - Fireteam Stab - HQ Panzergrenadiere - Armored Infantry Pionier - Engineer/Pioneer Aufklärung - Recon FlaK - Anti-air Kampfgruppe (KG) - Taskforce schwere - Heavy Werfer - Mortar Nebelwerfer - Rocketlauncher Kanone - Cannon Stuka zu Fuss - Stuka "on foot" : 251/1 with 6 x 280 mm rocketlaunchers, 3 on each side not in the TOE so I use the 280 mm Nebelwerfer Artillery, which has very short range, 1300-1400 meters in the game. (-) - Element of unit, not full unit. The Campaign will not end if you loose a mission but it will affect the end result. You will not receive any core reinforcements during the campaign, if you loose core troops its gone for the rest of the campaign. Their is a slight chance that you will get some vehicles repaired during the campaign but don't rely on it. You will get resupplied during the campaign so fire away ! Your core units will get rest between missions. The maps are made from QB maps + one Orsha mastermap + one map by H1nd, so many thanks to Mark Ezra, Benpark and H1nd for all your work, without it I would never have started on this campaign.    
 

Timn's Rural Road
 
The map has a rural theme, and is based around couple gravel roads, a farm, and some marshland.
 
-Size: 2256x1392
- A mostly flat map with lots of subtle variations in elevation and a couple of low hills
-very few buildings, most of which are centered around a farmyard
-Lots of open fields
-several thick patches of trees which are not vehicle passable
-Quite a few less thick patches of trees which vehicles can pass through
-A large marsh/lake area in the Northeast of the map
-Several smaller strips of marsh
-No landmark names
 
 
Please feel free to use this map as you wish. You can change anything you want for your scenarios.
 
Map Only Download: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mo3b21gjb03n8te/Timn%27s%20Rural%20Road%20-%20Map%20Only.btt?dl=0
 
 
I have also put together several Quick Battle variations using this map. They are strictly PVP, since I have not yet ventured into setting up AI plans. Still, I hope they may provide some interesting battles.
 
Tiny Attack: https://www.dropbox.com/s/y05po24j9qt4304/Timn%27s%20Rural%20Road-PVP-Attack-Tiny.btt?dl=0
Small Attack: https://www.dropbox.com/s/p0zdj03g2skksmv/Timn%27s%20Rural%20Road-PVP-Attack-Small.btt?dl=0
Medium Attack: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vmtcjpn30icebaq/Timn%27s%20Rural%20Road-PVP-Attack-Medium.btt?dl=0
Large Attack: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3hzu4x7ueu04h4l/Timn%27s%20Rural%20Road-PVP-Attack-Large.btt?dl=0
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Tiny QB Layout

 
 
 
Small QB Setup

 
 
Medium QB Setup

 
 
Large QB Setup

Did someone say 5th Panzer Division?
 
  
 
 
Looks sweeping and legendary, George. I am really looking forward to playing all your latest stuff once I am done this mod from East Front Hell.
 
 
 
 
Mord.

This scenario covers the following action (as recorded by von Plato in his history of 5th Panzer Division) in the closing stages of Operation Bagration. Smorgon is on the main rail line from Minsk to Vilnius – hence it was strategically vital for allowing Germans to bring units into action. They were low on fuel/transport so railways were a vital component for keeping armies supplied and flow of reinforcements/moving units etc. The Soviets had just cut the rail line. 5th Panzer Division under the command of Major -General Karl Decker (His General Staff Officer or Ia was Lieutenant-Colonel Anton Detlev von Plato) or at least what was left of it, was concentrated into one group for a last gasp attack.
 
"Early on 6 July an armored group with I./ Pz. Gren. Rgt.14 and I./ Pz. Gren. Rgt. 13 and Pz.Rgt. 31 is formed under Colonel Lippert. The II./ Pz. Gren. Rgt.14 takes Sakowice and II. / Pz. 13 the section west of it on the road of advance. The armored group moves out at about 11.00 am. After short, heavy fighting the enemy is thrown north of Sakowice. The armored group thrusts above Krasne Osinowka until just before the railway, southwest of Smorgon, nearly 10 km deep. Then our power is exhausted at Osinowka - Bialkoszcyna as the enemy throws new armored units against us." 
 
The scenario covers later part of this attack i.e. the armoured kampfgruppe's thrust to Osinowka - Bialkoszcyna. By this stage in the fighting 5th Panzer had been in continuous heavy combat since 27th June, moving to and fro across a huge area. By the evening of the 5th July it had endured several cycles of full on combat. By the 6th July and was starting to show signs of strain and this final throw of the diec was to be it's last major offensive and combat cycle during Operation Bagration. Many of the panzergrenadier companies were down to 35 men. Their armoured strength had gone from 70 Panzer V Panthers and 55 Panzer IVs to a recorded strength on the evening of the 5th July of 25 Panthers and 25 PzIVs.
 
From a CM perspective such heavy casualties mean it's possible to simulate this without having hundreds of units on the map. Correspondingly the map is huge - 3km wide x 4.5km deep. The map is based on a contemporary Russian map of the area. What it highlights is this area was at least fairly suitable for a large scale armoured attack. It's one of the few areas in this part that's not bog and wood infested - being mostly rolling terrain with patches of wood but generally fairly open sight lines. The down side is several rivers/streams run across the terrain which mean the Germans had to attack across these natural barriers. The attack did make headway but the Soviets managed to very quickly push armoured units (from the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps and 3rd Guards Mech Corps under General Oslikovski) into the area. These are the attacks that halt the tired and run down 5th Panzer.
 
Playing the Scenario This scenario was originally designed to be played first and foremost from the perspective of the German side against the Soviet AI. It is playable head to head (H2H) but has not been playtested for balance in this regard. I suspect it’ll be a tough one for the German player – so if playing H2H let the less experienced player take the Soviets.   When playing this do so with the mindset you are playing a min campaign. Due to the size of map and tactical challenges you’ll need to tackle this as a linked series of actions rather than one decisive action.  
It's now available for download at the following links:
 
Scenario Depot III
 
The Repository
 
The image below is taken looking north. It shows the first water barrier a mainly marshy/boggy stream. Behind is a low ridge and rolling terrain. The village ahead is KARAVAI
 

 
Another shot - this time looking east across the German line of attack.
 

 
This is further north. It's the small hamlet of LIAUKI about 700m south of OSINOWKA.
 

 
Another full scale view of the map. Again looking north.
 

 
From the Soviet side of the hill. T34s from 3rd Guards Mech Corps counterattack the German armoured spearhead. This view is looking south towards LIAUKI/CHADAKI
 

I agree that CMBS lags behind in certain areas. Still though i claim that within its genre (battalion to platoon level 3D tactical wargames) it is the most deep and challenging game with the highest replayability. I tried other compareable games, like APOS, SABOW,  etc and none of them i like as much CM. I have litterally spent a thousand hours or probably more playing CM and i am still not bored of it, so Battlefront must be doing something right, even if it' s not making shiny graphics or cinematic sounds or forrests beeing consumed by giant blazing fires.

It's out!   
 
About the Scenario
This scenario recreates one of Lt. Otto Carius' engagements made famous in his book 'Tigers in the Mud' on page 166 'The Ambush'.
 
The scenario map size is around 2.9km x 3.4km. Both sides have around a company+.   You have around 01hr 40 Minutes (+0-15 minutes variable time). However it’s unlikely, playing against the AI that you’ll need all this time, although playing H2H it might be useful.   Playing the Scenario This scenario was originally designed to be played first and foremost from the perspective of the German side against the Soviet AI.   It is playable head to head (H2H) but has not been playtested for balance in this regard. I suspect it’ll be a tough one for the German player – so if playing H2H let the less experienced player take the Soviets.   It is also playable Soviet Vs German AI - given the tactical situation and the game engine limitations of the AI - the German AI struggles with the situation. Still if you want to blow up Hitlerite Bandit Tigers – knock yersel out!   AI Plans There are three distinct Soviet AI plans and one German AI plan – thus allowing some level of re-playability.   Those who want the true historical ‘feel’ then play Soviet AI Plan 1. It is the closest to how the Soviets reacted in the actual action. To access AI Plan 1, open this scenario in the editor and ‘switch off’ whatever other Red AI Plans you don’t want to play. It won’t affect FOW unless you take a peek at the other info.   About the Action
On the 22nd July 1944 Tigers of 2 Company (under the temporary command of Lt. Carius) from schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502  ambushed the spearhead of the Soviet 5th Tank Corps, the tip of 4th Shock Army’s spear, which had just cleanly broken through Army Group North’s defences. What is arguably unique about this action was the initial bold attack made by Carius and Kerscher into the village which was occupied by T34s from 41st Tank Brigade, made destroying a number of them.
 
Subsequent debate focuses on the exact kill tally - claimed by Carius in his book - in and around the village, the subsequent 'ambush' of the remainder of the Soviet tank unit some km east, and the part played by a nearby German Stug battery or batteries. The debate around the facts of this event I'll set aside for now but if you are interested there is a Historical Action PDF contained in the zip file that outlines the facts behind the engagement and subsequent research and opinion.
 
To Play
I've uploaded to the repository but until it goes live you can download the zip file (which contains the scenario game file, historical action PDF with sources and a master tactical map to help orientate yourself) via the following dropbox LINK
 
As always I'd appreciate any feedback etc. If you can post any comments etc in this thread that would be hugely appreciated ta! 
 
Enjoy!
 

The Eagle and the Bear is a narrative hypothetical campaign of a clash between NATO and Russian forces in the small Baltic country of Latvia. It is a campaign of modern war set in a "could happen" situation where you command a  U.S. Combat Brigade through a 7 day struggle for control of the Baltics.
 
It is designed to be played from the blue side only. Some scenarios are large so it may be slow load times on some systems.
 
It features 11 scenarios, 9 which are playable based on the outcomes of specific battles. I've tried to include a fair number of combat situations from small infantry engagements, airlift operations, urban battles as well as large sprawling armor engagements.
 
You take the role of Colonel Mack Barnes, commanding officer of the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team and your mission is to successfully take the brigade as well as other NATO forces through 7 days of modern combat. Below is a list of the scenarios and the campaign path:
 
Battle 1- Never Cry Wolf
(Win- The Water Dogs
(Lose- Campaign Over)

Battle 2- The Water Dogs
(Win- The Crossroads of Naudaskalns
(Lose- Campaign Over)

Battle 3- Crossroads at Naudaskalns
(Win- FOB Lancer
(Lose- Campaign Over)

Battle 4- FOB Lancer
(Win - Hill 289.7)
(Lose- The Bear at the Gates)

Battle 5- Hill 289.7
(Win- Operation Hammer)
(Lose- The Siege of Balvi)

Battle 6- The Bear at the Gates
(Win- Operation Hammer)
(Lose- Campaign Over)

Battle 7- The Siege of Balvi
(Win - Operation Eagle Strike
(Lose- Campaign Over)

Battle 8- Operation Hammer
(Win- Turning the Tide)
(Lose- Campaign Over)

Battle 9- Operation Eagle Strike
(Win- The Battle of Krievkalns)
(Lose- Campaign Over)

Battle 10 - Turning the Tide
(Win- The Battle of Krievkalns)
(Lose- Campaign Over)

Battle 11- The Battle of Krievkalns
(Win - Victorious)
(Lose - Defeated)
 
Here is a list of the combatants involved:
 
NATO:

Latvian 1st Infantry Brigade
Latvian 2nd Infantry Brigade
Polish 2nd Mechanized Battalion
Polish 1st Tank Battalion
Polish 6th Airborne Brigade
1st Stryker Combat Brigade Team
1st Calvary Regiment
3rd Armored Combat Brigade Team (Core Unit)

Soviet 20th Guards Army:

9th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade
5th Guards Motor rifle Brigade
27th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade
16th Spetsnaz Brigade
56th Airborne Brigade
100th Reconnaissance Brigade
6th Guards Tank Brigade
4th Guards Tank Brigade
1st Tank Brigade

(Special Note: Due to game limitations the Latvian forces were taken from the stock Ukrainian forces with standard camouflage. The Polish forces are Ukrainian forces with digital camouflage to distinguish them differently.

The Latvian military primarily uses western equipment so they have been equipped with humvee's mostly. However I used MT-LBM's as their APC's. The Poles have the KTO-Wolverine APC which I used BTR-4E's to simulate these as well as the PT-91 Twardy MBT which is simulated by the BM-Bulat MBT.)
 
There are a number of personalities besides Col. Barnes that you will meet as the campaign unfolds. Each will play a part.
 
As with my previous campaign I have included modtags and the needed files. However I do highly recommend Kieme's outstanding CMBS mods to get the full immersion.
 
I am looking for a few playtesters to check it out and help me weed out any bugs I may have overlooked. If you are interested let me know and I will send you a dropbox link to the campaign to try out.
 
 
 

A few percent on something this large is a lot of time. The labor part goes much more smoothly when you don't have to stop constantly to find things. So, your foot work was and is highly appreciated...my headaches were less because of it.
 
 
 
 
 
Thanks, brother. We've both come a long way since that CMBO marsh mod, huh? That was like 14 years ago! Well, I hope everybody likes it when I am done. Replace "brave" with "mental" and talented with "passable" and you hit the nail on the head. Though I will say that I think this one will be my best portrait mod ever. I am really happy with the look so far.
 
 
I do want to make sure everyone realizes that this will be a mod for the base game only. Bad news is I won't be releasing anything outside of the June to August time frame. Which means right now only Heer portraits and the Russians. That being said, the GREAT news is, barring any brand new portrait types that BFC adds (such as Gebirs), as soon as the next module comes out I'll be able to release the update in a teenie-tiny fraction of the time. Like within a few days.
 
 
Here's a little shot of the slight change in head size along with some of the actual portraits.
 

 
 
 
Mord.

It's now ready for action:
 
http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/mods/5541/details

Ahh. Sig material if there ever was... 

Thought I'd give plaster and wood buildings a break and try a brick building:
 

 

 

Hi there guys,
 
First, to head off any questions: no, there is no dedicated CM:FI UI mod. No, there will never be one. ;-) I'm just here to ease the pain a little, and maybe fix a few small issues. At GaJ's you will now find an update to my CM:FI weapon slot add-on for TweakedUI from a few years back. It's all I'm going to do on this, for now. I may, I repeat, may do the silhouettes at some point in the future. But only if I get really, really bored, and trust me, that hardly ever happens.
 
WHAT'S NEW:
This add-on now includes more/most CM:FI weapon slot graphics to CM:BN's TweakedUI v4 (final) mod. These are specifically intended for players who use TweakedUI v4 in CM:FI. This release also fixes a few texture mapping compatibility issues.
Includes:
- Beretta 34 pistol
- Beretta 38 smg
- Breda m30 lmg
- Breda m37 mmg
- Carcano rifle
- Springfield rifle (with and without GL)
- FG-42 (the correct early one this time)
- Italian shells and mortar bombs
- Lee Enfield no.1 mkiii (with and without scope)
- Main background fixes: control panel interrupt buttons, menu button and C&C icons now fit the background properly
- Optional Italian flag HQ silhouette
- All the optional wounded icons that are featured in the original TweakedUI v4
 

 
Enjoy,
Juju

Hi y' all
I've begun translating my Factory Mod set from Red Thunder to CMBN. Or at least parts of it, most of it will probably be more work than I´d care to put into it. So I´ll probably leave the factory parts out of it.
 
Anyway, during the process some questions has arisen that I hope to get a bit of help on.
Firstly, I of course couldn´t resist adding a bit to the mods: In my view, one of the main deficiencies of the stock CMBN building texures is the lack of murals. When looking at photos from Normandy, I find them one of the most iconic parts of normandy architechture. So I´ve decided to add some of those.  But I´d really appreciate some input and/or suggestions, as I'm not that knowledgeable about which murals would be the most likely to see in Normandy 1944. So far, I´ve come up with four that I have seen in period photos: Dubonnet, St. Raphaêl, Chocolat Menier and Michelin. But I´d like to add one to three more, for extra variation.
 
So: Can anyone here suggest typical murals of the era - preferably with links to photos? Or do you have comments on the first four?
 
Secondly, I was planning to make a damaged version of my city map, Ciembienne. Unfortunately, it seems that the "heavy rocks" terrain tile that is used for rubble in CMRT isn´t present in BN. Luckily, I can still use RockinHarry´s woderful rubble mod - but I really like to have more options. So could anyone tell me if this is an oversight in the CMBN 3.00 upgrade - or a delibarate omission? In other words: Is it reasonable to expect that it might be added in a later upgrade/patch.
 
Suggestions will, as I said, be much appreciated.
 
Cheers

 
 
 

 
 

 
 
All four together:
 

Here's really your options when assessing the Armata:
 
1. Learn virtually everything about modern tank systems, spend hours gazing at the photos released of the platforms, reviewing claims, learning Russian and come to your own conclusions based on a well balanced technical perspective.
 
2. Ignore virtually everything.  Wait until the tank actually comes out and enters duty.
 
The Armata has gone beyond being simply a tank in Russia and it's now a propaganda tool.  The Russian government and the government owned media has made some pretty dubious claims....and then Russian fanboys have added onto those claims to a positively insane level of performance well beyond what engineering, science, and human technology is capable of at the moment.  So from that all we have is fairly modest estimates made by outside professional sources that paint a picture of what could be a pretty good tank (assuming you overcome a lot of technical and economic hurdles)....or the Russian version which is a little short  of being the personal chariot of the god-emperor putin's warthrone that is immune to all HATO nuclear weapons and will bring the Russian people to their rightful place ruling over the American eastern seaboard with no losses.
 
It's fairly reasonable to assume the Armata is still going to react poorly to most modern 120 MM sabot type projectiles given the current state of the art in ERA, APS, and passive armor arrays.

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force. Who embarked upon the Great Crusade this day, seventy one years ago. God bless you for your courage, sacrifice and devotion to duty.
 
"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."
Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863
 
Thank you with much respect, from one combat veteran to another,
Christopher
Mech.Gato

Or you download the mod I posted about...

God forbid that you download the mod that gives you the exact same information right in the info panel of the given tank/gun etc.
 
Panther A late

 
Wolverine

Not to be a jerk or anything, but if that info is so critical as to be a deal breaker for you, this is likely not the game for you anyway. I would hope to be wrong about that, but it takes some willingness on your part to immerse yourself in the game and not get wrapped up in gaming it if you understand my meaning. Kind of more toward what Ian was saying more eloquently.

Part of the nature of CMx2 is that the info you are looking for is only generally useful anyway. The modeling of the game is such that you can make some assumptions about likelihood of success in any given situation however the variables involved are such that you can't really rely on that info. After that it becomes more an issue about tactically moving to increase your chances of hitting your enemy in a vulnerable location hopefully before they can react.

So in a nutshell 
 
Troops who are 'conscripts' with 'poor' morale led by a leader with '-2' modifier will most likely poop their pants and run as soon as they hear/smell the enemy! 
 
Troops who are 'elite' with 'fanatic' morale led by a leader with a '+2' modifier will be cyborgs dealing fatal death to any and all who get in their sights, whilst refusing to give up and die!
 
Both are a bit tongue in cheek but you get the drift.
 
In reality the combination of these soft factors allows a great deal of granularity for the scenario designer to simulate troops behaving in ways that refelct their training, leadership, previous combat experience and casualties suffered etc etc.
 
It also greatly affects how troops behave under fire and pose the main challenging a player will face commanding troops as how best to manage his living breathing pixeltruppen.