Treeburst155

I think the molotov cocktail implementation is DEEPLY flawed, and violates simple logic and common sense. Here are some in-game facts that prove my point. 1) Molotovs ALWAYS get thrown at enemy armor before grenades are used. 2) Molotovs are less than HALF as effective as grenades at taking out tanks, and even open top stuff. "Quickly, comrade, throw a grenade at that tank!" "But sarge, I still have to throw these three useless molotovs first!" If the CMBB implementation of grenades and molotovs is fairly accurate, the Russians would never have used molotovs; UNLESS, they had few grenades available! Is that why the Russians used molotovs....as substitute grenades? If so, then the grenades should logically be thrown first, with the molotovs simply being backup weapons. Perhaps even more historically accurate in this case would be for the squads to have NO grenades if they have molotovs. In history, were grenades abundant when molotovs were used? If molotovs were NOT just a poor substitute for scarce grenades, but primary AT weapons instead; we have a damage modelling problem with the molotovs and/or Russian hand grenade. BFC, fix or do somefink!!! Treeburst155 out.

What would a real world commander consider to be the defining characteristics of a Tactical Victory? Can a Tactical Victory have different characteristics depending on the mission/objectives or other circumstances? Treeburst155 out.

Sharpshooters are difficult to spot, even when they fire. Sharpshooters themselves, spot very well. Place them where they have good LOS and leave them be. They will fire at tank commanders if the tank is not too close. Sometimes they kill the TC. Even if they don't, they cause him to button up. Treeburst155 out.

I think that would be a function of turret speed. M10s, for example, have slow turrets. What the TDs have is good guns for penetrating armor. They're really just self-propelled AT guns, although some have decent armor. If you're talking about spotting targets, TDs are no better off than any other vehicle. At least, that's the way it seems to me. They have no special armor detecting abilities. Treeburst155 out.

wrong. just read "Das Auge der Division" (the eye of the division), where a Untersturmfuehrer of the recon battaillon describes, how the 17. SSPzGrnDiv "GvB" did recon: They drove with highest speed to enemy, then jumped off the schwimmwagen (swim capable version of kuebel). </font>

Don't pay any attention to Seanachai. He's a raving lunatic. About 4 years ago there was a thread on the same topic. There were over 500 posts to the thread. It's a good question. Using cheap vehicles, crews, bazookas, panzerschrecks, etc. to do "recon by death" is gamey in the extreme. Would you follow an order to drive a JEEP all over an area where you KNOW the enemy is hidden, just to draw fire? If you were the CO would you order somebody to do something like that? It's actually a rookie tactic IMO. It doesn't work too awfully well, especially in CMBB and CMAK, and it DOES cost him some points that could be spent on something more lethal. Treeburst155 out.

What CMAK does is default to east/west impact patterns when the direction of the battle is ambiguous, as determined by the friendly edges. I just found out a neutral edge can be thrown in if you assign opposite map edges to the same side. Treeburst155 out.

It's all determined by friendly map edges. In CMBO, the arty ALWAYS fell east/west, so a north/south battle with the logical north/south friendly edges would give you the parallel strikes. BFC didn't like this, and made the arty pattern for CMBB dependent on friendly map edges. That forced designers to use illogical friendly edges to get the desired effect, thereby discouraging the practice. What you describe may very well still be possible; but it's illogical, and causes problems as you've mentioned. What Kingfish has done in "All Is Fair" works like a charm, and there are no unwanted side effects. It may even work in CMBB. I haven't tried it. Treeburst155 out.

OK, here's the scoop. You will only see these devastating parallel strikes in battles where the action runs generally north/south, AND where there are no neutral map edges. It doesn't matter which side is assigned which edges, just that each side is assigned two edges. So, if you find yourself advancing in a northerly direction, more or less in an east/west line, you might want to consider the possibility of getting hit by arty along some 140 meters of that line. Did the designer put in a neutral map edge? If not, look out! Treeburst155 out.

Playing a North/South scenario I'm getting hit with a devastating arty strike running parallel with the front line, rather than the usual parallel with the line OF ADVANCE. I've confirmed one way to make this happen at will. There are probably more. If one side is assigned the west and north edges as friendly, the other the east and south edges, and the battle arranged to run north/south, the arty strikes will be east/west. This means they will be PARALLEL to the general front line. Early testing shows that simply changing one of these friendly edges to neutral puts things back like we're used to seeing. I'm looking now for other friendly-edge/battle-direction combinations that yield parallel arty strikes. Beware the scenario with no neutral map edges! Especially if the battle runs north/south. This discovery was made possible by the Kingfish scenario off the CD called, "All Is Fair". Great fight it is, BTW. Treeburst155 out.

Ron's revelation in this thread is VERY big news IMO. With the target hull up, and yourself hull down, you will find luck going your way more often than not. This is really good stuff. Thanks, Ron! "Seek Hull Down" and "Shoot & Scoot" are valuable commands to me; but only in very specialized situations. They can be dangerous commands. I don't use these commands much; but I'm glad they are there when I need them. Treeburst155 out.

I've actually come to enjoy CM's micromanagement. It's like a game within the game. The table top guys spend lots of time painting miniatures. We spend lots of time micromanaging. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. There is nothing quite like a beautiful CM convoy. Better yet, two convoys going in opposite directions on the same road, or managing a busy intersection as if there were an MP directing traffic. It can be done; but you have to get into it, and be willing to spend lots of time on orders that have nothing really to do with tactics, other than quick efficient shifting of forces on roads. TCPers could never do it. Treeburst155 out. Treeburst155 out.

Interesting point, Ron. Are you sure you are retaining your own hull down status by going the extra couple meters to remove HIS hull down status? I'll have to try that one out. Treeburst155 out.

Grog Dorosh, My elaborate mail filtering rules ARE Outlook Express Mail Rules. Mace, Please distribute the address in my profile to all known and potential spammers. My mail rules and SPAM detection software look forward to the challenge. Treeburst155 out.

I love SPAM. It's the only mail I get. With a little effort, I've managed to get my daily SPAM count to over 100 per day. I'm also one of the first to get every new viral attachment. I spend several hours per week managing my beloved SPAM. I have customized SPAM detection software, and have developed some elaborate mail filtering rules. What do I get for this several hours per week? I don't have to spend several minutes per week trying to find my ONE real email among the SPAM. I save time. I wish I could get SPAM from the forum. Treeburst155 out.

There are frequently places in trees on slopes where the terrain actually goes to a CLEAR slope. You can be right in the middle of a dense woods and be spotted, and take hits, like you were in clear terrain. Beware trees on slopes. There is hidden clear terrain! You have to probe with the LOS tool to find it. As for LOS into trees, if you are way above the trees, and near to them, you can see down into the trees somewhat further than if you were at the same distance, but at similar elevation. The elevation difference has to be quite pronounced though, especially with Tall Pines. Treeburst155 out.

....now if they would get around to fixing the, "HMG invulnerable when in trench bug".

.....but Grog Dorosh, I've got all I can handle just ignoring your 13,000 posts. Treeburst155 out.

Smoke interfering with spotter LOS to the target during the arty delay period still scraps the strike. If you don't see any spotting rounds, that's the que for you to cancel the "observed" strike completely. It is now being treated as a blind strike. Treeburst155 out.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the point to point LOS tool we already have in CM. It's the "rotate" command. If you wish to have LOS to point A, you simply plot temporary movement to some prospective point that looks like it might have LOS to point A, then a rotate command to point A. If the rotate line does not cross too many trees, or get "bent" too much by terrain, you almost certainly have LOS to point A from there. If it looks bad for LOS, just shift your "viewing" waypoint around until the rotate line looks good. Bingo, there's your destination for LOS to point A. This process can be time consuming; but, as has already been said, CM is all about micro-management. I kinda like it. There's nothing like a beautifully executed convoy, for example.

It depends on if I am attacking or defending. I usually spend more time on defense. I could spend over 30 minutes on a 1,200 pt defense I think. With TCP/IP, I like to do the setup phases PBEM, then move to TCP/IP. Treeburst155 out.

Some of your LOS hunting hassles are due to lack of experience I think. The rest are due to the pretty, but uninformative artwork. Treeburst155 out.

Please, Grog Dorosh, I'm making a pitch here. Go upgrade to 1.01 and look at those PBEM movies I sent you. You'll see the power of UGLY at it's best. Go on now, install the patch. Treeburst155 out.

Yep, Sand Digger, you need an ugly mod with a big thick 20 meter grid and colored elevations. They are a rare, but obtainable item. 99.999% of CMers detest these mods for their ugliness. The remaining .001% cannot ever go back to the original. They are doomed to a CM that is very ugly. Why? You can see the lay of the land. You can predict LOS much better, minimizing any desire for a point to point LOS tool. You have 20/20 vision on the battlefield! You gather information with your eyes that in reality would...um.... be gathered with your eyes. I've heard it whispered about that there is even a mod or two that shows the terrain exactly how the computer sees it....every 2m x 2m subtile! It is said that these mods reveal many secrets about CM battlefields. Yes, these are very powerful mods, and very addicting. They WILL improve your game. If you wouldn't know the Mona Lisa from a 3rd grader's water color art, and want to really SEE the battlefield, you might want to email me at the address in my profile. I have connections to the underworld of ugly mods. Treeburst155 out.

Mines can be targetted directly. It may work like area fire; but you can target them directly. I've been testing. I think targetting mines is a complete waste of satchel charges AND small arms ammo. The mines will clear when they want to, and targetting has nothing to do with it. In fact, if your engineers throw all their satchel charges as a result of targetting, the mines may never clear at all. I'll have to test more to be sure of this. Range and moving around and facing the target are all irrelevant. Just get within 25 meters of the center of the mine, and WAIT. You may even be able to engage other targets while you wait. EDIT: I've seen it take 8 full turns to finally destroy a minefield. Treeburst155 out. [ February 08, 2004, 03:06 PM: Message edited by: Treeburst155 ]