handihoc

Meach, I sure hope you treasure what you've got there. How on earth did you find that woman?! For me wargaming and girlfriend are completely separate aspects of my life, and always have been. There's no point in me even attempting to explain my love of wargaming, let alone getting her to play. Tolerance or resignation are the best I've ever been able to hope for.

Moon, how long must we wait till we actually get to see?

There has been a woman here, yes. Sadly for us, Meach got there first. And she's been very quiet lately. Mishga, where are you? Bring a little light back into our sad, blighted lives.

There are some excellent tutorials stickied in the Strategy and Tactics forum. Well worth checking out.

Stunning images! Yup, it's easy to miss the detail if, like me, you spend a lot of time hovering a little way overhead. That's in part the beauty of WEGO - the ability to replay to your heart's content, picking out in close up the juiciest bits.

I upgraded to a 28" widescreen before Christmas, and was stunned by the difference it made to the look of the game, and to other programs too. 'Course, four months on it's become the norm but I'd find it very difficult now to go back to a smaller screen. Depressing, even. Now, it's just a case of waiting for the 3D version of CMSF. How cool would that be?

Hmm, sounds like one I should download. . .

Completed Sulit with a Total Victory after a furious battle, but like the others, got onto the Depot Mission and can't progress further.

I'm finding Sulit really tough (not a complaint!). Enemy ambushes have been extremely effective, and I've been forced to modify and sometimes totally rethink my tactics. Had a few HORRIBLE encounters that sent me scurrying back to restart or earlier save. Admittedly, I did walk into a few of them - not thinking through the possible consequences of assuming that damaged building would be empty, or that ATGM would never hit a fast moving vehicle at that range, or that entrenched SPG9 was too badly suppressed/damaged to respond to my 20 second dash across open ground . . . A way to go yet, but it's another superb battle.

PT, I'm having a great time on Sulit Airfield. Have a question: do I need to occupy vls (ie keep a unit there) to gain points, or simply clear them of enemy units and can then move on?

Congratulations. And indeed it shows there are numerous ways of winning that battle. I never took Piglette or Tigger, but got a surrender without needing to. It definitely is an impressive battle. Milk Run is a great one, too. As I remember, it took me a few attempts to get a win there. Good luck!

Yeah, you definitetly MUST update to the latest patch (1.11 as I write, but 1.2 is not so far away, I believe). And after a while, I'm pretty sure you'll want to get the Marines add-on, so it's probably worth getting the two bundled. And no, I don't work for the company. Just a happy punter who has hardly looked at another computer game in the last year or so.

The aircraft are offscreen. You hear 'em, see their missiles etc rain down, and of course observe the damage. Great game, Sapper64. Very highly recommended if you're a wargaming fan.

It's true, when I first read your post, Thomm, I had a sudden sinking feeling that you were right and we were here promoting something Steve and co would spank us for. I only thought it through when I read your second post. Easily done. Quite funny though. ''

Thanks guys. Lethaface, I just got it and have emailed you. Stoex, I think Lethaface has it covered now, but if there's any prob I'll get back to you. Sgt M, if you're reading this, you've got a bunch of fans here. I've rarely seen so many discussions, in this thread and earlier ones, about a single battle. It's outstanding. Releasing it as a standalone, maybe with a few minor variations just to keep us all guessing would be a great Valentine's gift for us all! Again, thanks everyone. This community really rocks.

I found split squads worked well provide they had good overwatch from their squadmates and, preferably, at least one other squad. Eg split a squad. Team One will advance. Have two teams overwatching from first and second floors and/or roof. If poss have another squad or heavy weapons nearby, also with los to the advancing team. Team One advances using Hunt, so as soon as an enemy is spotted they hit the deck and return fire. Simultaneously enemy is pounded by overwatch teams. This will suppress the enemy, if not destroy him. If he's particularly hard to knock out, bring in heavies or arty. In general I found this to work well, with minimal casualties, though obviously there are times when other enemies will appear and all hell breaks loose at a very high cost to you. Agree about engineers. They seem generally best used in supporting or defending roles, apart from breaching walls. btw does anyone have a copy of this battle at setup they could send me? I accidentally deleted mine, and it's definitely one I'd like to play again sometime.

*****SPOILERS***** * * * * * Okay. I didn't find it necessary to advance there, but you do need to watch for the enemy reinforcements that arrive there. Their ATGMs will hunker down and give you a lot of grief later if you don't take them out.

Can't remember which one is Tigger? Interesting that Other Means crested the left hill. I tried it once and lost two vehicles very quickly. After that I just stuck to keeping hidden snipers/spotters up there. Still, it shows there's more than one way to get to grips with Sgt Muhammed's Pooh (sorry. I just can't help it!).

It's a great battle, sure enough, and a very tough one. * * * * * * * * * *****BIG SPOILERS******* First thing to do (at least, how I played it) is to get your sniper and recon teams forward under cover of darkness to good sighting positions ready for the dawn. As the sun comes up they will begin to spot a bunch of waiting AFV's, and occasionally infantry. Those AFVs can then be taken out with your choppers. I put a sniper team up on the hill on the left, another on the roof of the two storey building a little further forward at the base of the hill. Other than that, I didn't advance on the left at all. Recon advanced in the centre-left, just beside the road (on its right), and occupied the buildings there. Careful, though, to put them forward in short run/hide spurts, as the enemy is expecting you there there, and don't advance the LAVs until your choppers/arty have killed the enemy AFVs that are overwatching that approach. On the far right I had a recon team advance past the main buildings into the woodline (watch our for mines!), where they had a good view into town and behind, spotting numerous hidden tanks and AFVs, and later enemy reinfs. More snipers moved to the nearest buildings (roofs) in the centre. All of these recon and sniper units I gave Hide orders. Their job is purely spotting at this stage. If they give away their positions they'll suffer badly and you'll lose vital opportunities to take out hidden vehicles. Also get your javelin team and arty spotters onto the rooftops of the nearest buildings on the right of the road. Keep them hidden, and keep the javs with good resupply - they're going to be up and down those stairs a lot when things take off. Don't try to advance with your main forces until your copters have taken out as many vehicles as possible. Those vehicles are well positioned and deadly. After that it's a slow, methodical advance, mainly into the centre. Infantry, split into teams, moving first, searching out and engaging more enemy positions, with your tanks and AFVs in close support. Safeguard the M1s though. You need them. I've forgotten which victory location is which, and accidentally deleted the startup battle after playing, so can't go back in without replaying the whole campaign. But to a large extent you can ignore most of the buildings on your right - at least until quite late on. They are filled with a variety of hidden nasties, but are not occupying a victory location. Just be careful you don't accidentally stray into their LOS. As soon as anything shows, hit the site with artillery, air or heavy weapons, rather than sending valuable troops forward. Artillery and air support play a major role throughout this battle, as does smoke. Also, make sure your javs, a couple of M1A1s, TOW humvees etc have good lines of sight for the crossroads area, as a major armoured counterattack comes that way. Taking the two main central compounds is very tough indeed, but you should be able to do it, eventually, with a pincer movement, and engineers blasting compound walls. Prior to that, though, you must clear the buildings and trenches to the right of the first compound. Infantry teams and snipers, with heavy vehicle support, will do that, but it takes time. Keep plenty of inf in reserve - you have enough in the later stages - ready to rush forward where needed. And concentrate mass firepower on just one location at a time. Splitting your forces to take on more than one enemy hotspot can quickly deplete them. Then it's all about a final push to take the crossroads area. It's well defended, so again, move up cautiously, with infantry seeking out the enemy hidden beyond it. Also, now is the time to be putting some major punishment on those occupants of the buildings on the right flank, as some of them have LOS to the crossroads area. Put some heavy artillery down on the right corner, too, as AT reinfs will have occupied that area, and also have very good LOS. Doing it this way, you should get a surrender or a victory at timeout. You don't have to occupy the final couple of VLs. Time is the key here. You have plenty, and plenty of arty and air support. Used wisely, they'll make a big difference to the outcome. Having said all that, I played Pooh a number of times before I got a win. It's a monster of a battle, and immensely good fun. Hope this helps. Good luck, soldier!

Oh, heaven!! ":)" Does it also come with a 'Push/Tow Damaged Vehicle Out of the Damned Way' button? Actually, no button needed. Just the ability, as per CMx1, to clear wrecked vehicles.

I've raised this point previously, as have others. AFAIK it's definitely on the 'to do' list, though not a top priority (that was a while ago, so maybe it is a priority now. I hope so. Like you, I frequently find myself cussing because I can't lay down smoke where I want it).

A question: do all these campaign scenarios have multiple AI attack/defence plans. I'm thinking about replayability, as I'm saving each map for possible later play as a single scenario. So if I go again, will the enemy be occupying the same positions or could I be facing a completely different setup?

Completed Suib. Boy, that one is tough! I suffered a lot, but after several attempts managed to get a victory (yeah, I know it's meant to be played in one fell swoop, without returning to saves, but heck, I'm having fun playing it how I want). Really gruelling fighting once I got into the streets and houses. As earlier, those houses/buildings with compound walls make the difficulties of MOUT really apparent. Once again, a thoroughly enjoyable battle on a very challenging map.

Interesting. Thanks, I didn't know. Will try it.

Just read Moon's A Decade announcement and was coming over all emotional until - What, just one lousy screenshot? That is CRUEL!!!!