General Petrovsky

In CMBO I am the Germans in a QB and I purchased an assault halftrack and I noticed during the set up phase that it only has 17 HE rounds?!? In the past I usually see the starting HE round count in the 40's for these vehicles. The time frame is Nov '44 and I also bought a panzer mark VI that only has 30 some HE rounds. I can live with the tank being a little short but the assault halftrack seems to have 25% of the normal HE rounds. Has anyone else seen this. Is this a bug or just bad luck? Please help.

I sucked when I first started too. I can play the game fairly well now, but I still lose games and I am always learning. The best way to learn is to play better players. I learned a valueble lesson from every loss I suffered and every mistake I made. If you want, I will play you in a PBEM game. We will play for fun and as the game progresses I will tell you your mistakes and what you should have done. On the same token I will tell you what you're doing right. I prefer attack/defend games 1500pts or less. You will probably learn more from an attack /defend game anyways. If interested shoot me an email at petroski1@home.com

Whoa, you have a girlfriend that actually plays Combat Mission??? Take this wise advise young man, MARRY HER.

I've never taken a crew casualty from armor flaking, but in a current PBEM game I scored hit/penetration on a M8 Greyhound TWICE with two different Panzerschreks to no avail. I have no idea how many crew casualties I caused, if any, but the AC is still alive. I've never seen any vehicle survive two armor penetrations. Have you?

I think I did that. I think I want my TD back

Let me clarify this. The side of the hill that I attempted to traverse was not a "slope". What I mean is that the hunt order line did not turn red when I was placing it and it did not say "slope" when I had the cursor over it. It was a side of a hill, but not a "slope" square on the map. I do believe the AI gave different move orders, but I don't understand why it would reverse up it when it could continue to hunt or at least move up the hill.

Has anyone ever had problems with tracked vehicles on slopes? In a QB PBEM game I had an american TD (the one with th 76mm gun) attempt to crest the side of a rather steep hill. I told it to Hunt up and then stop at the crest to take a shot a German 75mm Assault HT. About halfway up the slope of the hill my TD turned around and REVERSED up the hill only to expose it's rear. Needless the say the HT knocked it out. The conditions were clear & dry and the slope & hill were completely bald. Why did my TD do this? Does the weight of a AFV give it trouble with traction on an incline? I would rather see it just stop then reverse up the hill ass first. Has anyone had this trouble before? it's a first for me. Would a wheeled vehicle have the same problem?

Tell your opponent to shut up. NOBODY likes to lose, but it happens. Bad luck happens in life just as it does in CM. I count on bad luck happening to me in games. I find if I count on luck in certain situations I lose. I don't even think luck was involved with your situation, that is one bad ass tank you have there. I can't stand it when opponents piss and moan about a turn not going their way, or even worse when they just quit on you only to be never heard from again. I don't like to lose just as much as the next guy, but I'll never resort to pissing and moaning about it. In addition, every loss I've suffered I've learned a very valuable lesson that I never forget. You don't become a better player from winning, you get better by taking your lumps.

If you're that sick of the AI that you have to resort to this why don't you try a PBEM or IP game against a human player? Much more fun and rewarding and hey you get to make a new friend too! Cheers

Nothing to say just curious to see what my member # is.

That is not gamey at all. That is actually a real world tactic known as the Soviet Recon Technique. It is quiet effective and if you're careful with your split squads you might not even lose that many men while still gaining valueable intelligence on the enemy's strengths and weaknesses. Tell your opponent to quit his crying and to play the game.

Hey Marc I know an option that you didn't think of...you could do nothing and your opponent (Yours Truly) could think that those troops behind that wall aren't there anymore and move my men from their nice entrenched positions out in the open so you can shoot them in the back! Bad move on my part, still kicking myself, but with every mistake comes a lesson. Thanks for the compliment, I just hope I can hold you off you have a lot of troops coming my way.

I've noticed it depends on the vehicles current move order while it's going throught the mine field. I had a Sherman get KO'd going through AT mines because I had em in Fast mode. Move or Hunt commands decrease the likelyhood of a "hit" while the weight of the vehicle as well as it's specific PSI have an effect on triggering mines as well. They are tough to scout as well because Infantry can not detect them nor set them off because they are too light. I saw jeep go up in flames once as it raced through a AT mine field, I guess that's a cheap way of finding them.

I noticed this happening to me before, but I never put much thought into it. Then last nite in a PBEM game I told my tank to smoke a concrete MG pillbox and one of the smoke rounds seemed to land "in" the pillbox. Once the smoke emitted from the round, the pillbox crew abandoned the pillbox and took off running. Does the smoke choke them out and they have to bail for fresh air? Has anyone seen this before? It seems like a great way to KO pillboxes. I've seen this happen to me before once; my oppponent dropped 81mm off map mortar smoke around my pillbox and one landed on the pillbox and smoked out the crew. I haven't seen much on this topic so I'd like to here if anyone else can further support this or confirm it.

Goober, I don't think you can put a squad under C&C of another platoon leader. You can use Company Commanders on any squad or any other unit to put them under C&C, but platoon HQ's can only command their original squads.

The most important diffence between the German Panzers and the M4 Sherman is accuracy. The Panzers not only have greater muzzle velocity, but they have a longer gun barrel which gives them greater accuracy then the short 75mm of the M4 Sherman. Couple this with the fact that the first one to hit wins a duel you have to give the nod to the more accurate tank. At longer ranges the Sherman's accuracy is pitiful. I'm in a PBEM game now where I have a Stug in my sights at 530 meters, a perfect flank shot and I'm seriously concerned of the outcome. He was to totally rotate his tank 55 - 60 degrees to shoot at me and I'm worried, I will probably get at least 3 shots off before he shoots at me and I know they will all miss. It will probably come down to the 4th or 5th shot, if I'm still alive. I'll find out tonite what happens.

Oh you're playing Jeb huh? You're toast! LOL, I played Jeb and defended (tried to) as well. He's a very good player, he uses his arty perfectly. Keep your forces mobile because he will shell your positions just before he rushes them with infantry while they are panicked and you have no chance. Your Brit airborne squads are excellent at close range combat because they have MGs very similar to German SMG squads. Set up quick short range ambushes where ever terrain allows and then pull out to escape incoming arty. Don't be too sure he was no tanks, he probably just hasn't shown them to you yet, most good players don't. Good luck you'll need it, this guy crushed me. He's very patient and will use every turn to the last in his attack.

Kiwi I want a piece of you myself. I am not the best ever, but I am one of the better commanders. You can find me in the top 10 at the TH ladder as well as the blitzkrieg club. I would very much like a chance to knock you off your lofty pedastel. I am an honorable player, never gamey, never cheat and lose as admirably as I win. I would prefer a 1500 pt attack/defend, I will attack or defend. Another player I saw post above who is worth playing is The_Capt (if that's Capt Ro as I presume) He's really good and I've never beat him, although that was in my early career, (maybe time for a rematch ro). Anyways kiwi I want a shot at the title so shoot me an email or set up at Petroski1@home.com and we'll see what you're made of comrade.

Wow that was a great war story man, thanks.

Answer to Joesky: No doubt guns are more effective under C&C. I rarely have a gun out of C&C if not never. They will benefit from the bonuses that the platoon or company HQ has and will definitely stay alive longer under fire due to their morale being positively effected by being under command. I usually situate guns near a platoon HQ with either stealth or combat bonuses (combat bonuses seem to make them more accurate). Or I use a company HQ to keep one or mulitple guns under C&C. At any rate I always try to keep ALL units under C&C, there is no reason not to except for long range recon units like sharpshooters.

Peterrson is right about being able to keep a tank hidden behind some scattered trees. In a PBEM game last night I pulled a Stug just up to some scattered trees about 30m thick to try and get a shot at a US TD. My stug spotted and targeted the TD KOing it with one shot and the TD never moved it's gun nor saw my Stug. It can be done, because I've had it done to me as well. I've had tanks nailed by unseen tanks as well. Not a very hard tactic to learn and a VERY effective one being that you can get 2-3 shots off without being seen. :cool:

You wrote that each turn you moved your tank out to shoot at the panzer, does that mean that you told it to move out and then reverse back into it's hidden position behind the building? If that's the case then I would have to guess that even though your tank began targeting the panzer (assuming it had clear LOS) they reversed back out of LOS before the crew could load the hollow shell and fire. If this was the case I would say lose the reverse command and just issue a Hunt order into LOS with a target order on the panzer and cross your fingers....

I strongly disagree with the above, no doubt go for that arty spotter first. Nothing causes more casualties than artillery on the WWII battlefield. Take his arty away and you've got the battle half won. Plus they're easy to kill being an unarmed two man team. A sharpshooter can do the trick too. Next I would go for the Platoon HQ, without him the platoon is as good as dead; much easier to route and they'll have a delayed command delay without their leader, plus they'll lose any bonuses they were getting from the platoon HQ. Kill that arty spotter, if I ever detect one I make it a point to hunt him down and kill him as quickly as possible. Even if he runs away, send a split squad after him. Going after the SMG squad would be my last choice to shoot at in an ambush actually.

During a small QB last nite against the AI I was defending against New Zealand and they drove a Sherman V right through my Anti-Tank mines and nothing happened. Did it get lucky? Usually you at least knock a track off and immobilize it. Anyone see this before? I figured the sherman was heavy enough to trigger a mine and it did run right through it. It was going slow, probably in hunt mode, but should that matter? So did it just get lucky or what?

Hey I saw the same thing last nite during a IP game. My opponent surrounded my Stug with a platoon of American infantry and they showered it with grenades to no effect. I remember in past versions one or two well placed grenades would immobilized or knock out a tank. Please fix soon BTS. It seems as soon as something is fixed another problem arrises <sigh>