Doug Williams

Makes sense. I suppose I should also mention that the tank that my Sherman took out on the first turn was the Plt. Leader, so perhaps that contributed to their lack of motivation.

Ah, perhaps that explains why it chose only tanks for itself, even though I specified Mixed forces. I'll try to figure out which map it was. As far as I could tell, there was no AI plan, since it never did anything. LOL, yep. Like I said, I wanted a "quick" battle, not a challenge. I just wanted to have a few glasses of wine and crush the AI. Although I have had the AI win a couple of times when it was on the attack.....usually due to a run of bad luck (for me), overconfidence, or too many glasses of wine (or all three). When I want a challenge (from the AI), I will attack or choose a ME and give the AI +10% or +25%.

Wanted to play a quick game against the AI yesterday. Chose Tiny Battle, Tiny Map, Hills, AI attack, AI choose it's own forces, I choose mine, AI gets +10% forces, MIX troops for both of us, AI German, me American. Well, I position my forces in the setup phase. I happen to have a lone Sherman 105 on the far eastern side of the map. Battle starts, first turn I immediately see four (or was it five) enemy tanks in the far western corner, one a Panther. Sherman gets off three shots, takes out one Panzer. Sherman can't see the others, but some infantry I had on another part of the map do see them. Next turn, the enemy tanks just sit there and do nothing. Same thing happens for two more turns. I call a Cease Fire, check the map, and those tanks were the only thing the AI purchased, and then did absolutely nothing with. Weird.

Thanks Jason. That is some of the best advice I have read on this forum. Like many, I tend to get too hasty and try to "make things happen" too often.

So convenience means nothing in a computer game? Wow.

You're kidding, right? I very much miss this feature from CMx1 and would definitely put it in my top ten things that need to be added to CMBN.

Thank you for bringing this up Vanir. This seems very wrong to me. I know that if I were to be put in that situation, I would certainly opt to be behind a stone wall rather than lying prone in the open. Fortifications in general (and buildings) seem to offer little benefit in CMBN. Bocage seems to be the exception, if you consider it a "fortification".

Yep, I think you nailed it womble. This is what he was doing wrong. In the OP's defense, it is a rather unintuitive way to purchase units. It took me a while to figure it out also.

Saving games is wimpy. Man up. If you take your finger off the chess piece, your move is complete. ;-)

OMG, you mean I can't Zerg Rush in CMBN! WTF??!! No offense intended to Starcraft fans. I'm one myself. No I don't read other game forums, so I can't say that I have noticed what the gaming community in general thinks of CMBN. I will be interested to read the reviews when mainstream gaming sites get around to publishing them. User38, like others have pointed out, CMBN is a sandbox. If all you are trying to do is beat the AI in the demo, that is just a tiny tiny part of it. And yes, the learning curve is steep. I played CMx1 for years, and never played CMSF. For me, learning the CMx2 engine has been a challenge. I have now reached the point that I can regularly beat the AI in small to medium QBs. Time for me to find a human opponent so I can be appropriately humbled.

I only played it once and got a "major victory". As Lunsku said, it's all about suppressing the enemy prior to and during movement. I used the mortar to help suppress the LMG on the right side, but I doubt it even caused one enemy casualty. Once I crossed the river, I concentrated all my efforts on one enemy position at a time. Need to play this one again. I like small scenarios.

I like the Greyhounds also, and will choose them over Stuarts in QBs. No good reason...I just think they look cool.

I agree. While there is a small chance that the zook or shreck will hit the target at maximum range, 90% of the time what will happen is the AT team will simply give away it's position too early, and then become the object of attention of a 30-50 ton hunk of steel sporting machine guns and cannons that will soon turn the AT team into a fine red mist.

I love Steve's reply earlier in this thread. Yes, CMBN (and the other CM games) are definitely not for everyone. I play only WEGO, and I play at a slow pace. Even a tiny battle on a tiny map against the AI can last over an hour. This would drive some people crazy, but it allows me to concentrate on the game and forget my RL concerns and worries for an hour. Thanks BF, for a great game.

Yea, we're good at that, if not much else. ;-) But seriously, I'm sure our own government is working on a way to tax downloads even as I type this. In the meantime, as Blackcat pointed out, unless you absolutely must have a box to sit on your shelves, just purchase the downloads in the future. You can burn your own disk.

Is surrendering considered "completing" a game? I hate to keep playing when victory is impossible.

Yep, Zerg Rush tactics tend not to succeed too well in this game. Plenty of good advice already given in this thread.

Wow! Thanks Tom. Looking forward to those.

Not me. My CMBN manual has an honored place in my bathroom, just to the left of the throne.

That Brainiac kit is cool! I remember badly wanting one of these, but dad would never buy one for me (I was probably 10 at the time). http://www.retrothing.com/2007/07/blip-the-digita.html

OP, very nice collection! I've been gaming for just as long (1984ish....I started with a C=64). My box collection isn't quite as extensive because I have culled it down to about one bookshelf worth. I could still kick myself for selling my first three Ultimas on eBay, even though I made around $500 on 'em. Yep, I still have my original Doom box, ordered directly from Id....complete with sales receipt. As far as the Steelbook and manual go.....I'm personally going to let any shortcomings slide.....because CMBN is such a great game. The steelbook can take it's place on my shelf right next to my Fallout lunchbox.

I agree with all of the above EXCEPT the command delay.

Please keep us posted on your progress, Will. Sorry I don't have any advice regarding the use of the map editor.

It was just a lucky shot.