PiggDogg

240 mm arty: Gamey because it will utterly dominate a CM battlefield and make most any CM not much fun, for the receiver, that is. I have no statistics, but I would guess that US forces in a CM game would have "near" (nitpickers, yes, I am exaggerating) the same chance of getting 240 mm support as being hit by lightning. :eek: :eek: Cheers, Richard

What does one do to protect his troops from losses? Duh, . The flip answer is: one does not expose his men to enemy fire. Less flip answer: Concentrate one's forces to get local firepower superiority. In short, shoot at one enemy squad with everyone who can hit that enemy squad. Where one is out firepowered, get those outfirepowered squads out of the enemy's LOS and firepower and shield them from the enemy firepower. Manuver those squads to a position where they can contribute to the local firepower superiority but be shielded from the bulk of the enemy firepower. Also, use big arty and tank guns to kill the enemy. Cheers, Richard

65% of votes for CM. :eek: :eek: I agree. Cheers, Richard

Uncus, If I am not mistaken, a burning building can be retargeted on a turn subsequent to its ignition. Thus, that building may collapse in a wonderful nuclear explosion with that expanding shock wave. :eek: :eek: Cool. Cheers, Richard

Publish his name. Things are as they are. Cheers, Richard

Michael, I have save CM pictures before, but I've forgotten to where the bmps are saved. (Must be old age. ) To which file are th CM bmps saved? :confused: Cheers, Richard

In CM, it seems that those German 20 mm guns are much harder to spot (in fact, nearly invisible) when compared to the German Mg42 HMGs or LMGs. I find this peculiar. :confused: Comments? :confused: Cheers, Richard

Socrates, Also try Band Of Brothers: BoB . This site consists of a bunch of fellows who have a sense of humor, who are competitive, but are not anal retentive about it, and who love CM. :eek: :eek: :eek: Indeed, one should certainly enjoy other CM sites, but one cannot ask for much more than the enjoyment that can be derived from BoB. Cheers, Richard

I am crushed that the anti-smile police are attempting to quash happiness, joy, and frivolity. However, we refuse to be cowed. So ... :eek: :eek: So take that. Cheers, Richard PS Didn't this thread start out as a question about mine clearing? Well, maybe not. [ March 29, 2002, 01:08 PM: Message edited by: PiggDogg ]

Beans, See my reply to your same question in the Combat Mission forum. Also, assuming that you did not scout your KTs route into enemy territory, why are you advancing KTs into areas without scout vehicles (armored cars, halftracks, small tanks, PzIV junkers, etc.) first traversing the KTs' route? :confused: :confused: :confused: Have you now learned a lesson, Grasshopper? Cheers, Richard

Beans, Move an engineer or pioneer squad with a demo charge to about 10 meters of the minefield. In that turn or a subsequent one, that squad will fling the demo charge onto the minefield. After the resulting explosion, 'voila', no minefield. :eek: :eek: :eek: Now go ahead & whack that minefield. Cheers, Richard

Kruger, Well maybe 13 straight misses is a lot. Maybe, it is too many. Cheers, Richard

Kruger, I was never there in real life to see how many shots between enemy tanks missed or hit. However, I think that your experience was probably more historically correct than the first shot one hit wonders described herein and in which I have participated in CM. :eek: :eek: I suspect that in real life, on a per shot basis, hits were relatively rare. In CM, I feel that hit are too frequent. Many shots were made before a hit would occur. Only an opinion. Cheers, Richard :cool: :cool:

Redwolf I like your suggestions. However, wouldn't it almost be easier to just use Scipio's arty rules? Cheers, Richard

Dave, Best way to play the AI? None. :eek: Play humans. It is a lot more fun. Cheers, Richard

Don't forget to use keyhole sighting for your AT guns. If the terrain is favorable & the defending AT guns are properly keyhole sighted and covering critical ground, they may engage a tank or two but not be sighted by other enemy forces. Yes, more easily said than done, but quite effective. Cheers, Richard

Don't forget using hulldown positions in Xerxes' asymetrical AT tactics. In all cases, hull down positions will make your tanks more difficult to hit. :cool: Further, if you are the Germans, use heavily sloped AFVs such as Hetzers, PzIV/70s, etc. in hull down positions. With a bit of luck, they may get a reprieve and have a shell or two bounce off of them especially if the Allies have low velocity 75s or smaller guns. Personally, I can't stand PzIVs. They die when spitballs hit them. :eek: Hellcats are good. Jumbos are supersweet especially when hulldown because they will bounce German shells. Also, in medium quality games, I personally purchase vet AFVs. They are much more accurate than regulars and will most usually hit regulars first. In tank warfare, he who hits first usually wins. Cheers, Richard

Ligur, You are quite wise to fear your human opponents having big arty (105 & bigger) and using it effectively. In these cases, your guys are going to die unless your split the scene quickly. :eek: Sometimes, when you have little warning of a big arty barrage, your guys are going to die big time. Besides running from the enemy's big arty barrages, you need your own big arty & use it effectively to turn the tables on your opponent. Cheers, Richard

Don't know about the points for abandoned MG pillboxes because of running out of ammo. But, wow! Those pillboxes lived that long. :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: You better get a new opponent, because your present one is not too good or he has no pillbox killers (which is somewhat unlikey). Cheers, Richard

gbaker, A headquarters at any strength, including one remaining soldier, imparts full benefits to it charges. Evidently, it pays to be the big leader in a headquarters, because he is the last casualty. :eek: :eek: Mikey, Headquarters do impart large benefits to its charges. It seems that the double hearts (double morale) bonus is quite beneficial to help squads fight like lions. Cheers, Richard :cool: :cool:

Everyone, Thanks for the information that you all imparted in this thread. It has been a pleasure. Also, go see "We Were Soldiers". Oscar material. Cheers, Richard

Chef, In seriousness, I have about 5 to 8 pbem CMBO games going most all of the time at about one or more turns per day. Some good & that is a lot. Cheers, Richard :cool: :cool:

Combat Mission? We don't need no steenking Combat Mission. Cheers, Richard

Havilandt, To my best knowledge, no, engineers/pioneers can not blow up bridges. CM just does not want us to have the enjoyment seeing that bridge nuclear explosion like that of blowing up buildings. It also does not want us to see those logs flying sky high. Cheers, Richard

Radar, "Painball"!! Ouch!! That does not sound like fun. However, back on the subject, as a result of Marshall's personal interviews and following theories indicate that between 15% and 25% of US Army infantry riflemen fired at all in battle. :eek: Now to reiterate the questions that I had earlier raised in order that I may gain knowledge quickly and somewhat painlessly, unlike 'painball' : (1) What were essences of the the various main criticisms of Marshall methodology? (2) What were the alternate theories (percentage of firers) in contravention to Marshall's theories? Cheers, Richard