Phantom Captain

Very nice! I'm reading and following along. I've played this one a few times and I love seeing how others go about the tactical problems.

Sgt. Upton wins himself a medal today for two kills with one shot.

Here you go...

Actually I just went back and looked at the end game and it wasn't a BTR, it was a second T-80. I just edited my post! Ha! I need to figure out how to take a screenshot, you can clearly see they round entry and exit and entry into the second T-80.

Haha! Love it! Speaking of rounds going through things... At Marborn, I think it was my 6th battle of the US campaign. I had one of my M60A3s take a shot at about 1800m at a Soviet tank that turned out to be a T-80. I hit the tank and lo and behold, a second column of smoke appeared behind it. Zooming in on the destroyed tank I could see where the round went through the side hull of the tank and come out the other side, hitting a second T-80 behind it and killing that two. I couldn't even identify the vehicle behind at first because it was unspotted, only that second column of smoke let me know that round did extra duty. Two birds stoned at once and all that. :))

Exactly.

So agree. I would LOVE to have a CM:A 2!

I just bought a new desktop two weeks ago precisely because my old one crashed and my laptop wouldn't even process the third battle of the US campaign. It would lag out and crash during setup. Now I have ZERO issues, everything set on high and my new computer does these large battles without blinking! Ha!

Yess to all this!!! I also would like to see the Germans first in a module before British and others. I so want North German Plain maps too and battles between the West Germans and Soviets! A Battle of Berlin would be amazing too.

Ok, Since it was just dropped in the Steve Grammont interview, let us start our speculations in what the CW module will be! Obviously we have to see the introduction of NATO equipment and forces along with the East Germans. Beyond that though, I am completely hoping for an expansion in the theater, maybe deeper into the west or maybe even a fictional push by NATO in the Soviet Bloc countries. I mean hey, we already have CMFR and RT maps!! I would also love to see new campaigns in the expansion of conventional WWIII.

Nice interview! I can't believe I have been playing this game for 20 years. At one point back in CMBB times, me and an opponent in Sweden fought PBEM eastern front for more than seven years! Exchanging turns pretty religiously we actually fought longer than the real Germans and the Soviets. All that being said, I can't wait for the CMBS and CMCW modules. Hmmm, CMCW has to be introducing NATO and East German forces and expanding the timeline and scope. Sooo looking forward to that. I, literally, still will reference the Space Lobsters of Doom in some conversations. Would kill for that too!

That's exactly why I want to try 79. I really want to see how the older equipment matches up. I just loaded up the citadel and I MUST play it. It's looks dauntingly huge but I think I can manage, I just really need to divide up my three companies in my head and play them individually. The map is incredible. I am surprised that some of the tanks get lines of sight out of the woods from where they are placed. Sometimes I am hesitant to put tanks in the woods, for one the mobility problems and two, I am always thinking they won't have lines of sight to anything. I think I underestimate what they actually can see. Anyway, I think I'll play it standalone and use the full BN!

Ha! Now I can't decide if I am going to play these two solo or go back into the campaign and try for a different result! I honestly want to try the 1979 version too.

Interesting! Ok, I can definitely go back and try Marborn again with a different approach. I keep saves at the beginning of every battle!

So, after Neuhof was the fight to interdict the Soviet Column moving through the valley and I annihilated them there scoring a US major victory! The battle after that was the find, fix and destroy and I also won a major victory. I don't know if that was luck or what but I scouted the map and guessed on their objectives and then just raced them to those spots. I occupied the town on the top of the hill and waited for them to come over the ridge where I was in a reverse slope defense again. On the far right I scoped out some great positions along the lower end of the hill and raced to take up those positions and then knocked out the Soviets as they pushed for the town on the far right of the map. It started with an E, can't remember the name of it! The campaign ended in the fight after that. Marborn, and the sewage plant. Here I suffered a minor defeat but I knew I was being cautious at this point and was really trying to conserve my men and equipment. I pushed along the left and reduced a bunch of their positions guarding approaches to Marborn but then balked at how well defended the town itself was though. I did cause quite a few casualties in the fights around Marborn and by making some long range kills with my TOWs against vehicles out by the highway bridge and the buildings close by the sewage plant, but never took any of the objectives out of fear of taking more casualties. I had already committed my whole force around the left to try to go backside into Marborn but after all the fighting in the woods at the top of the hill there and drawing some of their tanks out of town towards me I just couldn't justify my losses I would take going into Marborn with the much too short of time I had left. I really balked at committing my armor as I knew I was coming close to the end and really didn't want to lose any more of my brave and tired men. Final aftermath was a US Minor Victory but I felt proud to do my part in stopping the invaders and ultimately leading to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Final Stats... US 96 KIA 33 WIA 0 Missing 13 Tanks lost 10 Armored vehicles lost 3 Other vehicles lost 1 Aircraft lost Soviets suffered 639 KIA 107 WIA 0 Missing 35 Tanks lost 93 Armored vehicles lost 3 Other vehicles lost 4 Aircraft lost So yes, I feel we really put a hurting on them and ended any dreams of theirs to walk into the West. I have to say this was the most fun CM campaign I've ever played! I don't know what it is, the familiarity of the time, the facing off the old enemy of my youth, or what but Cold War just checks all my boxes for wargaming fun. This one really felt like the intense short invasion we all feared back then and I felt the responsibility of leading my combat team to victory and putting a stop to it right then and there! It was a slog and felt like it and I was always dreading the big red bear coming to eat me! Their artillery was brutal, and so according to their doctrine, and man those T-64s! After brushing them off because of CMSF, fighting them in the actual time period, toe to toe with M60s was EPIC!! I have a whole new respect for them now. I watched one turn, maybe it was two turns, where a T-64 sat at about 2000m with a couple M60a1s and just shrug off 9 frontal hits. Just awesome! I can't wait to give the Soviet side a go now and use those tanks for myself!! Ha! I really want to thank you and Bill for bringing this title to us. It really is my favorite and I just think it sparkles in every way! Amazing job. Thank you.

And same to you! I will run the Soviet side of the campaign soon and am looking forward to it! I saw your endgame screens and you definitely had a blood bath.

I finished the US campaign with a Minor Victory! I'm pretty happy with it and felt overall I did really well!

US Tactical Victory at Neuhof. That battle was insane and just too much fun to see the whole incoming MRB. It was intense, and intimidating. I can't believe I pulled a tactical victory. It was costly though, I lost 7 tanks and quite a few TIFVs. By waiting and letting the Soviets get in close it definitely allowed me to attrit them more than trying to stand toe to toe at range. And even so I still lost a few of my precious M60s. I knocked the crap out of them though. CMCW at this point is by far my favorite CM. This campaign is just amazing and I am having so much fun with it. I mean, it's WWIII. I am REALLY looking forward to trying the Soviet Campaign now. Man, do I have new found respect for the beast that those T-64s are.

I just had to share... I have one split AT team posted in one of the buildings out in the front of the US setup zone. Those two men in the last turn went from "cowering" from artillery, to then quickly and calmly taking out a T-72 at about 350m with a Dragon on the far right that had sprinted across the open ground and was approaching one of my infantry squads posted in the woods over there, direct hit on the flank of the Soviet tank instantly killed it. They immediately went to pinned and shaken after this kill because of the artillery still landing around the buildings, the AT gunner calmly reloads the Dragon, turns to the front, sees another T-72 coming around those buildings in front about 500m away, aims and makes a one shot kill of that tank! All in one minute! They are definitely getting medals in my book, if they survive....

My new desktop has an i7 processor, 32gb RAM, 1 Terrabyte HD, and an Nvidea GeForce GTX 2060. It hums!! Oh, and I got a 27" monitor too! I've never seen combat mission at this level of detail before. I'm pretty blown away at how smooth it all runs. Some of the 1982 US troops actually had face paint on!! I have all my 3d models set at the highest now. Last time I got a new computer was back in the Shock Force days! Ha! I didn't realize how behind I was. And, mind you, I've been playing since the 1st game, back in 01. Sheesh, time. Is there any other game system that I have played for 20 years straight? Nope. Pretty impressive. I jumped into Fire and Rubble too just to take a peek and just wow. Everything looks incredible. So I just started the third mission around Neuhof and am still scouting and setting up. Not a hitch graphically! This computer just handles it like nothing. I know a whole MRB is coming and I'm trying to think about their approaches and find spots that I can hold. This is gonna be good... I am also thinking about your tip to remember M60A3s are outgunned at long distance, they are (and please no T-64s!) and to set up accordingly.

The road on the far right? It was mined??? Haha! I never even used the road, I went off and around it far far to the right through the fields. I only had the stragglers jump back on the road at the top of the ridge.

Ha! Excellent idea!

Haha!! New desktop has arrived and oh it runs everything at very high spec! On to the third battle now! Man, the new computer is so smooth I have to go dive back into everything again. The detail now is ridiculous! I have no lag for anything!

Haha!! This is awesome! Super excited to try these out! And yep, totally agree on the LUCK thing. Bannon had it in spades to be sure. I was impressed how much your first map was the sketch in the book, like exactly! Really looking forward to the rest, and thanks for doing it.

True. I've never made a scenario or designed a campaign so I have no idea what it would entail. It does seem a lot of things came down to luck in the book. I do think it could still be fun. I think of Bannon and Garger's run through the Soviet occupied town after the battle on Hill 214 and yeah, that would be difficult to realistically survive but it sure was entertaining! And what did the Mech Platoon face in that battle, like a whole company? Or wasn't it even more? You're probably right.