Ligur

How amusing, this happened to me yesterday, and on the second game on row no less! I've been trying to haul mortars and company HQ's on jeeps and scratching my head. Maybe the next game I'll remember?

We killed the site

Or you could pay attention to what I told you and use the default set-up for the defender. That way, after one playing you'd know where all the trenches and barbed wire were going to be. Hell, you could even take a screenshot and print it out to help you remember. Michael </font>

What scenario is this "Raid on Rommel" you speak of? Where did you get it? In my CDV version CM:AK there was a "Find the Fox" which plays exactly the same though. This is one of the more amusing scenarios. How I managed in that is as follows... **********WHOA DOOD SPOILERZ HERE********** * * * * * * * * * * Trench or barbed wire are not visible during the setup because they are "enemy units" and not terrain features. I tried the scenario using "scenario default" setup for the troops, this is the way it should be played. The resistance would be much worse with free AI setup, i.e. you would be unable to even get inside the first big building without taking heavy incoming. Also, the German side does not have enough trench & barbed wire to block your advance completely even with free setup, not by a long shot? At least in my version of the game. I ****ed around with a "free to place units" and not once did barbed wire and trenches block all my approaches. However there was too much infantry around. Notice! There are walls and other stuff on the way, however. This cannot be avoided. However its far from walk in the sun even so. After reading the briefing I didn't wait for any resistance during the first 60 seconds and advanced too far with two squads, more or less like you did in your single "succesfull" approach. What happened was exactly like you described (a green squad of Krauts appeared and peppered a lot of Brits from the 2nd floor of the building). This was not a good thing. I think the scenario is made so you have to try a few times to get the result you want. The second time I approached with more stealth, set up a good base of fire from the palm trees inside the HQ compound and stormed the buildings in two waves. After the reinforcements from the town started arriving I had both buildings in control and shot the OPFOR to bits in the open. Use your single mortar to smoke areas in critical moments, use your Bren guns for support and be very liberal with spending ammo (i.e. area fire at will if you don't have good targets) as this is a short scenario, it helps keeping the Kraut heads down, and after you have a clear route bring in your AT-rifles STAT. Did you play long enough to enjoy all the vehicles coming your way? I managed a major victory the third time I tried, casualties 64 infantry, 2 vehicles destroyed and 1 gun lost for the Germans, 30 for the Brits. The green German squad in the second floor is really hard to take down succesfully & without a lot of casualties IMHO. Of course, we might be talking about a different scenario and my post was useless.

Eh? Where have you been looking? I see them all over the place. :confused: Michael </font>

The AI reacted to your powerful armor. The AI rightly thought that your Tiger would have nuked the Shermans unless they get the hell out of the way. The TacAI, which can and will take over your own troops as well, will try to "save" units faced with very bad odds by taking cover. Infantry starts crawling towards safety and vehicles reverse out of LOS. I remember reading a really, really old review about CMBO where the author was horrified and scared about the TacAI that "replotted his clever orders" time and time again. Poor sob didn't quite catch on with the fact that the TacAI was just trying to save his troops.

If vehicles get too close to each other while trying to take a similar route (for example the same road) to reach destination X it can lead to a huge cluster**** of reversing, stopping and turning around vehicles. It is possible to plot even very complex and orderly advances in cramped roads but the planning can and will take some time. I just plotted movement of 12 jeeps, one tank and two halftracks via a winding mountainside road, and it would have turned to a huge mess without careful thinking and timing of movement (mostly using the "pause" order and different speeds). Keeping distances safe usually negates the kind of problems you faced. Or then there is some sort of a bug, but everytime my vehicles start acting up I have been able to trace it to a mistake I made myself.

Issue target to mortar team directly. You will get a yellow/orange indirect fire line from the mortar to the target instead of the normal red one. This tells you they are opening fire while the HQ does the actual spotting. Remember, if your HQ is in "hide" mode they are unable to spot for mortars.

I've yet to see any troops in CMAK equipped with any kind of SMG.

Here is a review for you guys, feel free to distribute it all over the inter-web-cyber-highway: Combat Mission: Afrika Korps is the best tactical level wargame ever published. Thnx bye.

BTS fix arty or somefink pls thnx bye

Yep I know the feeling, after CM:BO I really can't remember having many artillery strikes on spot (CM:BO had, like, super fast arty compared to CM:BB so you could adjust all you wanted), and fixing the aim may or may not take half the game, whereupon the target is already somewhere else. I find it almost TOO hard to fire for effect these days. Smoking a huge area is just about the only thing that works like I wish. On-board mortars, of course, totally rock.

So I'm the only one the Tiger scared to death and gave a goddamn solid asskicking I won't forget? 30 secs and both M10s knocked out? Sheesh, my luck with armor has been as bad since CMBO (I was the one who always got killed with the first shot. Infact in my first armored TCP/IP ever a Puma KO'd my Churchill with the first shot from 400 meters and so on and on and on and on ****ing forever on).

What they had for breakfast is also an issue. Bad rations in the morning makes for grumpy übermensch who want to get back at Himmler. I'm glad battlefront finally models that correctly.

I'm not sure if that sounds all that wrong. You know people used to surrender in the middle of firefights and just start walking from their own trench towards the enemy waving a kerchief? Depending on who you fought for and where, that could be a really bad idea though. Maybe the gun crew had been on the front for two long and unsuccesfull years on row. Maybe they just had had enough. Maybe they felt, despite the bunker being there, that they were going to die during the next 60 secodns if they didn't do something radical. Maybe they knew the guys in the bunker were sick of it too, and wouldn't shoot them in the back.