OG_Gleep

I ripped my sony out, and put it into my main box to install. But I need that drive on my secondary machine for burning purposes. I need to put it back relativley soon. How did you get yours to run without the CD in? Or does it read the disk when you run the game? My problem is that it doesn't read that there is any content on the disk. It opens up to a blank window. It doesn't give an error. Is this similar to your situation? I would test this myself, but I am not gonna put the other drive back in until I am ready to switch. Only reason I am asking =) Any one make their own Fixed EXE? Anyone know the copy protection? I might be able to figure it out if I can find the instructions for the proper security.

I just picked up the retail CMBB, and both my plextors on my main box wouldn't read it. My sony on another computer would however. Any way someone could recommend a NoCD patch? I know most of the time this kind of request is instantly flamed due to pirates trying to con people, but from the posts I skimmed through trying to find any info on a nocd patch, this is a legit problem that I share with a bunch of people. Anyhow I can take a picture if anyone wants proof =)

I signed up for that other league, it sounded really cool. But if you do get your ball rolling, and have people interested, I would love to join up. Sounds like fun.

A couple points: A platoon of soldiers is 3 squads and a HQ. Since most platoons cost about 200 points (a lot of german platoons are sub/low 100's). That isn't even the lowest QB setting. The full game is a lot different then the demo, in terms of single player options. There are tons of scenarios/operations/battles, and the highly playable Quick Battles (The majority of PBEM's), so I would suggest you give the full game a go before you start planning scenarios based on your experience with the demo. Personally I like having a good force behind me, atleast 800 points. But that is just me. Everyone has different tastes and I am sure your small scenarios would appeal to people with similar tastes. There is a really cool small battle, with the red devils. I forget the scenario name atm, but basically you have 3 platoons of British Paratroopers, on a covert night mission to take a bridge. You need to knock out the local garrison guarding the town next to the bridge. I suggest this only because, in my mind, that is the smallest scale CM was ment to be played on. Not trying to knock your idea, but if the inspiration stems from being overwhelmed from the demo, that will pass with a few scenarios.

Did they change the accuracy of the sniper's? Or the way button works? Doesn't the tank button up when fired upon with small arms fire? So unless you hit the commander with the first shot, you have no hope of doing anything more? Also, crack/elite sniper's/sharpshooters are pretty good at nailing the commander, but anything less then that is pure luck. Again this is from a CMBO perspective. So I am not disagreeing with you, I would like to know if things have changed.

Anyone looking for a game? I need practice, been out of the loop for a few months. Anyhow lemme know I am up for anything. bo.humphrey@attbi.com

Great stuff. The screen shots really set it apart from most text based AAR's that I have read. Really let you see the action. I am waiting for CMBB to arrive in Feb. so if your still looking for a PBEM in CMBO, let me know. I need to practice before I get CMBB. bo.humphrey@attbi.com [ January 28, 2003, 07:54 PM: Message edited by: OG_Gleep ]

A few people e-mailed me about this a short while ago, and due to personal problems, I didn't respond. Well things are ok now, so I apologize to everyone that was not responded to, and any e-mail games I had going on, this was the reason. Anyhow, the spreadsheet breaks down the: Attacker/Defender start zones for each map size, for the available point options (ie: 300-5000), and the different types of battles. The different map sizes for each point/map size combination. ie: 5000/Large 5000/Medium 5000/Small. The point ratio for the different battle types assigned to Attacker and defender. If anyone wants it, e-mail me at bo.humphrey@attbi.com Again, sorry to everyone that didn't hear back from me. [ January 28, 2003, 07:47 PM: Message edited by: OG_Gleep ]

Jason, I remember you giving me excellent advice with tactics, particularly infantry tactics in CMBO. Is there any difference between the two games as far as the general theories in Tactics? Is there any difference in practical application of those theories? Gonna order the game when stocks come in, and have been warming up with CMBO, and am wondering how many threads I am going to have to go through to re-learn the game.

Yep good post Jason. History channel had a really good program covering this subject, except for the Americains, they concentrated on the Pacific Theater, countering Japanese snipers. The US Military has a history of shutting down effective programs, only to find out they made a huge mistake in the next war. Atleast until Vietnam. They seemed to have learned a lot of lessons after that particular war. Anyhow, I can't point you to any specific articles, but I know the history channel has a program covering this subject, and you can normally purchase a lot of their series.

If you look at GI Combat, you can't help but think of CMBO(Ok maybe you can, but I can't). The game mags/sites have been comparing the two as well. Since CMBO has been released for some time, it is safe to assume that the developers (Freedom Games, I think) have played CMBO and have borrowed some elements from it. If they haven't, they are idiots. What I am wondering, is if anything is borrowed from GI Combat for CMBB? Was anything canned/changed/added or influenced in any way (direct, indirect) by GI Combat? Was GI Combat even brought up at all?

Good job! Any info on where we can get this?

I love mods. I even take the time to convert each one to CMM format, so I can view them outside of the game, and to show them off to people. Please post a link to any you do, those are great. Also tools4you, do you have the links to the armor and the terrain that its featured in? Those trees are mighty nice. The PZ is really slick, but I am not a big fan of mono at all, only reason I am didn't mention the other one. Anyhow, the game is still on sale, CMBB is not out, and I know a bunch of people that have brushed off the dust and loaded CMBO back up. I DL'ed another 100 mods the night I re-installed mine. I am sure others are the same. A key reason I am such a big fan of CMBO is the mod community, so keep up the good work!

I will look into what you mentioned. If you look on sheet 2 I broke it down in a different way. Just a simple cut and paste. On the measurments. I noted that its +-5M, and on top of that I used the default starting position. I may go back and make it perfect, but after about 10 QB's, you realize you don't have the time to make sure its exact. The whole point of it for me was to give me an idea of where my opponent could setup. That's how it started, but I figured it wouldn't take much time to do the other stuff. Anyhow, thanks for the comments, I will work on it more when I have the time, as I am in the middle of moving. As for the assult/attack difference, I didn't see anything in terms of numbers different besides the points. I didn't do every single one though. What I did was I did the first 6, realized it wasn't changing, did about 5 more random ones, saw they weren't different, and assumed they were all like that. There were patterns that were easy to follow, if you look at the chart.

check your e-mail, I sent it.

LOL that is funny, the cpl at the controls must have downed one too many the night before. But I was talking about a unit desciding to fire smoke when it has no orders. If thats what you were talking about I stand corrected! [ August 21, 2002, 03:22 AM: Message edited by: OG_Gleep ]

I don't know where to post this, if anyone runs a website or just wants the file let me know. Its in Excel. Basically it breaksdown Quick Battles, all points, sizes and the 3 types that very Assult, Attack, and Probe. The only reason I didn't do ME's is because the Setup Zones and Neutral Zones are the same for each side. So are the points. The map sizes are the same for all 4 battle types, in relation to the points (ie: a 5000 point assult, Large Map, is the same size as 5000 point attack, Large Map) What I did was measured all the setup zones for attackers and defenders, did the math and added neutral zones for attackers and defenders. This is useful for figuring out were your enemy could setup. Particularly in Assult/Attack scenarios. I also did the actual map sizes, in meters, for all points and map sizes (ie: 5000 points/Large = 1115m x 4715m, 5000 points/Medium 1115m x 3275, 5000 points/Small 1115m x 2315m). I also broke down the points for each battle type, for each side (ie: 5000 point Assult: Attacker 8750 Defender 5000, 5000 point Attack: Attacker 7500 Defender 5000.) Anyhow, if anyone wants the spreadsheet just let me know. And if anyone knows any webmasters that might want to add it to their website e-mail me. bo@dsl-only.net

Red, first off sorry about leaving you hanging. I ment to post a repsonce to yours after I posted mine (Talking about your last post before this one and mine). Anyhow, I spaced it, my bad. I knew you wanted a month before you posted something like this. That said I have a few changes in setup for you, and would like to see what you think. Take the Month to Dec 44 Map: Village Mod-Mod Large And a wrench in the program: Side rules, no AA guns(I get that request a lot). This adds the VG Infantry as a possibilty (And so far for me, the best choice...you can get the most infantry platoons with this option). Also, using both scenarios, how would you go about setting up, and what would be your plan, as far as moving your forces off the line of scrimmage. The guns would allow you to corner off part of the map, but only part. Really interested in how you would go about utilizing this force. Reason I ask is this: When I setup, its always agonizing trying to setup my forces along a HUGE front. Large maps, especially the QB 5000 point maps are really really wide. Not that deep, but very wide. That said, in that setup you posted you have, if I read that correctly: 10x Inf Platoons (About 3 companies) 4x Disposable tanks (Hetz) 2x Solid Line tanks (Mk IVH) 2x Knock out tanks (JgdPanther) 2x AT HT's 1x Big Daddy in Reserve (KT) In my mind, I have 4 groups of tanks to cover that entire front (HT and KT I am not counting since the HT role is escort, and the KT role is intimidation). Can you walk me through how you plan to space the tanks. Also, on a Village, Mod-Mod there is ALOT of open terrain. It seems like the populated maps are one level back in terms of Tree coverage then the Rural/Farm Maps (meaning: Village Heavy Tree would have the same coverage as Rural Mod. Village Mod Treee would have the same as Rural Light). With that much open area, there are plenty of chances to get caught by a gun or tank on a hill on overwatch. Also, vs a Armor heavy enemy force, there is no way you can trade Armor. The battle of attrition would be in his favor heavily. That said, the only time you could risk engaging his armor would be when his back is turned engaging something else. And even then you have to constantly watch the route you are taking to get into firing position. This is my main fear right now, on the games where I choose Infantry Heavy forces, and with the above conditions (Village, Mod-Mod) I am really worried anytime I move my armor. I get down to the lowest level view, and move along the path searching if anything on his side of the map could have a shot. Anyone else do this? I am really not good at eyeballing. Do you have a trick when trying to figure out LOS to a position where you don't have anyone currently in? My Method: I do two checks. 1)I look for any hills or terrain that looks like it could have a shot. I move the camera to the suspected area and get down to view #1 (ie:I press #1). From that view I look in the direction that I want to move and see if there is any possible shot. 2) I go along the movement route and look around. If I see a raised bit of terrain in the distance, I try and find another route. If the suspected terrain is visible from the the destination point, I back track and find the closest point to my original destination that is totally obstructed from view (ie: No one could fire from his side of the map due to terrain). I know I am jumping off into a LOS thread, but this directly applies to selecting forces. In these scenarios, you can afford to lose squads, and even platoons of infantry, because its an infantry heavy force. The great thing about infantry is that if you take some damage from Long Range DF, you still have an intact fighting force. If your armor gets nailed, it is out of action. And with only 8 or so AFV's, you can't afford to lose any in this manner. Every single one is needed for TD duty. That's it for now, I could go on and on, but this is the biggest question of mine atm. I am really interested in what forces you would pick in Dec. Also, last question...do you think 3 companies is sufficiant to cover enough frontage? Are any in reserve?

Here is the numbers from one of the spread sheets. I don't know who wrote it or I would give due crediit... Also, I am missing the other page, this page is from ranges 300m-400m. I belive the first page was up to 200m. Exposure Chart Wall: Edge of terrain : No Foxhole/29% Foxhole/29% 15m Behind Terrain: No Foxhole/29% Foxhole/29% 25m Behind Terrain: No Foxhole/72% Foxhole/43% 40m Behind Terrain: No Foxhole/72% Foxhole/43% The short range chart had number similar to this if I remeber right. +-10% max.

Is there a reason you are using the mortars out in the open, instead of having it within C&C and having the HQ unit spot while the mortars being out of LOS? If I understand your problem (and I could be wrong, I deffer to the more experienced members of this board), there is no way you are going to have your mortars continue under fire. No unit would, it dosen't make a difference what kind of unit it is. If an enemy surpresses your unit, its going to drop all targets and worry about itself until it is safe to pop their heads out. And to compound your problem, smoke is area target, which no unit will do on its own. If you were trying to target an enemy, there might be a chance the tac ai would resume shelling an enemy unit. But once the target has been cancled, there will be no way to have it resume. The only clear way around this, is to have your mortars completly out of LOS from anything, and have the HQ unit do the spotting. The HQ unit can still stay hidden while doing this, so there should be no risk to any unit, and you will still complete your objective. Feel free to correct this if I am wrong.

I'll test it, send it over bo@dsl-only.net

Thanks Ozzy/Red and Slappy. Got some great responces. My bad in the first place, the questions were not worded properly(don't write anything you expect anyone to read at 4 am ) Everyone seemed to agree that using split squads away from their platoon is not a good idea. This is my thinking however, and a little background to the scenario..because I am actually doing this in a couple games. s----------s----------s--------s--------s----s ---------P-P--P------------------------P-P---- ---------A--------A----------------A-----A---- s=Split squad scout P=Platoon of Inf A=Armor support This is a really really rough example. The proper way could only be shown in screen shots, but I am just trying to give you the general idea of what I am doing. Points were tight. I had to have a minimum of infantry and armor(since I am still playing these games I don't want to give my armor lists away). Anyhow, the idea is to find his armor assets and couter them with mine. The infantry was to engage any opposition while trying to accomplish this goal. I could not afford proper units, such as sharp shooters to cover my flanks, but I had enough infantry to lose a few squads. The only purpose of the scouts away from the platoons was to either: A) advance on the flanks of the main infantry force and find the enemy if they were positioned as such. My armor and infantry would swing around to a position which it could engage. advance to observation points and hold there. The purpose soley being so I wouldn't be blind if an attack should come through there. The whole goal of the infantry is to find the enemy, particularly armor assets. Each block of infantry has its own scouts. In all, I think each VG Platoon out of the company (Ie: Not the SMG Platoons) was missing one squad, which were used for scouts. Ok given this situation(to my opponents, this is not what I am doing ): 1) There is no room for dedicated scouts (ie:no points) 2) It is a large map, and your strategy is to only concentrate your forces on part of the map, but you are able to attack the flanks if nessisary. What would you do? Would it be better to take the entire platoon out of the company and use it for scouts? But you run the risk of losing 3 squads and a HQ unit, rather then half squad, which is already considered dead. Any thoughts? [ August 18, 2002, 06:28 PM: Message edited by: OG_Gleep ]

Ah, I didn't understand that part. That is why I was confused. Please don't misunderstand, I have everything you posted printed out, and am reviewing it consantly. I was confused, which is why I posted. Got it Its not the infantry I am worried about. Even a couple platoons blasted is not a huge loss. What I am worried about however, is your armor assets which are supposed to move up to engage his armor once they have been located by your infantry. Since you have a limited amount of armor, you can't afford to lose any needlessly. This is why I raised this question. The enemy on the other hand can afford to lose armor, since he should have an abundance of them. Since your first responce to my posts I have started up 4 games using the tactics you have laid out. Like I said there were a few areas I didn't understand, and there were a few areas I didn't know about how to approach. Anyhow, this cleared up most of my questions. All except one. With the limited amount of armor resources, and the infantry crossing terrain willy nilly, what is the best overall approach to moving your armor so that they can support the infantry while staying alive on the trip there?

Assuming that date does effect how effective wood terrain is as cover, how deep would you have to go in Dec, and how deep should you go as a gerneral rule. Or is there a general rule? Like to ask about how you handel scouts. In a lot of the tactical articles I have read that invloved scouts, they implied that the only time they split one of their squads up in the platoon is when they wanted to: 1) Make sure there would be no threats while crossing unsecure terrain 2) To scout a unsecure area, usually cover, for enemy activity (ie: before entering woods, scouts go in first to secure it for the platoon) 3) Any situation that would minimize risk to the platoon by sending a split squad. This is pretty standard stuff. In recent games though, I have been splitting my squads during setup. I have been buying VG companies, off of what JasonC suggested. The 3rd platoon is always the rifle platoon. I have been splitting one squad from every platoon. Since the map is so big, and I don't have enough resources to cover the entire map, I have been both parts of the squads for scouts. I normally have one ahead of the Comapny and one on the flanks. If I have 2 companies in the area, I use the 2nd set of "scouts" in other areas of the map that I can't cover with a full company or even platoon. These guys are forward observers. No where have I read that this tactic is either sound or effective. Essentially I have given the enemy X amount of points because I have no intention of preserving their lives(the X has been about 6 squads). Points are tight, even in 5000 point games and to replace these scouts would cost 216 - 108 points if I were to use Sharpshooters instead. Anyone have any ideas or comments? I used this as a reference http://thforums.com/CMBO/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=31 What is your reason for using sneak in cover? Is it for stealth, or is it so your troops stop if they engage an enemy? Do you use sneak moving through cover on the first few turns (ie: Absolutley no threat from small arms)? Or is this reserved for the later turns? Also, I have read several places that using run isn't always the best situation when crossig open ground to cover where there might be an ambush waiting for you. I used to always use run, and whenever there was an ambush I took heavy heavy casualties. Not only that, my guys kept running till they broke. My understanding is sneak will fix that, sort of. If you are fired upon by an identified enemy within range, you will stop...wherever you are, and return fire. This is desirable in cover, because if you have to stop, that is the best place to do that. In the open however, it may be as bad as running into a lead wall. I know this also has a lot to do with what units are firing at you, but lets assume you have not been fired on yet, so you have no idea of what could be waiting for you, but you are plotting orders. Is move then the best order for crossing open terrain to cover where there is a potential for an ambush? I know right before you enter the cover you should use sneak. The best answer I know would be to send the scouts in Slappy I was using the below article as a reference. http://thforums.com/CMBO/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=38 Plus there are times where you just Know that there is some kind of asset on a hill...that and the Hummel covers a really nice area with his shot (200 blast) http://thforums.com/CMBO/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=38 I really want to touch on the last part of your post Slappy and would like to ask you some questions about your red, but I need to go atm. Already spent an hour on this post Thanks Ozzy for your responce. Cleared up some grey areas for me nicley and gave me some new ideas. Btw Don't have time to spell check, sorry! :eek:

Red, I put it in Date Dec 44 Weather Clear Map Large Village Mod Hills Mod Trees Forces: Unrestricted Very top of the post. I have forgotten date, a few times. Almost all of them, I didn't know there was a signifigance in the date. Anyhow I added it after reading why in this instance it was important. [ August 15, 2002, 03:15 PM: Message edited by: OG_Gleep ]