laxx

Hi, i find myself sketching maps of some of the current PBEM games during boring office meetings. Is there such a thing as a universal Symbols of tanks, MGs etc or is each army different in the representation ? Any URL to guide me to where I can find the symbols for the German/Russian armies ? thanks ! [ July 13, 2003, 04:04 AM: Message edited by: laxx ]

Howard, Cyberg, Hang on...I actually like the lynx, i think the 20mm cannon is great against troops, and it is only a little more expensive than the 251/1 half-track. regarding the comment on french tank, that's unfair. I think the Somua S35 is a great tank. I'll take it over the M4. in CMBB, this tank is a great all rounder in the early part of the war.

Denwad: You are too young to be mixing with grumpy old men talking macho about APBC vs APC rounds or comparing Soviet Breakthru Doctrine vs German Blitzkrieg tactics. Go and hang out with normal people your age group or else your family, peers and friends will look at you funny very quickly. "No Mum, SPR got it wrong, The Tiger tanks portrayed in the movie are actually Soviet T-34s. You could tell by looking at their wheels. Real Tigers had interleaved wheels. These Tigers clearly had the T-34 suspension. " you have been warned!

well, usually, if it not under concealment, i will do a variety of things before I send the troops in: - Off-board Artillery bombardment or On board Motars with Fire Officer (FO). If the town is big, i will use target wide (I) commad. - Use Tanks/HMG/Guns to fire at buildings, ie. target specific NON-heavy buildings etc. Of coss, you could use SMOKE to mask the entry into town, that way, you won't have too many sniping before you enter the building. But SMOKE is one of those very underutilised tools that people just forget to use. And I usually just advance/assault or if CMBO, Fast move into the building. Now, for the entry into the village / town, sequence should be: - Troops in first - then tanks - then guns Tanks die easy in towns and usually used in parts which have been captured. Becareful of storming into buildings because the game favors the defenders rather than attackers in buildings. I like to use SMG squads or paras because of the higher fire power. (to check out the firepower, select the troop and press return key, SMG will have high firepower around 200+ fp under 100m) Good luck coz town fighting isn't an exact science, so your mileage will vary.

sergei, interesting idea on the ai vs ai, like watching a movie, but with accurately modded vehicles. i doubt if it will make its way into CMAK, but cool idea.

eh...which CM game ? cmbo or cmbb ?

Regarding on how to use Half-tracks, let me pull out an old quote on Jochen Peiper: "nteresting quote on Jochen Peiper and his tank tactics: "Obersturmbannfuehrer (SS Lieutenant Colonel) Jochen Peiper was one of the most sensational figures of the Battle of the Bulge..<snip>......Later, on the Eastern Front, he had pioneered daring armored tactics. At the head of a small group of tanks, he would raid deep into the Russian rear, shooting up supply columns and wreaking havoc. ...<snip>. He would put two or three halftracks at the head of his columns and then charge deep into enemy territory. The halftracks would be sacrificed but the tanks behind them would then take out whatever defenses had been flushed by the halftracks." lifted from a text file of the game patton strikes back." frankly, i doan like to buy half-tracks as they are too expensive but if you are allocated one, then using them as infantry support isn't too bad.

no choice really. My troops where hidden in the lower half of the woods, which blocked the LOS from the priest. The Priest had to move to its left to get a side shot into the scattered trees on my troops' right flank. What my foe did not count was me buying ATG, which did the trick when the priest went over the ambush marker.

one suggestion: put in some rules that limits large arty on both sides. or buy arty to whack his FOs, or better still doan buy troopers, just tanks. but if you have to buy troopers, then, spreading them out and using feints would be key, remember, the most injuries done to troops in WWII were Artillery/Motars though most of them were not fatal. slightly off topic, in CMBB, there is a feature for Turn one arty. And if the enemy is within the AI LOS then Turn One arty would be quite certain to be within the vincinity of the Enemy. The trick was to put a lone half-squad in some obscure position to deflect the arty from the main body. Perhaps it could work here against your evil cousin. [ July 09, 2003, 04:22 AM: Message edited by: laxx ]

What's next ? Subtitles ? if you want ascented english translation, do it yourself, the file numbers and the corresponding WAV files has been posted previously, use a mike and do us a babelfish. and doan forget to post it in CMMOD.

Regarding the t-26 being the least favorite tank in CMBB, it dawned upon me that perhaps we should treat it as a half-track with a 45mm cannon rather than a tank. If we treat it with the same brittleness as a Half-track, then the t-26 cannot be used against armor but against infantry. so that means no frontal "hunt" command, just darting around in Fast Move or move covered by lots of infantry. I remember reading an account in the allied forces in N.Afrika, they used tank destroyer platoons consisting of half-tracks mounted with cannons. Survivability must have been pretty low.

well, Rudel was Great but he never had a comic book written about him.... .... unlike Otto Carius which is forever immortalised in the manga "Tiger in the Mud":the exploits of a Panzer Ace on the Eastern Front. Humans are portrayed as Pigs (german and russian alike) The last panel has to be a well concealed Russian 45mm ATG. [ July 08, 2003, 09:05 AM: Message edited by: laxx ]

Scenario: Quick Battle Meeting Engagement, PBEM Map: Small, modest trees, small hill, rural Points: 300 points Meeting Engagement US: Low Quality Troops German: Low Quality Troops I chose to play German against my PBEM opponent, whom I shall call Mr. T. Mr. T is a competent player though in my previous encounter, he was quite aggressive in troop movements. At 300 points, I choose Conscript rather than Green, the rationale being that in a small constrained map, firepower was important than manoevour. My purchase decision was also influenced by what Mr.T would buy. Knowing that he was uncomfortable with Conscript, he would buy Green Troops. Good thing about playing at 300 points, you can make educated guesses of what the person would buy if you know the year and quality of troops. I wager that Mr. T would buy a Stuart, a Half-track, a platoon, lots of HMG and Zooks. He rarely bought ATGs or off-board Arty, so I doubt he would buy them now. I bought the following: 1 x Conscript Platoon 2 x Conscript Panzershreck 1 x Conscript HMG 1 x Conscript LMG 1 x Green Puma 1 x Green H-39 Hotchkiss 1 x Conscript 75mm 1 x Conscript 50mm ATG The following was my setup: Next the terrain. I was quite disadvantaged by the terrain, as it did not provide enough cover for my men, except a small strip in the centre, right and some scattered trees leading up to the victory location. Conversely, it provided excellent cover for my opponent, as the approach to the victory location for him was masked by woods. Tactics With this small map, 600 by 150m. I decided that once in position, the troops should not have too much movement thereafter but to setup ambush positions. I decided to: Fast Move the troops to the inner edge of the Woods. Fast Move Panzershreck to the outer right woods Hide the 50mm ATG but set up an Ambush marker Fast Move the AFVs to the inner woods and rotate outwards providing cover against HMG from the enemy My worry was that if the enemy decided to rush to the victory location, my then tired conscript troops would be routed, as tired conscript troops are apt to do. By turn two, enemy fire was seen at on my far right. It appeared to be Zooks and HMG, my H-39 and the Puma soon started to respond. My Platoon Commander and HMG also started to respond to enemy incoming. By Turn three, one squad + one support unit and one light tank (later found to be a PRIEST) was seen crossing towards the VL. By Turn four, my 50mm ATG made scored a Hit! on the priest. And the enemy Squad and Support Unit was routed. By Turn 7, I started to move the H-39 and Puma out towards the centre of the map, knowing that enemy armor was done. I knew Mr. T still had one Half-track left but he had difficulty moving between the woods. By Turn 8, My H-39 killed the HT. By turn 12, the enemy surrendered. Observations: * Due to the conscript nature of my troops, the 75mm off-board arty was quite useless, and it appreared after turn 7 or 8 when the game was almost won. * As the conscript troops tend to panic easily, I hid them most of the time until the enemy was in close range. Buying German Para was useful because of the higher firepower under 100m.

i am so slow, but thanks BFc! http://www.battlefront.com/products/cmak/biblio.html but the bone : [ July 07, 2003, 07:05 PM: Message edited by: laxx ]

things i try to buy during a QB: Axis: - MP44 Allied: - .50 HMG the MG 42 is great but its high rate of fire means the ammo runs out too fast in CM. Perhaps the MG 34 would have been a better but slower choice.

if only all AARs were written in such prose....More Please!

case in point, in CMBO Chance Encounter, how many of us found using StuG a challenge ? Admittedly, in CMBB, the StuG has become a lethal tank destroyer.

Danelion said: LOL! if Sherman m4 = 55+ Cleaning Lady T-34 = Catherine Zeta-Jones then I wager the T-26 is like Cher, nice to look at, at first, but way past her prime and never really had a chance... the StuG in CMBB would be Christine Baranksi ( here ) , sexy and very underrated.

Hi, Wanted to start a thread on what is your least favorite WWII tank and why. Note, i refer to least favorite here as either an AFV that you will never buy or an AFV that your will groan if automatically allocated to you. I suspect this is gonna tougher to respond than the "most favorite" thread My least favorite: Allied: ------- * M4 Sherman (never buy, goan) Axis ----- * Sdkfz 251/1 (never buy becoz it is too expensive) * StuG in CMBO (never buy) unless there is no Hetzer for sale * Marder series (never buy, groan). Never had much success with Marders, usually would buy a Nashorn becoz of the 88mm gun. [ July 05, 2003, 08:37 AM: Message edited by: laxx ]

doc, doan feel bad, next time doan hit a flame panzer so close. now, try this out: get a sharpshooter and a flamethrower to hide in two buildings both adjacent to a road. shoot the t-34 to hatch up the tank commander, and when it comes within 30-40ms, open the FT at the t-34, it takes 2 squirts to kill the t-34. better still, get 2x molotov cocktail throwing tank hunter teams to kill the t-34.

i have been a german-side player for the last 1 year, my favorite afv German side has to be: - Hetzer coz it is good value for money (ie. Cheap), it shoots first, 75mm gun is decent though not fantastic. I usually use Hetzers in pairs, or in groups of Threes. I tend to pack them very tightly (go down to level 1 view) and move them as a single 3 cannon entity. Probably gamey but very deadly. - Big cats when I afford them, but tigers tend to have slow turret speed, panthers are nice but somehow vulnerable to flank shots. King Tigers are very nice but oh so expensive, too risky for a 300 pointer to get bogged down or worse get gun damage. In the last 6 months, I have been playing mainly Allied forces, I find it refreshing, my no.1 & 2 tanks are: - M10 & Wolferine. Like the hetzer except it has an open turret but still suffers from motar attacks. - Stuart Tanks. Cheap, dependable, and the 37mm gun feels more like a 75mm. And the ammo count is fantastic. - Sherman-class tanks, i tend to avoid it coz of the higher profile makes it a walking bullseye.

yeah...pls send to me at laxx@myrealbox.com i am an average player

Hi, in CMBB, rarity is addressed, so buying a rare unit like the 57mm t-34 tank will be very expensive. Making an educated guess, the reason why it is included is because there were situations where it was very unbalanced, perhaps exactly like your scenario now, somewhere in some german-held village, a whole slew of allied afvs had to pass thru and thus encountered your combined troops. well, usually it pays to lay down the ground rules before the game.

Hi, <---------spoiler alert-----------------------> . . . . . . . . . . . . . I managed a major victory as Fins with original setup. EFOW et al, it game went on till mid 30 turns. A couple of observations: i had 4 Armored cars coming at me at the beginning, and one 01 tankette (instead of 2). I really didn't do much in the game except: * I hid the troops every other 2 turns. sort of conserved ammo and preserved concealment. (but the 37mm died anyway by turn 15). * the tankette was dealt with by the tank hunter behind the barricade who ran after the tankette after it bypassed the barricade and went into the scattered trees to engage another tank hunter. * around turn 20+, the russkies broke thru but they were disorganised in a log jam. I moved some fo the tank hunters/squads towards the centre flag and I hid them. * by turn 30, the major flag were alternating between Fins and "?" my guys got flushed out of the buildings from the cannon fire. * sort of blur between 30 to 35, but I remember hidding the troops as much as possible. Question I have is whether I should have launched into a longer range attrition fight and risks ammo but buying space for time.

lcm1947, your question is indeed a loaded one. In this forum, there are folks who love the Germans side because of the different unit setups which you can mix and match. Then there are the russkivites who love the different strengths in fighting. So, short answer: about 50:50, long answer: read the archives for the long firesite chats between German and Russian differences. Myself, I like the Germans AFVs and Units because I am familiar with them, but their ammo count is too little. their tanks moves slower but shoot more accurately. I have somewhat stopped playing the Germans a few months ago and find playing the Russkies different and quite refreshing.