Fetchez la Vache

Personally I'm not too bothered about a lack of QB purchasing in this game because, to be honest, the range of units isn't big enough to require it. The options given in the QB setup are enough to give plenty of variability for the conflict type being modeled in CMSF. However I'm a bit concerned about this lack (relative to CMx1) of unit modeled in the game. This is fine for the modern warfare this first installment of CMx2 represents since in this timeframe there simply aren't that many different types of units. But I do wonder what this means for my personal enjoyment of the future WW2 modules since it's partly the shear variety of units which attracts me to that timeframe. I'm just hoping that future modules will somehow be "merge-able" so that multiple modules will allow the range of choice there was in CMx1. So my take is that I'm happy with the limited choice I'm given so far, in the hope that future modules will keep expanding things. CMx1 games were a stack of beer slabs, whereas CMSF appears to be more of a tasty red wine - quality vs quantity?

LoL. When they're driving it in the rain alongside a row of cars, it looks like the vibration from the tank sets off a car alarm. :-D

It's the Bazooka rounds killing the crews due to spalling. I've *nicked* quite a few German AFVs by doing this - so much so that I now include a skilled Gunner & Driver in my close assault infantry squads to take advantage of it.

It's the Bazooka rounds killing the crews due to spalling.

I vote for a tripod-mounted bren.

Pee break followed by a caught-in-the-zipper incident?

Just trying to ease the pain.

Uber arty = pre mission recon? I personally don't find the AI artillery missions too ridiculous. Annoying yes, because it's a sod seeing your troops being shelled.

True. However, imo it would have been better to design campaigns that draw upon the same force pool. For example a US infantry-based campaign, a British AFV-based campaign, etc. I also think campaign battles should somehow tell you what forces you are going to receive as reinforcements (better still, don't have reinforcements and allow a bigger initial force). You just *know* that your starting forces are going to inadequate to do the job, so you sit there waiting for the reinforcement trigger - leaving your hand-picked initial team looking a bit half-arsed. Still enjoy the campaign battles. It's just that they could be a tad better in terms of reinforcements (no offense to the designers).

Not sure this really belongs in "Strategy and Tictacs". Maybe we need a new "Rant and Shout" forum? But as Mj Private says, ranges are displayed on the sliding penetration bar for each gun when it's selected. Also what tank were you trying to attack? If this is Dunkirk then you might have been taking on a B-1 (very very tough) or S-35 (tough), in which case I think your result is pretty much par for course tbh. Try rear and flankng shots. As for tracking the tank. Tree and bushes will affect your line of sight. Also check for terrain dips/rises. Hope that helps. The learning curve on this game is rather steep, but try new tictacs and keep an open mind. HF

I find AT grenades useless against heavy AFVs. Not even track damage most of the time. I still find this *odd*, to say the least. Remember the Marksmanship skill is required for shooting small arms. Some guys literally can't hit the side of a barn or Tiger at 10 yards. Note that the tanks can still move and fire with only two crew (in fact you could do it with one). So a tank sitting there for a while with incapacitated crew will probably "wake up" in a minute or so! I've had some of the best fun hunting tanks in villages with a squad of men. Hiding behind walls and buildings is definitely the way to go. Need to micro-manage though, but very rewarding if you can pull it off.

I don't think it's needed tbh. If you select "hold fire" and "hold position" the AFV will maintain it's heading. I never found CM's cover arc particulary "realistic", if you see what I mean?

And sometimes the setup mode sticks a couple of your units in some odd place and then won't let you move them. PITA.

And sometimes the setup mode sticks a couple of your units in some odd place and then won't let you move them. PITA.

Interesting. A couple of things I was wondering about that aren't answered: 1) Does "Scouting" skill of a ATG crew influence it's concealment? 2) Ditto above for AFVs. 3) Does a hull gunner in a tank use "Marksman" skill or "Gunnery" skill? ..and something I can guess the answer too: 4) Does holding fire (yet aiming at a visible target) improve the to-hit chance? I guess not, but you never know...

Some people have better eye-hand co-ordination...

Bummer, I usually found even a single hit from the ZIS-2 is enough to waste a PzII. Must have had a nasty horizontal angle perhaps? It might need a few tries. I agree about the missions though - some of them are pretty dire, especially the Russian campaign I think. I hate the way your hand-picked troops are devastated at the start of the mission and you have to rely on second-rate reinforcements to swing the tide back in your favour. * double sigh*

Drop the T-34 at setup (reload far too long) and 45mm ATGs (pop guns) and go with the ZIS-2 ATG. It will go through PzII and PzIII like a hot knife. However position it carefully so you can knock off the Germans at as long a range as possible - not easy without a LOS tool. A trick I use is to put the ATG near a trench and put a *spare* crew member with a decent Gunnery skill nearby - just in case your main gunner comes a cropper. Might take a couple of goes but that should blunt the first attack. Your reinforcements should be able to handle the second wave okay. [ May 08, 2007, 10:59 PM: Message edited by: Fetchez la Vache ]

This game does need micro-managing, that's true. I like that, some people don't. I do think it's daft when I see a AT soldier firing his SMG at a tank though. Personally I find a few minor issues that are rather annoying, but not in the hysterical way some peeps have been shouting at the moon. [pun intended...] The biggest single problem with this game for me are the scenarios. Too much reliance with sudden, unexpected, reinforcements to change the flow of the battle. One-sided battles that require many save-games to get pass. They can be improved imo.

Wait until you try the next mission - Steel Avalanche. I managed to knock out the Brummbars with side shots from my 76mm guns as they pushed out towards the trenches. That left 3 Ferdinands... Tried attacking them with infantry, but the AT grenades proved hopeless. However I did managed to immobilse one this way. When the reinforcements arrived I managed to hit one of the remaining Ferdie's with a 122mm HEAT - bang. One left. This one pushed forward and I eventually peppered it with 76mm shots, and I mean peppered - must of been hit +15 times. Eventually a track blown off and it was abandoned. Now the Tiggers... One Tiger down quickly to another 122mm HEAT. One rushed the trenches and found 3 T34s and a SU122 waiting on a reverse slope. After lots of circling around with the T34s, confusing the Tiger, I managed to get in a track shot followed by a rear-ender that finally silenced it. The final Tiger came in close to the village and into lots of flanking shots by my remaining hidden ATGs and AFVs. Again immobilised before a rear shot finishing it off. Tough, but basically got through by hiding my troops and forcing the Ferdinands/Tigers to move forward. Take out the tracks on Ferdinands and go for close range rear shots on the Tigers. Both are at a distinct disadvantage close in.

Full retail, not OEM. No laws being broken.

More like being tight with the original Boot Camp partition setup - which really is a poor excuse given I've got a 500Gb drive. But then again I have rather a lot of DVDs copied onto to the remaining... No need for an external drive - I've got 3 spare HD bays waiting to be filled. \o/ I'm just lazy though Yes, my own XP. I used to be a PC user and swapped when the Intel Macs came out. Macs *work*. Nice interface. More *fun* to use. Secure. And with Boot Camp (later Leopard OS) and Parallels there's really nothing I can't do in Windows with my Mac Pro. And the "why" for me. My wife got a Mac Laptop. I was sold.

Just checked, and I don't I'm afraid. Only the *after* bit with an immobilsed and abandoned Ferndinand. I tend to clean up saves rather aggressively after a battle due to limited size of my Boot Camp partition (and those save game files are BIG). Anyway, just had the same 'problem' on "Steel Avalanche" with the Tiggers. PzIII and PzIV falling like flies. Tiggers merely lose their sideskirts - no immobilisation. I have a save game for that one, but the file size is a tad overweight.

Just played the next scenario, and managed to take out a PzIV and PzIII with a 'nade. PzIII dead in one, PziV immobile after one and cooked on the second. Seems to me that the Ferdi's armour is too thick for the grenades, rather than a game mechanics problem. Not sure if that's historically correct mind you. It seems *wrong*. As for my sniper Ferdinand. The PBI was ~100m away (not run over) and was lanced by the shot itself (no crater nearby). Wittman eat your heart out! :-D

Good points. I think the thinner hulled tanks in the demo are affected by the AT grenades, but I suspect it's due to their thinner armour. The thick-skinned Ferdinands shrug 'em off most of the time. The German AT grenade has a listed penetration value of 150mm but is still appears incapable of penetrating the Ferdinand. I don't know the exact HE content of a typical AT grenade but I woul dhave though them still capable of blowing off track? I was actually *tracking* one chap that got hit by a 88mm shell! Flash of laser and suddenly he's dead, and a big crater in the hill 200m behind. The Ferdinands at Kursk did not mount front MGs. A MG34 was carried by the crew (as is actually modeled in ToW). The hull mounted MG was only added in late 1943, after the experiences of Kursk, In the ToW line-up the Ferdinand doesn't have a hull MG, but the Elephant does I think... Maybe the patch needs to add a feature whereby a PBI can squirt a few rounds into a vision slit. :-D