Halberdier

Henschel pilot at court-martial: "How could I resist zis??...It vas so BIG und SHINY." I've had a FW strafe an 88 - taking it out (I'm sure the Obergerbilfuhrer thought it was funny, too). Everytime I hear the sound of fighters (can't tell whose until next turn) my tanks do the smoke orgy and jump in the bushes. When I play the Soviets, well, they just jump in the bushes and prey to Comrade Stalin. cheers! -gabe-

I like the big QB's, but the problem with adding more points is that both sides start to run out of ammo. I did a 5000pt Assault as the Soviet which included three platoons of ISU-152's, all of which ran out of HE ammo. At least the T-34's have good ammo. For the Germans, the StuG's also have problems in larger QB's. cheers, -gabe-

I like the big QB's, but the problem with adding more points is that both sides start to run out of ammo. I did a 5000pt Assault as the Soviet which included three platoons of ISU-152's, all of which ran out of HE ammo. At least the T-34's have good ammo. For the Germans, the StuG's also have problems in larger QB's. cheers, -gabe-

Cool! Now someone go over there and take a look at the tanks' optics and give info to BTS. At least we can get an idea of what the late war Soviet tank optics are like. cheers! -gabe-

IS-2 and ISU 152 s/b effective, thought I haven't tried late war as the Soviets. The Germans will always have the range advantage due to better optics, but just get close and/or gang up on them. SU-100 s/b good, but IIRC someone mentioned that they never historically say action or did so very late in war. [Edit to add note that I was corrected on the SU-100 usage. ] cheers! -gabe- [ November 20, 2002, 07:40 PM: Message edited by: Halberdier ]

Back to topic (whatever that was)- He should try a Bose Wave Radio connected to a CD. Nice music options. Hmm, I'm going to have to connect it to my Mac while playing CMBB.... cheers! -gabe-

[understatement]They are very effective in the AT role[/understatement] Just for kicks, I did a 2-player QB with one Sturmtiger vs a T-44 and IS-3 (jeez, the armor on that thing...). First shot missed the T-44 but shocked it. Then it hit the T-44, no penetration, but still killed it. I forgot what the crew casualties were. It missed the IS-3, but still killed it. I have heard that one shot from one of these monsters knocked out 3+Shermans (real-life). IIUC, they were only used on the German's western front, and briefly in Poland. cheers! -gabe- [ November 19, 2002, 09:40 PM: Message edited by: Halberdier ]

Does it have detailed information about Soviet tanks' optics? The manual mentions that BTS had difficulty finding reliable info about that. cheers! -gabe-

The best ways to attack pillboxes is to either flank them with your infantry, or direct fire from tanks. Flanking with infantry is a bit hazardous, since pillboxes often will have its flanks covered. The AI player is pretty good about setting these up very close to the rear map edge with supporting pillboxes or guns/MG's. Covering it with artillery smoke is probably the only way to get your infantry close to it, though once I was able to get a Pioneer squad around it through cover. Remember to get your infantry to the side or rear of the pillbox <30m and give them a couple turns. The most succesful method that I've found is to use a tank to use direct fire on it. Even smaller calibers eventually get a firing slit penetration. This is very easy as the Germans since the only bunker gun that I've seen is the 76.2mm/L17 gun. I haven't yet had the pleasure of encountering a 75 or 88mm bunker as the Soviets - whose tanks don't even have smoke!. Use Move or Move to Contact, unless you are under fire. When I do use Advance, I do it for short ranges. If you are covered by smoke, use M or MtC. cheers! -gabe-

Guns. Big Fat Guns. On Tanks. Big Fat Tanks. I like the ISU-152 for support despite its crappy ammo supply. As the Germans I love the Brummbaer which has lots of HE ammo. Smaller caliber guns work too, but tend to use up too much ammo (I play huge QB's where ammo depletion is common). Lightly armored HT's and sIG's are too vulnerable. Flame tanks are also excellent against MG's and other infantry, but for enemy Guns I use morter or light artillery, unless I can get an assault gun safely in LOS. cheers! -gabe-

I know that the AI doesn't prep-fire on 'suspected' positions (though that s/b something added to the new engine). The AI's arty usage could use some tweaking. If the concealment terrain only increases the chance that a vehicle will be hidden, then these instances all occurred because the Borg Mind nullified any probability of being hidden since they were otherwise in LOS of several units. If it is supposed to be hidden, which I am now thinking is not the case (book is at home, I'm at an internet cafe), then it's a bug. In all cases the ranges were at least 800m. cheers! -gabe-

I'm not sure if this is a bug, but I've noticed that FO's, Morter Teams, and other units that are given a token firepower for defense are completely unspotable until you stumble on their position. I have set up vehicles in supposedly concealing terrain (brush, scattered trees) that were prep-artilleried by the AI opponent. The book says that vehicles setting up in such terrain s/b hidden until they fire (don't have book in front of me). cheers! -gabe-

In C.B. MacDonald's book A Time for Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge (great book) there are a few accounts of US artillery taking out quite a few German tanks. The tanks would often try to escape the bombardments. These were called in tactically, but probably quite massive, accurate, and 155mm+. I've had mixed results trying to take out tanks in CMBB with arty, but I don't always get 150mm+. I usually use my arty to button/shock the tanks and to suppress infantry. cheers, -gabe-

Andrew Hedges said: I second that! Regarding FO's: There was a version of the SPW 251 that was used for aircraft liaison. Not sure about any other details such as at what formation levels these were used (per a Squadran/Signal publication). I tend to get Veteran aircraft. They seem to show up earlier when Veteran, but some design notes on this might be desirable. I have a couple of comments regarding the Stuka B/D:</font> The version that has more than the main bomb seems to drop them separately. I thought that they were dropped together? Seems very dangerous to pull out of a high-G dive with ordinance hanging on.</font> It also seems unlikely that they would stick around for ~12 turns to strafe with their BB-gun. </font>BTW, it seems that the price of airsupport for Operations is exaggerated since they only show up on one battle, whereas FO's are carried over from battle to battle. To scenario designers: Using airsupport on small maps is silly! Cheers! -gabe-

Eden the smartass said: That's not what I meant, and thought that was clear, but I admit being a bit too brief by habit and am sometimes misunderstood. I meant the AI's units. The non-human. The 'puter controlled side (and a gamey one at that). The not-me side. The side that I don't have any control over. The side that doesn't cuss back at me. The other side. The side that I can't see until it's too late. The side that I'm trying to clobber. The side that has my flags. The side that bushwacks me... To restate: I have been thinking of that too. But I'm not sure if the AI controlled side is capable of recombining its squads that had been split. Has anyone seen it recombine its own units? cheers, -gabe-

The operation Mobile Defense has some ~1000m engagements (though, IMO, the map is too small), and is challenging as the Germans. Though I have have not yet found an operation that I really like, like Carentan from CMBO. cheers, -gabe-

Gary T Good grief! I've been playing Huge QB's with ~3 armed aircraft (Soviet and German) and they haven't done squat against tanks (but they were effective vs open topped vehicles). I was about to post about them being under-effective, but I guess that I've just been unlucky. cheers, -gabe-

Dirtweasle sayeth: I have been thinking of that too. But I'm not sure if the AI is capable of recombining split squads that had been split. Has anyone seen it recombine? Did entire squads route together? Probably sometimes, but I also think that it can vary from between one man and the entire platoon. Another wish for the engine rewrite :cool: cheers, -gabe-

The only time that I don't like the unit to Sneak is when on roads or other 'kill me' uncovered terrain when cover is nearby. The unit should Run to cover immediately then Sneak. Perhaps constripts would run around in circles for a couple secs before seeking cover?

I seems to me that it would take a lot longer than a couple minutes to clear a minefield, too. Time goes by real quick for you when you are carefully looking for something (not to mention clearing), but goes by slowly for everyone else. I am not experienced in mineclearing, though. The wire is a bit more noticable, and one demo should be enough to clear. BTW, the AI is pretty good at placing the wires and minefields in combination, but just wastes its trenches in the 3000+ point QB's that I've played. Cheers, -gabe-

I am running on a PM7500: 128MB RAM (VM off), ATI Rage Orion 16MB Video, 230MHz G3, Mac OS 8.6. It runs fine with the notable exception of the tractor works Stalingrad operation (with 1/3 the actual historical forces!). I had some initial sound stuttering problems but increasing the RAM allocation fixed that. Now if I could afford an iMac 17"... BTW, anyone know how to manually change the video settings if possible? Cheers! -gabe- [ September 30, 2002, 09:11 PM: Message edited by: Halberdier ]