Tripwire6

There is a free app called Stuff It Expander that should take care of the .rar files. It can be found at www.stuffit.com. Honestly, I very much prefer Winzip, but this is nice to have around for the oddball files.

I think a good commander needs to know when a battle isn't winnable. It's just not much fun that way. I'm a pretty competitive person. I can handle losing, but I don't like it. If I see a flat map with no tree cover (which seems to be 50% of the random maps), I know that my infantry is going to get stopped cold by machine guns. This is especially true if I don't have a lot of smoke. This is a fault of quick battles in my opinion. I think you should know the terrain and conditions before selecting your force or at least have the option. I want random terrain. I just want to be able to select a force to minimize the disadvantages. The problem that I have now is that it seems to generate at least half the maps perfectly flat with very little cover. I would need another 1000 points of artillery just to have enough smoke to think about getting across it. That hardly seems random either. It sounds to me like the patch will make things more random, not less. Give me some sparse staggered cover or usable terrain and I'll be all over trying to make it work and enjoy it. Otherwise, I would like to think that I'm smart enough not to make the attack or if the objective absolutely needed to be reached, I would bring more firepower. The "Kobayashi Maru" is mentioned in many episodes of the various Star Trek based shows. I think it was first mentioned in The Wrath of Khan. The basics is that the "Kobayashi Maru" is a test for the officers at Star Fleet Academy. It's an no possible win scenario used as a teaching tool to make the officers realize that you just can't win them all. Naturally, Kirk beat the scenario (by hacking in and reprogramming the test the night before). In the later movies it becomes a theme for Kirk that he just won't accept not being able to win. All in all it's one of the more compelling story lines within Star Trek.

I'm still too new to CMBB to have much of a firm opinion one way or another. So far though, it seems like it's up to the scenario designers to get the balance right. Random quick battles are a different prospect. Sometimes (vs. the AI) I take one look at the map and Alt-A out of it. I was glad to hear that there should be fewer completely flat random maps with the patch. Other times though, a quick battle becomes an outstanding and tense conflict with the outcome hanging in the balance until the very end. As far as what someone mentioned about "Isn’t it so that just as in real life it’s not always possible to win?" That's correct, but it really shouldn't be that way. If this was an operational level simulator, then it would be acceptable to identify a Kobayashi Maru (no win situation for you non-Trekies), pack it in for the day, and keep your losses low. However, with the scope of CMBB, a no win situation makes no sense. There is no live to fight another day. It's just a loss. Balanced or not, the verdict is probably still out, but I think it's up to the designers to make the scenarios enjoyable. - Tripwire6

*** Spoiler *** As I've said a few times now, Jaeger is a great scenario to play as the attacking Russians. Yes, the IS's seem very vulnerable to the German cats. I lost half my armor very early in the fight. I took two tanks around the left flank (from my perspective) and spread the remaining survivors out on the hill in the middle using shoot and scoot. These actually survived much longer this way. Considering the early disaster when I tried to slug it out, I still managed to take out the cats and get a minor victory. One last thing... with the turns winding down, there was one remaining cat in the left edge of the town. I timed my shoot and scoot perfectly and got a 90m broadside shot... and missed! DOH! Luckily my infantry somehow took this one out from surrounding buildings.

I'm sure given a few hours with a hex editor, you'll figure out the problem.

Jean-Pierre, My "Abrams" comment had to do with people mentioning modeling other wars with CM:BB, not your requests specifically. I feel that modeling other armor that isn't in the game would lead to using armor that shouldn't be available. As much as I think people go a little overboard here giving others grief about gamey aspects, I really hate things like trainers and hacking binary and what it does to the integrity of games. I'll take a few repeated graphics with great gameplay over perfect graphics but a cheatable game any day.

BulletHead, Thanks for the info. I'll look for your Golzow scenario. It might be that TCP/IP play would be more for me, but I'll probably still give PBEM a try. So that's what the Peng thread is for?! My lone venture to one of those threads had me convinced that it was just a place for people with too much time to pontificate endlessly about inconsequential drivel. It seems that I was right. Good point. I guess I'll just need to keep my fragile ego stoked by slaughtering Russian AI in Jaeger. - Tripwire6

Gamespot previewed it (which was what got me to buy it). I'm not sure if they ever did a review though.

I tend to agree with the people who say this would play hell with multiplayer games. Also, I'm guessing if this was ever possible, there would be M1 Abrams tanks ruling the European soil before the first day was over.

I received CM:BB on Friday. Over the weekend I played Iron Roadblock as a tutorial and Jaeger (great scenario! ) from both sides. I also played a few QB's against the AI. So, CM veterans, I ask you this. What scenarios would you recommend next against the AI? Also, what side should I play first. For example, Jaeger seems much better having the AI play the Axis and should be played that way first in my opinion. I'm sure this has been asked many times, but can anyone tell me a little more about getting started with Play By Email? I'll do some more digging and searches for info on these questions too, but here they are... How long does a typical game take? Is there any etiquette that I should know about? Where should a newbie look for opponents of a similar experience level? Thanks for any help! - Tripwire6

Just be careful with the Jaeger tutorial. Whoever did the writeup had a real problem with left and right that day. My recommendation would be to just play the scenario as the Allies and have fun with your own strategy. It's a great scenario playing the Allies vs. the AI Axis! It's maybe too easy the other way though.

I just got CM:BB in yesterday's mail. I only had time to try the tutorial mission, The Iron Roadblock, as the Allies last night. Today I decided to try the advanced tutorial, Jaeger, but I quickly closed the manual after realizing that they were having a problem with left and right (no! your other left!). I barely managed a minor victory playing the Soviets. After some of what I've read here, I consider that to be great for my first real scenario other than the demo missions. So much for no armor support! Those Tigers and Panthers really tore up my armor. I quickly learned how slowly the IS's reload. Shoot and scoot is your friend with those things. Oh, and as to why I replied to this thread... here's the results when I tried it again as the Germans. (with modified start positions) On to the next mission! - Tripwire6 [ October 12, 2002, 11:14 PM: Message edited by: Tripwire6 ]

Naga = Serpentine fantasy creature having a scaly hide Nagahide sounds much more interesting than naugahide (hyde?) to me. What's a nauga anyway and why is its hide prized for seat making?! [ October 11, 2002, 03:50 PM: Message edited by: Tripwire6 ]

Ahhh... I see... that must be what the line that says "All Items In Stock and Available For Sale!" means. Sigh! So much for using my reading skills today. Anyway, my order went in on 10/4. Hopefully I'll be playing soon. Thanks for the quick reply.

Does anyone know if CM:BB is shipping again in the US? Last I heard was that it was on hold until 10/04/2002. Also, is there any place on Battlefront.com to find this information? Thanks for any help.

Sorry that this is off topic to the title. An ex-girlfriend's grandfather was part of the island hopping in the South Pacific. He is a great old guy to talk to (very serene). I used to talk to him for hours when I could. Anyway... He told me that he was assigned a BAR back then because he was a "carpet merchant". He had to explain the term to me, which was slang for a small, short person. He said that since he was small (about 5'4" or 5'5"), he was considered expendable and thus given the BAR since it attracted more incoming fire. Other than that, he just said that they saw things that you never forget.

*** Demo Spoilers follow *** Well, after reading the advice here, I loaded up one of my saves from right before major contact was made between the Russian AT guns and the Panzers. This was around turn 23 with my gun placement. I held off on the ambush for one more turn. Some of the Panzers were now within 200m of the AT guns. I triggered the ambush and did worse than the first time. Repeated attempts proved that the Panzers would spot my guns on their own if I let them get closer. Clearly my original placement (close to the original starting placement) and strategy failed. To me I had about three failures. First, the AT guns would come into optimal range at different times. This either lead to a piecemeal attack or attacks that were largely ineffective for some of the guns. Second, my two tanks were easily killed with a dozen Panzers pot shotting them. Third, my AT infantry did almost nothing. The piecemeal attack seemed to be the biggest problem. Again, any time a dozen or more Panzers get to concentrate their fire on a few targets, the result is very predictable. After checking out the terrain again, I decided that the ancient river bed would be my new kill zone. It would be the only kill zone as I wanted to concentrate all of my AT gun fire. I wish I had a screen shot, but here's a description. I moved all of the 8 forward AT guns (4 were in the woods to the left, 4 on the ridge in front of the river bed). I reinforced the guns on the ridge behind the river bed with 3 of the guns. I extended the right flank and made sure to check all of the sight lies carefully. 3 more of the guns went on the back slope from the woods on the left. These were part way up the slope and between the woods and one of the flags. They had a great LOS through the river bed and helped set up a nasty crossfire. I placed 1 of the remaining guns in the back side of the woods. This one didn't have the best LOS, but it seemed necessary for containment. The remaining gun went near the flag on the left just in front of the field. My Maxim's were placed along with the AT guns. Hopefully these would help button up the Panzers. I left a few AT squads with the guns. I would also let these bounce rounds off the Panzers, hopefully adding to the crews' stress levels. I stuffed a few extra AT squads in the woods to the left. I wanted the Germans to pay if they got too close. Another few AT squads protected the right flank. The last three went in the first copse of trees that the advancing Germans would encounter, placed on the backside hoping for a rear shot after the Panzers drove by. My tanks were placed in the woods behind the ridge. The first turns were uneventful. My 3 advance AT squads did get spotted early, but they did get a short range broadside kill on a PzIII. 14 Panzers to go. The next 20 turns were spent with me watching the Germans advance. They seemed to be grouping a little more towards the middle than what I considered to be prudent. I don't think a human player would have done this, but it had me salivating as I waited for them to enter my kill zone. One PzIV must have thrown a track, because it stopped out in the middle of the steppe. 13 to go or so I thought. As the Panzers came over the ridge, one PzIV spotted a KV-1S of mine in the woods. They exchanged shots, with my KV-1S panicking, but managing to immobilize the PzIV. I had hoped the KV-1S's could remain concealed, but I guess that was asking too much. The panicked KV-1S reversed behind a hill and regained composure. The worst part of this is that the immobilized PzIV was outside the effective kill area of most of my AT guns and still had a live turret. Doh! The main group of Panzers was now closing in on 200m from the closest of my AT guns on the ridge. They were about 400m or so from my 3 guns on the left flank, with great exposure. My AT gun in the left woods had no LOS on the main group of Panzers, but had a great 250m broadsize shot on the PzIV that my KV-1S had immobilized. Ha! It seems that Lady Luck is smiling on fools this day! I set up the firing arcs. A few of the ridge guns had narrow arcs to concentrate their fire on the remaining 3 PzIV's. I ordered my KV-1S's to join the fray. My Maxim's were given specific targets. Get those Panzers buttoned up in a hurry. Last, my AT squads were also given targets. It didn't matter that their penetration percentage was NONE. I wanted the Germans worried! I pressed Go. Chaos ensued. AT rounds ricocheted everywhere. Smoke billowed from Panzers. I saw my previously panicked KS-1S take a disabling 75mm round from a PzIV. My gun in the woods did its job on the immobilized PzIV. Round one over. Carnage everywhere. There were about three remaining Panzers. A few of my guns on the ridge were knocked out and a few pinned. Several were still in the fight. All three of my guns on the left flank were still hammering away. I gave my Maxim's cover arcs to make life hard for the surviving tank crew members. My remaining KS-1V only had PzIII's to deal with, so I sent it around a small hill in front of its woods on a hunt mission. Go! Ack! One problem. The PzIV that had thrown the track way out on the steppe (about 1000m or so) had LOS on the ridge line and was plinking away at my AT guns with impunity. I missed this last turn. Sigh! No matter, my three guns on the left flank were deadly and were easily out of LOS from that PzIV. Round over. 12 disabled Panzers in my kill zone (the ancient river bed). 1 disabled on the ridge just above the river bed. 1 PzIV still firing from out on the steppe, and 1 PzIII disabled way back at the beginning. The tank crews were all cowering undering the burning hulks of their Panzers as the Maxims pounded away. Ok, how do I get the last PzIV? Do I need to? No matter. The Germans surrendered completely giving my forces a much needed complete victory. I don't believe that an experienced human player would have walked into this ambush like this. Of course, eliminate some of the gamey aspects (big ol Russian flag in the woods showing that I had troops there, limited map size meaning that my troops had to be concentrated somewhere, etc.) and it might still work. Thanks for the help everyone. Demo mission 2 is up next. [ October 01, 2002, 11:49 AM: Message edited by: Tripwire6 ]

So the mission continues as long as there is a chance of one side coming out on top? I wonder what is used to determine that, since things were much better the second time around and it continued? It stopped the first time when the Germans basically just needed to drive up to the flags. I wondered the same thing about the KV-1S tanks. I also planned on trying one more time and waiting even longer to attack with the guns. Some of them seem to be so out in the open, that I wonder how close I can safely allow the Panzers to get? One way to find out, huh? I just don't want them discovering one or two guns and have the Germans eliminate them with the concentrated fire of 10 or more Panzers without my guns getting to fire back. I should add that I've been impressed with the game so far. It takes a while for me to get in the right frame of mind to actually think my way through the tactics after years of RTS's. Thanks for the replies! Keep them coming if you have more to add!

** Warning: Demo Spoilers ** First, I'm new to the Combat Mission games. I downloaded both demos, but I decided to play CM:BtB since my gaming time is somewhat limited. I've been playing the 45 turn mission against AI from both sides using EFOW. I don't remember the mission name, but it's German Panzers vs. Russian anti-tank forces. I'm looking for a little bit of after action critique and pointers. The mission seemed easy playing the Germans. Basically I just advanced the tanks and made sure that there was plenty of fire hitting anything that started shooting at me. It was a very lop-sided victory (97% I think). Playing the Russians was much more problematic. In my first attempt, I managed to take out 5 of the 15 Panzers and held on for a draw. It was hollow though in that the Germans ran out of time. My forces were devasted. I attempted the mission again. This time I moved a few of the forces. I wanted one big kill zone with most of my forces in front of the ancient river bed. I moved some of the machine guns up to hopefully get the Panzers to button up as the firing started. I left the four AT guns behind the river bed as a last line of defense. This worked to some extent. After waiting until I "saw the whites of their eyes" (about 300-400 meters from the AT guns), I triggered the ambush using vehicle cover arcs. I made sure that my guns were using a cross fire to get shots at the flanks of the Panzers. I also had my two tanks join the exchange. The end result after two rounds of intense weapons fire was that all of my front line AT guns and tanks were knocked out, however, 7 Panzers were inoperable. I took this to be more than fair exchange. The Panzers began mop up, but they stayed away from the woods to the left (from the Russian's perspective) where the large portion of my anti-tank infantry squads were placed. As the turns wound down, two Panzers headed to those woods while the rest continued through the ancient river bed. At this time, I attacked with my remaining four AT guns, but they failed to get a kill before being knocked out. My AT squads managed to take out one of the two Panzers investigating the woods on turn 45. Awesome, so I thought. I still held three flags, and many of my AT squads and machine guns survived. However, the mission continued for another 9 turns! I know the mission length said 45+ (note the plus) turns, but I couldn't find how the actual length is determined in the included readme. Is it random? Does it continue while there is action? How long can the mission continue? At turn 45, I would have had a sizeable victory. In the end at turn 54, my forces were completely wiped out other than my HQ in the rear. I still felt that I did well with taking out 8 Panzers, but it was a hollow feeling coming with the defeat. My forces certainly did much better than the first time when I got the draw. So, I ask you, what other strategies can I use to fight the German invaders and fend off the Panzers? How "easy" should it be to get victory as the Russians in this mission? Thanks for any help and for reading this long post! - Tripwire6