Bone_Vulture

I really haven't thought of gun reversing - usually I play such QB's that the field guns only have time to disembark and move to their set location, very seldom to move from that place thereafter.

If we leave possible historical inaccuracies, out of this, I might recommend some anti-SMG squad tactics for your current troops. SMG squads lose firepower dramatically beyond 50 meters. Shoot the squads with your rifle troops and MG's beyond this range. The SMG squads will either become pinned, or lose their ammo firing back.Move your platoons one squad at a time, to avoid letting to whole force become ambushed simultaneously; the standing squads may stand ready to offer fire support, if the moving squad is ambushed.

I'd like to add that the "move to contact" command is an excellent tool when you want to set short waypoints to cover for disembarking field guns: as it takes several turns for a heavy gun to unlimber, it's good that they won't move in the forest/rough any further than when they spot the first enemy... Minimizes the risk that they'll get caught unprepared.

Like already mentioned, company/battalion HQ's can be really effective commanding support units in the background, like mortars and field guns, especially if they have a high morale/firepower bonus. They also make great on-board mortar spotters... A command bonus comes handy here.

When attacking, I usually use recon vehicles to discover enemy AT guns, and then place single 81mm mortars in ideal locations, and start bombing away. Absolutely any field gun's worst enemy.

Always the spoiler warnings... Anyway, the coolest thing I've seen yet... Humh, still is the time when I managed to land a 150mm inf gun HC shell to the front of an IS-2, causing a massive explosion.

Yeah... Like I've said before, the 150mm inf gun is my favorite: the HE shells alone serve hell to the enemy infantry, and the HC rounds penetrate ANY armor...

That's exactly how it works. Although it can be pretty annoying, since it's difficult to place an area fire command directly on a visible enemy unit, so that the suppressing vehicle/squad would keep firing on the spot even when the target disappears after it hugs dirt.

Perhaps the vehicle "shoot & scoot" command could be altered as "follow, assault & scoot" for the infantry?

Thank you. I've made it my crusade to point out the bugs/fallacies in the troop AI logic.

It still bothers me that you can't continue the "follow vehicle" order, like giving them a retreat waypoint to terrain cover if they manage to destroy the vehicle, run out of effective AT weapons before achieving that, or if the vehicle moves out of range. The current system where the troops remain kneeling next to the tank after they've ran out of AT ordnance is just plain stupid.

Could be a bug; I recall that in CM:BO, flamethrower teams stopped "firing" if the terrain (usually a building) in their targeted area caught fire. Could this be about the multi-stage fires, i.e. "catching fire" to "ablaze"?

Well, duh: a 76.2mm shell might already be more destructive.

To my knowledge, when infantry goes to "taking cover" mode, it has exactly the same effect as hiding. And obviously, laying flat on the dirt reduces the effect of shell blasts. Whether you should withdraw or take cover depends on how much time do you have: spotting rounds for off-board artillery might arrive a minute before the barrage, so if you can guess where the enemy is aiming, a quick withdraw might save your troops from casualties. The catch is that the opponent, a human opponent at least, will obviously cancel or shift the barrage if he sees your troops pulling back; this means timing is critical. In an ideal situation, you give pause orders to your squads so that they'll withdraw only some 15-20 seconds before the barrage, get away unharmed, and the barrage is wasted. I know from experience that this pisses off your opponent pretty much. [ October 31, 2002, 10:45 AM: Message edited by: Bone_Vulture ]

I've managed to wreck tank guns with field mortars and light off-board artillery; on several occasions the shells have also immobilized the tanks, or destroyed them completely with a top armor hit. Heavy ordnance will destroy (partially) open vehicles easily with near hits, and might also kill spotters on unbuttoned vehicles. But I think the shells are still put to better use as infantry repellants, so the AT guns can trash the enemy tanks... As barrold713 already stated.

I was playing as attacking Axis on a Probe mission against a human opponent. Losses caused by a single Sturmovik: 2 Halftracks 1 150mm inf gun 1 81mm mortar 1 MG42 HMG 1 Wespe I admit that the artillery casualties were mostly collateral damage, as they were hauled by the the true targets, the halftracks. Doesn't really ease the pain. And this time, I had a 37mm flak: apparently it was kind enough to allow the IL-2 to drop all of it's ordnance before shooting it down. Has anyone noticed that when a plane destroys a vehicle, it seems to freak out all units in the immediate vicinity (kinda logical, I guess)? In that probe match, I also had a 150mm artillery spotter: it was walking by the halftrack that got blown up. When this happened the spotter routed and ran crying to the nearest patch of forest. I had to relieve a platoon HQ with a morale bonus just to get the damn spotter moving again... Not really funny when it takes ten turns in a match of twenty.

That be soundin' like ah bug.

Ok, thanks. I'll try the sounds out now.

We're just fulfilling the old paradox, Nidan1... Although I must say I've been critical about the army's recent equipment expenses, considering that millions are needed ASAP to support the healthcare system.

No, I never fired the Sergei, but really liked to looks of the thing. The Russian weapons have always looked rugged and cool. I think the tear gas tent is a part of the basic training: I was moved to the General staff battery (Esikuntapatteri), where all the headcases were rounded up. Uh, nothing to do with me, I had just secured myself an easy job as a messenger, and was based there. Anyway, there was this one guy in our room that was... Uhm, slow. During the aforementioned tear gas exercise, he had trouble breathing through the gas mask, so he decided to take it off in a tent full of tear gas! :eek: Goes without saying that the guy's face was swollen and red for the following week... Sheesh.

You live in a ZOG controlled car state!

Having served in AA myself, I have my experiences with our version of the "ohjusmies"... Packing the shoulder mounted Russian AA missile... Igla, wasn't it called? (Wasn't it originally a Strela...?) They were always high on the macho bull****: their battery had a morning jog something like four times the length of the other batteries... Oh, and your rifle sounds are great; they have some serious "bark"... You got the machinegun wav's uploaded yet?

Shouldn't your name be "Rakettimies", then? (Apilas... ) Although I know there's also guided AT missiles in our arsenal.

There are actually dedicated sites on the net for TCP/IP matches on CM? Didn't know that. :confused:

I'm pretty sure. Wall offer at least excellent concealment (again, depends on the elevation of the opposite side), troops can hide in mere grass behind the wall, and remain unspotted. Obviously, the best place for your troops is in a well-covered terrain (woods, rough) just behind the wall. Do you have MG's, or squads with plenty of ammunition? You could try suppressing the buildings with dense area fire, just long enough to get the flame throwers in position. If you manage to pull this off, simply torch the building: the defending troops will bail immediately. And if you have your troops in flanking positions, they commies will bail straight into your rifle fire.