Ogre

Pretty much par for the course. 88s make fine big targets once they open up. The only thing I could add is to try to position that puppy "hull down" on a slope. Hull down & in woods in a trench...even better!

Absolutely! My 1st Platoon had a MG42 supporting thier position and it got very few kills if any, but I'm sure it helped that platoon out immensely with suppression.

As I this was a Soviet armor assualt, I spent my points on a Marder 2 (the best I could afford given the points allowed), a 75mm PAK, a 50mm PAK, a 75mm bunker, a wood machine gun bunker, lots of AT mines, some AP mines, 2 arty spotters, (75mm and 81mm mortar), and 2 target reference points for bore sighting. This was only a 1000 point game on a small map. The Marder and the 75mm AT gun were knocked out by an enemy air attack, but they had aready done quite a bit of damage so it did'nt affect the outcome. The 75mm in the bunker knocked out 4 or 5 Soviet tanks and then started plugging away at the infantry. It survived the battle and I got my points worth out of it. I also did much damage to the Soviet infantry with the arty spotters towards the end of the game, but alas I had to fire pretty much on top of the 1st Platoon positions. There were not many of them left at any rate. The aforementioned squad with 40 kills was running around in "captured" status looking for cover from my own arty barrage! I suppose I abused them pretty badly...

Just played a QB last night. I played German Luftwaffe Infantry vs. a Soviet Mechanized Assault. I ended up only having enough points for 2 platoons of infantry. I suspected that would'nt be enough but I gave it try anyway. My anti-tank assets were able to handle the tanks that the AI threw at me, but late in the game I was literally swamped by an attack of two full companies of Soviet infantry. My 1st Platoon was completely overun but 2nd platoon held fast in their trenches. After the battle was over I was checking a squad from 1st platoon for kills.It was a Green squad and had been captured after taking 6 casualties, but these guys racked up 40 infantry kills before capture. I suppose the 4 remaining poor bastards are now on thier way to "cyber" Siberia...I'll be purchasing more infantry next time. All in all, a very realistic feeling Eastern Front experience.

Very nicely done maps...this really makes for some good QBs. The flag positioning in particular is a big improvement. It makes so much more sense to fight for possesion of a bridge or crossroads than some farmer's potato field. Thank you very much!

Thanks Andrew. I should have noticed that myself. I guess I'll start working on some Mods of my own!

I only have two things to say about this... 1. You are totally nuts. 2. That little tank is so incredibly cool, your son must love it!

I only have two things to say about this... 1. You are totally nuts. 2. That little tank is so incredibly cool, your son must love it!

I really enjoyed modifying my CMBO game, but I don't know of any CMBB Macintosh mod utilities yet. Can anyone enlighten me on this one? Being in the graphic arts trade, and having some skill in Photoshop, I would like to make a few of my own.

I agree, and I think it goes one step further. I believe the retreat behavior is affected by several factors, one of the most critical being chance to hit. A major consideration in this factor is ROF (because of bracketing). Because of the pitiful ROF of the IS-II, the chance to hit within a short period of time is then further decreased since it takes so much longer to adjust fire. These factors add up to make it clear that in many combat situations the AI crew is going to err on the side of self-preservation, causing what many consider to be mistaken retreats. Regarding the general useage of the IS-II, it is clear that Soviet doctrine stressed its utilization in the anti-personnel and anti-fortification roles. IOW, It was their heavy assault tank. I've seen snippets (sorry can't quote or even remember where I read this) that suggested its use in the anti-tank role should be limited to long ranged fire, engaging targets frontally so as to use its thick frontal armour to mitigate the ponderous ROF. Closer engagements were usually the product of desperation, or tactical error, rather than the doctrine prescribed norm. Finally, I have discovered (others have as well) that shoot-n-scoot tactics are extremely useful with this vehicle since this will negate some of the problems many have noted. In one of the threads referenced previously, Redwolf was particularly disturbed how the vehicle will sometimes back off without even firing a chambered round. Shoot-n-scoot will avoid this because you are giving the ai a simple, clear order that it can complete without being overridden by self-preservation. Bottom line, the IS-II's ROF forces some restrictions on it's utility in the general AT role. I'm not going to open Pandora's box on whether or not this is historically accurate, as that horse has been thoroughly pulverized. For the sake of the game, learn to deal with its limitations and you will find it to be a potent AFV, even against the nastiest of armoured adversaries.</font>

Sorry guys, I did'nt mean to beat a dead horse, but I'm new on this forum and I was unaware that this problem had been covered before. I appreciate all your input and I have now checked out the earlier posts concerning IS2s. Thanks!

That is exactly what I mean. I ran quite a few tests to see how far this would go. I ran all of these tests on a small "pool table" map with no obstructions to LOS so the tanks could just fire away. Tests: 4 JS2 vs. 4 Nashorn 1 KOed Nashorn 4 KOed JS2s (2 regular, 2 extra crispy) The JS2s reversed immediately. 4 T34/85 vs. 4 Nashorn 4 KOed Nashorns 2 KOed T34/85s The T34s stood thier ground and returned fire. 6 T34/76 vs. 4 Nashorn 4 KOed Nashorns 3 KOed T34/76s T34s stood ground and returned fire. The moral of this story...don't buy JS2s for PBEM games. They cost more and perform less than T34s. I ran quite a few more tests using different German AFVs, but the results were all generally similar to the above.

I appreciate the input, but my post concerned the constant reversing of JS2s versus almost any armored opposition, not whether or not they could handle a hit from a Stug or anything about their reload time. I clearly stated that I was aware of those factors and thought they were realistic. And I still think the kill from 700 meters by a 75mm gun was miraculous...I've seen a JS2 take three hits on the front armor from a Tiger at 120 meters with no more effect than to scratch the paint.