[MyIS] Buffpuff
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Posts posted by [MyIS] Buffpuff
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53 minutes ago, noob said:
My tongue was firmly in my cheek when making this statement, as the emoticon shows
Where else would your tongue be???
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Almost done with my Road to Montebourg trip and I'll be going to this campaign next George. Any helpful hints that don't give away too much information you care to share?
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And a good read about clearing mines, etc. for your reading pleasure Ted
Edit: Disregard. I didn't read the whole thread like a goof...Kevinkin posted the link. It's still a good read though!!!
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Wherever you have your game installed look for a folder called "Game Files" (catchy title isn't it!!!). In that folder you'll see Campaigns, Incoming email, Outgoing email, Quick battle maps, Saved games, and scenarios (I'm looking at my CMBN folder by the way so it may be different in Black Sea). For scenarios you just download the scenario you want to play (it will have a .btt extension) and put it in your scenario folder. No muss, no fuss. I'm assuming with maps you're talking about QB maps. Again download the map and put it in the quick battle maps folder and you're done. On a side note campaigns have a .cam extension so any campaigns will go...you guessed it in your campaign folder. Happy trails!
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4 hours ago, noob said:
However, I have come to realise that encroaching into the territory of experienced designers is a dangerous game for the uninitiated, so I think I will tweak any scenarios I play myself, based on the knowledge I have acquired creating this topic
I wouldn't go that far. My experience (thus far) in figuring out scenario design has been uneventful and the community has been very helpful. More scenario designers means more campaigns/battles and that's good for everyone involved as far as I'm concerned. Hopefully one of these days (hint hint) Chris (Battlefront Guru/Developer) will do some Twitch streams on scenario design!
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Well it's like you said. Darwinism at its best. One of the saddest police calls I ever went to was a 13 year old who texted her boyfriend (who I might add had just broken up with her hours before because as he put it...she was "crazy") that she was going to kill herself and posted a picture of herself with a bottle of Tylenol PM. An empty bottle later and a phone call from the concerned ex-boyfriend a few hours later led me to finding her passed out in her bedroom. She died from liver failure 6 days later (taking a Tylenol overdose is a BAD way to die).
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1 hour ago, ChrisND said:
It is definitely more forgiving now, but won't guarantee the safety of your poor TCs.
If you are within 200m or less there is still substantial danger, although your chances are much better now. Previously, it took on average 6-10 seconds for a TC to button up in the face of aimed, sustained rifle fire. That reaction time is now on average about 2-4 seconds.
No TC is safe when you are in command Chris. Lol!!!
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2 minutes ago, SLIM said:
Here's the list of topics I'm going with:
- Fundamentals of Tactics (Almost Done)
- Employing Fires
- Tactical Movement
- Protection
- Command and Control
- Offensive Operations
- Defensive Operations
- Patrols and Patrolling
(I'm skipping Chapter 6, because logistical problems are outside the scale of Combat Mission.)
So, Chapter One is almost complete, we have just a few more topics to cover.
Chapter Two is going to be a short one, and almost entirely spent on the firing range. The FM Chapter boils down to 'use the right weapon for the job'.
Chapter Three is also going to be rather short. I'll show off some movement formations, and share some tips on how to avoid fatigue.
Chapter Four is still optional for me. A lot of the topics in the Field Manual are not modeled in Combat Mission.
(For example, fratricide isn't exactly a huge problem, because there's no real friendly fire, etc.)
Chapter Five will be a video illustration of the 'C2 Usage' thread here on the forums, showing how the C2 system works. Top to Bottom, Side to Side.
The final three chapters will be entirely focused on tactics, and operations planning. I'm also thinking of making some type of interactive lesson, like a 'choose your own adventure battle plan'. It would have to be really seriously tiny, but I think it could work. It will just take an excessive amount of time to execute, which is why I'm saving it for last.
For Chapter 4 maybe a lesson on the different kinds of "cover" and "concealment" and their use in CM. I know concealment isn't really protection but in a sense I guess you could say it is because it's hard to shoot what you can't see (unless of course you do area fire). Chapters 6 thru 8 sound extremely interesting. I look forward to seeing what you do with it!
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13 hours ago, SLIM said:
So this was my outline for Chapter One:
We've basically covered Part 1, 2, 3, and 6.
As far as Tactical Decision-Making goes, I honestly don't know if I should bother covering it. It is sort of an abstract concept, and not easily demonstrated without writing an entire novel about it. Do you guys really want me to bore you with flow charts?
Same as TDM, Individual Leadership is also an abstract concept, and not easily explained either. You could just look at the FM and read the army's definition:
1-15. Leadership at the Infantry platoon and squad level is comprised of three fundamental concepts: leadership by example, authority, and mission command. Leadership by example is simply and most powerfully expressed by the Infantry’s motto: Follow Me! Authority is the power to act. Mission command is the Army’s command philosophy that focuses on leaders telling subordinates what must be accomplished and why. Leaving the how to do it up to the subordinate.
Honestly, how do you make a video about that? I don't know!
Now, I figure our upcoming maneuver would be a good time to cover Part 7, and I do have an interesting plan to show that off, by showing simultaneously the same maneuver being performed under two entirely different conditions (day and night), so the audience can see the differences.
After our next maneuver demonstration, we'll move on to Chapter Two: Employing Fires.
That's going to be a lot of fun, because I'm going to shoehorn a ton of heavy on-map weapons into that one. So be patient, the anti-tank guns and howitzers are on the horizon! We'll also cover off-map artillery.
Any thoughts?
Infantry and vehicle recon. That's the next scenario I'm working on from the scenario I've sent you.
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14 hours ago, SLIM said:
Now presenting, Combat Mission: Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures; Chapter One, Part 5, Section A: The Machinegun.
I do apologize for the delay, it is 71% my fault.
Who do I talk to for the 29 percent???!!!! LOL! Excellent video Slim.
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5 hours ago, womble said:
So I spotted something this evening I didn't know you could do. If there is a "tentative contact" icon at a location where a unit that can "see" (?sense?) that contact, can draw LOS to, you can click a Target order on that icon, and give an Area Target (or Briefly or Light) to the AS where that icon has been identified as being. It's definitely the icon that lets you because it's possible to pick a POV which puts the icon way above the ground, or in front of terrain that's definitely in defilade. Hovering the mouse over the icon will give you the targeting status for "where you noticed the tentative contact", such as "Reverse slope - No aim point", the range, and hull-down status relative to that point. Somehow, the icon also can be partially targetable; I've got one now where the left side (from the POV of the unit that has the contact) is "Reverse Slope" but the right side is targetable...
Are we supposed to be able to do this? Am I the only doofus who didn't realise you could? Is it new? They definitely shoot at the ordered location, and it's not like it lets you draw a target line to somewhere you otherwise wouldn't. It just makes picking the right AS to aim at to chase that elusive hedge-ducker-down-behind easier.
Going to have to try this tomorrow. Is this a FB thing only or does it apply on all titles?
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I still have my Altec Lansing speakers I purchased way back in 2000 (man those things STILL sound good). My wife HATED when I played the game. Explosions, gunfire, and let's not forgot "Let's get some noise discipline here" (very loud by the way...LOL!). I had to invest in headphones to play at night or I swear I think she would have put the divorce papers in.
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3 hours ago, StieliAlpha said:
Ahhh, THAT sounds good! My wife calls me a "Nerd". I like your understanding way better, of course. :-)
My wife just rolls her eyes when she sees me playing this but every once in awhile I get a "How can you play that game. It looks boring". Blasphemy woman!!!
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19 minutes ago, StieliAlpha said:
Sale? Only when hell freezes!
LOL! If I waited for BF to drop titles to "sale" type prices I'd probably still be in the CMx1 series. I've given BF quite a bit of my hard earned money over the past 16 years and minus Black Sea (Maybe because I just suck in modern warfare...LOL!) I've been happy with all my purchases and feel like I've gotten my money's worth.
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12 hours ago, ASL Veteran said:
The problem is that you can explicitly state in the briefing that 'you will likely be forced to retreat' which sort of ruins the scenario in my opinion since you are stating what the player needs to do so the scenario plays out less 'organically' if that makes any sense. However, even when you do that there are a large number of players who either don't bother reading the briefing or if they do they ignore your advice and fight in place to the death anyway. In one scenario the briefing does explicitly state that the player will probably need to retreat and it also hints that the sounds of heavy armor can be heard, but even with all that the player complained on the forum that the scenario was unfair. When I pointed out that the forces were asymmetric he simply said 'well I didn't know it was an asymmetric scenario' so I guess he wanted me to put all in bold caps across the top 'the scenario has asymmetric forces and you will need to trade space for time in order to win'.
I might ruffle some feathers with this statement but in my humble opinion I think players that DON'T take the time to read the briefing don't have a leg to stand on when it comes to complaining about a scenario. The briefing is there for a reason. I can't imagine playing a campaign/scenario without reading the briefing. I played Turnbull's Stand (Road to Montebourg campaign) about 2 weeks ago and the briefing explicitly said that the mission was to inflict as many casualties as possible and then withdraw. I was supposed to retreat my forces before the mission time was over but knowing that if the enemy forces reached the touch objectives it wouldn't matter what damage I had inflicted or if I withdrew my forces...the Germans would win that battle. So I ignored the plan of retreating. I killed the 2 German tanks with my AT guns but the sheer number of German infantry forces I knew I would not be able to withstand. So I played the odds and made several keyhole choke points for my focus of firepower. It was very effective since it denied the German forces the ability to engage my troops with heavy support and ranged fire. I piled the bodies literally on the border of one of the touch objectives. I managed a tactical victory with only exiting my AT gun forces (they didn't need to hang around after taking out the tanks anyway).
The only scenarios that really bother me are the ones that I deem to be "impossible" to achieve the objectives. Hell in the Hedgerows comes to mind (because I just played it a few days ago...and the bitterness hasn't left my taste buds yet). The friendly casualty allowance was upped in that scenario but the mission to reach the German defensive line was just out of reach in my opinion. Open ground covered by wooden MG bunkers and I couldn't get any friendly forces within 200m of those positions. 75mm howitzer support was like pissing in the wind. Maybe I lacked the tactical ability to pull it off or maybe the whole point was not to win it (since historically the Allies got creamed) but I was not a fan of that mission.
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26 minutes ago, Bulletpoint said:
I had many of the same frustrations before, so I'll give you a couple of useful tips from experience.
Wooden bunkers are invulnerable to artillery up to 105mm. Not just "difficult to take out", but completely invulnerable, even to any number of direct hits you can put on them. So don't waste your artillery.
Bunkers are not invulnerable to bullets, but they are extremely tough, especially at range. I believe you need to get closer than 200m and probably more like closer than 100m. and then put massive amounts of small arms fire on them. However:
Bunkers _can_ be suppressed, but here's the trick: You won't see it. Because the soldiers will seem to stay upright no matter how suppressed they really are. I have been able to suppress bunkers to the point where they stop shooting back, and at that point you could theoretically move up a bazooka team. But usually there will be other bunkers supporting the first one, and usually you won't have the amount of firepower to suppress more than one at a time.
Suppressing won't win you Hell in the Hedgerows as far as I can tell, because there are too many bunkers, you have too few troops, and there's not enough sufficient cover at a close enough range to do it.
Thanks for the tips. I've taken my minor defeat and moving on. From searching the forums Paper Tiger is the author and maybe he'll see the issue with the bunkers and possibly tweak this mission. Or maybe because they historically lost then it should be the same here. If I could get closer to 200m to the damn things I'd use everything I have but there's no cover anywhere less than that range. Artillery smoke mission is a waste of ammo. I may at some point try and get those HMGs to the last hedgerow on the Allied side before the creek. The only issue is the massive amounts of artillery the Germans have. From my last playthrough I had to move squads back 3-4 times because of German artillery missions. Not enough time, not enough firepower, not enough luck on my part I guess.
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1 minute ago, Bulletpoint said:
As I wrote in the other thread too, don't let it spoil your day. In my opinion, it's one of the few poorly designed missions in an otherwise enjoyable campaign.
Makes me want to tweak that campaign but I'm not the author...
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1 minute ago, Bulletpoint said:
It's not an enjoyable mission, at least I never heard anyone say it was. And I believe it's not meant to be won, so I recommend you just cut your losses and move on.
No choice at this point but it just pissed me off that I couldn't put a dent in those bunkers. Artillery, direct fire mortars, 2 platoons firing, 2 HMGs, 2 LMGs all pouring fire on these things and I kept seeing "Penetration" over and over but it did nothing. No casualties and as far as I could tell really not suppressing the gunners inside.
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On 4/25/2016 at 4:43 PM, Bulletpoint said:
There's one mission I can't win though - Hell in the Hedgerows. Fortunately, you don't have to win it, you can just skip it by cease fire once you get tired of banging your head against the wall.
Banging your head against the wall with this mission is exactly the way I felt today after finishing.
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On 4/26/2016 at 10:24 PM, CCIP said:
And yes, the "Hell in the Hedgerows" mission was definitely a wake-up call for me, although I felt like I could've won it - if I knew what I was up against better from the start, used my artillery correctly, saved mortar ammunition, laid down smoke and dealt with bunkers better. I actually managed to edge a few men into the enemy rear on the far right side, but too few to be able to overpower the remaining infantry that was outside the bunkers (and their morale was too broken to fight properly by then). I ended up taking a tactical defeat with a ceasefire, but I thought it was at least doable.
Just got finished with Hell in the Hedgerows and posted a comment on the Bunker discussion that's on-going. Frustrating mission for me. I tried smoke missions. I pounded the bunkers with mortar fire. I had 2 platoons at one time targeting a single bunker. Couldn't knock it out and I couldn't get within 200m of the enemy line (forget even crossing the stream). Nothing I did seemed to suppress or do anything with the bunkers.
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On 4/12/2016 at 2:53 PM, landser said:
I've been playing a number of campaigns, and have come across bunkers a few times. This is just more anecdotal evidence of my experience.
-- In one of the very early missions in Road to Montebourg you have roughly two paratroop companies that need to cross open ground and take entrenched positions held by maybe 2 platoons of Germans with a MG42 bunker and mines on the right. The name might have been Ecoqueneuville , but I can't recall with certainty. I was able to suppress the bunker and eventually cause moderate casualties using long range fire from tripod mounted M1917s. These guns were set up near the start positions, probably 300 meters and were effective, achieving many penetrations. So much so that I believe the crew abandoned the bunker before our close assault.
-- Later in RtM, in the mission Hell in the Hedgerows there is a line at the back of the map with several bunkers that withstood over 30 minutes of continuous small arms and .30 cal MG fire with a total of 2 casualties, one in each of two bunkers and at no time noticed any level of suppression. Unable to overcome any of these bunkers with the weapons at hand I eventually took a minor defeat as it would have been too costly to assault and I felt the need to preserve the troops for subsequent missions.
Not much can be learned from what I am writing. However, in each case it was the same type of bunker (wood), same type of troop, same weapons, same range, same version of CM (3.11). But in the former case the fire was very effective, and in the latter, not at all. I had concluded that perhaps it had something to do with the angle the fire was coming in on. For example if the shooter is slightly above, slightly below or level with the firing aperture of the bunker does it make a difference?
Just finished Hell in the Hedgerows. My thoughts were the equivalent of banging my head repeatedly against a solid metal wall. I moved up 2 platoons on the left flank (the one with the covered approach close to the stream). I had 2 HMGs, 81mm mortars, 2 LMGs targeting the 2 bunkers on the left flank. The HMGs fired continuously for 30 minutes. The 81 mortars ran out of ammunition. I had the 2 platoons open up on the far left bunker. I didn't manage a single casualty and I don't recall majorly suppressing either bunker. I tried a medium 75mm pack howitzer smoke mission. The wind just blew it away and it was ineffective to try and move anything up. Casualties kept mounting, My troops were getting rattled left and right. And I hit cease fire suffering a minor defeat. Tactic wise I did all that I could think of doing. The rest of the 2 companies I had spread out the length of the bocage line closest to the stream on the US side. The enemy HGs I suppressed and damaged with mortar support. But I couldn't get closer than 200m to any of the bunkers without getting shot all to ****. The barbed wire on the left flank denied any attempt to try and assault that route. The middle was a kill zone because I couldn't suppress or knock out any of the 3 bunkers. The right flank was covered by the far right bunker. It was frustrating as hell. I enjoy a challenge but it felt like I had zero chance in achieving any type of victory with this mission.
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21 minutes ago, IanL said:
I had a case today where I would have liked to unbutton a TC when the tank reached its destination. It would be really nice to be able to do that. +1
+2 for me as well.
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47 minutes ago, IanL said:
I had the same error there on my 1st Excel-noob try. Taking a note from Ithikial's read-me file:
I’m a loyal customer! How do I copy over data from a previous version?
1. Open a copy of both the old version (with existing game results) and the blank new version in Microsoft Excel.
2. On the older version with your existing data, click and drag to select all cells starting at cell ‘B22’ and down to ‘J1300.’ (Don’t worry if most of these are blank).
3. While the cells are selected copy these cells. Top right in the menu bar or ‘ctrl-c’ shortcut.
4. In the new workbook select the cell ‘B67.’ Click on the arrow under ‘Paste Button’ and go to ‘Paste Special.’ In the pop up window, ensure you are only going to paste the values of what you have copied and then hit OK.
5. Repeat the process from Step 2 onwards for the cells ‘K22’ for every column out to ‘AI22’ (and down to 1300), but excluding the columns with italicised numbers.
6. Save the new workbook. Close and reopen it to populate the graphs and tables.
These extra few steps are because there is a new column topic! ‘Battle Location’ to record the country you fought the battle in. Should be easy at the moment to go back and fill in. CMBN = France or Holland. CMFI = Italy. As the CMx2 series expands to other theatres, like the Eastern Front, this topic will become more of an interest and allow you to divide up your results by theatre of operations.
The paste special is what I was screwing up and the important thing is to just paste the values or you get the error messages and the graph results like you've had.
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7 hours ago, gnarly said:
I think that was the intent of BuffPuff's 'off-topic' comment; it was a request directed at BF, rather than you.
It was. That was my "Wouldn't it be nice if BF did this".
CMRT Campaign - Kampfgruppe "von Schroif"
in CM Red Thunder Maps and Mods
Posted
If it's luck I need then I'm screwed. My luck consists of my LMGs are the first to fall (followed closely by the SMG). My tank commanders sitting 400m away from the front line get pinged by a machine gun. My rifle squad that just cleared the first floor of a 2 story building fail to notice an enemy LMG squad above their heads who then cause 4 casualties to my bounding platoon HQ and an accompanying half squad. I send in 3 full rifle squads to the first floor of a building to smoke out a pesky 3 man recon team armed with MP40s with area target orders for the building the recon squad is in only to suffer 4 casualties and ALL 3 squads running to the rear like their butts are on fire...Well at least that was my luck so far with my finale mission in Montebourg....