[MyIS] Buffpuff
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Posts posted by [MyIS] Buffpuff
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Slightly off topic but when talking about stats I wish we were given more, KIA, WIA, MIA, and vehicles destroyed stats are well and good but wouldn't you like:
- Artillery kill statistics (I hate not knowing if my 81mm strikes were effective)
- You had 10 killed in action but 5 were from enemy artillery, 3 were from MG bunker, 2 from a platoon HQ (more detailed casualty stats)
- The same for WIA
- Casualty/Condition percentage. This would HUGELY help when designing parameters in the scenario editor.
- A highlight for the friendly unit with the highest casualty count
- Medals awarded to friendly units based upon preset scenario conditions. Just another way to immerse the player and give them a nod for a job well done
- Fun stats like least distance traveled by unit X, sprint distance by unit Y,
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9 hours ago, CCIP said:
This ratio is actually about what I used to follow myself (even more true in CMSF, which I have had more experience in than CMBN etc.) - just that I've been finding it a bit ineffective lately, but I'll definitely have to look into using multiple legs, splitting into teams, and using pause orders to spoof enemy gunnery. I have to admit I'm still really wary of using "quick" now, because at least it feels like it comes with much heavier spotting penalties than it used to, and if I don't know where the enemy is and/or when they might fire, that usually means I first find out when half of a squad gets mowed down by an MG42 (or heck, even an MP40!). I've been taking it more slowly over my past few missions, and so far it's saved my some pain (or at least the shame of saving-reloading the game to get through a scenario!).If you split teams, use short distance multiple legs with pauses in between the legs, your infantry stands a good chance of spotting what may be waiting to kill you. Splitting keeps your casualty count down and allows you some great flexibility as to how to hit an enemy from multiple angles. The multiple legs with pauses when used with multiple squads is a nightmare for an enemy MG. Which target to fire at? And because he can only engage that one squad initially it sends a great big signal to the other squads "Shoot me".
The pause is the key here. Say on the turn you order your assault team to quick move 50 meters ahead, pause for 10 seconds, quick move another 50 meters ahead, pause for 5 seconds, quick move for 25 meters ahead, pause for 15 seconds, and then slow crawl to the destination cover spot. Because you should be moving from cover to cover you obviously don't have cover when you're moving. I look for concealment here. There's a patch of wild grass 25 meters ahead to the right. Doesn't give me a lick of cover but say that's where I've paused the element and he gets fired upon. He drops down prone into the tall grass and maybe the enemy can't see him very well now. Now you order your base of fire squad (armed with LMGs) to hang back in cover with a pause order of 30 seconds, quick move 25 meters ahead, pause for 5 seconds, quick move 50 meters ahead, pause for 10 seconds, quick move for 50 meters, pause for 10 seconds, and then slow crawl to the next cover spot away from your assault element but still able to cover that element. And with a rinse, lather repeat of say 7 more units you've just moved up an entire platoon 125 meters in about 2 turns. Because you're mixing the pauses and the stops and the starts along with the distance for the sprints imagine seeing this from an enemy perspective. 3 whole full squads coming at you versus 9 spread out staggering forces coming at you. The pauses give the covering elements to kneel and search for contacts and drop prone into hopefully some concealment if fired upon. And if your first lead off squad gets ambushed you've got advancing units who've just witnessed the carnage to be able to see the threat and in turn engage it. It's pretty damn effective unless you've just stumbled upon a larger number of enemy forces armed to the teeth. That's why a recon screen is so vital. Ideally you want to find the enemy force with the least amount of manpower. Once you've identified the threat it's time to build that fire superiority. With all those squads quick timing it to your recon screen or in a position to engage behind cover you're way ahead of the game.
The spotting penalty you refer to I haven't experienced. Staggering squads with pauses gives your units time to spot versus wildly sprinting from one spot to the next. Yes it sucks when half a squad gets mowed down by a MG42 or a platoon HQ armed with some MP40s. The flip side of those units bush whacking an entire 12 man squad at one time hurts much worse. Casualties are going to happen. I try to minimize it but doing the above so when I do get whacked by an ambush, retribution is swift and deadly. There's nothing wrong with your approach to slowing it down. Jeffrey Spalding (from the Armchair General videos) said it best...Never be in a rush to die.
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1 hour ago, bram1979 said:
No I haven't yet. Will look into it soon or do you have a link where I can find this scenario?
Updated last post. I think this is a stock scenario included with CMBN but it's been so long since I've installed it I just don't remember. I put a link just in case.
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58 minutes ago, bram1979 said:
No I haven't yet. Will look into it soon or do you have a link where I can find this scenario?
Hmmm. I can't seem to find it anywhere. Apparently I hadn't installed it when I built my current computer 2 years ago so it must be on the old computer. I'll check but I'm 99.9 percent sure I have it. I'll post up a dropbox link.
Edit: No wonder I couldn't find it. The scenario name is Silence The Guns - Brecourt Manor.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pdwg88l1ajv9cy9/Silence%20the%20Guns%20-%20Brecourt%20Manor.btt?dl=0
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Thanks for the info Bram. Did you try out the Brecourt Manor scenario I mentioned to you?
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5 minutes ago, womble said:
I almost never use Move if there's any other option (gun crews don't go any other speed f'rex) in NWE... It's a different matter in the stamina-sapping hills and heat of Sicily, but on level or gently sloping ground, Quick with halts will get you there faster than Move. Moving troops shouldn't be having to reply to incoming fire, or spot for themselves. Static troops will always have an advantage over moving troops, even ones that are just walking. I have made the AI and human opponents suffer for moving too slowly, either with arty barrages dropped on 'em or by getting to vantage points before them.
That's an area I could use some major improvement in as far as predicting where an enemy will be say in 4 minutes time for an artillery barrage to do some serious damage. More often than not I typically miss the mark by about 100-150m and hit a place that had a good concentration of troops 2 minutes before but stragglers are the only thing close. I hate wasting artillery. If only Slim would get off his duff and make a video about artillery deployment. LOL!
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2 hours ago, Bulletpoint said:
The move command also is extremely slow. Try to move like you would in real life, short dashes at full speed from cover to cover.
I agree with the move speed. I think the only time I use that command is bringing up the reserve forces to previously spots of cover (usually 200-300m behind my main force). 85 percent of the time it's quick movements between 50-200m with multiple 5 or 10 second pauses (except for the BAR squads/Platoon leader that I normally give a 15 sec pause unless speed is of essence). 5 percent fast dashes from cover to cover when going into known combat. 5 percent hunt for when I'm doing a move to contact phase. 4 percent for slow that's usually at the end of a quick move just to get into a nice covered position while trying not to draw attention to my units (again unless speed is of essence). And the 1 percent for the moving up the reserve or the important HQ's (regiment, company).
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Taken from the patch page for CMBN
CM Battle for Normandy v3.12 Patch (PC & Mac) Monday, 29 February 2016 This information is for the v3.12 patch for CM Battle for Normandy. The v3.12 patch REQUIRES v3.11 and is available for both Windows and MacOS.
Please make sure to read the platform specific patch information and to select the correct download links below for the correct platform that you are using.
GENERAL PATCH INFORMATION
VERSION REQUIREMENT
This v3.12 patch of CM Battle for Normandy can only update v3.11. If you purchased the Battle Pack as a stand alone product the v3.12 is included, therefore you do not need this patch.
LICENSE ACTIVATION
After installing the patch correctly you should not have to re-register the game.
http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2306&Itemid=518
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15 minutes ago, Ithikial_AU said:
There's a PDF read me that's been updated for this release. Part of that read me is about carrying over your results from the previous version. (Towards the bottom). There is also a video on my YouTube channel about how you go about entering results for the 'super-noobs' of Excel.
If you know how to push keys of a keyboard and copy/paste you will be fine.
Even my super-noob status figured it out!
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50 minutes ago, Badger73 said:
I suspect that your law enforcement experience does not include indirect fire nor close air support . ..
You would be correct in that assessment but there are certainly some areas that I patrolled where a tactical nuclear strike to obliterate it from the face of the Earth would be just fine by me. I was very fortunate in my career to never use deadly force. I came extremely close a few times but I'd like to think the Man upstairs played a big part in keeping me safe and maybe for some sanity on the other parties as well. Now tasing...Hooboy I pulled that trigger so many times I could do that use of force report blindfolded. LOL!
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19 hours ago, MOS:96B2P said:
Wow, this sounds like a very well thought out and put together campaign. It definitely raises the bar on scenario and campaign design. This one deserves some more attention so players realize the designer @George MC and helpers went way above and beyond. They included many things that don't come with your average scenario/campaign release. Below I copied a small part of the campaign description from the Scenario Depot III where it can be downloaded. The below should give an idea of the high quality of this release.
compiled all the campaign briefings into a PDF file titled Kampfgruppe von Schroif Campaign Briefing Handbook. Each brief is linked via the Campaign Flowchart so you can quickly access the briefing you want. If you don’t like reading then the Operation and Tactical Maps in each mission provide the key info required at a glance.
There is also a table showing your unit, its commanders and their ‘soft’ values e.g. experience, morale etc. In addition there are Force Tracker graphics which allow you to track casualties and effectiveness of your unit as the campaign rolls on.
In addition there is a pack of Tactical Maps included in the zip file. These are maps of all the main missions and are blank unannotated JPGs. They offer the player the ability to use them to plan their actions either on paper (print them out) or digitally on your PC/Laptop.I will say it again, Wow. Included tactical maps that can be printed out and all the other extras. Can't wait to play this one.
Yeah that was the first thing I noticed. The PDF file is just damn right genius if you ask me. I'm looking forward to starting this once I get done with my trip down Montebourg Lane.
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1 hour ago, IanL said:
+1. I know I have told this story before but I'll be the boring old guy - I remember when I was first playing CMBN H2H I was constantly getting beat up. Finally I decided to "win" the tank battle and spend 4/5 of my points on Panthers and just a small amount of infantry. Well it worked. Or it looked like it was going to work. I won the tank battle with tanks to spare. My opponent then proceeded to show my how it is really done and sliced and diced my remaining tanks who by now had nearly no infantry left to support them. I still lost.
Sounds like an interesting read but with 8,000 posts I'm not feeling searching your past posts. Link for story or by all means...Reminisce!!!
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7 minutes ago, womble said:
Yeah, firing from the hip while charging and yelling war cries is Sgt Rock mythology. It's entirely possible to give troops pause orders for 10-15s at each of several waypoints on an advance, with Target Briefly (Area, usually) orders to keep up a volume of fire while maintaining a general advance. Just giving troops a single movement leg across an open area isn't going to succeed unless there is a static fire base doing the suppressing while your maneuver element is exposed.
A single movement leg is just asking for said squad to get shot at in the first 2 seconds of your turn and for the remaining 58 seconds that squad changes to "Fast" movement.
I only use single movement legs rarely now and typically to move up the "reserve" forces in terrain that I have high confidence has been sanitized of enemy positions.
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9 minutes ago, Bulletpoint said:
The designer updated and tweaked a lot of things. You get air support in some missions, but generally it's much tougher going, since most of your troops are now green, and in some missions, the Germans get a few key assets in nasty places.
There's also one new scenario in it.
http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=314&func=fileinfo&id=2082
Green troops? Interesting choice given the nature of this thread (LOL!). I'll have to check it out after I finish my "stock" run and compare it to the updated version.
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10 minutes ago, womble said:
Second, Hunt tires troops out pretty fast too. I rarely use it as much for that reason as the difficulty of keeping them moving. It's pretty easy to get them to Fatigued or worse in that movement mode. Sure, holding still for a bit in between movement legs will restrict the depth the guys get into their wind, but by the same token it slows them even further.
Maybe I've never used Hunt extensively enough to tire my troops to a fatigued level. I thought Hunt did give a slight fatigue penalty but I wasn't aware that extensive use can cause a big fatigue hit. Good information to know!
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6 minutes ago, Bulletpoint said:
That is true, but the campaign (Road to Montebourg) is still winnable. I suggest playing the updated version.
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.
I'm in the middle of a stock run of Montebourg. What's changed in the updated version (and a link if it's not a bother)?
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Also if you have the vehicle pack "Char and Char Alike" is a fun scenario (what's not fun about flamethrowers!!!)
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Just now, mat7861 said:
Thats the problem, there is so many now! But i think i will start with classics Chance Encounter and Valley of Trouble.
I won't disagree with that. If you're looking for something very quick and small I'd recommend "A Ranger Squad Gets a Tall Order".
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2 minutes ago, CCIP said:
One thing I wish I had the option to do was order my troops to fire while advancing - it seems a bit tricky to do since the infantry won't really do that consistently enough to suppress anything. So it seems like you have to really make sure you have solidly suppressed any possible positions before you move.
I haven't actually had a lot of trouble with approaching the first lines of defense - usually numbers end up being on my side, and I drive them out of the first line of hedge/trenches without too much trouble. It's after that when things usually start getting ugly for me, when I have to move my troops through that first line. Going slowly or going quickly, whether into the open or into close quarters with the enemy, it's usually at this point that something starts going wrong and my infantry get caught with their pants down somewhere in the open, while things like mortars, MGs, or other support is still lagging behind.
Well, I think I'm rusty especially on the US infantry side - my previous run of playing CMBN was mainly as Germans in H2H combined arms scenarios, whereas lately I've been playing against AI as US, mainly infantry (e.g. I just finished the Road to Montebourg campaign not too long ago). Besides the stuff I mentioned, too, is of course the issue of troop quality. Even when you're not doing anything wrong as far as commands, it can be really hard to push up infantry into good firing/cover positions, because they will get pinned down or break easily, often in very bad positions. There were a whole bunch of scenarios where I would've/should've called a ceasefire, because there was just no way to move my troops far enough to support an advance.While I don't have any military background I'll count 19 years of law enforcement as it relates to firing while moving. Flat out running while trying to shoot is just awful. You'll be lucky to hit the paper target at all on a full sprint. A quick paced walk towards the target is much more feasible. Staying on target is easier but you're not going to have tight grouping at all unless you REALLY practice this. I can see suppression working at that pace since really the object is to keep the target's head down. Add stress and fatigue to this and the shot grouping becomes even more erratic. But back to your point. A solid suppression is often necessary to known enemy positions. Finding the right balance there can be tricky as well as I've had times where I've thought I had some good suppression going (2 or 3 squads target light with a tank using a target briefly for 15-30 seconds) and advanced an assault squad up only to have that squad mowed down by what I had been trying to suppress. So on that note I would say use any and all efforts to suppress a known target before closing in for the kill and if at all possible, move in from the flank with that assault squad. Once you clear out that area give your support assets some time to move up. Those assault squads have binoculars and while you're waiting for support to catch up they can be scouting what's ahead of you (out in the open).
Troop quality can be a factor. Green troops can be pretty brittle so I don't expect much from them but they're great for scouting ahead of your main force. For me (and I'm sure other player's will say the same) the biggest difference when it comes to movement/advancing is splitting up your squads. The US forces excel in this area and your typical rifle squad breaks down into 3 separate squads (an assault 4 man squad with the binoculars, a Thompson SMG, 3 M1 Garands and probably the lion's share of grenades, a base of fire unit with 4 M1 Garands and 1 BAR unit, and then if you're lucky another 3 man team with 2 M1 Garands and 1 BAR unit). There are some rifle squads that come with a 5 man Garand team when you split it. I sometimes split that into a 2 man scouting team just to simply see if it draws enemy fire. Barring those I typically use the assault squad to scout (since they have the binoculars and are typically much better at close range fighting since chances are if the enemy is not shooting at you from long distance it will be the hidden squad in a forest, hedge, etc. that ruins your day).
One thing I have really learned to respect is infantry recon. Towards the end of a battle I get rabbit blood in me and in my effort to force a surrender or gobble what looks like an easy kill I'll do something stupid and move up a tank without a proper infantry screen. The results are, more often than not, a dead or damaged tank. Tanks are sexy, artillery is deadly, but show me a player who handles his infantry really well and I'll show you someone who is more than likely going to win.
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There's just so many to choose from. Pick something that sounds intriguing to you and have some fun!
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And great update Ithikial. I love the campaign ribbons (nice touch) and would love if there were more of them!!!
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1 minute ago, Lethaface said:
Making sure to only crawl only one AS per waypoint with added pause does help.
I agree. Anything past 1 AS I will usually add a 30 second pause between each segment.
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I could be totally off base here but I would assume that the slow function is so tiring for the following reasons:
- Crawling in a prone position is pretty exhausting work (considering the weapon you are carrying and the noise discipline you're trying to achieve)
- From a mental standpoint it should be the height above all other moves as to the caution indicator (in other words you are REALLY expecting the Boogeyman to appear in front of you when you finish this move)
"Hunt" if I'm not mistaken has a slight fatigue penalty. However, I don't think I've ever seen a unit go to tiring from an extensive hunt mission. As for the less tiring out with lighter weapons or less ammo again I'm going to assume not. It's been my experience that a fully rested squad will go from rested to ready in a 1 action square move and go from fully rested to tiring in a 2 action square move.
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A useful post from another thread as far as mines are concerned that you might find helpful
On April 22, 2016 at 5:14 PM, MOS:96B2P said:For what it is worth here is my current Flail Tank Drill:
1. Provide security for the flail tank.
2. Ensure at least two open A/S between infantry and flail area.
3. Consider having the flail tank Pop Smoke1.
4. Give flail tank Clear Mines2 order through the suspected minefield.
5. A path should be created of green signs with a white X. All mines detonated.
Notes: 1) Wait until next turn for smoke to develop before advancing. A US Sherman Crab can Pop Smoke 3 times. 2) The Clear Mines order will auto button tank & rotate turret to the rear. This order can be activated anywhere, anytime.
Some general notes as I understand minefields. Any advice or corrections are welcome.
Engineers can Mark Mines in the same action spot as the mines or from an adjacent action spot.
If engineers Mark Mines from an adjacent action spot they will crawl into the mine A/S when mine marking is completed.
The more eyes in an engineer team the easier to spot mines. (5 man team finds mines easier than a 2 man team) I think.
Veteran engineers, that are not suppressed, can mark one minefield action spot in 2-3 minutes.
Engineers can most reliably and safely locate unidentified minefields using the Slow command.
Marking a minefield substantially reduces the chance of triggering a mine for infantry traversing the minefield.
Antitank minefields can be marked but there is no effect. Infantry can traverse them without risk and vehicles don't benefit from marking.
Mines cannot be placed on bridges. They can go in the river bottom under the bridge but have no effect.
US Breech teams contain engineers and can also mark minefields.
Minefields can be neutralized by heavy artillery (150mm+), if it scores a direct hit.
Minefields can be neutralized by a blast from a demo charge if there is a blastable obstacle (wire) in the action spot.
Anti-personnel mines do not strongly affect vehicles.
Red sign with a skull and crossbones = Active non-marked minefield.
Off white sign with a skull and crossbones = A marked minefield.
Green sign with a white X = Neutralized minefield (all mines detonated)
Moving under fire - tips?
in Combat Mission Battle for Normandy
Posted
Good to see you're making some progress. Keep at it. The pauses really do make a difference.
As to conservative play I can relate. Before stumbling upon splitting and pausing squads I played a very conservative game. And I played that way because of past experiences of taking losses on a constant basis. Thinking that any movement would cause my untimely death I'd only move up scouts and hope for the best. That takes a lot of time and before I knew it I felt the clock was running out and I'm nowhere near my objective. Rabbit blood enters and I take big risks to make up for it. The results: Lots of dead frindlies.
I'll take a page from Jon S here and say that a good scenario presents the player with a problem and the means to solve that problem. The whole against all odds scenario, though very challenging, is more frustrating for me because of high casualties and usually a very restrictive way to play to win. I'm currently designing a campaign that reinforces a lot of what we've been talking about in this thread. Inspired by my lessons learned and what I considered, a lack of novice level campaigns, I plunged in. Hopefully I'll stick with it as I'm currently finishing the first scenario.