John1966

Just had a check and the Pz IV crews were all regular. The Sherman crews were also all regular (except one green but that didn't get any kills). There were three TDs among the Americans but to my surprise, they didn't get any of the kills, it was all the Shermans work. The Pz IVs were all early as were the Shermans. Bit of a puzzler really. The battle seems to have been lost due to the Pz IVs inability to spot the Shermans at long range (not assisted by their unwillingness to unbutton - although it appears the Shermans were also buttoned) and a surprisingly good kill ratio for those Shermans at distance. Having looked at the links SLIM posted, the fact that the Shermans had the best of it at medium range isn't that surprising (although they did seem to have an inexplicably big superiority). My instincts were to keep them at long range but if you lose three to their one (and they're moving), what do you do? Stick at it? I felt I had to change the terms of the engagement so closed the range even though logic told me otherwise.

Quite. I'm normally one of the complainers. I shall check their experience etc. when I run it again. Actually I really ought to know already. Perhaps they were just rubbish crews. That would explain their poor performance at the medium range encounters too...

Interesting you should say that. In the initial long range encounter I kept ordering the Panzers to unbutton but they kept closing the hatches despite them not having any sight of the enemy except the Sherman they did spot (at about 1800m).

Just getting back to the tanks for a moment, I just played 130. Panzer Regiment auf dem Vormarsch. I thought (minor SPOILERS ahead) that my Panzers IVs would absoloutely cream the Shermans if I engaged them at long range because of those superior optics. They couldn't even spot them. I knew they were there because the infantry could see them but despite the Shermans apparently having no problem spotting the Panzers (there was a lot of incoming) the Panzers hardly got a shot off (comparatively speaking). After losing three Panzer IVs (and nailing only a single Sherman), I gave up the high ground and crossed the river. At medium range I did even worse (which I suppose I expected). At one point three Panzer IVs encountered a lone Sherman and by the end of the turn all the Panzers were on fire and the Sherman remained unscathed. Very frustrating and I generally think I know what I'm doing in CM! I remain mystfied and want to do the scenario again (which I hardly ever do). Thing is, I can't help thinking I'd do the same again...

This is all very well but can someone explain why I just got my arse kicked by the AI while I was playing the Germans on this one? I thought I was good at this game. (Very MINOR SPOILERS ahead) Hah! My superior optics will make mincemeat of the Americans if I engage them at a distance (I thought). Managed to get some long-range action (1800m-ish) between my Panzer IVs and the Shermans and I couldn't even spot them! I knew they were there because the infantry HQ next to the tanks could see them. Had plenty of good LOS (I know because the Americans could certainly see us) but the Panzers hardly spotted anything. Nailed one Sherman but lost three so reluctantly withdrew from the high ground to cross the river (AT guns were by now largely neutralised). Of course, then we're engaging at medium-ish range and my Panzers did even worse. A three Panzers versus one Sherman engagement led to three smoking Panzers (although at least one of those might have gone to a long-range TD shot) and an unscratched Sherman. Lost most of the armour (nailed 4 Shermans) so hit ceasefire for a minor German loss. (Actually I did slightly better than I thought) Actually thinking of doing this one again (which I hardly ever do) but I'm honestly not sure what I'd do any different. Get better binoculars?

Yep, the reason I play CMBN too. I remember reading the rules for SL before even my first game 35(?) or more years ago. I remember thinking "wow, firing while it's the other players turn, -2 for moving in the open and double FP for point blank; that's really elegant". Might seem simple now but it was things like that that hooked me onto SL. I'd wargamed before but SL was satisfying and, as I say, elegant.

Worst film I saw last year was Fury. The best was The Lego Movie.

Quite.

Yes, there was weirdness there but I always thought it'd just been over-egged. I couldn't quite work out why a "complicated" order like "walk down the street and turn left" should have led to any more delay than a simple one like "assault the second floor of that house". But the idea that less experienced pixeltruppen or those out of command should take a little bit longer to process their orders was quite a good feature (I thought). All they had to do was simplify it a bit. Just a delay for experience and in/out command situations. Extra waypoints you give in the game (leading to further delay) would probably be quite simple in real life. "Hug the tree line" translates into multiple waypoints in the game but it's not really a complicated order and "follow the goddam road" certainly isn't (let's not even go there), yet we all remember the problems that caused our Russian friends in CM1. So they could have just taken the extra waypoint delay out. (IMHO) Sorry, I've hijacked the thread...

Oh, I know. It was just a whimsical nostalgia-fuelled fantasy. (But I really did like them)

Yeah, I think agree. I'm reminded of my early days of playing Squad Leader about 400 years ago (sorry, but in terms of wargaming that was a very formative time for me). I actually rather liked the way that casualties among my cardtruppen were actually pretty rare. They were in Good Order; they Broke; the enemy Advanced; they Routed. For the most part, they stayed in one piece. I realise that a Broken unit might have taken casualties (although once Rallied they were back to how they started) but you could always visualise it as a bunch of guys who had just had too much Firepower ditected at them and decided to get out of it. It didn't blunt my enjoyment of it at all. CM came as a bit of a shock with pixeltruppen actually dying and stuff...

Yet, for all my cynicism, what's the betting I actually use them. "Ooh, this is just like Combat Mission used to be" Mind you, I shall do so in secret. Just between me and my PC. Can we have command delays back? Was I the only person who liked them?

I'm not on v3 yet (but I'll get around to it). Tell me there aren't health bars too.

There are command lines?

I think a CMBN simulation of that final scene would be a bit of an anticlimax. An AT would just walk round the back the long way and KO the tank. Much like they would have done in real life.

I have to say that (as an act of desperation usually) I've targeted enemy armour with arty many, many times and although it usually results in an undented tank, it's actually worth doing. You're unlikely to get a kill but (especially with heavy calibre stuff) you can get immobilisations and diabled MAs and that's a result. The crews don't like it much either.

Oh well. On the plus side, at least Private Briefly should be relatively safe until I get around to upgrading.

It was a huge anti-climax...

Ah, I don't seem to have the J or "Target Briefly" option. I'm patched to 1.11 but I assume I need version 2.0 ot better?

Playing a scenario right now and I've just taken the main objective (the town centre). Now I have some observers up on the 8th floor of the church I've noticed three German pixeltruppen several fields away and what is now a long way to my rear. Stragglers I expect but I don't fancy leaving them there. However, the only units anywhere near them are a Company HQ and the Batalion HQ itself. Let's hope the Major is Clint Eastwood because it looks like that's who gets to go and deal with them. So there you go, that's what I use Company and indeed Battalion HQs for: tidying up. Let's hope it doesn't all go horribly wrong. I knew they were armed for a reason.

OK cheers. I shall have to have a play about with this. The J key you say...

Apologies if this has been done to death a long time ago but is there any way one of my tanks can just chuck a couple of HE rounds when I want a bit of area fire into a suspected enemy location? To clarify, I've got "Target Light" which just fires the MGs (useful for suppression) and "Target" which unleashes HE for a whole minute and (in the case of Shermans) gets rid of about a quarter of the entire load out of HE shells. Is there any way I can get them to just fire for half a minute (or less)? I only really want a shell or two on target. Thinking out loud as I'm typing this, can the "Pause" order help? So if I pause for 30 seconds it just fires for the second half of the minute? Not ideal but it'd improve the situation. Or does "Pause" only work for movement orders? Like I say, I ought to know this but I've been away from CM for a while.

Yes, I seem to have Brad Pitt commanding all my tanks.

This is all jolly interesting. Just playing a CM game for the first time in ages and just patched. I must admit I have been surprised by a couple of things. Had a Sherman roll up to a known enemy position at what I thought was a safe distance (with plenty of infantry support). I knew there was a guy keeping his head down behind that hedgerow causing bother so I decided to get him out via overkill. So I was pretty surprised when what appeared to be a grenade came immediately over the hedge and the Sherman brewed up before it could even carry out the area fire order I'd given it for thar way point. He shot the crew too... But on the other side of the coin, I've been even more surprised by the ability of my buttoned-up Shermans to spot an infantryman in a hedgerow at 600 yards or more. Not complaining though. Granted the infantry in question were firing small arms but, still, I imagine they'd be a bugger to spot through a periscope at that distance. The Sherman in question was not even involved in that bit of action (not that the game would realise that) and was just trying to get between two buildings when "bang" it starts unloading HE and MG fire at this distant target I wouldn't have even have bothered to check a LOS to. So swings and roundabouts, eh?

Thanks. I think they're poth part of the weapons platoon (but I'm not in a position to check right now). I've parked them next to each other in the hope they'll share but maybe I'll move them back to where they lost their buddies.