Lt. Badger

I think you answered the question pretty well. If a scenario designer wants the game to be a training tool, then you need to just keep making effective decisions, in the face of being thwarted by circumstances. Confusion, mistakes and time-stress should be maxed out to see if you have the right stuff to hold a command position. </font>

One more reason to learn how to edit CMAK scenarios: TO GET RID OF THE #@!%^ CLOSE AIR SUPPORT! (Yes, I'm shouting!) OK, I know I haven't played enough CM to have any sort of statistical sample of CAS attacks. Maybe I've just been really really unlucky. But every time those aircraft show up in a game I'm playing, the ones that are supposed to be working for me do way more damage to my forces than they do to the enemy. Tonight I was playing the On the Edge scenario in CMAK - German paratroops attacking an Allied AA battery in Crete. Even with my "newbie bonus" of 25% extra troops on my side, it was a very tough fight, but by turn 12 I had managed to take out 3 of the 4 AA guns and was well-positioned to take out the 4th. Then a Stuka shows up and drops two bombs. One lands on the edge of the woods right between two of my squads, killing all but 1 man in each squad and also the 4 man HQ unit that was nearby. The second bomb landed right next to one of the sandbagged AA emplacements - one that I had just overrun, where I had three squads and their HQ unit resting in the foxholes. Two squads and the HQ unit completely wiped out, and about 33% casualties in the 3rd squad. I figure those two bombs together cost me about 48 men, probably a few more than that actually but I'm not sure of the casualty status of those squads before the bombs hit. Also, by killing the HQ units, the bombs left the survivors out of command until I could bring up a Hauptmann, and also deprived me of mortar spotters for that area of the fight. I did manage to finally take out that 4th AA gun, but the score at the end was a draw where I had expected a decent victory - until those two bombs fell. Lt. Badger

Sounds like typical air support as modeled in CMAK - oops, that was another thread, wasn't it? Lt. Badger

Bless you, Limey. I know I'll be eagerly awaiting them. Lt. Badger

Thanks, y'all. Guess I will install the patch - sounds like the bug in 1.02 would be more of a problem than the bug in 1.03. Lt. Badger

My second go at this scenario went more like what Elmar said - my guys shot at the trucks again, but the trucks died quickly and my guys went back to shooting the guys with guns. I think the problem the first time was that I only had infantry surviving at that point without the support of the MGs in the scout cars - I had failed to take out the AA gun before the assault and it quickly killed all of my scout cars. On my second time I gave that AA gun 3 minutes of mortar fire before I went in, and never heard a peep out of it after that! With all of my scout cars intact, I rushed the building with MGs blazing, and they didn't waste much time destroying those trucks and then getting back to the business of knocking out the MGs on the second floor. Whee, that was fun! Much nicer ending this time! Still, I wish the TacAI would ignore unarmed trucks, at least until after the known threats are eliminated. Lt. Badger

I've read many times on these forums advice to move the infantry into place and let the TacAI choose their targets for them. Unfortunately, when I was trying out the Tutorial scenario in CMAK this evening, ** spoiler space for those who have not played the tutorial ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * my infantry kept ignoring the Italian infantry and MGs that were shooting at them from the palms and the radio building, and instead concentrating their fire on the two unarmed trucks parked next to the radio building. I had to keep giving them targeting commands to remind them that they ought to shoot at those guys with the guns who were shooting at them. Why would the TacAI want my infantry to keep shooting at those trucks? What sort of targeting priority would put the trucks ahead of the guys with guns? Anybody else seeing this, or seeing it in other scenarios? Lt. Badger [edit to add spoiler notice ** [ December 15, 2003, 09:37 PM: Message edited by: Lt. Badger ]

Thanks. Lt. Badger

I installed CMAK last night and noticed that Line of Defense is not included in the scenarios directory. Can I just copy the LoD scenario over from my CMAK demo installation? Or do I have to keep the demo installed until I finish my current LoD game? Lt. Badger

So would y'all recommend just playing CMBB v1.02 and not installing the 1.03 patch? I just got CMBB as part of the combo pack with CMAK, and the version installed from CD was 1.02. I downloaded the 1.03 patch but haven't installed it yet. Should I? What is that patch supposed to fix? On balance, do the benefits of the 1.03 patch outweigh this new bug that has apparently been introduced by it? Lt. Badger

Thanks, I'll do that. Lt. Badger

Just got my combo package of CMAK and CMBB today, and have been reading the included CMBB manual. Problem: at the end of the manual, all pages after page 232 are missing and instead there is a repeat of pages 193-224. Dunno if this is a common printing error on these, or not - I searched this forum for terms manual and missing and the only topic that turned up was about the difference in manuals for the European market. The missing pages seem to be appendices B, C and D (according to the TOC on page 5). Do there exist copies of this manual that include these missing pages, or is this the only print run and all existing manuals are defective? Can I get a replacement including the missing pages? (At no cost, I would hope, as I've just paid for the whole thing including shipping and it isn't my fault the pages are missing!) Lt. Badger

I don't have the full game yet (will be eagerly awaiting the mailman tomorrow!), but have been playing the demo as much as I can. I remember reading that the AI does better on defense, so I have been taking the attacking side. My first try as Germans in Fruhlingswind was a dismal failure, so I have been playing Line of Defense, but am now trying again on this one. Still not going well, so I'm hoping for some advice... I decided to play it cool and patient and wait for my tanks to arrive before beginning the attack this time. I used the waiting time to get my infantry into position as close as possible to the ridges, ready to move out in coordination with the tank attack. I had one platoon on the north side, joined by the first group of infantry reinforcements that arrived with the halftracks; one platoon in the middle, to go down the wadi; and one platoon on the south, joined by later reinforcements that arrived riding tanks. I had the beginning 4 armored cars (PSW 222s) in position on the north to assist the infantry over there, the 3 halftracks (SPW 250/11s) toward the middle to assist the first 10 tanks in a rush over the ridge in the open area south of the wadi. When the last 5 tanks arrived, they would move into the middle open area north of the wadi to help out whichever direction seemed most in need. Needless to say, hardly anything went as planned. When my tanks fired at the American Grants, I mostly saw Ricochet results. When the Grants fired back, it was Knocked Out, Knocked Out, Knocked Out. I had the idea from reading this thread that the key would be to get my tanks in close as soon as possible, but that proved easier to say than to do. The tanks that were still capable of movement steadfastly ignored my orders to advance, preferring to retreat back over the ridge out of the line of fire, or at best to hold their ground. I had hoped that my 10 Panzers could take out the 5 Grants before the Shermans arrived, but as of turn 15 I have only 8 Panzers left (out of 15) and am still facing 5 Grants, plus the 5 Shermans! Not looking good at all... About those SPWs... I see that they carry plenty of that nifty tungsten ammo, but it isn't much use when they refuse to fire a single shot! I first ordered them over the top in company with the first 10 Panzers, with the result of one SPW in flames and the other two in full reverse without firing a shot. Next I sent them across to the south (out of line of sight), then ordered them to do shoot-n-scoot which should have offered them some nice flank shots at the Grants that were shooting up my Panzers. The SPWs advanced to the top of the ridge, then as soon as they saw the enemy tanks they slammed into reverse and backed down - again without firing. How can I persuade them to use some of that T ammo to try and take out some enemy tanks? The PSWs - are these things good for anything besides roasting marshmallows over? I sent them in support of the northern infantry push into the scrub brush, where they would be facing American infantry and one AT gun, and I figured their guns and MGs would be a big help there. Wrong - as soon as they cleared the ridge they were all dead in one turn, two in flames and the other two crippled and abandoned. Part of the problem was that I had counted on the simultaneous tank assault to distract the Grants, but at least one of the Grants decided to shoot at PSWs instead, all the way across the map - BOOM BOOM, flames and smoke erupt from dead PSWs. I suppose I will play this out at least until all of my tanks are gone, but with my 8 tanks facing 10 of theirs, and my infantry attacks not all where I had hoped either, it is not looking good. Any hints? Please? Lt. Badger

I'm another sale that can be credited to the demo. I've never played any CM games before, but downloaded the CMAK demo last week to try out. At first I didn't like it much, but that was just getting used to the interface and the camera movement and such. Once I was past that, I loved it. I put in my order for the CMAK/CMBB bundle two days ago and have been notified that my order was shipped out from Vermont today. It is extremely unlikely that I would be willing to spend that kind of money on a game without having tried the demo. Lt. Badger

When I was in highschool my best friend had Tobruk and I had Squad Leader. He was a much better boardgame tactician than I was, and I don't think I ever won a single game, but it was tons of fun anyway. We liked the game mechanics of Tobruk better and the maps of Squad Leader better, so worked out a system to play with Tobruk rules on the Squad Leader map - also on the map for Arab-Israeli Wars, I think. We are still in touch and I just mailed him a CD with the CMAK demo on it - I hope he will buy the full game so we can PBEM! Lt. Badger

When it attacked me, I re-ran the action from different angles trying to see just what had happened. There was a text tag identifying the aircraft as a P-51H Mustang. I don't remember if the text tag was attached to the aircraft shadow or was up in the air where the aircraft would have been if there were a model for it. BTW, my main reason for finding this forum and reading this thread is that I am a newbie to CM, have just been playing the CMAK demo, and in the Line of Defense scenario the P-51H attacked my Sherman tanks and knocked out the guns on the section leader's tank. That was on about turn 6 and I never saw the Mustang again - either he realized his mistake and went away to have a few drinks at the Officers' Club, or else maybe the Germans shot him down - I'm hoping for the latter, actually. Lt. Badger