Lt. Smash

I've had the opposite experience. HIDE causes my troops to keep their heads down in CMSF and, as a result, perform poor spotting. I found more effective ambushes involved small covered arcs without the HIDE command. Bob

I keep finding myself in awe by the "across the bocage" battle where opposing squads or half squads start squaring off only a few meters away, having just "surprised" each other. In that vein, I've found a very effective technique is to tie down enemy infantry across one side of a field (i.e., firing across bocage) and then flanking through another side of the bocage. You virtually catch the enemy in the open. Maybe this is a well worn technique but it's new to me. I'm also impressed by the terrain/landscape. I'm used the to game engine from CMSF but the lush green trees, hedges and grass is new and fantastic. I was impressed in the demo, but I just played "It's a New Dawn" which takes place in an overgrown orchard at night. It's a beautiful map (and a shame that I need to display on the trunks to issue orders). Bob

WineCape, please keep me inconsideration for RoW VI and beyon. Bob

Has this fix been included in subsequent patches (i.e., if I have 1.31 does this include the corrected scoring)? Bob

Yes, I think we'll be playing the game before the AAR is over. Not that I mind, this is a great AAR and a good debate. Bob

After a week of business travel, I'm just getting caught up on this thread. As I was catching up, I noticed the blurb below. I don't think the ability to be notified where the hit occurs in part of the CMSF series. Is this new for CMBN or something special for the beta builds? Great stuff. "End of April" can't get here soon enough! Bob

I'm sorry if this has been asked but after some searching, I can't find the answer. What months will CMBN cover? I'm assuming it starts in June 1944. Does it end in August (end of Overlord)? Or does it carry us up to the Bulge and end, say, in November? Bob

Bill, I love the introduction to your forces. Thanks for that detail. I don't see an obvious difference between the Pz IVH (late) and Pz IVH (early) models based on the control panels. Can someone elaborate on the differences? Bob

It tastes good. It's good for you. I like maguro and sake, too...oh wait...you're not talking about sushi, are you? Bob

Also, I found that I needed to update drivers to get CMSF stable with my 5770. Once I upgraded, I had no problems. (But don't ask me what versions I went from and to.) Bob

Image #39 shows the guy manning the machine gun in the back of the jeep. You know its been too long since I've played a WWII game when my reaction is that I'd rather be in an HUMVEE. Bob

I recently played 1.31 and did not have this problem. The reinforcements showed up and smoked me. My only defeat of the campaign. :-( Bob

The answer depends on "when" the spotter moves and if they loose LOS. Check out pages 98 to 100 on the CMSF 1.20 manual. There is a good discussion of spotters for air support. To summarize, "...the Spotter may be required to keep LOS on the target if possible. If not possible, often the pilot can fill in, however a less optimal result is quite likely. At the very least it slows down the delivery...Once a Munition is on its way, it may or may not require LOS to be maintained by the designated Spotter. The unit checked is the one that was used for spotting during targeting. If a LOS check is necessary, and it fails, then the Munition will default to trying to hit the aim point using GPS." Bob

I don't know if it's realistic or not but "seconded". I am always running out of smoke. Bob

So, no plans to do a pre-44 European Front game or am I missing something? Bob

I just finished TF Thunder and really enjoyed it. However, I was a little frustrated with the last mission. The briefing for Street Sweepers explains that "A Co will advance along the norther edge of OBJ Hammer", B Co will cordon an area north of OBJ Hammer and "C Co with tank support will move...east to west until they reach Route Thor". The briefing further explains that B and C Cos have a handful of Strykers because A Co has been given the "maximum number of Strykers to ensure they have maximum mobility." This sounded good. I plotted my plan to coincide with the briefing and waited for the first sets of reinforcements to show up. When they did, I noticed that the tanks setup around C Co were labeled A Co. "Hmmm," I thought, "C Co is supposed to have tank support, A Co is supposed to have Stykers. Maybe the tanks are a different A Co". So, continuing to follow the Basic Plan as outlined in the mission, I moved B Co north of OBJ Hammer, started moving C Co with A Co tanks east to west, and waited for A Co to show up. The problem is that A Co never showed up! Now, in the end, I got through the scenario and still got a Total Victory. Also, I know that these types of SNAFUs happen in real life, but is this the intended result of this scenario? Are there options where A Co does show up? Was the campaign engine penalizing me for losses in previous scenarios (even though I never ended up with more than 10 percent casualties in any mission)? Bob

Just to be clear, the 17 MBTs lost was on the Syrian side. I only have lost one tank and that was in the first scenario for the entire TF Thunder campaign. With that said, I appreciate your comments and insite about side facing armor. Bob

I used virtually the same tactics as Damian90. I put my F/O and C2 on the berm and started the mission by observing the enemy. I had some preplanned arty targeting the trenches. And I moved my M1s towards the highway with the intent of busting out and engaging the biggest threat. I equipped some of my squads with Javelins and split of the A/T teams. I expected there to be entrenched armor which they would take out. As my spotters saw the static and mobile armor, I moved my A/T teams up on the berm. The Javelins made quick work of the armor and bunkers. Next, I moved my M1s out to surpress the enemy infantry while I recombined my squads. With the squads combined and loaded, I moved them out with the MGSs in support (the M1s were reaking havoc on the trenches). I used smoke to try and block anybody in the fort from getting a good shot on the Strykers. Meanwhile, I shifted my M1's attention to the two eastern-most towers and had one of them blow a hole in the east side wall. I used my Strykers to suppress the eastern buildings as I pulled up to the breach. I unloaded the infantry and entered the fort. Once in the fort, I was able to get to the upper floors and engage enemy in the trenches to the north and south of the fort fairly easily. I got a little sloppy as I started to cross fort to the barracks. I took a couple of casualties that were unnecessary but I quickly suppressed the enemy in the barracks. Once these guys were suppressed, the Syrians surrendered for a Total Victory. I don't remember how much time was left of the clock but time was not an issue. I did manage to lose 1 M1. I watched the replay a bunch of times but all I saw was *boom*. I don't think it was a T-62. Maybe it was a well placed ATGM shot. Beats me. In the end, I had 6 KIA and 11 wounded to 184 KIA, 90 wounded, 82 missing and 17 tanks lost. Ash Shammas (the airport mission) was a learning experience for me. I went into it way to cocky. My original plan was to have 1st Platoon take the Airbase HQ, the 2nd Platoon breach the wall by the Barracks and keep 3rd Platoon in reserve. 2nd Platoon did a great job but I was too aggressive with 1st Platoon. My MOUT skills were not what they needed to be, and they got chewed up. Making matters worse, I held 3rd Platoon back too long. When I finally got 3rd Platoon engaged, I was down to two half-squads and a few scragglers, and I had lost 3 of the four Strykers I had try to bring in to support. Having recovered from taking the Airbase HQ, I consolidated the remains of 1st and 3rd platoons with 2nd platoon and move together to take the Special Forces HQ. Again, I rushed trying to clear the HQ and lost several men before retreating and just deciding to blow the SF HQ up. I walked away with a tactical victory but it was costly: 20 KIA, 36 wounded, 2 missing, and 6 Strykers lost. I punished the bad guys (126 KIA, 78 wounded, 1 missing and 26 vehicles lost) but my losses were too high. A few other comments: 1/ The FIST doesn't get you much in the Berm scenario. The F/O is a better arty spotter. So, just keep it hidden and safe behind the Berm. 2/ I like using the MGS as an infantry support weapon but I have to be careful with them. Again, I used a tactic similar to Damian90s in Ash Shammas. You know that the armor is weak. So, you gotta keep them safe. I'll keep them pretty far back until I know what I'm facing. If the bad guys have AT-3s, then I'll move them up into relatively close range (Saggers aren't effective close). If they have RPGs or recoiless rifles, I'll keep them back. I've had them take out armor but generally, I use them to pound buildings and trenches. At Ash Shammas, I moved all three towards the control tower, outside of the fensce with an open view of the Special Forces HQ. Then, I used them with the Apaches to pound the Special Forces HQ when needed. Bob

Elite. I keep meaning to try Iron, but I'm in the middle of the TF Thunder campaign. I found Veteran was too basic as I was getting too much information about the enemy. Mostly, WEGO. I love the idea of realtime, and play it sometimes. But I like to see the action across the battlefield. I hate it when I'm focused on issuing orders on one side of the map when I hear a boom and missed what happened. Also, I find that my RT times become micro-managing clickfests. I watch some of the YouTube videos of guys doing RT games and they are able to issue big orders. I haven't found that balance (but I try). All the mod recommendations are good. I also like the NATO style floating icons. Bob

This is a tough scenario the first time through. The title of the scenario says it all but, at least for me, I didn't think that meant that you'd be in range from the get-go. Lesson learned. Anyway, a few thoughts: I don't consider this gamey but you also have to be fast and get into the ballpark of where the ATGM is before it gets you. As a result, I think the better strategy -- as mentioned -- is to get into cover ASAP. The two hills on the left and right of the road are steep but provide a good vantage point and allow you to remain hull down. I used a combined arms approach: get your scouts on the hill, start to suppress the enemy or their suspect positions, and then crest the hill with the Brads and let their gun take care of the rest. The small arms fire won't do much damage. The M203s may get a few enemy soldiers but the real damage will occur when the Brads open up. Yes. When I take the Javelins, I tend to grab all three reloads and the launcher. Keep in mind, there is no "drop" command. So, once you pick them up you can put them down. So, make sure you're going to use them. For this scenario, I consider the Javs because there was no armor, vehicles or bunkers. Yes, the lack of troops is challenging, especially having played mostly the demo. This was one of the first scenarios I played after buying CMSF and it was very foreign compared with anything in the demo. I lost two Brads the first time through as I tried to advanced up the road. I quickly realized this approach was not going to work. This scenario helped me to really evaluate the terrain before you click "Go". It's my understanding that rifle mounted grenade launchers are today's small diameter mortars. In fact, this was the first scenario where I really saw the grenade launchers in action. Bob

For what it's worth (and it doesn't mean anything to CMSF) but I saw that TRPs are part of CMBN. Bob

I've been enjoying this thread, thinking about how I might apply it when the time comes and then Ambush Alley turned up as my next mission in the TF Thunder campaign (my first time through). As you experienced players know, this scenario requires you to advance up a highway with small hamlets and objectives along the way. I was able to use several of the techniques to great effect: First, I didn't advance directly up the road but used alleys and side street to advance my force. This, of course, gave me much better cover then sitting up high on a flat paved road. Only once are you forced to go down the highway due to a bottleneck on the map. Even then, the techniques described here worked well. Second, I tried to move my units in groups of threes with one on the point an the other to on support. Once the first one reached its destination, I would move the second two units together or one at a time depending upon the situation. I found this technique effective if I were using two splits squads and a machine gun team or two full squads and a machine gun team or Stryker. Third, I used overwatch (rather than bounding overwatch) throughout the scenario. As described, this was a great technique. I felt it provided very good protection for the elements moving together as it allowed two of the three or all three elements to bring their weapons to bear on a threat. Thanks, guys. Bob

Really? Then what's the difference between General, Personnel and Armor when setting up a fire mission? Is it where the shells detonate (i.e., air bursts for personnel)? Bob

Fortunately, I was able to get to the next mission. Bob

Can you (well, your virtual soldiers) be injured in when overrun by enemy armor? I ask because last night I was playing Night Stalkers in TF Thunder. I had an infantry platoon on the backside of a crest. I started slowly advancing one squad over the crest when *WHAM* two T-62s crested the same hill coming the opposite direction with one -62 coming over on top of my squad. Within a few seconds, one of the T-62's fired, my Abrams took out both red tanks, and half my cresting squad was dead. I couldn't tell if the enemy guns killed them, the blast of the -62 exploding got 'em, or the -62 crushed the poor guys. Bob