Roast Duck

One of my halftracks made decent AA in a battle, with the credit of shooting down an enemy airplane.

I know much if not all of this has been said before. These are some things I learned. The .50cal was great against enemy inside wooden buildings, not so great against the enemy inside stone buildings. M16 antiaircraft halftracks were devastating against infantry in the open and inside wooden buildings, also great for suppression fire against teams inside stone buildings so your guys can get inside and do the dirty work. The six man Ranger infantry squads were killed by the German squads at full strength. Once I think it was an eleven man Jager squad. They managed to get close to 2 of my six man Ranger squads, and the Jagers were able to kill both squads in hand-to-hand, not a scratch on the German. The Rangers did well if I was able to setup their MGs and treat every Company as an over strength platoon. Bringing small amounts of fire from multiple angles, then assaulting. As Brummbars leveled a house I noticed men in the back bottom floor hiding fared the best (any chance of getting basements) and were in good position in case the enemy advanced with infantry. Squads hiding on the ground just outside the building being destroyed, on the opposite side from the shot fared pretty well. To conserve ammo with light mortars. They are given an area to target, then moved slightly so they have to setup again. To conserve ammo with vehicles. If I need to suppress some enemy squads inside a building or small area. I target the area then have the vehicle move so its line of sight is blocked, the vehicle is given a twenty to thirty second delay using extra waypoints. Sometimes the vehicle is just driven backwards then forwards only temporally breaking the line of sight on the area fire. If I need to suppress some enemy squads inside a building but don't want to move my tanks, one enemy squad is targeted. The tank stops firing when the squad goes for cover and the tank loses sight of them. Infantry are set up to assault or advance into the area after a twenty or thirty second delay, some targeting with area fire. Move flamethrowers up just behind some of your men were a static line has been drawn in the fighting (near a flag, likely area of advance, etc.). Hide their buts in the back upper story of a building, give them a cover arc and be very quiet. This tactic worked to always route my scouting squad or kill them. The counter is simple enough, attack from two sides (How do you take a bridge?). The M7 Priest excellent for smashing buildings and causing mass exodus of enemy troops, to be killed by your MGs that setup for just the occasion. The downside is that harsh language, snowballs, and squirt guns are all lethal to the M7. My TDs attacking is like a game of Whack-a-Mole. They move out of cover, fire one shot (don't get greedy) then retreat back to cover, while another group is looking for the flank. If I find it and it feels right, some of the TDs may be sent with little to no infantry cover tank hunting.

The battle is over and my enemy has surrendered, it was a meeting engagement February, 1943 in Italy, fifty plus turns. The time was midday and the skies were clear. I had purchased; crack Ranger Battalion, veteran platoon of engineers, one vet. M10, two vet. M7, platoon of veteran M8s (three), platoon of crack M16 antiaircraft halftracks (six), three .50cals, veteran and crack(?), and a jeep. Some observations about the use of bazookas in urban warfare. As noted above, all of the teams pinned themselves after firing and a few times caught fire to the building. Being within command radius helped with the teams not staying pinned and they were able to fire off two to three shots a minute. An aside, all bazooka teams should be kept on restrictive cover arcs if you don't want them to shoot at targets beyond a hundred meters (big waste of ammo). Two of the enemy's Brummbars were accounted for by bazooka teams. The first was killed at 97 meters one shot, while pivoting on a track and taken in the side. The second was killed by an elite bazooka team moving unseen into no-man's-land beyond command radius, one shot in the ass at about sixty meters. The Brummbar had inexcusably stayed in one spot for at least four minutes. The M10 destroyed another Brummbar and was smashed by its partner, the enemy tanks always follow the buddy system to bring enough fire power onto a target. The M8s proved useful with their speed. Shoot and scoot was a favorite, until I didn't scoot enough and a Brummbar shot in the area next to my tank, at about nine meters and was able to immobilize a M8 behind a house. The second M8 turned a corner and met its death by Brummbar. The third was able to move fast and get (200 meters) perpendicular to a Brummbar and immobilize it, then get the hell out of there. The mortars were not very useful this battle, but if given a choice I wouldn't go without them. They were unable to stop the enemy's troop movement, and were only able to cause casualties in a small way but they did keep the enemy tanks buttoned. Plus I feel naked without them. Thanks again for all the tips it helped.

We started the PBEM game and it goes like this. The misbegotten son of a bastard has deployed so far; three Brummbars, two lynxes and engineers. This is going to be painful, I can't post what troops I am using because he hasn't spotted many of them and he may read this. The map is posted in the Proving Ground under CMAK maps, it's called 1600x720 city. Thanks again for the input.

It seems from reading the posts people like to use the indirect fire command. Aside from the nice tip about targeting a bazooka (or any unit) on a building (area) and not on the enemy squad directly to avoid return fire. Indirect fire seems to burn up valuable ammo that may be needed another time. The length and type of game tends to determine your preference for (in)direct fire. For example my friend and I play on maps that I make (truly I try to be impartial on the map making, I think of a theme and design around that) with 80plus turns. Being frugal with ammo has become an obsession. I will use cover arcs and indirect fire against know enemy positions, but if it's guess work I will use a cover arc. My friend tends to use indirect fire more then myself and cover arcs less so, but he is no expert on the subject. His MGs have a habit of shooting at my men at extreme ranges. All of this has nothing to do with my question now that I think about it, but I wrote it so now it gets posted too. The question: You have two enemy houses separated by 20 meters of paved road, one of your MGs has a clear line of sight down the road and the two houses. At the end of the last movement turn you saw one enemy squad leave one house and start across the road to the second house, it's halfway there. What appears to be at least one more squad is about to move across to the second house. To stack the most enemy bodies, do you? A) Put a cover arc over the road between the two houses. Put a cover arc over the road between the two houses and target the enemy squad on the road. C) Put a cover arc over the road between the two houses and target the road with indirect fire. D) Other? I would do B, every so often A.

Junk2drive I like that, doing that could have its uses if the enemy is inside a house with my bazooka team. May not be true to life, but what the hell (improvise). I am not much of a purist in my video games. Let me rephrase that, treat the bazooka while firing in an open area against infantry inside a house, as a light mortar.

Thanks for the help. I have some time before we play, my friend is away for three weeks. Setting up a quick battle against the AI may be in order to test a few things. I am still leaning toward buying Rangers (just stuck on the idea), might add a few flamethrowers and if there is a halftrack mounted flamethrower all the better. I get the idea, treat the bazooka as a direct fire light mortar (in buildings). Target area so as to avoid getting return fire. Thanks again.

This is all new to me, thanks guys. Off the subject. Every so often in the game Close Combat if you drive your tank over an enemy position, they let off the longest, most god awful scream, filled with pain, agony, and despair I have ever heard in a game (ya gotta love melodrama). The first time I heard It we were playing over a network in the same room. The volume and base was turned up, as my tank drove over the enemy position it scared the BaaJesus out of us. I have always wondered if it was a bug.

As you pointed out throwdjohn the armor on a Sherman couldn't stop a squirt gun and they tend to catch fire, so you don't want to expose them without need. I like the Stuart for infantry support/armored scout and use it as a mobile field piece to break up strong points. I stay 100 meters or so behind the infantry and support the assault squads as needed. The Sherman(s) are kept back to protect the Stuart. Those little Stuarts are fast, make a smaller target and carry allot more HE then a Sherman. To watch the crew fire its gun is a beautiful thing, the men inside that piece of tinfoil are truly inspired. This usually brings a response from the German armor and with a little luck (using YankeDog's points 1 and 2) the Sherman(s) supporting the Stuart can destroy the threat. Try to give the German armor as many threats against it as possible when your Sherman(s) are moving about exposed or firing. With some luck the German tank may target the infantry and be reloading as your Sherman(s) take a shot.

A friend and I usually play mechanized infantry meeting engagements and the next one will be in a city and I was thinking of using a Ranger Battalion. I know Engineers would be nice and could take apart the town with flamethrowers and satchel charges. But the Rangers look like they could do a fine job, if the bazooka is any use as an antipersonnel weapon. The smaller six man Ranger squad should be a little harder to spot and the MGs have decent amount of ammo.Their mortars can be used to break up the German rushes from house to house. Also coming along for the fight are two Arty spotter teams with 4.2in. mortars, four tubes and eighty ammo apiece. I like how the mortars seem to deliver a more concentrated fire then the other types of artillery and the 4.2in. rounds can destroy a heavy building with some luck and a few hits. So far the maps we have fought on have been covered with hills and forest. The bazooka teams have been effective up to 150 meters against stationary halftracks and AT guns. After that, they advance to support the infantry and almost always get cut down. Another time I had two bazooka teams in a wheat field firing on a German MG in a light building at about 80 meters. They seemed to suppress the MG and cover him in plaster but not much else. Has anyone had luck using the bazooka against infantry in buildings or in the open in CMAK? Any other hints for using Ranger units in an urban battle are welcome.

Greetings, I looked up Bmp 1078, the icon has changed from a red circle to a red rectangle. I was just having a hard time recognizing the new symbol. Thanks, I was having trouble figuring out who was "rattled". This battle has been one of attrition with both sides grinding each other down, and liberal use of artillery. My little "Tron" troopers have been using every soldiers right to ignore some of my more unhealthy orders. Now I can see who still has faith in their commander. Thanks again.

My troops are breaking and running around like a squirrel on a highway, but I am not getting the red dot for being rattled. Nor are my vehicle crews getting tagged after breaking and bailing out. I am not complaining just curious. Did the marker change for being rattled? An aside, the American M1919 MMG sure jams at the most inconvenient times...

Greetings, Has a mod been created for quick battles that allow the purchase of units regardless of date and region?

Greetings, Has a mod been created for quick battles that allow the purchase of units regardless of date and region?