sburke

Been taking spelling lessons at House Rune I see.

He did not say it fires single rounds, it doesn't. He was simply saying the TAC AI might do it's math on the characteristics of a single round. I don't think we really know for sure.

Not necessarily. First off note what Bil said about his tests, the M1 was stationary. He did not say if the T90 was moving into a flank position or preset. In Chris's video, he had T 90s taking the Abrams under fire from two directions. The point is I think no one is saying the Abrams is some uber killing machine. It is just a very good killing machine. If you had a few Firefly's going up against some Panthers, would you want to take them on head on if you could avoid it? Of course not. Bil would prefer to not be moving into a flank position, he wants the Abrams to move into a position from which he can get a flank shot. It works much much better that way. If you spot first, odds are the enemy is dead. The Abrams has very good situational awareness, Bil wants to change those odds. This is one thing I think that is so cool about CMBS. That factor of how to get the spotting edge is everything. Your tactics will have to adjust and there are a lot of tools and techniques to alter the equation. The next phase of this battle will be fascinating as both have very good equipment.

in CM terms that is about 12 AS, I'd say it would fail if you can't keep eyes on it. If you can keep eyes on it, the FO will adjust.

Please stop making judgements with no data or reporting to hyperbole. Bil never said the T90 was useless, he simply made it clear he does not want to engage on terms beneficial to Scott. You'll have a much better perspective on the Abram's capability soon enough. Did you happen to catch Chris's Twitter feed? That would give you a little better perspective. Might want to watch that while waiting for the next AAR posts. It has good info as well as great entertainment value while you wait.

The Abrams has a crew of 4 and the best optics suite. Period. The factor playing into Bil"s hand is Scott is moving. That will hopefully for Bil grant that critical edge. As to the Abrams, I just had one take an engine shot from an RPG and die. They are far from invincible, just tough. Trust Bil, the guy hasn't built his reputation by shooting up jeeps. This battle is far from over.

Hey Stephen, You don't need to defend the scenario. It is a fact of forum life that folks will make judgements of everything under the sun before they actually have critical data. Let the suspense build and let them be surprised. .

Define "a fair bit"

That was a one off, I am not sure if you can discount it because of that. Personally haven't tried that unit much so I can't speak to it's capabilities, but I lost an M1 to either an RPG or RPO (never did see what fired) from the side earlier this evening - engine shot. Anyone who treats M1s as indestructible is going to lose them.

Not too many things better than a Bratwurst and a beer

It hasn't been my experience, but the variables involved could bend that in different circumstances. My experience so far has not led me to even consider that. I have had Brads use TOWs at long range against tanks and get kills and I have seen a lot of short range use of the 25mm. It could be Russian AFV behavior is different. It is worth a look to be sure. I do know I have been on the receiving end of a fair amount of BMP 30mm fire.

pshaw, I am looking forward to retirement at 65 when I can play whenever I feel like with no work commitments getting in the way.

For what it is worth I know less than s**t about 21st century warfare. I do however have a fair amount of time in testing CMBS. I have learned how what seems to be a strong force can quickly become a lot of scrap. I have also learned managing your UAVs can be tricky. Being dumped on board in parade formation would scare the bejeezus out of me.

either that or Bil insulted his mother and this is payback. ouch. Teacher, large modular buildings are pretty good at taking damage. I had 2 Bradleys and an M1 chewing up a floor in a high rise and it took the full turn for them to destroy the wall on that floor. That was on a big modular building. I have taken entire smaller ones down with a single Brad over a couple turns.

LOL exactly. Toss that UAV up and cross your fingers you can get the TG before it gets the UAV. You better have an FO with a 2 minute time to call in arty cause that is about how much time you can hope for. I have occasionally gotten longer, but not enough that I'd count on it.

I wouldn't say it is a walk in the park, but the US equipment does have some significant advantages. Bil is also factoring in who he is playing. If it were me instead of PL, Bil would more than likely keep all his forces forward and contemplate the nice snack he would be about to chow down on. Keep in mind the US has had a lot of time and real field testing to develop it's equipment and tactics. The US army's level of professionalism is very high. Russia is struggling to overcome many years of neglect of it's army. It has some very good equipment and I am sure some very good officers, but that is undoubtedly a mixed deal. In a society so heavily corrupt and with such a high level of patronage, the number of officers who rise to the top based on who they know versus what they know is going to hurt, no two ways about it. Some of that is not reflected at all in CM unless you deliberately set morale and experience levels to try and create it. The equipment however is another deal. The optics suite on US vehicles and larger crew sizes are going to give you an edge and it doesn't take much for an edge to become the basis of slaughter. This game is very unforgiving. Yes you can defeat an M1, but it is not easy. Bil is looking at not just the unit capabilities, but also the abilities of a foe he has fought a few times. Combine good units with a good tactician and you need to treat them with respect.

LOL so funny you decide to take this on right after BF announces they are looking to do the Bulge family. Still appreciated.

+1. I am totally hooked on CMSF now. CMSF2 is a big item for me to see released, I can't wait for that one. As to CMBS, I was skeptical. Partly for the simple reason that I have no real understanding of the weapons systems, how they function together and what that means for tactics. It is far different than WW2. I am however finding it fascinating. On top of that, it just looks really cool. SAM trails in the sky, APS systems stopping that AT rocket just before it kills your HQ team track. Infantry teams hunting armor from across the map. Arty strikes out of the blue with no spotting rounds nailing your AFV hiding behind a building because your opponent has a UAV hovering somewhere overhead. This game is another big winner for BF and in a class of it's own. I don't think there is anything at all out there like this.

I am on holiday break so I can skip the showers. Seriously though, my time goes back and forth. Yesterday was out running around most of the day. When home I flip back and forth between the various CM games mostly making maps, doing some testing and then comments for the forum (mostly driven first by stuff I run across testing I need to post or ticket and then the general forum just to see what's up). Then reading a bit on stuff that currently interests me which is usually to do with something in CM I'd like to recreate and once in a while I fit in home stuff.. heh heh Actually hoping to get some time in this week building a new dresser for the wife. We will see if I can finish before end of holiday break. Am on Pacific time, but I like getting up early to coffee, so there is a stretch of some 17 hours where you might see me really online.

Launch a Raven now and you will likely lose it before you get spotting data. You have some general ideas on his deployment, the only point to getting the Raven up would be to start trying to hit him with precision munitions. I honestly don't think you will get much chance. I'd worry about getting your forces sorted and out of harm's way before worrying about the next step. It sounds like your appearance on map is gonna be dangerous. I'd likely issue some immediate orders to pop smoke to get a screen up. and get the force into cover/formation. In particular cover the Brads. You don't want to lose your infantry force right away considering the state of the force you had on board is so bad now. Those TGs are bad news for all your air assets, but you can hunt them with Apaches. I'd consider using the Gray Eagle as bait at some point, but you already know how I feel about them.

can't you two go back to playing with yourselves...and I mean that in all senses of the expression.

His initial answer of yes was to Tank riders. He elaborated to the extent he could on the second question at the end. To the extent of what you are going to get for now he has answered both questions.

lol so it isn't just me eh? What?

your english is quite good and I only wish they had a game like CM when I was in high school.

Actually that is not an assumption I'd make. Decent maps were hard to come by. A CM player has far better knowledge than any WW 2 commander would have had. Even in Normandy with all it's preparations, maps were not so great. As to the 3D aspect, the WW2 commander wouldn't know that over the next hill is a creek and a great hull down location (okay maybe he'd know there was a creek, but not it's details including fording locations). Rarely would the man on the ground get data about what lay over the next hill till they got over the hill. We know every little detail on the entire map area in play no matter how large. Heck we even know holes in the bocage that are 2 KM distant.