Der Alte Fritz

I think that I might have GRAU mods and the guns are GELB. Everything else is in winter colour just not the guns.

Hi A clever trick is to open an excel spreadsheet and then go into CMMODS and get a list by country. Cut and paste the list into the spreadsheet. This gives you a list of all the mods for a particular country and references are all weblinks direct to the mod concerned. So you can use the filter command to bring up say all the PzIV mods and then click on the reference and it takes you directly into CMMODS (even asking for your password) and to the mod page. Just a lot quicker than using the search facility on the site and you can record which ones you have downloaded on the spreadsheet. cheers

Trying to get a winter look for PAKs 75mm and 50mm and have downloaded several mods from CMMOD. BUt they do not work and I still get the original look. Any ideas?

Hi Yes it is possible to beat this scenario. You can do a search on the forums under "Russian Training Scenarios" and this should bring up all your answers as you are not the first to have travelled this road of discovery before. I have got a lot of them in a word document which I can email if you want. cheers

You should also play through the Russian Training Scenarios posted at www.blowtorchscenarios.com

Great sites - helps me id MikeyD great mods! thanks guys

Anyone got a table showing these for Heer and SS. cheers

Hi Enigma You made a start on my scenario Russian Offensive 3 at TPG but never reported back as to result. What happened? cheers

What do people think is the best way forward for CMAK/CMBB/CMBO? The current path seems to be for much the same sort of game only with much better graphics. This follows the trend of the rest of the industry eg Total War. This would tend to draw the game towards TOW with smaller units and smaller battlefields. My thoughts are that BFC should buck the trend and go for larger units and battlefields. What would it take to have CMAK with a larger map and a brigade sized force rather than the battalion sized force? OK better graphics because we can. The main change would be for the Ai to be improved so that you would not have to micro manage each tank or section. The player would click on the company commander to direct the company to attack defend, etc and could move the individual units if need be but otherwise the ai would do it. Direct a company to attack a hamlet and it does. What do people think?

Great tips everyone. I will be firing up my BT-7s shortly. Any suggestions as to good scenarios to play. cheers

Hi I am having a look at early war scenarios and wondered if anyone had any tips on using early war tanks, infantry, etc. thanks

Hi JasonC Can you give a couple of sources so that we can read up on this before hand. cheers

Just posted a long reply on the TPG so have a look at that. The forces faced in the first part of the game are quite weak and 10 Shermans with tank riders can take care of them easily though with losses. Recce with the Stuarts, fix the enemy positions with tank rider scouts and then attack with all 10 Shermans on one position. If taking fire from infantry (there is only 1 enemy platoon with ammo) dismount tank rider scouts, fix the enemy position and then blow it apart with the Shermans. Remount the tank riders and drive forward again. Keep in a narrow LOS so that you can overwhelm part of enemy position in isolation, so go round ONE side of the village not both. Leave the rest to the Motor Rifles to mop up. Fight off the enemy counter attack with AT guns not tanks. Hope you enjoyed playing it and thanks for your comments which have been very useful. cheers

Just posted a long reply on the TPG so have a look at that. The forces faced in the first part of the game are quite weak and 10 Shermans with tank riders can take care of them easily though with losses. Recce with the Stuarts, fix the enemy positions with tank rider scouts and then attack with all 10 Shermans on one position. If taking fire from infantry (there is only 1 enemy platoon with ammo) dismount tank rider scouts, fix the enemy position and then blow it apart with the Shermans. Remount the tank riders and drive forward again. Keep in a narrow LOS so that you can overwhelm part of enemy position in isolation, so go round ONE side of the village not both. Leave the rest to the Motor Rifles to mop up. Fight off the enemy counter attack with AT guns not tanks. Hope you enjoyed playing it and thanks for your comments which have been very useful. cheers

Hi It is difficult to get the ai to retreat in any meaningful manner and the troops and lorries and kubelwagens are the rear area troops, cooks, office clerks etc trying to make their way to the rear before being over run. Your main offensive force are your tanks, you have 5 to scout forward to id the extent of the enemy position. While that is being established, your heavy armour drives up the road and deploys into an attack line in safe ground. The tank riders are sent forward as scouts to id the enemy positions with an assault platoon behind. When they take fire, you tanks drive forward and the entire company engages the enemy position at once. The amount of fire you can put down will silence any enemy position so long as you choose a narrow approach route. Tank rider assault platoon mops up and clears deeper woods. Tank riders remount and you set off to the next enemy position and repeat. If your tank riders get knocked off their vehicles, you need to investigate and respond with at least a tank platoon. Do not advance until you have overwhelmed a position. Forces are historic but are company sized formations. Hope this helps

Just posted a version of Scenario No 4 only set in Dec 1944 rather than Dec 1943. Supposed to show the improvement in Russian (and German) tanks towards the end of the war Comments at TPG please. cheers

The KV1 seems to have extra armour applied around the drivers hatch and MG.

The article had force RATIOS so I suppose one could work out German force density from these. Is there any info on the defences, I remember three defensive lines being mentioned. So for 61st GRD 6 Bn per km. Germans 1:3 so that means 2 Bn per km. Three defensive lines so 2 companies per km in each line? Defence depth 15-30km?

What he is forgetting is the attitude of the Soviet authorities. Here are some examples of where British armed forces mixed with the Soviets. 1) RN sailors were unable to land or even to talk to dockyard staff when they delivered Lend Lease material via the Russian Convoys to Arch angel. 2) The RN had to send a hospital ship to treat their own wounded because the Soviets refused to have them in their hosptals on shore. 3) A plan to bomb the Tirpitz by the RAF heavy bombers took years to arrange because no landing rights could be secured. 4) Stalins refusal to allow Allied planes to drop supplies to the Polish Home Army in Warsaw by allowing them use of landing rights to land refuel and return straight home. Remember this was Stalins Russia and memories of Allied intervensions in the Russian Civil War still ran deep. cheers [ March 04, 2007, 11:00 PM: Message edited by: Der Alte Fritz ]

This taken from Andreas' 'How to fight as a Russian Rifle Corps' thread: "Operations of 3rd Ukrainian Front (GOC General Tolbuchin) Main effort of the front is in the sector of the 37th Army (GOC Lieutenant General Scharochin). Main effort of 37th Army is 66th Rifle Corps and 6th Guards Rifle Corps. 66th Rifle Corps (GOC Major General Kuprijanow) consisting of two groupings (61st Guards RD, 333rd RD up, 244th RD reserve). Corps frontage 4km Corps breakthrough frontage 3.5km (61st RD 1.5km, 333rd RD 2km) Densities per kilometer of frontage: Rifle battalions 7.7 Guns/mortars 248 Tanks and assault guns 18....... The German/Romanian opposition was XXX. and XXIX. AK, with 15th, 306th German ID, 4th Romanian Mountain Division, and 21st Romanian ID. 13th PD was in reserve. " What I would like to know is what was the troop density facing 66th Rifle Corps? cheers

During this operation the Germans had the following divisions in the zone of attack. 15th ID 306 ID 4th Rum Mountain Div and 21st Rum ID, with 13 Panzer in reserve. What sort of density of battalions, guns, tanks etc would this be in the path of the Russian assault? cheers

Sceanrio 4 is published at TPG You can get it at http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/scenario_details_link.html?sku=1269 The final one in the series sees the Tank Corps reach its strategic objective, the River Bug but it must seize a crossing and establish a bridgehead in the face of tough German resistance. The crossing is quite something. I have never seen so much firepower in a CMBB game, quite like fireworks night! Comments at TPG please and gratefully received.

Sceanrio 4 is published at TPG You can get it at http://www.the-proving-grounds.com/scenario_details_link.html?sku=1269 The final one in the series sees the Tank Corps reach its strategic objective, the River Bug but it must seize a crossing and establish a bridgehead in the face of tough German resistance. The crossing is quite something. I have never seen so much firepower in a CMBB game, quite like fireworks night! Comments at TPG please and gratefully received.

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Hi Andreas What was the density of German forces on this front? Also at what point did infantry division armour come into the battle? cheers