Brille

Now that I got the time to test it too I must say you are right: The evade button functions much like the same as the "withdraw" button in the older games. I remember that I´ve tested it at the beginning of my CM career and there it seemed not to work as intended for whatever reason. So I didn´t bother with it anymore and thought it was a short cut for the Real-Time players, especially because it isn´t an obvious command in the command panel, like everything else... But yeah I made a simple test: 2 Platoons of german grenadiers get area fire from american MMG in bunkers. After a full minute they are all pinned for good. Now I gave one platoon the fast order to another location and the other platoon I gave the "evade" button, while they are all still under fire. The first platoon (with the fast command) didn´t move an inch, occasionally (I did more of the same test) one soldier will try it´s luck and ran but in general they were fixed to the position. The second platoon (with the evade-command) will try to get up and sprint to the destined position. Some may lay on the ground for a while, while others get up sooner and run but at the end of the turn all the soldiers are transfered to the safe location. Most of my tests I did on open ground with a wall as cover for the soldiers. I also did some tests in houses and witnessed that the withdraw order don´t always work even when they are in the upper floors. So I can confirm that the evade command isn´t the same as the fast command and that the evade command is somewhat buggy in buildings. Another difference is that you will hear special audio if you press the withdraw button: The soldiers will yell "Retreat!" or something like that. I would be glad if battlefront would attend to the problem in the next patch or so, since it is a very powerful tool. Thank you for the revelation, @Chibot Mk IX !

Never said they are one-shot wonders. Nothing that uses tungsten ammunition is, actually (ww2 era). The effect after the penetration is minimal, so the rounds need to hit something vital to have an effect. Never the less they do hit something important from time to time. May it either be a crew member or the engine or something else. They keep those halftrack/light armored vehicles up their toes and backing up is sometimes all you need from them. It is the best weapon you can have against those thinn armored targets at a distance. Heavy machine guns often fail to penetrate and to reveal a gun for a halftrack or an Panzerspähwagen is a waste. Once I even destroyed a STUG III from the side with one bullet. Rare instance I know but it can happen. So they have their worth if you can deploy them right. Edit: and the opponent has at least some thin skinned vehicles...

I also have the feeling that the hidden lesson in these kind of missions are that you have to be aware of soviet anti tank rifles. In the western front games you kind of feel save if you stay out of bazooka/piat range and know that there is no other vehicle or canon around. There is simply no such small infantry at weapon you can use at a distance. These rifles are pretty mobile and sneaky and can ruin the day of those SPW very easy.

That one I know. But would it be any different with the "withdraw" button? My doubt is that regardless if you select "fast" manually or click the "withdraw" button, the unit wouldn't move if pinned. So why use it then?

What do you need the "withdraw" order for if I may ask? I might be proven wrong but as far as I understood it the "withdraw" button is just a shortcut - like button (mostly) for people playing in real time, so they don't have to fiddle in the menu if they simply want to place a squad fast further back. As far as I know you don't get any advantages from that, nor is it a special move order that overwrites the moral situation of a unit. Why not use the "fast" command from the get go? In the older games you had a dedicated withdraw button that came with its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages were that you had no or only a short delay till the execution of that order and that they would perform it even if they were in a moral situation (pinned, shaken). The disadvantage however is that these troops would have a big impact on their morale, even leading to them getting panicked for some time... So it only should be used wisely. In Cmx2 however it is just an automatically placed "fast" command, if I got that one right. Not addressing the problem itself here I know....

In addition to that: If you have no los or lof at your intended target but you got a small rise or hill somewhere behind it (works best with no or low vegetation on it) , you can use that as a target reference too. Just draw a target line on the hill and make sure that the line roughly crosses the target. Depending on the height you set the line, you may not have lots of casualties on the enemy but it can at least suppress them.

Well reinstall it is then. I wanted to switch the CM games over to my new ssd anyways. Thank you all for the confirmation!

It's the bfc version here too. Do you have the latest version plus activated battle pack ? I can not say for sure if it was before or after the update but the last hotseat test was not so long ago. So it was there at some point. Well in doubt I would give it a fresh restart and check again...

According to my experience cease fire is very strict in it´s conditions when and where it happens. It is nothing as random as the overtime anomaly at the end of some games. Usually when both players accept/activate a cease fire you will see the AAR screen in the next turn. There is no dice roll that decides the cease fire to happen in 3 or 10 turns, it happens when player 1 AND player 2 hit it. Like I´ve said you may have to wait for the last execution phase (1minute video) after the last player has initiated the cease fire but they shouldn´t be able to go through another command phase. At least as long both players keep their cease fire up and don´t back down on it. This is I guess often the reason someone might think the system is random: Either one player has forgotten to initiate it as communicated or backed down on it...either willingful or accidentally. In single player the cease fire is really immidiately when initiated. The enemy AI will always accept a cease fire/ is automatically set on it, regardless if it is winning sky high or loosing.

Hello folks, I wandered through my CMRT to test something out. Usually therefor I start up a (selfmade)scenario and let it run on hotseat to control both sides. But there don´t seem to be this mode anymore - not in scenarios nor in quickbattles, nada. I checked all the other combat mission games to be sure that I´m not completely retarded but here they are...right where I left them. I have version 2.12 with the new battle pack. Maybe the poor little hotseat got scared away by it...who knows ? Where has it gone ?

I suspect that one of you accidentally deactivated cease fire again or failed to activate it properly somehow. Usually you activate it and finish your turn. In the next turn you can watch the execution phase but after that it goes directly to the conclusion screen. So if you activate cease fire in the planning phase of turn 5, it should end after the execution phase of turn 4. At least as long both players have it on.

You can not deploy a Javelin in Combat mission like you would with a machine gun or other, more static atgm. From a gameplay perspective it is always ready to fire (besides the 10 to 15 seconds lock on time). There is no dedicated "deploy" button. Maybe you mean something like the soviet AT7 that has a tripod for more accurate shooting but can be fired from the shoulder too if necessary. I would like to have a save game too to have a better look on the matter. I had it once that one Javelin gunner wouldn't fire because he would constantly move without ever coming to a halt. Probably he tried to find a good firing solution and was caught in a loop. But I find it highly questionable that multiple Javelin teams deny their duty.

Well in my games vehicles like the sdkfz 251 usually go down with their crew. It is very rare that only the crew gets knocked out with the vehicle itself intact. But yeah this case presented by Erwin should be definitaly a bug. I have watched the setup and played it for a couple of turns. If infantry is in the vehicle from the beginning, you only can order them to dismount, nothing else. However they take up the correct positions in the vehicle and are labeled as driver and gunner. So externally all seems to be fine but you can´t target or move with the vehicle. You can´t even click on it to select it. You only can do this if you click directly on the floating icon of the vehicle. If you leave the vehicle empty on the first turn and try to mount it then, the infantry will do absolutely nothing. You can draw a waypoint on the Sdkfz and it will be also labeled with "embark" but the infantry don´t even flinch...they keep sitting doing nothing. Very odd indeed.

Good news, thank you! Never noticed them. .. May be because I play rarely with second line infantry.

As far as I know they were out of service by the time any CMx2 game takes place... A quick search on the net also confirms this: Starting in 1942 they were withdrawn from frontline service due to their insufficiant effects on the battlefield. They were used however by occupation forces till the end of the war. I like to play the brits with their 51mm mortars. They are more reliable to hit anything and have a wider range in comparison to rifle grenades....maybe a bit to low on he rounds. So I would like to have a german counterpart. That´s another reason more to finally give us some early war games or modules !!!

Didn´t see the pintle mount there but yes, in theory, if the shield wasn´t there, it could be fired 360°. But still it is faced backwards in standard, so it´s main purpose would be to cover the rear and/or air not for offensive maneuvers. By the way Iam more bothered that the italian AS42 vehicles don´t have the "target light" option despite it´s MG facing right at it´s front. It´s main purpose would be to guard from air attacks too but in this case would be very easily usable to fire at ground targets as well.

An Sdkfz 251/17 is a vehicle that is recrewable with standard infantry, even though one might think otherwise. Concerning it´s 20mm Oerlikon I would also think that it counts as a specialized vehicle but it doesn´t. Everyone can be the driver and gunner, so it is odd that it can´t be crewed here. Well I understood it so that this vehicle was shot empty on this particular mission. But as you said it happened in a mission before, right ? Then it surely should not happen this way I guess. It seems like the game counts it as "dead" and "alive" at the same time...somehow reserving the seats for the dead crew. A Schroedingers cat if you will. For the FO I am still not convinced. An artillery observer is a highly specialized soldier which cannot be replaced that easily. So if he and his assistant got killed or injured in a mission before you can´t expect the game to throw in another one...at least if it is not stated anywhere that your loses will be completely compensated. If the soldier with the radio, or any other not described as observer or assistant, survived, the game will put him in the next battle as well but he will not be able to call in fire. So don´t think of this one-man-unit as an forward observer anymore...He is just another footsoldier now. So it is not a bug at all in my book. It would be another call if you would tell us that your observer guy wasn´t even hit in the battle before but was counted as a casualty regardless and never showed up in the next battle.

Even those that require a crewmember or infantryman to hop on top of the heck of the tank to fire it effectively ? I mean I remember the scene from Band of Brothers but was this really that common practice for a combat mission ? I know of mount configurations where it is more comfortable for the crew to fire those MG, while not exposing that much of their body (directly in front of the exit hatches ) . Any chance you mean those ? Those Fla-MG were usually taken with the panzergrenadiers/mounted infantry once they dismount, so I guess it´s some kind of engine limitation.

The MG in the back is not meant for offensive usage, more like a self defence/ anti air purpose. To use this mg you would have to turn the vehicle at least 90° to the enemy, exposing the rest of the crew on the gun. The MG will fire when enemy units pop up behind it but you have no direct control over it. I guess it is rather an engine or gameplay limitation. Some people maybe would use it driving backwards to the enemy to fire the MG, once the ammo for the gun ran low. This would be hardly realistic because you would expose the other crewmembers, the gun and the vehicle itself. It is the same with some US tanks, that have their roof mounted MG in an odd direction or mount. They may be able to use them but only very limited, since their main purpose was in an anti air role. (M10 for example)

If the actual "observer" was hit in the mission before it is true that you can´t call any arty with this unit. It is no bug so far since Combat Mission don´t decide if it is logical to sent in a one man observer-team with no actual observer in the team...it just counts who died/got injured and who can still fight. Guess bad luck for you in this one OR better keep your FO safe next time. (no offense)

So the vehicle is just labeled "dismounted" but you can use all of it´s features or are your foot soldiers unable to use it at all ? I know that sometimes vehicles/tanks that were dismounted and were destroyed soon after would still be labeled as "dismounted" rather than "destroyed". Have you maybe selected the 251/17, while the infantry boarded it and didn´t de-select after that ? The status of the vehicle will only update when you have it de-selected first. Otherwise it will still be labeled as dismounted even though it is obviously fully mounted. Do you have a save of that instance maybe ?

As far as I know a tank (either if a wreck or still intact) has no influence on LOS or LOF at least till it is not burning. Incoming Small arms fire however will be deflected/absorbed. So you can place infantry behind a tank and they are relatively safe but they can certainly be pinned or panicked. Bigger calibers go through a wrecked tank I believe, at least if another vehicle/tank is targeted behind it. Would have to test this one to be 100% sure. But I had this instance in one battle where a Panther wreck stood before a Stummel halftrack and the shot of a 57mm gun went right through it without any hit detection or decals on the Panther.

Yeah it worked like that. Only downside (at least for the receiving end) was that you had no reaction time at all: You clicked at the desired target, which could be observed by the linked hq, and it was immediately "fire for effect". Not that realistic either. This way you would never ever want to put mortars in a direct fire role, only maybe if the commanding hq died or you needed to spread the mortars around the map without an hq in range. In the Cmx2 games you have a trade of: Fire via observer and stay safe but have a delay OR fire on your own in an instant but may be exposed to enemy fire. If you have the luxury of choosing the experience with the spotter and mortar I would recommend getting them as high as possible if you want short call times. In my last CMFB game I got both at crack level and the call in time were about 2 minutes till the first spotting round landed.

As far as I know it was officially addressed and fixed in the latest patch 2.18. Though I don't know if the patch is out for the steam version too.

Do you still have some he rounds left or have you already fired all of those? I remember that the game tells you weird stuff like that when the unit don't have any he rounds left. But you should be able to place the smoke target regardless. And as long as you are in the mortars limits (minimum/maximum distance) it should work properly too.