Brille

Well my experience is totally pro soviet in that regard. I had instances where american forces are as blind as them. In one a team of bmp smoked almost an entire platoon of M60 in a forest without those ever seeing them. In another an T80 platoon ambushed my M60 TTS platoon and almost wiped them out completely. Only my M901 and some close infantry attacks could stop them.
So I cannot confirm those frustrations, only that I have them on both sides equally. The big game changer here however is the introduction of thermal imagers. So if the americans have those (and I suppose they did in your games, as you were talking about M1´s) you will have a hard time because they give them a huge leap in spotting ability.
If you try a head on attack with a 1on1 you will often loose. The M60 TTS might not be able to penetrate (if you have an T64 or higher) but he will certainly damage your tank till he is an immobile steelbox, while the soviet tank only sees dust and smoke.
So I say that soviet tanks are at least on par with their US counterparts in spotting ability BEFORE they get their thermal upgrades.
 
Maybe try to adapt your tactics: Try to flank american tanks more, because their thermals are only looking forward or keep their commanders in the tanks and your commanders out and looking. Though that last one might be against soviet doctrine.
And don´t go in for 1on1 engagements. Overwhelm the enemy and get local superiority.
You see it now in Ukraine how the russians struggle because (at least partially) the lack of thermal imagers, while ukraine gets more and more of them.
The exact same "problem" is there in CMSF2 and CMBS.

I can confirm this. 
Had it in multiple occasions until I now plan my movements like you do. 
Had it once that my Sherman firefly should rotate somewhat to a 90 degree angle after he reached his last way point. Unfortunately a Panther was in full view of the site. 
The crack sherman crew spotted the panther right away and swung it's turret in his direction but the tank kept turning and turning never firing... 
Fortunately the Panther had a similar problem: My opponent seemingly wanted to switch to another position and got stuck, leaving the panthers side and part of his back open to the front. His turret was not faster than my rotating tank so he got blown away. Lucky in an unlucky situation I guess.
 

I can confirm this. 
Had it in multiple occasions until I now plan my movements like you do. 
Had it once that my Sherman firefly should rotate somewhat to a 90 degree angle after he reached his last way point. Unfortunately a Panther was in full view of the site. 
The crack sherman crew spotted the panther right away and swung it's turret in his direction but the tank kept turning and turning never firing... 
Fortunately the Panther had a similar problem: My opponent seemingly wanted to switch to another position and got stuck, leaving the panthers side and part of his back open to the front. His turret was not faster than my rotating tank so he got blown away. Lucky in an unlucky situation I guess.
 

27th Canadian Armoured Regiment (The Sherbrooke Fusiliers) clash with the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend around Authie.
 

12th SS Panzer IV's knocked out by shermans of the 27th Sherbrooke Fusiliers of B Squadron.
 

27th Sherbrooke Fusiliers B Squadron firing on advancing Panzer IV's in Authie.
 

Two shermans of 27th Sherbrooke Fusiliers B Squadron knocked out in the field outside of Authie.
 

Sherman tank has taken multiple shots to the front armour until it was knocked out, crew bailed out to find safety.
 

2 seconds later when the crew bailed out their sherman got struck on the left side by a Panzer IV and exploded, the crew did to survive.
 

12th SS Panzer IV moves into the town of Authie, gets knocked out by shermans of the 27th Sherbrooke Fusiliers.
 

Two shermans of 27th Sherbrooke Fusiliers B Squadron knocked out in the fields.
 

Sherman VC  Firefly of the 27th Sherbrooke Fusiliers B Squadron knocked out inside of Authie, the crew member is bailing out of the burning tank.
 

Heavy fighting in and around Authie, aftermath of the battle.
 
Special bonus shots trying to make them look like old WWII photos.



 
Sherman skins are my upcoming 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade mod.
I hope you like the battle shots!
Damian45

@ALBY @Erwin @Splinty
My post over this one might interest you too. 

Mounted assault



 


 


 
(Close) Encounter in the dark


 
Just as he was about to throw a frag grenade, the rifleman got hit. This were some bad news for his leader cowering next to him.

 
 
A halftrack formation gets blown to bits by one well positioned US 57mm AT gun.

 
Remember: Enemy artillery can be your worst enemy but can provide good cover too.
Without the previously created crater of the enemy artillery, this fire team would have been blown to bits.

 
"Herr Leutnant...wouldn´t it be wiser to spread the weapons of our fallen comrades around the squads ? They all just have those old bolt action rifles and...."
"God damn it, Feldwebel Heinrich ! When I say that you give the sniper rifle to the machine gunner, I mean it.
Don´t you dare question my leadership !"


 
 
Advance through the smoke.


 
A bit of posing for the Wochenschau.

 
"Hans, you said we should go the right path but I haven´t seen no friend nor foe for hours. Where is the front ?"
"Shut up Klaus and let me think !"

 

All right Brille, I'll try the evade button when I'll have an opportunity 😉

Mounted assault



 


 


 
(Close) Encounter in the dark


 
Just as he was about to throw a frag grenade, the rifleman got hit. This were some bad news for his leader cowering next to him.

 
 
A halftrack formation gets blown to bits by one well positioned US 57mm AT gun.

 
Remember: Enemy artillery can be your worst enemy but can provide good cover too.
Without the previously created crater of the enemy artillery, this fire team would have been blown to bits.

 
"Herr Leutnant...wouldn´t it be wiser to spread the weapons of our fallen comrades around the squads ? They all just have those old bolt action rifles and...."
"God damn it, Feldwebel Heinrich ! When I say that you give the sniper rifle to the machine gunner, I mean it.
Don´t you dare question my leadership !"


 
 
Advance through the smoke.


 
A bit of posing for the Wochenschau.

 
"Hans, you said we should go the right path but I haven´t seen no friend nor foe for hours. Where is the front ?"
"Shut up Klaus and let me think !"

 

especially like this one, but they're all good shots. 
 
cheers,rob

Aftermath of heavy fighting.

 

 
 
Sneeking up on a stuck AB41 Scoutcar.

 
No Prisoners !

 

 
A Semovente about to get blown by a PIAT.

 
Same with this scoutcar...

 
 
German storm up a ridgeline, occupied by brazilians.

 

 
Heavy trench fighting in the process.

After the war on syria was almost over the coalition soldiers had some spare time... It just so happens that a US general makes a fateful assumption: He claims the US makes the best beer in the world.
A blasphemy the german Taskforce can not get through unpunished: War it is !
 
A last stand of a USMC squad after a failed advance.

 
 
Covering fire !

 

 
 
Death from above.

 
A Panzerfaust claims a few casualties but the rest of the marines are holding on.

 
Shoot & Scoot with the only supporting Abrams.

 
 
The hunter and the prey.

 
 
Advance under heavy covering fire.

 
 
"LAW and order"

 
 
 
It´s a damn Tiger errr Leopard !

 
 
Locked on !

This Leo took 3 ! Javelins to be finally destroyed.
 
After this incident the british claim that they don´t understand a war about such a silly topic. Everyone knows that Guinness beats them all.
 
Well we know where that goes....
 

 

 
 
 

Well I must contradict Holman at least partially. Where the "Pause" and "Cancel" button may be more comfortable for realtime players, the evade button is very useful for WEGO players to as they don´t have anything like it.
It is a bit of a shame that this button is not praised as it should be.
I have tested it recently and it also surprised me that it actually has the stated effects as I thought otherwise for a long time.

If the team shoots it properly you should see the PIAT in the hands of the soldier and you should see an explosion or projectile of course if they do.
In the picture you see it on the back of the soldier and in the "equipment panel" there is also his rifle equipped. So they aren´t shooting the PIAT or don´t tend to shoot it in this moment.
Though I do not know how eager they are to use the PIAT (or any weapon in general) in their pinned state.
 
At least they have all of their 6 round available so they didn´t shot once with it. At least if you haven´t picked up extra round from Bren carriers or so.

I guess the railway station is made out of bricks ?
Then the PIAT will have a hard time tearing a wall down...at least on it´s own.
However it can supress and kill it´s occupants. I wouldn´t say it does it very effectively but if you need that extra firepower for a strong point I would probably go for it.
Though you might want to save it´s ammo if you expect enemy armor around.
 
If you give them a target order they should use the PIAT too. Maybe use a "target briefly" command for 15 or 30 seconds, so they don´t use up all their ammo for one position.
 
To add to all of this: All the Combat Missions have a simple to understand scenario editor. I´m not a scenario or mapmaker but I regularily use it to make some shooting ranges. So I can test what weapon penetrates what or what damage I can expect on certain ranges and so forth.
Here you could test how many rounds a PIAT would take to demolish a brick/clay/wooden wall of a house or what damage it can make on the inside or how reliable it is to hit oncertain distances.
 
I like the PIAT very much and I would say it is my favorite man portable AT weapon in the WW2 games. It might lack the penetration of a Panzerschreck but it can be fired indoors without negative effects.
And it is stealthy enough to get some shots of without turning to public enemy no.1  to all opposing troops in the vicinity due to the far less smoke buildup.

For the evade-button you probably should know that it is not just an automated "fast" command.
 
As I´ve learnt recently it is more of a withdraw option that overwrites certain morale effects.
For example your troops are pinned. You can give them orders but as long as they are in this status they most likely will not obey them until they go to normal again.
If you now press the evade button instead your squad will get up (some soldiers need more time than others) and move to the position that order is set to even though they are still listed as pinned beforehand.
 
This is more of a last resort option and will most likely get you some casualties. But it is better than loosing the whole squad due to rising enemy firepower or a flanking party that crushes it with ease.
Note that this option will not work properly in buildings. On a ground floor it seems not to be able to activate entirely and on upper floors it is faulty most of the time in my experience.
This may be on purpose by BFC to eliminate a worse TAC AI behavior as someone stated. Just so you know.

Mounted assault



 


 


 
(Close) Encounter in the dark


 
Just as he was about to throw a frag grenade, the rifleman got hit. This were some bad news for his leader cowering next to him.

 
 
A halftrack formation gets blown to bits by one well positioned US 57mm AT gun.

 
Remember: Enemy artillery can be your worst enemy but can provide good cover too.
Without the previously created crater of the enemy artillery, this fire team would have been blown to bits.

 
"Herr Leutnant...wouldn´t it be wiser to spread the weapons of our fallen comrades around the squads ? They all just have those old bolt action rifles and...."
"God damn it, Feldwebel Heinrich ! When I say that you give the sniper rifle to the machine gunner, I mean it.
Don´t you dare question my leadership !"


 
 
Advance through the smoke.


 
A bit of posing for the Wochenschau.

 
"Hans, you said we should go the right path but I haven´t seen no friend nor foe for hours. Where is the front ?"
"Shut up Klaus and let me think !"

 

Mounted assault



 


 


 
(Close) Encounter in the dark


 
Just as he was about to throw a frag grenade, the rifleman got hit. This were some bad news for his leader cowering next to him.

 
 
A halftrack formation gets blown to bits by one well positioned US 57mm AT gun.

 
Remember: Enemy artillery can be your worst enemy but can provide good cover too.
Without the previously created crater of the enemy artillery, this fire team would have been blown to bits.

 
"Herr Leutnant...wouldn´t it be wiser to spread the weapons of our fallen comrades around the squads ? They all just have those old bolt action rifles and...."
"God damn it, Feldwebel Heinrich ! When I say that you give the sniper rifle to the machine gunner, I mean it.
Don´t you dare question my leadership !"


 
 
Advance through the smoke.


 
A bit of posing for the Wochenschau.

 
"Hans, you said we should go the right path but I haven´t seen no friend nor foe for hours. Where is the front ?"
"Shut up Klaus and let me think !"

 

Well I must contradict Holman at least partially. Where the "Pause" and "Cancel" button may be more comfortable for realtime players, the evade button is very useful for WEGO players to as they don´t have anything like it.
It is a bit of a shame that this button is not praised as it should be.
I have tested it recently and it also surprised me that it actually has the stated effects as I thought otherwise for a long time.

For the evade-button you probably should know that it is not just an automated "fast" command.
 
As I´ve learnt recently it is more of a withdraw option that overwrites certain morale effects.
For example your troops are pinned. You can give them orders but as long as they are in this status they most likely will not obey them until they go to normal again.
If you now press the evade button instead your squad will get up (some soldiers need more time than others) and move to the position that order is set to even though they are still listed as pinned beforehand.
 
This is more of a last resort option and will most likely get you some casualties. But it is better than loosing the whole squad due to rising enemy firepower or a flanking party that crushes it with ease.
Note that this option will not work properly in buildings. On a ground floor it seems not to be able to activate entirely and on upper floors it is faulty most of the time in my experience.
This may be on purpose by BFC to eliminate a worse TAC AI behavior as someone stated. Just so you know.

Mounted assault



 


 


 
(Close) Encounter in the dark


 
Just as he was about to throw a frag grenade, the rifleman got hit. This were some bad news for his leader cowering next to him.

 
 
A halftrack formation gets blown to bits by one well positioned US 57mm AT gun.

 
Remember: Enemy artillery can be your worst enemy but can provide good cover too.
Without the previously created crater of the enemy artillery, this fire team would have been blown to bits.

 
"Herr Leutnant...wouldn´t it be wiser to spread the weapons of our fallen comrades around the squads ? They all just have those old bolt action rifles and...."
"God damn it, Feldwebel Heinrich ! When I say that you give the sniper rifle to the machine gunner, I mean it.
Don´t you dare question my leadership !"


 
 
Advance through the smoke.


 
A bit of posing for the Wochenschau.

 
"Hans, you said we should go the right path but I haven´t seen no friend nor foe for hours. Where is the front ?"
"Shut up Klaus and let me think !"

 

Mounted assault



 


 


 
(Close) Encounter in the dark


 
Just as he was about to throw a frag grenade, the rifleman got hit. This were some bad news for his leader cowering next to him.

 
 
A halftrack formation gets blown to bits by one well positioned US 57mm AT gun.

 
Remember: Enemy artillery can be your worst enemy but can provide good cover too.
Without the previously created crater of the enemy artillery, this fire team would have been blown to bits.

 
"Herr Leutnant...wouldn´t it be wiser to spread the weapons of our fallen comrades around the squads ? They all just have those old bolt action rifles and...."
"God damn it, Feldwebel Heinrich ! When I say that you give the sniper rifle to the machine gunner, I mean it.
Don´t you dare question my leadership !"


 
 
Advance through the smoke.


 
A bit of posing for the Wochenschau.

 
"Hans, you said we should go the right path but I haven´t seen no friend nor foe for hours. Where is the front ?"
"Shut up Klaus and let me think !"

 

A clash between Panzer IV and Churchills got very bloody for both sides:
 




 
Advancing through the hedgerows...


 
Which is pretty dangerous.

 

 
But there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel.
 
 
Even if it meant that the light is actually a muzzle flash of a 88mm tank canon.
 

This Tiger got stuck in the wet ground...but unfortunately it was right at my avenue of approach...
 
 

 

When desperate enough even a ****ty outhouse can be a hiding spot from those damn tanks.
 

 

 

 
The die hard german squadleader.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A clash between Panzer IV and Churchills got very bloody for both sides:
 




 
Advancing through the hedgerows...


 
Which is pretty dangerous.

 

 
But there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel.
 
 
Even if it meant that the light is actually a muzzle flash of a 88mm tank canon.
 

This Tiger got stuck in the wet ground...but unfortunately it was right at my avenue of approach...
 
 

 

When desperate enough even a ****ty outhouse can be a hiding spot from those damn tanks.
 

 

 

 
The die hard german squadleader.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A clash between Panzer IV and Churchills got very bloody for both sides:
 




 
Advancing through the hedgerows...


 
Which is pretty dangerous.

 

 
But there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel.
 
 
Even if it meant that the light is actually a muzzle flash of a 88mm tank canon.
 

This Tiger got stuck in the wet ground...but unfortunately it was right at my avenue of approach...
 
 

 

When desperate enough even a ****ty outhouse can be a hiding spot from those damn tanks.
 

 

 

 
The die hard german squadleader.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A clash between Panzer IV and Churchills got very bloody for both sides:
 




 
Advancing through the hedgerows...


 
Which is pretty dangerous.

 

 
But there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel.
 
 
Even if it meant that the light is actually a muzzle flash of a 88mm tank canon.
 

This Tiger got stuck in the wet ground...but unfortunately it was right at my avenue of approach...
 
 

 

When desperate enough even a ****ty outhouse can be a hiding spot from those damn tanks.
 

 

 

 
The die hard german squadleader.