Brille

That is the scenario Im currently in. I thought the Cat is refering to the Panther in the title. But the more Panthers I loose (or almost loose) I have the feeling that the roles are reversed now.
 
Usually those JS2 take at least 1 to 2 ranging shots to be actually on target.
In 2 Cases now the Panther commanders only could See the muzzle flash and a short sight of the behemoth before they got taken apart.
@PEB14
Then you must have been very unlucky in this instance. Most of my Stug loses and kills were one shot penetrations. If the vehicles itself wasnt destroyed the Crew was most likely vaporized because of the cramped interior. Its the same with all the turretless tanks actually.

Usually they spot worse,especially those tank series prior 1944. But they are Not that far behind in my experience.
I had multiple good results with them and also got kicked around by them when my opponents had these.
In one of my current games those IS2 even proved as good snipers in contrary to my usual encounters with them. They took 2 Panthers out with only one shot each at around 1200-1400m.(No ranging  Shots beforehand) Shots at other Panthers that missed were still so close that I made them run rather than fight back.
 
Those must be some Elite tankers I believe.
I said "almost" there didnt I ?
Im quite aware of the brits and they are one of my favorite factions to be honest. The downer here is that they are only in CMBN at their full potential, speaking of their own vehicles and tanks.
Im very excited to finally see them in CMFB in the next module.
I love the Cromwells. Sure they cannot do much in a brawl with Panthers and Tigers but they are good enough for Stugs and Panzer IV.
You Just need to utilize their speed. Combined with their low sillhouette it makes them good flankers or stealthy hit and runners.
The later versions trade their speed with a little bit more armor though.
But even that little extra protection wont hold against a Pak 40 at any range. So they give away one of their standout properties for almost no gain.

Usually they spot worse,especially those tank series prior 1944. But they are Not that far behind in my experience.
I had multiple good results with them and also got kicked around by them when my opponents had these.
In one of my current games those IS2 even proved as good snipers in contrary to my usual encounters with them. They took 2 Panthers out with only one shot each at around 1200-1400m.(No ranging  Shots beforehand) Shots at other Panthers that missed were still so close that I made them run rather than fight back.
 
Those must be some Elite tankers I believe.
I said "almost" there didnt I ?
Im quite aware of the brits and they are one of my favorite factions to be honest. The downer here is that they are only in CMBN at their full potential, speaking of their own vehicles and tanks.
Im very excited to finally see them in CMFB in the next module.
I love the Cromwells. Sure they cannot do much in a brawl with Panthers and Tigers but they are good enough for Stugs and Panzer IV.
You Just need to utilize their speed. Combined with their low sillhouette it makes them good flankers or stealthy hit and runners.
The later versions trade their speed with a little bit more armor though.
But even that little extra protection wont hold against a Pak 40 at any range. So they give away one of their standout properties for almost no gain.

I like playing the soviets as well,especially because of the huge variety of their vehicle Pool.
And while it is T34 most of the time I like to drive and encounter different tanks once in a while. 
At the (latewar) Western allies you have almost only Shermans or look alikes of his. In Reallife it is probably the best way to go especially on logistics but in game it sometimes feels kind of sterile.
 
A unit that is probably overlooked by many is the T34/76. While he is outclassed in anti Tank Work by many Tanks at the late war, he probably is the best infantry support you can find or at least the most durable in saturation of fire.
Spending all of his ridiculous amount of 70 He rounds in a medium sized match may be a challenge in itself. He just can keep firing.
Though his weeknesses are translated into the game as well: overworked Commander and bad visibility. But that would be not that important as a sole demolisher unit.
 

Thank you thank you!  A Muddy Affair was a really good battle but I played as the Americans!  CMFB was the last one I bought and I put it off for a long time for some reason.  Once I got it though, it's SO GOOD!  It jumped right up to top 3.  Although, honestly they are all really hard to rank.  
My regular PBEM opponent @Fizou and I just finished The Battle for Chaumont in CMFB and it was absolutely disgustingly brutal.  We fought to a complete Draw with horrendous losses all around.  I had remarked that I felt it was one of our most violent, stubborn, fight to death battles we have ever played.  It felt as if we were paying in blood for every...single...meter.  I could probably write a 100 page essay just on everything that occurred in the battle and how it unfolded.  Those Falschirmjagers fight like demons.
Now, we are just about to start The Battle for Chaumont Pt. 2.  The German counterattack!  I am the Americans, he is the Germans.  For both battles...
Just take a look at this madness...  I'll have nightmares about his hidden ATGs taking out my Shermans left and right for the rest of my life... 

Most of these men were KIA and WIA.  I always feel horrid when I get my pixeltruppen slaughtered.

Victory!  My battle with @FlammenwerferX is over.  After much struggle and brutal fighting my troops have won the victory taking all but one final VP location!  My opponent put up a fierce defense as usual but my armor and mechanized troops proved to be the difference.
Final photos from the frontlines...
I just love the battle damaged building on this one.  

The panzergrenadiers were integral to my victory.



My armor and recon sit atop the last VP I was able to seize.


My infantry rests after taking a farm overlooking the stream crossing and bridge.

Only because you English speakers can't pronounce it that well.
Same with our "Umlaute" (Ä, Ö, Ü) 
Wonder why we needed an enigma back then when we already had this.
 

So you mean the rear facing MG there too? 
It is the same as with the M10: they are able to use it but only to the rear. So if infantry pops up at the back they will fire at them if a crewmember or passenger is available for it of course.
You can somewhat force them to use it when you drive them backwards to the enemy. But that leads to odd tac ai behavior where they try to turn around so that their front faces to your opponent as soon as one pops up. 
Target light and target commands are mostly for the main gun(s), so even if they may have no ammo in it left they will arrange the vehicle so that it could fire, regardless of the back facing MG (which probably even has ammo) . 

And you are sure that the infantry hasn't been shooting before? In the night battles I did it was always difficult to see either vehicles or infantrymen. You'll hear them beforehand but then they suddenly pop up before your eyes. I even had one instance where one of my GI ended up in a HMG 42 position. The germans themselves must have thought that he is one of Skorzenys men as he casually walked so close by. It was fun to watch once they noticed their mistake.
But in this case it was overcast with a bit of fog, so visibility was probably at a minimum. 
 
Especially for those instances I'm glad Combat Mission don't have any gore visible.
Had one in CMRT where my ATrifle went on a manhunt (maybe or maybe not ordered by me ). 
And while not as big of an impact as yours I guess it wasn't very pleasant for the counterpart to get riped by an 14,7mm projectile.
 
 

Are you still talking about the SU100? 
There should be no coaxial machine gun available as with all the soviet assault guns and tank hunters. 
If I remember correctly they don't even have an aa mg on top. 
Regardless of that, do you see any hit decals on your tanks? You should clearly see whether it was a penetration (black hole) or just a deflection (Grey dent). And was it on the mantle or the gun itself? 
 
Weapon controls should refer to the controls of the main armament of the vehicle/tank. 
So that is the main gun and it's ability (or if destroyed : disability) to move it up & down or left & right.
You could say it is the same as if the gun itself gets knocked out... You can't use it anymore. 
Bow and AA Machine guns are usually on a more simple mounting and are not affected. 
The coaxial MG however should also not be able to fire if the weapon controls are out of action since it is well... coaxial to the gun. If only the gun is destroyed, then you still should be able to use that MG (if not destroyed as well). 
 

Are you a city child?
Have you ever been in the countryside at night without any light source around? 
Yes your eyes can adapt to a certain degree but if it is even overcast (no moon or starlight) you really don't see **** even if it is a big tank. 
It is another story if something is actually shooting in the night. 
Then often all hell breaks loose and you can see units much farther away, at least for a certain time. 
 
Back in my conscription time in the German military we even performed much better than in daytime (no night vision), just because of the simulated muzzle flashes of the targets.
 
To the topic:
I had one instance in CMRT where 2 guys of a squad dropped dead but were still far away from the front and even in a small dent in the landscape. 
So they could not be targeted directly. I checked for falling artillery shells around because I assumed it was some shrapnel that got them but nada. 
It turned out that one MG42 fired at another squad of mine at the Frontline. Some of those shots however went to high out, traveled for slightly under a kilometer and plunged into the small valley where these 2 guys intercepted the rounds eventually. 
 

While all the other things you said I would agree I differ here a little bit. 
In general you surely should avoid frontal attacks on Abrams and try to outflank them and/or hit from different angles. 
But considering you have the latest models of T90s with a competent crew,you can definitely try it out if you have not a better option available. I didnt had that many CMBS human encounters so far, but in my latest game I was surprised how good the T90 performed. Truth be told most of the killed Abrams were side shots but in return the T90 sucked up incoming tank fire more often than not. 
Though I was fighting regular tank crews while mine were all crack. 
 
In a test before the match however I tested each tank against the other on a shooting range. And while the spotting performance and armor protection was better on the Abrams overall it was not to far ahead from my observations. 
So the general rule applies again: Don't do tank duels and get local superiority in fire power. 
So if one tank goes down the second (or third) will probably do the job. 

While all the other things you said I would agree I differ here a little bit. 
In general you surely should avoid frontal attacks on Abrams and try to outflank them and/or hit from different angles. 
But considering you have the latest models of T90s with a competent crew,you can definitely try it out if you have not a better option available. I didnt had that many CMBS human encounters so far, but in my latest game I was surprised how good the T90 performed. Truth be told most of the killed Abrams were side shots but in return the T90 sucked up incoming tank fire more often than not. 
Though I was fighting regular tank crews while mine were all crack. 
 
In a test before the match however I tested each tank against the other on a shooting range. And while the spotting performance and armor protection was better on the Abrams overall it was not to far ahead from my observations. 
So the general rule applies again: Don't do tank duels and get local superiority in fire power. 
So if one tank goes down the second (or third) will probably do the job. 

A T34 platoon is hunting down a Stug that has been a big threat for a soviet column.
 
In the same battle another Stug is taken out by mere luck: A PTRD 41 seems to have hit a vital spot.
 

Duel of the giants but the T90 flinched.

 
Another T90 reacted but only caused a partial penetration - the Abrams retreated without significant damage.

 
Meanwhile the crew of the 1st T90 ran for their lives because they know what soon will happen to a burning tank:



 

I think they can deviate slightly from an area of attack but that´s only reading in the forum not my own experience.
If you give your plane an operation area (circle) then they will engage any enemy (and sometimes even friendly) unit they can see.
It helps a lot in spotting if these units move or shoot at something. Area fire is for point targets.
I can´t think of a way to redirect a plane. You can abort the mission and set a new one.
 
I would assume so yes. If the plane has still ammo left you can use it until it doesn´t. Sometimes though they are easily scared of by enemy AA fire so if they stay for long is uncertain.
 
In general I believe with a light, medium and heavy mission you are telling the pilot what weapons he should use or how intense the engagement should be. But never the less it is up for the pilot to decide and it can vary.
I had set up a test scenario on which I tasked a Typhon (with bombs) to attack a Panther with a light firemission. He depleted his entire 20mm canon ammo with just one partial penetraiton but didn´t use one bomb.
On the other side I did a similar thing with a Focke Wulf 190: Light firemission on a point target. Firstly it used mg and canons but after 2 strafes it suddenly threw a bomb. (and it had still plenty of mg and canon rounds left)
So what weapon the plane uses is somewhat determined due to the fire mission setting, it is however not set in stone or something.

Duel of the giants but the T90 flinched.

 
Another T90 reacted but only caused a partial penetration - the Abrams retreated without significant damage.

 
Meanwhile the crew of the 1st T90 ran for their lives because they know what soon will happen to a burning tank:



 

Duel of the giants but the T90 flinched.

 
Another T90 reacted but only caused a partial penetration - the Abrams retreated without significant damage.

 
Meanwhile the crew of the 1st T90 ran for their lives because they know what soon will happen to a burning tank:



 

I think they can deviate slightly from an area of attack but that´s only reading in the forum not my own experience.
If you give your plane an operation area (circle) then they will engage any enemy (and sometimes even friendly) unit they can see.
It helps a lot in spotting if these units move or shoot at something. Area fire is for point targets.
I can´t think of a way to redirect a plane. You can abort the mission and set a new one.
 
I would assume so yes. If the plane has still ammo left you can use it until it doesn´t. Sometimes though they are easily scared of by enemy AA fire so if they stay for long is uncertain.
 
In general I believe with a light, medium and heavy mission you are telling the pilot what weapons he should use or how intense the engagement should be. But never the less it is up for the pilot to decide and it can vary.
I had set up a test scenario on which I tasked a Typhon (with bombs) to attack a Panther with a light firemission. He depleted his entire 20mm canon ammo with just one partial penetraiton but didn´t use one bomb.
On the other side I did a similar thing with a Focke Wulf 190: Light firemission on a point target. Firstly it used mg and canons but after 2 strafes it suddenly threw a bomb. (and it had still plenty of mg and canon rounds left)
So what weapon the plane uses is somewhat determined due to the fire mission setting, it is however not set in stone or something.

Well I don't know the situation of the specific battle but the key to a successful encounter is always the same: Isolate enemy units from the rest of their formation and engage with a local superior force. 
How you can achieve is the difficult part. You can have the advantage of the terrain where one enemy company can't support another because there are woods, hills or buildings in the way. If you don't have that, smoke could be a viable option. Try to blind single or multiple tanks or entire formations to get your forces into proper positions. 
Note that many tanks, infantry units and of course artillery have smoke rounds with them. In strong winds it may not last that long but it can be enough that the enemy looses contact. 
Don't go for tank duels as those turn out bad very often. If the enemy has one tank at a junction, engage him with 2 or 3 of your own, while trying to stay out of sight from the others. 
Bren Carriers and halftracks are not primarily designed for an attack. They have to bring the footsoldiers as close to the front as they can and then get the hell out of there and hide. 
If you are sure that there is no enemy mid or long range anti tank threat anymore you can try and put them in support of your infantry. 
Otherwise you will have some good barbecue sites soon enough. 
A good advise for me was to get onto ground level with your camera and inspect the map. Go along you planned avenue of approach and look for terrain features like small rises and dents in the ground. Sometimes even open ground provides more cover than one might think at the first glance. 

Dismounted tanks can be recrewed if at least 2 men of the crew are up and running. 
If the crew was forcefully separated from their tank (penetration) they will take a few turns to get out of their panicked state and be controllable again. 
However don't bother if a crew has only one man left because as soon as he gets in the tank he will get out again immediately and the tank will now be labeled as "destroyed" (and adds up to the AAR screen). 
Don't ask me why that is but I had it with an IS2 once and observed it multiple times with other AFV after that. 
So if you just want to drive your tank back into safety with one man, just leave it.
 

So what is slitherine obviously trying? Because I don't get it. 😅 
 
Artwork is for advertising or representation of ideas where the journey is or could be going. 
 
Misleading are those cheap little mobile games that sell you prerendered videos for actual gameplay. But as soon as you download it you see that it has nothing to do with it entirely. 
 
Back in the CD/DVD era every games cover had an eye catching artwork or at least very altered or cineastic screenshot on it. That games that didn't usually got sold less. Humans are pretty much visually triggered, so nothing new to that. 
But once you turn the cover there should be pics of actual gameplay. And that's what the Steampage is now. 
 
So if one got mislead to buy a game by some simple artworks well then you are either too young, new to the game industry or... very naive/dumb. (no offense) 

I looked into it and I would say that it is definitely a bug. The comp hq seems to be cut off from the chain of command for this platoon entirely.
Other units, like any unit of platoon 14, can be taken over as expected. I guess the game somehow broke this in between the battles as the platoon hq died.

So what is slitherine obviously trying? Because I don't get it. 😅 
 
Artwork is for advertising or representation of ideas where the journey is or could be going. 
 
Misleading are those cheap little mobile games that sell you prerendered videos for actual gameplay. But as soon as you download it you see that it has nothing to do with it entirely. 
 
Back in the CD/DVD era every games cover had an eye catching artwork or at least very altered or cineastic screenshot on it. That games that didn't usually got sold less. Humans are pretty much visually triggered, so nothing new to that. 
But once you turn the cover there should be pics of actual gameplay. And that's what the Steampage is now. 
 
So if one got mislead to buy a game by some simple artworks well then you are either too young, new to the game industry or... very naive/dumb. (no offense) 

A T34 platoon is hunting down a Stug that has been a big threat for a soviet column.
 
In the same battle another Stug is taken out by mere luck: A PTRD 41 seems to have hit a vital spot.