apoll

Ok, I have 5980 points to spend on selecting formations in the QB selection panel. I choose an armoured formation which, according to the cost I see alongside it, is worth 5500 points. I have enough according to the panel. However, when I select it, the remaining points window goes red, saying I am minus 465 points. Huh?? I deselect it and look again and sure enough, it is 5500 points, and I have enough. I select it again, and again it tells me I don't have enough. This happens regularly. How can I tell if I can actually afford a formation, and how do I see the true cost of a formation? Grateful views. Apoll

Ok. Thanks Womble and Vincere. Very much appreciated. Hmmm. Need to continue practising. Also, I think I need soon to have a go against a human apponent. To see how I go and to learn more. How does one organise that? Just post a request and assume someone will answer? Grateful advice. Apoll

Let me throw my oar in. I usually keep my Ptl/Coy HQ elements just behind the front units, and in front of the rear most unit (assuming travelling two up, one back). That way, they do not get pinned down with the front units when contact is made, and can do what they are supposed to do: go forward to check out the situation, range where they need to to work out what to do, and keep their heads up and out of the immediate fight. If you keep them just back a bit, they have the freedom to range where they want to... Works pretty well I find. Apoll

As a new convert to the WEGO system, I must say I am enjoying this sim much more. I am actually doing ok in some respects, bad in others of course. But better; not so overwhelmed when the action starts. I tend to use a US rifle company with as much artillery as I can...and an FO team. In meeting engagements, I have been attacking, and I seem to find myself up against a motorised rifle company, in some cases with a platoon of tanks. That is some steep task, and thus I cannot really stick to the planning rule of 3 to 1 attack ratio. I try to isolate and attack no more than one platoon at a time, but by the time I've done that, I am usually low on Javelins and ammo. In no real position to take on two platoons + of infantry and BTRs et al. In one case, I formed up two platoons in dead ground to attack a platoon position, when I suddenly discovered a troop of BTRs at the back of the position. My pixel truppen crossed the LD, crested the rise, straight into a withering fire. Needless to say, they retreated quickly and I was sent from the battlefield with my tail between my legs. Failed to do proper recon in a big way. I have a few questions: 1) how do I resupply my rifle company? In particular, what vehicle do I need to purchase that I can use to resup my Javelin truppen? 2) I'm using the 'bino' observation section to do my scouting; is this correct? Or are there specialised recon troops to purchase? 3) when in meeting engagements, can I always bank on equal numbers in opposition? And mounted in AFVs? I real life, you'd be nuts, or very desperate, to push a rifle company in against an equal formation, better armed with AFVs, while you had none... That would be pretty close to suicide; one would expect to push a Battalion group against a motor rifle company in defence. I did a defensive battle with a two armoured troops and a mounted rifle platoon in Bradley's, and slaughtered the attacking Russian forces. It occurred to me why it was so easy: the attackers were no where near the standard 3:1 ratio. They attacked me with equal numbers, and I just stayed put and blasted them as they crested the rises, walking artillery all along the attack avenues. This doesn't seem right; have others had this experience? Thanks in advance. Apoll

Well, to report back... I tried a quick battle with a U.S. rifle company in a probe mission on mixed forest/town terrain. I have to say that already WEGO has made a huge difference. I am no longer overwhelmed, but can develop my tactics properly. In this case, I sent my recon forward through the forest and they detected 3 BTRs in a farm hamlet, and some troops. I guessed elements of a dismounted mech inf platoon. I moved a platoon to the flank and those wonderful Javelins took out the BTRs. I then crumped them with mortars, and moved up the second platoon to an LD in the forest ready to assault while the flanking platoon laid down covering fire. More enemy from two rear copses moved forward to take up the rapidly developing firefight with the flanking platoon; they had probably used a classic red defensive tactic of one up, two back, and the firefight was sucking in the two rear sections. My third platoon moved to my other flank on the forest edge to watch out for any reinforcements coming the side; all clear so far. At this stage, I have just launched the platoon attack from the forest. Going well so far; casualties are so far light. I expect to be artilleried or mortared once I have secured the position so I will push off it quickly and take up a defensive position to work out what's next. There must be at least another platoon somewhere in the village, with BTRs and maybe even tank support. My only concern at this point us how to resupply my pixel truppen; the flanking platoon has spent quite a lot of ammo in the firefight. Anyone got any ideas on how to resupply? Or am I stuck with what I got? Apoll

Thanks Jim1954 for your advice and comments. Much appreciated. Yes, I hope it does improve; exercise in frustration at the moment. I think I'm doing the right thing but just get overwhelmed. I will report back progress so others who have the same issue can draw some comfort and inspiration. Great sim though....merciless in the modern context. Regards, Apoll

Thanks to all who have replied. Very much appreciated. Well, yes, I always play real time; you got it first time, Bil. I think I sort of know what to do, or at least, what should be done, but it does not pan out that way; big gap between knowing what to fo theoretically, and actually making it happen I find! I have always used real time because in my view, that is the most realistic. But, then again, as someone pointed out to me before, realistic would be to have lots of other commanders shouldering the decision load. It gives against the grain, but I am going to give WEGO a go as suggested, and see if my performance improves. As everyone has intuited, the nub of the problem is having one's attention fractured in the event of contact, and having to try and deal with multiple events at once. Even pausing the sim, it is....well, as I said, overwhelming. Thanks again Bil and everyone else for your advice. Great community here... Regards, Apoll

Hello Bill. Got CM:BS yesterday, to go with my CM:RT. This question is, however, not restricted just to BS, but also my efforts to master RT. I get that this sim is unforgiving of sloppy tactics and such, and that I must use real world tactics and SOPs. I was an officer in the Australian army, in armour, and received a really good education on tactics, estimates etc. I get the 'one foot on the ground' and over watch and other concepts, and to the best of my ability, try and apply what I did in the army leading tank and recon troops etc. Yet, I really suck at this sim! I'm so bad it's embarrassing. I routinely get my arse handed to me...against Russians in 1944 or 2017. Doesn't matter. It is as if I never had any education in tactics. My carefully planned out advance, two up, one back, falls into a chaotic mess when contact occurs. When everything starts to happen at once, I get overwhelmed and my pixel truppen die in large numbers. My question to you is how do you stop being overwhelmed when things start to happen in the game? You use the pause button a lot? I try that, but still can't get across the micro management that needs to happen. Or does it? Grateful any advice on this front, as I am trying to master this thing to be good enough to go multiplayer...I would just embarass myself at present! Thanks very much in advance. Regards, Apoll

Ha! Yes...a Webley. And the Waffen SS in 2017. It mixed everything up because I extracted the BS files into a directory with the RT files. Produced a really weird beast I can tell you. No, not eating or drinking at the time, but quite perplexed nonetheless.... Apoll

Ok...crisis resolved. Thanks MarkEzra...reloaded it and it was ok...only because I extracted the BS files into a different directory than my Red Thunder dir. Somehow the BS files were being mixed with the RT files, and producing a monster. apoll

Corrupted fuile hey? Ok...I'll try a reinstall....

Further to my last....the tropp selections appear only to be Soviet equipments (BTRs, etc)..REGARDLESS of whether I am the 'Germans' or not. Surely there is a real problem here out of the box... Apoll

Hi. Just got CM:BS. Went to Quick Battle: the choices I got for Service were: Webley (??? WTF is 'Webley'), SC250 (??? Again, what is 'SC250?), Waffen SS (This surely is a joke/bug.....???!!), Randon; Randon Blue, random Red. In the Combat Force selection, I got: ISU-1225 (whatever that is...), Medium ATG Plt (Officer) (Huh???! a Pilot Officer??? Huh???). And when I select Blue, that gives me a Red star (The Sovs)...and Blue = the Germans. The loading screen, BTW, is of a WW2 Soviet heavy tank, not a modern tank or piece of equipment as I have seen on the You Tube vids. What the dickens is going on??? Is this bugged/broken/corrupted or what? Grateful a view here. Apoll

Thanks for this Bil. I will study this and the lessons you draw out. I smile a great fan of your informative website, and, as a beginner to this game, need all the help I can get. Regards, Apoll

Ok. Thanks Vanir Ausf B! Got it. apoll

PS: I HATE auto speller!! First sentence should read..." All the things I've injested over the past weeks.." I'm no junkie!! Apoll

So..in a quick battle as the Germans...practising all the things I've injected over the past weeks. I've got a Panzergrenadier Bn, and I am pushing three Coys through heavy tree lines. Based on previous experience, I have LOTS of off map artillery support..so I can shave my pixeltruppen with storms of artillery fire, and, also based on experience and advice here, I am being very careful to husband my FOs, making sure they are protected and NOT in the van all the time. Anyway, there is a village in the centre, surrounded on three sides by high ground. I push one coy to the left, and one to the right, with one coy in reserve. My recon spots the fact that the centre village is populated with enemy. Even more amazingly, when my right coy pushes through the forest on the right, the enemy quits the tree line and high tail it into the village! Amazing. I bring up the FO, and four MG teams, and start laying down a suppressing fire on two sides. Bear in mind that the village is in low ground in the centre, and I dominate the high ground. It I'd key terrain, because whomever holds it smiles the village untenable. I now bring a full artillery strike and crump the village, and the troops in it. The Russians are seen running across open ground, and it I'd like potting rabbits! Pretty dumb move by the AI. Anyway, this phase is just about over, and the next phase is about to begin. I have only sustained light cas so far, but one voyage is just about out of ammo. This will hold whats left of the village while the reserve coy pushes through along the high ground for the next phase. Lessons I've learnt: 1) make sure one has lot of artillery support and at least two FO teams, mounted to make moving around the battlefield quicker, BUT, dismount them to crawl forward to call in fire. 2) ensure the FOs are not in the van, rather just behind, ready to be called up to bring in fire on targets already spotted. 3) when playing real time, hit the stop button frequently and issue orders frequently. 4) use the basics; use one coy to lay down suppressing fire and the other to close in. 5) this time, I actually did lots of terrain analysis, and it was pretty obvious what my routes would be. But what was really important, and surprisingly critical, was to have a clear idea of what I wanted to do. Changed everything. In this case, it was a meeting engagement, and I interpreted my mission as finding the enemy and destroying himself. Which meant I actually did not have to seize any terrain, which in turn meant I could stay on the ridges and plaster the enemy, and I did not have to go to the trouble of expensive house to house combat, and in will run a country mile before I engage in such difficult combat. Anyway, some thoughts...and many thanks to those who are offering advice, and continue to do so. One question: how does one know WHICH unit has spotted an enemy contact? Doesn't seem to be an immediately apparent sign of who actually has eyes on. Thanks in advance. Apoll

Ok Womble. I did not split the platoon up; was using a platoon to scout. Will ditch the half tracks; useless anyway, and their FO is better off outside on the ground hiding in scrub and spying on the enemy. Half tracks are just too large a liability and target. Just having trouble working out what is in front of me; always getting a mass of semi-transparent enemy icons, but very few bright ones. So even not sure where the enemy is. Gets confusing, especially when try to micro manage all my units. Still feel not doing the up front analysis correctly; still blundering around the battlefield too much, not really sure what my objectives are etc. So will keep practicing. I am determined to get good at this....but at present, I can't win against the AI, let alone another human. Apoll

Thanks Michael. Well, I tried to speed things up...and I tried to do my analysis...and walked my company into half the Russian army. It was a village scenario, and only really one covered way in, with forest almost up until the village outskirts, but all approaches had open ground to cover. There were also tree lines in front of the village, so for sure the Russians would have troops, maybe guns, in it. Anyway, I picked what I thought was the most covered approach into the village. And the Russians had lined it wall to wall with guns and troops! I picked the route which gory had covered; what bad luck. The carnage started pretty soon after I cleared a small copse of trees; long range fire from a ridge in the distance killed and scattered my first platoon; they went to ground and became useless. I pushed through the next platoon to take the next but of forest, and called in a fire mission to suppress the long range fire on my men. The spotter must have had too much schnapps, because the fire was all over the place, far from the actual target. Did nothing to stop the harassing fire onto my troops. The second platoon spent itself clearing the trees, and i pushed through the remainder of the coy...into a hornet's nest of Russian guns and troops. They had half the 3rd Shock Army there; I was outnumbered and outgunned and my troops simply ran away. Several fire missions failed to do anything; the spotting was really bad, and the resulting fire was all over the place. My two half tracks were useless; knocked out by some tiny popgun; in fact, machine gun fire was enough to send it scurrying backwards! Useless! So, decisively defeated...again. Tell me, I was using a pioneer company; they are not going to make good infantry if I try and use them like infantry, are they? Must increase the battle size so I can afford infantry next time. Oh well, back to the drawing board. This I'd one hard mother! Apoll

Thanks MikeyD, I think, however, that I need to try and work within the given constraints, given that it seems I'm dragging the chain a bit, and my planning is faulty. Once I fix those, then 2 hours should be enough. I can always interpret the time limit as given from high, and something that is mission critical, and can't be changed. Plus, it is selfish I know, but I really like not knowing what I'm up against, or where the enemy is. Regards, Apoll

ScoutPL....further to my last...because it seems to me that all the great commanders in history have one thing in common with regards to the principles of war...that they outfoxed their opponents by STEPPING OUTSIDE the doctrine, and thus doing something unexpected. Would you agree? Apoll

ScoutPL, I am in the process of reading your excellent site which contains the advice on how to approach the planning and conduct of an operation. It seems to me that the key message of your site in this regard is that there are some tried and true principles to adhere to, but once an operation is underway, these should be interpreted as guidance, and not as slavish rules to follow, no matter what. Do I have that essential message correct? So...concentration of force is a principle of war, but if the opportunity to divide my force to conduct a flanking attack, with one part providing fire support, I am going to do it. In essence, it is a way of saying that no plan survives contact with the enemy? Which makes me wonder just how much hard and fast planning should be done prior to contact... I'll keep reading your site.... Apoll

Ha! Thanks Childress, yea, should be aiming for that, but sat the moment, I'm the... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_RaRGdbKQ8 Apoll

All, thanks for advice. Particularly Womble and Scoutpl; will be sure to follow said advice. I think I probably need yo spend more time at the start figuring out enemy likely COA and my own plan: connect with my posts re the military appreciation process (MAP). I suspect this game is going to continually punish me until I get this bit right. Great learning tool I have to say! I wonder if it is really developing good MAP skills? Anyway, will do more practice until I am more confident. At this point, I am probably also bring too cautious, not wanting to loose even a single pixeltruppen. And yes, I like to sneak my whole force forward...at least until into the assembly area and up yo the LD. I re-read some of the great advice out there last night, particularly that Bill Hardenberger site. One way to approach this thing, according to him, is to position your main force ready to react once the recon has found the weight of the enemy effort, and then enact the plan. I guess that's my approach as well, but clearly I need to work on my recon speed and do my upfront analysis. Off to practice...and then, one day, might be ready to take on a human opponent. That would be a whole new level, I bet! Regards, Apoll

Well yes..and luck! Tell me, if I spot a single Russian gun, a rifle squad and one heavy machine gun team in my recon, where can I go to find the likely organisations they belong to? I'd there something like an intelligence enemy orb at I can consult during a game that gives me the organisation of a rifle platoon, heavy weapons squad etc? If I see one squad, and I know that the normal soviet rifle platoon has three squads, then I can start looking for the missing units. I have a better chance of working what is in front of me by isolated bits of info. Thanks. Apoll