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Redmarkus

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Posts posted by Redmarkus

    Should foxholes be visible before infantry?

    in Combat Mission Final Blitzkrieg

    Posted · Edited by Redmarkus

    I find the foxhole spotting in woods a bit too easy. As soon as my troops spot one, and before they've been fired on, I immediately plaster it with HE rounds. If the hole is occupied, I often spot infantry after firing a few rounds at it; either they pop up or they run. In training, I've walked right through a platoon position in woods without seeing a thing. It doesn't take more than half a day to dig in and conceal to that degree in the right terrain...

    On the other hand, I think that troops hastily dug in in open terrain should be spotted more easily than they are in CM. Having said that, it would be good if the AI used the reverse slope more often, rather then always digging in on the crest.

    0

    Kampfgruppe Peiper Campaign

    in Combat Mission Final Blitzkrieg

    Posted

    Things went well for me until this mission. I've been forced to restart the campaign.

    Spoiler below in white text. Highlight to read:

    After choosing the rest option and the no-fuel option in Stavelot, I took my entire force around the right flank at Stoumont, in order to occupy the high ground and deal with as many allied AFVs as possible from range. I actually made it along the muddy track and through the woods with only two bogged vehicles. However, allied infantry in the woods and very accurate enemy mortar fire caused crippling losses to my infantry.

    I feel that the allied opposition builds up too quickly. IIRC, Peiper had more problems with engineers blowing bridges under his nose and having to find new routes than with organized defenders at this early stage, but maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps the designers decide to skip the 'boring' minor events and focus on the larger engagements. I'd have liked to have a few recon platoon-sized 'race for the bridge in 10 minutes' scenarios early on though...

    2

    New CMRT Scenario: Carius at Malinova

    in CM Red Thunder Maps and Mods

    Posted

    On 15/04/2016 at 8:43 PM, George MC said:

    Hi @Redmarkus Thank you - nice to be loved! :)

    Hope you had reasonable weather for your hols. You probably passed my house on your hols! I'm in Aviemore.

    Cheery!

    Weather was mixed, so we stuck to forest walks not far from Elgin and the beach - lots of seals spotted, without US Navy ID. Took a drive round Loch Ness, as you do... Also met a bunch of very gung-ho Turkish F16 pilots on the base and had a look at their aircraft.

    What's next in your CM plans? I find the large battles in most campaigns too unwieldy; I never rose above Company command in real life. I'd love to play a semi-historical company-sized Axis campaign (with atts and dets) that follows a panzer unit from, say, 1943 to 1945. I could help with ideas, but probably not much more than that.

    0

    CMFB First Impressions

    in Combat Mission Final Blitzkrieg

    Posted

    On 12/04/2016 at 4:21 PM, panzersaurkrautwerfer said:

    A lot of Company level organizations seemed to wind up with 1LTs in charge, likely either the former XO, or the most capable surviving Platoon leader.

    Unfortunately, in my experience, it was always the most senior officer in the unit who assumed command, not the most competent.

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    CMFB First Impressions

    in Combat Mission Final Blitzkrieg

    Posted

    On 07/04/2016 at 6:14 PM, Raptorx7 said:

    I am loving the Kampfgruppe Pieper campaign right now, the choices are extremely difficult to make. This is all the more compounded by the feeling of driving into oblivion and the reality of history no matter what you do.

    I've just taken Stavelot and I have to say that, so far, this campaign feels like the best Battlefront have ever produced. The battles are challenging yet very convincing in terms of a realistic balance and the maps are works of art, as are the units. The series is really maturing now and I'm really looking forward to playing what I imagine will be a flood of player developed campaigns or BF add-ons, given the setting and the number of units that took their own paths through the region historically.

    Bastogne, St Vith, 2nd Panzer's drive towards the Meuse, the battle for Elsenborn Ridge, the VG attacks on the southern shoulder of the bulge, are all yet to be covered as campaigns, so I expect we have a lot to look forward to.

    0

    New CMRT Scenario: Carius at Malinova

    in CM Red Thunder Maps and Mods

    Posted

    11 hours ago, George MC said:

    Thanks @Redmarkus Really chuffed to hear this ta :)

    There are multiple Red AI Plans and yes as you observed in your other post several of them have a one aspect in common ;)

    I note in the designer notes which AI Plan mimics the Soviet RL response. It's an easy job to turn off any of the AI Plans in the editor so you know which AI Plan you are playing against FYI.

    Thanks again for playing this and posting your comments - ta :)

    You're very welcome. I hold those willing to devote time and energy to creating CM scenarios in high regard; I've tried a few times, but always gave up in the end.

    Just returned from a week in Scotland, by the way (Edinburgh and Elgin). Fantastic place.

    0

    New CMRT Scenario: Carius at Malinova

    in CM Red Thunder Maps and Mods

    Posted

    On 04/04/2016 at 11:22 PM, BletchleyGeek said:

    Playing against the AI as the German I found the following (SPOILERS: drag your mouse over the text below to reveal the hidden text):

    * It was very hard to engage from a distance the T-34/85 in the village, you need to get your Tigers onto the crest on the right flank of the rightmost German deployment zone. While moving into position, you'll get exposed to enfilade fire from the Soviet armor in the village (that's how I lost a Tiger, due to a hit on the lower left hull).

    * The village is the fulcrum of the scenario, it hinders maneuver on the column of Soviet armour that the scenario initial intel suggests. Clearing the village is most important, but you don't want to use too much combat power on that, since then you would end up applying most of your combat power on the Soviet column head on rather than on a side.

    * Going into the village with a couple Tigers as Carius did was a really, really bold move. From what I read, it mostly worked because of the lack of experience of the tank crews and collapse in Soviet command and control. In a H2H match, I would be very wary of an opponent keyholing his armour and setting up ambushes in that very close terrain. A not so lucky hit on the weapon mount or turret can blow up the weapons controls or optics very easily... I have been engaging T-34s at 300 meters or less, which is way too close for comfort (I got to see a couple of awesome ricochets of 88mm on the rounded T-34 turrets, wow).

    * The StuGs are sitting ducks. If you use them against the village to support you, they will get smashed on the side by the oncoming pain train. And their guns are ineffective at ranges over 1,000 meter against the heavies armour...

    * The quality of the Soviet crews is appalling. The AI is of course incapable of anything interesting, but a human player should be able to mass the heavies to maximise their shock effect. Of course, this requires early warning about the Germans actions... something which I concede is only possible to obtain if one has played the scenario before :)

    My reply is also in white lettering:

    When you setup with your Tigers on the rightmost high ground (all of them), immediately order them to reverse away from the crest and then hunt forward to hull down positions facing the village. Open the hatches and spot for a minute and you'll soon start engaging T34s at range.

    I didn't move any Tigers into the village itself.

    Beware of AI flanking moves against your Tigers on the ridge! This happens consistently and must be written in the AI plan.

    Keep the Stugs stationary in the area of dead ground in which they arrive and give them ambush orders. Don't move them or use them to engage the enemy until the Tigers have destroyed the bulk of the enemy force, unless an AI tank happens by and offers a rear shot.

    By so doing, you should be able to win this battle with zero losses.

    0

    New CMRT Scenario: Carius at Malinova

    in CM Red Thunder Maps and Mods

    Posted

    On 04/04/2016 at 8:57 AM, George MC said:

    Hi @Redmarkus

    Thanks for the wee ARR - glad you enjoyed it.

    I checked the points allocation and it does appear as if there is a minor error in the friendly parameter section. I've corrected it and I'll upload a revised version to the repository. Good catch! :)

    Thanks again.

    Cheery!

    Thanks George. Looking forward to playing it again as it represents what I regard as the perfect CM scenario in terms of scale, situation and force mix.

    0

    Small arms casualties - tank crews

    in Combat Mission Final Blitzkrieg

    Posted

    I'm sorry - forgot about the save game requirement, but I see that others are having the same problem/challenge.

    In my case, the Stugs were not in the town proper but about 100m from it. They were facing the enemy, as far as I could tell, unless there were hidden AI infantry on a flank.

    The two main concerns, as cited above, are:

    1. Stugs ignoring the button command. For close defence, let the player decide whether to unbutton or not.

    2. Other crew members committing suicide after the machine gunner has already been killed with his head out of the hatch.

    0

    Small arms casualties - tank crews

    in Combat Mission Final Blitzkrieg

    Posted

    I'm playing the demo and loving it. Really great work.

    Just one minor observation so far. I seem to be suffering much higher tank crew losses to small arms fire when buttoned up than I'm used to. Has this been adjusted and, if so, how realistic is it?

    My Stug crews in the third scenario offered suffered a number of such casualties, not only commanders but gunners too. One Stug lost two crewmen in this fashion; with two crewmen remaining, it was able to move but not fire...

    0

    Vehicle navigation

    in Combat Mission Red Thunder

    Posted

    I doubt I'm the first to raise this, but the poor quality of vehicle navigation ruins this game for me:

    - Vehicles seem to be unable to simply follow a road through the woods and end up meandering through the trees.

    - Drivers keep on bumping into those meandering vehicles to their front.

    Other games have effective 'follow the road' orders (which should be default, no?) Why not this one?

    0

    Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy Video AAR

    in Combat Mission Battle for Normandy

    Posted

    Great AAR. Gave me a really good feel for the game. I didn't find the tank motion effects at all off putting, though I do agree that the tank crew's infantry combat abilities are disconcerting.

    For a future video AAR, if there's time prior to release, maybe you could try locking the view to an interesting unit (say a Panther or a Sherman) and with the camera at ground level just let the recording follow the unit for 30 seconds or so. The same can be done unit-by-unit so that you get more of a 'film' effect.

    If you pause to issue commands, then resume recording in this lock to unit mode, you might end up with a nice little CMBN 'documentary' :)

    0

    Battle for the Airfield

    in Combat Mission Battle for Normandy

    Posted

    Related story:

    There is a well know American Civil War artist named Don Troiani (his work is excellent) who stated in an interview that he rarely uses re-enactors as models. Why? Too damned fat. It appears that middle class Americans of today are not at all representative of the men of that war who rarely had enough to eat and if they were well fed they would be quite fit due to all of that marching around.

    I have no problem with the re-enactors as such, but I recall watching the film Gettysburg, which I was really enjoying, and then suddenly seeing a number of grossly overweight 'Confederate infantrymen' who had supposedly just marched barefoot all the way up from Virginia over dirt roads and mountain passes.

    It totally put me off an otherwise excellent film! For some reason, the Union troops in the film had a lot less weight on... Maybe the person responsible for casting had a grudge?

    0

    I would pay to play the Beta

    in Combat Mission Battle for Normandy

    Posted

    How about a, buy the game now, get into the beta, deal? I'd be more than happy to beta this game and I'm sure will still play the heck out of it after release as well. :)

    That's basically what I was trying to say :)

    How does one become a beta tester anyway? Do you need to marry someone's sister? (I'm single. Well, not married anyway. Legally single... ;))

    I've signed up for umpteen beta test teams and never even had a reply. They don't even turn me down - just silence!

    0

    I would pay to play the Beta

    in Combat Mission Battle for Normandy

    Posted

    I'm so bored with most of the games out there that I would happily pay to get the Beta version of this excellent looking title. Why don't you offer the hardcore fans a discount and generate some revenue now?

    I would even pay for an 'upgrade' to the retail release, as long as you keep the pricing sensible, so you'd not lose a single cent and your cash flow would be improved...

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