Sparkle

Hi, I have played all the incarnations of CM since they were written and am a big fan - and an fan/avid player of all turn based/RT strat WW2 games out there. Having seen some screenies, I decided to give the Theatre of War a go - as it looked amazing. But - first few hours of playing - and I am bewildered.... To my eyes, the scenarios are unbelievably hard and unrealistic! I know this may just be newbie frustration, but in the first mission of the Normandy Campaign, which I had set to medium difficulty - I watch as my men are picked off, whilst they are behind walls or kneeling down, by Germans from 180-230 mtrs - who are standing up in open fields. My men are supposedly elite paratroopers and are crawling to positions at great distances, trying to enter 'defend' mode and are just falling like flies to these one or two riflemen who are standing in the open. In fact on the 4th attempt at this level - I counted 8 of my paras behind a wall - all dead - to these super-snipers - who weren't actually snipers! On the counter attack portion of the level - I lined all my men up - again behind a wall and watched as the 30+ German soldiers ran across an open field at them. By the time the enemy reached my defensive position in the church, nearly all my men were dead - and the Germs continued running upright into my reserves - who were themselves all prone and behind bushes. And then I watch as they all get killed too. I don't think there is any more I could do in terms of tactics/positioning/strategy etc. Or am I wrong? Or is this game flawed? It just doesn't seem realistic to me. I hope this is not the RT strat version of Medal of Honor - ... .ie choose who you want dead - even if he's 2 miles away, in a window with only his ear showing - and ..... pop - he's dead.