Sgt Schultz

I must have missed the discussion. There is no way I am the first to wonder where our little forest-dwelling friends are. Which Module will include Partisans? As far as I am concerned, they are already late. Partisan activity ensured the delay of Pz Divisions to the front on and immediately following D-Day. They tied down fairly large forces all over occupied territory as the battle for Europe grew. Plus I want to re-make my CMBB battle "Guerillas in the Mist". How hard would it be to add in a few small formations of lightly-armed troops? - EDIT - I suppose I could use pared-down Free French, but that's just not the same.

Find an existing scenario that you like, and about the size and tactical problem that you wish to create. Load that scenario into your editor. Deconstruct it by observing how things were done. Change and tweak and run through scenario author test mode a few times. Once you are reasonably comfortable that what you do is what you want to happen, then start fresh on your scenario. --------- As I understand the process, every minute from earliest to latest on reinforcemnts causes a coin flip. heads they come in, tails they wait until at least next turn. -------- Leaving units until last turn accomplishes nothing. Taking units such as certain HQs, that you cannot delete for purchase reasons, and making their reinforcment entry occur AFTER the battle has ended works well in some situations. Just make sure that no points are assigned to those particular units. They are still "there" but they just never show.

An average day at the office for a Panther .... or, Why do Shermans even bother? ... "on the wayyyy"... The last thing he sees is a flash in the distance ... The crew joins their Firefly bretheren in Valhalla ... ------- I missed taking a screen of the commander getting his beret blown off at the exact moment of impact. It only happened once out of a LOT of attempts with shift/esc. --- ------

I prefer to design with variable end times and serious destroy points on troops. Losing 50% of a VL's worth of troops to take a position that you may end up losing anyway in overtime is not a good tactical move. As far as QBs, it is up to the players to determine. If your ammo bearers cannot keep his ammo bearers out, well that's life I suppose. -

LMAO Sergei. Excellent work! I was thinking the music to the second clip while watching the first. Then I clicked on 2nd link and just lost it. The jack-in-the-box was just too much.

Use the - and = keys to cycle through the formation. The ammo bearer immediately following the gun/weapon in question is for that weapon. Best German share I have found so far is Motorized Panzergrenadier Btn Mortar Trucks. Buy the formation and delete some tubes, but keep the trucks. It's like having the ice cream man come by when it is hot out. If a tube runs low, send ammo bearers to ... uhh actually bear ammo. You have to keep a few HQs to keep the trucks, which turns into a well-armed radio/binoc-equipped security/recon force. Two tubes, two bearers, all close enough to share. One bearer team is in motion at all times running through the woods/back over the hill for more ammo as needed. If a strike takes out those mortars, you still have rounds in the truck for some other tube. Carrying less initial rounds keeps the crews out of "tired" while moving into firing positions. Would you rather carry ten or thirty 81mm HE rounds across that field? ------ Of course anything the Germans can do the Amis can do better. They have Hannomags with twice the 81mm ammo. Truly brutal amounts of on-map ammo are possible to feed two or three tubes all battle. ----

Conversely, one can also use a "Rommel/Desert Fox" type of play. Run trucks and ammo bearers etc laterally around your rear areas, just in view of suspected enemy, creating a storm of question marks. Then add a little smoke and noise from a few mortar rounds, as stated above. The more racket you create farther away, the better chance your close-in troops may have of sneaking in. It may be sound and fury, signifying nothing... but it will not be a tale told by an idiot if it works.

Nothing builds the confidence of infantry like having one of these nearby...

If playing as Germans, try the 75mm or even the 150mm Infantry Guns. The 150(SiG33)is a bear to push, but can vaporize an undamaged tree in one shot, so imagine the damage it can do to troops. It can create its own keyholes then fire through them. Which can be handy. The small shield and short barrel length do something to the spotting code I think. The things are very stealthy if they can be placed in concealing terrain without being spotted. The enemy will usually have to track in on the acoustical signature if the gun is behind one or two woods tiles. -----

The JP TacAI knows what it is in. I have yet to see one budge under fire, other than pivot to deal with the target. I also use Vet/High/+1 though, so your mileage may vary... ---- Kitty Hawk still exists as a town. The towns of Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head all take up the area that used to be called "Kitty Hawk" back when the Wright brothers flew. Google the place, it is a spit of sand out in the Atlantic. Hurricane bait. --------

Hehe, DT. I live in Kill Devil Hills NC. It used to be called Kitty Hawk. Orville and Wilbur Wright flew their plane about a mile from where I now reside. It is the 'motto' of this area, even though untrue. --- we now return you to your regularly scheduled thread topic --- I would have to say 155mm at least before I would become concerned for my JP crews. The only thing that would "make" me move a JP is encroaching infantry, perma-smoke(a few rounds every 2-3 minutes), or an impending flank shot from a tank.

As far as personal in-game experience goes... JagdPanther over JagdPzIV every time, if you have the points to buy them. Buy the JPanther Btn and delete everyone but the Btn HQ and whichever others you can afford, for best pricing. To put it quite simply, The JagdPanther makes Allied armor cry. It is a true example of "If you can see it, you can hit it. If you can hit it, you can KILL it. King Tiger has nooks and crannies to catch shells at odd and potentially crippling angles(grumble). JP has no such weakness. It is a rock. I would hate to defend as Germans without one now. As long as that awesome frontal aspect is towards the enemy, it should pose a thorny tactical problem to an attacker. Smoke to make it displace into a flank shot may be about the limit of an Allied player's options, if the JP keeps reversing out of zook range. ---- Altitude makes a difference in-game. Hull-down behind the highest ground is the place to be. Partial hull-down is fine as well, but try to keep those wheels covered. Once immobilized, it is only a matter of time before the blinding smoke, followed by zook or gun attack in the flank. While I have not tested as such, I believe that I have witnessed a difference in CM2 in terms of chassis angle deflecting shots.

Perks.... Did someone mention ammo supply points? Please remember that any and all ammo Bunkers that a designer does NOT wish to be moved must be placed in a non-setup zone. This requires that the designer erase a section of setup zone to place the bunkers, or the player will of course move it a place of his choosing. This may/will affect play balance. The home-made ones that hold Hannomags that are shown in the above-mentioned thread(thanks for the link ian) should be designed with caution, as they are a cast iron biotch to place, and if you make an error it is a bear to fix. Plus they can be seen at battle start on the map for what they are. This requires that a number of them are made unless there is limited artillery available to the enemy. A structure without a roof is very vulnerable to indirect fire, so you have to put decoys out there.

http://www.axad75.dsl.pipex.com/Wargaming/CM/Finished/2002-CBMO-Tournament/Fionn-Kellys-CM-Armor-Rules.htm

The best way to avoid unpleasantness in this area is to "ammo up" at vehicles/bunkers(if available) before the battle starts. Give the firing unit all the ammo they can carry. Give the bearers all the ammo they can carry. I have started placing ammo trucks in the rear areas of my scenarios, so reinforcements can stop and ammo up as they enter. Take two turns and send the mortar teams up waddling with all the rounds they can get off the truck. The only real issue I have is the order in which ammo is used by support weapons. I would rather the bearer ammo is used up first, which would allow the firing unit to be effective while the bearers go find something to bear.

Did the PzIV have a covered arc set down the street? If, so ignore the rest. I know you shouldn't "need" one in that situation, but the engine doesn't "know" the terrain is constricted. The crew is looking in windows to check out the naked ladies dressing or something, because their response time decreases with size of arc. Been there, done that, got the blood-stained Tshirt. Engine limitations are a fact of life. Use the tools they give us to alleviate the trials and tribulations.

Erwin, you got hosed by the percentages there. That was a lucky shot by a lucky or highly trained/motivated crew. I can only speak from the German side, but ATGs can be spotted much easier than Infantry Guns. The 75/76 family of ATGs are spotted quite quickly once they fire, even in decent concealment. 88s scream "KILL ME". They may as well have signs posted. The SiG33 150mm however, is a stealthy beast... even when towed into position and set up after start. As long as proper care is taken re: concealment and "hull-down", it will lay waste to all and sundry. Ask sublime about that. Map makers should be aware of the -1 meter hollow that helps conceal all towed guns. Just plop down a few of these in likely spots, and add a little judicious concealing terrain. It makes a large difference in survival, if not spotting. "Historical accuracy" be damned. If there is a gun, it needs a spot to fight from. Range uber alles! If you are firing from under 700+ meters, the map is most likely too small for effective 75/76mm ATG use(all other things being equal). You will get your shots, but the gun WILL die soon. Whether that is "accurate" or not is not a concern for me, since I am not training to time-travel to WW2. I work within the constraints of the engine. Here in CM-land we live in that fuzzy area between game and sim. Allowances should be made. The 50mm+ family of door-knockers are a great compromise between stopping power and stealth. Those annoying little gnats of doom can be fired from ranges that would mean insta-death for a larger weapon. I have seen the towing vehicle before the gun itself on numerous occasions. For QBs, I look at it from a cost/benefit standpoint. Does your ATG cost less than the 1.5 vehicles it will kill before mortars fall? Is that worth it to you? For those whose ATGs are spotted before firing... you're doing it wrong. Try again.

How many casualties, and how many yellow and red dots on the damage panel? That was one lucky crew.

I want to see string being stretched across the map to check LOS... just as huge cat feet sweep the tanks off the board.

In the editor, you place a house, then got to #d preview, then administer the proper amount of damage wih the porper key/click combo. Only the largest structures can contain the burning vehicle that gives the illusion of a burning structure.

The search tool... and Sgt Schultz .. are your friends.

Be careful of the Star Trek effect. You do not want reinforcements materializing in LOS of the enemy. Make sure they come in either behind solid concealment or other method of ensuring a safe entrance to the battle.

CMBB had the "HURRAAH!" cry of the Soviet Human Wave. I want the cat stranglers crying every time you give a CW infantry unit an Assault command. Hear that s.. stuff drifting over the battlefield over the arty and gunfire... awesome.

I would pay about 15% more for CM Fulda Gap than I do for current BFC products. Right around '75-'79. Maybe even earlier. I would pay up front by a year or so for the chance to fight those battles. Maybe send a copy of Red Storm Rising to Charles to read.

Take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure. ----- Seriously though, would want a screenshot of the tactical situation. Is the building connected to/near any others? How much open ground between objective and nearest staging area? Demo charges available? Smoke? Suppress, smoke, demo/mousehole, assault.