BletchleyGeek

I don't like wasting my time either, Harry. I still appreciate coming here and having the odd exchange when I  think I can contribute or learn something. Maybe I was wrong in this instance and it is better that I invested my time elsewhere.
Take care.

Just saw this. Meds, lol!
 
Many thanks. That's cool for H2H, but my wife kicks my ass every time. It's not even fair.

I am not offended, but that is just plain wrong. Yes, communism is surely a totalitarian extreme of socialism. But fascism has got nothing to do with socialism.

Leaving value judgements on coding quality aside, you are right that in cmx2 the concept of cover (or more generally, being "safe" from observation or fires) is a static attribute of map tiles, it does not seem to change during the game as units positions, orientation or stance changes. They react to incoming fires on map tiles, though.
In other games we faked situational awareness by keeping, per side, "anti personnel fire power" and "anti armour fire power" layers on the map. This was updated every tick of the simulation, as units spot enemy units and identified their equipment and composition. Of course, this introduces potential instantaneous communication between units, an analogue of borg spotting. Keeping such a layer on a per unit basis is quite ridiculous imho, feasible for games happening on a space the size of a football pitch and not too many guys moving around.
Having said that, on a WW2 or earlier game, I can't see how the nonlocal comms that such a device could enable could be exploited - like to call artillery strikes - as long as it wasn't visible to players and only to the TacAI.

He Cheated!

That isn't how it works... this game has simultaneous orders and neither player can view the action until after both players have given their orders.  Both players will watch the same movie (from their sides of course) before they give orders for the next turn... it repeats like that until one player is left crying under his desk...
The problem you are worrying about doesn't exist in this game.
Bil
 
Edit: damn beaten by @domfluff, damn your eyes!

If you search for stuff by @SeinfeldRules over at https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tsd3/ you'll find a load of small to medium size CMRT scenarios which might suit you. Small maps, small forces, brilliant wee fights!

Excellent point Harry, it looks better from afar as it gives an unmistakable visual cue of a firefight happening.

Note I said observations rather than questions. The truth is hidden from us and I am not expecting you to backtrack, Leibniz style, all the way from what is seen to the ultimate causes of what is seen.
The probing you have been doing and discussing have greatly illuminated part of the mystery. 
 
CM2 isn't a 100% what you see is what you get game/sim. You noted projectiles going through foxholes and I have seen all kinds of small calibers going through heads, arms, legs and groins of pixeltruppen.
The environmental effects are referred to as "microcover" and were confirmed by Steve.

I think this early iteration of the rules didn't have as much impact on firefight dynamics to be honest... the new set however should impact it greatly.  Stay tuned though, there is a fierce struggle for the Bridge and the Gully Intersection coming in future reports.  I am waiting for Ian to get caught up before continuing my side of the action.

By the way, regarding fighting in woods, this might be interesting (the channel also features a video on us. rifle squad tactics which is highly recommendable): 
 

Everything in Minnesota looks like that if you leave it out overnight.

All kudos belongs to RockinHarry. I would never have looked into it without this thread.
These are interesting questions. Regarding your first question, I don't know and I don't know of a good setup to test it. Players have been playing Combat Mission for decades and don't really know with certainty if there is a "saving roll". How should I know? 🤔 Watching recorded scenes in slow motion, it's hard enough to determine if the game is really hitbox-detection based. It's hard to tell because not every bullet comes with a tracer, you can't get the camera down to ground level, and also some props are definitively permeous to bullets (I'm pretty sure that I've seen bullets go through foxhole-models). It's really hard to draw any conclusions here. 
Regarding the second question, I can say is that the troops using the animation exchange are NOT invincible. So no to your second question regarding Hollywoodienne survival powers. They still get hit. Whether they even survive much longer than without the animation exchange, I don't know for certain yet either. In theory yes. In praxis I have not developed a feeling for it yet.  

You will encounter odd situations concerning spotting from time to time. But this isn't a problem with Syrians per se. There is almost nothing that separates a US soldier from a Syrian soldier. The game doesn't have the various nationalities behave differently except in some rares cases like split squads. It is all about equipment, materiel and experience level : binoculars, night vision and optics for vehicles. Often for old Syrian tanks you're better off having the tank commander with the hatch open.

Yes, buildings are a great way to increase the survival rate of ATGM teams. It is exactly what I used and exactly how that one AT 4C team has 4 vehicle kills. That and move, pause, target, move again. Essential if you want your ATGM to survive.
At speeds of 800 km/h (that means that it covers 2 km in 9 seconds!), the Kornet is just too good to be left out. Instead, it should be used in tandem with AT 4C or Metis variants, if the distances allow it. That way you have a force that can engage any Blue Force armored unit and actually do something. 
The mobility of Kornet is not really an issue. If you have several firing positions for it and a little patience, even one Kornet can render an M1 platoon useless. After it fires its first missile, the team can move on Quick orders. Set up time is small price to pay for an 800 km/h missile that can knock out Blue Force tanks and then, because there is no packing up time, it can vanish, and pop up somewhere else.

Hello all and welcome to my first public AAR of CM games. As such, it won't feature complex analyses and orders, like we've all come to expect reading the AAR's on these forums. Firstly, I have personally vowed, after demobilization, that I will never write another standard order (applied for and served as part of ROTC for the Serbian Army in 2017, Infantry 2nd Lt) and, secondly, the idea for the AAR came late in the game, after heroics of certain units.
As far as the scenarios goes, I made some modifications. Namely, instead of company of T 62 MV's, there were 6 T 72 M1's ( it is my personal preference, as it is closest to M 84A tank in service in Serbian Army). Soft factors for militia company were increased. Skill level was increased for anti tank platoon. BRDM's with ATGM's were eliminated fully. TRP's were added (still a 9 minute calling time for D30 howitzers). MANPADS were added . Nothing was changed for the US Army. I would like to give thanks and credit to the original creator of the scenario and to whomever edited it for Shock Force 2.
Now for the main part.
I was given the objective to hold at all cost the aforementioned factory outlet. For this task, I was given a militia company, two platoons of Special Forces, antitank platoon consisting of 2 AT 4 C's and 2 SPG 9's and 6 T 72 M1's. In support, I had a battery of D30 howitzers. Opposing me was a Stryker company (two platoons of infantry in ICV's, platoon of MGS and platoon of ATGM Stryker), reinforced by 3 M1 Abrams tanks and a platoon of engineers in Bradleys. They also had a lot of off map support, including two Apache helicopters.
As you can see, the question was how badly was I gonna lose. 😄
So here it is:

Now, you may ask: Aurelius, why are you posting an AAR about your defeat?!? Why isn't SlySniper posting about his hard won battle?!?
My answer is: because of these guys



I knew I had no chance to win. I knew my AT platoon couldn't do anything to Sly's tanks. So I devised a plan, a scheme of slowing down his advance and making him think twice about approaching the factory proper. Firstly, I had to destroy the Bradleys, cause they could wipe out all my fighting positions and easily interdict movement of my units through buildings with their 25 mm auto cannons. That would also mean that his engineers have to walk everywhere (the map is very elongated and there is a lot of ground to cover). Secondly, to take out any specialized Stryker (an FO vehicle, command vehicle). If any Stryker loaded with troops presented itself- to burn it and everyone inside.
 I managed to destroy all of the Bradleys, destroy an FO vehicle and burn two Strykers which I suspect were carrying troops.






I achieved this by utilising mobility of my troops (only the SPG 9 was left in place, because it is too slow to pack up and decision was made to sacrifice it). I would crawl them to the roof, wait a turn, give an order to fire and retreat them by use of the pause command.
As for my T 72's, this is how they ended up:

The only excuse I can offer: I wasn't thinking how their placement in editor was exposed to the possible avenue of approach of my opponent. 😄
But, there is a bright spot. This guy destroyed a vehicle, killed a guy with a Javelin and was a general nuisance to Sly's plan:

During the course of the battle, Sly tried to approach/probe my positions. This was the aftermath of any such excursion:

To my surprise, I even managed to surprise him with a howitzer barrage. Waited 13 minutes for the call up time and additional 2 minutes for spotting and got this:


There were more casualties, but it is a tedious process to document all of those.
Both Apache's were shut down immediately on the first turn, giving me some breathing space. 
I hope you will enjoy this quick recap of what happened and I would like to give thanks to @slysniper for a fun and challenging battle.

Minutes 11 through 13

I thought an overview showing all of my pre-battle analysis would come in handy for reference.  To this point @IanL has been pushing down AA2 and AA3.  Other than some long range sniping I have yet to see much movement down AA1... if you don't count the two BMPs and the BRDM-AT that appeared in the last post.  That movement seems to have stopped anyway for now.
My forces obviously are at KT3 elements of 3rd Platoon Mech Infantry.  I also have overwatch elements on KT1 (Blue Ridge) which will change slightly this turn and start to heat up... at KT2 we are both moving toward the Gully Intersection and it could become very deadly ground soon.
Axis Alpha

I moved one of my BTRs from the woods where they couldn't see into the Red Gully too well up to the Blue Ridge to join the first BTR in overwatch on the Red Gully approach and also the AA3 wood line approach.  I pulled the ZSU off this ridge and into the Blue Gully to protect it as that BRDM-AT worries me. 
It didn't take long for the new BTR to spot another BRDM.. this time in the woods on the AA3 approach.  We both opened fire, but while my rounds hit, his missed high... it looks like my BTR was hull down to him while his was not... that was the difference in this gun fight.


So it looks like Ian has two Recon Platoons approaching the bridge, one on AA3 and the other on AA2 in the Red Gully.  I don't know if the BRDM that got shot up this turn is knocked out or not, but it took some damage regardless... still with the status of the previous BRDM I hit in the Red Gully also unknown he has eight light armored vehicles in this sector (all BRDMs I suspect) to my four BTRs, one BMP and ZSU.  Whatever happens its going to get hot over the next several turns.
 
Axis Bravo

This sector has become fairly static.  Ian is still area firing with his BMPs on the Red Ridge and has even moved one of them to the near Red Ridge.  I am keeping my 1st Platoon Mech Infantry (BMPs) in reserve but have moved them forward into the trees to provide overwatch in case Ian attempts to move beyond the Red Ridge or farther into the open area in front of his BRDM-AT.  My infantry at the Farm House have taken significant casualties from his area fire... I have lost one complete Recon Squad, the second has taken a  few casualties, broke and ran back to the assembly area.  The infantry squads in this area have also taken a beating, the two near the Farm House are both down to one man each.  The AT Team is intact though, as is the Infantry Team (with RPG) on the right who also has a Armored Cover Arc in place.  The 3rd Platoon HQ is there to attempt to instill some order.
 
SITMAP to this point:

I have labeled the two suspected Recon Platoons on AA2 and AA3, also the suspected Mech Infantry Platoon on the Red Ridge.  The two BMPS (one knocked out) and the BRDM-AT in the center of Ian's line I suspect could be his HQ element.  I have not seen much of his infantry, and I also suspect he is also keeping his Mech Infantry Platoon (BMP) in reserve for now.

Cheers @Bil Hardenberger for starting a new AAR - an actual AAR this time.
The map looks way smaller than previous episodes - what are the engagement ranges like? Well under 1,000 meters I would say. Was this map selection intentional or a QB thing?

Those would have come in handy at Teutoburg...

I also thought that if the Churchill was only 50 meters away, the crew must have heard the StuG? But then we don't know if the Churchill's engine was running, too? And then obsiovusly the Churchill crew must have been waiting, expecting to ambush any enemy vehicle that showed itself on the ridge. The decisive difference was obviously that the Churchills lacked infantry support. 
The StuG did not reposition to a secondary position, it just withdrew back behind the ridge to be safe from the other Churchills. So no proper shoot and scoot according to your definition, I'm afraid. How the other three Churchills were knocked out (the one close by by the StuG of another platoon; two others were a further 200 meters away, turrets pointing in another direction) is not described in detail. 
It's only in German and rather complicated to acquire via the Monte Cassino Foundation. Some of the book's contents (not the accounts of the actual action) strike me as uncritical/ideologically affirmative, as the author seems to have been a "proud" paratrooper, convinced of what he was doing. But on the plus side, the proceeds of the book's sale benefit the Monte Cassino Foundation. I became aware of the book during my research for my COII Catania/Primosole bridge scenario (https://forums.lnlpublishing.com/p/30089).

This topic deserves to stay up high in the list of topics (no sticky topics here?)! So I thought I could add an interesting account I've come upon, cited from Joseph Klein, Fallschirmjäger. Piniere der 1. Fallschrimjägerdivision im Italienkrieg", p. 89 (poor translation by myelf ^^). The author - who was a platoon leader in the parachute-engineer ("Fallschirmjägerpionier") battalion -  narrates his encounter with a troop of Churchill tanks at Termoli in early October 1943. I found it interesting as it is an example of both "info sharing" and "shoot and scoot".
Context: He and his men stumbled into 4 Churchills when they peeked over a sharp ridge. The clostest tank was only at a distance of 50m and the tanks had to be taken out quickly as they were overlooking the path of approach of their unsuspecting fellow platoons. The author also mentions that they had no Panzerfaust, Panzerschreck ("Ofenrohre") with them. They had captured enemy AT guns, but were reluctant to use them as they had no experience with them. They also couldn't knock the tank out with grenade bundles ("geballte Ladungen") as there was no cover to approach the tanks safely. However, the company of the author was supported by StuGs. His platoon also had a StuG (of some short-barreled variant) at hand, which had to do the job: 
"Due to its inflexibility, our StuG was at a disadvantage against the British tanks. It had no turret, so the whole vehicle had to be turned in order to aim. Also, the short-barreled gun posed some problems*. We hurriedly discussed our options with the StuG-crew. [The author goes on to assert the truth of the incredible story, he also points out that the StuG crewmen - of the 16th tank division - were veterans from the eastern front and their StuG's two (?!) gunbarrels were marked with 8-10 rings, indicating the number of their kills] First, we directed our StuG to the left side of the road which offered better concealment. Then one guy went to peek over the ridge to spot the enemy tank and indicate the line of collimation/direction to the target to another guy, who acted as a grain on which the StuG could orient itself. Finally our StuG was ready. It would need drive up the ridge in a straight line. The StuG's low silhouette was handy in this situation, as only ca. 50cm would need to be exposed to the enemy tank-gunner. As they had also considered the angle to their target, the StuG's crew had depressed their gun to the maximum - it looked as if it would fire into the ground. One of our squad-machine guns and some riflemen would trigger the action by abruptly opening fire at the vision slits in order to dazzle the enemy tank. [details about the position of the MG and riflemen...]
Then we got started: Shortly after the MG started to bark, and rifles and machine-pistols started to fire, the StuG's engine roared as it made its short approach to the crest of the ridge, followed by the dry "bang" of the StuG's gun. The Churchill tank was ablaze. It had been taken totally by surprise. As planned, its crew had been distracted by the machine gun and rifle fire, so they were unaware of the more serious threat. But I can't rule out that perhaps the machine gun and rifle fire had also had some effect on the crew inside the tank. We all rejoiced and were so excited that we almost forgot about the second enemy tank and threw our arms up in the air. [the StuG had withdrawn back behind the crest immediately after its shot] 
 
----------
* "...wobei die kurzen Stummelrohre ihrer Kanone nur wenig Ausschlag und Richtungsmöglichkeiten auf das Ziel geben konnten" ???

I am adding one more rule... it should be the last one.. it will be an Advanced/Optional rule but it answers a need (brought up by @BletchleyGeek in the other thread:
8. HEADQUARTERS UNITS a. A unit may check for C2 against a higher echelon HQ i. Example: a Squad is not within C2 of its PL – but clicking on the Squad shows that it can spot the Company HQ unit, it is considered in C2 and may receive orders as such ii. This check is only applicable in the following circumstances: 1. The HQ unit is in the unit’s chain of command (i.e. if a Platoon, then the superior Company or Battalion HQ, a neighboring Company HQ is NOT eligible) 2. The HQ unit has not suffered a casualty to its Commander iii. NOT applicable to Command Squads and XO Teams. b. HQ Casualty:  If a formation loses its HQ or its officer as a casualty, the lowest numbered surviving Squad/Team/Vehicle takes over. To be in C2 all subunits must check LOS to determine whether they are in C2 or not.

Cool indeed, mate. But I am once again on cold turkey CM hiatus for work reasons; relocating to a new country. Keep pushing the boundaries!

Though I want to say yes..  I think it would be tough to make a determination with those HQ units with regard to C2.  But really that kind of micro-managing should be left within the Platoon structure.

It is worth repeating the following Area Fire rule as it comes into play in this turn:
 Axis Alpha

Enemy contacts:  the image above shows two enemy groupings.. the one on the right of four light armored vehicles, and on the left of a single light armored vehicle.  These contacts and the ATGMs on Objective Red were the catalyst for my planned moves, shown below:

In the image above, note that I am withdrawing my Company HQ BMP-2 off of Blue Ridge (KT-1), at least until I see those ATGMs withdraw from their strong Objective Red position.  Also the second BTR with one squad will also be moving out of the Blue Gully and to a position where it can provide some overwatch into the Red Gully.  My Listening Post is now manned by one team and the Command Squad from the Company HQ.  The other two BTRs are shown (left of the image), one at Objective Blue where it has loaded the AT-13 team, and the other on its way to Blue to collect another team. All of the assets gathered by these BTRs will move to the Listening Post position (shown on the right of this image).
Area Fire Type 3 
This is an example of Area Fire Type 3, note that the Platoon HQ unit has moved back to within C2 range of the Mortar team, it also has a UI contact on Objective Red, so it satisfies the rule constraints for Area Fire Type 3 (refer to the quote at the top of this post).  Over the next few turns the mortar will drop some rounds on Objective Red and hopefully force Ian to re-position those assets, if I'm lucky it might even cause some damage.  Note that on map mortars are not considered artillery so do not have to abide by the artillery rules, unless they are being used in an indirect call for fire type mission... this will be direct fire as targeted.

 
Axis Bravo
On Axis Bravo Ian area fired at my recon squad and the farm house... this fire came from the two light vehicles on the Far Red Ridge.  From the rate of fire and the size of the impacts this fire looks like it came from something like a BMP.  I suffered one casualty in the recon squad and Ian also took down the wall in front of the farm house... luckily my forward AT Team suffered no casualties and maintained their position... the recon squad does withdraw under this fire.