Vet 0369

If the Cold War turned hot in the late 70s or early 80s, I don’t envision many USMC amphibious assaults taking place outside of Norway. The USMC just isn’t large enough. The primary Marine area of operation was defense of Norway. That’s why we trained there starting in 1976. In 2020, the total strength of the USMC was 219,458 Marines. That’s 180,958 Regular Marines and 38,500 Reserve Marines. Those are the numbers allowed by the Congress, who set the manning limits for the U.S. military. To put it all in perspective, of the five largest Marine forces in the world, Russia’s Naval infantry is the largest, followed by the ROK Marines. The USMC is number five in size. Even the Netherlands Korps Mareine (spelling is probably incorrect, but you get the gist) is larger than the USMC. The entire USMC is only about 30,000 larger than the U.S. Army Reserves. People think we’re larger because we do more with fewer.
 
Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I shall fear no evil, for I’m the meanest S.O.B. in the valley!

Following is a quote (perhaps not exact) by a very famous man:
”We don’t stop playing because we get older, we get older because we stop playing.”
Benjamin Franklin 

Following is a quote (perhaps not exact) by a very famous man:
”We don’t stop playing because we get older, we get older because we stop playing.”
Benjamin Franklin 

Following is a quote (perhaps not exact) by a very famous man:
”We don’t stop playing because we get older, we get older because we stop playing.”
Benjamin Franklin 

Well, that’s probable, however, if you open the CMRT Fire and Rubble manual in the game folder, the Schwimmwagen is detailed on page 27 under Unarmored vehicles. It might just be me, but the manual for an expansion to an existing family is always the first thing I look at after downloading the expansion. It helps me to understand what has changed, and new advantages and disadvantages in the expansion.

I just installed F&R on my mid-2010 MacPro and didn’t lose a thing. When asked for my install path, I specified my Combat Missions directory on a drive where I keep all my games. It’s installer created a new “Applications” directory, and put the new CMRT in that Applications directory. Then I dragged the new one out of the Applications directory and dropped it into my CMRT directory (I have a specific directory for every Combat Mission game). It replaced the old files with the new ones, but left my existing Data, Mods, and zCMRT directories alone except for the new files. Or, at least that’s how I remember doing it.

But not before you save your mods and saved games. You naughty, naughty boy @purpleheart23!

A residence in Texas is having a blow-out party tonight😎

I’d like to add my own USMC and USMCR with the M-14 and  M-16 experiences to this discussion. I qualified with the M-14 every year from 1969 to 1973, and the M-16 from 1975 until 1980. With the M-14, we qualified at 200, 300, and 500 yards. With the M-16, we qualified at 360 meters (my memories are up to 50 years old, so please forgive me if I’m off a bit) using known distance (KD) targets. Max effective range was 460 meters (~500 yards) for the M-14, and 360 meters for the M-16. For those who don’t know the term “maximum effective range,” in the USMC it is the range at which any Marine can be expected to inflict a casualty on the enemy (which means hit, but not necessarily kill the target). We qualified with open sights (adjustable aperture and windage on the M-14, and long/short rear flip sight and bullet adjustable front sights on the M-16). We didn’t have any “glass.” Combat ranges are considerably shorter. The max effective range for my trained M-60 gun teams with tripod was 1500 yards. Bipod was probably 500 to 600 yards. In a defensive fixed position, If you can see the enemy at those ranges, you probably want to begin by dropping company level 60mm mortar rounds on them, then your M-203s, and open up with your rifles around 200. Finally, you’ll have your Pigs open up across the line from the flanks. I recommend NEVER opening up with your pigs at range. It just gives the enemy targets.

There was an interesting paper written some years ago called "Increasing Small Arms Lethality in Afghanistan: Taking Back the Infantry Half-Kilometer" by US Army Major Thomas Ehrhart.
https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA512331.pdf
It argued that small arms fire from modern US troops was not effective past 300 meters. Since the Vietnam era, US equipment, training, and doctrine had been optimized for firefights on level terrain at less than 300 meters, and most effective at less than 200. I don't know if anything has changed at all since the paper was written, but according to the paper, about half of all engagements in Afghanistan occurred at ranges beyond 300 meters, and US troops were often at a disadvantage against the Taliban. Taliban fighters liked to park themselves on high ground extremely far away, and then hammer US infantry down below with mortars and machine guns, outranging them. The Taliban were usually lightly equipped as well, and could maneuver easily through the rough terrain. By contrast, the US infantry were loaded down with heavy equipment and were not set up properly for the high altitude. So the Taliban could both out-gun and out-maneuver US infantry. Some guys would be equipped with M240s and whatnot, but about 80% of a typical US infantry company could not effectively return fire at the ranges involved.
Based on that, a 500 meter engagement range for US infantry in CMCW seems excessive. WW2 US infantry could certainly do that though.

The US Army by the book maximum effective range of the M16A1 and A2 is 460 Meters. In reality when we went to the range, the farthest pop up silhouette was at 300 Meters. In Desert Storm I fired my M16A2 at max 150 Meters. In my 2 tours during Iraqi Freedom I fired my M4 100- 150 Meters max. However both of those were very different from what war in the Fulda Gap would be like. 

Part of the Marine Corps Hymn is "From the snows of far off northern lands, to the sunny tropic scenes, you will find us always on the job, the United States Marines." Yes, you're all correct about Norway. I went there from Wichita, KS with my Marine Reserve Battalion on a NATO exercise (Operation Teamwork) in September 1976. We were told that it was the first time Marine Reserves were in an exercise outside the U.S., and at the time, it was the largest NATO exercise ever held. We operated north of Trondhiem, about 200 miles south of the Artic Circle. Our Allies were Norwegian Light Infantry, and the Aggressors were British SAS. I think the whole thing was on a hair-trigger as the Soviets massed troops on their northern border with Norway, and we had our ammunition ships sitting just off the coast from us to supply us at a moment's notice. I must admit that I was not impressed with the Marine planning staff that supposedly prepared our participation. Just before we left the states, we were issued Poplin Jungle Utilities that the U.S. troops had worn in Viet Nam. The advanced party to set up our base at Oerland was sent without the proper "colder weather" clothing or galoshes. Some ended up with trench foot so bad that toes had to be amputated, and about a dozen cases of double-pneumonia so bad they had to be medivac. We went from being used to 30C temps in Kansas and Missouri to 10-15C temps in Norway in jungle camos. Flying home, our Company was so ill that one of the flight attendants asked me if the men were really Marines because no one had made a pass at her. I explained that we had just been through a tough exercise and were all sick.
The bright spot was that the Norwegian public treated us fantastic (something we weren't used to just three years after the war ended in Viet Nam}, and they were astonished that we were in the reserves because we wanted to be, not because we had to be. They constantly expressed gratitude that we were there, in there words "to protect them when we didn't have to be." I still have a warm spot in my heart for the Norwegian people.

I’d like to add my own USMC and USMCR with the M-14 and  M-16 experiences to this discussion. I qualified with the M-14 every year from 1969 to 1973, and the M-16 from 1975 until 1980. With the M-14, we qualified at 200, 300, and 500 yards. With the M-16, we qualified at 360 meters (my memories are up to 50 years old, so please forgive me if I’m off a bit) using known distance (KD) targets. Max effective range was 460 meters (~500 yards) for the M-14, and 360 meters for the M-16. For those who don’t know the term “maximum effective range,” in the USMC it is the range at which any Marine can be expected to inflict a casualty on the enemy (which means hit, but not necessarily kill the target). We qualified with open sights (adjustable aperture and windage on the M-14, and long/short rear flip sight and bullet adjustable front sights on the M-16). We didn’t have any “glass.” Combat ranges are considerably shorter. The max effective range for my trained M-60 gun teams with tripod was 1500 yards. Bipod was probably 500 to 600 yards. In a defensive fixed position, If you can see the enemy at those ranges, you probably want to begin by dropping company level 60mm mortar rounds on them, then your M-203s, and open up with your rifles around 200. Finally, you’ll have your Pigs open up across the line from the flanks. I recommend NEVER opening up with your pigs at range. It just gives the enemy targets.

I’d like to add my own USMC and USMCR with the M-14 and  M-16 experiences to this discussion. I qualified with the M-14 every year from 1969 to 1973, and the M-16 from 1975 until 1980. With the M-14, we qualified at 200, 300, and 500 yards. With the M-16, we qualified at 360 meters (my memories are up to 50 years old, so please forgive me if I’m off a bit) using known distance (KD) targets. Max effective range was 460 meters (~500 yards) for the M-14, and 360 meters for the M-16. For those who don’t know the term “maximum effective range,” in the USMC it is the range at which any Marine can be expected to inflict a casualty on the enemy (which means hit, but not necessarily kill the target). We qualified with open sights (adjustable aperture and windage on the M-14, and long/short rear flip sight and bullet adjustable front sights on the M-16). We didn’t have any “glass.” Combat ranges are considerably shorter. The max effective range for my trained M-60 gun teams with tripod was 1500 yards. Bipod was probably 500 to 600 yards. In a defensive fixed position, If you can see the enemy at those ranges, you probably want to begin by dropping company level 60mm mortar rounds on them, then your M-203s, and open up with your rifles around 200. Finally, you’ll have your Pigs open up across the line from the flanks. I recommend NEVER opening up with your pigs at range. It just gives the enemy targets.

I’d like to add my own USMC and USMCR with the M-14 and  M-16 experiences to this discussion. I qualified with the M-14 every year from 1969 to 1973, and the M-16 from 1975 until 1980. With the M-14, we qualified at 200, 300, and 500 yards. With the M-16, we qualified at 360 meters (my memories are up to 50 years old, so please forgive me if I’m off a bit) using known distance (KD) targets. Max effective range was 460 meters (~500 yards) for the M-14, and 360 meters for the M-16. For those who don’t know the term “maximum effective range,” in the USMC it is the range at which any Marine can be expected to inflict a casualty on the enemy (which means hit, but not necessarily kill the target). We qualified with open sights (adjustable aperture and windage on the M-14, and long/short rear flip sight and bullet adjustable front sights on the M-16). We didn’t have any “glass.” Combat ranges are considerably shorter. The max effective range for my trained M-60 gun teams with tripod was 1500 yards. Bipod was probably 500 to 600 yards. In a defensive fixed position, If you can see the enemy at those ranges, you probably want to begin by dropping company level 60mm mortar rounds on them, then your M-203s, and open up with your rifles around 200. Finally, you’ll have your Pigs open up across the line from the flanks. I recommend NEVER opening up with your pigs at range. It just gives the enemy targets.

Part of the Marine Corps Hymn is "From the snows of far off northern lands, to the sunny tropic scenes, you will find us always on the job, the United States Marines." Yes, you're all correct about Norway. I went there from Wichita, KS with my Marine Reserve Battalion on a NATO exercise (Operation Teamwork) in September 1976. We were told that it was the first time Marine Reserves were in an exercise outside the U.S., and at the time, it was the largest NATO exercise ever held. We operated north of Trondhiem, about 200 miles south of the Artic Circle. Our Allies were Norwegian Light Infantry, and the Aggressors were British SAS. I think the whole thing was on a hair-trigger as the Soviets massed troops on their northern border with Norway, and we had our ammunition ships sitting just off the coast from us to supply us at a moment's notice. I must admit that I was not impressed with the Marine planning staff that supposedly prepared our participation. Just before we left the states, we were issued Poplin Jungle Utilities that the U.S. troops had worn in Viet Nam. The advanced party to set up our base at Oerland was sent without the proper "colder weather" clothing or galoshes. Some ended up with trench foot so bad that toes had to be amputated, and about a dozen cases of double-pneumonia so bad they had to be medivac. We went from being used to 30C temps in Kansas and Missouri to 10-15C temps in Norway in jungle camos. Flying home, our Company was so ill that one of the flight attendants asked me if the men were really Marines because no one had made a pass at her. I explained that we had just been through a tough exercise and were all sick.
The bright spot was that the Norwegian public treated us fantastic (something we weren't used to just three years after the war ended in Viet Nam}, and they were astonished that we were in the reserves because we wanted to be, not because we had to be. They constantly expressed gratitude that we were there, in there words "to protect them when we didn't have to be." I still have a warm spot in my heart for the Norwegian people.

I’d like to add my own USMC and USMCR with the M-14 and  M-16 experiences to this discussion. I qualified with the M-14 every year from 1969 to 1973, and the M-16 from 1975 until 1980. With the M-14, we qualified at 200, 300, and 500 yards. With the M-16, we qualified at 360 meters (my memories are up to 50 years old, so please forgive me if I’m off a bit) using known distance (KD) targets. Max effective range was 460 meters (~500 yards) for the M-14, and 360 meters for the M-16. For those who don’t know the term “maximum effective range,” in the USMC it is the range at which any Marine can be expected to inflict a casualty on the enemy (which means hit, but not necessarily kill the target). We qualified with open sights (adjustable aperture and windage on the M-14, and long/short rear flip sight and bullet adjustable front sights on the M-16). We didn’t have any “glass.” Combat ranges are considerably shorter. The max effective range for my trained M-60 gun teams with tripod was 1500 yards. Bipod was probably 500 to 600 yards. In a defensive fixed position, If you can see the enemy at those ranges, you probably want to begin by dropping company level 60mm mortar rounds on them, then your M-203s, and open up with your rifles around 200. Finally, you’ll have your Pigs open up across the line from the flanks. I recommend NEVER opening up with your pigs at range. It just gives the enemy targets.

I first saw "Connie" in the late 70's or early 80's in Blackhawk, Huey, and Armor PM series on turbine engine maintenance when I wrote engine maintenance manuals for GE Aircraft Engines. I have to say, the clothing changed greatly. In the ones I saw, "Connie" was dressed in "Daisy Duke" shorts and a halter top.

Ok, if you have a mouse with a left and a right button, right-click on the CMBN icon and select “show package contents.” If you don’t have a two-button mouse, single-click on the CMBN icon, go to the “file” menu, and select “open.” Then select “show package contents” from the drop down. Open the “Contents” folder, then open the “Resources” folder. The “Data”folder is in the “Resources” folder.
You must follow the same process for the all other CM games, except CMFB and CMSF2. Those are the latest releases, so BFC made installing mods on the Mac OS easier by placing the data folder in the game folder.

There could be any number of reasons why your FO and mortar team won’t fire, including moral factor, not being in range, no line of sight, etc. try selecting “C” and give them a “target,” “light target,” or “area” command to the icon of the enemy you want to target. If the target is reddish and black, it means something is blocking your LOS to that target. If your selected FO or mortar crew are reduced moral, broken, or pinned, etc., they might just be telling you to “bugger off, I’m not doing that.” As said previously, without more information or screen shots with the UI showing, there is very little possibility of anyone being able to help you except with a “wild-ass guess (WAG). Sometimes, and  don’t ask me how I know this, one might have reduced or turned off trees (Ctl+R I think) by accident or while trying to plot movements or something, so everything looks open when there actually trees or bushes at the troop level. Again, don’t ask me how I know this after the many times during my 13 years of PBEM play during which I was pulling my hair out trying to determine why my units weren’t firing. Regarding your mortar, the enemy might be within the minimum range of the mortar. Usually 40-50m for say a 60mm mortar.😱

M1903/M1917 vs M1 effectiveness depends more on the area of operation (AOO) and whether in defense or advance. When you’re in a defensive position with an open 1000 yard field of fire, the bolt actions are going to be more effective than the M1. That’s the type of fire for which they designed. When assaulting or defending in forested areas, urban areas, or other areas with limited ranges, the M1 takes the lead. During those assaults, soldiers and Marines learned to effectively fire from the hip. In those situations, the M1903, M1917, and K98 simply couldn’t match the M1, so that would put the Brazilians more on a par with the Axis infantry. Without a doubt though, the BAR, which was designed in WWI, was overmatched by the MG42 as an organic squad support weapon. The U.S. light MGs were part of the weapons platoon, and were assigned to rifle platoons on an as needed basis, just like the M60 MG during the Vietnam war. 
The U.S. Marine Corp declined to receive the M1 when it was accepted because they wanted the 1000 yard range of the M1903. When the Marines landed on Guadalcanal, they carried M1903s. They fought off attacks by Japanese soldiers who were also using bolt action rifles. Then, shortly after National Guard units landed to take over the AOO, Marines “found” M1s to replace their M1903s that were “lost” in combat. I believe that says more about the effectiveness of the M1 over the M1903 in that type of combat.
I’ve fired the M1903, M1, M-14, and M-16, and would chose an M1903 for long-range sniping, M-14 for fixed defensive positions (because of the 20-round magazine), and the M-16 for limited visibility assaults. Max effective ranges (the range at which a Marine can be expected to inflict a casualty): M1903 -1000 yards (yd), M1-600 yd, M-14 - 460 meters (m), and M-16 - 360 m.
The effectiveness of a weapon is almost entirely dependent on the training of and use by the combatant carrying it.
 

Area fire for suppression, what we usually call “base of fire before an assault,” is completely dependent on the situation and terrain, and must be determined on an individual basis. Suppressive fire on an area that’s open, but with a lot of concealment is going to be different than suppressive fire before assaulting a building in a MOUT. This is where your scouts can really help to assess what you need. Another mistake I notice is using a hunt or slow movement command after contact. You already know about where the enemy is, so try using fast movement commands. It makes your pixeltruppen much harder to hit, and is usually how you do it in real life, especially in MOUT.
Probably the best thing I can recommend for anyone with a new title (or even an old title), is to play ALL the campaigns through. For example, over the years, I’ve played the US and Russian campaigns in CMBS. I haven’t played the Ukraine campaign because it uses basically the same equipment and tactics as the Russian, but I probably will at some point. I have a friend against whom I’ve played against since CMBB, and every title since CMBN. We switch between red and blue for each new battle. I tend to win most battles because I’ve played the campaigns of both sides and know the strengths and weaknesses of each. “The Book” is just a basic starting point, and good commanders tend to throw it away when the situation requires. Don’t be afraid to try new tactics and commands. After all, it’s just a game, and you don’t actually kill or get anyone killed. Remember, a great plan is great only until the first contract. Then you have to “adapt, improvise, and overcome.”

Sorry for coming so late to the game this time, but here is my take on this whole question. I agree with @THH149 above.
First to set my level of knowledge, "0369" was (since I've been out the the USMC for almost 40 years and the TO&E has probably changed) the USMC Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) code for "Infantry, Small Unit Leader" (or Platoon Sgt). Starting at the company level, we had the Commanding Officer (CO) and the Second in Command Executive Officer (XO). who controlled the battle and movement in a general way. They didn't evacuate the wounded, distribute ammo, or anything like that. They didn't issue specific instructions, just something like "First platoon is the base of fire and second platoon is the maneuver (assault) element." The Platoon Commanders of those units would provide more specific instructions to the Platoon Sgts and Squad Leaders. We would ensure that those orders were carried out. After the assault (using bounding fire), the Platoon Sgt would consolidate the position, prepare for a counterattack, collect and redistribute ammo and food, ensure that any casualties were brought in from the assault path (we NEVER stopped in our advance to give aid to casualties. that is why we had Corpsmen), and emplace any Company level attached weapons such as MG's, Mortars, and Antitank/Assault teams. When we had M-14's, we each carried 180 rounds in nine magazines, and for M-16's 280 rounds in eight magazines. if we had weapons attached such as MG's and 60mm mortars, we'd each also carry 200-400 rounds of 7.62mm (we had M-60s) and two 60mm mortar rounds. Finally, we'd usually also carry 40mm grenades for the M203s and at least one or two claymore mines. Kind of why Marines are considered "Heavy" infantry. I never even heard of a 2IC team until I started playing CM. I honestly don't know if the US Army designates one or if it's just one of those things that BF uses to give us to simplify buddy aid. Recon Teams are usually at Battalion level, the same as Javelins. We never saw them at the Platoon level. We would assign a fire team or squad to perform the recon for our advance, and to keep our flanks secure. We ALWAYS maintained our scouts in front. They are useless in the rear.
I always try to use the above to equip and organize my Marines (and Army even though I know they are not trained the same) in CM. For me, they are tactics that I know best.
 

We had something similar when I was overseas with the Marines.
We, the unwilling;
Led by the unqualified;
Doing the unnecessary for the ungrateful;
Have been doing so much for so long with so little;
Can do anything forever with nothing!

A CM module is never late! A CM module arrives precisely when it means too.
Gandalf