[US Armored Infantry Platoon HQs]

A few months ago I noticed that US Armored Infantry platoon HQs were part of 1st Squad.  I am almost certain, that in the past, the Armored Infantry Platoon HQ was a separate HQ team.  I tried a forum search on the topic but did not find anything that addressed this.  Was this changed at some point?  Maybe it is just my memory? Also since the platoon HQ is part of 1st squad there is no HQ or unit area in the UI.  If this is the way it has always been what is the reasoning behind it?  It seems strange not to have a HQ / unit area in the UI.

 

This is a screen shot of a US Rifle Platoon HQ that has the separate HQ Team.  How I thought it should look.

 

 

This is a screen shot of a US Armored Infantry Platoon HQ that is part of the 1st Squad. (I don't recall this before)

 

I apologize if this is the way it is suppose to be and if it has always been this way.  Just seems odd to me.............. 

[Very interresting article - The Rifle Platoon in MOUT]

Thanks for sharing.

[Somebody's Hero - A CAAR]

Telling this one from the first person perspective I see and using some actual Russian words!  Maybe we will learn to swear in Russian by the end of this CAAR.  (Might have to include a rating on the cover)  PG13 or whatever.    

 

Be careful of that barn.  My experience is that barns offer concealment but are basically death traps that provide little cover.  However your opponent may have trouble area targeting the barn due to the wheat field.  Good luck.  See you in Berlin.       

[Advantages of having higher command on the ground?]

So, this is more suited for the extreme difficulty version of the game rather than anything lower than the max setting?

 

Do you Always purchase the battalion command unit if you have more than a single company at hand?

 

1)  All difficulty levels rely on C2 for passing information, calling for artillery, morale, leadership etc..... If I understand your question I think it is to your advantage to have a solid C2 chain all the time at all skill levels.

 

2)  Yes I always purchase the battalion commander if I have more than one company.  I do this for the same reason as the above example.  But this time instead of platoons insert companies in the example.  I think the Bn. HQ is well worth the purchase points when you have more than one company.  What can be done is to strip out any vehicles and the Bn XO team and a US Mech Bn. HQ with soft factors of veteran, normal, fit, 0 leadership will cost 28 points.  Well worth the 28 points to have information being exchanged between the companies of the battalion.     

 

 

Considering how I have seen troops getting nervous if not worst (literally) after losing their HQ unit, do you think that losing the battalion HQ will have the same impact on all units of the battalion? I'm asking because I never experienced such a situation.

 

 

As womble said.  

 

I will add.  I try to keep my Bn. HQs relatively safe.  I will normally set them up in the ground floor of a two story building if possible.  Only ever lost one and that was from pre-planned artillery that got him while he was looking out the window.  Now I set the Bn. HQ Team to the HIDE command during set up.  If you like to play with big armor formations and the Bn. commander is also a tank commander then you may be torn between keeping the old man safe and using the firepower of his tank in the fight.  Especially if you are on defense where you typically need all the firepower you can muster.

 

When commanding multiple companies it is better to buy and risk losing a Bn HQ than never having one at all.     

[Allies - CMBN Buying The Farm - Crowd-sourced DAR]

Ian, this is very cool.  I am glad you and MethodGamer thought to do this.  Now for some questions.

 

I have been giving my units 10 second pauses at waypoints because the spotting cycle is seven seconds.  So I thought 10 seconds was all they needed.  I notice you used 15 seconds one time but mostly 20 seconds (twice what I use).  I am now reconsidering my SOP for the length of pauses.  I would be interested to here your and others thoughts about the time on paused waypoints.

 

Also what are your and other peoples thoughts on the use of covered target arcs for the advancing units?  I typically give my scout teams about 30 meter circular target arcs.  If I don't give them a short target arc they will many times stop and shoot at the first OpFor unit they spot, attract all kinds of return fire and usually no more scout team.      

[Advantages of having higher command on the ground?]

I am wondering, what is the advantage (if there's one) in having on the battlefield your company HQ / battalion HQ?

 

Suppose you need a few platoons, or a few companies, for your quick battle, is there a reason why you should spend those few hundred points more to get an IFV/APC + the command team/support of command team?

 

I think you need the higher HQ for the C2 within the unit.  Example: Over on the left flank 1st platoon spots an OpFor tank.  This information is reported up to the Company HQ.  The info is then passed down to 2nd Platoon on the right flank.  Without the Company HQ this C2 link would be broken.

 

Using command vehicles in Black Sea will result in a slightly quicker call for artillery.  (No effect in the WWII titles)  See below link.

http://community.battlefront.com/topic/118608-command-vehicle-radios-vs-backpack-radios/

        

The Company support team (The XO Team) will take over from the Company Command Team if the company commander is KIA.  I sometimes delete the XO teams if I need the purchase points elsewhere.  If I keep the XO Team I normally use them as medics.

http://community.battlefront.com/topic/118325-xo-takes-over-from-kia-co/

[Axis - CMBN Buying The Farm - Crowd-sourced DAR]

<Snip>

before we actually give orders and send the turns, we'll read, comment and take advice from everyone on the boards, including from each other. We'll normally post our plans, and give forum members 24 hours to provide advice before playing our turns.

<Snip> 

 

This idea sounds interesting.  I look forward to it.  Will you wait for comment before playing every single turn or maybe every five turns or so?  Or maybe when decision points are reached.  I was just thinking it could become long and drawn out if you waited before every turn.  Especially in the first 10 minutes (turns) while the scouts are using the hunt command to find the defenders.  

 

In any case this is different and I hope to learn from it.     

[Supplies in Jeeps, Trucks, Etc.]

<snip>  If the inventory in the vehicle is showing when there is no driver on board, then it's a bug and I certainly can't explain it.

 

As to the ammo count thing: when you grab an AT rocket, it's assumed you're going to grab a bomb with it, yes. Which is annoying if your team just wants all the ammo and they can't have it without taking an extra tube.

 

Maybe one day we'll get a proper inventory system rather than the half-assed, bolted-on, afterthought kludge we're stuck with right now. I know inventory management isn't what the game is supposed to be about, but I think there's room for something rather more complete and complex in this niche of detail-obsessed geekery.

 

Thanks womble!  Ditto on the inventory system.  

[Skill Level: Iron]

This is good to know. If further occurs to me that when arranging PBEM, it's probably a good idea to decide what the level of difficulty will be. I did a lot of PBEM in CMx1, but I don't recall ever dealing with that. Perhaps this was predetermined for the Invitational Tourney and all the ROW tournaments? Even so, I had a Forever War going with first Kingfish, then NG CavScout, and I don't recall negotiating a difficulty setting there. Was there a default, and only a hardy few deviated therefrom? Been too long.

 

John unfortunately CMx1 was before my time with this game.  As a result I am not familiar with the skill settings of the CMx1 game.  I read posts from you old timers about CMx1 and I am sorry I missed out on it.  Sounds like it had a lot of cool stuff especially considering how long ago it was originally released.  I read a thread just recently where they said a tank could push a second vehicle out of the way to open up a blocked bridge.  Fire in buildings (and I think fields?) that spread is another CMx1 feature that comes to mind.  Makes me wonder how cool CMx3 will be.  I am thinking something along the lines of the Holodeck on the Enterprise.       

 

The difference is that in real time the effect of only seeing spotted friendly units when a friendly unit is selected is always in effect since there are no separate playback and orders phases. This is also true in turn-based TCP/IP since that is actually real time with mandatory pauses every 60 seconds.

 

Thanks.  This helps to explain where the verbiage in the manuals came from.  And I did not even think about TCP/IP.  Maybe in a future version of the manual they can change the wording some to differentiate between the different play styles.  Wow, Real Time Iron, now that is hard core.

 

Thanks for the effort and screenshots. Iron as described in the manual definitely seemed to much hassle to be worth it. I may yet try it. And it will be entirely your fault!

 

Your welcome.  Now back to making those CAARs!!!   

[Somebody's Hero - A CAAR]

Yes!! Another volume to add to my comic book collection!!  And for 10 cents how can you go wrong?  

[CM:BN Screenshot Thread #2]

I had a company of infantry advancing through bocage type terrain.  They came up on some open fields with the objective on the far side.  I suspected the OpFor had the fields covered by fire.  The wind was light out of the northwest.  I know how to solve this problem.  Called for two out of three tubes of 105mm arty to fire light.  This will give me about 5 minutes to cross the danger area.  They were making good time and then just as the first fire teams started to reach the far side ......................... mine field............  As my plan begins to unravel.  It started off so well .........      

 

[Skill Level: Iron]

I think there is some confusion reference skill level Iron which may be aggravated by the description for it in the game manual.  The below was taken from page 29 of the CMBN, CMFI, CMRT, CMBS manuals and page 43 of the CMSF manual.  All the manuals read the same for skill level Iron.  I bolded the last part of the description that I think is confusing and probably incorrect.  Judging from comments on the forum I think this bolded part puts off a lot of people who might use skill level Iron and benefit from the more detailed portrayal it provides of a units C2 status during the action/playback phase in WEGO.

 

From the manuals:

Iron is an optional setting that goes even one step further than Elite, and introduces special restrictions on what the player can do and when. While even more realistic than the other settings, this option introduces a number of interface limitations which might put off the casual player, so it is strictly an optional choice.

- Friendly units need to be spotted just like enemy units. If you have a friendly unit not in line of sight or in contact with another friendly unit, then the only way to find this unit is by either re-establishing contact with another friendly unit or by clicking through the chain of command in the game interface, jumping from unit to unit.

 

I admit I am not aware of any special restrictions on the player.  AFAIK with the exception of the action/playback phase Iron plays just like Elite.  You do not have to click through the chain of command, jumping from unit to unit to find the out of contact unit.  When you have no unit selected (highlighted) all your units are displayed, whether they are in or out of C2, just like in the other skill levels.  The difference between Elite and Iron is when you are in action/playback phase and you have a friendly unit selected.  In this situation you can only see what the selected friendly unit is aware of to include other friendly units.  This aids in the understanding of C2 and how C2, or the lack of it, plays a role in how this unit may react to different situations.  When you unselect the unit all your units are again displayed along with what information you have on OpFor units.  When you are in orders phase and you select a friendly unit all other friendly units remained displayed, just like in Elite.       

 

This screenshot is from orders phase with no friendly unit selected.  Same as Elite skill level.

 

This screenshot is from orders phase with a friendly team selected & no C2.  Same as Elite skill level.  

 

Action/playback phase with a friendly unit selected & no C2.  This is the difference from Elite. (As I understand it)

 

In screenshot #3 Iron mode displays how A Team/3^rd Squad perceives their situation.  They can hear the shooting from two friendly tanks and one friendly fire team that are in contact along the road on their left flank.  They also have some limited knowledge that there might be some friendly teams between themselves and the friendlies along the road.  They have no knowledge of any OpFor units.  (Actually there are OpFor units across the field but with no C2 the info is not reaching A Team/3^rd Squad)  A Team/3^rd Squad is green experience with okay morale.  IMO Iron mode makes it easier to recognize and predict what may happen if this team of green troops makes contact with OpFor units in its current C2 situation.   

 

Maybe this confusion comes from the difference between WEGO and Real Time?  I don't play real time but maybe a real time player would have to click through his units to find one that was out of C2?  If anybody has any information to add or maybe understands the manual directions better than I do please post a clarification. 

 

Anyways, for WEGO players if you like Elite you would probably like Iron and should consider it. 

 

[Supplies in Jeeps, Trucks, Etc.]

But one of the unmounted jeeps does show in the UI that there's a bazooka with ammo for it.  Why is this?

 

Is the jeep completely dismounted?  Not even the assigned driver in it?  As Denis said, my experience is if no troops at all are in the vehicle you cannot see the ammo & weapons stored in the vehicle.  If there is at least one troop in the vehicle then you can.  As in the below photos.  I am not using a jeep in the example but I did do a quick test with three jeeps purchased in the editor and they worked the same.

 

 

 

If you have a completely empty vehicle and can still see ammo and equipment stored in the vehicle I have to admit I don't think I have seen that.  If this is the case we might need womble or IanL to explain it. 

 

What I noticed about the second screenshot was that one area shows four AT rockets and one area shows three.  Is it counting one pre-loaded in the bazooka??

[Your Favorite CM: Black Sea Vehicle?]

Over 1 Billion enemies, foreign and domestic served

 

LOL    That was good.

[The Battle of La Ferme Dupont - A CAAR]

<snip>

We have CMBN, CMBT, CMFI. We have done CMBN, so we're looking at CMRT and CMFI for the next one. 

 

Anyone making a map (please let us know in advance of your intent) will have their handle (or name) on the cover of the next CAAR as the map-maker. Be aware we do need to take a look at the map to make sure it will work but generally any well made map should be fine. If in doubt, check with us. 

 

Anyone interested? 

 

A new setting for the CAAR is a good idea.  It would be cool to see Lt. Warner and the boys in Italy or Russia.  Things are getting busy around here so I can't commit to making the map.  But maybe by bumping this up somebody else will notice and be able to put together a 500 x 500 map.  

[How about a Kickstarted-funded Tunisia module?]

<snip> My personal wish is for them to make a CM game based around 1985 with a war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. <snip>  

 

YES!!   The moders would probably be able to make many spin off type scenarios once they had the basic 1980s NATO and Warsaw Pact TOE.  The Falklands, Grenada, Panama, maybe Iran vs. Iraq (guess you would need arid terrain) any number of small brush wars ................      

[CMPzC Allied AAR: Assault on Hex (1,7)]

Thanks for posting your thoughts on the battle.  (The AAR on your DAR  )  You provide some interesting details on your perspective of the fight. 

 

My biggest problems in this battle were:

 

1.  indirect fire - <snip> had only one fire mission (on that v-shaped trench near the main road). The terrain is mostly flat with no real elevation - just enough elevation along the roads to block LOS from field to field. Add to that the many trees lining the roads and the tall grasses and well...what spotting round? lol

 

2.  slow infantry - still a beef of mine is no tank riders in the west....normally I would have had the infantry ride the tanks to the ford and dismount there.  It's really difficult to keep up with the tanks. My infantry took a LONG time getting there, and when they did they were wet and tired.

 

3. finding a ford location - this was very deceptive. It looked like you could ford almost anywhere, but if you ran the cursor near the ford banks for this terrain, the cursor turns into a "no go" one for vehicles about 95% of the river's length. My tankers looked like they were drunk sometimes, spinning around aimlessly because they couldn't cross.  That was my first lesson with fords! 

 

1 and 2.  I wonder if we did have tank riders if a Forward Observer or HQ unit would have been high enough up on the back of a tank to solve the spotting problem from field to field.  TRPs probably would have helped to a certain extent but I assume they were not in your TOE.  

 

3.  I have found what IanL advised in post #13 reference locating fords is very effective.  Follow his advise and that is one problem you will never have again.

 

I look forward to the AAR on your next DAR.     

[The Battle of La Ferme Dupont - A CAAR]

Thanks very much, Intelligence Analyst!

 

LOL.     You figured out my handle.  In the 1980s that was the nomenclature for an Intelligence Analyst, E-5, Airborne.  My icon is the crest of the 313 Military Intelligence Battalion / 82 Airborne Division.  I worked in the Division G2.  Interesting, exciting stuff to do when your young.  Nice attention to detail figuring out that jumble of letters & numbers.   

 

Enough reminiscing.  You have work to do!  More CAARs!          

[CM:BN Screenshot Thread #2]

Never noticed this before. That is a 50 cal. on his back? Bug or graphical anomaly?

 

I just saw your question.  As Bud said it is a M2HB .50 Cal. HMG, with a five man HMG team.  It does look a bit strange the way it is being carried. Something to do with the game mechanics / game engine I assume.     

[WW2 Squads only occupy one action spot ?]

I use a laptop as well, MOS. It runs the game decently on higher settings.

Check out this one:

http://www.amazon.com/GL551JW-DS71-15-6-Inch-Gaming-Laptop-GTX960M/dp/B00T7XRH2A

 

Thanks Childress.  I went to the site and looked at it.  It looks interesting.  I will put it on the list of potentials.  Maybe I will be able to keep a laptop after all.  

[WW2 Squads only occupy one action spot ?]

MOS, a new pc or, better yet, a better preforming graphics card will help. If you can afford it. These screenshots you posted are blurry and under detailed.

 

Yes, I agree.  I am on a laptop.  I like it because it is portable.  However I should probably eventually get one of those desktop gaming PCs.  Or maybe a gaming laptop?  I just hate the thought of re-installing all the CM games plus mods............... 

[The Battle of La Ferme Dupont - A CAAR]

Very interesting well done story.  Especially considering you didn't really control what was going to happen and had to go with the action.  I liked the post battle update on the characters, nice touch.  The operational analysis and lessons learned were very interesting.  I hope you always include those in future battles.  A leaders absence and the effect it had on morale is something I am finding more and more important as I play CM.  It is very interesting to hear what other people learn.  

 

GOOD JOB!  I look forward to the next one.    

[WW2 Squads only occupy one action spot ?]

Uh, that almost looks like a bug to me.

The daytime/lighting should not have such a impact on UI elements like the action spots.

Maybe we should report that to BFC !

How can you "officially" report a bug ?

 

If IanL or one of the other beta testers looked at it and agreed that it was a bug I think they have a way to report such things.  Or maybe submitted to the help desk with a ticket.    

[WW2 Squads only occupy one action spot ?]

Sure.  Be back in a few.

 

Edit:  Wow big difference.  Can't hardly see the wings at all in the game.  Not at all in the screenshot.

 

 

[WW2 Squads only occupy one action spot ?]

Sure.  Give me a few minutes. 

 

Edit: Here they are.   I think a lot has to do with the terrain they are on.