MOS:96B2P

I get frustrated when my troops get pinned or panic and refuse to take any orders. One of the things I found that can help is the Instant Command Evade. It works in the orders phase of We-Go. It will give you a fast waypoint even when the troops refuse all other commands. You can then click and drag this waypoint to a relatively safe location. So if the automatically appearing Evade waypoint has the troops running out the front of the building into the line of fire you can drag it out the back door where it is safer. This has solved most of my problems in this area. Hope that helps.

Thanks! These small rescue type scenarios are fun. I will give this one a try in the next few weeks.

The map looks nice. I like the place names even if that is not how the modern Army does the terrain labeling. It looks like some of the farmers did not get their crops in. A lot of plowed (barren) fields on the map with well established crop fields. I guess that could be realistic due to the war. It will no doubt drive up the price of commodities.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! //////////////////////// ///////////// /////////////// Lucky for me I read and paid attention to my briefing! This could have been a nasty surprise and have ended up differently. Some crew served weapons and remaining arty repel the attack. Following the attack a section is sent out to conduct Battle Damage Assessment (BDA). Not very many bodies were found. They must have drug off most of the dead. A shame about all the wrecked pick-ups. Silverados would have held up better.

Some of the naming conventions were sometimes re-used. Phase line Aluminium, Bronze, Copper. Also phase lines were often tied to a terrain feature like a road, river or ridgeline. Named Area of Interest were not very imaginative, just NAI1, NAI2. Sometimes the number of the NAI was used to show a priority. #1 being of more interest than #5. Battle Positions and Objectives would often get cool Hollywood type names. Usually a theme would be used for a mission. State names, city names, sport teams. (Sports team names would get a lively conversation going in the TOC) Most of the above was at the direction of whoever the G2 (colonel) was at the time.

In the WWII titles when I do my terrain analysis before a PBEM battle I name all the farms and prominent terrain features. Miller's Woods, Krause Farm, Kaiser Ridge etc.. I take a screen shot of the map (or more than one depending on the size) load it in paint and add the labeling. I then use the names in my battle log. I Googled surnames for French, Italian, Dutch, Russian and German etc.......... I have not got around to getting Ukrainian surnames yet. When I am really into a battle I print out the map and do overlays with alcohol based markers. Modified combined obstacle overlay, Operational overlay , sitmap etc.. (I can't help myself. It's part of what I did in the army) But naming the farms etc is just a personal thing I also liked from the Civil War era books and games. When I did it for a living back in the mid 1980s it was all Named Areas of Interest (NAI), phase lines, grid coordinates, Objective Bravo, etc....

SPOILER ALERT ////////////////////// ///////////////////// Instead of using demo charges 2 Para takes the front door just to prove they can. (Or maybe they are running low on demo charges ) 2 Para locates and secures objective Suspect Compound #2.

I had much the same thoughts. In the book 2 Para rotated duty tours with a Royal Marine unit. Not sure if Royal Marines are in CMSF TOE but if they are they would be an obvious candidate. It also might be fun to take a dismounted US Stryker Company out and do the mission. Or, in a sand box type mode just run platoon size ops out of the FOB. ie - Clear compound A123 and return to the FOB. Of course in this sand box type mode the VPs would not work as intended but it would just be for fun. I like this FOB concept where you have your core unit and you can take them out the gate to do multiple varied missions. Maybe create one additional AI plan where the FOB itself would come under a strong attack just to keep the player honest about how much he is taking out the gate. It would also create some tension knowing it is possible the big one may hit the FOB while you have part of the combat power away on the given mission. There is a lot of replay value in this scenario and map.

I found a sort of compromise between reloading to change the in-game result and lesson learning. When I come across a particular tactical problem that I struggled with I will sometimes save that turn under a different file name. Then I continue with the original file and original results in the game. I am then free to use the different named file to experiment with and come back to for training purposes outside of the mission. Example: QB Turn 10 43 I get my a$$ handed to me during a building entry. Save as: Building entry drill 03. Continue regular game with Turn 10 43. When I have time I load building entry drill 03 and attempt to figure out how to do the building entry correctly and update my TACSOPs if applicable. When I think I have particularly good drills I keep them saved and return to them to practice the particular drills. This especially comes in handy when I don’t have the time to start and play a whole new mission. Okay……….sometimes I will change the in-game result but it is my house rule not to and I try very hard not to.

You might want to consider adding Fortress Italy. It is nice having a Mediterranean type in the harem.

////////////////////////////// SPOILER ALERT ////////////////////////////////////////// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Objective: Suspect Compound #3 located. I think I may have figured out how best to maneuver in this terrain. It was slow going at first. I was reluctant to leave any unsecured compound behind my units or close to my flanks. I was clearing every building in every compound along my avenue of advance which is basically the north half of the map with a southern hook on the east end. That approach cost a lot of time, ammo and lives. I am being a little more selective in the buildings I secure now. I am mostly taking buildings in compounds that can over watch & control movement in the irrigation ditches I am using for maneuver. I have been able to pick up the pace now. Just under one hour left. Very cool scenario.

Yes, two sections of 5th Platoon arrived at the west wall of suspect compound #3 last turn. They are securing the area outside the west wall prior to calling engineers forward. The engineers are waiting in an irrigation ditch 50 meters away. When they are called forward the engineers will make another doorway to the future as in the above screenshots. The above three screenshots, of the dynamic building entry, were taken at compound A123. (A122 suffered a similar fate).

The triggers and timers are a little tricky. It almost always takes me a few tries before I get one working the way I want it to. When I read your post I noticed the above reference setup and a trigger. This reminded me of the below from the game manual. Kind of hard to be sure since I can't actually see what your doing but maybe this is the problem? Hope it helps. This is from the CMBS manual page 104. My bold. Setting up a Trigger Triggers are always set up first and then linked to specific Orders. A Trigger can be used by as many Orders in as many Friendly Groups as you want, but an Order can only be assigned to use one Trigger. Setup can never be used as a Trigger and the last Order of a Group can never be triggered. Edit: I think I always have at least three parts to a series of orders when a trigger is involved. Setup: Where the unit starts on the map, no trigger. It moves on a timer to the 1st order location. 1st order: This location / order has a trigger to move to the location of the 2nd order. 2nd order: No trigger (in this example it is the last order) This is the destination of where the unit responds to when triggered.

Also along the same lines if a CM title (CMRT) has tank riders infantry units that get on the tank can use the tank's radio. The below screen shot was taken from CMRT to demonstrate this ability. The scout team, was selected from specialty teams during the QB purchase phase and had no radio assigned to it. The scout team was able to use the tank's radio for C2. I dismounted the scout team and positioned them next to the tank. No more radio contact. The scouts had to be on the tank to use the tank’s radio for C2. The scout team was assigned to this tank platoon. Maybe the new Battle of the Bulge title will allow tank riders ............................

More screen shots from the scenario Into the Green as the mission advances. 2 Para making doorways to the future, Airborne style, in Helmand Province Afghanistan. Greetings from 2 Para. Finished off with some interior decorating.

I have not DL CMBS version 1.01 yet, so I am still on 1.00. I used smoke grenades in August morning. What version of the CMBS are you using RepsolCBR?

In the above you refer to squads so the situation I describe may not be the same. (Also in CMBS I have only played as the US so far with a typical quality setting in the purchase screen) I split my US squads into teams with an assault team split. I then use B Team as a base of fire and use A Team to maneuver. Since A Team is the assault team it gets all, or almost all, the hand grenades including the smoke hand grenades. When I click on B Team the pop smoke option is not available. That is because A Team has the grenades. If you use the Split Team administrative command both teams will have smoke grenades. I might be wrong (I am still learning the details of CMBS) but I thought all US rifle squads started with smoke grenades. The teams within those squads may or may not have them depending on how the fire teams are split off. Just a possible explanation.

Wow! This is really cool. This is like a German version of Sgt. Rock (Lt. Warner). I also like how you have the different locations on the farm labeled.

Thanks. After the XO took over he had no radio assigned to his XO team. The UI showed him as newly promoted but without a radio the C2 chain was broken. The solution was to have the XO team locate and occupy a vehicle that had a radio. The vehicle had to have a radio and enough open seats for the the XO team to get in it. I tried placing the XO team next to the vehicle but they did not gain access to the radio until they occupied the vehicle. I had read about the XO taking over before but this was the first time I saw it happen. Cool game.

Yes. This is one of the benefits of a cold war game. All the spin offs that could be created by scenario designers with the map editor and mods. BF provides the base game (lets say Combat Mission Fulda Gap set around 1985) and a short time later you have the crew of 82 at Goose Green etc etc.................

Every few months I read a thread where C2 is discussed to include how best to use the XO team. (Most of the time I use the XO as a medic). It is often brought up if the XO team can take over from the CO. So I thought it would be interesting to share the below screen shot where the CO was KIA and the XO takes command.

+1 Me too. CMSF force is a great game. The setting of CMSF represents an area of the world where a lot of the current conflicts are. This allows moders and scenario designers to expand CMSF beyond the original scope of the game and into almost any arid real world or fictional country. An upgraded version with triggers, AA weapons etc that could be continued to be upgraded with the current CM engine version ............................ that would almost be too cool.

Good information. This pretty much clears up any lingering uncertainty reference split squad tactics vs the assault command. I hope you get around to buying Black Sea sooner than later. The more analysis of game mechanics, new equipment and the resulting new tactics we can get posted on the forums the better.

That is a good point and one of the things I like about CM. It provides tactical choices that you have to make. Light and agile or better armed but slower. When I was in the Army we had a saying, "Travel light, freeze at night" and we often did. I hope BF updates the WWII titles with this more accurate fatigue modeling. I don't think I have ever lost the ability to move my troops "Quick" in the WWII titles. But I probably should have.

You’re welcome. Also, as part of a pre-mission checklist, I usually have infantry squads with vehicles acquire the ammo and equipment during the set up phase before the mission begins. The squads can remain in the vehicles if desired, acquire what is needed, get transported to their drop off point and continue on the mission. Then, most of the time, I can avoid acquiring ammo while the bullets are flying.