domfluff

The CMSF 2 manual is lacking here. ***IED*** IED's need to be activated before use. Each type of IED (Cell/Radio/Wire) has different issues - Cell and Radio IEDs are (should be) affected by ECM, but longer effective ranges. Wire – shortest distance (about 100m), 10% failure Radio – medium distance (about 300m), requires line of sight, 20% failure Cell phone – long distance (about 600m), 10% failure Radio and Cell phone IED's can be jammed by IED jammer equipment (British Warriors). These need to be activated with a "Target" order. If this is given to empty space, the IED will explode like a mine when someone is nearby. If this is targeted to a unit, the IED will explode when the unit is close. An appropriate triggerman needs to set off the IED, and should be put within the distances above. There are also Vehicle IEDs and IED mines. The latter are conventional minefields (but have a larger explosion), and the former are a vehicle, driver and spy unit. The spy has nothing to do with the VBIED, he's just a spy to scout for the insurgent forces. VBIED do not need activation either, they just explode on contact with opposition, with a massive explosion. ***Spies*** Spies come in two flavours - spies and Spy forward observers, with a radio. Both are unarmed and absolutely vital to the uncon game plan, since it's one of the advantages you have. They're hard for the enemy to spot, and therefore are useful for getting eyes onto the enemy forces and relaying that information. *** Fighters and Combatants *** There are two types of Uncon forces, "fighter" are mujaheddin, fanatically motivated black-clad killers. They tend not to be particularly well trained, but they do have the best equipment, up to and including AT-14's, which are a serious threat, as well as medium mortars, on map or off. "Combatants" are the more rag-tag types, generally worse equipped and led, but can be highly motivated. The primary difference in CMSF 1 was the Civilian Density map setting. This setting exists in CMSF 2 but currently (presumably a bug) doesn't seem to have any actual game effect. In CMSF 1, civilian density would apply "stealth" to Combatants and the supporting teams (spies, etc.), but not Fighters. They would be able to "Move" without being seen, blending into the abstracted civilian population. This therefore meant that spies could hide and spot the enemy, Combatants could set up sneaky close-ranged ambushes, and Fighters could bring the firepower. I'm really hoping this gets fixed, since it's really fundamental to the game. *** Vehicles *** Supporting this are the transport and technical options. Transport here are taxis and pickup trucks, which behave as you'd expect. Technicals are pickups with weapons mounted on the rear, typically MGs but also RPG-29 and anti-air 14.5 mm MGs, which are important for shooting down drones. Technicals are difficult to use, since they're unarmoured but have a lot of firepower. They're useful for flanking, flank security and acting as a mobile reserve, but their utility is a bit suspicious in general. Uncon advantages: - IEDs are really powerful and can't be detected. - Cheap, well motivated troops, which can fight and die in place - Able to use civilians as concealment (or should be able to - this is currently bugged) - Complex terrain (particularly urban) is a massive equaliser. AK's and particularly RPG-7's are fantastic at close ranges, and pretty much as good as anything. Uncon disadvantages: - Poor training and equiipment - Lack of night vision - Poor or lacking C2 (and the command structure in general) - Zero armour - No artillery above medium mortars Generally speaking, I'd assume that each "platoon"-like element can only really carry out one objective. If they succeed in their objective, but die in the process, then that should be considered a "win". Defensively you're probably then better off with isolated groups that manage their own defence, but which can support each other with overlapping RPG-29 or ATGM fires. Offensively I think you have some serious difficulty - you really need Civilian Density to be fixed, since close ranged hit and run attacks seem to be the most sensible plan.

Sure, so in that case killing the radio operator will worsen C2. There's definitely in-game effects for sniping the right people.

Taking out the enemy leader will replace the leadership modifier with a different one though, which is generally worse. That will not degrade the morale faster, but having worse leadership will hurt recovery.

Also, CMSF has literal taxis. You're probably better off using them as taxis.

Obviously that BMP SOP wouldn't apply in complex terrain, cities or woods, but the end result is usually that you end up with a weaker squad in general.

In general, I've been dismounting Red IFV's later than Blue ones. BTRs, Strykers, WW2 US Halftracks and the like are taxis. You keep them out of line of sight, and you debus earlier rather than later. You don't want to fire that MG unless you have to, and then only from hull-down or otherwise advantageous positions. Bradleys, Warrriors, WW2 German Halftracks and BMPs are inherent parts of the squad - not using them to fight with means neutering a lot of your firepower. Bradley-like mech infantry and Panzergrenadiers don't gain much from fighting mounted, so you should disembark them where it's safe, but the vehicle itself should be involved in the fighting after the infantry make contact. Preferably from both distance and cover. (In terms of SOP, I've been refusing to unbutton my WW2 German Halftracks, and keeping them at distance. They've been a lot more survivable - they'll pop up when needed to fire, but keep themselves safe when not. The MG platform provides some protection, and distance reduces the effective resolution angle of the incoming fire, so the gun shield does a lot more work). BMPs are different. The crew members are part of the squad, so there are roles which are shared. My general feeling has been that, unlike the others, I want to make contact with the squad mounted, and then dismount, rather than dismount before contact and advance. The tremendous firepower of the BMP is a large part of their protection, so you need both the spotting eyes and the guns on target before the too-small squads make their assault (in general). Area fire into suspected targets and generally making a mess of the advance. There's an obvious problem with this, which is that BMPs explode a lot. I think this is the correct way to employ them, but they are trumped heavily by Blue forces. This is a far more reliable tactic in isolated cases, Red vs Red or Russia vs Ukraine, rather than anything with Bradleys and Javelins.

With other testing, I've been unable to make this have any visible effect with weaponless spies, short covered arcs, maximum soft factors, paved road tiles, hugging buildings, only carrying the smallest weapons, etc. This doesn't seem to be implemented? Or if it is implemented, it's doing something very different than CMSF 1, and it's definitely not clear what that is.

EW at least has a predictable effect, and costs you points in Quick Battles (although it would be nice to be able to purchase it outside of the setup screen). Civilian Density though is definitely a setting that exists, but it doesn't seem to have any game effect in CMSF 2 - or if it does, it's not at all clear what it does. I will keep testing.

I agree that the abstraction isn't ideal, but it does allow you to do things which are tactically relevant and interesting - and if it doesn't have *any* effect right now, then I imagine this is a bug.

It was a stated goal that they should work, so I'd expect so. The balance will be different, inevitably. In particular, the (newer than CMSF1) limit of one fire mission per FO is going to change a lot of battles.

Civilian Density is a per-map setting, which used to provide "stealth" to Unconventional Forces who were acting unsuspiciously. In CMSF 1 under Very Heavy Civilian Density, it was possible to "Move" up to very close range with Combatants without being spotted: CMSF1: This doesn't seem to be the case anymore, which makes me curious as to what Civilian Density actually does now, and if this behaviour is intentional. CMSF2:

Yeah, spotted that. Currently I'm also trying to work out what Civilian Density actually does now. It's not mentioned in either manual, and it definitely does not have the same effect as in CMSF 1.

...to the extent that I'm not sure what Civilian density is actually doing anymore.

So the spotting has changed significantly in CMSF 2. This is with Very Heavy civilian density, and combatants Move-ing.

It's a hard thing to test directly, but as far as I'm aware the morale status is linear: Ok > Cautious > Nervous > Rattled > Shaken > Panic > Broken You can definitely at least get down to Panic from a lot of suppression, which is even mentioned in the manual. ("Pinned" is an additional status on top of the above, caused by having a full suppression bar, rather than being part of the linear chain of morale.) The manual suggests that Shaken and Panic states are temporary ones, and the troops revert to a stable state afterwards - be that up or down the chain. The manual does suggest that you need casualties to be Broken, but that would mean that there is a lower bound effect on Combat Stress as well, which would be interesting.

Suppression definitely has an effect without casualties, and will degrade morale. Testing this is tricky, but not impossible - firing at an embankment, a heavy building or the like. There are some examples in Josey Wales' video on the subject.

In practice it's often going to be the same thing - it's mostly only going to be obvious if the unit comes under a lot of fire, but doesn't take any casualties.

From the manual: As the suppression indicator fills up, the morale states drop. If they take no losses, and the incoming fire stops, the suppression bars will empty and the unit will return to normal. If the unit gets Broken (by a large volume of ineffective fire, over a period of time), then they'll eventually return to 100%, but with the "brittle" flag set, making it easier for them to be suppressed in future. If the unit sustains any losses, this will put a permanent cap on their morale level. They will be unable to return to 100% morale (what words it actually displays will vary, since a lot of the CM mechanics are occluded). Josey Wales gives these concepts the terms "Combat Shock" for the temporary effects and "Combat Stress" for the permanent ones, which are quite useful.

Mines are tough. "Mark mines" doesn't remove them, it's representing the engineers marking out safe lanes through the field with tape or flags. In game terms, it seems like there's a die roll, basically, and marked mines makes them less likely to trigger, but it's still possible. Speed of movement does affect this. HE rounds can destroy mines eventually, if I recall correctly, but it's not easy or efficient. I've no idea if the mass of the unit will affect the chances of the mines going off. Abrams are really heavy.

I'm using 1.7.6 and it works fine for CMSF 2 and the demo. It doesn't pick it up automatically, or put in the correct icon, but it handles the irritating bit perfectly well.

Not for mine, apparently. I think my opponent rushing to the objective might have been the key reason I won that one.

I dunno, vigorous waving could do it

Yeah, happy to fire something up. More than happy to take any side, quick battle or scenarios, all modules. If you wanted to do a Blue vs Insurgents then that's cool - but I'd ask for daytime and a city to hide in

Some more USMC detail from the manual: Boat Teams Serials are further broken down into boat teams. These are tactical divisions of the LF elements within that serial. Normally serials are assigned to landing craft or groups of landing craft. Boat teams are the tactical units or teams that are assigned to a particular landing craft; therefore, serials can have several boat teams or just one, depending on the number or capacity of the landing craft. The serial designator of a boat team is a number followed by a dash and another number (e.g., 1-1, 1-2, 1-3). The first digit indicates the wave number and the second indicates the position in the wave. The AAV’s position number indicates the vehicle farthest to the left facing the beach or the first craft in a column. The notional tactical organization in table 3-3 largely composed of 1st Squad, is labeled Boat Team 1-1, thus being the left most vehicle of the first wave. Boat teams are made up of boat spaces that are variables, which account for the space and weight factor of personnel/equipment being assigned to a landing craft or amphibious vehicle. These spaces are based on the requirements of individual equipment (240 pounds occupying 13.5 cubic feet of space). And: The AA platoon is the basic building block for task organization. Generally, no more than 18 Marines should be assigned to any one vehicle since more than this number requires precise staging and seating arrangements that can degrade the ability of embarked personnel to respond to tactical situations. No more than 21 Marines should be contemplated for ship-to-shore movement. The established method of task organization is one AA section for each rifle platoon and one AA section for support missions. These support missions include the command AAV used by the infantry company commander and the AA platoon commander, logistic AAV, 60- millimeter mortar section, and engineer vehicle to provide mobility for any other assets attached to the company by higher headquarters. In practice? I suspect the real answer is to have one squad to each vehicle, and to cram in the supporting weapons where you can.

I have no experience of the Dutch TO&E, but those sound like problems to me. Obviously Forward Observers can use vehicle radios, but you'd imagine they'd have man portable ones. That might not be a problem, really. Again, I don't have a source on Dutch TO&E, and it would be surprising for a modern force, but certainly not without precedence.