gnarly

Yeah I thought it would come down to expected US air superiority.  Just wish they'd show and blow the Hinds out the air LOL.

I don't think it has ever happened in Black Sea, but it happened once or twice in Battle for Normandy when I got ambitious and ordered some of my men to go over and close with the enemy. Turned out the Germans had pistols and were willing to use them.
Michael

Yes, we hates it, yes we do. It steals our Precious, yes it does.

One of the CoC guys posted this, and after watching it, I'm truly impressed. Superb visual aids, atmosphere out the wazoo (you'll see) and combat vets, some with three tours in Iraq. This looks like the BTDT and bought the T-shirt factory convention. Seemed like a great idea to share this, since CMSF2 is coming. LongLeftFlank will love this city section, the roundtable is insightful (full version on their site), and there is state-of-the-art miniature wargaming tech in use, too. What the veterans have to say about how they feel about doing modern wargaming is fascinating, and I'm glad the issue was discussed, for I'm wary about how I handle anything to do with war in Iraq combat with my brother, who barely got home in one piece after a VBIED encounter while on patrol in a MK19-armed armored Hummer. Was barely clear of it when it blew. Just enough not to be hurt. Others in his unit were not so lucky, and from a variety of combat causes.
 
Regards,
John Kettler

Interesting take.   I actually find the differing dice pools my favorite feature of the ruleset.   Followed closely by the "reaction" features.   It simulates to quality differences among the sides well.   I won't give away the results of this scenario, but my plan involved making full use of the dice system.  
 

EvilTwin posted this link on ChrisND's youtube stream at the weekend....thought it was a great read
Just in case you haven't seen this, I think you might want to take a look at this. Very enlightening. http://www.scribd.com/doc/274009061/Lessons-Learned-From-the-Russo-Ukraine-War#scribd

It's really important people don't get hung up on the deceptively named Assault order. It really isn't for assaulting onto a hard objective. It's for moving during the assault phase of the battle, when you want bounding overwatch by elements smaller than a squad and can't spare the time to manage split squads. Even if they have a slightly increased chance of throwing grenades while they're static, splitting squads is still more effective if you absolutely have to enter a defended location. The biggest factor I've found is how many grenades the element has.

Well shucks. I just surrendered in this battle and I'm not sure if I'll get the chance to finish this DAR as real-life is rather busy these days.
My AFVs got picked off one by one, mostly by precision strikes and air attack, and I was left with a depleted infantry company in the town that was just slowly getting blasted to bits from afar. I honestly feel as if I outplayed my opponent, but APS and overwhelming indirect fire got the better of me. I recently played as the Americans against another friend and he tactically outperformed me by a wide margin, but I still won the battle thanks to APS and indirect firepower. I have to say that playing against the Americans is really unforgiving (not as hard as playing as the Syrians in CMSF, but still tough), whereas playing as the Americans with full APS is remarkably forgiving when compared to any other force in CM. I don't think I've fully adapted to the necessary tactics you need to employ as the Russians in this game. 
While the scenario is excellent, I would have really appreciated a bit more air support and a few more ATGM teams. Hats off yet again to George MC for the great work!

Ugh. 
Some bad moments. 
Lost my left Hook Tunguska to a,  well, not sure really. Precision Arty or a mine, dunno, but total hull loss. 
Smoke intended to blond his centre line has instead land in the open centre ground,  screwing with my crossfire arcs on his central M1A2.
Right flank list 3 BMPs in a debacle of crappie manoeuvring.
Lesson learned: NEVER,  *EVER*  ATTACK LEFT -*AND* RIGHT AT A T-JUNCTION. 
Choose one arm of the T,  and concentrate. 
I've pulled Right Flank back,  going to withdraw rapido before those M1A2s charge forward.
Still have 2 mech Co on reserve. 
T90s sitting quiet,  some small adjustment to anticipate a possible US counter attack on the right. 
Remaining Tunguska has trashed his front line buildings facing my Left Hook,  then bailed off. 
Dropboxxed  my latest play but getting the notification email bounced back from a full in box. Oh well.... 
 

Made a quick test and figured you can actually get frags thrown over a high wall by simple use of short range (~10m) area fire beyond a wall. You´ll either receive a blue or grey targeting line, indicating that as long a unit has a weapon able to reach over a wall (grenades!) it will use them, although the unit can´t actually see the area beyond a wall. The targeting units soldiers attempt to area fire with rifles and such, but can´t and short range area fire game mechanic cyles through available weapons until a grenade is selected and then thrown. That means you can´t start a full volley of grenades, but need to wait til the game picks a random grenade throw from the area target cycle. Didn´t know it is possible until I just made this particular test.  
Edit: Made another test, this time with a full german squad and a HQ section at the wall. Area fire beyond the wall got these throwing 8 grenades over the wall in 30 seconds and another 4 til the turn ended. The US teams just beyond the wall, were all killed during this 1 minute turn this way and my little test mission ended prematurely. My first test was just with a scout and breach team, but already showed it works, although with far less grenades thrown over the wall.

So this was weird... 


 

That ATGM (fired from a Russian attack helicopter)  just bounced off the spare tire on the rear of the BTR. BOUNCED. OFF. 

Then it sped off int othe distance and hit a house. 

Anyone ever had this? 

Depends on how high they model the tire psi...
 

Nice catch...

Minutes 35-33 Part 3:   On AOA 1, 3/2 squad is ordered to advance to the small woods on the left, bringing them a bit closer to the objective and observation range of the contacts in the town.    The IS-2 that brought them moves to the edge of the woods to provide cover. The original IS-2 and armoured car and both sections of 3/3 squad remain where they are, observing and ready to provide cover fire.    The two HQ T34s and their infantry arrive at KT 2.      RU120   I was worried about 3/2 squad taking fire as it walked over to the copse on the left, but with the IS-2 and a couple of squads of infantry doing nothing but overwatch, it is a reasonably safe bet they would be protected. They reach the trees, and almost immediately, spot an HMG42 position forward of the town.      RU121   As the newly arrived Tankodesantniki dismount and advance into KT 2, a second HMG42 is spotted.      RU122   I definitely can’t advance with infantry across those open fields of grass without some prep…. As the west-most IS-2 stays alert for newcomers, the other bombards the HMG42, with success.     RU123   The HMG42 disappears from view. Now the tricky part comes: seeing what else is here before I advance. I know there is a Marder shifting westward toward this force. Alone, it is no threat, but what else lies in wait here?      RU124   Now that both KT 1 and KT 2 are in my hands, I have options, and decisions ahead.   

@Womble yes the less than 4 AS is the team picking up the piece setup and literally shifting it without unpacking.
I cant think of anything besides a bug but perhaps its because the normal setup/deploy times are usually quite longer in structures. For example most MGs jump to 2.3 minutes for deploy in a bldg versus say 30-45 seconds in the open.

I think you might have highlighted something I have seen and brushed off a couple of times. So I went and did some close observation of an unmolested US infantry M1919 MMG team in BN (v3) and here are a few things, some of which are just observations about how things work that I hadn't realised before, some of which are just background for completeness.
Machine guns no longer fire while packing up. If you have a deployed team and give them a long movement order without interfering with the Deploy Weapon button, they will automatically spend the normal Pack Up time dismantling their weapon and will not redeploy it when they arrive at their destination. If you have a deployed team, and give them a short movement order (4AS or less on flat open ground; I didn't test to see whether heavier terrain reduces the allowed displacement) without untoggling "Deploy Weapon", the weapon becomes "instantly" undeployed, and only takes 2-3 seconds to redeploy once they've settled down. This is, I believe, simulating the crew shifting their piece without dismounting it from the tripod and all the other formalities. If this short displacement is interrupted short of the objective, the same 2-3s Deploying phase occurs. A Pause order without a movement order does not inhibit firing at all. Doesn't achieve very much either though Machine guns given a Pause and a movement order might fire one short burst at the very beginning of their Pause, but will otherwise not fire during their Pause. If the movement order is long (over 4AS) they will not commence Packing Up until the Pause has completed. If the movement order is short (4AS or less), they will "instantly" undeploy. Redeployment on arrival at the terminal waypoint is not affected by the Pause. So yeah, you can't usefully give complicated combination fire and movement orders to crew-served weapons in WeGo mode. While that may, on one level, be appropriate, it's a bit inconsistent and could probably do with some tweaking at some stage. Especially if it's actually not the way it's supposed to work; it has shades of the "tanks with Pause orders counting as firing on the move when they're stopped for the Pause" oversight that got fixed a while back.

I have used them successfully to close with the enemy as to a approach when no other option is available.
First, you need something else to give the cover fire or aided concealment like additional smoke.
Second break up your infantry into fire teams, spread them out and rush them in quick burst then drop and hide., Then crawl side ways from any expected area fire from the enemy you might receive, maybe one or two action squares.
The trick I find that works best is rush all units at the same time, the enemy will likely only fire on one or two units, then make sure to shift when hidden to prevent any area fire that the opponent might try to place on you.
Concealment is a powerful tool if used correctly in the game, area fire is hard to place on you in wheat fields, so learn to use that. Don't give the enemy a target.
So do not bother trying to fire from a wheat field, you are just exposing yourself, Keep hidden, and remember short bust when moving.
Only after crossing the field and closing in on the enemy will I pop them up and use them in the attack. And that means I am pretty sure that I will have such a fire power advantage that I can expose them to such a move.
So in other word, it is a way of approach, not a terrain to use to fight from.  Using my method, you can cross and use wheat fields without exhausting your troops. As for fighting from them, think of them as clear ground with no cover. Because showing your troops from them is placing them in that exact situation.
Hopes this helps

Minutes 35-33:   With the first two houses on KT 1 under my control, and a good part of the woods as well, I’m finally picking up some momentum. I think the third house is now empty as well, but the last two had men firing on mine. I spot a German HQ in the second to last building.      RU105   The plan is to:   -Bring 1st and 2nd squads more north via the woods to investigate the armour contact, and to move behind the German lines concentrated on the farmhouses on KT 1.   -Bring armour support to 1st and 2nd squads, and to have 1 tank engage with area fire on the armour contact and see if it can trick my opponent into thinking I have spotted a clear target.    -Bring tanks west along the front of the farmhouses, and blast the infantry in the last two houses with HE.    -Stop using 3rd squad for supporting 1st and second, and send it west to support my armour around the last two farmhouses. With the two tank rider squads that were shot off their transports each down to 1-3 men, I need more eyes and rifles westward.      RU106   2B/1 covers while 2A/1 and both sections of 1/1 squad move north in the woods. 2A/1 runs afoul of mines in the woods, losing two men of the five-man section.      RU107   While that is happening, the two tanks behind the farmhouses advance to be able to engage what is in and beyond the woods.      RU108   One immediately takes out the panzershreck team that fired earlier.     RU109   The 1st Platoon HQ tank charges at full speed toward the second to last farmhouse. Its first shot hits the house, driving the German HQ out of it. The second kills part of the German HQ, and then a third shot back at the house drives out another HMG42.      RU110   I back off that T34 to move it behind the farmhouses, while 3/1 squad trots up past the front yards, heading to the house I just cleared to cover my tank and get ready for the final house assault. 2/2 Tank moves between the other two farmhouses, while 2nd Tank Platoons HQ takes aim at the evicted HMG team.      RU111   More to come!

This is totally supposition but I now suspect number of posts doesn't necessarily reflect total sales as I would bet Black Sea outsold Red Thunder. This is probably being due to East Front fans being the Grogiest and most prolific posters. 

I had made this guide for fords but maybe should revise it for vehicles...

My strategy is two fold.  First I organize things so that the company co has his platoons in front of him and each platoon Lt has his squads in front of him.  Once you have each company sorted out you can start thinking about what jobs they will each have and start placing the platoons.  The other thing I do is work for a while and then save the turn (I stick a "_save" on the end of the file name.  Then I do something else and come back to it.  For a big setup that might be a few saves.  Then once I push the BRB I just back space over the extra text and ship it.

Ok.  More of the same - 
First a view of an enemy .50 thats going to start getting hit by Tunguska next turn with a nice airburst explosion in the corner... also a view of the area I was concerned about a potential ambush by Jammer...

Second, a view of far right flank platoon and an aerial view of the area Im concerned about the ambush.  You can see the 'bay' formed by the forests - an excellent place to back some tanks up for flank and rear shots on an enemy force moving in to occupy the NE objective..

On my left flank where all has been quiet three platoons are leading my advance and near within ~100 meters of the NW VL.   155mm Arty is doing a prep mission laterally West to East (to my South to North advance http://imageshack.com/a/img540/1784/FY4d5K.png) and the teams are running up to hedgelines and buildings to spot enemy units  and wait for the arty to soften up any likely enemy units. Suddenly  I hear the distinctive crack of an American Barret .50 cal sniper rifle being fired.  I look around - replay - and see the results as one of my lead squads approaches a hedge...
Heres the team advancing..

And the results of a successful American sniper shot...

View of the action from the enemy lines in the center part of the battlefield...

Another shot from same vantage point but pointed towards my right flank a little more...

 
So I plan to scout out the possible ambush site. Find and kill the HATO dog sniper. And crush Jammer.
 

As much endearment and time I have in CMSF from the start, CMBS - ROCKS ... a lot more. 
CMBS- Demo tesintg is in order…if you are a ’New Modern’ fan. 
As for CMSF vs CMRT… CMRT is a fist full of fun… more than I ever expected and works great on my Mac / Hackintosh!
Buzz

Those tanks are looking great, so keep up the good work, Battlefront team. Fingers crossed that it'll be ready by December 16th... and if it's not, well then we'll just enjoy it later. Glad to see it's being done right.

For some reason, I've been getting screenshot fever on the weekends recently.
This week: more dead Panther shots!
 
The earlier point arty didn't work, but the M10 got 'em!

 
That is, after a close assault under heavy smoke was smashed when it turned out he had an infantry screen...

 
The American fallen are from my close assault teams. The crew bailed after the M10 did its work. It took A LOT of fire from both tanks and infantry to finish off these super-tough bastages.

 
Sometimes, It looks almost like you could crawl in those hatches and be inside the tank!

Hmm I better relisten to turn 1 &  2. Otherwise a great danger of nasty HATO cheater smart bombs.