Fade2Gray

The thought of having most if not all of the battlefield get nuked by a SMERCH strike does not appeal to me, at all.

Bingo. Vet your artillery and your FOs, and use FOs to actually call in arty, and response time is much much higher. Using your tank platoon commander(just a random example) instead of a FO to call it in causes a significant delay. Also, FACs seem to have a less delay than a random commander, but I haven't used them enough to really get a good grip on it. Also, realize that the only difference between emergency and any other selection is that emergency doesn't use spotting rounds. The time lag between calling in a strike and the first round between any option, including emergency, is exactly the same.

They assisted Georgian troops that were in Iraq in getting back home with a quickness. Other than that, nothing that I can recall.

That would be awesome. I would definitely be thrilled to see these additions, as well as other NATO countries joining the fray.

Could be a lot worse, the T-90s could straight rush you at the start. Its really hard to stop that first tank company from straight blitzing your lines. You have little already out in the field and that company of Brads that shows up struggles hard to contain them. Hell, even when the 2nd group shows up, that first tank company can go berserk pretty well on its own. That they hang out in the valley for awhile and not just LOLtrain right into US lines from the start gives you time to snipe with artillery. Honestly I think Russian reinforcement's after the first BMP group need to be bumped back 5 minutes each. That would at least allow the US player time to get moving a bit before tank guns dominate everything. Either that or the M1 platoon needs to be split up, and 1 tank comes with the infantry companies before the other 2 then the CMDR show up on their own.

TacAI is quirky, but I've learned to deal with it. Honestly the only things that really rustle my jimmies is how stupid and fat infantry is. Whether its how they usually line up in nice neat columns or get exhausted real fast even with a downhill quick move over easy terrain, or even flat terrain, infantry is maddening to use most of the time.

Ah ha, I did not know this. Of course, after reading this, I went and checked wikipedia, and yeah, apparently its mostly T-64s in service. Thanks for the update, I figured Ukraine actually had a good bit more of T-80s in use.

Ah, totally forgot about that. The Strela also costs 375 rarity, and the Tunguska does not cost any.

I'm not going to focus on stuff like inter faction balance or whatever at the moment, as I'm still getting a feel for things, but right now there is one obvious bit on the Russian/Ukrainian side of things. As it is currently, the Tunguska is only 21 points more than the Strela. Comparing the Tung to the Strela, I can't fathom any reason why I would even want the Strela over the Tung. The Tung is amazingly multipurpose. It shreds infantry, light vehicles, and can even mulch buildings in 2 or 3 volleys. I've seen them do numbers on M1s during ambushes as well, causing amazing amounts of system damage and leaving them without many of them advantages against enemy tanks. They can also take down any and all aircraft and UAVs. Between the group of guys I game with, we've all come to think that the Tung is an obvious buy over the Strela. In comparison, the Strela is a bit easier to hide. That is its only advantage. It can't attack ground targets, and it can't even attack as much air as the Tung can. With this, I would like to suggest the Tunguska either getting a points increase, or making the Strela cost less points.

This is one of the missions that clearly and very accurately shows just how clueless the AI is. Honestly, I'm starting to have doubts about this mission being even remotely balanced for head-to-head, being the USA leaves you very little room for mistakes. The AI, for some bizarre reason, doesn't "zerg" you with everything at once once it is set up in the valley. Instead, it will just do "wave attacks" and split up its forces very poorly. Its laughable use of artillery to suppress the obvious Javelin positions also hurts it badly. Also for good times is how it does a poor job of sweeping the valley in case you managed to sneak in spotters for artillery fire. Oh well, at least it isn't as one sided as the mission where the Russians have to fight into a town square with nothing but infantry and BTRs, when Ukraine has a tank, Tung, and a good bit of their own infantry. ANYWAYS... as for the killing power of the T-90AM versus the M1A2, its so insanely lop-sided it isn't even funny. Do not compare killing power at "dog fighting" range when you are pretty much point blank. At 2k and beyond the M1 will spot much quicker and reliably kill in 1 hit. This mission is a classic showcase of how you MUST close the distance when fighting American tanks, and even then bring overwhelming firepower to bear in order to crush them. The Russians start off with a lot of reinforcements before the God Tanks show up, and the USA really can not hope to deal with T-90s until then. They will kill the Bradleys first before TOWs reach their marks (assuming a BMP isn't nearby to APS the TOW), and if used right, artillery will keep the Javelins from going wild. By the time the God Tanks show up, 2 nearly full strength tank companies should be down in the valley and ready to pounce on the American player the moment he makes a mistake. The 3rd company to show up should be used for overwatch/bait to try to draw the M1s in close, if your opponent is gullible enough. Also, if you get infantry into the batch of trees on the American right side, don't think they will hold against M1s. They truly are God Tanks and can flush out a lot. I had 3 squads of infantry, with their BMPs, and 1 T-90 for support, holding in there. He later complained that he couldn't get his own infantry over to push me out, so he sent a M1. I laughed at first, thinking that M1 was going into a horrific ambush that would be its quick and easy doom. I pretty much ignored it, and then 4 or 5 turns later when he finally made an even bigger mistake and I went full zerg on him? That M1 had actually annihilated the "ambush" I had set for it. O_o tl;dr ... Don't get into slugging matches with M1s at ranges more than 2k, especially frontal ones. If you play the Russian side, it even tells you that in the briefing. There are reasons for that, such as the M1 will touch your T-90 in all the wrong places, repeatedly, before it even knows whats going on, from long range. Get close before engaging. The closer the better. This mission allows you to creep up really close if you do it right. Have cheap units to draw fire when you move in for the kill. If an M1 pops a BTR/infantry/whatever and then the next second later a T-90 (or 3) is on it, the M1 is dead meat. Be aggressive when you can. Race for positions where you can mask your presence from American LOS. In this mission? Obviously the valley. Get into the valley ASAP. Once you have a good position, be cautious, scout a lot, get a feel for where everything is, and form a plan. Russian infantry and recon is cheap and plentiful, and if used carefully, is pretty damn hard to spot even with M1s. Get enough out in the field and you can see more than the Americans can with their UAVs, which still manage to get shot down from time to time. Figure out your next move, and form a plan. Once you have a plan, wait for an opening. Once you see that opening? Go go GO! Don't dick around, don't second guess yourself, just throw everything at them. Keep that arty firing at likely positions for American infantry. Constant light or harassing fire will pay off big time. M1s are God Tanks, but Javelins are beyond frustrating to deal with. Unlike M1s however, American infantry is still extremely squishy. If you have FOs out in the field, make sure to keep them active and calling in that fire. They are great for keeping constant shifting fire on enemy positions. Valley of Death makes it stupid easy to guess where you should have artillery firing.

You know, I can't help but wonder why the T-80UD and T-84 are left out of CMBS. We have the Oplot, but not the older versions of the T-80. I am sad. :\

Does the Bulat hit harder than the BV?

Can you show me where its common to see mass SF deployments into major mechanized fights? As others have popped out, a few "advisers" here and there would be alright, but Navy SEALs or Delta making an appearance in the middle of a slug fest between tanks is laughable to the extreme. About the limits I could see for US forces as is (which is based on the US Army) would be Rangers. Anything above them is simply out of the question.

Big NO to SF being in game. Unless they were extremely restricted, they have absolutely no place in CM, barring for some extremely themed single player missions. British, Polish, German/French units would be pretty cool to see though. I'd kinda like to see China in game, but I think that's for an entirely different theater and it'd be one helluva stretch to work them into BS. A modern day 2nd Korean War game would be pretty awesome though.

30 second turns would be a lot better IMO. Especially when facing US forces, you pretty much have to make sure your tanks pop out, fire, and then get back into cover within a 30 second time frame. Otherwise? A couple of Javelins will ruin said tank's day. I've been playing "Ukraine separatist" (ie only using old stuff, no Oplots) against a buddy a lot, and old T-64BVs need to be babied more than what wego allows. Anyways, an option that could allow for 30 second, 1 minute, 2 minute, etc, would be great.

Honestly, blasting out a building with AFVs/tanks is always performable to storming the said building. Its been done in Iraq, and they do it in Syria as well. Roll the tanks up, and if you even get a funny feeling that someone you don't like is in the building, say "Hi!" with HE rounds. Afterwards you can mop up with troops. Honestly I only ever send in troops without massive prep fire from tanks/AFVs when I'm in a desperate rush (ie, rarely) because too much can and generally will go wrong.

Already did, as I said, it is the firewall that causes the problem. Disable the firewall that ESET uses, no problems, we can connect and play just fine. Enable it, and we can't connect, or if we are connected, it drops the game. What I need to know is what to set the exclusions for, its not that hard.

It's not my router, I promise you. Did 3 test games where I had my firewall from ESET disabled, and the moment I enabled it? The game disconnected.

Alright, after getting some advice and help from a couple people, I found out the problem with my multiplayer issues. It's my firewall. The thing is, I have an exclusion set to the EXE file for CMBS. Despite this, the firewall still blocks it until I disable the firewall. Exactly what do I need to make exclusions for in order to allow CMBS to connect for multiplayer games?

If you have shattered the enemy to the point of focusing a surrender... there is nothing left to assault. Okay, so there's maybe 2 under strength squads left (one of which is just a broken tank crew with 2 guys left) and 1 AFV with half its systems knocked out providing "resistance," how is assaulting that any fun?

When the AI surrenders, there is generally not much left. Do you really want to chase down scattered AFV crews and infantry squads with only 1 or 2 men left?

Is it just me, or does the game feel a good bit more optimized now? I even jacked up the graphics a couple notches after a few games, and I swear it plays smoother than before.

What's wrong with CAIMENs? They are the best MRAPs you can have. Yeah, MAXPROs are pretty bad, but if anything CAIMENs are definitely keepers.

Honestly, this mission plays out fairly simply for me. I play on elite/iron only, and honestly I ignore much of the map for this one. My goal is simple, blitz the hill on the left and take over the government complex that is up there. At the beginning, I'll creep up slowly with my scouts, harass what I can, but focus on staying low and alive. Once the Brads and M1s arrive however, I swing hard to the left, then rapidly get up the hill. I'll try to dismount the infantry as close as I can while still being under cover, and then assault them up into the complex, with Brads slowly hunting up in support once they start taking fire. The M1s I tend to keep a bit of a ways away from the complex, but still on the hill and in position to see down into everything. Once the complex is locked down I aggressively push the M1s forward as much as I can to get eyes on targets. From up on the hill they dominate everything. T-72 get sniped from across the map, and Brads and infantry keep a sudden rush up into the complex from happening. I focus UAV support around the base of the hill in my blind spots, to watch for Russians trying to mass down there so that they can blitz up the hill. On the right side of the map, I'll have that one scout humvee and its passengers, and that's it, to keep an eyes out on things. In the middle I might have a couple Brads and some infantry prevent a flank on the hill. The purpose behind I do is simple, it maximizes all the advantages the USA has. American FCS and FLIR allows you to spot the Russians from vast distances, and up on the hill you have all sorts of amazing LOS to exploit that advantage. Having your tanks go through the right just takes away all of their advantages of long range combat, being up close with the Russians is the last thing you want. As such, I focus the overwhelming majority of my forces onto the government complex hill in order to minimize the risk and maximize the advantages of the US as much as possible.

I have to wonder why it doesn't. Every time I used it there seems to be "holes" about roughly where there are a few gaps, but for the most part it doesn't show jack and the "holes" are not even remotely close to legit. I can't help but wonder why they didn't part that feature into the game.