Howler

Some mortars such as the British 51mm team assigned to an infantry platoon are not able to fire indirectly. I don't know if that is the case with the German LMT in your screen shot but assume it is. In any event, when a piece isn't in your support tab - it may only be used in a direct fire role. This requires LOS to the target rather than being in contact with a commander. While mortars are able to target spots on the map that other weapons can't - it's not going to allow targeting of a position that is entirely out of LOS. It will allow a (limited) reverse slope target to be fired on. You can avoid hitting your own position by using a Forward Observer who is trained to guide artillery and also by not calling missions closer than 600m (aka danger close) from friendly positions. The big difference between on-map and off-map support pieces that populate the support tab is that the former are able to be used in a direct fire role. Other than that - both will need a line of communication to whomever is calling the mission. Without a TRP (Target Reference Point), your effectiveness will be determined by the quality of the shot caller. With a TRP - the shot caller isn't as critical as the ranging has already been worked out.

Since switching over to Win10 last Feb, I've been using "Snip & Sketch" for screen caps. You can bind it to the 'PrtScr' key to override the default behavior. If you're on Win10 - it's worth looking into.

I haven't played this in years and never noticed that the starting US platoon isn't at full strength. My 3rd squad has a little has 6 men. Starting another game resulted in squads of 7, 8, and 9 men. Has this scenario always had variable strength starting forces?

That's why some use ReShade. It greatly improves the decade old OpenGL based visual effects. @HerrTom is a master at it. I limit myself to bare bones to enhance my old eyes. I'm using his LUT and Wow - what a difference that alone is making. You can quickly lose time playing around with the 100s of available shaders. You've been warned!

Google says: "After years of CM play I find the result of the losses in battle absolutely unrealistic. There are too many deaths in relation to the wounded. In reality historically in every battle the proportion between dead and wounded is one to three, that is, for every dead soldier there are three wounded. in CM the opposite occurs with many more deaths than the injured. Doesn't v seem anti-historical?" It's a game. The action is compressed for play value over the course of 30-120 minutes where as in reality - we'd be talking about an all day affair with brief and intense clashes throughout the day as units were fed into the action. I have not noticed a problem with KIA/wounded ratios but I tend to take the time to buddy-aid.

A mission in the firing phase will continue regardless of the spotter. What's lost is the ability to manage it should the spotter become incapacitated. In that case - it will simply run to it's conclusion or until the ammo is exhausted. Where possible - assign a spotter most likely to manage it. With a TRP - that can be anyone else not about to be pummeled as LOS is not required. You state that the mission is the priority, so err on the side of too early rather than too late. Note: the TRP has no spotting phase and minimal prep time (preparation phase) before becoming an FFE (firing phase). You'd need to test this based on the type of mortars you intend to assign.

@HerrTom could you pm the preset ini file used for that? Quite stunning.

It was better than winning the lottery - their gun got KO'ed instead of their vehicle. I too would be smiling and jumping for joy in their position.

The .50cals, TOWs, and GLs mounted on humvees in CMSF2 have always been portable. As soon as you bailout - you're stuck with them even after you run out of ammo for them. I assumed it was the same in CMBS and never noticed what you're reporting. I'll keep an eye out for it the next time I play CMBS. Until then I'd say that was a bug and you should report it. As for CMFI, load up the 'R2V Casili Road' scenario and give it a go. The MG team will only show one weapon while the carrier shows none. Embarking the MG team will again provide an MG to that carrier until the team dismounts. Other units dismounting will not remove the MG on the carrier.

The MG comes back. You lose it again when the MG team dismounts. Seems like the carrier permanently loses it's weapon insofar as "R2V Casili Road" is concerned (my test case). The MG does not come back when another unit embarks... once it's lost - it's gone.

Just checked a MMG carrier in "R2V Casili Road" and it does this whenever an MG detachment disembarks. It retains it's weapon when other units are used.

My bad and I can't edit my post to fully expand by adding "set waypoint, Face at waypoint to cancel the Target/Target Light. Sounds like you are already well aware of the alternative to Target Briefly (#1).

Two ways: 1) Use Target Briefly (default J) which will fire in 15s increments; or 2) Old school by using a combination of Target... Pause 'X' seconds...Face (default G).

A scenario will abruptly end when the other side is broken. Otherwise, you must issue a ceasefire. There could have been pending reinforcements and/or a few units still in fighting condition.

What game are you trying to install?

You're a brave man. Hunt, to me, means stop if anything shows. I'd rather get the men in rather than risk them aborting the move midway. For this reason, I pause for 10s outside the structure, issue a target to allow them to shoot/grenade and then place a Quick (default I) in the room followed by a small Target Arc circle of 20-50m (depending on the situation). The TA cancels the Target and gets them looking everywhere for more bad guys. I couldn't use a hunt with the above recipe as there would be no way to insure a TA would cancel the target command. I'll sometimes use a FAST in place of the QUICK if I'm certain everyone is suppressed.

For WWII titles - yes. For modern - not so much. Some US vehicles, such as the Abrams, never need to open up.

To be clear. Always use your best spotter to man the drone(s). Drone contact info propagates to other FOs down chain so the larger drones get manned by the CO FIST (or equivalent). Nonetheless, for pre-planned missions not requiring adjustment - use your most useless spotter. A drone operator is allowed a mission in addition to the drone. There's rarely a reason not to assign a drone to your best spotter.

In fairness, it's their contract work with various governments worldwide that pays the bills. We get updates when they are able/allowed to retrofit their "game" release with bits from their "commercial" release. It's a win-win. They get to eat - we get to play!

1 FO = 1 Mission. It's baked in. There's a partial exception for pre-planned missions. For those, I use the most useless shot caller which in some titles could be an infantry team. Any missions needing to be managed (pre-planned or not) are parceled out to the best FO for it on a 1 to 1 basis. I haven't tested (in years/previous patches) whether a mission proper (aka not pre-planned) in the Firing Phase is also adjusted when another is initiated (Prep/Spooting). The game does a good job within the limits of the (dated) UI to indicate when a spotter is busy. Anyhow, it sounds like some are trying to exploit pre-planned missions to allow FOs to adjust/control more than 1 mission. The workaround is to use PL/CO leaders for the pre-planned stuff in order to reserve your FO proper for the in-game missions. Not casting aspersions...

The trick is to apply a Face (default G) on the last waypoint before the Blast command to orient the team perpendicular to the obstruction being blasted. I've either been lucky and this works as I've had no issue since adopting this approach.

As long as it's on the CM3x platform... oh, look a unicorn!

It's an outlier when it does occur in the modern titles. It's a little too commonplace in CMBN. CMFI a little less so. Can't speak for the other two WWII titles. A combination of WEGO, close terrain, and HE will cause you misery...

All you need is a radio equipped vehicle. So, what you did should've worked. Verify that the Platoon HQs you tried had working radios. Stuff happens and sometimes it's the radioman that pays that price...

Choose a scenario offering a lot of open terrain. Otherwise, minimize situations in areas of a map containing natural or artificial barriers (alleys, high walls, bocage, etc..). It's not as apparent in the other WWII titles which is the reason I've sworn off of CMBN.