SDG

Funny thing is, that I have completed both of the ("long") CMRT Fire and Rubble campaigns (each of them involving MAJOR urban combat) without too much of an issue. And now this verdammt Belgian village is kicking my ass.

1. Die Spitze 2. Command decisions (I chose to stop and rest for the night) 3. Bridge over the Ambieve 1 4. Bridge over the Ambieve 2 (opted to capture the supply depot) 5. Storm on Stoumont If its mission 4 for you, then youll have it easier, as the battle will begin in the early afternoon and the weather will be "overcast" as opposed to "misty" (i.e. you wont have to fight in pitch black conditions in the fog..) https://www.combatmission.lesliesoftware.com/FinalBlitzkrieg/Campaigns/Kampfgruppe Peiper.html Anyways, do let me know how you ll fared.

Combat Mission Final Blitzkrieg was the first CM2 game that I have purchased. I remember playing the KG Peiper campaign and giving up halfway through cause i was a CM noob and the AI kept kicking my ass. Couple years forward, I am now a semi-competent at the game, own all of the CM2 titles and finished most of the campaigns. I thought to myself, hey, you never got around completing the Peiper one, so lets do it! The first 4mission went well, I could keep my losses to a minimum. Then comes mission 5, Stoumount.. OH MY GOD. Contrary to what the briefing states ("you can approach the city unnoticed"), the 0 visibility is a real hinderance and and an incredibly deadly phenomenon (you practically have to bump into a tank to spot it). This, combined with the uneven terrain (the enemy is in oftentimes in defilades, and once in the city you cant really cover your inf when entering buildings), makes this map into a bloodbath. Oh and lets not forget that the force ratio is almost 1:1. I was so frustrated that I started savescumming, sg. that I never do in CM. (I have just finished CMRT Broken Shield and the "long" Soviet campaign and had no issue achieving total victory without reloading once). All in all, how do you tackle this scenario?? I took the southern approach, did some artillery preparation, entered the city, used suppressing fire, then killed anything that popped up with the panthers/whirebelwind/20mm. This approach ceased to be effective when you reach the "cathedral" and start meeting the enemy armor tucked away in the nooks and crannies of the city proper.

Thanks for the quick reply Erwin! My question still stands though. I know, that the Americans should have easier in '82, but as this was meant to be *the original* campaign, I assume the scenarios are designed in a way that the Soviets are not complete pushovers. If someone played through the 1982 campaign, please do let me know how "easy" did you find it. I would really want to avoid sinking into too much time into a "tutorial difficulty" campaign (as you yourself mentioned that it is suitable "to learn the systems").

Dear Gents, As the name of the topic entails, I'd like to give the American campaign a go, but unsure whether I should start with the one set in '79 or '82. The campaign description says that the campaign was designed with the 1982 start date in mind, and the earlier version was added later as an "interesting extra alternative". In 1982 the Americans have access to a much more high tech gear, and the balance of power has clearly shifted towards NATO (Abrams and the like), but I would presume - based on the fact that this should be "the original" campaign - the missions are balanced in a manner to accomodate the aformentioned circumstance. Thanks in advance for your kind feedback.

+1 This is especially funny if you consider the fact that the Soviet infantry has as their "'unit pic" a dude looking through his binoculars.

Must have been bad luck then. The IS-2s decimated my Panthers in an open engagement, with the Panthers pinging off left and right from these beasts. I hate restarting missions but my tanks being useless in frontal engagements caught me completely off guard, as I was somewhat accustomed to the fact that as the Germans, if I win the spotting lottery, the enemy armor is good as dead. Not this time though. Learned my lesson. (Btw. the Broken Shield campaign is amazing! I highly recommend it to everyone.)

This is seriously some good advice, thanks for that. I sometimes do neglect to wait for the information to go through the chain of command and reach my tanks. Spotting apart, is this realistic that the long 75 mil of the Panther should struggle against an IS-2 even at close distance (<350 m)? (the flak 88 bouncing 3 times from 68 m is also ridiculous..)

Oh wait, they can bounce 88 flak guns from 68 meters! Must have been a coincidence, right? Nope. Maybe third time the charm? Nope!

I mean.. Just encountered the IS-2s in the campaign and I am genuinly surprised how useless the Panther G-s are against them. Lined up 4 Panthers along the road (engagement distance at around 350m-s), and waited for the IS-s to drive in front of my tanks one by one. Big mistake. The first tank rolled in (buttoned up), the 4 panthers cannot see it (of course they cant, visual impairment is a common illness among the rank of the Waffen SS), the IS started to engage some infantry, finally one of my tanks spots it, takes a shot but bounces, then gets a partial pen, then all the other IS-s start to roll in and OHK 3 of my Panthers and I finally decide the retreat the last one.. OK, big gun, panther gets one-shotted 100% of the time, everytime. This was to be expected. What wasnt expected is that IS-2s can bounce shots left and right within 350 (!!!) meters and even if they get penetrated, it takes 2-4 (!!!) shots to actually destroy them.

Dear Benpark, Thx for the super-quick response, was able to find them (didnt check the "leader names" thats why i missed them). SDG

The mission says that I should preserve the film team of the Propaganda Ministry and the repair crew that has been pressed into frontline service, else I will suffer penalties during the campaign. I would love adhere to the above advice, the only problem is that I am unable to find these buggers. Clicked through all my units.. If anyone knows what troops does the briefing refer to, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the reply/advice benpark! I cannot comment on replayability, as I dont like restarting missions (nor "savescumming"). The best thing for me is to dive into the unknown, not being sure whether I can just zip through parts of the map or I have to fight through it etc. I have one question though. How does the AI artillery work? I presume it is not cheating but man it feels like that it has the all seeing eye of Sauron.. Enemy mortars (?) have been following my troops ever since I left the cover of the forest. Always using short barrages and decimating my infantry. I presume there is an arty spotter somewhere that keeps refocusing the fire mission? (Oh and one other thing. The houses.. It is possibly confirmation bias, but all the windows seem to be looking "my direction", while having just walls on the other side. This means that it very difficult to establish a good base of fire as I cannot use the captured building as "jump off points" to support further advance as there are no windos overlooking the "other side".) I guess

Dunno if others are also having trouble with this one, but it gives me flashbacks to the last missions of KG Peiper, where I am slogging through heavy urban/forested terrain in the darkness, while getting smg-d and artied to death. I have just captured Kistarján and already taken like 20%+ casualties (it also doesnt help that the HE of the German 75 mm tank/spg guns is pretty anemic..). Let me know how are you faring..

If the BMP 1 is buttoned, then neither of them can see anyhting. The minute i pop up with the gunner the mount the AT 4, the BMP 1 can spot the other IFV in 20 seconds, while the BMP 2 is only able to spot the other vehicle if the engagement is still underway (muzzle flashes etc.)