SDG

I just wanted to say that I am absolutely loving the new German campaign of the DLC (playing on hard). I think it is one of the most difficult campaigns I have ever played. I had to replay nearly each and every mission several times once I managed to beat them. The Americans are just so much better equipped, trained than the Germans. Not to mention the fact of their sheer numerical superiority. The Germans are inferior to the Americans in every aspect at this stage of the war. During my CM carreer I always wanted to avoid save scumming and just roll with the punches but this campaign forced me to relad time after time. Losing a critical asset due to the inexperienced crew failing at the spotting lottery or getting an entire squad obliterated by heavy artillery would have meant that I either restart the whole map or reload a previous save. I chose the latter. All in all, great scnenarios, my only gripe is that they are a biz puzzle-like and you cannot really complete them "blind", as there is just no way that you can afford the luxury of a Pershing popping out from nowhere and decimating your whole force. Another thing that I have learned was that TDs are practically useless. The Jagdpanther should be a formidable opponent when on the defensive. Not in this game though. On the one hand TDs have spotting issues (see my other topic) and the due to the fact that tanks always shoot at the enemy's center mass, which happens to be gun mantlet/barrel of a TD. This meant that although the JP was able to withstand 1 or 2 rounds from the shermans but I ALWAYS ended up with a broken gun. I would have much preferred to have simple PZ IVs with veteran crews at my disposal instead of these semi-useless TDs (rotatable turrets and ample MG ammo are a blessing that I have so far failed to recognize) . But oh well.

A lot has been said in this topic. My issue and the bottom line of my argument is: I know its a game, therefore there is uncertainty involved which is represented in the form of dice rolls BUT under certain conditions a unit should become spotted regardless of chance. It is completely unrealistic that: - in broad daylight; - within reasoable distance (900 m is nothing if the crew is using sights with magnification or the TC is using his bino) - a not very well hidden/camouflaged tank - that is shooting its main gun for several turns - while also letting it rip with its 50 cal mg using TRACER (!!) rounds can remain unspotted while 3 enemy TDs are closely monitoring the battlefield. And no I dont care if there are certain objects that partially obstruct my TDs view and they dont have a perfectly clear line of sight to the target. That tank should at least become detected to that extent that my tds at least have a rough idea as to where to put their AP rounds regardless of not gettin a full view of the enemy.

First pic: VS inf getting obliterated. TDS idly watching it all happen. Second pic: TDs: have the info on the tank TDs do have a mostly clear view on the target: (and dont tell me that single tree is obstructing the view, because during the next turns this td got spotted and obliterated by that tank) Anyhow, all I am saying that under certain circumstances, getting a spot should be guaranteed no matter what. Such I circumstance would be as per my understanding when a tank, not very well concealed, within 1km, guns and machineguns ablazing firing away for TURNS at enemy untis.

Its been a while since I played CM and enough time has passed for me to forget just how I effing hate the tank v. tank spotting system. Iam at the 4th (?) scen of the new German campaign and getting my *** handed to me partially because I am bad at the game but I am pretty damn sure that the vehicle v. vehicle spotting system is a complete mess. I have three tank destroyers lined up, unbuttoned, have visual confirmation of the rough location of enemy shermans, range 900 m. I send out some VS milita so that the shermans start shooting at them, and this is exactly what happens, they get shot at, but honey badger doesnt care and my TDs just cannot spot the perpetrator. A turn later one of my TDs gets spotted, takes some 4 hits, gets destroyed while his buddies just sit next to like blind bats not being able to spot an actively engaging sherman. Am I doing something wrong? My approach was always this: - spot enemy tank with infantry, - transfer info to friendly tank, - make enemy tank fire and therefore reveal its location. Oooh but not this time. Dont know if something has changed or spotting is just a goddamn lottery.

Thank you again for your detailed answer!

I am a bit disappointed that (at least for the German campaign) the player is presented with virtually zero information as to what units carry over to the various subsequent missions (if at all) and whether ammo preservation should be a concern or not. I have chosen the "hard version" of the campaign but am clueless what to expect which makes planning nigh impossible.

I have been using your site for many years (with a great degree of statisfaction) but didnt know that you have already updated it to contain the latest DLC!

Thank you very much for the quick response Ben, I will definately get the DLC then!

As the title says. Does anyone know how many missions do the American, British and German campaign each contain? Thanks,

I am currently replaying the "Broken Shield" campaign of CMRT but noticed this phenomenon in other titles as well. Tank v. tank spotting is extremely random and borderline infuriating. There is of course the who gets the first spot thing, which is of obviously very important. I however would like to focus on the aspect of (not) getting spots when a tank duel is already underway. I know that spotting is a % chance thing and dependent on many factors, e.g. visibility, experience level, is the target moving etc., but I think there should be certain conditions where a vehicle is guaranteed (or extremely likely) to spot the enemy regardless of the above factors. I have run into the scenario on multiple ocasions when I lose "who gets the first spot contest" and my panthers get fired upon by enemy tanks. OK fair enough. What needs to be changed however is what happens after this, i.e. my tanks (with a veteran or higher experience level and commanders out in the open) being unable to identify the shooter for many turns regardless of getting hit half a dozen times. Its even worse for King Tigers who should be classified as being "legally blind" and thus recieve the corresponding monthly benefits from the state. Again, not once did it happen to me that a T34 spots my KT, starts firing at it from below 1000 m ranges, and my tank is just sitting there taking it like a champ and not being able to find the perpetrator. Funny thing is that in many ocassions, the infantry riding the tank can see the enemy but unable to relay said information to the tank or the tank commander they are sitting next to. As a summation, my observation is that tank on tank spotting in ridiculously random and in some instances flat out broken. I do try to scout ahead with infantry, get spots, and share the information but sometimes this is also in vain. And we are not talking about rookie crews. The tanks are commanded by veteran or crack crew members and German tanks supposedly should have superior optics. Dont know if the above is a bug or WAD, and also would love to hear some tips and tricks to maximize my chances to succesfully spot tanks in tank duels. I would also gladly take advice on whether hiding tanks in bushes or trees is a thing or not, and for example does the crown of the tree blocking line of sight of the TC if its literary in his face when I park my tank next to a tree. Thanks for your insight in advance,

Noone? As you can see the pioneers used up 3 charges for a single blast. I have seen this behaviour in other titles too, and dont know why does it happen. In this campaign this is particularly annoying as you dont get any resupply for during the missions.

I consider myself a combat mission veteran, played hundreds and hundreds of ours, own all of the titles and completed most of the campaigns. I thought I give a try to the battle pack (x days of of summer or something) and jeez am i getting my teeth kicked in. My biggest problem is that AT guns in huge open maps cannot be scouted (even if i have an infantry screen, they remain hidden until my vehicles show up). The only way to locate them is to actually get shot by them. I am in the first mission and an AT gun just decimated tons of my vehicles from 1,5 kms away because it was shooting from a direction I was not expecting and caught my force from the sides. I absolutely hate savescumming, and my favourite part of the game is when I can go in blind. I usually just roll with the punches, but this time I had to restart because i lost 2 tanks and 2 apcs (full of with infantry) and an spg on the very first mission of the campaign. So, any tips on how do you proceed in such an environment (not enough force to form a continous front line and you can be ambushed by a plethora of AT guns from practically anywhere becuse the map is large and flat)? Thanks a lot in advance!

I have noticed that if I use a small squad (like 3-4 men), the pioneers will use a single charge to execute the blast command. However if I use bigger squads they tend to use as many as 4 (!) for a single blast. This doesnt always happen and noticed it accross all of the titles. The event that caused me to open this topic happened in a scenario of the Fleeting Moment campaign of Fortress Italy, where the Italian pioneers equipped with 14 charges used up 4 charges to open a single wall tile on a building.. Is this bug or WAD? If the latter, whats the mechanic behind it? Thanks,

My personal experience is that SMGs greatly outperform rifles in almost any concievable scenario. If you take a German squad, the main "damage dealers" are the two machine guns and the squad leader's MP40. The dudes with the bolt action rifles are just glorified ammo bearers and meat shields for the rest of the squad. Funny thing is, that one would think that medium to long ranges, rifles outperform SMGs, while in close ranges (<50m) SMGs should dominate. In reality however (at least according to CM's reality) SMG squads are still extremely deadly within 200 meters (pixeltruppen are happily firing deadly burst), and a full smg squad can wipe the floor with dudes carrying only rifles. As I have said, this is my subjective take on the inner workings of the game after hundreds and hundreds of hours of gameplay. Rifles just dont cut it. They are (obviously) outmatched at close range, but they also suck at long range cause the shooter cant a hit damn thing. 500 meter effective range my ***.. Btw, this is why I dont like the Brits. A single anemic machine gun, one sten gun and loads of useless dudes with Mk. IV rifles.

As the title says. SMGs are an extremely important part of a squad's firepower (even for non-SMG centric squads), therefore if the person with the weapon gets nailed, I would very much prefer if his comrades would trade their crappy bolt action rifles for the SMG that was dropped. But they seem to be ignoring it. The only thing the AI is willing to pick up is machine guns.

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.