chuckdyke

It depends on the ground it is typically 1000 meters in partial defilade position it is closer. The game doesn't allow us to do this and typically we get a No-LOS. I think it is a shame. I have tried it in game it is just not worth the hazzle. 1km is something we can do on an average map. Your points are taken and enfilade is partially solved by oblique fire. For HMG we need a different dialog at present they don't and only direct fire is possible. For your request you need a linear fire command which we don't have. Say 3X 15 seconds a turn. Just agree to disagree there is nothing wrong with that. I stick with MG's combined with light mortars to get the tactical advantage, using MG's alone make them candidates for a purple heart if they are lucky.

You better start reading some books. Or watch some useful movies. I try to copy their tactics and surprise they work. 500 yards is what they are using in the movie. Employment of Heavy Machine Guns in the Attack - 1944 - YouTube

I rest my case. There is a difference between a Marksman and a Sniper. Funny the German instructor calls his students Sharpshooters (Scharfschütze) that means marksmen also received specialist training. WW2 German sniper training film [English Subtitles] - YouTube

Try this one in Red Thunder or Final Blitzkrieg Give an infantry unit an embark order on an AFV. You will see they follow the AFV if the AFV is moving. In the other games it works with any transport vehicle but not with tanks.

It is you, they go for specialist training and fieldcraft thoroughly familiar with flora and fauna and spot abnormalities other people miss. Snipers are marksmen but not every marksman is a sniper. You wouldn't even notice when a shadow is pointing towards the sun even though you may have 20-20 vision. You need a sniper to spot through concealment.

Funny you don't address the issues of the HMG in the indirect fire mode just behind the crest of a ridge. They have special sights for this. That is what I like to see, and their HQ could call for a linear plunging fire. I solve this problem by for example the 60 mm mortar for US forces and the 50 mm for British commonwealth. I think that is why those units were so generously supplied in the game. I agree with @mjkerner that MGs shift their fire anyway. Combined arms are always the answer to solve tactical problems and innovation. Shooting an HMG from a defilade position for suppression is usual a waste of ammo. A German MG 42 in HMG mode is supplied with four thousand rounds in theory he can go through them in 4 minutes. Go to camera position 1 and observe in which manner the game let him fire.

Jeeps are useful too

Not exactly what I meant. Example an LMG engages some enemy units in a recent game he sees a JS2 nearby a unit which has a different C2. On Iron when I click my LMG he has a full contact with the IS2 and because the IS2 is unbuttoned sees the LMG as well. To let the JS2 engage the units of the LMG is realistic and reasonable.

Battle for Normandy I experienced that with Panther crews. Mount dismount you can use different crews with abandon or bail out you can't. I just checked in SF2 Scimitar crews can only crew their own vehicles.

They are generic, we need actually trench and foxhole tiles. An HMG is the wrong tactic. The HMG HQ can call in mortar fire and he doesn't need a radio. You always need a combination of units. We need 25 years more before the AI can copy every human behaviour. You just discovered you need a human opponent.

Very need I hope the scenario authors take note of your solution. Hope you get a most liked you deserve it.

That could be a human behaviour. Redirect at the next turn. You need to be in hide mode to make a trench full cover. Give it 15 seconds covering fire combined with a 15 sec of the maneuvering element near the end of a turn. You realize the HMG need to be in enfilade to be effective. In enfilade you need only one action square. In defilade you need to spray and pray and waste a lot of ammo. In the case of an MG 42 he will run out of barrels too. 15 seconds is enough to suppress once they cover you lose a full contact. Works both ways. Put somewhere an empty bunker and watch how many tanks give their position away. Empty trench or foxholes with your TRP on it. I like Hotseat that is the sort of Catch22 we play. Take it from me first spot gets your intel and plan.

That was the explanation in Barbarossa to Berlin. I would say a signal pistol could be an option. German HMG crews had a flashlight for signaling. Not all C2 depend on radio. I play on Iron and my home rule before I press the Red Button, I click a unit and see which unit he can see. They are the units I let coordinate their tactics.

Makes no difference against the AI. Human players can deal with it to make a few house rules. Buddy aid do them when you have secured the area. Tactics! 'Spray & Pray is a bad tactic. Use cover arcs.

Since a PBEM game is played on two computers I think perhaps the two PC's need to be coordinated.

Recon from concealment try it. You don't need to be on the edge of a forest. Remember Russian HQ don't need radio to call mortars. Don't ask me how it works.

If there is no option to mount or dismount for crew members passengers are not going to man, the AFV's armament. All Combat Mission games are like that. To put it differently if the options for crewmembers are abandon or bail out only the crew of an AFV can handle its weapons. Example a platoon of 5 Sherman WW2 tanks is in a fight. The green crew bails out of their tank, but the tank is intact. The HQ crew who is Elite managed to escape their tank which is on fire. The HQ crew can't man the abandoned tank of the green crew.

Always be positive. Try backward chaining of a battle. To gain the 800 points to occupy an objective these 'Green or Conscript troops are all you need to win a battle or a campaign. Look at the last steps you need to make.

Most of the time the TacAI will do the work for you but not always. Here is an example the AT Rifle is very useful but not of much use against the frontal armor of tanks by 1944. Here is the time I plotted a LOF against a PAK75 mm the AT Rifle is very capable of dealing with the gun shield. Don't ignore this weapon the Soviets did this as well. Compliment and assist your armor, it may save you a tank or two.

What would work is make screenshots and use it as an overlay as you would use google maps for example. Just give the original author credit.

True I just don't use it here and expect anybody to understand them.

One word only 'Nonsense' They come in pairs and what is the function of the 'Spotter' next to him?

Place your snipers carefully after 10 minutes or so it becomes clear where it is ok to approach. It is called 'Listening Patrols or Standing Patrols). Just tell them to hold their fire. Combat Mission got it spot on with them, they have special training regarding spotting. He directed M4 Sherman to do bunker busting and oh the Nasty Germans have a backup.

You realize that you can highlight the 'waypoints' and drag them in the correct place. Sharp corners take them in stages at least 2 waypoints to negotiate.

You must line them up perfectly and the armor follow each other on a straight road, the trouble is in the corners.