Halmbarte

You're probably confused because a Russian vehicle actually spotted something.  And fired.

In other words... CM Space Lobsters is coming in 2024 everybody! We've all waited over 20 years for it and its finally coming. You can all rest easy now. 😁

I use the hull down command a lot as a time saver. The method that works for me is making the endpoint the point where I don't want the vehicle to move past, then setting a firing point to the spot I want to be hull down to. There are a couple of limitations: 
1) The target spot is ground hight, not vehicle height. The difference can cause problems*. 
2) The problem* that gets me the most often is that I'm hull down to the spot I wanted, but another, unnoticed location has a better line of fire, again leading to problems*. 
H
*Problem = significant emotional experience for the crew. 

Barring access to VT I'd take ICM. ICM works for a lot of the same applications I'd pick VT for, plus I might get lucky and actually hit an IFV with one. 
H

As I've said several times recently, I can almost guarantee that the next western front title will be in North Africa. In fact it is almost certain to be Tunisia 1943.
They haven't gone backwards since Sicily because they prioritized finishing up the late war first. The late war is finished. There is no direction to go now but back. The next step back in time from Sicily 1943 is Tunisia 1943. It's going to be Tunisia 1943 next.

Any unit can deactivate a mine or IED. 
 
Once. 
 
H

My short version of the excellent write up by Centurian52:
Using Sov tactics to beat the Germans/NATO in RT/CW:
Time spent on recon is never wasted.
Time and resources spent killing enemy recon is never wasted. 
Have a plan and execute it. 
The artillery fire plan must support the maneuver plan. The maneuver plan dictates the fire plan and they must be mutually supportive. 
A company of Sov tanks spots better than any single German/NATO tank. 
Take away the better spotting offered by the German/NATO habit of fighting unbuttoned. Get them heads down to decrease their situational awareness. 
When you attack, attack! Don't poke him with one finger at a time. Make a fist and crush the enemy with overwhelming force. 
Use a platoon to crush a squad > use a company to crush a platoon >> use a battalion to crush a squad. Fair fights are for suckers.
Keep pressing attacks until they aren't feasible anymore, but don't reinforce failure. The Germans/Americans never have enough troops/tanks. 
Just because you have mass doesn't mean the only way forwards is a frontal assault. There are other ways to win that don't involve sticking your dick into the meat grinder until it jams. Recon routes that bypass the enemy, the Germans/NATO never have enough troops/tanks to cover every avenue of approach. Infantry infiltration is a thing.
If you're playing the Sov: Your man portable ATGMs (>AT3s) are scary. Use infiltration tactics to get the ATGMs forward into range to support attacks. Make sure to protect the carriers since they are stuffed with reloads and make big boom if hit. 
Take your time, don't be in a rush to die. You'll probably run out of people, tanks, and/or ammo before you run out of time. 
 
Urban warfare: 
Don't move in the streets. Mouseholing is optimum, then back gardens, then alleyways. Stay out of the streets. Use supporting weapons to create mouseholes and gaps in walls. 
Don't go in through the front door. If you can arrange it start at the top and clear down. 
Suppress every building that has line of sight to your maneuvering force. If you can't suppress or smoke it don't move that way.  
 
H

My short version of the excellent write up by Centurian52:
Using Sov tactics to beat the Germans/NATO in RT/CW:
Time spent on recon is never wasted.
Time and resources spent killing enemy recon is never wasted. 
Have a plan and execute it. 
The artillery fire plan must support the maneuver plan. The maneuver plan dictates the fire plan and they must be mutually supportive. 
A company of Sov tanks spots better than any single German/NATO tank. 
Take away the better spotting offered by the German/NATO habit of fighting unbuttoned. Get them heads down to decrease their situational awareness. 
When you attack, attack! Don't poke him with one finger at a time. Make a fist and crush the enemy with overwhelming force. 
Use a platoon to crush a squad > use a company to crush a platoon >> use a battalion to crush a squad. Fair fights are for suckers.
Keep pressing attacks until they aren't feasible anymore, but don't reinforce failure. The Germans/Americans never have enough troops/tanks. 
Just because you have mass doesn't mean the only way forwards is a frontal assault. There are other ways to win that don't involve sticking your dick into the meat grinder until it jams. Recon routes that bypass the enemy, the Germans/NATO never have enough troops/tanks to cover every avenue of approach. Infantry infiltration is a thing.
If you're playing the Sov: Your man portable ATGMs (>AT3s) are scary. Use infiltration tactics to get the ATGMs forward into range to support attacks. Make sure to protect the carriers since they are stuffed with reloads and make big boom if hit. 
Take your time, don't be in a rush to die. You'll probably run out of people, tanks, and/or ammo before you run out of time. 
 
Urban warfare: 
Don't move in the streets. Mouseholing is optimum, then back gardens, then alleyways. Stay out of the streets. Use supporting weapons to create mouseholes and gaps in walls. 
Don't go in through the front door. If you can arrange it start at the top and clear down. 
Suppress every building that has line of sight to your maneuvering force. If you can't suppress or smoke it don't move that way.  
 
H

So, after I learned more about how Soviet tactics are actually supposed to work from watching @domfluff's collaboration with Free Whisky, and giving FM 100-2-1 a full reread*, I found that Soviet doctrine actually works really well. I was even able to use it to good effect in CMBS, even against American forces.
One of the most important things to remember is that it's not about just lining up and charging forward (in fact I rather got the impression that the founding principle of Cold War Soviet doctrine was "let's not do things the way we did them in WW2" (more emphasis on maneuver and avoiding frontal attacks, and more emphasis on artillery)). The most important part of the Soviet army isn't the tanks, it's the artillery. The tanks come in 2nd place in importance after the artillery, and the infantry come in 3rd place (though the infantry are still important, they understood completely that tanks need infantry support**). It's true that the Soviet army is less flexible than NATO armies at lower levels. It's true that lower ranked leaders (platoon and company commanders) were not supposed to exercise the kind of initiative that lower level NATO leaders were expected to exercise. So from the battalion level down it was a very battle-drill focused army. But from the regimental commanders up there is considerably more flexibility to come up with detailed plans, which should account for multiple contingencies. The lack of emphasis on lower level initiative (in fact outright discouragement of lower level initiative) isn't about stifling flexibility, it's about ensuring the will of the commander is carried out. So how well a given Soviet force performs will depend very heavily on the quality of their regimental and division commanders.
Again, the battalions and companies fight according to battle drills. But the regimental commander had a lot of flexibility in how and where to employ his battalions. Assuming the regimental commander is competent (granted, a big assumption, based on what we've seen from Russian commanders), he would try not to just use his battalions as blunt instruments. He would come up with a detailed plan, using deception, maneuver, and overwhelming firepower. In Combat Mission terms, since you rarely have full regiments, you'll be wanting to do this detailed planning with whatever sized force you have available, even if it's only a battalion or company.
When it comes time for the main attack you should go all in with everything you've got. But you shouldn't send the main attack in until you're ready. You'll want to spend a large chunk of the scenario just preparing things for your main attack. Think hard about the avenue of approach you want to use for your main attack. The Soviets would try to attack from an unexpected direction (for example: they absolutely will attack through forests if they think their vehicles can get through and it might allow them to emerge on the flank or rear of enemy defenses). So if you think you see an approach that the scenario designer wouldn't have thought to defend, and which you can get your forces through, then that approach is in line with Soviet thinking. A key element of the main attack, when it is finally time to send it in, is overwhelming firepower. The artillery fire plan is one of the most important elements of the overall plan. The Soviets were an artillery army first and foremost. Every attack would be supported by mass concentrations of artillery. You'll want to time your main attack to coincide with a full barrage consisting of all of your guns (the main attack is not the time to save ammunition), hitting both known and suspected enemy positions that might interfere with your advance. And don't just leave it up to the artillery either. Don't wait for your tanks to spot targets, but give them a large number of target briefly commands to hit every potential enemy position you can think of, even if you don't know for certain that it's really an enemy position (my rule of thumb as the Soviets/Russians is that my infantry never storm a town until every floor of every building has been hit by at least two HE rounds, regardless of whether enemy troops have actually been spotted in that building). Again, the main attack is not the time to try to save ammunition. I'll generally chain up multiple target briefly commands for each tank to execute each turn by targeting them from waypoints, sometimes with a 15 second pause order at each waypoint for better control (though firing on the move is probably more in line with how the Soviets wanted to fight). Whether I intend to bypass a position or storm it with infantry, I want to make sure no point in the position remains unhit with HE. And I always endeavor to have my infantry, coming up in their vehicles just behind the tanks, enter the enemy positions mere seconds after the last HE round has hit them (the timing on this can be tricky, but it is possible). Mass is an important component of Soviet doctrine. But it's really about massing firepower, not massing platforms. Massing platforms is merely a means to massing firepower.
In a meeting engagement (or any attack that does not start with Soviet forces already in contact with the enemy), they would have an advance guard ahead of the main body, itself broken up into three parts. The first part is the Combat Reconnaissance Patrol (CRP), consisting of one platoon. Their job is to find the enemy. Ideally by spotting them, but if necessary by dying to them. The second part is the Forward Security Element (FSE), consisting of a company minus the platoon that was split off to form the CRP. Their job is to brush aside a weak enemy, or fix a strong enemy in place for the third part. The third part is the advance guard main body, consisting of the regiment's lead battalion, minus the company that was split off to form the FSE. Depending on the conditions set by the CRP and FSE they may try to flank the force that was fixed in place by the FSE, or pursue some other objective that the fixed force can't stop them from taking. In this sort of battalion-sized advance to contact the battalion commander has more of the flexibility and initiative normally reserved for the regimental commander. Technically the Advance Guard main body is still setting conditions for the regiment's main body to do whatever it intends to do (larger flank attack, breakthrough, exploitation). But in Combat Mission terms I think it's good enough to just think in terms of your CRP, FSE, and your main body (the regimental main body behind the advance guard main body is probably out of scope for a single Combat Mission scenario anyway). You may want to have an FO with your CRP or FSE to start calling in the barrage that will support your main attack. Or you will want to preplan your artillery (you can certainly have a more complex fire plan if it's preplanned), with your main attack timed to go in at the 15-minute mark, and the CRP and FSE expected to have done their jobs before the 15-minute mark.
When an attack starts in contact with the enemy (they aren't moving to contact, and they already know what's in front of them), the Soviets wouldn't have an advance guard. The attack would go in more according to the 'deliberate attack' training scenarios. Whether you choose to employ a CRP and/or FSE in advance of your main attack, the important thing is that you have a good idea of what you are facing so that you can decide how, where, and when you want your main body to spring the main attack. Again, you are trying to avoid a frontal attack (hit their positions from the flank or rear if such an approach is available), and go in firepower-heavy with everything you've got, when (not before) you are ready to spring the main attack. Do everything you can to prepare the way for the main attack before springing it (recon, fix any forces that need to be fixed, start calling in fire-missions timed to support the main attack).
*I had read parts of FM 100-2-1 before. But I had skipped to the parts about platoon, company, and battalion formations and battle drills. But those are just the building blocks of Soviet doctrine, not the actual substance of Soviet doctrine.
**In fact they apparently decided that they were a bit too tank-heavy at some point in the 80s. One of their late 80s organizational reforms (which I don't think they ever actually completed before the Cold War ended (the 1991 edition of FM 100-2-3 suggested they were still early in the process of implementing this reform)) was to replace one of the tank regiments in each division with another motor rifle regiment. So tank divisions were to go from three tank regiments and a motor rifle regiment to two tank regiments and two motor rifle regiments. And motor rifle divisions were to go from three motor rifle regiments and a tank regiment to four motor rifle regiments, with the only tank support being the tank battalions organic to each motor rifle regiment. One can imagine how this would have resulted in a much more sensible ratio of tanks to infantry.

Any unit can deactivate a mine or IED. 
 
Once. 
 
H

Was inspired by the previous video and decided to make one of my own, enjoy!
 

I usually fight in alignment with the doctrine of the forces. US I keep TCs out as much as possible. Sov I'll turn out the TCs if the tanks are doing recon, but if they button up due to threats I'll leave them alone. Same with APCs/IFVs. 
About thermals, as far as I know nothing in CW has independent thermals for the TC. So I'd expect the spotting advantage from thermals to stay entirely with the gunner and have a very limited FOV. 
H

“Shrinking the map”.  It is one of the largest issues we have at this scale of wargaming.  One cannot employ the same map scales for WW2 in a modern title.  We will continue to work the artillery issue but the hallmark of CM games is tactical realism, maps will have to adapt.  In CMCW we pretty much pushed out to the outer limit of what the game engine can handle with respect to map sizes.  It wasn’t artillery that was the forcing function, it was ATGMs.  A system that can reach out 3kms with very high Pk forces a much larger map.  That, and Soviet formations needed room to manoeuvre.  As we move into more modern era, say CMBS, the maps will need to get even larger.  This reflects what we are seeing on the battlefield - dispersion and increased range and lethality per combat element.  I suspect that after seeing the Ukraine war unfold that CM artillery will be readdressed.  There is too much evidence of its effectiveness to ignore.  CMx3 will need to take into account much larger map sizes as a result.

And if you are the US in '79, just drill into your head that M113s are trucks, nothing more. Don't let that .50cal fool you, unless the Russians don't have any tanks at all, and even then, it's RPG Hell out there. Keep them out of the line of fire. Use them to transport your men to where they need to be. They will die frequently if you try to pretend they are IFVs. 
The US in '79 is quite a different experience to the US in '82, which is one of the big premises behind CMCWs setting - point out the big change in those few years. Even in '79 though, when you have thermal sights, you will do well. I agree about the T-64s. Against M60s they are brutal.
I also agree about the effective use of artillery and smoke, but hey, I'm an ex US artillery officer, so I just might be a bit biased 🙂
Dave

I would not suggest you try the “Zerg rush” as Soviets or you will be in for short brutal games.  Give NTC a spin, then US (82).  If you want easy do Valley of Ashes as US.  If you want impossible, do Valley of Ashes as Soviet.
 

I usually fight in alignment with the doctrine of the forces. US I keep TCs out as much as possible. Sov I'll turn out the TCs if the tanks are doing recon, but if they button up due to threats I'll leave them alone. Same with APCs/IFVs. 
About thermals, as far as I know nothing in CW has independent thermals for the TC. So I'd expect the spotting advantage from thermals to stay entirely with the gunner and have a very limited FOV. 
H

Thermal sights provides benefits to the gunner but not to the commander. So I usually will also keep M60A3 TTS and M1's commander unbuttoned. For CMSF2 and CMBS, there are alot of AFV that have CITV and commander video , I will keep the hatch closed for those.
 
as for Soviets in CMCW, I would prefer to have T-64, 72, 80 buttoned, not only they fight buttoned-up but also the tree-men crew team will lose a lot of combat efficiency after loosing the tank commander.

BF initially repeatedly promised that since CMBN was released.  But, has moved away from that promise, much to the dismay of many of us.  My recollection was that BF didn't see Early War as profitable - same for North Africa, despite the interest in DAK etc. 

The shock one feels going from CM1 to CMSF will probably be similar to the shock going from CMSF to CMBS.  One can afford hardly any mistakes in CMSF.  One cannot afford ANY mistakes in CMBS.  Good game tho'.

In general, I don't try to play thru w/zero casualties. I will redo turns if I make a bonehead mistake, but I generally only save each 5 minutes or so. 
Suppression is the key. You've got a lot of ammo, use it on spotted enemy positions & suspected enemy positions, and on places where you would put a position.
Suppression lets you move, movement gets you better positions to destroy the enemy. 
As far as the mortars go, the OPFOR call in times are glacial. Try to keep moving faster than the Syrian FOs can call or adjust fire. Move by routes where enemy FOs can't see into. Put artillery or airstrikes on those spots where you would put an FO. 
H

Exposure times and angles.
Where would you put ATGMs if you were the enemy? Get eyes on those areas and if you have the assets hit them with arty or airstrikes. Minimize exposure of your vehicles by moving them down covered routes and don't expose them long enough to be spotted, aimed at, and have ATGMs guided onto you. Suppress spotted enemy elements and those 'really good' locations before moving into the open. You'll still lose units, but fewer of them. Don't advance into obvious kill zones w/o stacking the deck in your favor. 
H

Even doing things ‘correctly’ bad stuff still happens. I thought I’d eliminated all enemy units in this vid clip. Moved up a BIFV to dismount some guys to clear woods. A key holed unsupressed, unidentified RPG 29 team did their job. 
sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. Doing saves to eliminate poor decisions or unlucky events teaches bad habits IMO - which will bite you on the arse the first PvP game you play. 

In general, I don't try to play thru w/zero casualties. I will redo turns if I make a bonehead mistake, but I generally only save each 5 minutes or so. 
Suppression is the key. You've got a lot of ammo, use it on spotted enemy positions & suspected enemy positions, and on places where you would put a position.
Suppression lets you move, movement gets you better positions to destroy the enemy. 
As far as the mortars go, the OPFOR call in times are glacial. Try to keep moving faster than the Syrian FOs can call or adjust fire. Move by routes where enemy FOs can't see into. Put artillery or airstrikes on those spots where you would put an FO. 
H

I had a M60A2 tank a hit w/o any casualties or subsystem damage!

It was from a T72 firing at ~2200m so the M60 had that going for it. 
H