John Kettler Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 The stars finally aligned, allowing me, for the first time in a long time, to play CMBN. The saved game was too much, but by setting up a QB, selecting US on the attack, Tiny Battle, Small Map vs Waffen SS Mechanized force, I was able to get back into the game, 30 minute duration setting, and play it through to a Minor Tactical Victory (Iron's a whole new ball game in 3.0)--after 45 minutes. Frankly, I was beginning to wonder whether that QB would ever end. Have screenshot to prove I didn't make it up. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eniced73 Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Are you telling us you have a screenie to finally prove that you finished a game or that you have a QB that went 15 minutes into O.T.? If it is the later then check the QB map in the scenario editor to see if the creator accidentally set the variable ending time to +15 min. That is a possibility. Was it attack / small/ #53 by chance? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted November 16, 2014 Author Share Posted November 16, 2014 eniced73, I have finished several games, which you can read about in the thread called John Kettler vs CMBN. I was referring to a QB whose listed time durantion was 30 minutes but which didn't end for 45. How am I supposed to check the map in the scenario editor? All I did was select Small Map, Open Ground, Clear. I have no idea what happens after that. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Jack Ripper Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 JK, Sounds like a fun battle. Has the learning curve flattened out a bit? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexUK Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Good to hear you are having some success John. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted November 16, 2014 Author Share Posted November 16, 2014 SLIM, While I'm not entirely lost anymore, CMBN skill is pretty perishable, and I've scarcely played in months, the requisite neurons simply not being up to it. Nor was I able to handle the overwhelming loads of my MG saved game with British on the attack in some city with a bunch of bridges. Frankly, I'm surprised I was able to play at all, let alone to conclusion. 3.0 is, pardon the expression, a real game changer. Iron is now a really tough fight, since you pretty much can't see anything most of the time. The Priest never had a spot on anything, for example, and the Shermans, doubtless hindered by being buttoned and usually with TC casualties, had big problems. That said, they got no spots at all, even unbuttoned, until area fire got a piece of each halftrack. Until late in the game and close, they were the only spots I got. SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! It was a very tough fight, for I drew: the fat half of a Sherman 75 platoon (the PL), a Priest, the assault element of a rifle squad, a sharpshooter team and FO team with no tubes and a P-51 (MG only). I was fighting elements of a Waffen SS Panzer Grenadier unit, against which near terminal lack of infantry was nearly terminal. My infantry did nothing but get hit. Half the FO team lost to a notional ATG one or two moves after the game began, LW on the sharpshooter assistant. Same cause. Priest in a bad place from same threat, but sustained no casualty until late in the fight, cause unknown. I lost two TCs to doorknockers on a 251 and a 250 Neue Art on the ridge and had my tanks dinged up by them, not to mention abused by an leIG 18 on the VL. My Shermans survived several direct hits with some mobility degrades. In 3.0 buttoned tanks don't see well at all, and I spent much of my time area firing without solid spots. Was never able to get my infantry close enough to see, but the MGs downslope of the ridge and closer to the VL's upper right corner sure found me, making it impossible to advance (took fire from a bunch of such locations). Lost a Sherman to a Panzerfaust (I think) at a farm fence roughly halfway to the objective, but cleared the way for the advance with DF 105 mm HE. Had the Priest partially hulldown behind a ridge which had pretty good fields of fire. FO was nearby, and by the time I finally had an actual spot, it was far too late too bring in the P-51, or so I thought based on the 4 minutes left on the clock. I used the Priest to pound the objective with area fire. Didn't kill much, but I'm certain it disrupted the defenders time and again. Just as well, because every single leg unit I had took a casualty, forcing me to fight the battle with Shermans and the Priest. The doorknockers beat me up, but a hail of HE and MG fire eventually left two black pillars and really messed up Germans. The ATG? was maddening and had to be smothered with close range Sherman fire and the Priest. The other Sherman was immobilized just outside the VL bottom right, while the game winner had paralleled the farm and worked down a tree line to the VL's bottom left, from which it was ultimately able to kill that gun. Though desperately in need of that big .50, I didn't dare unbutton that tank, for it was my last fully functional tank, and the immobilized one had already, fortunately, shot through its HE load before things went sideways. I went through the entire HE load of the Priest, but gingerly worked my tank (was forced to retreat from the VL several times by the infantry scared response) into positions where it could really lay into sources of fire. Hitting such locations eventually yielded spots (already bodies strewn around the dead gun), allowing the Sherman to do its infantry eating thing, a spell called Create Charnel House. 32 infantry. Also got one of the HTs and the gun. Destroyed VL defenders, including an HQ, and gunned down most who fled. I won that battle solely on casualties inflicted, having failed utterly in the two primary categories. A grueling fight I thought would never end. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletpoint Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 A bit confused here.. How can there be spoilers when it's about a Quick Battle? Also, I'm not sure what the benefits of IRON mode are, really. Just more cumbersome user interface. Maybe it's just a mental challenge to play with invisible units, a bit like blind chess? (This just inspired a separate topic) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hister Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 It was very useful before 3.0 introduced command lines. Now it's not as much. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted November 16, 2014 Author Share Posted November 16, 2014 Bulletpoint, I was confused after reading what eniced73 suggested, for it made no direct sense (based on CMx1 experience; this was my first ever CMx2 QB), but I figured he knew something I didn't. Even so, it's moot, since I didn't save the game, other than taking the screenshot as proof of the deep OT event. Having to find the enemy is part and parcel of warfare, and I submit the QB is precisely the situation in which the recon picture is likely to range from murky to all but nil. Generic leg and AFV counters (no idea what's there for wheeled softskins), together with real difficulty in getting spots, add greatly to the challenges of fighting and go a long way toward adding Clausewitzian friction to the fray by creating considerable uncertainty in the mind of the gamer. In turn, this slows things down considerably and results in better tactics, more historically correct temporo-spatial relationships and once again puts much of the fire into the "To Whom It May Concern" category. As my QB shows, it isn't all that difficult to go through a lot of HE, potentially leading to martial embarrassment. Or worse. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Jack Ripper Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 I went through the entire HE load of the Priest, but gingerly worked my tank (was forced to retreat from the VL several times by the infantry scared response) into positions where it could really lay into sources of fire. One thing to remember about quick battles, you don't need to save any ammunition. If you haven't used up 95% of your ammo by the end of the battle, you haven't been shooting enough. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eniced73 Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Bulletpoint, I was confused after reading what eniced73 suggested, for it made no direct sense (based on CMx1 experience; this was my first ever CMx2 QB), but I figured he knew something I didn't. Even so, it's moot, since I didn't save the game, other than taking the screenshot as proof of the deep OT event. John - I know you have played before as I have read your posts As far as your original question I will explain. Each QB is setup with parameters like any other regular scenario that you would play. You can open a specific QB map in the editor and edit the weather, time, VL's, setup locations, and even the variable ending time. That is what happened on the specific map you were playing - #53 (most likely). This is the only small attack map that has a variable ending time of 0-15 minutes. Thus this is why your battle went 15 minutes into OT. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share Posted November 18, 2014 Bulletpoint, Something was nagging at me, so I went back and checked my game screen for CMBN. I erred. Am running 2.12, not 3.0, a condition I shall now fix. Believe the confusion arose. Most of my CMBN experience base was the 1 series, after which I got 2.0 and 2.12, in which, prior to the QB, I had a whole two turns of experience. this is why I thought I was running 3.0, for it's quite different from what I was used to. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share Posted November 18, 2014 Bulletpoint, Problem corrected. 3.0 installed! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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