NOOB to CM titles

[A Canadian Cat]

Also, I use Fire Briefly a lot ( I have it mapped to a very easy to find key )  Then I allocate area fire 'briefly' and hit the key three or four times. This will give you fire for 30,45,or 60 seconds.   it means that you can then forget about that unit and not have to "turn off" the fire command, because it will automatically turn off.

 

After the turn cycle, re-evaluate which units need to be laying down fire and repeat

 

An excellent tip and I do the same now too.  Before doing that there were many occasions where my men would be taking fire and ducking and I would look around and finally figure out it was friendly fire because I forgot to call of the support teams after the assault was over.  Oops.

[womble]

An excellent tip and I do the same now too.  Before doing that there were many occasions where my men would be taking fire and ducking and I would look around and finally figure out it was friendly fire because I forgot to call of the support teams after the assault was over.  Oops.

I'd use that tip more if I could "Target Light Briefly". I'd rather expend a minute or two of rifle ammo on an already-suppressed target than waste the Rifle Grenades (et al.) that the TacAI thinks are a good idea to shoot at a random suppression target way out of effective range... Most of the time, I just discard the notion that my infantry have Rifle Grenades, because I don't remember to Target Light though, and they never do have 'em left by the time it comes to test conclusions where they might be useful.

[A Canadian Cat]

Indeed a good point, I have lost a few rifle grenades by not thinking carefully enough.

[Nidan1]

Hmmm that is a good idea, I think I'll try it at the Woroblin Bridgehead 

Edited July 8, 2015 by Nidan1

[A Canadian Cat]

Wait, isn't that against me?  No, you are not allowed

[Doc844]

Thanks for the tips everyone seriously a big help. Now next question how does the assault command work because on numerous occasions I've told my men to assault a position and they just seem to bimble up to it without bothering to throw grenades or anything and by doing this I always lose 2 or 3 men. It's bloody frustrating.

[womble]

Thanks for the tips everyone seriously a big help. Now next question how does the assault command work because on numerous occasions I've told my men to assault a position and they just seem to bimble up to it without bothering to throw grenades or anything and by doing this I always lose 2 or 3 men. It's bloody frustrating.

Assault is really a badly-named command.

 

It is a shorthand command mostly for realtime play, which takes an unsplit squad and moves its teams in bounding overwatch, one team at a time, between the waypoints. It has nothing to do and no effect on "carrying a position by assault", except that the static team(s) will provide covering fire if they've not got contradictory orders. On the whole, though, assaulting a target which has defenders, if you absolutely must do it (rather then sweeping them out with the hot lead/HE broom) is best conducted using one split Assault team with several others giving covering fire. Give the Assaulting team a waypoint just outside their entry point, with a 10-20s Pause, and a Target Briefly order of the same length into the building, followed by a Quick or Fast or Hunt or Slow (shouldn't really matter if you've got the suppression clamped down tight) into the building and a circular (hold shift) Target arc that doesn't reach the next building at the terminal waypoint.

[mjkerner]

Thanks Baneman, I had that procedure in my head at one time, but never wrote it down and would keep forgetting which command to do first.

 

Womble, I agree.  I seem to always have RG's I don't want to waste when I want to Target Briefly.

[Doc844]

Thanks womble that is a massive help because I just had another squad wiped out while trying to attack a building so I think I'll do a load and replay it. Hopefully with a better outcome.

[womble]

Thanks womble that is a massive help because I just had another squad wiped out while trying to attack a building so I think I'll do a load and replay it. Hopefully with a better outcome.

Good luck.

 

My personal SOP is to split all my squads at setup time, so I have very little use for the Assault command unless I'm playing with squads that can't be split. Obviously, I'd recommend that SOP, but I do recognise that it has implications on the number of clicks per turn.

[MOS:96B2P]

My personal SOP is to split all my squads at setup time, so I have very little use for the Assault command unless I'm playing with squads that can't be split. Obviously, I'd recommend that SOP, but I do recognise that it has implications on the number of clicks per turn.

 

This is a good SOP that usually delivers good results and is well worth the extra clicks.

 

Somebody once posted an interesting use for the assault command.  It was to use it like the Australian peel when breaking contact.  I have not tried this yet since my squads are split into fire teams to begin with however someday I think I will test it just for the fun of it.  Or maybe with Italian troops in CMFI this Australian peel (reverse Assault Command) tactic would be useful.   

[womble]

This is a good SOP that usually delivers good results and is well worth the extra clicks.

I think so, obviously For the sake of even handedness, though, plenty of people seem to do okay with unsplit squads, or splitting them as things get detailed.

 

 

Somebody once posted an interesting use for the assault command.  It was to use it like the Australian peel when breaking contact.  I have not tried this yet since my squads are split into fire teams to begin with however someday I think I will test it just for the fun of it.  Or maybe with Italian troops in CMFI this Australian peel (reverse Assault Command) tactic would be useful.   

Aye. If you're in a position to use it, Assault works just as well as, if not better (or at least more reliably, cos you're not likely sending the A team into an assault-onto-target) as a "break contact" drill than using it on the advance.

[A Canadian Cat]

Somebody once posted an interesting use for the assault command.  It was to use it like the Australian peel when breaking contact.   

 

I have to remember to try that next time I am in that situation.

[A Canadian Cat]

plenty of people seem to do okay with unsplit squads, or splitting them as things get detailed.

 

Yeah, I split my squads the vast majority of the time but not every squad right at the beginning.  I do it as needed when my guys are getting into contact.  There are a few times when recombining them is my preferred way too.  For example when hunting for stragglers.  I have a battle going now where I have a platoon clearing an area of woods where I know there is only between 2 and 4 enemy soldiers.  My squads are all combined just to keep management simpler for me.  That way I don't have to worry about one team getting ahead of the rest of the squad for a portion of the battle I am not monitoring closely.

[cool breeze]

Welcome to the ongoing madness that is CM.

 

Vehicle boarding.

 

1) Men will only board/debus from a stationary vehicle.

2) This can occur at the beginning or end of a vehicle's movement path.

 

How to debus at the beginning of the vehicle's movement :

 

1) Both vehicle and riders must NOT have any orders.

2) Select riders

3) Press DISMOUNT button.

4) Give men movement command(s)

5) Give vehicle movement command(s).

 

Result : Men debus, move off, when all men are off, vehicle drives off according to its movement commands.

 

Boarding at the beginning of a vehicle's movement can also be done - you just have to ensure that the vehicle is PAUSED for long enough. As long as they start boarding before the vehicle's Pause timer runs out, it will wait for them to finish before moving out.

Naturally, timing this is tricky ( if your pause is short by even 1 second, your men will spend the rest of the turn chasing the truck  ), but with practice you can get it to work.

NOTE :

If a turn has ended and a unit of men are mid-board/debus, they will be greyed out and unselectable.

They will, however, complete the boarding/debus process next turn.

In this case, you can give the vehicle orders normally - it will wait until the process of boarding or debussing completes, then carry out its orders.

 

NB : Note that both DISMOUNT and BAIL-OUT are "button of no return" toggles. ie. Once pressed, it cannot be "taken back" - you'd have to reload the game turn to "undo".

For this reason, I ensure they they are blanked out under Controls - that way, an errant keypress cannot mess up your orders turn, you have to click it with your mouse.

My bold.  I think this is not quit 100 percent accurate.  I'm pretty sure you can board at a pause waypoint for the vehicles.  It better work cause I try to do it often and it seems to work   so like I have my APC behind the tree line where the infantry are hanging out, and I want to pick the grunts up in the apc and go to the next tree line ahead.  So I give the infantry a boarding order on the apc, and a 20 or 30 second pause so they sit on their hands while the apc drives up.  I give the apc a fast order to the grunts, then a 20 or 30 second pause to give the troops time to board, then say a hunt order to 30 meters from the next tree line.  next turn I give the grunts hunt order into the tree line.   if the apc sees an enemy he stops and the troops disembark.  The troops then hunt forward until they see someone or get scared.

[Baneman]

Cheers, cool breeze, my bad.

 

What you say is true, I never thought of wording it that way because I never use your method

The timings are very finicky and seldom gains more than about 10-15 seconds over just stopping the vehicle. But that's just me.

 

Thanks for the correction - best to give new players ALL the correct info

[A Canadian Cat]

My bold.  I think this is not quit 100 percent accurate.  I'm pretty sure you can board at a pause waypoint for the vehicles.  It better work cause I try to do it often and it seems to work   so like I have my APC behind the tree line where the infantry are hanging out, and I want to pick the grunts up in the apc and go to the next tree line ahead.  So I give the infantry a boarding order on the apc, and a 20 or 30 second pause so they sit on their hands while the apc drives up.  I give the apc a fast order to the grunts, then a 20 or 30 second pause to give the troops time to board, then say a hunt order to 30 meters from the next tree line.  next turn I give the grunts hunt order into the tree line.   if the apc sees an enemy he stops and the troops disembark.  The troops then hunt forward until they see someone or get scared.

 

Wow.  I was going to write - "you are wrong this morning" but I figured I had better try it first.  Turns out you can do this - amazing.  I thought you could only do boarding before the vehicle moved or after it stopped.

 

Cool!!!

 

I tried it in CMBS since you said APC but I do not see how it would not work for the other titles.  For some reason I could not attach the test file to this message but here is a drop box link: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/28686783/Mount%20At%20Way%20Point%20Test%20001.zip

 

When you run it you will see two squads successfully load into their strikers after they arrive but one squad runs off the the end way point of their striker.  So you have to make sure the timing is right.  What I did was the right hand squad I gave pause to that I thought would be long enough.  The middle squad I gave as short a pause as I thought might possibly work. The left hand squad I gave plenty of time (but really if you are going to do that you might as well not bother and do it in two turns).

 

The result was that the left and right squads waited for their rides then the strikers waited while they boarded and off they went.  The middle squad waited for a bit and then took off jobbing across the field meanwhile the striker arrived and waited for no body briefly and then drove off across the field following the  soldiers.

[Vinnart]

Welcome to the forum and to CM Doc. It sounds like you are approaching the game with the right mindset in that there is a learning curve in CM probably more than many other games out there. Lots of good tips from the fellas, especially about reloading and trying things differently if it didn't go well the first time. I still do it sometimes if I have alternate plans i want to experiment with, or am learning a new unit,  and I have been playing for years.

 

I should add to your CM primer that you look up, and watch the CM series by Armchair General on youtube. Here is the first episode, but there are I believe 5 or 6 in the series. These are well done and explained by a former US Army Infantry Lt. Col. Here he is using CMBN, but many of the fundementals he discusses can be applied in genral to all CM games, however keep in mind each force and terrain is unique so tactics need to be adapted to fit.

Edited July 25, 2015 by Vinnart

[Vinnart]

Wow.  I was going to write - "you are wrong this morning" but I figured I had better try it first.  Turns out you can do this - amazing.  I thought you could only do boarding before the vehicle moved or after it stopped.

 

Cool!!!

 

You could do boarding with vehicle paused since CMSF. I do it sometimes, but there is always the tricky timing. My thought is to always give a bit more boarding time than less. "Better to have and not need, than to need and not have". The worst is when you time it wrong and they driver takes off with the guys running after it . What can never be done is drop off a passenger while paused. I guess that would get a bit confussing for the AI to know where the intent is to drop off at. Some things like boarding and aqiuring do go more smoothly in real time play i can say.

Edited July 25, 2015 by Vinnart

[Doc844]

Yeah I noticed that about pause and drop off. Still figuring out the time and distance in regards to my pixel truppen but I'm getting there slowly. Patience is a virtue lol. Thanks for the YouTube video advice reckon that will be my TV time when the wife's watching her *rubbish* on telly. One other thing I would like to know about is how does the auto ammo refill work and also why do you have to tell your squad to get in a vehicle just to acquire say a javelin. This wastes 2 turns minimum which is alot especially if u only want/need some extra rockets for your javelin.

Cheers

Doc

[Baneman]

.. One other thing I would like to know about is how does the auto ammo refill work and also why do you have to tell your squad to get in a vehicle just to acquire say a javelin. This wastes 2 turns minimum which is alot especially if u only want/need some extra rockets for your javelin.

 

Ammo sharing is when a unit is out of ammo and within 2 AS of another element of the same platoon, they will get to use some of their neighbour's ammo.

 

The boarding to acquire is a limitation of WEGO really. Since CMBN came out, it has been asked that we be able to acquire from adjacent to the vehicle.

People who have used this sort of equipment have pointed out that 2 minutes is actually quite rapid for that task ( picking up belts of bullets etc. - the bullets are automagically in whatever form you need - belts, clips, etc. ). Granted, a Javelin would be quicker/easier, but the code cannot differentiate.

 

It might be on BFC's to-do list, but unlikely to be near the top since it works "good enough".

 

If possible, try to do all your ammo jiggery-pokery in the setup turn - you can load guys in and out to your heart's content

Edited July 25, 2015 by Baneman

[Doug Williams]

Welcome aboard, Doc. It sounds like you have found your true home, and we are glad to have you. :-)

Let us know when you feel like you are ready to enter the Thunderdome of PBEM.

Edited July 25, 2015 by Doug Williams

[Doc844]

Ok thanks for clarifying the ammo sharing, makes sense now. However 2 mins for an ammo replen is in RL practical terms ALONG time. Speaking from experience if your getting ammo from a bradley/warrior, you grab the boxes bang it in your daysack and off you go, you then sort it once in position because you don't go for a replen after expending all your ammo you go for it when your down to minimum scales, if possible. So 8n game although its automatic how you get the ammo ie belts etc this can be seen as the troops breaking down the ammo later. The mechanics aren't a game breaker just really annoying at times. Was just hoping I'd missed a button or something where u could do it an easier way.

[Doc844]

Welcome aboard, Doc. It sounds like you have found your true home, and we are glad to have you. :-)

Let us know when you feel like you are ready to enter the Thunderdome of PBEM.

Hi Doug cheers, I followed your AAR against Bill with great interest, very exciting stuff. I think I'm getting to grips with the game now, WOW what a learning curve but well worth the patience. I have BS and RT just now so anyone who would like to break me in lol I would be much obliged.

[Doc844]

Welcome to the forum and to CM Doc. It sounds like you are approaching the game with the right mindset in that there is a learning curve in CM probably more than many other games out there. Lots of good tips from the fellas, especially about reloading and trying things differently if it didn't go well the first time. I still do it sometimes if I have alternate plans i want to experiment with, or am learning a new unit,  and I have been playing for years.

 

I should add to your CM primer that you look up, and watch the CM series by Armchair General on youtube. Here is the first episode, but there are I believe 5 or 6 in the series. These are well done and explained by a former US Army Infantry Lt. Col. Here he is using CMBN, but many of the fundementals he discusses can be applied in genral to all CM games, however keep in mind each force and terrain is unique so tactics need to be adapted to fit.

 

Big thanks to you Vinnart for recommending this video loads of helpful hints and tips and also thanks to Armchair General, awesome vids, well put together consice and factual.  Big thumbs up rep.