My Battle for Normandy stories

[Erwin]

Yeah, some campaigns are hard and may discourage a new player.  Better to play those when one has sufficient experience.

[danfrodo]

I was thinking more of once you play a battle, you have an idea what the enemy will do and so second time is a different experience because you already know many of the surprises.  Of course, most of the surprises are bad.    But yes, some of the campaigns are hard.  Especially the ones where you are playing the side that lost in real life.

[user1000]

how can you stand to play to that that popping bass battle from the games background sound, I put the silent sounds mod on all the games.

http://cmmodsiii.greenasjade.net/?p=2193

Edited January 18, 2021 by user1000

[Zloba]

37 minutes ago, danfrodo said:

I was thinking more of once you play a battle, you have an idea what the enemy will do and so second time is a different experience because you already know many of the surprises.  Of course, most of the surprises are bad.    But yes, some of the campaigns are hard.  Especially the ones where you are playing the side that lost in real life.

I totally get it. Once you play a scenario, the Fog of War is lost forever in some extent. I was really thinking about this in the last couple of hours and i think i came to a conclusion. I'll play every scenario only once. I'm pretty sure if i won't be successful and get back to it after doing bunch of other scenarios, i'll have the proper feeling of experience bringing into the 2nd playthrough, while not remembering much of the scenarios details.

I know it's against the suggestions (which i know they're right) to play one scenario multiple times until i get through it and "learn the lesson" but i'm more of the type of player who likes to learn things in a more natural way, while experiencing them.

I'm just not sure if it will go hand-in-hand with the cinematic style of videos i would like to produce, because .. let's face it .. who likes defeats, right? 

But only time will tell i guess

[Zloba]

20 minutes ago, user1000 said:

how can you stand to play to that that popping bass battle from the games background sound, I put the silent sounds mod on all the games.

http://cmmodsiii.greenasjade.net/?p=2193

I'm not completely sure what does that mod do .. do you mean removing the background "sounds of war"? I don't know .. i find them atmospheric ... maybe i'm too green to tell the opposite 

[danfrodo]

I think playing the same scenario multiple times is great for beginners.  My son did that.  I did that some early on. He played Gog & Magog CMRT over & over & over.  Then he finally started watching videos and trying other battles.  Now he's quite skilled.

51 minutes ago, Zloba said:

I totally get it. Once you play a scenario, the Fog of War is lost forever in some extent. I was really thinking about this in the last couple of hours and i think i came to a conclusion. I'll play every scenario only once. I'm pretty sure if i won't be successful and get back to it after doing bunch of other scenarios, i'll have the proper feeling of experience bringing into the 2nd playthrough, while not remembering much of the scenarios details.

I know it's against the suggestions (which i know they're right) to play one scenario multiple times until i get through it and "learn the lesson" but i'm more of the type of player who likes to learn things in a more natural way, while experiencing them.

I'm just not sure if it will go hand-in-hand with the cinematic style of videos i would like to produce, because .. let's face it .. who likes defeats, right? 

But only time will tell i guess

 

[Erwin]

20 hours ago, Zloba said:

I'm not completely sure what does that mod do .. do you mean removing the background "sounds of war"? I don't know .. i find them atmospheric ... maybe i'm too green to tell the opposite 

There are a large number of sound mods available that can change the BG sound to silence... or birds, or dogs barking, nighttime crickets - or even just sounds like rain, wind etc.  

I found that after playing the game for a long period the constant sound of BG battle can get tiresome.  Also it can be hard to know what it actual firing vs BG sounds of firing.  

[Erwin]

19 hours ago, danfrodo said:

... play one scenario multiple times until i get through it and "learn the lesson" but i'm more of the type of player who likes to learn things in a more natural way, while experiencing them.

Playing the same hard scenario/mission is probably a good "training exercise" to discover what tactics work and what doesn't work.  But, otherwise, yes, replaying is a PITA.

[Zloba]

Will see how it goes. Maybe i'll replay scenarios if i won't learn anything. About the sounds .. so far so good for me. But i'll definitely look out for some mods in the near future. Thanks for your suggestions 

[Heirloom_Tomato]

@Zloba if you are thinking about playing quick battles, I would suggest you play as the attacker on TINY battles. Choose the forces yourself for both sides. I started by giving myself a single company and one platoon to the enemy. Stick to one branch of one nation, the TO&E differences in this game are massive and make a huge difference in outcome of a battle. Learn to command one group really well and then branch out and see just how different a Canadian rifle company is from the Americans, or the British Airborne, or even an armoured American company. 

[Vacillator]

22 minutes ago, Heirloom_Tomato said:

I would suggest you play as the attacker on TINY battles. Choose the forces yourself for both sides

Interesting, having just played a medium sized QB on the FB La Gleize map with a powerful German force against an AI selected US force.  Half way through I realised that I was fighting almost exclusively M5 tanks.  Not much trouble to my panzers but difficult for the infantry (those cannister rounds are not nice).  Anyway I still had great fun, ending up with 38 US tanks destroyed to 0 of mine.  I certainly learned a lot about keeping the Rollbahn open .

[Heirloom_Tomato]

2 hours ago, Vacilllator said:

Interesting, having just played a medium sized QB on the FB La Gleize map with a powerful German force against an AI selected US force.  Half way through I realised that I was fighting almost exclusively M5 tanks.  Not much trouble to my panzers but difficult for the infantry (those cannister rounds are not nice).  Anyway I still had great fun, ending up with 38 US tanks destroyed to 0 of mine.  I certainly learned a lot about keeping the Rollbahn open .

The reason I suggested to select the forces yourself while trying to learn the game is to frame the battle properly. Let's say you want to practice house clearing in a village. If the game randomly selects units, you could end up fighting a couple of tanks, not what you wanted to practice.

Something for everyone selecting forces for quick battles, the game tries to keep formations intact in AI groups. For example, if a QB map has 3 AI groups and you select three companies from the same battalion, there is a pretty decent chance they will all end up in the same AI group. However, if you select three companies from three different battalions, they will most likely end up in 3 different AI groups, particularly if you leave the battalion HQ unit with the company. Selecting the enemy with this strategy in mind, should help to get the most out of the AI plan you are up against. 

[JoMac]

10 hours ago, Zloba said:

Will see how it goes. Maybe i'll replay scenarios if i won't learn anything. About the sounds .. so far so good for me. But i'll definitely look out for some mods in the near future. Thanks for your suggestions 

Just play around with some Tiny QB's first (give you idea of Game Mechanics and developing Tactics), then start playing Scenarios/Campaigns...As, Danfrodo, mentioned, This way you don't loose that first time experience playing Scenarios. 

I have faith in you, Zloba, and know you can do it :-)

Edited January 20, 2021 by JoMc67

[chuckdyke]

On 1/19/2021 at 12:29 AM, danfrodo said:

I suggest doing lots of quick battles for getting your skills ready.  If you do all scenarios or campaigns while learning you will spoil them a little for later when you are more ready to take them on.

The original functioning of wargaming is to model solutions which may work in real life. The AI has short comings the most important one is it doesn't plot area fire like a human player can. Attacks are set piece at best; I am 70 and get joy of teaching my grandson this game. He doesn't touch Call of Duty anymore. He introduced me to that game. I tried very diplomatically to explain what was wrong with that game. About 2 years ago CM was downloaded on my PC and it explains why Call of Duty is a joke. It is entertainment for some. CM makes it obvious that teamwork is essential to win a game, Rambo's end up with a purple heart. There is forward chaining and backward chaining when you teach. Each method got its pros and cons. Find a human player to play on Hotseat is desirable. Fortunately, I found two. 

[KGBoy]

I  use the small campaigns for learning. And play them repeatedly to gain efficiency. First up to learn is C2 - which takes repeated do overs to maintain properly ( well almost never proper but better).

The other aspect that is useful in small campaigns is the defensive set ups that the programmer uses. Setting up proper defence seems to be the single most complex task (to me anyways) and learning from them is way more useful than QB maps which teach nothing about that.

[Warts 'n' all]

Let the OP learn the game at his own pace. And comment on his videos as and when he posts them. 

[BornGinger]

On 1/18/2021 at 12:06 PM, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Highly recommend 'The Road To Montebourg' campaign as a follow-up.....It's really atmospheric and the first mission is immensely intimidating (just as invading a hostile continent should be).

If I'm not wrong there's a custom made scenario about Omaha Beach. There might actually be two different of them, one for the base game and one which requires the CW-module.

Any of those could also be a good first scenario after the training in Devon.

I have now read everything that was written after that which I recited and understand that playing the Omaha Beach scenarios will most likely have to wait until Zloba has played a few smaller scenarios/quick battles.

Edited January 21, 2021 by BornGinger

[Zloba]

I was finally able to finish the last mission of the Basic Training Campaign and edit the footage. I'm really looking forward to hear your feedback for this one guys. And i also hope you'll enjoy it at least a little bit. So Mission 3: Battle Drill

 

[Falaise]

I like it !

thanks

[Warts 'n' all]

Another nice blend of well edited action footage, and witty captions. I would follow the advice given on the result screen and give Task Force Raff a go. The campaign does include some fictional Pz IV's but it is still worth playing.

[Zloba]

Task Force Raff will be next, but not before the Infantry Squad Attack and Tank Section Attack drill made by @Bil Hardenberger. I feel like i could benefit from those as i'm still not very confident after i split my squads. It really needs time practicing the commands, to synchronize the teams. And sometimes i feel like 60 seconds for the action replay is just too much. I think some more options like 30 or 45 seconds would make a nice blend of Real-Time and We-Go and would help keeping the teams under more precious control while playing We-Go. But it is what it is and i will need to get used to it i guess. 

Edited January 24, 2021 by Zloba

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Probably best you don't take that muppet Citrone to Montebourg TBH! 

[BornGinger]

On 1/19/2021 at 4:30 PM, Erwin said:

There are a large number of sound mods available that can change the BG sound to silence... or birds, or dogs barking, nighttime crickets - or even just sounds like rain, wind etc. 

It's a pity there isn't a sound mod for the winter with a cold wind blowing. As far as I know there are only day sound, night sound, rain with and rain without thunder sound without any shooting and explosions.

I think that a visit to a website with free sounds for download could help me with that.

Edited January 25, 2021 by BornGinger

[chuckdyke]

16 hours ago, Zloba said:

Task Force Raff will be next, but not before the Infantry Squad Attack and Tank Section Attack drill made by @Bil Hardenberger. I feel like i could benefit from those as i'm still not very confident after i split my squads. It really needs time practicing the commands, to synchronize the teams. And sometimes i feel like 60 seconds for the action replay is just too much. I think some more options like 30 or 45 seconds would make a nice blend of Real-Time and We-Go and would help keeping the teams under more precious control while playing We-Go. But it is what it is and i will need to get used to it i guess. 

Maintain communications. Scouts must be in visual range of its HQ his own squad behind the HQ. When you split what are your reasons. Maintaining C2 is the most challenging and the most rewarding. It becomes clear on Iron but get into the habit on all levels. Then again SF2 is different every squaddie has a communications device. Happy gaming. 

[Zloba]

I think i've maintained C2 without much of a problem apart from the one squad, which i intentionally sent another way than rest of the platoon (and the base of fire group obviously). I was having more trouble after i've split the squads to teams and tried to move them up by bounding, or moving whole squads by Bounding Overwatch and Fire & Movement as described by @Bil Hardenberger. The main problem for me was finding the right length of movements mixed with the right length of Pause command. When i thought i had it almost right, after my scouts encountered enemy infantry and let's say they killed them, instead of continuing forward, they stayed in place for the rest of the replay, while the teams which were trailing behind them didn't stop (as they didn't saw the enemy at all) and they were ahead of the scouts by the end of the replay. If it was real-time or the replay lasted only for 30s, i will be able to micromanage that situation and keep the scouts ahead.

And about the squad splitting .. from what i read and experienced, when a whole squad comes under heavy fire, all of it's members becomes pinned. If i split them, only the forward element becomes pinned, while i have one or two available elements which can provide suppresing fire and flanking maneuvers. And i learned that the fire superiority is very important in Combat Mission, while getting pinned down is one of the most bad things that can happen as it practically makes an element non-responsive to my commands.

So that's the only reason i'm trying to split the squads to teams whenever i see the opportunity. It might be a bad thing, i don't know, but so far it gave me only benefits. oh .. one time, when i was assaulting the trenches i used ASSAULT command for one whole squad while splitting the other two to teams and moving them manually. The ASSAULT command was a little bit quicker in comparison, but then they threw grenades AFTER they got into the trenches, towards enemy soldiers which were surrendering and very close in proximity to my other squads. So i found the command weird tbh.

Edited January 25, 2021 by Zloba