Rake Treeline Command (fire from point A to point B)

[Probus]

I would love to see a command added to Combat Mission that is similar to the linear artillery command.  It would tell your automatic weapons unit to fire from point A to point B such as along a tree line.  Used to suppress enemy ambushers.  Is this tactic not used in RL combat?

[Commanderski]

24 minutes ago, Probus said:

I would love to see a command added to Combat Mission that is similar to the linear artillery command.  It would tell your automatic weapons unit to fire from point A to point B such as along a tree line. 

A lot of us would probably like that. Hopefully an Engine 5 update...

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Just being able to stack 'Target Briefly' commands (without movement) would get us close, you could engage four tiles in a turn.

[Probus]

Good idea @Sgt.Squarehead. Mini-moves, that's pretty much how I do it now. 

Except set up machine guns.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Probus

[Probus]

I wonder, if you stacked 12ish moves on top of each other, each with a pause and a Target command, if that would be like 12, ~five second bursts. 

[Bud Backer]

I never carried it quite that extremely, but I have done multiple moves and pauses and fires at each waypoint. Works quite well but you do probably need a bit more time for weapons to be readied, aimed and fired. 

[Sgt.Squarehead]

I often use 'the tank dance' when I'm brassing up fixed defences.....Target Briefly 15secs/Pause 15secs, Move 1m, Target Briefly 15secs/Pause 15secs, Reverse 1m, Target Briefly 15secs/Pause 15secs, Move 1m, etc. etc. until either all the targets, or my tank, are dead! 

Edited November 13, 2021 by Sgt.Squarehead

[Grey_Fox]

1 hour ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

I often use 'the tank dance' when I'm brassing up fixed defences.....Target Briefly 15secs/Pause 15secs, Move 1m, Target Briefly 15secs/Pause 15secs, Reverse 1m, Target Briefly 15secs/Pause 15secs, Move 1m, etc. etc. until either all the targets, or my tank, are dead! 

You can also move the waypoints on top of the units position and they won't move.

[womble]

8 hours ago, Grey_Fox said:

You can also move the waypoints on top of the units position and they won't move.

It used to be that any target orders at a waypoint were erased if you moved it. Is that no longer the case?

[Grey_Fox]

7 minutes ago, womble said:

It used to be that any target orders at a waypoint were erased if you moved it. Is that no longer the case?

It is still the case, but you can reselect the waypoint and give a target order.

[The_MonkeyKing]

Area fire commands would be a great quality of life improvement.

Yes I know there is already ways to achieve similar results with the current system. But these are such a pain in the ass to do I rarely bother.

[Probus]

@The_MonkeyKing, are you distantly related to @Sgt.Squarehead?  I see a family resemblance.

[womble]

3 hours ago, Grey_Fox said:

It is still the case, but you can reselect the waypoint and give a target order.

Does that not get impractically fiddly once they're stacked together?

[Grey_Fox]

7 minutes ago, womble said:

Does that not get impractically fiddly once they're stacked together?

If you stack waypoints, the most recent one created is the one that will be selected if they are stacked. But yes, it is fiddly.

This is a bad short tutorial which I've just created. 

 

[Erwin]

Useful tutorial GF.  

[Falaise]

3 hours ago, Grey_Fox said:

If you stack waypoints, the most recent one created is the one that will be selected if they are stacked. But yes, it is fiddly.

This is a bad short tutorial which I've just created. 

 

very good vidéo!
it works all the better when the squads are divided !!!
on the other hand it does not work for the tanks the pause crash

[Grey_Fox]

2 hours ago, Erwin said:

Useful tutorial GF.  

Thanks.
 

58 minutes ago, Falaise said:

very good vidéo!
it works all the better when the squads are divided !!!
on the other hand it does not work for the tanks the pause crash

Yes, with this technique it works better with split squads to minimize the amount of movement. A squad which is spread across 2 action squares will see more movement.

With tanks it works better with the move orders a short distance either in front or behind the first waypoint due to how their waypoints work - they don't use action squares as such, unlike infantry.

Edited November 14, 2021 by Grey_Fox

[Erwin]

1 hour ago, Falaise said:

on the other hand it does not work for the tanks the pause crash

Yes, that is what I thought.  Vehicle waypoints on top of each other simply get "absorbed".  (IIRC: If vehicular waypoints are too close together they are ignored by the system.)  So the clarification is that this technique will only work for infantry.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

1 hour ago, Falaise said:

on the other hand it does not work for the tanks the pause crash

That was my recollection too (hence 'The Tank Dance').

Edited November 14, 2021 by Sgt.Squarehead

[LongLeftFlank]

On 11/13/2021 at 11:20 PM, Probus said:

I would love to see a command added to Combat Mission that is similar to the linear artillery command.  It would tell your automatic weapons unit to fire from point A to point B such as along a tree line.  Used to suppress enemy ambushers.  Is this tactic not used in RL combat?

I would love to see a Formation QUICK/HUNT/ASSAULT command that is similar to the linear artillery command. Double click a platoon or split squad HQ, draw the objective/phase line, select speed, and watch them (try to) execute using the same TacAI the AI uses. Fewer clicks!

[chuckdyke]

3 minutes ago, LongLeftFlank said:

watch them (try to) execute using the same TacAI the AI uses.

I concur doing a battalion size battle in which you repeat over and over again the same drill. Would it be possible to record a sequence safe it, select an other unit and let it carry out the same action again. 

[Probus]

2 hours ago, chuckdyke said:

I concur doing a battalion size battle in which you repeat over and over again the same drill. Would it be possible to record a sequence safe it, select an other unit and let it carry out the same action again. 

I wonder if you could use the shift select and grab all the units you want to issue that command to, then plot the command for one of them. It should plot for all of them. Would be tricky though. 

[Probus]

On 11/14/2021 at 1:14 PM, Sgt.Squarehead said:

That was my recollection too (hence 'The Tank Dance').

So I fire my tank move forward or back just a bit then fire again, rinse and repeat. It sometimes requires that I plot a point away from the tank and drag it back. That’s how I get around it being absorbed. 

[Erwin]

15 minutes ago, Probus said:

So I fire my tank move forward or back just a bit then fire again, rinse and repeat. It sometimes requires that I plot a point away from the tank and drag it back. That’s how I get around it being absorbed. 

Yes, that's the only way I know for vehicles.

[chuckdyke]

39 minutes ago, Probus said:

I wonder if you could use the shift select and grab all the units you want to issue that command to, then plot the command for one of them. It should plot for all of them. Would be tricky though. 

I do something like that for convoys. But what I was looking for is to record an action like we do with a video player. Then by selecting a new unit we could make it do the same action with one mouse click. Like organizing a convoy, or make a company of tanks advance in concert.