Simcoe Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 (edited) 28 minutes ago, The_Capt said: Not going to weigh in here on @Free Whisky's tactics I will leave that to the rest of the group. I so want to highlight somethings that jumped out at me though as I watched this excellent AAR. First, CM is really unique, or at least one of very few, in that it is a game about 'managing chaos' or in this case "surviving chaos". Free Whiskey had a plan going in, it met an opposing plan and not a small amount of just random acts of tactical turbulence in that collision. Second, clicks per minute are not going to save you. In CM, it more likely that "re-thinking per minute" or re-strategizing (e.g. 4 Plans) faster and better than an opponent is going to carry the day. Points 1 and 2 are in constant dynamic competitive motion, forcing players to constantly make decisions. These are what makes CM realistic, in many ways beyond its contemporaries; not the vehicles and weapon systems, they are the means to the end. I play other wargames (I can hear the gasps) and in a lot of RTSs it is about clicks and strategy is very attritional (i.e. how fast can I throw more stuff in that direction). This is not to say they are not without merit, and they can get the blood pumping but one does not get the same "combat chess on a ship deck, in a storm" feel. So when I look at what Free Whiskey did right, I see a lot of adaptation of "the plan" and improvisation with limited resources in the face of an opponent under the same conditions. His ability to re-think and adapt with what he had (e.g. Toothless) is the real stuff and frankly what led him to a solid draw. "But how could he have won there Capt?". No idea, in fact in this QB, on that map, maybe there was no way to win. But I do see those skill sets that need to be nurtured and enhanced that will lead to more wins than losses. I also see bottle madness as the red god laughs his ass off, and that is simply outstanding. Totally agree. I think this is why Cold War utilizes the CM engine best. Both sides have very different ways of winning and you have this perfect balance of speed and firepower that allow every battle to be very dynamic. @Free Whisky thanks for sharing this video. Looking forward to the next one. I hope none of this discussion is taken as nitpicking. I think we all just enjoy trying to solve this puzzle together. I think the amount of discussion/critique just shows how much is left to solve in this match and the variety of strategies available in each engagement. Edited February 23, 2022 by Simcoe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Whisky Posted February 23, 2022 Author Share Posted February 23, 2022 2 hours ago, Simcoe said: @Free Whisky thanks for sharing this video. Looking forward to the next one. I hope none of this discussion is taken as nitpicking. I think we all just enjoy trying to solve this puzzle together. I think the amount of discussion/critique just shows how much is left to solve in this match and the variety of strategies available in each engagement. That's absolutely how I see it as well! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOS:96B2P Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 10 hours ago, Free Whisky said: Sounds like, after a few video's, I could do a "lessons learned" summary with the info from this thread . +1. I bet that would be a very useful, informative video. And with your talent for making videos players would be more likely to actually watch, think about things and learn. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IICptMillerII Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 On 2/23/2022 at 10:57 AM, Free Whisky said: I could do a "lessons learned" summary with the info from this thread I agree with MOS. That sounds like a fantastic idea! Would love to see that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flibby Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 Really enjoyed watching this. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Whisky Posted April 8, 2022 Author Share Posted April 8, 2022 Hi all, I have a new video AAR out today. Since the battle plan kind of flows from the doctrine of the time one on one, it's a bit lighter on the "explaining my plan, showing how that works out, what goes wrong and how to I improvised" content than my last videos. But I hope it's a fun report of this very enjoyable scenario non the less. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratdeath Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 (edited) Great video "Urban landscaping" Edited April 8, 2022 by ratdeath 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simcoe Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 35 minutes ago, Free Whisky said: Hi all, I have a new video AAR out today. Since the battle plan kind of flows from the doctrine of the time one on one, it's a bit lighter on the "explaining my plan, showing how that works out, what goes wrong and how to I improvised" content than my last videos. But I hope it's a fun report of this very enjoyable scenario non the less. What a way to end the work week! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Combatintman Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 57 minutes ago, ratdeath said: Great video "Urban landscaping" Took me three weeks to make that map ... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Whisky Posted April 8, 2022 Author Share Posted April 8, 2022 2 hours ago, Combatintman said: Took me three weeks to make that map ... You should see what @Megalon Jonesis doing to it in our other battle... I was creating openings into town, he's removing the town itself! He must have fired some 50 artillery rounds in today's turn alone, all aimed at the one part of Rumpenheim that kind of still looked like a town... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codreanu Posted April 8, 2022 Share Posted April 8, 2022 6 hours ago, Free Whisky said: Hi all, I have a new video AAR out today. Since the battle plan kind of flows from the doctrine of the time one on one, it's a bit lighter on the "explaining my plan, showing how that works out, what goes wrong and how to I improvised" content than my last videos. But I hope it's a fun report of this very enjoyable scenario non the less. Great video as usual, I really liked the pictures of the actual village and a little bit of back story on the castle, I never noticed that's what it was until you mentioned it. I mentioned this in the comments but I found defending on this map to be very difficult and Megalon put up a good fight considering the forces at his disposal so I'm really excited to see how you decided to tackle it. When I tried it I came to the conclusion that it was going to be game over if the Soviets made it to the opposite bank so I tried using artillery on the crossing points and finding whatever keyholes through my opponent's smoke that I could find. I think I managed to take out a company of BMPs, most of the ATGM vehicles, and a platoon and a half of tanks before the crossing site got overwhelmed and I decided to surrender, I never got to see the American reinforcements either. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty's Mighty Moustache Posted April 9, 2022 Share Posted April 9, 2022 Great video as always! Looking forward to the next one. MMM 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Combatintman Posted April 9, 2022 Share Posted April 9, 2022 20 hours ago, Free Whisky said: You should see what @Megalon Jonesis doing to it in our other battle... I was creating openings into town, he's removing the town itself! He must have fired some 50 artillery rounds in today's turn alone, all aimed at the one part of Rumpenheim that kind of still looked like a town... Pretty much how I played it when I tested it as the Soviet - smash the place with indirect and direct fire weapons and air and aviation assets. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Whisky Posted May 18, 2022 Author Share Posted May 18, 2022 Hi everyone, I've released my second video about the Rumpenheim Rumpus scenario. Can the Soviets be beat? Come and find out . 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amedeo Posted May 19, 2022 Share Posted May 19, 2022 By the way, after seeing the second video about the "Last stand at Rumpenheim", I'm wondering whether simply swapping M1s for M60s and M2s for M113s would be enough to transform a nearly-impossible (from the US side) scenario to a cakewalk for the defender. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
domfluff Posted May 19, 2022 Share Posted May 19, 2022 I don't know if it's "nearly impossible", but yeah, if you gave them better tech the balance would shift significantly. There's a reason why CMCW is centred on an inflection point. You can actually see the same kind of thing in the NTC campaign - if you replace the M60s with M1s you end up with something that looks rather more like Shock Force than Cold War, with all of the "learning bad habits" and general simplicity that implies. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Whisky Posted May 19, 2022 Author Share Posted May 19, 2022 M1's would even be overkill. The M60A3 TTS would be enough to shift the balance, I think. Although several elements contributed to Megalons victory, a key factor was his liberal use of smoke - both from the artillery and his vehicles. Although not always visible in the video, my units were very often in a position from where they could engage anything crossing the river (specially after the soviet tanks were taken out) but they simply couldn't see anything. Just two M60A3 TTS tanks instead of the M60A1's would have made a world of difference. Probably excactly the reason why they're not in . 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simcoe Posted May 19, 2022 Share Posted May 19, 2022 On 5/18/2022 at 3:31 AM, Free Whisky said: Hi everyone, I've released my second video about the Rumpenheim Rumpus scenario. Can the Soviets be beat? Come and find out . Great video! No offense to Megalon but I saw a few mistakes that could have made this a much easier victory. His recon consisted of running his BRDM’s into a turkey shoot (those things have some of the worst spotting). Rather than mass his tanks in a line to maintain fire superiority they came out in drips and drabs. If I was playing I would have dismounted the scouts and used them to funnel spotting info to the tanks. Next, hit the front of the town with artillery to suppress his frontline and before the arty stops bring all units to the front to maintain fire superiority. Even with you smoke plan this is better than nothing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty's Mighty Moustache Posted May 20, 2022 Share Posted May 20, 2022 Great video! I'm glad it's not just me who gets his vehicles pinned in place by not realising there is no way out MMM 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.