Teams shooting from inside AFVs

[Daniel Prates]

Hi everyone, my first post here, though I've been playing CM1 since fovever and, more recently, CM2 titles. 

My particular question is, I know for a fact that if you click in an AFV, say a SPW, and click 'open up', not only the crew that mans the machine gun will come out of protecting cover and access it's heavy weapon, but also, the squad being carried inside might stand up and start fighting from within the vehicle - apparently, not everytime, but when the team judges it worthwhile. I know this happens as I've seen it in YT videos.

However, I have never been able to get one of my teams to do just that. Not even once; makes me wonder if this is a bug or my game needs some patch or something. Or maybe it is me who isn't doing it right. Does anyone have a clue?

So, what I will ask has to do with mechanics, not tactics. I am sure it is the most interesting discussion in the world, whether it is a good idea or not to have soldiers stand up and shoot from inside their SPWs or M3s, most will think it is a bad idea in all situations, but that's not what I am asking, rather, if my game needs a fix or not.

[womble]

1 hour ago, Daniel Prates said:

However, I have never been able to get one of my teams to do just that. Not even once; makes me wonder if this is a bug or my game needs some patch or something. Or maybe it is me who isn't doing it right. Does anyone have a clue?

Or maybe you're doing it right! I don't know what circumstances will trigger a given combination of soft and hard factors in a team to persuade them that leaning out to fight is a Good Idea, but I'd suspect that it's not a first-choice activity. Perhaps you're just keeping your pTruppen in comfortable situations where they don't feel that plinking away with their small arms is a particularly useful contribution.

[Daniel Prates]

43 minutes ago, womble said:

Or maybe you're doing it right! I don't know what circumstances will trigger a given combination of soft and hard factors in a team to persuade them that leaning out to fight is a Good Idea, but I'd suspect that it's not a first-choice activity. Perhaps you're just keeping your pTruppen in comfortable situations where they don't feel that plinking away with their small arms is a particularly useful contribution.

Yeah I suspect that. Usually Hapless' guides on the topic do mention something like that, but, it feels odd that they NEVER do it. Maybe they just fear for their lives more than I (for theirs) hehe. 

Still, just to get something out of the way, the 'open up' command has to be given in the vehicle gui only, right? I don't or shouldn't be needing to clic, the 'open up' command both in the unit's gui and the vehicle gui, is that right?

[Brille]

My experience is that the passengers of a halftrack only start firing once an enemy is pretty close, lets say around 100m ( not tested).

So you could see it as more of a self defence action to suppress the enemy as the halftrack passes on. At least that´s what they do automatically.

If you manually select the passengers and give them a direct target or area target within their range, they will shoot at it.

Note though that the squad portable machine guns will not fire from this position.

If you are really interested in the exact range from which they automatically fire, you can simulate it via the scenario editor and build up a shooting range.

If you give the vehicle the "open up" command, the passengers should be affected by this too. In some occasions however I had to manually set them to open up.

Maybe it was because the infantry squad embarked the halftrack somewhat later and were not present as I gave the vehicle that order.

 

 

Edited August 9, 2023 by Brille

[Daniel Prates]

Thanks @Brille. Yeah I've done some testing and was able to confirm myself that they will indeed respond to direct orders, even area fire. In fact, pixeltruppen will fire portable automatic weapons, at least, when I tried giving such orders to soviet tank-mounted soldiers - though, here, maybe that's because they 'only' carry smgs.

[Halmbarte]

Not WWII, but I just had a BTR do a drive by on some American troops in Cold War. I had the BTR opened up since we're advancing to contact and I wanted the extra eyeballs out. The crunches in the back not only spotted the Americans, they opened up on them. 

After getting one of the guys in the back sniped & taking a hit from what was probably a 40mm HEDP grenade, the troops in the reversing BTR opened up from inside through the firing ports. 

No firing orders were given. I didn't have spots when the turn started and wanted to leave them open to whatever they found.

H