Help - a newby

[glacey]

I got the demo - liked it- so ordered the big one but that was before I played AXIS in the valley demo scenario!

1. Order smoke - they fire HE

2. tell the 85mm to fire at a Sherman..oops it's a Yank...I'll fire at the spotter instead.

3. Even with a 25% advantage the allies fire seems far more deadly and co-ordinated.

what gives here?

glacey

[CaSCa]

Muhahahahahaha!!!! You've been taken in and now BTS has your money!!!!

Pay no attention the apparent oddities in the demo. Your issues have likely been addressed in one of several patches to the full version of the game. The patches fixed alot of problems, bugs, and disparities, and then added a few more. Such is the software development life cycle.

On the other hand you have just purchased the finest tactical level WWII game ever produced. Patch it first thing when you get it, and then enjoy!!

[-Havermeyer-]

BTS admittedly loaded the VOT demo scenario with BIG ARTY and loads of crap to make you go:

ooh

ahh

But if you play the German's you're invariably saying:

Oh, sh*t.

Don't sweat it. The full-blown game (plus some mods) makes the demo look like pong. A really cool pong, but pong.

[glacey]

Thanks guys..thought I'd wasted 50 bucks!

I'll reserve judgement.

glacey

[Guest Babra]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by glacey:

1. Order smoke - they fire HE<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've never seen that happen. That was probably Ami HE. Either that or you only THINK you ordered smoke.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>

2. tell the 85mm to fire at a Sherman..oops it's a Yank...I'll fire at the spotter instead.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Are you using Full Fog of War? Arty spotters are very high priority targets on account of them being so dangerous.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>

3. Even with a 25% advantage the allies fire seems far more deadly and co-ordinated.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It always seems that way, but it isn't so.

[ 06-25-2001: Message edited by: Babra ]

[MikeyD]

In CM you are the Commanding General, which means you can issue all the orders you want but the poor slob on the front line may have other plans. Take the problem of the gun firing on the artillery spotter and not the Sherman for example. The AI ranks artillery spotters VERY high (you'll do the same after you've been under a few prolonged artillery bombardments) and I'm not too surprised to hear the gunner switched targets, though that is rare. Did the Sherman move out of the direct line of fire for a moment? The gunner will then move on to the next target.

The troops will let you micro-manage them only so far. I can't tell you how many of my charges across open terrain ended up with most of the paniced infantry running in the opposite direction! Half the challenge of the game is making your commands competent enough that the AI will follow them.

[glacey]

No , not up to fog of war yet!

Yes, I definately order smoke, 75 and mortars.

Hmm, may 'seem that way' but I bumped up AXIS to 200% and still every Allie behaved like John Wayne till there were only about 3 left!! Even these managed to panic a deal of Axis guys.

BTW how do you get mortars to fire at at unseen target (which is often the case IRL)? Who directs their fire?

Thanks,

glacey

[Manx]

Take a look at the BOOT CAMP section at the site below. There's an article written by Gremlin that gives some valuable pointers on how to use Artillery/Mortars in CMBO.

[Pak40]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by glacey:

1. Order smoke - they fire HE

2. tell the 85mm to fire at a Sherman..oops it's a Yank...I'll fire at the spotter instead.

3. Even with a 25% advantage the allies fire seems far more deadly and co-ordinated.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

1. I think there were some smoke/HE ammo switching issues that were patched in the real game. The Demo has never been patched to my knowlede. But, if your unit was an onboard mortar, then there's an explanation: it probably had a clear LOS to an enemy unit and it considers HE higher priority than smoke.

2. 85mm? Hmmm, I must have missed that unit on the OOB lists. Anyway, as people mentioned before, the FOs are high priority. I, however, would consider a tank higher priority over an FO (if my unit was a tank or AT gun). If your "85mm" was a mortar then I'm not surprised at all that he changed targets. The mortars at that caliber can rarely hurt a tank, although I did have a sherman immobilized once by it.

Anyway, the target "sticking" was also tweaked in one of the patches. If you issue a targeting order to a unit, then he will usually stick to it rather than change targets (unless the new enemy unit is dangerously close).

3. Welcome to the best A.I. in wargaming. BTW, it's very hard to win as German in those demo scenarios, so you're not alone.

[ 06-25-2001: Message edited by: Pak40 ]

[glacey]

Thanks. I mean't 75mm of course!

glacey

[glacey]

Thanx manx. I was in fact referring to platoon mortars. I was hoping I could stick them behind a hill with the platoon HQ on top (spotting) but it didn't work. The article seems more about artillery (I think).

glacey

[Mark IV]

If platoon HQ has LOS to the target, AND command lines to the mortars, they can target with indirect fire (even though their own target lines will show no LOS). Target the area with the mortars anyway, and the target line will "stick" if the HQ's LOS is valid.

Of course I don't remember if this worked in the demo, but it does in the game.

The off-board arty spotter/FO is the juiciest target in the game, btw. I would rather kill those bastards than a battalion HQ. The AI also has a tendency to rush them forward a bit much. Take advantage while you can....

[Guest Babra]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by glacey:

No , not up to fog of war yet!

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

By not using it you are missing out on 90% of the enjoyment of the game. Fog of war works both ways. You will NEVER be able to do anything sneaky if your opponent (a/i or otherwise) can see all your units.