What do most of you do?

[lcm1947]

I am curious how everyone moves their men in the game. What I mean is it seems to me that the only realistic way to move them is by using the sneak command. If you use anything else they don't respond properly or so it seems to me. In real life when you are shot at wheather you are walking or running you are going to stop and at the very least and or dive for cover even if it's a shallow area or tree or whatever but you aren't going to just continue on your orginal course getting the crap shot out of you. So what do you do? I'm mainly referring to when you are close to the enemy not way back and not in wooded areas etc. A good example would be say you are in one wooded area and maybe you need to get to another wooded area about 100 yards away and it's open terrain in between the two. Anybody care to give me their views or thoughts?

[klapton]

It depends on how important is to reach the woods. If it is a vital position, I would run. The less time you are in the open, the better. If you sneak or crawl, it will take ages to reach the woods, and the men will immediately stop if fired upon.

The problem is with heavy weapons teams (zooks, MG and mortars) which cannot run, and if caught in the open are likely to panic.

[moneymaxx]

I would order them to run to reach that wood. Forces are very exposed while in open ground, so as Klapton said, less time in the open is better.

This is not the only reason. Actually, while in the open I DON'T want them to stop and fight back, since this would be a sure way to get them all killed.

[ April 18, 2003, 10:47 AM: Message edited by: moneymaxx ]

[Green Hornet]

ICM1947,

Agreed that in CMBO, troops sometimes tend to try to complete their movement order at all costs in an unrealistic fashion. Most likely, the troops would have stopped to take cover or return fire.

To move troops 100 meters from one cover area to another (in CMBO):

- If the enemy is in LOS, use always suppressing fire to pin the enemy units before advancing your troops. MG teams, mortars, etc.

- You can also use smoke to reduce or take away the enemy's LOS to your troops once they're out in the open.

- If there are no visible enemy units in the destination woods, you can still use suppressing fire or smoke if you want to be extra cautious.

- To actually move your units, I would use a series of way points alternating between run and sneak or move. For example, plot a run command for 30 meters, then a sneak(or move) command for 2 or 3 meters, run for another 30, sneak(or move) for another 2 or 3, etc. This way, your troops will periodically return fire (during the sneak command) while still advancing at a reasonably quick pace.

One guy's opinion.

[Dandelion]

Lee,

My method would be quite similar to the Hornets. If possible and prudent, I'd use a scout team to do the run first and secure the forest on the oppoisite side, ensuring there is not an enemy platoon lying in wait there. If they get hit, at least it's not the main body of troops caught in the open. Of course, this won't always be possible. And not always interesting either.

When alternating between sneak and run, it's usually a good thing to make sure to use uneven tempo between squads, so that one squad in the platoon is always sneaking while the others are running, then changing. I think that's what Hornet meant too. It works real well. Enemies popping up are engaged almost immediately. The bad part is that you might get a situation where all squads are in sneak and engaging, thus none continuing.

While it is unrealistic to have troops advancing against enemy fire indifferent to personal safety, one still has the "escaping towards the enemy" phenonema. If troops are caught out in the open, running, and are met with fire, they can react by running even faster toward the enemy positions. This was cynically utilised quite a lot by high commands on both sides during WWI.

Regards

Dandelion

[lcm1947]

Thanks for the advice guys. I will have to use that combo of movements and the different tempo's ideas in the future as it sounds like it would be the best alternative. I especially like giving each squad a different command. That sounds like good common sense. As far as running for it or stopping and firing back I know which in real life I would do but in the game I'm not so sure. The spraying an area idea is something I'll start doing also as my men are running towards it like you suggested Green Hornet but a lot of times especially when I'm snecking up on a position I don't want my opponent to hear me so I am reluctant to do any shooting. You know I've enjoyed this game for 3 years now but until recently when I started playing Pbem's all these ideas, facts and rules didn't really matter or make much difference to me but now that I am fighting against real opponents it does make a difference and it really is necessary to know what the best way to do something in the game is so thanks again for the help - you all.