Can you think of one good one?

[lcm1947]

I would like to start a list of good tactic's or neat ideas that you have discovered or heard somewhere or just plain made up that would or could be helpful to a person - like myself. Example: in a current game of mine my opponent informed me that I shouldn't use sharpshooters as scouts because it is cheaper to use a split squad or that I shouldn't allow my MG teams to advance in front the infantry. They get captured by the way. :mad: Anyway, if you have a minute and just even list one good idea I'd appreciate it. I know there are hundreds of posts and topic's and such out there that I could research and find out of them but I would like to print these out and this would be the easious way to do it. So anybody know of any?

[Dandelion]

Hi Lee,

You're short-circuiting the seniority penal system. You're supposed to learn this the hard way and award your fellow players the odd sensation of victory before you excel them

Difficult to think of any real tricks. Here's what springs to mind regarding infantry,

I wouldn't know about cheap, as I don't play QB, but I always use halfsquads as scouts. They advance some 100 meters ahead of the main body of troops. Or one minute. Because it takes about a minute to advance 100 meters under combat conditions. I use the half that gets the machinegun and panzerfaust, if any. If it is a really big map, I devote an entire platoon if I can to go - in half squad teams - scouting at depth and remain behind enemy lines monitoring. Due to few numbers and morale loss upon partition, these patrols are unfit for combat, except wiping the odd sniper , and must be kept out of harms way. When the scouts advancing one minute ahead detects the enemy, they simply await the arrival of main body and reunite. Or buggers off and reunites some way rear.

I get comments from many players, who are surprised I use half teams. They feel half teams become too weak to use.

I've already mentioned advancing in frog-jumps with one squad covering at all times, alternating. I use either a stationary squad and moving two, or alternate between sneak and fast commands.

When advancing, I usually advance with one up and two rear (squads and platoons). That way, when I enter contact, I only have one squad/platoon committed and can use the others to flank/reinforce/serve as fallback as I please. But if the enemy is obviously close, I pull two up as I'll want firepower but still some freedom of choice. In combat, all three go up. I use fireteams and believe in concentrated fire in attack, thus never spread a platoon more than 50 meters and always fire all three abreast. Never commit less than three squads to a firefight if I can help it. Waste of ammo.

Defense is another issue altogether, platoons can be thinned out to 100 meters if need be. I practically always deploy for defense in a triangle, with two corners in the obvious enemy direction and one rear, because I always meet these guys who like to flank me, and a triangle is equally strong in all directions. If pressure mounts, the not-committed squad/platoon can always rush to and deploy between corners anyway. Platoon triangles need to be about 50 meters or more in radius, so as to lessen effectively casualties from incoming artillery.

I rarely use surpressive spraying fire at supposed enemy positions. I rarely have to, as I scout a lot and tend to know where they are.

Machineguns advancing ahead? Sounds really weird. I use them rear of the flanks of the company. There they can be committed when needed, protecting flanks and actually serving a little as a drill function for advancing elements. They keep the flanks of the enemy position pinned and chase away any escapees from the focal centre.

Well lets see what else is there?

Yes, defensive deployment of course. You deploy according to firepower. If you are superior you stay high, inferior stays low. You deploy on reverse slopes and in positions that cannot be reached with direct fire from the front. He'll only gun you out with heavy barrels from a distance. Interlocking fields of fire, meaning you put squads that cannot fire forward but at 45 degree angle left and right nextto eachother, and they form a network of fields of fire in front of your psoition that cannot be passed. As your fire will be coming in from his flank, only suppressions and craters will be effective cover for him. Also, he will be unable to engage any of your squads without exposing himself to fire from several others this way.

Deploy where you can change positions to another position at least 50 meters - but rather 100 meters - away but equally good in defensive purposes. His artillery might become unbearable where you initially deploy.

Deploy sqauds a bit into forests and buidlings, so that they can barely see out. There is no real point in having a wide arc of fire if you can't dominate it. You then only create a wide arc of incoming fire. Keep arc of fires manageable.

Deploy in defense with at least two lines, of which the first is formed by resistance nests (triangles as above) and the second much thinner and holding your support weapons, such as mortars. You'll find it useful to have AT guns there too if facing armoured assault. The support line catches enemy penetrations and serves and fallback position for breaking defenders. And protects the support units.

Even when advancing, I use a support line (Aufnahmelinie), usually about 300 meters or so rear of the advance. It is good also for catching enemy recon, and the area between lines, or between the line and the advancing troops, I screen with patrols to perpetually clear it from infiltration. I usually find all kinds of funny stuff in the bushes. Snipers, bazooka teams, machineguns, M8's, you name it.

hmmmm....what more?

Sound. Is a pest in CMBO. If you advance with men or vehicles, they make sounds that the enemy can hear. You can use it to fool him also. A single Kübelwagen actually sounds dangerous when going round and round a house. If the enemy can't see, but hear it. Also, men who receive many orders make many sounds, so small units running round and round a house can sound like a massive incoming assault to a listener. And if his scouts are watching, he'll still be confused about what the h_ you're doing running and driving around that house. Area fire can be used to confuse the enemy also. Just tell your men to fire at some house or something. Sounds like battle.

Snipers I use very little. Mostly for trying to take out enemy armoured crews or key people like bazooka teams. Not very original I know. And usually not all that successful either.

In buildings, I never deploy combat troops upstairs. Too exposed and too inflexible, and they never manage to get out if the buidling collapses or starts to burn. So everyone is downstairs, except spotters and such.

The Ambush function is there to be used. It is highly efficient and I use it a lot. It's not really so much ambush as coordinated fire effort for defensive purposes. But of course, the odd actual ambush will succeed.

If the enemy fire is too heavy, or if you are being pinned while he is obviously about to assault you, use the "withdraw" function to extract. It's dangerous, but better than staying. Some players use this functuion a lot, but I only at these occasions.

Well that's about it for now, I'll stop here and spy what the others write, so I can defeat them

Regards

Dandelion

[lcm1947]

Man, Dandelion that was excellent! Thanks a bunch. I am printing that out to study it. A lot of great info that I never thought of and will start using. Cool! Sounds like you have some sound plans to go by. I so far mainly run around getting shot up and bombed and just overall made fun of but the day will come. Seriously I appreciate you taking the time to type all that out. It will be used I can assure you. I'm anxious to start.

[Dandelion]

Thanks Lee, anytime.

It's German line of thought but I can't see why it wouldn't work with Americans. I assume you'll be having questions, as I am being brief, and if you do just shoot. No pun intended.

Some other thoughts about stuff that actually works came to mind at breakfast. I was thinking about a much admired opponent that I had several years ago.

In any scenario, there is a time limit and this is usually cut surprisingly short. Time to deploy intelligently, to scout and probe positions and utilise detected weakness, is in very short supply at best. Especially when forced to deploy in curious positions by the deigner.

My opponent noted this and therefore always performed delaying actions in defense. He used two basic methods, extreme range combat and ambush. Ambushes rarely succeeded (I scout a lot) but their presence slowed me down. The extreme range combat caused no casualties, but it actually caused delay and confusion. Someone got pinned here, a thinskin vehicle replotted orders there, and I got jumpy. It also inevitably angers you to receive fire minute after minute without being able to reply. Anger is a fearful enemy. I adopted these methods and use them with in my opinion good effect.

He also used pickets, another method I found so successful that I adopted it. With pickets I mean platoons (will work with single squad in small scenarios if regular or better) positioned in ambush well ahead of your defensive position (300 meters is a good norm I think). They have several purposes. One is to ambush enemy scouts. Another is stationary reconnaissance, monitoring enemy advance (but mobile patrols do this better). Another is to lure an advancing enemy into believing he has encountered your HKL - MLR in English - and waste a lot of artillery on you. The latter will only work if the former two are successful. A picket I evacuate immediately after first contact, as he used to do, regardless of success in that contact. If available, vehicles will be positioned rear of the position and close by, ready to dart off. Staying is dying.

He also taught me never to believe what I see. His master deception was provoking me to attack an almost empty position, with his real deployment in my flank, resulting in massacre. It was severely humiliating. He achieved this by deploying perhaps two platoons along a 600 or so meter front, in terrain very suitable for defense. He split them into half-squads and spread them thin. As I advanced, he opened up with every one at extreme range, some 700 meters. At this range I was unable to identify targets, and from my end it looked like every team and command team were full squads. I could only assume there were more of them, not firing. With the width of his front corresponding to one company normal maximum defense width, or two companies comfortable defense width, it had all appearance of being his main position. I carefully planned and executed the attack. Artillery, smoke and the works. And then I was mowed down by withering flanking fire, with my support so placed that it could not intervene. It was experiences like this that made me such a fanatic scouter.

This opponent was a Royal (yes I now know it's not actually Royal) Army officer. Then he got a civilian job, and then he got promoted on that job and since years no longer has time to play. A sad day for CMBO and myself.

Regards

Dandelion

[Beta1]

Originally posted by lcm1947:

I shouldn't allow my MG teams to advance in front the infantry.

Never let armor advance ahead of infantry either. They end up dead.

Infact never let anything advance ahead of your scouts unless you are planning to lose them. Something I should learn - I have a terrible habit of scouting with things like ACs and getting them shot up by enemy light guns and armor.

[Cybeq]

A few little tips I can think of:

1. Use a sharpshooter to button the enemy tanks.

2. Never put on-board mortars within LOS of the enemy. Always use a hq unit to spot for them and keep that hq unit hidden.

3. Try to never use the "ambush" command. Instead hide the unit you wish to ambush with. It functions similar to ambush but it's more flexible.

4. Keep all armor at least 100 meters away from suspected or known enemy infantry locations.

5. (under most circumstances) end all AFV move commands so they stop behind cover.

6. ALWAYS keep each squad in your platoon in C&C with their HQ.

That's all I can think of right now. I know they probably seem really basic and common sense so forgive me if you already knew all of this.

[lcm1947]

Thanks beta 1 for the hint. I do seem to have a problem with that also. I've just got to get out of that habit but at times you just got to do what you got to do and yeah you lose them every darn time. Cybeq, I didn't know that about the ambush thing. I have however noticed that once you set an ambush point up it takes a house falling on them before they see anything else that's going on around them. Have to try the hide command. Thanks. No Dandelion I understand what you are saying so will take it from here. I am really impressed with those ideas and will certainly try to incorperate them in my games. Sound like extremely good ideas but now I wish I hadn't asked you on the forum but contacted you by email. Now everybody knows. On your post yesterday this topic you mention scouting with split squads. What command do you use, Walk or sneak? I assume sneak but it is sooo slow. So do you use sneak? I love that idea about using one team up and two back when advancing. I'll be using that one. Now here's one thing I'm having a problem with that I'd like to ask you about. Do you actually wait for your support teams ( mortars & MG's etc ) to catch up with your infantry before moving again or do they just catch up if and when they can? It seems so slow waiting on them that it could hinder your attack plan if and when speed is a factor. When you describe the defense setup what do you mean high and low? Didn't quite understand that. I really really like what you said about why have a wide field of fire if you can't dominate it. Boy, that's something I'm really bad about. Good suggestion. Hmmmm, two lines of defense. I'll have to try that. But isn't it better to have all on the first line for maximuim firepower?

[Ghost of the 90th]

Biggest one ever...

To sit still is to die. Move it or lose it. The longer you stay in one place against a good player, the more likely he is to bring a world of hurt on you. Basically, the moment you feel safe, means that you are probably not

Others...

1. Keep squads of the toons in command radius of the Platoon HQ's. I have seen many newbs make this mistake over and over. Squads in command perform way better then out of command. Never ever let your squads go out of command. Move units as whole Toons, except for the odd scout.

2. Never, ever, shoot arty without los to the target. Laugh if you will, and I know some are, but if you guarentee los to the spot of the barrage your accuracy will be ten fold better and twice as fast. Most people never learn this and it is the biggest mistake I see made.

3. Hide your guns in trees never leave'em in open on a hill just for the los. Use hide command with guns.

4. Use smoke when you have to move up over enemy gun covered or open terrain you suspect to be. 3inch mortars or 81mm mortars provide good smoke, guns of some afv can provide smoke too.

5. If your opponent insist on allies and clear weather you will see Jabos! Buy lots of 37mm flak guns (4 would be good) and shoot the sucker down. Then you can be almost positive he aint got squat for arty and you can move up with impunity.

6. Learn how to manipulate the time on expected arty drops. You learn this and you will be up in the rare air among the best CMBO players. Few ever get there. I always here people say how do I get my arty to the spot needed at the right moment. Well let me tell ya, it aint luck. Everytime you retarget beyond a certain area from the initial targeting the timer may completely reset or partially reset. Keeping your arty from resetting all the time you need to learn how far you can go with retargeting. This takes lots of practice and most never figure it out. Any top ladder player has mastered this, thus they are on top.

6. When a spotter round lands, run!!! And run sideways and never forward or backwards if you can help it.

7. Learn how to make it so a spotter round does not fall the round before the actual barrage. Spotter rounds warn your enemy that it is time to run. Very few ever master this. Spotter rounds suck. Figuring out how to avoid them is again a function of arty clock management.

8. Using hidden HQ units to spot for mortar parks. Figure this out and you wont believe the number of uses.

9. Study the pattern of eenmy falling arty to deduce where mortar parks and spotters are. This is a super advanced skill which most never think of, yet it can be done. I have killed countless arty spotters this way, and had many a charge that I somehow cheated to pull this off. You figure this out and I will fear playing you

10. Learn how to read a map. 1st thing is remember the opponents setup zone is the same depth as yours, this will help you in figuring wether a gun is covering a certain area of a map. Basic logic yes, but often not utilized. this can help you move forward undetected. Moving forward undetected is huge. Play extensively against yourself as both opponents and figure out when to hide, sneak, crawl and how much trees you can see through. Do this alot until it is second nature on what the right command should be for any given situation.

Lastly overwhelming firepower is the way to go, learn how to bring craploads of force to bear all in one turn rather then piecemeal.

And remember short arty rnds kill so dont be directly in fromt of a barrage but be off to the side slightly to avoid this.

You learn these and you will dominate CMBO...I win in excess of 80% on ladders and 90% non ladder just pick up pbem and games I get at CMHQ.

Arrogance usually defeats me, so even if you get good with all this, it is wise to never underestimate an opponent.

[Dandelion]

Lee,

Generally, combat is a series of combinations of firepower, movement and protection. It is a zero-sum game, as you raise one you decrease the other. Master military minds know - by education or instinct - exactly the right combination for each occasion. Myself I am a dilletant, and tend to always lean toward protection and firepower, sacrificing mobility if I must (and I must).

That was a complicated way of saying that if you run, you gain speed, but loose protection and firepower, and I find the exchange unfavourable. Not that I never run. I just avoid it if I can.

About pace:

My normal advance speed with the main body of troops is actually move command, or sneak if need be. The time limit of scenarios can stress me into running, but I truly detest it. The men being tired reduces not only capacity, but also firepower and morale. It can become that small edge the enemy needs to win a contact.

Scouts advance in the pace allowed by terrain. I fear for their safety, so yes I sneak and crawl a lot. I also sit still a lot and can spend a minute like that with one or more of them, watching and listening.

Spotting capacity increases when they sit still, I think quite dramatically so.

In the case of deep penetration scouts, I also use loops every now and then while infiltrating, meaning the men advance in half a circle forward and then observe rear. Anybody following me will be detected. Yes, it happeneds that they follow me, the devious little monsters Deep penetration scouts I position where they can monitor a key point and preferrably I do not move them again for the duration of the game. Even a very short strip of key road monitored will reveal everyone using the road.

All of this takes time of course, and again it is the time limit of the scenario that is the ultimate regulator of scouting capacity. I start any game with the sending out of scouts, as it takes a few turns just to deploy the main body of troops intelligently for an orderly advance.

Of course, there is such a thing as combat recon too, where one simply darts down a road until contact. That is the other extreme, used when I am very stressed. I don't like it, but it's better than having the main body run into the ambushes.

This on infantry. Motor reconnaissance is an armoured formation thing, and we haven't even begun discussing motorised operations yet

About support:

Support moves slowly and this is frustrating. That's what I meant with not agreeing that the added punch of 81mm makes up for the sad mobility - I'd much rather have US 6cm mortars and I admire the British knee mortars for their usefulness. But I feel I really need support, even when so slow, so I am forced to adapt.

I advance in leaps, usually about 150-300 long. I try and identify a good defensive position and use it as objective, so the advance is more like moving into new positions. Normally, I will have scouted ahead and know what to expect, or just about anyway. So the advance is either opposed, harassed or unopposed in my reckoning.

Unopposed is no problem, support can't quite keep up but they jog along with the others. Upon reaching new positions, the main body awaits their catching up.

Harassed means weak enemy forces are in my way. I use rapid combat advance with the alternating squad movement that we've discussed. Support has no role in such a running battle, and so they tag along, again falling behind and again being awaited at objective.

Opposed is attacking enemy positions. Advance is slow, alternating movement and using primarily sneak (but I crawl a lot too). So support has no problem keeping up. Immediately upon contact, support is deployed.

I treasure company support, they give me the edge needed to create local superiority. One 81mm shell landing close to an enemy squad changes everything. And the smoke enables crossings of open ground under fire and can immediately disarm an extremely threatening situation, allowing me to depart. As for machineguns, I think the thing I like about them most (as they are really grossly underestimated in the CMBO engine) is their capacity to engage and pin large enemy forces. They can easily keep an entire enemy platoon quite busy (if not too close) and hinder them from intervening effectively at a critical point in space and time. And they easily stop enemies advancing in the open, forcing them to crawl, again denying area and time to the enemy.

About High and Low line:

High line means creasts, summits, second floors and other dominant places from where you can project your firepower freely, causing damage and denying enemy freedom of mobility. The Panther did this to you in your recent scenario. If you are inferior in firepower and try doing this, you will only put yourself in a position where everyone can and will kill you from all over the map.

Low line is reverse slope, bottom floors, depressions, river valleys and gullies. Any place where it is impossible to see you from afar really. In order to kill you, the enemy must close in, thus exposing himself to your point blank fire (where your inferiority will be less noticeable and your first salvoe invaluable as edge) and he will be unable to take you out at long range with heavier barrels than yours.

You can both defend and advance in High and low. Advancing in Low means crawling a lot, using gullies and so forth. Advancing high means not caring about crossing escarpments, creasts or other very dangerous stuff.

About second lines and firepower in defense:

The second line I use is a direct adoption of the German "Aufnahmelinie". It's not a defensive line as such, as it is manned only by support units (mortars, spotters etc) plus some close protection (machineguns, mayhap antitank).

As a battle progresses, scattered and shattered units routing from the HKL - MLR in English - will fall back upon this line and also man it. Inevitable enemy penetrations will be halted here and prevented from rolling up your line by flanking thrust.

When things get serious and you have to pull out all along the line, everyone can fall back to this line and hold it, while a new proper line is prepared behind it.

So it is a bit like that metal rod that you Americans have along your bars, where people rest their feet. You can't rest both feet there, but it can still be important for balance as night falls

I do use two proper defensive lines if I can though. As defender, I will be inferior in firepower (or the enemy will not attack). Thus regardless of how much I put up front, he will be stronger. The balance between the three combat elements then shifts over from firepower to protection for me instead.

The enemy can use his firepower on your front. Artillery and aircraft can project it into your rear as well, but players (in my experience and including me) tend to want concrete results and not use harassing or anti-movement fire, so most of that will be spent on your front as well. You don't want to get hit by this irestorm. So by deploying the way I mentioned, with frontal protection, limited field of fire et cetera, you are in effect reducing the front along which it is meaningful for the enemy to project his firepower. Or even eliminating it, as is the case with successful flanking fire and reverse slope positions. This way, you negate his advantage in power.

Having a second defensive line is much the same logic. The first line then only blunts and reduces his onslaught, it does not actually stop it. So you don't want precious antitank weapons and the like there, as they will be overrun. Weakened, with a lot of already spent firepower and with support lagging behind, he breaks through to your second line of rested, well placed troops. Works really well, but I almost never get enough troops and narrow frontage enough to do this.

Regards

Dandelion

Phew, that's my longets post ever I believe. Now I'll go watch some TV.

Brendan, you're not reading this are you?

[lcm1947]

Damn guys I've learned more in these last 2 posts not to mention the others Dandelion has already posted to advance my abilities 1000%. Thanks ever so much. I am printing these out and saving them because no way I can remember everything and they will be my "Bible For Battle". Now if I could only erase them so others can't see them . I do have one question however so if you don't mine Ghost you wrote:

"And remember short arty rnds kill so dont be directly in fromt of a barrage but be off to the side slightly to avoid this."

d? .

What do you mean here? Don't be directly in front of a barrage? Isn't that up to the other guy and where he targets it? I mean how do you even know where the front is until it starts landing then it's too late?

Again you guys are great. I really do appreciate you taking the time to write all that up. And Dandelion I think you outdid yourself on that last post. Tired aren't you?

[Cpl Carrot]

Well I would just like to point out that who say never run foward or back in an arty barrage are wrong.

You should actually try to avoid running east west in an arty barrage. Big difference.

Cpl Carrot

[Ghost of the 90th]

"And remember short arty rnds kill so dont be directly in fromt of a barrage but be off to the side slightly to avoid this."

What I meant here is how to avoid getting hit by rounds that fall short on fire missions you plot. Clearly you can't always predict when you will be hit by the enemies arty. I am talking about ways to avoid being hit by your own.

[Ron]

In case you haven't read it yet, this link provides a mind boggling amount of tips, tricks and good tactics Anthology of Useful Posts

Losing casualties to your own arty fire isn't something you want, however a very useful tactic which can pay big dividends, is to plan your assault to send your infantry in while the arty is still falling. This serves a dual purpose, one the enemy will not be able to fire on your troops 'on the way in' and two, the enemy will usually be easy pickings when your troops arrive and begin close assaulting. Yes you may take a few friendly fire casualties but if you destroy (and you probably will) a couple platoons in the process then it is a very favourable exchange.

Something I have noticed with newer players, and even some experienced ones, is they fail to read and understand the terrain fully to their advantage. Know the LOS and spotting 'rules' in CM, setup a hotseat match and play against yourself issuing different movement commands to your troops and AFVs, use the LOS tool, to learn the CM engine.

Remaining undetected for as long as possible will give you the edge, and I don't mean 'Sneaking' which while stealthy is incredibly slow and will inevitably leave you one or two steps behind your opponent in manuever, fatal. Which reminds me of something else, always strive to keep your opponent off balance, while isn't a tip in itself but more the flow and tempo of the battle. I posted two AARs sometime ago AARs that could be interesting.

After all is said and done I still think the number one tip is to play more CM against good opponents, lots, whether PBEM or TCP, to excel at it. Hope that helps.

Ron

[lcm1947]

Ok I understand now Ron I just couldn't figure out what you meant there and Yes it does help and I appreciate all the advice and suggestions and you taking the time to write it down. I think I am really to try some of these now to kind of practice with the them. So Cpl Carrott you feel so bad about beating up on me so much that you now decide to help me some. Well OK I'm not so bitter at you as to not listen to good advice.