From a Noob to Other Noob’s

[Three_Oh_Eight]

Been playing for about a week. Too much, but what the heck, it’s only sleep, school, work and family that are suffering. At any rate, rather than spend my limited time theorizing I’ve decided to learn by doing and just get shot up. But in getting my virtual guys killed in droves I’ve discovered a couple things (I think). And these are rather gamey things – I leave it to the pros, the JasonCs and Fionns et. al. to give the real tactical talks.

1) Use the lowest level view possible.

As an old wargamer I like and am used to looking ‘straight down’. Even when I do look 3D it’s from an upper position; just easier, can ‘see more’. However! By looking literally from the ground view I notice *all* the little dips and rises, and can often keep out of harms way using them, or exploit an otherwise not obvious LOS to attack.

It takes time, but is worth it. Use that ground level view!

2) Running is not bad.

With the caveat that you do it either out of sight, OR when the opponent is otherwise occupied. Especially on the defense I find that I don’t manuver enough, partly on the ground that foot troops 1) will ‘never get there in time’ 2) will get shot up on the way and 3) will be useless because they’ll be ‘too tired’ when they arrive. None are true all the time! By using the lowest level view, and tracking along the path I’m going to take I can tell where the LOS will put ‘em in danger, and adjust the path to avoid it. In good weather my Vets ran 200m and were back rested in only a couple of minutes.

3) Quality matters

This is all completely opinion, based on about a dozen games, but I’d MUCH rather pay for Veteran or Crack troops than work with lower quality. In QB games ‘Realism’ be dam*ed; I don’t care if there really weren’t that many of them, gimme the best! In working with them against the AI they hold up MUCH better than lower quality, making them worth the cost. The Conscripts and Greens, are brittle as all get out, and even the Regular run like dogs too often. Vet, and especially Crack, troops stand, and when they finally do run rally quickly.

4) Artillery isn’t always fatal.

Because… it can be run away from. Really, in the woods even. As attacker the AI had apparently done a first turn bombardment; from the get go rounds were falling on a platoon + HMG, set up in an obvious but vital defense spot. So I took a chance, and Ran the HQ and squads straight back about 85m (to my fall back foxholes actually). Left the HMG, figured it would be too slow, and trusted to luck. And it worked! I think, if blasts mean anything, that at least two of the squads would have taken it on the chin had they stayed. But luck held, the HMG didn’t get hit, and after it looked like the barrage was calming down (after approx 3-4 min), I Moved the squads back into position. Seemed to work well.

5) Use the Covered Arc command.

Without it your troops WILL both reveal themselves too soon, and more importantly, waste ammo! The ammo is the biggest hit; in a 30 turn game you will be out of ammo in a whole lot of your troopers by the end. An exception appears to be HMGs, I dunno if they’re just better stocked or what, but they appear to last quite a bit longer than squads in the ammo department.

6) ‘Reverse slope’ works – even where it’s just a few meter dip in the terrain!

Don’t think that the only place for reverse slope are Real Hills, the ones that look like hills. Even when the terrain looks relatively flat there may be places where you can get below a ‘crest’. The 3D view takes a while to get used to, and a while longer to use, especially over a modest or bigger size map, but it’s worth it to find those places about 10-20m back from the ‘crest’ that they’ll *have * to come over to get to you.

A corollary to this is don’t fire too soon. In my last battle my 20mm had a blue LOS to an attacker, fired for an entire minute, and never hit, instead digging up the ground on the top of the rise! Let him get over the rise and exposed (again, use the ground view); the LOS checker can be deceiving.

While old hat to most, hope this helps someone like me. New and stumbling!

[ February 21, 2003, 03:36 AM: Message edited by: Three_Oh_Eight ]

[Slappy]

Some older timer comments on these comments:

0. You seem to be catching on rather well.

1. Very true, learning to use the small dips is one of the the biggest adjustments between CM and other games.

2. True, but I woulden't count on it in snow, or with less than fit troops.

3. True, but vets run out of ammo just as fast a greens, and elite armor is just as easy to penetrate.

4. Very true, but sensitive to calibre. You can probably ride out 76mm, but you better run from 150mm.

5. Absolutely. Units also spot better with a covered arc than when hiding (in all diretions). Even when you want units to hide, give them a 20m covered arc instead.

6. You're right. More than enough discussion of that around here.