Your opinions on

[lcm1947]

Would like to hear if you think learning the game would be better if played with full fog on or partial fog on? The reason I ask is to me I think I would learn more and faster if I could see what is going on. With full fog I'm really not able to see all that is happening to my opponents troops and therefore don't seem to be catching on very well. I'm not one of those that catch on quick anyway and never have been. Anyway just wanted to get some input on this. Also would most be willing or unwilling to play a Pbem with partial fog on? Your opinions please if you will?

[Parachute Hamster]

Well, i started playing CMBB without any expirience of this kind of games and turned the fog straight away to the greatest (extreme?). I still get beaten by AI at the times, but i have also learned to win.

I have never tried partial fog, but i think that if you start playing it easy, you will never get used to harder.

I'd say, go for full or extreme (i can't remember which was the greatest).

[Krazy Canuck]

Lee,

I suggest you play with at least full fog of war. Don't forget, your opponent sees what you see! I'm not sure how long you've been playing(your member # indicates longer than me) but if you just stick with it(I had to), the tactics will start making more sense. If you want to play someone who has yet to win a PBEM game, drop me a line w/setup, maybe I'll improve my win/loss stats.

KC

[JasonC]

Play with extreme fog of war. Trying to learn on anything less will just teach you bad habits that will not carry over to the full extreme fog of war setting. Issues like getting full spots of sound contact MGs and light guns are critical in real games. The whole interrelation of the various combined arms changes with realistic limits on knowledge of the enemy.

If you need immediate feedback on whether things you are trying work, play numerous shorter and smaller games instead of toning down the fog of war. You will see the results soon enough, at game end. Also if you play humans you can ask for a detailed "postmortem", with your opponent answering your questions about what he knew when, what impact your various weapons and tactics had, and the like.

[lcm1947]

Thanks for the feed back guys. Yeah that makes sense it's just that it is more fun seeing and knowing all but I see your points. For the entire 3 years that I've been playing this game against the AI I've used partial and now it is tough switching to full fog. I guess in time I'll catch on and that does seem to be what everybody prefers so if I'm going to play real opponents that's what I'll have to do. So thanks for the help.

[Sarge Saunders]

Originally posted by JasonC:

[QB}....Also if you play humans you can ask for a detailed "postmortem", with your opponent answering your questions about what he knew when, what impact your various weapons and tactics had, and the like. [/QB]

Ditto that idea. An extension of this that I did with a long-time PBEM opponent was for both of us to use special passwords for a game. Then when it was all done, we would exchange those passwords.

Having kept all the turn files, we could then watch movies from the other side. VERY useful in seeing how certain tactics worked, spotting, and of course getting the answer to that all important question: How many enemy did my big arty barrage on turn XYZ kill!!

-Sarge

[walpurgis nacht]

Always play EFW . . . you'll be hard pressed to find a good human opponent who will not insist upon it anyway.

To get better in the fastest way possible, play "hotseat" against yourself in small battles.

Another seemingly obvious tactic is to "move to contact + hide". As soon as the enemy opens fire at distance, the unit being attacked will of course stop in place and hide. You will get a "sound contact". The next turn, use the LOS tool of the attacked unit, and play around with it where you got the sound contact. Somewhere within 10-15 meters of the "sound contact" is where the unit that attacked you is. If there is only one patch of woods, it may be obvious where he is. If not, take the LOS line and see where you could fire. If he can hit you, you can hit him. In other words, if your attacked unit cannot see somewhere up by the sound contact, you know the enemy is not there. This often gives away the enemy position.

This can be even more useful if the same enemy unit fires at different units of yours, on different sides of the map. You can usually "cross" the different LOS possibilities and eliminate certain areas the enemy fire is coming from . . . refining your idea of where he is.

Hope this helps.

[ April 28, 2003, 06:46 AM: Message edited by: Walpurgis Night ]

[Dook]

I remember initially playing the CMBO demo with no fog of war and thinking that artillery FOs were good for nothing since they were immediately targeted and suppressed. The game was definitely meant to be played set to the highest setting available for fog of war.

[lcm1947]

Well then I will have to try that idea Night thanks for the tip.

[CrapGame]

Wasn't it OB&G who was beating everybody up in CMBO until he fessed up that he had fog of war set to "off" while whoever he was playing had it "on" ???

Ah, the good old days.

[Tbone]

Originally posted by Walpurgis Night:

Another seemingly obvious tactic is to "move to contact + hide". As soon as the enemy opens fire at distance, the unit being attacked will of course stop in place and hide. You will get a "sound contact". The next turn, use the LOS tool of the attacked unit, and play around with it where you got the sound contact. Somewhere within 10-15 meters of the "sound contact" is where the unit that attacked you is. If there is only one patch of woods, it may be obvious where he is. If not, take the LOS line and see where you could fire. If he can hit you, you can hit him. In other words, if your attacked unit cannot see somewhere up by the sound contact, you know the enemy is not there. This often gives away the enemy position.

This can be even more useful if the same enemy unit fires at different units of yours, on different sides of the map. You can usually "cross" the different LOS possibilities and eliminate certain areas the enemy fire is coming from . . . refining your idea of where he is.

Hope this helps.

That is a great tip, (Yes i am a newbie ). I will definitely begin using that LOS tactic. That is my biggest problem with FOW on extreme, i get fired on and it takes me forever with great losses to even find and pinpoint the enemy. I have a fear that when I move up to PBEM against real opponents I am gonna get slaugtered. Again, very nice tip and thanks!

[ April 30, 2003, 07:39 AM: Message edited by: Tbone ]