Really basic question(s)

[Rhiec]

I apologize in advance if this has been asked or is too much of an amateur question, but here goes. I downloaded the demo (trying to see if it's a game I'd be interested in) and I'm embarrassed to admit, but I am totally lost. I'm trying to play the Citadel scenario, but unfortunately haven't the first clue what to do. I haven't really done anything, just let the German tanks come forward, hoping I might be able to figure it out. Unfortunately, my units just get stomped, and I'm no closer to figuring any of it out. I've searched thru the forums trying to figure it out, but can't quite get there. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[JasonC]

All your tanks are much better protected in front than on their sides, so the main thing to is to clear the Russians out of any "level" you want to move to, before you go there. That way they don't get side shots, because the places they'd get side shots from, they are all dead already.

Keep your better Pz IVs back from areas of cover, with wide lines of sight. Then use the Pz IIIs to probe places. Send just 1-2 forward close to a given patch of trees or brush, while the rest of that platoon stand off a few hundred meters. The guys standing off are ready to fire at anything the forward ones spot.

By driving close with a few Pz IIIs, you will flush out the Russians - because close enough you can see them, and because some of them will want to open fire. Once you've spotted somebody, shoot the heck out of him.

You will notice that some sighted Russians will say "sound contact". Those positions are only approximate, and your guys haven't actually pinpointed them yet. To "resolve" them into "full IDs", you need to get closer. Once you have a "full ID", you can target them and blow them up.

Most of the enemies you face are using small anti-tank guns, which aren't very effective against your tanks. They need either to shoot from nearly point blank range (100m) - and even then need scarce special ammo - or to shoot from the side at medium range. At medium range you won't spot them yet, close in you will.

So, close by - outshoot 'em. Far away - make sure they only see your front facing, and get closer until you can see them. Once you see them, pause and shoot them until they are knocked out (the guns that is - with infantry, when you see them run away. Your machineguns will do the rest with those, pretty much automatically).

Eventually you may come across something nastier. Remember the point I made above about keeping your Pz IVs alive? This is when that will become important. The guns on your Panzer IVs can kill just about anything, and at just about any range. They can be killed themselves from the front by the best weapons the Russians have, but only by relatively rare turret hits.

The key when you reach the toughest Russian units is to have some Pz IVs left alive and kicking, and a screen of the thicker Pz IIIs ahead of them to take the first blows.

Overall, take it slow, be methodical. It is not a race. You can easily rush right into the middle of the whole Russian defense - but that is exactly where you don't want to be. Threats from multiple sides is the only thing you have to worry about, because if you are facing them they basically can't hurt you. Not half as much as you will hurt them. Clear each area before pushing ahead to the next.

If you do find a nest of the buggers behind you, that you've already past, get a hill between you and them or between you and the rest of the Russian defense, ahead of you. Then target the bypassed guys, or send some IIIs to take them out - being careful about where you show your sides and rear. Low ground is your friend for this one, if it comes up. Many places farther away in the Russian defense can only see the high ridges, and will lose you in the gullys. So "go low" before facing rearward.

I hope this helps, and good luck.

[Rhiec]

I'm sorry, I should have been more clear. I'm trying to play as the Russians. For example, I don't know what to do with the two "tank hunters" way at the front (top?) of the map. I tried coming out and assaulting after the last of the tanks got past, but they just turned around and took me out. Should I move them around as well as moving my other guys or what? This game just seems incredibly daunting.

[YankeeDog]

****** SPOILER ALERT - CITADEL DEMO SCENARIO *****

Defending this scenario is significantly harder than attacking. I'll try to give you some ideas to get you started:

1.) Your "Tank Hunter" teams aren't very useful - they have to get very close to a tank to have any chance of damaging it, and even then the chance isn't great. The good thing about them is that they are very stealthy and the German tanks won't detect them until they almost drive over them so long as they are reasonably well hidden (assuming the Tank Hunters don't open fire and reveal themselves). I would suggest leaving them in decent cover (scattered trees, or broken ground) and using them as forward OPs so you can see where and how the German tanks are moving - intelligence on enemy movement can be quite valuable if you know how to use it. If the AI moves a tank closer than 40m to a Tank Hunter's hiding position, you can take a chance and try to assault the tank, but unless a good opportunity like this comes up, they're more useful as observation posts than they are dead. Side note: The tank hunter units in Citadel are very weak - they only have molotov cocktails and grenades to attack tanks with. In the full game, some Tank Hunter units have MUCH better anti-tank weapons, and therefore are more effective, at least at close range. The terrain also doesn't really favor TH units in Citadel - they're more effective in denser terrain like woods and cities.

2) Your Anti-Tank rifles are also pretty weak, but they do have their uses. In general, they need a flank or rear shot to have any chance of damaging the German tanks. Rear shots are better than flank shots. Unfortunately, even with rear shots, the chance of any one individual shot damaging a Panzer is small. This weakness of ATRs is mitigated somewhat by two advantages: (1) they have a very high rate of fire, so you can potentially get many shots in a single turn, and (2) they are very stealthy, even when firing - in general, as long as the closest German tank is at least 200m away, the best the enemy will get is a 'sound contact'. In fact, firing ATRs can somtimes remain unspotted when firing from as close as 100m.

So what you want to do with your ATRs is put them in positions where you think it's likely that the enemy will expose a flank or rear aspect to them, ideally in the 200 - 400m range. At this range, the ATRs have some chance of causing damage, but they are unlikely to be spotted, so the Panzers can't effectively return fire. One good way to accomplish this is to try to put the ATRs in positions where the German tanks will bypass them - then you can open fire on the tanks' vulnerable rear quarter.

3) Your 45mm ATGs have a much better chance of damaging the German Panzers, but at Jason's post indicates, they're still much better off with a flank or rear shot. In general, you want to try to use the terrain (defilades created by elevations, stands of trees, etc.) and place the guns in positions so that you can catch the advancing Panzers in a crossfire - when the Panzers turn to face one gun, they will expose their flank to fire from the other direction. You also want to try to avoid taking all of the panzers at once - try to create situations where you've got 2 or more guns (or some combination of guns and ATRs) against only 1 or 2 tanks.

4) Your Machine Guns are can't take out a tank on their own, but they can still be of some use. Machine Gun fire will force a tank to "Button Up", i.e., close its hatches. Buttoned tanks have very poor visibility, so they are much easier to surprise, especially from the flank or rear. As an added bonus, there is always the chance that MG fire on an unbuttoned tank will manage to wound or kill a tank crew member before they get the hatches closed. This chance is small, but if the enemy presents you multiple opportunities, you just might get a crewman or two with your MGs through persistence. A tank needs to be within about 300m to have any chance of spotting an MG even when the MG is firing (sometimes even closer, depending on terrain), so try to put your MGs far back where they have a wide field of fire and can open up on the tanks from long range to keep them buttoned. In addition, the MG teams have binoculars, so they can help you monitor the enemy tanks' movements while your ATGs and ATRs remain hidden. Finally, it's a bit heartless, but once the Panzers get close, you can use the MGs as decoys, opening up with them first to make the Panzers turn to face them, and then opening up with ATGs/ATRs from another angle. You will likely take heavy casualties in your MG teams with this tactic, though.

5) The KV-1s tank is your 'trump card' - the KV-1s can take a Panzers on on a one-to-one basis. The problem is, you are vastly outnumbered by the enemy tanks (until you whittle them down with your ATGs and ATRs!), so you need to be KV-1s careful. In general, try to use the KV-1s' mobility to ambush individual German tanks that are in danger of breaking through your lines. Try to set up 'unfair' matchups, where a KV-1s can engage a Panzer while the Panzer's turret is facing the other way trying to deal with a Anti-tank gun. The German PzIVs are a much greater threat to the KV-1s than the PzIIIs are, so also try to be selective about who you trade shots with.

Hopefully this will get you started. Feel free to post with further questions!

Cheers,

YD

[Rhiec]

Thank you very much for the replies...I'll give it a shot tonight. This game looks to be very, very good, I just don't want to get to a point where I get so frustrated, I don't bother playing.

[SFJaykey]

I've never played Citadel, but it sounds like a good-sized scenario with a lot to learn for beginners.

If you are still interested in CMBB after that daunting initial exposure, be advised that if you buy the game there is a tutorial scenario with walk-through provided in the manual. If you buy the strategy guide, it includes a walk-through of another good little scenario. There are more such aids available online, and, as you have seen, on the forum just by asking.

It's a great game; go for it!

[gunnergoz]

I thoroughly enjoyed playing Russian in that scenario (against the computer AI at least).

SPOILER*********

I lined up the 45mm AT guns on one side of the battlefield along the long edge. I gave them all "hide" orders. I placed the AT rifles a bit closer in to the middle. I used the tank hunters as spotters in the brush and left the KV1 in the ditch as a mop-up force.

The German tanks never knew what hit them. I held off fire until they drew well abreast of the AT gun batteries and I had clear flank and even rear shots. I selected targets for each and every AT gun, ganging up 3 or 4 on one tank so as to ensure a speedy kill. I had the AT rifles hit the other tanks to force them to button up.

When it was all over, I'd lost about half the AT guns, but every German tank was Kaput. The KV1 just ran around killing dismounted crews. Very satisfying!

I think that would work with a human opponent maybe...once!