Moving from cover to cover

[Kolaivo]

When you have to move from cover to cover through open ground, is it better to run or move? (I'm stuck with CMBO at the moment) I'm assuming I have other troops in overwatch.

[Falcon988]

Originally posted by Kolaivo:

When you have to move from cover to cover through open ground, is it better to run or move? (I'm stuck with CMBO at the moment) I'm assuming I have other troops in overwatch.

Running is best. You typically want to spend as little time in the open as possible, but it's often a necessary evil. And when it is you want to be out of there quickly.

[Kolaivo]

But won't the odds of hitting my men increase because they're not watching out as well for enemy troops?

[YankeeDog]

Yes, but if you use "Move" your troops will (1) be exposed to fire for a much longer time, and (2) are likely to pin/panic and sometimes even turn around and try to sneak back to the cover they started in. In CMBO, it's generally best to use Run and minimize the length of time your troops are exposed to fire.

It's been a while since I fired up CMBO, by IIRC, Run is the command of choice for movement under fire pretty much no matter what. Running Infantry in CMBO is actually pretty resilient, so as long as incoming fire isn't too heavy and you've good some good overwatch supressive fire, the generally do pretty well at crossing moderate stretches of open ground without taking too many casualties or panicking too much.

FYI, things change A LOT in CMBB/CMAK, with the addition of the Advance and Assault commands; using Run under even modest incoming fire in these game generally results in routed and/or dead soldiers.

Cheers,

YD

[Kolaivo]

So when I finally get CMBB up and running, I should use advance or assault? What's the difference between these two?

(Sorry about the manual type questions, but I am halfway around the world playing on my laptop so I don't have the manual on me.)

[YankeeDog]

Whole threads have gone on about this (as search will turn up som interesting reading, but briefly, in CMBB & CMAK:

Advance: This is your bread-and-butter movement under fire command. Simulates individual soldiers in the squad moving by short rushes, and even occasionally stopping to fire. About the same speed as MOVE, but troops are less vulnerable to enemy fire, both in terms of morale and casualties. They're also more likely to finish a movement under fire, and they will return fire some while moving. Disadvantage is that it's considerably more fatiguing than Move.

Assault: Slower than Advance or Move, and VERY tiring. Benefit is that Assaulting troops are more likely to keep moving under heavier fire, and they also put out more fire when moving than any other order. Best for short moves, either the last few meters to close in on a pinned but still dangerous enemy, or also when the squad has to move that 10-15m under fire in order to break contact, or they'll be a total write-off.

Cheers,

YD

[HarryInk]

In CMBO, unless you have absolutely safe movement lanes (good cover, reverse slopes, or secure gullies), you run. I have watched so many opponents walk their troops forward. It must have been like being a German in Normandy watching the Tommies approach - something that makes you speechless!

Open ground is death. Allowing your enemy the leisure to maneuver (either troops or arty barrages) in answer to your 'moves' is also death. You have to use cover, overwatch - as you appreciate, and dash. If you're worried about what you'll meet, use half-squads to recon so that the pain will be less. CMBO won't penalise this like BB and AK do.

A superior way to move troops in CMBO, if you have the patience, is to do extensive plotting. Plot their moves for the next 500m with a waypoint every 20-40m as terrain dictates. Then, as the action dictates, you can vary the waypoint orders and adjust their positions.

I think infantry theory runs that when your point contacts you extend the line and maneuver your reserve to take the enemy in flank/rear. Using long plotting, when your lead squad contacts you can drag the following squads waypoints way over toward the flank of the contact and change them to run/sneak, etc as necessary. This way you can quickly overwhelm the enemy or prepare a line to receive his counterattack. It saves you the command lag he is going to have getting his troops going. You're 13 seconds ahead, on average. That often translates into inflicting a few sudden casualties, quick panics and gaining ground. Practice this in a few little infantry games in heavy woods (where fire zones are restricted). You'll quickly skill up in the art of fire and maneuver CMBO style. For BB or AK, I'll leave you to others' advice.

Cheers

[Retigade]

run forest run others shouted in ForesGump movie so i think you should run like chiken whit out head and when you are in cover you can give them good lesson

[Cannon-fodder]

If you 'move' across open ground in CMBB, you'll get mowed down. No question about it. The ONLY way to advance troops across more than 40m of open ground is to suppress any infantry on the other side, whether that be with HE, MGs or arty. One good way to advance infantry across opne ground is to lay down a heavy smoke barrage. This will make your troops practically invisible to the enemy, so you can get them pretty close. I would still try and get some kind of overwatch, suppressing fire etc. anyway, since smoke won't be 100% effective.

Assualt and Advance really aren't particularly useful - it tires units out way too quickly. If you only need to travel 40 meters or less, then Advance can be useful as it tends to lower casualties. Assualt is best used either to pull suppressed units out of fire zones, or to go the final 10m till you're 'on top' of an enemy squad.

TimG