The Omars - CMAK observations - SPOILER WARNING

[Scooby37]

Help! I am a longtime player of the CM series, starting with the initial release of CMBO. I recently purchased CMAK, and the first battle I played was "The Omars" operation.

First of all - I consider myself a "decent" player, but this scenario seems unwinnable from the allied perspective. No biggie, I'm not whining about that - but in the process of being utterly spanked by the Germans, I made the following observations:

1. My infantry, even the veterans, were useless in the face of enemy fire. They became pinned, panicked and routed very easily (yes, I was using tactics).

2. Barrage after barrage of 25-pounder artillery did very little to disable the multitude of entrenched German AT guns.

3. The fixed AT guns that survived the shelling (most of them) made easy work of my Matildas... from ranges of over 1000 meters!!! At that range, the German guns instantly acquired, hit and knocked out my Matildas. I don't think there was even one "ricochet." I thought Matilda armor was very good for early-war tanks.

My first word was "Help," because playing this operation has somewhat turned me off from CMAK! I need someone to tell me to (a) quit bitching and enjoy the game anyway, ( all these observations have been noted by others and are being tweaked by developers, or © you're not as good a player as you think!

Any thoughts? Have others experienced the weakling infantry and laser-guided uber AT guns?

[Michael Emrys]

You need to get together with c3k in this thread. You may have a lot to say to each other.

Michael

[Ron]

I have played that operation and agree it is a very difficult nut to crack. The keys are patience and coordination, picking apart the defense one section at a time.

The 88s and other German AT guns are all in trenches and have multiple TRPs. Its not suprising they have good accuracy and can withstand heavy fire. However I didn't have your overall experience with the Matildas, they can usually withstand the 50mm AT fire until in close. Of course the 88s can make a pin cushion out of them at almost any range!

I would say try it again learning from your mistakes.

Ron

[fridericus]

i had bad luck as german in this operation. i had bad wether and in battle 2 a LOs of only around 80m, so i cant use the ATGs in an efficent role.

[c3k]

Michael

Hey! I _do_ read other threads ya know. It's obvious that Scooby has run into German 88's manned by prior Grant/Lee gunners. That's the only reasonable explanation for the accuracy of the ATG's he's facing and the inaccuracy of MY ATG's. Really.

Ken

[Michael Emrys]

Originally posted by c3k:

Michael

Hey! I _do_ read other threads ya know. It's obvious that Scooby has run into German 88's manned by prior Grant/Lee gunners. That's the only reasonable explanation for the accuracy of the ATG's he's facing and the inaccuracy of MY ATG's. Really.

Heh. those dirty turncoats with time machines.

Well, there's also that in his case they seem to be pre-emplaced, so that could explain the difference too, I suppose.

Michael

[Scooby37]

Interesting that C3K and I had exactly opposite experiences. In my instance, the 88 gunners manned by the computer opponent apparently were using laser rangefinders. It didn't help that my Matildas were made of plywood. In addition, they must have had a deflector shield covering their trenches, since my arty didn't seem to make them blink.

Oh well - live and learn! In fairness, there was a huge flat expanse of desert between the 88's and my Matildas (no cover), and as Michael points out, they were well dug-in. I suppose in real life they would have had ample time to predetermine the various ranges for the fields of fire.

In any event, I gave up on the battle. I'm off to Crete now!