My CMBO life has become unmanageable...

[willmontgomery]

OK, it's official, I am a weak player.

I have almost exclusively played only one opponent, and we both started out as newbies. I was successful at first, partly because I knew the WWII hardware a lot better and partly because I could beat my opponent by trying to do the unexpected rather than necessarily beating his troops with sound tactics.

Then I had to take about a year off, and my opponent went out into the world and learned a thing or two about sound tactics. Furthermore, my grand plan in our current battle has blown up in my face, and it's clear that there isn't going to be a happy ending.

So here's my cry for help:

1) A specific question: I am the attacker in a probe at night under overcast skies (i.e. _short_ LOS). I assigned all my stealthiest HQs to command large-scale (company-sized) infiltrations. Unfortunately MGs and vehicles cannot sneak, so they were left behind and when the groups stumbled over something, they didn't have the support they needed to trade blows with the enemy. Plus the troops seemed to be extra-jittery at night, so discipline collapsed immediately even when the threat was slight. My opponent has been able to mop up my disrupted forces with nearby troops who were not involved in the first contact (and thus not equally disrupted), or with armor (which is not subject to morale problems). Should I conclude that infiltration is a bad idea even under such apparently optimal conditions, or that the groups I tried to infiltrate were too large (either too hard to hide or else betting too many assets on the turn of one card)?

2) Are my morale problems because of night conditions, or is there an extra morale effect when taking fire from a previously undetected source which might happen under any surprise conditions (my guys _were_ in command)?

3) More generally: no plan survives contact with the enemy. Is it essential that pre-battle plans have contingency plans (like what to do if the infiltration fails abysmally), or is it enough simply to lay out a general plan and then improvise as necessary in the actual event?

I know what I really need to do is to read about and practice sound tactics until I learn how to play better (playing against a wider variety of opponents would help too, not that I have time for that). This is such a large area that it would be silly to ask: "What should I do to play better?" I can find the articles and threads on my own, so I don't really have any other questions, but I'd love to hear any general advice anyone out there might be itching to give.

[ June 01, 2002, 03:23 PM: Message edited by: willmontgomery ]

[Fionn]

Firstly, caveat... There are people out there who will, on principle, disagree with everything I say so just use your own judgement re: any points made ok?

1. Why were you trying to infiltrate at all? Infiltration sounds like something pretty complicated. Complicated plans fail more often than simple plans.

Why not just send a light recce screen forward, approximate the enemy front line trace and then launch your massed forces at weak points in the enemy front line trace ( relying on massive fire superiority for victory)? It is simple, effective and easy to co-ordinate.

2. All troops are a bit more jittery at night. This happens in real life and is modelled in CM. If you are going to launch piecemeal attacks at night you should be prepared to see them all fail. The key to night-fighting is to simply mass your forces at enemy weak points and hit them with all the speed and subtlety of a 200 ton locomotive, overruning the enemy forces before your opponent can bring even his local reserves to bear.

3. This depends on your style. The first thing you describe actually has a military term associated with it. This term is "Decision point tactics". The Soviets utilise this form of planning and therefore many American military articles have been written about decision point tactics. The easiest to read would be the ones done by the OPFOR guys at the NTC and by contributors to ARMOR magazine ( both can be found on the net).

For most CM players it suffices to simply improvise. The key to improvisation is to improvise well and to do that you should be constantly thinking ahead so that any improvisations fit into the general long-term path you need to be following. Too often you see players improvising in response to an ambush or whatever and actually damaging their long-term ( and more important) path just to save a single platoon.

[Lopaka]

My suggestion would be to surrender and loudly proclaim your opponent to be your superior.

[willmontgomery]

Originally posted by Fionn:

1. Why were you trying to infiltrate at all?

I've known this guy for like 25 years (since fourth grade or whatever). I thought he wouldn't expect it. I thought it might be cool to surprise him with a battalion in his backfield. Plus it's the kind of thing he would do. If it ended up causing entertainment, I wanted credit for doing it first.

Guess which post on this thread is from him?

So it was conceived as a lark. If it's not a credible strategy, then that's all it will ever be. On the other hand, before abandoning it, I thought I would ask whether infiltration was a bad plan a priori, or if I just did a bad job of something that a good player might seriously do under the right circumstances. I know at least some combatants used infiltration in the actual event.

[ June 01, 2002, 03:22 PM: Message edited by: willmontgomery ]

[Fionn]

Will,

Infiltration was definitely used but the sorts of infiltration you see in movies simply didn't/couldn't happen. You infiltrate through major gaps in the enemy line, not through the midst of a strongly-held line. You also have to have a lot of time to infiltrate properly ( since you need to go slowly and need to move in small groups (normally) ).

In a campaign of some sort infiltration would be fine since the campaign might run for a week of simulated time and therefore 12 hours spent infiltrating a Bn through enemy lines might be well spent.

During a 30 minute Bn on Bn battle the situation is quite different however.

Still though you are to be applauded for trying something new. Mostly the "cool idea" results in a massive tangle of bodies ( as this one did) but sometimes it works out and you've gotten a new arrow to put in your tactical bow and have, as a result, become a better player.

Keep experimenting etc. Losing is just part of the price of learning. I would suggest giving up on large-scale infiltrations within the scale of a QB though

[PiggDogg]

Will,

CM is a game (and, for that matter, real combat) where the massive application of overwhelming firepower wins the day.

Generally, when one attacks, advance scout troops (half squads) on the point should lead the way with the main assualt troops watching and overwatching from good cover (woods, tall trees, buildings).

When the scouts trigger enemy defensive fire (and, thus, probably suffer large casualties or die), the main assault troops use their numerical and firepower superioity to overwhelm the defenders with small arms, direct fire HE, and, if required, precious and hopefully medium (105s - 120s) or large caliber (4.5s - 155s) off board arty. Good cover with sufficient LOSs to the defender's positions is paramount for the main assault troops.

In CM, infiltrating at night is probably not going to succeed against a competent opponent.

Cheers, Richard

[willmontgomery]

Gentlemen (specifically excluding Lopaka ),

Thanks for the replies.

[ June 03, 2002, 09:37 AM: Message edited by: willmontgomery ]

[superpershingfan]

will,

my use of "cool" or as I like to refer to them as ,"whacky" tactics, are what makes the game even more fun then it already is. CMBO is your chemistry set, have at it.

You may lose a ton of battles, but the bragging rights are worth it...heh-heh

Many battles I've lost, but to see the "huh? What the ____!" look on my brothers face is totally worth it.