Need Ammo Conservation Tips

[Orcmaul]

I'm really having trouble with this. I know that one of the factors is that my troops are typically regular, but by the time I'm to the 15th turn of 30 turn battle almost all of my squads are hearing that annoying "ping" sound that M1 rifles make when they run dry. As you might guess this is a rather annoying time to run out as at this point the battle is at its mid point and I need ammo to finish. So if you've got any tips I could use them.

[109 Gustav]

Reserves are critical. Hold back some of your troops until you need them. One fresh platoon hitting the enemy in the flank can win a battle.

You can rotate troops off the line during lulls in the fighting, swapping them for fresh ones. That way they can rest up, and you still have a reserve. Read Fionn's Sunken Lane AAR on CMHQ to see how he did this.

Hide your troops until the enemy is very close. If you still want to use long range fire, get some MMGs or HMGs; they have way more ammo than your squads, and are more effective over long range.

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[Olle Petersson]

I also had problems with the ammo supply when I played the demo, most notably in the Beta demo...

The major error I did was to try slugging it out in a firefight at about 100m, against defenders in foxholes.

Needless to say I was the one taking most casualties.

When I instead tried laying some suppressive fire, before assaulting with the infantry, it went almost like clockwork.

In short: Try a more aggressive approach.

Cheers

Olle

[jasoncawley@ameritech.net]

Both sensible comments. The biggest cause of low ammo is firing a lot at ranges that are too long. The second biggest is expecting the same sub-unit to carry successive attacks, e.g. as a "point", without rotating which unit gets that job.

Most infantry has decent firepower at 100 yards. But the fellow making the point about foxholes is right, and the same goes for buildings - infantry needs to be quite close to seriously hurt troops in cover that good.

It helps if a lot of heavier HE weapons suppress the defenders before you move too close, too. Your tanks, MGs, on-map guns when you have them, and off-map artillery, are the weapons you want to firefight with at long range.

Infantry fire at ranges from around 150-250 yards is only effective at infantry in the open, and in the short run it will pin them rather than kill. Down around 100 yards, you can expect to seriously mess up troops in light cover (woods, brush, rubble, rough), before you run dry. But not the toughest targets.

Check the "% exposed" numbers for the units you are shooting at, and compared the "firepower" numbers you are getting. If the % exposed in in the teens, you need to be nearly point-blank - the next building, or inside the same body of woods as the target. If it is in the 20s or 30s, look for firepower numbers with 3 digits (100+), for your full squads; half of that is OK for MGs. If you don't have firepower numbers that high, you aren't close enough yet to really break guys in cover that good. When you are shooting at men in the open, with % exposed numbers well above 50%, you can afford to shoot with firepower numbers around 50.

Just some guidelines, to get a sense of what is going on. You have to gauge how close you need to be, by how hunkered down the target is. You will get a better sense of it soon, if you watch these numbers and your results.

[This message has been edited by jasoncawley@ameritech.net (edited 03-06-2001).]

[jasoncawley@ameritech.net]

A realise that it may help to explain a few mechanical, "game rule" issues related to ammo usage, in addition to the tactics comments.

- units on "hide" won't fire until you tell them to stop hiding, unless an enemy comes very close to them. If they have already been spotted, they may be fired upon, though, and if so are likely to stop hiding and shoot back.

- hiding units can target an ambush marker set by their platoon HQ, or set their own for AT weapons and many guns. They will shoot if someone gets close to the marker, but hold their fire otherwise. The "trigger" distance from the marker is about 20 yards.

This is useful e.g. if you want to shoot if the enemy steps into the open, but not if he stays in cover. Put an ambush marker about 40-50 yards ahead of the treeline and hide. If he moves 20-30 yards into the open, opposite the marker, your men should fire. To cover a long line, you may need more than one HQ, tank, or gun to put down ambush markers - space them ~30 yards apart.

- units won't fire when running. When they reach their destination they will stop, and then they may open up if they see anyone. But while running, they can't fire. MGs and mortars will not fire while moving. Units on "sneak" will usually finish their assigned move before firing, if they are not being fired upon, but they may open up at a close target, or if shot at.

- you can add a "& hide" to the end of a move command, by entering the command normally, then "hide". The unit won't hide at the begining, but will instead complete the move and then hide right away. Used in junction with "run", you can effectively tell a unit not to shoot. But note - units on hide that are shot at, generally stop hiding and fire back.

- you can stay on the near side of terrain obstacles to break LOS completely. This is often a good idea from time to time for other reasons, like to prevent the enemy from getting perfect intel about your units after a while. 30 yards back inside a treeline, behind a building rather than in it, behind a crest rather than on it. You can use this to "pick your shots".

- don't use area fire with ordinary squads. They don't have the ammo for it, and will soon run out. Any unit firing with area fire will keep it up until out of ammo. Only use high ammo or high powered HE weapons for this, like MGs and tanks. Similarly, do not "recon by fire" at merely suspected locations, except with those types.

I hope some of these help.

[Jagdwyrm]

------units won't fire when running. When they reach their destination they will stop, and then they may open up if they see anyone. But while running, they can't fire. MGs and mortars will not fire while moving. Units on "sneak" will usually finish their assigned move before firing, if they are not being fired upon, but they may open up at a close target, or if shot at.------

This is not true. They will fire while running. Maybe they are only using the SMGs but I have seen this often especially when running toward enemy.

[This message has been edited by Jagdwyrm (edited 03-07-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Jagdwyrm (edited 03-07-2001).]