Do I need to care about this?

[vbfg]

Hi guys and gals,

I'm a newbie who's about four weeks of age and this game is already consuming my life. I love Operation Flashpoint but no one will do what *I* say. In CM they have no choice in it. That appeals to me.

I've just finished playing a QB of about 1000pts combined assault with moderate hills and trees. The computer chose my equipment for me and actually got me some pretty useful things. Is there a database of what the capabilities of the various pieces of equipment are useful for? HE is obviously good against soft targets, etc but it would be handy to have something browseable that I could plan a force at leisure with. I'm a WWII geek only in terms of political personalities and broad history. I never really took much notice of the fighting or gear before.

It was my first use of a Sherman 105 tonight. Man those things rule against infantry at range. The AI sent a platoon in a counter attack against the guys I had just used to assault a VL. The regular squads must have been close to panic from the assault itself, they'd been taking cover for a whole turn at least, and that one tank plus a MMG kept them safe and gave them time to recover. It also left a nice platoon shaped hole in the defensive line to exploit.

I possibly did a gamey thing by treating a bazooka team as a penal battallion when I made them march in front of where I thought the enemy would be. This made the enemy sit up and reveal their locations which was my original intent. They got creamed of course. I made 'em act casual as though they weren't under orders; they just looked lost and were far from any other troops so I think I got away with it and won't be reported. I'm sure their massacre in front of my entire force made the others fight harder anyway.

Anyhoo, my question is about these VLs. I'm a little unsure about them in relation to the scoring system. I understand that to dominate these locations I don't need to sit on top of them, I can do something similar to what I did tonight and use accurate long range weapons like the Sherman 105 to 'own' it without actually being there. The point about using the 'zooks this way was so I could be certain of doing just this. I wanted to get them involved for once and it was the only way I could think of in a purely offensive role.

Having taken this VL and secured it though, the terrain dictated I needed to be close by but away from it slightly to do the same thing to the next one. I started to bring up the reserves and heavy weapons ready to push on to the next one. Now that I had this VL I had better terrain to put my tank in a good position for the next attack. When I eventually pushed on for the next objective after exchanging fire for a while the flag changed from the US flag to the question mark again.

How, if at all, does this affect the scoring system? I gave up the ground, but it was pretty secure behind my lines. The enemy didn't take it from me, and couldn't without getting seriously hurt at little cost to me, but it wasn't registering as mine anymore. Does this have an effect or does the enemy have to seize it from me? Do you even get points at all for seizing VLs or is it a case of pure body count?

Thanks for your answers.

This is a great board BTW. In QBs I'm working on trying to create some situations you guys have described in previous posts so I can try all the great advice posted here. Evrything I'm trying to do at the moment is about isolating small parts of the enemy and being able to use massive firepower on them from the safest locations possible for my guys. I'm making mistakes and not always scouting ahead inw ays I think I should for the best security for my guys but hey, it's all part of the learning curve.

I've got a feeling this game is going to be the best few quid I ever spent.

[Silvio Manuel]

Hey mate,

Welcome to the game. I hope you don't have many consuming hobbies and such in "Real Life," b/c most folk get rather addicted to CM...life could be worse!

Replying strictly to your request for unit data, Chris Hare has prepared a very impressive Zip file that contains a huge amount of data on artillery, guns, infantry, tanks...nearly everything. You can download it at:

http://users.erols.com/chare/cm/

Scroll almost all the way down, and choose CM1 Tables...the CM1 XLS Tables is a must if you want to use MS Excel instead of MS Works...and you'll have to change the font as it says right there on the website. Dunno if this will work if your a Mac user...LOL.

the website www.combatmission.com has more goodies than I care to describe, especially Mods. The AAR's are good. The "Links" icon will take you to good places, I'm a big fan of Der Kessel (mods, user-made scenarios, etc.), and the ScoutPL Tutorial Page. Here's a gratuitous list of good links:

for Mods (my fav is- CM Outpost, b/c it has great comparison shots- http://www.afv-uk.net/cmoutpost/

then:

Tom's CM Headquarters

http://home.arcor.de/tcmhq/TCMHQ.html

Scenario Depot:

http://www.dragonlair.net/combatmission/

The Last Defense:

http://www.angelfire.com/ak5/TheLastDefense/

Warfare HQ:

http://www.warfarehq.com/

Happy Hunting!

[BanGer]

Hi Vbfg, great game isnt it, Im a newbie too so i could be wrong about a few things but I thought Id share my little knowledge.

1 - VF do count towards your points tally. The manual gives the points total (I think 100pnts for major flag and 50 for a minor flag)

2 - they change nationality if you are defending the flag area - you dont need to be directly on top of it but you do need to be close AND there must not be any serious enemy force in area as well. - You can have a few enemies that are running for the hills crying to mummy - lol.

3. The Question mark you saw appear when you blew the enemy's head off is because there was then no one in direct command of the flag. Remember - even if you claim it then move on - even if it is well behind your lines, it will revert back to a question mark. - I tend to use crews or broken squads to guard them (If safe to do so) to keep them under my control.

4. Back to the points tally - IMHO i wouldnt use zook teams to scout - they are too expensive and count against you for your end points tally. I prefer Sharpshooter (excellent stealth and vision) but again you have to be careful because they are expensive to lose on a whim. I would rather call an arty strike or have a few HE tank rounds drop on the area where the enemy is thought to be. Then send a split squad (rifle - cheap) to investigate - covered by the other half squad and if possible a full squad and H/MMG.

Hope this helps.

[vbfg]

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated. Those links are great Silvio, they're just what I'm after. When I bought the game (through Amazon in the UK) I got an extra CD that's nearly full with mods. They're a real maze though, those sites are helping to work through to see what I have.

Thanks very much.

[109 Gustav]

Victory flags are 300 points for big flags and 100 for small flags. By comparison, your sherm 105s are something like 150 points.

When you have a VL a good distance behind your lines, if you don't have any units near it, than it counts as unoccupied. The best thing to do is move a throwaway unit near the flag to keep it occupied. Crews from KO'd tanks and badly shot up squads that have been routed (will have an ! marker in the morale box), as well as units that are low on ammo, are good throwaway units. They aren't much good for scouting and are next to useless at combat, but they are capable of holding down a flag that is already secure.

No edit

[ April 09, 2002, 04:06 AM: Message edited by: 109 Gustav ]

[CMplayer]

I'd just like to add a thing about scouting with AT teams. Please disabuse yourself of the habit. It's in really bad taste.

[Silvio Manuel]

Originally posted by BanGer:

3. The Question mark you saw appear when you blew the enemy's head off is because there was then no one in direct command of the flag. Remember - even if you claim it then move on - even if it is well behind your lines, it will revert back to a question mark. - I tend to use crews or broken squads to guard them (If safe to do so) to keep them under my control.

vbfg: keep in mind that you have to within about 80 meters to "influence/control" a Victory Flag. Having Line of Sight helps. IIRC, vehicles don't control flags as well as leg-troops do.

[vbfg]

Originally posted by CMplayer:

I'd just like to add a thing about scouting with AT teams. Please disabuse yourself of the habit. It's in really bad taste.

It is, but I let the computer pick for me and I just couldn't think of anything else to use them for. I'd killed two pumas already (with the Sherm) and wasn't expecting any more. Still, no excuses. I murdered them.

Thanks for the numbers Gustav. I saw your post and only then do I see the relevant bit of manual. Oh well.