Clearing bunkers

[GRUMLIN]

I'm confused - got 3 squads and a command squad round the back of an nme bunker with a 75mm in it, and then the command squad ran in the bunker of its own accord. I thought this knocked out the bunker, so I rolled a Sherman round the corner and WHAMMO. How do I get infantry to grenade bunker slits etc when they are right next to it?

thanks

Grumlin :confused:

[Skipper]

Just let them target the bunker from very close range and wait. Not in front of the bunker, and not on the sides, but behind it.

Normal rifle infantry may spend 2-3 turns on it. Engineers are a lot better.

[Ozzy]

Originally posted by GRUMLIN:

I'm confused - got 3 squads and a command squad round the back of an nme bunker with a 75mm in it, and then the command squad ran in the bunker of its own accord. I thought this knocked out the bunker, so I rolled a Sherman round the corner and WHAMMO. How do I get infantry to grenade bunker slits etc when they are right next to it?

thanks

Grumlin :confused:

Support weapons are a great help - Schrecks, Zooks, PIATs, demo charges or flamethrower. Whenever you have such units - use them against the bunker.

And you have learned an important lesson - NEVER send a single AFV against an AT bunker before you have not confirmed ("knocked out") disabled it. Either you neutralize it with infantry and keep the AFVs out of harms OR you send several, at least 4 AFV simultaneously against it.

[ April 02, 2002, 04:27 AM: Message edited by: Ozzy ]

[Alsatian]

Patience please, I'm a newbie and this is my first post.

I'm addicted to the demo scenarios and am patiently awaiting my order for CMBO. In the meantime I have a question about US Engineers and their use of demo satchel charges.

In VOT I have no problem getting my engineers close in and using their charges to knock out the first pillbox.

Problem is, there's that second pillbox I want my engineers to knock out too, but the engineers have a very limited supply of demo charges. Sometimes, after the first pillbox gets knocked out, and the crew abandons it, my engineer squad engages the crew and uses a demo charge on the pistol-packing crew. Quite an overkill and waste of a weapon.

Is there any way to get my engineers NOT to waste their demo charges on soft targets?

[flamingknives]

Is there any way to get my engineers NOT to waste their demo charges on soft targets?

No.

Use of these weapons is controlled by the TacAI. Generally though, units only use demo charges/panzerfausts on soft targets when they feel they can spare them.

[gredeker]

Originally posted by Alsatian:

Is there any way to get my engineers NOT to waste their demo charges on soft targets?

At the risk of stating the obvious...

Only use one of your engineer squads to take out the pillbox. Use the other Engineer squads to guard the perimeter and watch the back of the designated attacking squad. Keep those other squads at least 50-60m away from the pillbox, so they won't throw their demo charges at the PB or the crew when it appears. It may take a bit longer to obtain the desired result, but that's the tradeoff with nearly all ammo management techniques in the game (except for that stinking Vickers MG, which can just fire and fire and fire...).

[Agua]

Originally posted by Alsatian:

Patience please, I'm a newbie and this is my first post.

And welcome to CMBO. Honestly, I don't believe you could ever stop learning with this game. Kiss your other interests good-bye.

[xerxes]

engineers without demos or regular squads will take out the bunker also (just takes longer).

-marc s

[Mud]

Yep. Even a regular squad can lob a grenade into the slot, if they're close enough and don't die first, or if they're at the back door of the pillbox -- no demo charges or AT weapons req'd. Of course, the back door might be covered by other defenders. So it might not be desireable to commit the expensive engineers, but rather to save them and their very limited demo charges in case of minefields or a strongpoint where the demo charge really is needed.

[Soddball]

I've found a very handy anti-pillbox weapon is the bazooka. Sneak a bazooka team behind the pillbox, and get them to fire in through the back door. Works a treat.

[Alsatian]

Thanks for the advice. Yes, bye-bye to other hobbies. World Cup vs. CMBO will be an interesting conflict for me.

To be clear, my engineers have started a turn 30M from a bunker with two demo charges. I order them to target the bunker. They use their first charge to destroy the bunker, but before the end of the turn they engage the dislodged crew in a firefight and use their last demo charge on the crew. NOooooooooooo.

On the other hand, I've had engineers use a demo charge to destroy the Panther reinforcement, which is quite satisfying.

I even had a reg Inf squad using only grenades force the Panther crew to abandon. That was unexpected.

[Monty's Double]

Can you split squads in the demo (it's so long ago I can't remember)? If so you can split a squad with two charges, and usually each team will have one charge. Makes them a little vulnerable, but you can always reform the squad later.

[Panther G]

Originally posted by Monty's Double:

Can you split squads in the demo (it's so long ago I can't remember)? If so you can split a squad with two charges, and usually each team will have one charge. Makes them a little vulnerable, but you can always reform the squad later.

Yes you can. And, if you really want to and are designing the scenario, you can split the squad, go into the units section and give each of the half squads two demos, so that if they join together they have four demos. Also, I've seen a squad lob a demo just seconds after a previous squad did (the previous one was in the air...), a pitifull waste. However, it should be stated that demos do not work all the time and the grenades rarely work. Also, if you have a squad near the pillbox and you knock it out, the squad loses lots of men for the following reasons:

(a) It's very close combat and the crew is obviously very spirited

( Other units nearby will see the crew and open up, killing the guy next to the pillbox

Hope this answers your question.

Regards,

Ryan

[sturner]

Originally posted by redeker:

It may take a bit longer to obtain the desired result, but that's the tradeoff with nearly all ammo management techniques in the game (except for that stinking Vickers MG, which can just fire and fire and fire...).

You mean 300,000 rounds per gun is not reasonable?

[Auggy]

Zooks/schrecks are very good at knocking out Pb's/bunkers. The trick is getting them close enough to do the job.