Understanding a battle movie?

[TikiBob]

Ok, I'm a newbie and so far my main problem with the demo and now the game itself is following what the hell is going on.

When watching the movie there is so much happening at once that I have a real hard time following it. So I move the camera around and replay it over and over.

Is this the best way? Or am I missing something?

Is there a way to cycle through new contacts made in the previous turn? or just cycle through all enemy contacts suspected or confirmed?

Mainly I seem to have a hard time telling where the hell the enemy is! I suppose that real life but it's hard as hell as my infantry gets chewed up.

thanks,

Ken

[Hoopenfaust2]

You are playing exactly how you are supposed to. I rewind many, many times just to see if I missed something.

If you want to cycle through your men; press the "+" and "-" keys on your keyboard and this will go through all of your units. You can't cycle through enemy units until the game is over. You can scale your men "shift-c", this makes viewing a little easier.

The reason you can't see who's shooting at you is because you have probably selected "Extreme" fog of war which pretty much keeps hiding units invisible until you step on them ( depending on what kind of unit)

Hope that helps

[ December 02, 2002, 03:53 PM: Message edited by: Hoopenfaust 101 ]

[Mud]

Hm, for contacts... consider watching once in a high overhead view. With many maps, 'tho, unless you have a truly big monitor either the map will be very very compressed or you'll need to pan.

Overhead view of different sectors will, er, give you an overview.

But yes, I end up watching the same replay from multiple locations often -- even on not terribly large battles. And no, there aren't contact summaries.

I'd also recommend playing with sizes +2 or +3, sparse trees, and unit bases on if you're worried about tracking units.

[Thermopylae]

View 4 on +2 is usually enough to allow you to survey the battlefield while focussing on the area of interest. Typically speaking, if anyhting horribly unexpected happens, you'll hear it before you see it anyhow...

[Marlow]

Don't know if you have tried with the colored bases turned on. They make it a lot easier to see what is going on in large battles.

[ParaBellum]

TikiBob, the best way is to start with smaller scenarios. Thus you don't have to control too many units and can concentrate better on what's going on on the battlefield. Once you are more familiar with the game following the bigger battles will get easier.

Also, using the lvl 1 or levl 2 view looks nice but isn't the best if you want to get the 'big picture', which is quite important when trying to assess enemy intentions.

I usually use lvl 4 view for an overview and then zoom in to the 'hot spots' to get a more detailed view on the action.

In big battles it's vital to organize your forces into groups and clearly define objectives for these groups.

"Ok, the StuG platoon moves down this road, turns right and goes into hull-down position on that ridge.

This company advances through the field into the woods, covered by this 2 HMGs.

My 105mm FO fires gets order to fire a few rounds into the village over there..."

In the movie phase concentrate on each group until the movie is over. Go to the next group and repeat...

If something interesting happens (like your troops are getting shot at or sight the enemy) watch it carefully so you don't miss anything important. (Was there one tank? Or are there two?)

If you try to watch a battailon-sized battle with tank support and lots of arty falling by hopping from one place to another whenever you hear/see fire and/or explosions it will only get confusing, you need a kind of methodical approach there.

Finding the enemy is difficult in CMBB. If you're not carefull a whole company might get pinned down by HMGs they don't even see!

To counter this recce is of the utmost importance in this game.

Use infantry half-squads and light armour to scout for enemy positions.

Use 'area fire' often to suppress the enemy or suspected enemy positions while your infantry advances.

Better to waste some ammo then to stumble into an ambush.

Ah, forget that: I always play with unit size +1 and bases on and often turn the trees off. Much easier to spot the enemy, especially on wooded maps.

[ December 02, 2002, 04:11 PM: Message edited by: ParaBellum ]

[aka_tom_w]

Yes Turn bases on for sure Shift B

Turn the unit size up to bigger if you like Shift C

And this one helps in the first few turns Shift G

Warning labels ON this helps when you are viewing the battle at level 4 or 5 and you hear gun fire and have no idea what is going on or who is getting hit.

Shift T turns the trees OFF so you can see through them, that is also handy.

Shift W to turn off the fog, if it is so thick it is annoying.

How's that??

Shift C

Shift B

Shift G

are the bigs ones use them and things will start to make more sense. (hopefully)

-tom w

[ December 02, 2002, 04:37 PM: Message edited by: aka_tom_w ]

[MikeyD]

It ALWAYS seems to happen that whichever edge of the battlefield I choose to watch, something big is guaranteed to occur at the opposite edge! So you simply 'rewind' to zero & pan over to catch the action you missed.

That's good news, actually. It means CMBB can still keep you guessing. I usually replay the first time at actual size, bases off, full trees, ground level, etc. to get the flavor of the combat (like watching a movie). The second replay I turn on the bases & play aids, and look down from a higher angle, and watch for content.

[Silvio Manuel]

I almost never have the trees turned on (I'm a gamey bastard!) b/c it blocks too much, esp. w/ the default trees in CMBB.

I recommend that you start out with TINY and SMALL battles only until you get a feel for the game.

[TikiBob]

sadly I was playing a small game.

Anyway, I'm getting better, thanks for all the advice.

I just played my first multiplayer online game with some quick battle meeting engagment.

Got my arse kicked. 2 shreks and 2 PzIVG's wasn't quite enought AT power. once they were dead suddenly he pulls out a WASP and runs around torching all my troops. I was about helpless..

Ken

[Mikeydz]

Time and experience will be the best bet for getting a hang of things.Even on a small map, so much can happen in that one minute turn that you think you missed something. But what's been said so far is all good advice. Keep at it.

[Seanachai]

Hello, I'm Seanachai, and I'm a Cesspooler!

Okay, as time goes by and you become more comfortable with the game, you'll find yourself obsessing less and less with watching the movies and flashing around the battlefield to note every detail of what happens.

Unfortunately, this means you've become either a sensory overloaded idiot, or that you've developed a serious drinking and/or drug habit that has numbed you to the importance of detail in each turn.

Now, as time goes by, you will develop a greater degree of comfort and understanding of 'what's just happened'. You will also learn to shrug off and ignore the things that are unimportant in the Big Scheme of Things.

But never, ever task yourself with paying too much attention to the movies. Unless, of course, you become completely obsessed and start watching them to try and isolate which of your squads seems to be whistling 'I've Been a Wild Rover' during combat. In 1 out of every 12 games, even on the Eastern Front, there is a squad that's doing this, but attempting to isolate which one marks the path to madness.

The movies are all important. I'd be willing to bet that the truly great players (not that there are any, as it's all a load of bollocks; today's hero of the Reich/Supreme Soviet is tomorrow's "The Game Engine Does Not Admit That Mine Is the Superiour Intellect" shell of a human being) watch the movies over and over with an intense appreciation of detail.

What you'll learn, as you play more, is how to get the most out of watching those movies. But any newcomer who doesn't switch back and forth between views, and doesn't replay portions over and over to catch the details, is a person who has no interest in winning.

A PERSON WHO HAS NO INTEREST IN DEFENDING MOTHER RUSSIA/INSURING THE VICTORY OF THE FATHERLAND!

Er...in any case, you only learn what's going on by this sort of 'obsessive' attention to detail. Do it now, while you learn, and later you'll already have the background you need, and it won't seem so 'chaotic'.

And one day, if you're truly good, you'll be able to pinpoint with certainty which squad is intermittently whistling that tune, very quietly to itself.

[KwK43 L/71]

I use the group strategy when I watch the movies, I cycle through each squad or platoon and check what happens with it, course I skip the guys who just happily moved from point A to point B and didn't do a damn thing.

Also, before I finish out the review and hit done I make sure to crank the unit size up to +4 and turn off all the tree's to make sure I didn't miss any enemy contacts.

Best way to learn is to run a half dozen or so small (500-800pt) QB's.

The best part of the movies though has to be the replay. I had a Crack Jagdtiger vape an IS-2 at 2 clicks and I watched that a half dozen times.

[Dave H]

Originally posted by Seanachai:

Hello, I'm Seanachai, and I'm a Cesspooler!

... and then the usual 5-10 pages of rambling.

This is wonderful. We all know that the first step on the road to recovery is to admit that you have a problem! Let me be the first to congratulate you for making this confession. Unlike most of the members of the forum, I believe there is hope that someday in the distant future you will beat this sad affliction.

We all (well, at least a few of us) are pulling for you.

[ December 03, 2002, 10:35 AM: Message edited by: Dave H ]