Pioneer Squad ?? to Battlefront or anyone who could answer this

[tracer]

I was wondering if there were any plans in the works that would make pioneer squads able to lay minefields and demo fortifications? Just wondering if there had been any thoughts on this or can it be even done at all with the game engine??

[Pvt. Ryan]

This is outside the scope of CM. This stuff was done before the battle.

[tracer]

Ok thanks, just wondering, I know in a battle there might have been a time issue on laying mines, but in a OP, it would have been nice to lay mines. Would have been real nice to be able to destroy fortifications, thanks

[Snarker]

Tracer, anyone with demo charges can take out pillboxes and bunkers. Or are you referring to destroying other things?

[tracer]

Other things like barb wire and bridges, and road blocks

[Kingfish]

Originally posted by Pvt. Ryan:

This is outside the scope of CM. This stuff was done before the battle.

But Daisy chains could be laid in seconds, and were often used in hasty retreats (page 63 of the manual).

[Sigurd]

yes, for those nasty barbed wires and roadblock it would be nice the pionniers could blow them off

Or do they need bengalores for the wires, and special equipment out of CM cope for the roadblocks ?...

[Bullethead]

Actually, pioneers CAN remove barbed wire and minefields during the game. The removal of mines has been around since CMBO and maybe wire, too. But I think the wire thing is an undocumented feature.

The key to removing wire is to realize that craters on the map, whether created before or during play, override wire units in the same place. So if a wire unit has 1 huge crater under it that sticks out beyond it on both sides, or has a solid row of overlapping smaller craters totally spanning its width, troops moving through these craters ignore the barbed wire. Even though the wire unit is still there on the map unchanged.

You can get partical credit for this as well. Assume a wire unit has 1 crater under it that is smaller than the width of the wire. Troops will go very slowly through the intact wire until they reach the crater, then move at normal speed across the crater, then go back to being very slow for the rest of the wire.

This all means that you can "destroy" barbed wire with anything capable of creating a crater on the map. This includes pioneers' sackcharges, but also includes direct fire HE and arty. And scenario designers can create breaches in lines of wire by carefully positioning craters in key places.

IIRC, the CMBB manual mentions that minefields can also be destroyed by craters. Something about the more craters in a minefield, the less likely anybody is to step on a mine.

NOTE: this all refers to true craters, not the little splat marks that remain "open ground".

[tracer]

yes, but a big explosion is a lot better . I was just wondering, the game is still great.