Hottest tips and tricks

[Deadly Dave]

What are the best tips or ideas youve picked up in playing CM.

Mu favourite and regulalry used tip is to change the way points while they are in red mode to change speed and intent. eg. instantly change direction from fast to reverse without a pause, wow thats awesome!

[Tripps]

run that by me again?

me thinks i needs elaboration of this one

[Sir Uber General]

He means when plotting waypoints, set lots of them, more than your unit can travel over in 1 turn. On the next turn, if the situation requires it you can change the position and movement type of each waypoint to a limited degree.

For example, plot 5 move waypoints towards the enemy. Your guys are shot at after they cross the second waypoint. On the next turn you can change the waypoints to run by clicking the waypoint and press "F" for fast, the normal move is now a run. You can also adjust the waypoints a little bit by right-click and dragging them to a new destination (but not very far away from where it is origianlly set).

Good tip

[Deadly Dave]

If you set out an order for say, a tank, to the top of th hill if the path is long enough and the tank doesnt complete its turn, the next time you open the file (the go file not the play file) yu will see that the tank has perhaps 4 or 8 more way points to go until it finishes that order, these are coloured red (not white) as it is an order that was given in the previous turn

you can now click on any waypoint and change the order without any delay so if you have -fast- fast- fast- hunt- hunt- hunt- as your 6 remaining way points (redd) yu can click on the way points and change that to -fast- fast- move- hunt- hunt-reverse- without any delays,

even more radical is to change it from the original order to -fast- fast- fast- fast- fast- reverse- without so much as a driveshaft failure

try it -its amazing particularly when you crest a hill and you find at 55 seconds mark you have your tank under fire. next go move yuo can take those extra way points that wre on huntdelete the ones you dont need and swing the last hunt way point behind yu and change it to reverse

[CMsoldier]

I like the tip that when tou know theres a tank over a hill, just give the hunt order over that hill and your tank will stop in a nice little hull down position.

[Redwolf]

Here are some things I was glad to pick up lately:

TRPs actually improve anti-armor shots.

StuG IIIs suck, due to their high ground pressure their turn rate is slow and hence they are slow to pick up targets. Similar issue with Panzer IV/70. TacAI for vehicles like that is much different. Started buying Pz IV again.

Sharpshooters are in fact very useful.

The large post with transport tips on this forum was useful.

Don't drive your TDs over your own minefields.

[PiggDogg]

Red,

On almost all days (but not all days) and in short games, I will take a PzIV/70 over a PzIV tank.

From the front, even Damlier 40s will sometimes toast PzIVs. Anything larger hitting a PzIV is a gimme.

From the front, a 70 will probably have vanilla Sherman 75s and smaller shots bounce sweetly into outer space. If hull down, from the front, a 70 will sometimes have 76s bounce into the Twilight Zone. Not bad at all.

Also, PzIVs can kill most Allied vehicles, but generally PzIVs can't kill Churchies & Jumbos. 70s generally can kill both. Jumbos and especially Churchies are frequent in tournament play.

Yes, from the side, pretty much everything kills everything and the PzIVs turret certainly help with side threats. Also, PzIVs have a sweet larger load of HE than 70s. So certainly, PzIV are by no means worthless.

PzIVs certainly have a place, but in most tournament games, 70s are better. However, I may buy a very few PzIvs under correct circumstances.

Also, as you said, STGIIIs do suck.

Cheers, Richard

[GWDWD]

In a foggy scenario with visability limited to about 200m, I painfully learned tonight that the German 210mm rockets land pretty much wherever they feel like it, even when the spotter has LOS to the target area. :mad: Be careful with them! Your troops will thank you.

Everyone else probably already knew this, but I just started playing the Axis side after playing as the Allies pretty much exclusively for the 6 months or so I've had the game.

Guy

[Redwolf]

Originally posted by PiggDogg:

On almost all days (but not all days) and in short games, I will take a PzIV/70 over a PzIV tank.

Your choice of course, and the higher velocity gun can be neccessary, no questiont then.

But if you carefully test the TacAI behaviour of this vehicle you will see that it may be unsuitable for many more tasks than you seem to assume, e.g. shooting up lots of M8 HMC. You have to buy insurance against Jumbos and Churchills if they're not excluded, but still the Pz IV is a much better working man's tank.

From the front, even Damlier 40s will sometimes toast PzIVs. Anything larger hitting a PzIV is a gimme.

Against Daimler AC and Greyhound, pair them with a 250/9 or similar.

[PiggDogg]

Guy,

I don't think that rockets care if they are spotted or not. They scatter about 10 miles (or so it seems) in all directions no matter what one does. :eek :eek

So, stay far away from the spotted or unspotted aim point.

Cheers, Richard

[GWDWD]

Originally posted by PiggDogg:

Guy,

I don't think that rockets care if they are spotted or not. They scatter about 10 miles (or so it seems) in all directions no matter what one does. :eek: :eek:

So, stay far away from the spotted or unspotted aim point.

Cheers, Richard

Yeah, well, I don't remember seeing THAT in the manual! :confused: Live and learn, I guess.

(Well, all my volksgrenadiers are dead now so they won't learn, but...)

Guy

[PiggDogg]

Red,

You are certainly quite correct about the PzIV/70 not being the proper weapon against those pesky HMC/M8-75s. One does need (or at least wish that they would have) something with a turret (like a PzIV) to counter those HMC pests (which I certainly use with great glee. )

The PzIVs is certainly a better all round, workman's tank. However, I just 'think' that they are 'so' fragile. However, those PzIVs, like the 70s & Hetzers, can kill most all Allied tanks.

In many and most tournament games (which are usually somewhat short, 20 - 30 turns), the 70's (and Hetzer's) defects usually don't become apparent or terminal. However, the 70's (and, for that matter, the Hetzer's) strengths come to the fore, and that is the ability to kill most everything and have shells bounce. :eek:

In tournaments or in human choose troops games, I don't think that I have ever seen a PzIV. Does that mean that PzIVs are bad? No. But, I 'think', that this may indicate that most players 'feel' (and they may be wrong) that PzIVs are not as good a buy for the point as Hetzers and possibly 70s.

Certainly, PzIVs are not worthless, and, if I get one, I shall dance on eggs and use it to the best of my ability. However, I fear that the PzIV will probably assume ground temperature.

Red, it is always a pleasure.

Cheers, Richard

[Toran]

My biggest mistake stick was to run my infantry to the point that they are winded most of the time - I've seen that they seem to suffer from a good amount of reduced firepower and am sure that they suffer steep morale penalties, too. Now, I do quite a bit more extended overwatch allowing my guys to relax a turn or so. And not so much running.

[Silvio Manuel]

Panzerschrecks on an Attack battle seem to be mostly useless...they get TIRED after 30/40 sec on running, and seem to be so easily spotted...thus they can't really keep up w/ an attack, unless transported around.

[Redwolf]

Originally posted by Silvio Manuel:

Panzerschrecks on an Attack battle seem to be mostly useless...they get TIRED after 30/40 sec on running, and seem to be so easily spotted...thus they can't really keep up w/ an attack, unless transported around.

Yepp, if you have at least Panzerfaust-60, Fausts are more successful than Schrecks in situations where you have to use close infantry to work on the tanks. Much cover that means. The faster and more robust units can close in much better.

Especially in MEs Schrecks might be more useful for guarding flanks, kinda the role AT guns play on a larger scale.

I sometimes form AT teams not from Schrecks, but from a good company or higher HQ and two Panzerfaust-carrying squads. The HQs themself are pretty good at handgrenading a tank, overall this is a pretty tough combo.