Grenades only to avoid compromising unit location

[John Kettler]

I have read combat accounts and seen programs in which units, not wishing to give away their location by firing, have used grenades only (no gunfire) in night combat. Apparently, this is a useful option allowing casualties and panic to be inflicted without bringing down counterfire from often much larger hostile units. Will we be able to do this in CMSF?

Regards,

John Kettler

[NoxSpartana]

Just wondering but... do you manually type in "Regards, John Kettler" everytime?

[Kineas]

this is what signatures are invented for. Check your profile. (He may type it every time the same though)

[Axel]

Back to topic, it would be very nice to use grenades as an element of stealth.

[tiny_tanker]

If I remember correctly this has already been addressed, you will be able to pop smoke manually for cover, but you won't have control over HE grenades. I just got off work and my brain is a little addled so I might be mistaken though.

[John Kettler]

Nox Spartana and Kineas,

Am not exactly a power user, but I simply never bothered to automate something I enjoy doing myself. You'll note, though, that I don't key in my CM tournament experience.

tiny_tanker,

Sounds like we got half the loaf there, but I'm hungry! Restated, I think the ability to use grenades only is tactically significant and should be doable.

Regards,

John Kettler

[C'Rogers]

Restated, I think the ability to use grenades only is tactically significant and should be doable.

I don't know, in CM it seems like as the controller you are responsible for considering where to move the virtual men and to what intensity they wish to engage the enemy, but how they fight is their (AI) decision.

While doable it seems like there are few things working against the suggestion. One is that you would need a "grenades only" tab or button which would clutter you UI and be rarely used (and too many extraneous functions have ruined games before). The other option would be for the AI to decide when to use them, which may be a tricky issue on when to only throw to protect stealth and not fire everything as an all out ambush.

Another problem is that a unit using only grenades is more stealthy then one firing weapons, they are less stealthy then one not engaging at all. So you would need some kind of stealth measurement in between there.

The only way I could see it feasibly work is that if for CM:SF there are multiple stealth settings. Say "hide", "protect", and "ambush". In the first the unit hides and does everything possible to not engage, the second they try to not engage but if see another unit close by will take the initiative, and the final hide until any good attack opportunity presents itself. Only in the second and potentially the third, and then only really at night, would this be used.

This does kind of remind me of earlier comments of desired inclusion for extensive sniper commands. CM is meant to simulate a very specific type of event, a company on company level engagement (give or take a few platoons). Snipers are part of such an engagement, stealth is part of such an engagement, but neither is as important as the overall battle going on.

As a final note with a release date set your suggestion is a tad bit late . I'd be happy to hear something like this is in, don't get me wrong as the more stuff in the game the better from my POV, however I wouldn't count on it nor see it as overly important.

[Moon]

Something like this does exist in the game actually, even if it wasn't specifically intended for it. If you order a Squad to do Area Fire at just the right distance (say, 30-40 meters) it will usually only use grenades (if available; may also use rifle grenades and RPGs), at least if no actual target is visible (if it is, then at that distance your unit might overright your Area Target order and instead engage the enemy unit directly).

Other related options (related to the ability to exert control over your units' firing) include a specific command to Pop Smoke, an Evade command (which does include throwing smoke grenades but also adds evasive movement into nearby cover), as well as two different Target commands - Target (which is the standard command) and Target Light (only using light weapons). Additionally, from a certain distance on, units will automatically only engage with aimed single shots, long range weapons etc without having to tell them.

Martin

[John Kettler]

Moon,

Sounds as though we've got a fighting chance to achieve the desired effect, even if it's not explicitly designed into the game. The other features seem pretty cool.

Regards,

John Kettler