CMAK and CMBB TACTICS FOR BEGINERS,CROWS AND NEWBIES

[nelly]

I MAY BE A NEW COMER TO THE FORUM BUT I`VE BEEN PLAYING THE CM SERIES FOR MANY YEARS AGAINST THE AI AND ALTHOUGH SOMETIMES PREDICTABLE ITS STILL A GREAT EXPERIENCE ONE WHICH CAN SOMETIMES SURPRISE ME .I`VE PLAYED MOST OF THE PRE MADE GAMES OVER THE YEARS AND AT VARIOUS POINTS TWEAKED SOME OF THEM TO GIVE A DIFFERENT DYNAMIC. MOSTLY NOW I PLAY THE QUICK MISSIONS WITH A PLUS 25 TO 100 % ADVANTAGE AGAINST ME WITH SETTINGS ON RANDOM AND UNITS ON AUTO SELECT SO AS TO GIVE A FAIRNESS AND UNCERTAINTY TO UNITS OR MAP LAYOUT. TACTICS WILL OBVIOUSLY VARY FROM PLAYER TO PLAYER BUT FOR ME WITH A TURN LIMIT OF ABOUT 25 AND 700 TO 800 UNIT POINT START. I FIND I HAVE TO QUICKLY GLANCE OVER THE MAP, LOOKING FOR THE BEST DEAD GROUND APPROACH TO THE TARGET AND FORM A LOOSE PLAN BASED ON THAT AXIS

:CONCENTRATE YOUR INFANTRY ON THE START LINE . CONCENTRATE ANY SUPPORTING WEAPONS IE MORTARS MG AT RIFLES AT A POINT WHERE THEY CAN EASILY SEE OR MOVE A SHORT DISTANCE FAST TO BE ABLE TO SEE THE FLAG/S AND THEN HIDE UNTIL NEEDED PREFERABLY AT A POINT ROUGHLY 90 DEGREES TO YOUR INFANTRY AXIS OF ADVANCE : KEEP YOUR ARMOUR OR ACs HIDDEN TOGETHER AS A CORP DE CHASE SOMEWHERE WHERE THEY COULD ALSO COME TO THE AID OF THE SUPPORT TROOPS IF NEEDED AND AS A RULE USE YOUR INFANTRY TO ADVANCE ON THE FLAG WITH YOUR OTHER ARMS IN SUPPORT.WITH A SMALL POINTS GAME ITS REALLY A CASE OF FIND OUT WHAT YOU`RE UP AGAINST BEFORE COMITING YOUR ARMOUR.TRY TO KEEP YOUR ARMOUR IN TACT ,IF YOU LOOSE IT EARLY ON, ITS EASY FOR THE ENEMY TO CHASE YOU OFF THE FLAG SHOULD YOU MANAGE TO GET THERE .CLEARLY OTHERS WILL DISAGREE WITH ME BUT FOR ME THIS WORKS MORE OFTEN THAN NOT.

"GOOD LUCK ALL KEEP ON GAMING"

[Michael Emrys]

Your caps lock is stuck.

Michael

[TheGreatRadish]

Yeah, lol, hearing you loud and clear!

Seriously, though, this is a discussion I'd seriously be interested to follow. I've been playing these games for years but I'm a complete tactical ignoramus, having no military background or experience at all. I just find them fun but would love to be better and build up strong awareness of the tactics I need to use.

I'm not quite a beginner, but can anyone suggest any good absolute starting points for learning about WW2 tactics that ramps up to about the intermediate level?

[dieseltaylor]

Actually there is a bit of a divide between history and the game and it helps in someways not to have too much knowledge of WW2 if your aim is to be a demon player. In bald terms you can learn to play the game engine or you use CM as a fun way to approximate WW2.

For instance, in WW2 the German tankers would give priority to killing Fireflies ahead of 75mm armed Shermans . In game the Tiger AI will target the highest probability Sherman regardless of the fact that only the Firefly is a potent danger.

This is quite a significant change from RL. Also Fireflies actually fire roughly 100% quicker than RL.

So learning history is actually of no benefit, or in fact is actually misleading , as to what will happen in game. But CM in general produces some pretty realistic results "despite" the game engine.

I play it as a history/fun game. There are a very small minority who actually calculate all the effects of certain weapons in use. I regard this as unwise as it is not the way I think the game was designed to be played. Not to say I have not myself observed how fast buildings or bridges blow-up when fired on by a tank gun - but this is sort of incidental to playing a game for 10 years.

Breaking the game down to fp points and units breaking is rather like looking at a beautiful women and analysing all her attributes and using this a basis of discussion. It can be done but whether is satisfactory/fun is another matter.

However CM is based on WW2 so a there is a lot that is true. You can learn that angled armour is better than vertical, some tanks had very skinny, armour, long barrelled guns are generally more lethal to armour than short etc etc.

Combined arms is always better than solo forces. Recon is always a good ides : )

Its fun.

[womble]

I'm not quite a beginner, but can anyone suggest any good absolute starting points for learning about WW2 tactics that ramps up to about the intermediate level?

Some random pointers...

Learning about fire and movement is important. There are lots of references out there on the web, I'm sure. Find 'em; fix 'em; flank 'em; finish 'em.

Use your infantry to clear out places where cheap assets can kill your tanks: infantry is very durable when under fire, whereas your armour assets will often pop like balloons when they are actually engaged.

Use your armour to support your infantry, using HE and mounted machine guns to suppress and kill enemy infantry that your own pixeltruppen have discovered by getting pinned.

Don't scout with your strong armour.

Keep an eye on your troops' fatigue levels and figure out how to keep 'em in range of HQs.

You probably won't have the option of calling enough arty to break a difficult position by itself, as some formations in the historical war could: makes for more interesting games since you have to fight your way onwards rather than letting the F.O. win the fight for you.

Armour dominates territory with its guns, whereas infantry dominate with their presence.

Hide a lot.

[Michael Emrys]

Ambushes are good and can also be used offensively. As someone posted elsewhere a few days ago, always have a covered retreat path when possible. Firing off a few shots and then pulling out and moving to your next position is a way to inflict some losses on the enemy while reducing your own. Also slows him down and forces him to deploy rather than advance unobstructedly. When I am on the attack, I try if I can to position some forces to bring fire on the enemy whenever he retreats. Turning escapees into captives or corpses raises your level of victory and further lowers his global morale.

Michael

[Kingfish]

Tactics for CMBO/CMBB/CMAK/all other wargames

1) Destroy everything

2) Plant your flag

3) Pop open a beer

[TheGreatRadish]

Thanks guys, interesting reading.

Kingfish, I know I won't have any problem adhering to step three of your guide!