Overwatch?

[gibsonm]

Ah so the return of the "Gamey recon jeep" trick from CMBO.

Might work in the game but never in real life.

[Sakai007]

I always dismount my recce troops and have them advance on foot. I leap frog them, so the minimum is two teams. I will often send two teams up each flank. If there is a position where I can get an auto cannon armed AFV or Tank in a hull down position behind them I will so if they get into trouble I have a decent direct fire weapon to bail them out.

[Erwin]

The recon jeep "trick" will of course not work against a decent human oppo, but since the majority of games are vs the AI which isn't that "realistic" either (I vaguely recall reading that the AI has more intel on you for example than it should in RL and may not even be quite as restricted in its C&C restrictions that a human is), it seems appropriate to discuss tactics that work when playing "the system." It is an entertainment game after all.

[gibsonm]

It is an entertainment game after all.

Well it is now.

It used to be closer to the "simulation" side of that Simulation <-> Entertainment spectrum.

Part of the reason why few, in my organisation at least, see merit in buying it as a training tool anymore, whereas there was an ADF version of CMAK.

[Erwin]

That is predicatable as there has always been a huge bias, fed by large defense cos, that denigrated any potential training tool that cost a few dozens of dollars to buy, or only a few hundred thousand to develop... in favor of the monstrosities that do exist that cost several millions to develop and require a cast of dozens or more highly paid contractor personnel to operate.

While CM2 system is a game, there is clearly good training potential under strict instructor supervision - that is the key. Many cardboard games are valid under those parameters, but that is a HUGE threat to the large contractors and they have to lobbyists and clout to crush any trend in that direction.

[gibsonm]

Um No.

I work with our Army Sim Wing and while there are purpose built crew trainers that do cost a lot of dollars a lot of the collective training is done with "cheap" products like:

Steel Beasts Pro (which has a "personal" (commercial) version which sells for what US$125.00 per copy).

VBS2 (a ramped up version of "Operation Flashpoint" I believe)

TacOps (available from BFC).

...

None of which are "monstrosities that do exist that cost several millions to develop and require a cast of dozens or more highly paid contractor personnel to operate".

Your Department of Defense maybe different though.

[Vinnart]

The recon jeep "trick" will of course not work against a decent human oppo

I have use the same tactic against human opponant in CMAK PBEM as well, only with using a greyhound instead. I would try to use it to spot anti tank guns, then rain mortars on the gun. I use simialr tactics If I want to try to get the enemy to turn its gun/assault gun to let some other unit nail it in the side.

[gibsonm]

Sure but now the Greyhound may not be able to call in the mortars.

[Erwin]

"Your Department of Defense maybe different though." Uh... yah... you think?

Vinnart: Recon doesn't work in the CM series as it does in RL, I don't see why one should be restricted in using your sort of tactics. The CM series breaks down in all sorts of ways once under the microscope. (But, that doesn't mean it cannot be useful as a trainer in carefully defined educational situations.)

[Erik Springelkamp]

I like the Fennek as a recon vehicle.

It has a separate driver and two man team, so you can quickly leave the vehicle to peek over a ridge, and re-enter the vehicle without losing a turn boarding.

Plus they have very good sensors, so they often warn about the presence of enemy units in time.

The only slight bug in the system is that often the passengers notice enemy presence with these sensors, but the driver is not notified and drives on, even when on a hunt command. In real life these passenger observers would immediately tell the driver to stop or retreat.