AI hands me my ass in tutorial...

[elfbj97]

yes i know... at the easiest setting.

I'm an old fart from the pre alpha time (I think my username was "Bamse"). Enjoying the epic AAR between Moon and Fion.

I considered myself skilled in CMBO and the following titles. Bought CMSF but never got in to it and lost interest.

I played it three times now and i secured the farmhouse just to be shelled into oblivion. I totaly love it but would need some sound advice.

or..... Battlefront could make the game kinetic compatible and i would only need to wiggle my thumbs to win all the time every time. Fix or do somefink...

[GreenAsJade]

CMx1 was darn hard to get good at as well.

This is a feature, not a bug

GaJ

[Pandur]

if you play RT switch to WEGO and have fun. other then that just play like CMx1 and win. it worked for me in CMSF so it should work for others too.

[para]

yes i know... at the easiest setting.

I'm an old fart from the pre alpha time (I think my username was "Bamse"). Enjoying the epic AAR between Moon and Fion.

I considered myself skilled in CMBO and the following titles. Bought CMSF but never got in to it and lost interest.

I played it three times now and i secured the farmhouse just to be shelled into oblivion. I totaly love it but would need some sound advice.

or..... Battlefront could make the game kinetic compatible and i would only need to wiggle my thumbs to win all the time every time. Fix or do somefink...

1 Don't rush

2 lots of scouting out enemy positions

3 find the at guns

4 use smoke before advancing

5 place your armour in good viewing positions

6 suppression is your friend

7 make holes in the bocage rather than going down roads or gaps that already exist

[elfbj97]

oooookeeeeey.

after depleting all its he shells i got a hole. is that right?

[GreenAsJade]

There's another thread nearby talking about using Pause to save ammo while blowing holes. I haven't tried it yet, just letting you know...

[Cull]

Played it ("training" scenario) once so far and yeah, pretty challenging, but in a good way.

***SPOILER ALERT***

I (foolishly) set the difficulty to...whatever "medium-ish" is...and though I managed to drive most of the Germans from the field and take the crossroads (?), I never did take the farm.

Lost all four of my Shermans to that damned AT gun (maybe one to a 'shrek?) that I could never get a good look at before finally destroying/disabling it with infantry assault.

Final results were major loss for me based on, I guess: the loss of the armor, significant infantry casualties, and failing to secure the second objective.

Compared to CMx1 it feels much more challenging, and with much-improved enemy AI. I don't think "human wave" and/or cavalry charge tactics are going to get me very far in CMBN, as they often could in CMx1. It's good to see that just taking the majority of the real estate doesn't mean victory.

Loving it so far. Going to try and play through the other two scenarios tonight, and will form deeper opinions following.

[akd]

oooookeeeeey.

after depleting all its he shells i got a hole. is that right?

Historically, it took nearly 100lbs. of explosives (two 48lb. demolition charges) to reliably create a vehicle-sized breach in a hedgerow. Puny 75mm HE is not the way to get through obstacles, especially bocage.

The training scenario takes place just days after the invasion. You face the same dilemma US forces did at the time: no easy way to move through bocage country. Part of training here is using your combined arms assets to offset the channeling of your armor caused by the terrain.

If you play the later Busting the Bocage scenario, you will notice that your tanks have "Rhino" attachments that allow them to plow through hedgerows and that you have engineer breach teams in your force that can be used to quickly blast gaps (but creating a vehicle-sized gap may require multiple blasting attempts).

[Sakai007]

I also got my but handed to me by the AI and I am a veteran CMSF player. The difference, mistakes are punished much more so then in CMSF. For example, no body armor on troops, that means the ambush that would have killed 2, kills 10. Also, The tanks don't take hits like an M1 Abrams. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad thing, just have to get used to it. I must say, I had a ball.

***SPOILER ALERT***

I tried to go for the farm first. I got to the gap in the hedges and lost a tank and then the germans made it rain 81mm shells and annihilated the two infantry squads and an MG team. So, I went up the right side next, and fought hedge to hedge using TONS of small arms as I went, and it worked. I pushed up the far right side to the sunken road and flanked the AT gun and MG team with a single infantry squad. They were all killed, that one squad had 15 infantry kill with one missing kill, lol. But, as I was charging across the field, time ran out, and it was a major defeat. Two more minutes and it would have been a tac victory, oh well!

[vcents]

@Sakai...

Same plan to take the farm first..same result as you. Did the right flank thing as you and...well...got destroyed. Some bugger with a mortar was dropping rounds all over the joint.

Absolutely love the game. Only issue is that I'm headed to TechEd in Hotlanta next week. So please, Steve, for the love of God don't release the game then. There is only so much bourbon in Georgia to keep me sedated.

XOXO,

vcents

[ChrisND]

If you want some help with the training mission, it very closely resembles the Raff Moves Inland mission that has a tutorial walkthrough in the manual. It's the first mission from the Combat Training campaign. There'll be some differences between the two, but they should be obvious.

[derbius]

I am finding it very hard to get anywhere in the tutorial game as well (not least because I haven't managed to deploy my mortars properly yet). Advancing across open ground is never easy, and so far the AT gun managed to brew up two Shermans without my even seeing it.

[MikeyD]

then the germans made it rain 81mm shells

Heh heh. Yeh, AI FO does a great job in the game. I tend to be a cautious player which means I tend to find my men being badly mortared because I let them sit in one place too long. I think i need to accept more casualties from direct fire in order to avoid casualties from mortar attacks.

[ChrisND]

I am finding it very hard to get anywhere in the tutorial game as well (not least because I haven't managed to deploy my mortars properly yet). Advancing across open ground is never easy, and so far the AT gun managed to brew up two Shermans without my even seeing it.

Two good ways to use the mortars here. You can set them up in the Mardelle Manor and put an HQ in the southwestern building on the second floor and have him spot for them. Or you can have them trail the infantry platoons and set up just behind them, using the Platoon HQ to spot for them. I usually try to avoid direct firing them, as it is risking losing them.

Make sure you give them the Deploy order so they can fire. Hotkey F7, Special orders tab.

On page 24 of the manual the tutorials go over the call-for-fire procedure if you need help with that.

[ParaBellum]

I haven't played a CM game in years (never got warm with CMSF) and didn't have any problems with the training scenario. The old CM tactics still work well IMO: establish firebases, scout ahead with infantry, keep tanks together supporting each other and mortar enemy AT guns as soon as spotted.

I lost one tank and about 20 men, got a total victory.

I really like what I'm seeing so far.

[MikeyD]

Oh, one small (probably bad) piece of advice. If your men are in place and you see an enemy spotting round fall close by immediately run away! In CMSF people often asked the utility of the 'Fast' command over 'Quick' since it so easily exhausts the troops. The answer is that with 'Fast' they'll immedately stop what they're doing and run. This is one of the advantages of realtime, no waiting for the clock to count down before issuing new orders.

[DaveyJJ]

I managed a tutorial victory but was surprised (pleasantly and shockingly at the same time) at the strength and tactics of the AI defence. I knew the danger zones just from a recon pre-play but wow, that was a blast. Trying again later. So bloody happy that this is back on OSX.

[elfbj97]

parabellum you must be a genius! How the H*LL did you manage that? More detail please....

[Cull]

@Sakai..

Absolutely love the game. Only issue is that I'm headed to TechEd in Hotlanta next week. So please, Steve, for the love of God don't release the game then. There is only so much bourbon in Georgia to keep me sedated.

XOXO,

vcents

Uh oh. Steve posted this last night:

PPS. The full version of Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy is expected to go gold anytime now, and be made available to customers within the next few days.

I assume you have a decent laptop. Load demo, take to Atl, play during boring-ass conference. With headphones, of course. You just have be careful to avoid total immersion, and the inevitable yelling at your pixeltruppen.

[Sakai007]

Uh oh. Steve posted this last night:

PPS. The full version of Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy is expected to go gold anytime now, and be made available to customers within the next few days.

I assume you have a decent laptop. Load demo, take to Atl, play during boring-ass conference. With headphones, of course. You just have be careful to avoid total immersion, and the inevitable yelling at your pixeltruppen.

You really want to know how many times I've yelled, "You dumb s***, go the other way, no, the other other way" today???? Heh, more then 4, how about that!

[Cull]

I haven't played a CM game in years (never got warm with CMSF) and didn't have any problems with the training scenario. The old CM tactics still work well IMO: establish firebases, scout ahead with infantry, keep tanks together supporting each other and mortar enemy AT guns as soon as spotted.

I lost one tank and about 20 men, got a total victory.

I really like what I'm seeing so far.

Well well, look at Cpt. Winters over here

To be honest: I wasn't careful or patient enough, and didn't use very solid tactics. I blame the late hour, and the anxiousness to just "see stuff happen".

My most shameful moment was advancing through the gap in the left-side hedgerow before getting mortars into action, and watching two squads (and a Sherman) get cut to ribbons.

I am sorry men, and I have learned from my over-exuberance.

[RevJack]

Yeah, I kind of ran thru the first time on the tutorial and did pretty badly...lol. Messed around some with the other 2 scenarios and had a blast. I think the game is gonna be a real gem for me and lots of wasted hours

[Rokko]

wow, it makes me kinda proud to read how all you CM vets found it so hard

I did it for the first time and got a tactical victory (because I forgot to take the crossroads, although my men were at the edge of the map). Lost 1 tank and 17 men. Got one squad pretty badly mauled by the ATG and only the time limit spared me of another squad running into about 20 Germans/Georgians of semi-broken squads at the crossroads.

I was probably lucky though, that the enemy mortar didn't hit anything cause it was a green FO.

[Erik Springelkamp]

I never spotted the AT-gun itself as a unit, but instead, I saw its firing flame, so I knew exactly where it had to be. Then I put the complete load of one mortar team on its position, and fortunately there were some other German forces in the direct neighbourhood that enjoyed the fireworks.

It was still strange to see that flame, without any unit attached.

I thought in CMSF you don't see the tracers from enemy units you do not spot.

But in CM:BN the AT-guns work slightly different apparently.

(total victory on iron, didn't see that coming halfway).

[blinky123abc]

First time playing the Tutorial i had 20-30 dead, 10-20 wounded and lost 4 tanks but ran out of time (on basic training)

Second time round i had 10 dead, 17 wounded and lost 2 tanks and came through with a total victory (on veteran)

Almost all my casualties were from artillery fire, the trick is to move your men out of there positions as soon as the arti spotting rounds start landing near them, also don't rush your units forward (i had 17 casualties and 3-4 tanks lost from the AT gun in my first game), find the AT gun, suppress with mortars then get a tank to target fire in its vicinity, this will eventually knock the at gun out. Don't worry about Panzershrecks because they are useless in this game.

After the AT gun is gone its a clean sweep, the Georgian infantry are pathetic and easily slaughtered, hell i had a bailed Tank crew, all with .45's charge a mortar HQ, then an infantry HQ then all the rear echelon on there own, at the end they had 2 dead, 2 wounded but had killed/wounded 9 and captured 2... with pistols against SMGs and MG42s.