Stratagies of War - Economy of Force

[kineas]

Excellent post, JasonC.

I might add that ammunition levels in CM are on the pessimistic side of the historical values, making ammo management a central theme.

One other thing: CM has a definitely 'soft' CRT when considering infantry targets. Which means that shots usually just suppress the enemy, only routed squads suffer significant casualties. Therefore if you start firing at a unit, you must capitalize on the suppression effect. You have to rout the squad, or delay them in a way which contributes to your strategy. Otherwise they will rally in 2 minutes, and you just wasted ammunition.

The best way to capitalize on suppression effects is to break the tie in infantry (close range) firefights. When two platoons are fighting eachother even one 50mm mortar can be deadly, because it makes the fight lopsided quickly.

Since the CRT is soft and ammo is low this means that 'suppression-management' is also a central part of the game economics.

Take, for example Steel Panthers. The CRT is deadlier (to the effect that pros tone it down for better simulation) and ammo is plentiful. (15-20 turns for an infantry squad). In that game you shoot whenever you see a target. /Disclaimer: I'm not a SP pro/