CMBB v CMAK

[The Coil]

Ok, so I've actually never played CMBB, always CMAK. Just got my hands on a copy of CMBB, mainly so I can get into the Domination action soon.

For those who've played both, here's my question: what are your best thoughts/tips/advice/whatever when it comes to playing CMBB v CMAK - indispensable unit picks, tactical differences, gameplay differences, that sort of thing?

[Colonel Talvela]

Lets play a game. Early war. You are the mighty germans. I will be the lowly Russians. You can get the mighty Panzer tanks and I will get the slow clanky KV tanks.

[Mike Abberton]

Before long-barreled panzers show up, T-34s and KV-1s (with possibly non-historical veteran crews) can rule the game, especially since their 76.2mm HE ammo is a lot better than the PzIII's 37/50 mm ammo. So while the Soviet player can buy one all-around tank with good armor, the German has to choose a mix of PzIII and PzIV specialist tanks. KVs in particular are just about immune to German AP rounds except 88mm guns (which are vulnerable to HE fire).

Once the long-barrel PzIVs, Vs, and VIs, the T-34 loses much of it's luster. At that point you can just about substitute T-34/43s for Sherman 75s and T-34/85s for Sherman 76s (or a better comparison might be Fireflys) tactics-wise. Not sure off had how the point prices compare though.

IS-2's can sort of go up against the German heavies (moreso Panthers than Tigers, though), but they have a very slow rate of fire, and 1-on-1 engagements against the 88's in Tigers will go against the IS's most of the time, except maybe at short-range. To go up against Tigers at long/medium range, I think the SU-100 SP-gun is the best choice.

Where the Soviets gain on the western allies are in SP-guns. I like SU-152s better than Priests due to the all-over armor vs. open top configuration.

For infantry, nothing beats soviet SMG squads for close quarter fighting in woods/urban fighting, but they don't have much staying power with very small ammo loadouts. To me, the biggest soviet infantry drawback is the basic absence of AT weapons. No bazookas, just anti-tank rifles that would be lucky to kill half-tracks in most cases. Molotov cocktails are not much good, except for maybe open-top vehicles/armored cars.

Soviet AT guns leave something to be desired, too, except for the nasty little 57mm gun. T-34/57s can be nasty, too, in the middle years if rarity is off.

[bluehand]

Also important is that soviet troop quality SUCKS... they are one step lower in actual quality and command structure sucks too. T34s don't have inter platoon radios so if the platoon spreads the response time to new orders goes up a lot...
Most importantly is (my pet peeve) that the artillery error rate is way higher than CMAK and CMBO... If its off target cancel it immediately and reset. always have line of sight when calling it in. Soviet artillery takes forever too so when ever possible use it the first turn...

If you need an opponent drop me a line :-)

[Colonel Talvela]

[Mike Abberton]

Yes soviet engineers are the way to go for close assaulting tanks.

Also on soviet tanks - On the bad side, the optics on soviet tanks are worse than the western allies, so don't try to long-range duel German tanks, and they have a tendency to reverse away from Panzers even in cases where they are noticeably superior/immune to the German tank (e.g. KVs versus PzIII/37). Better crews will reduce this, but it still happens sometimes.

- On the good side, not only do Soviet tanks usually have a lot of HE, they quite often also get a lot of cannister rounds which can be devastating if you catch the other guys infantry out in the open. They are not always smart about when to use cannister versus HE, but watching entire German squads fall in one shot is always amusing to the Soviet commander.

[The Coil]

[Copper]

[MGK(FGM)]

I think that tanks battles are very similar in both games the main difference is in infantry. IMO infantry in CMBB has generally lower morale and panicking easly
but there are monsters there :)

[Mike Abberton]

MGK,

Shame on you area firing on a surrendering mortar crew like that. ;)

Mike