Combat screenshots

[PoorOldSpike]

I find CMBN is easier and faster to play than CMx1 because we don't have to do much micromanaging. In fact the Manual says it's often better to let them get on with it without interfering too much, and I agree with that completely.
So the major part of playing CMBN is to simply put your units into positions where they can best strut their stuff..:)
For example I put my German infantry behind this hedge, and the faust guy spots that AI Sherman trundling along and fires at it on his own initiative-




Miss! oh well you can't win 'em all (sniffle)


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Going to the wall:Hiram Sedai's HMC fires over the wall at my Panther and the shot splatters on the turret front-


The HMC's view, it's also peppering the Panther turret with MG fire which is bouncing off it..


Next turn my Panther slams into reverse (below) I never ordered it to, so obviously the shot thumping its turret and the MG fire must have given the crew the heeby-jeebies.
The Panther fires back but the shot hits the wall. (note also its tracer rattling off the wall)
A scrutiny of its stats reveal why they reversed, namely they're only a green crew, they're out of command, they're 'Rattled', and their suppression vee is starting to turn a funny rainbow colour.
We also see that its radio, optics and tracks are starting to turn a sickly yellow in its 'Damage' panel. but still working.


This look at the HQ tank (circled) reveals why the other Panther is out of command; namely its radio is bust (red x), so he can't give them any soothing words of fatherly advice to stop them cracking up!
Note too that one of the blue crew dots in the silhouette panel has turned gray, meaning that position is no longer occupied, so maybe it was the radio operator who copped it in combat earlier in the game-


Noob note- no need to bother analysing the stats like this during the game, just remember that the men are flesh and blood and will react like real humans in any given situation, so bear that in mind at all times..;)

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No turret, no chance: Narsus's Sherman simply trundles up to my Stugs and blows them away because they had no hope of turning in time to return fire


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Narsus plasters my town with a rocket barrage, they don't last long but the noise is terrible-

[PoorOldSpike]

MTK's prowling Sherman sees my PzIV between the farm buildings, and takes it out-


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With a ravine at their backs my Panthers have nowhere to go as Eric4r's Americans batter them frontally, immobing one and forcing the other to pop smoke and retreat-


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A fusillade of shots comes out of the trees from Lighthorse's tanks, killing my Panther commander and forcing the rattled crew to auto-pop smoke and slam into reverse (note the cdrs now-empty grey seat near the silhouette and the disappearance of the word 'commander' from the crew list)


Ramming speed! Lighthorse follows up by making sure of getting LOS through the dust and smoke by ramming my Panther with his M10 and firing pointblank-


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MTK's Americans take the village by storm; the figures are not marathon runners but my fleeing panzer crewmen..

[PoorOldSpike]

Bootie's Americans launch their Big Push, driving hard for the beckoning golden glow of the obj area, and the only resistance I can mount is a Panther and Stug in that gap ahead which begin fighting for their lives as concentrated American AP/HEAT shot pours into them-


The German view, my two machines sit like corks plugging the gap, rocking and reeling drunkenly on their springs as shots hammer into them as Bootie presses home his attack-


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Earl of Grey's American halftrack carrying a FO team and an HQ section (total about 9 men) attacks my 3-man FO team in this forward outpost-


and clear it out-




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Ericr4b's bazookaman hits my Panther, killing a crewman and forcing it to panic-reverse.



And another dood finishes it off with a grenade (circled)



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My HT probing the lush fields hopes to identify Nort's American axis of advance and encounters an HMC, and begins hosing it down with 7.92 mm MG fire-


The HMC 75mm gunner sends a shell winging on its way (large tracer blob) but missed, it flew over the HT and hit a treetrunk behind-



But the HMC's big 50-cal HMG riddles the halftrack, killing the gunner-

[PoorOldSpike]

Glorious sunny day, birds tweeting, squirrels happily playing with their nuts, what can possibly pose a threat to my panzers snug among the trees?



Oops, Johnsy drops a heavy arty barrage on them-


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Ericr4b's bazookaman has a longrange pot at my Tiger...


Missed-


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Battle of 'Rhino Lane'...My two Stugs and a Panther have got a nice little defensive position in this lane, facing both ways to guard against anything Nort can throw at them from either direction, what can possibly go wrong?



Rhino!!! his beast from Jurassic Park pokes it's snout through the bocage and drills my Stug in the side-



My Panther joins the party and the battle for Rhino Lane continues to rage-



A total of no less than 8 tanks--Nort's and mine-- lie wrecked in Rhino Lane as secondary explosions keep going off like nuke explosions-

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Lighthorse's M10 gets my Tiger in the back and immobs it-


The Tiger's position-


Noob note- it's impossible to play with trees toggled on like this (below) or nobody would be able to see a thing.
We can toggle to bare 'trunks only' but they look bleddy awful; I'd like to see a patch to make trees almost transparent so we could keep them 'on' and they wouldn't clutter up the screen-


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I trundle my Panther out from behind a house down in the town to have a go at Bidermann's 3 Shermans skylined on a ridge, but their combined fire beats it to a pulp,I think at least one shot penetrated the thinner turret and the crew decided to call it a day-




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Lighthorse's loose tank crew draw their pistols for a shootout with an AT gun crew-

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My immobd Panthers nahverteidigungswaffe (close defence weapon) beats off an attack by one of Sakai's squads.
It's a short range HE grenade discharger fired by a crewman through a hole in the roof.
The Panther popped half-a-dozen or so at a couple of second intervals
(Inset:-one being launched, the game does it automatically with no player input)



Sakai's boy throws a grenade to finish off the immobd Panther..



and the bailed crew is gunned down-


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Nathangun's Sherman armada swings round my right flank and butchers my mixed bag of 4x Stugs/Marders to a man.
Same old story, no turret, no chance..

[PoorOldSpike]

Ericr4b's bazookaman stands calmly in the middle of the road and fires at my Panther despite MG rounds from the German machine whipping perilously close-


The rocket falls short-



But the Panther is hunted down and Ericr4B's bazookaman delivers an immobing blow. The crew then bailed and ran-



The fatal projectile about to strike home, it's a little low but must have wrecked the tracks/wheels


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Groan....two of Nathangun's HMC's sweep around the corner of the wood and catch my Stugs/Marders flatfooted, killing all 4 for the loss of one HMC. (the ar car was trashed by an artillery shell blast earlier, note the crater next to it)..


With the door to the village now kicked in, Nathangun's armour systematically demolishes it building by building to flush out any lurkers-

[PoorOldSpike]

My 3-man German FO team is Hiding and discreetly keeping an eye on the road to their front thinking "what can possibly go wrong?", when suddenly 2 of Nathangun's house-clearing troops burst in from behind-


and wipes them out before they can react. The SS man on the rights last reported words before getting a Tommy gun magazine emptied into his back were "Either that bloody wallpaper goes or I go!"


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My Hitlerjugend AT crew have spent most of the game waiting to get a dream shot, but when Bidermann's Sherman comes from behind the wood they're too slow on the draw and it blows them away (inset) before they can fire..
(They were out of command, Regular and 'Nervous' which could explain their slow reaction)


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Lighthorses M5 immobs my Panther with a side shot, yet again illustrating how small fast-moving tanks can chew up heavies by getting into their sides/rear-


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Johnsy's PzIV squeezes one off between the houses and clobbers my M10-



Payback! Later the same turn the M10's return the favour when they spot this PzIV (possibly the same one) taking up a firing position-

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A near miss from Bidermann's arty barrage disables the crew of my Marder whose open top affords them no protection-


And seconds later he finishes it off with this AP-shot from out of the frame-


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My two panzers are distracted by enemy infantry movement in the house across the street and this one elevates its gun to fire through the windows. but Cargol's Sherman appears down the road to catch them both napping and lets them have it-


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i reverse my panzers to escape the boiling cauldron of artillery fire in the village but Earl of Greys Sherman picks off two-


Later his tanks close in for a feeding frenzy against my green Tiger, hitting it from all sides with a potent mixture of 75mm AP/ 75mm HEAT and 37mm AP shots-


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As my M10's trundle left to right Johnsy's panzers have the street covered and catches them going downtown-

[PoorOldSpike]

Ericr4b's US troops make a surprise house call with armored support to clear out my 3-man FO team-



But my schmeisser guy opens up through the window-



And my rifleman at the middle window plugs one of them at the front door



a closeup of him in action..



Meanwhile the officer is introducing the HMC crew to 'Mr. Luger'..



But forgets to watch his back..



Then a HT pulls up round the back and the passengers whip out their pistols to mop up..



The 50-cal gunner joins in and yells "yee-haw! shucks ain't this just as much fun as a turtle-poppin party in a weezyanna bayou!

[Compass Rose]

I am really enjoying the "walk through" you are doing. It is great that you are also including little "noob hints" for those of us who are not familiar with the game.

Does your game include 3rd party mods or is what we are all seeing in your screen shots all stock?

[PoorOldSpike]

The screenshots are mostly stock but I try various mods from time to time, and if I don't like them I delete them and go back to stock.
I very much like the Waffen-SS uniform mod and am sticking with it.

[PoorOldSpike]

Holy Cannonball Express Batman! As my US armour begins trundling across the rail lines into enemy territory they come under fire from down the track-


It's Nathangun's armour firing from under the bridge!


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Schutzstaffel's Sherman emerges from a side street and pours it into the flank of my panzer column-