Resources for beginners I : Starting a game

[raz_atoth]

I will begin the series of 'Resources for beginners' tutorials by explaining what the most common used acronyms in the world of CMBN stand for.
PBEM- Play by Email.
QB - Quick Battle
ME - Meeting Engagement

Now,i'm perfectly aware you're more than eager to jump in the saddle and start the game,but please indulge with me for a moment... Before actually starting a game against a human opponent please make sure you're running the latest version of the game. You can determine what version of the game you're running by..blimey...starting the game and looking at the bottom at the screen. At the moment of writing the latest version is 1.10. If you're running something different,go to the battlefront.com site and download the patch that will upgrade your game to the latest version.



When starting a game,you have two choices. Playing a scenario or playing a quick battle. The difference is that quick battles are generated from a set of random/specified parameters while scenarios are battles created by scenario designers.

If you want to start a scenario click on the 'Battle' menu option.

A word about playing scenarios,more exactly about playing it 'blind'.If someone is looking for an opponent for scenario X and mentions he would like to play it 'blind' it means you should have not played that scenario before nor have opened it in the scenario editor to see what the force selection of your opponent is or where his troops are located.

The next step in playing a scenario,after you decided you want to go ahead with a scenario,is,obviously,picking a scenario... Clicking on the 'Battle' menu option will display a new screen listing the available scenarios along with some brief info.
I suggest you consult the manual for a more in-depth understanding of the different icons shown for each scenarios.Briefly,along with a short description,you will get info about the battle type [Meeting Engagement,Probe,Attack,Assault],the size of the scenario,environment info and the time of the day at which the battle takes place.



After choosing the scenario,you will be presented with the option of choosing your side.Quite straighforward...



The next screen will allow you to decide how the game will be played and the 'skill'.If you're here and reading this,then,most likely you want to play it against a human opponent using email (pbem). So,the option you're looking for is '2 Players - Email'.

One often misleading option is 'skill'. This isn't meant to reflect the perceived level of your ability to play the game.Or your opponent's ability. Your tanks won't fire less accurate if you set a higher skill level,your troops won't tire more quickly,your opponent won't receive a bonus.

What i will still add is that i usually play using the 'Warrior' skill level. The main difference between 'Warrior and 'Iron'-the max level,for example,is that on 'warrior' the icons for armor or MG units are,as expected...the floating icons for armor and MG units.On Iron the generic infantry floating icons is used for all units. You'll still see the enemy tank (assuming it is spotted) but the UI will show the infantry icon.



After choosing how the battle will be played and the skill,you will be prompted for a password. This is the password that you will use to open the turns your opponent will be sending you. You might want to write that password somewhere.If you'll forget it there is no way you'll be able to recover it.



If you got that far,you effort was not in vain....The next screen,which is the last step-will ask you for the name of the generated file. It's a good practice to use the 'xxxx vs yyyy 001' format when naming the file , where xxx is your name and yyyy is your opponent's name.For example 'raz_atoth vs jawsconan 001'. If you keep the default format-as seen below-where the name of the file is the name of the scenario you might have some trouble remembering for whom that turn is meant,especially if you start more than a few games.



A few other considerations that might come handy:
1) Don't panic if you're not presented with the battlefield itself after entering your desired password. Usually the first turn you send (or receive) is a password-only turn. Expect to see the setup zones along with your troops after receiving the first turn from your opponent (if you're starting the game) of the second turn from your opponent if he started the game.
2) The generated files which you are supposed to email to your opponent are stored in folder Game Files->Outgoing Email -found in the folder where the game is installed .Likewise,the files your opponent sends you must be copied int he Game Files->Incoming Email folder. Once copied it will become listed in the 'Saved Game' screen and you will be able to play it.

[raz_atoth]

As i mentioned the second option for playing a game is the 'Quick Battle'. This is how the manual defines a quick battle:

QuickBattles offer unlimited replayability in CM:BN, and are also a quick way to “generate” a new battle. Units for both sides, and the map to be played on, are either purchased/selected or randomly chosen according to a number of parameters set by the player

You will be presented with the below list of options if you decide to go ahead with a QB.



There are some important params to consider:

Battle Type Meeting Engagement, Probe, Attack, Assault . The most common battle type,but not limited to,against a human opponent is the Meeting Engagement. The points each side gets to spend on troops are the same for both sides and the objective is usually located at the center of the map. For probes/attacks/assaults one side will be the defender the other one the attacker.The difference between probes/attacks/assaults is the ratio between the attacker points and defender points. You'll get more points as the attacker in an assault than in a probe.

Battle Size / Map Size Determines how many points each side will be able to spend on troops and how big the map will be. Ranges from Tiny to Huge

Combat Force The force composition.Infantry only,armor only etc..

Unit purchase Unless otherwise agreed it should be set to 'Human'. As opposed to the automatic pickings where you'll end up with a random force composition.


An important point is that the Combat Force/Unit purchase/Map preview settings should be set the same for both sides. I believe it's obvious that allowing to preview the map for yourself but not your opponent would give you an unfair advantage,so i won't go into furher details.

Once you're done with setting up the QB's params you will-just like for scenarios-be prompted to choose your side,select how the game will be played and the skill,input a password then finally,to save the generated turn.

[raz_atoth]

Again,just like for scenarios,the generated turn can be found in Game Files->Outgoing Email . Send that file to your opponent via email ,or an alternative service (more about using Dropbox & H2HH in the next tutorials),then wait for his next turn. Once you will receive it,copy it in the Game Files->Incoming Email folder.
Start CMBN,select the turn in question from 'Saved Game' and continue with the next step: cherry picking your troops


First thing first,check if the 'Map preview' option is activated. If it is,click on it to see how the battlefield will look like.Since your troop selection will be determined by how the maps looks like and where the objectives are located take all the time you need to study it. I cannot stress this enough so i'm going to repeat it
Always,always preview the map before purchasing troops!


Now,the fun part: the actual purchase of troops...;)
Unlike CMx1 you can't directly purchase a single platoon or a single company. You will have to select an entire battalion [may it be infantry or armor] then delete the units you don't need or,more often,can't afford ;) You can expend/collapse various formations under 'Available Troops' to see what's their force composition.

Don't forget to check the different available assets.By default the infantry formations are shown.To see which armor/arty/air formations you can select click on the appropriate buttons from the highlighted area from the image. Depending on the battle settings some assets might not be available. If it's an infantry-only battle,only the infantry button will be active. It it's a night battle,air assets will not be available.

Each formation/unit has a cost expressed in Points and Rarity Points.You will have to consider both when doing the purchase.

Once you decided to purchase a formation,double-click on it,so that it will be listed in the 'Activated Troops' area.After you buy at least one formation,you will be able to attach single units to it. Change the drop-down displaying 'Formations' to 'Single Vehicles' and do the magic..Attach MGs/At guns or even armor units if you don't afford the bigger armor units.




At the bottom of the main 'Activated/Available troops' panels you can see a couple of buttons if you click on one of the units in the 'Activated Troops. Use it to delete from the big formations the units you don't need.Or revive the ones previously deleted.
Also from the bottom,you can control the Experience/Motivation/Fitness/Leadership & extra equipment-like bazookas- of each unit/formation.



Once you're done,click the 'Ok' button. The game will load the map and you will be able to position your purchased troops inside the assigned setup zones.

[RenaRambo]

Thank you I'm rookie at play PBEM and I found your forum very helpful, still a little bit confused but not as much as I was before reading your post on PBEM. Thank you

[Badger73]

This is excellent.  Thank you.