Variety is the spice of life

[Imp]

I am prompted to write this based on posts over recent months as so many of you seem to be playing but a tiny portion of the game. Perhaps you should reconsider how you approach the game to get more out of it with a greater variety of play & a variety of tactics under your belt. At the moment many of you seem to be just scratching the surface & the 4 post types that get me are.
1) I always (or nearly get a decisive victory)
2) I always have German 88s in WW2, the best tank etc
3) The number crunchers working out to the finest detail whats best & then probably using as per 2
4) Sweeping questions on whats best

Why why why what happened to the rest of the game, guess what your battles & tactics will always be samey because all you have done is scratch the surface.
1)Talking mainly playing the AI here to start with if battles are easy adjust the AI% setting it applies to battles to now before you had to manually give it more points. Tougher battle will inject life back into the game but before you do this consider the next 2 points.
2+3) Okay how much of the game are you not actually playing why not pick forces differently, if you can say base on a real one or at least vary it. Always picking the best stuff means generally you are capable of going head to head with the enemy. Second rate gear or nation now you are having to snipe hit & run ambush etc dependant on your capabilities or lack of them.
In MBT take Russia as an example as nice varied big OOB
Don't cherry pick the best force buy a roughly real one so choices are
Armoured, Mech, Infantry (More of course)
First, 2nd or in Russia's case 3rd line force
So for game purposes you could do the following
Armour to infantry ratio could be anything from say 4-1 to 1-4 or even none depending on the force you are trying to depict.
Force type as in 1st 2nd
Armour late era T-90, T-64, T-55 (pushing it T-62 I think)
Troops Best gear, reasonable stuff, oh dear mainly Mr conscript
Transport same deal.
You could allow say 10% of your force to be better after all its your game & yes go 3rd line you have a big headache.
You can't touch his armour from the front & your troops don't really want to take them on either so you had better develop some pretty nifty tactics & oh dear you might lose.
Why not take out second rate nations for a spin to okay in MBT dependant on era there are only 3 or 4 main suppliers but there are nations with home grown toys. Why not try a conflict in Africa Asia or South America
How about playing Italy with its average tanks against Russia or another Eastern Block country assuming Russia is committed in Central Europe or uses mainly 2nd line units here. Remember the AI does not pick all the best gear you will be able to take on some just having to figure out what to do with the big boys.
If you are willing to vary your game play I am sure you will have more fun develop better tactics & become a more rounded player. You will also be able to answer question 4 all by yourself.
I am not having a go I just feel from the posts that some of you are not getting the full Camo experience by getting stuck playing the same old same old. Fine you vary nations do you vary force composition as well, if the same tactics always work the blunt answer is no there is a core set that are always useful but others are tailored to your forces strengths & weaknesses.
One of this games many strengths is the variety it offers & mismatch of forces & just because you are outgunned it does not mean you can't win, well sometimes it does but tis only a game & so long as you learn something what the heck.

[Ramm]

Originally Posted by Imp

I am prompted to write this based on posts over recent months as so many of you seem to be playing but a tiny portion of the game. Perhaps you should reconsider how you approach the game to get more out of it with a greater variety of play & a variety of tactics under your belt. At the moment many of you seem to be just scratching the surface & the 4 post types that get me are.
1) I always (or nearly get a decisive victory)
2) I always have German 88s in WW2, the best tank etc
3) The number crunchers working out to the finest detail whats best & then probably using as per 2
4) Sweeping questions on whats best

Why why why what happened to the rest of the game, guess what your battles & tactics will always be samey because all you have done is scratch the surface.
1)Talking mainly playing the AI here to start with if battles are easy adjust the AI% setting it applies to battles to now before you had to manually give it more points. Tougher battle will inject life back into the game but before you do this consider the next 2 points.
2+3) Okay how much of the game are you not actually playing why not pick forces differently, if you can say base on a real one or at least vary it. Always picking the best stuff means generally you are capable of going head to head with the enemy. Second rate gear or nation now you are having to snipe hit & run ambush etc dependant on your capabilities or lack of them.
In MBT take Russia as an example as nice varied big OOB
Don't cherry pick the best force buy a roughly real one so choices are
Armoured, Mech, Infantry (More of course)
First, 2nd or in Russia's case 3rd line force
So for game purposes you could do the following
Armour to infantry ratio could be anything from say 4-1 to 1-4 or even none depending on the force you are trying to depict.
Force type as in 1st 2nd
Armour late era T-90, T-64, T-55 (pushing it T-62 I think)
Troops Best gear, reasonable stuff, oh dear mainly Mr conscript
Transport same deal.
You could allow say 10% of your force to be better after all its your game & yes go 3rd line you have a big headache.
You can't touch his armour from the front & your troops don't really want to take them on either so you had better develop some pretty nifty tactics & oh dear you might lose.
Why not take out second rate nations for a spin to okay in MBT dependant on era there are only 3 or 4 main suppliers but there are nations with home grown toys. Why not try a conflict in Africa Asia or South America
How about playing Italy with its average tanks against Russia or another Eastern Block country assuming Russia is committed in Central Europe or uses mainly 2nd line units here. Remember the AI does not pick all the best gear you will be able to take on some just having to figure out what to do with the big boys.
If you are willing to vary your game play I am sure you will have more fun develop better tactics & become a more rounded player. You will also be able to answer question 4 all by yourself.
I am not having a go I just feel from the posts that some of you are not getting the full Camo experience by getting stuck playing the same old same old. Fine you vary nations do you vary force composition as well, if the same tactics always work the blunt answer is no there is a core set that are always useful but others are tailored to your forces strengths & weaknesses.
One of this games many strengths is the variety it offers & mismatch of forces & just because you are outgunned it does not mean you can't win, well sometimes it does but tis only a game & so long as you learn something what the heck.

I just read this and I want to let you know I think your hitting on some good ideas


Andrew

[plastictree]

I'm having a bit of a World War 3 fetish at the moment (I mean, the Gen. Hackett books on World War 3), so I've been playing a lot of campaigns based around scenarios in the books, from most sides.

My favourite campaigns are those where I have to babysit a force of elderly tanks and mech/motorised infantry (in M113's or the equivalent tin can, rather than in Bradleys or BMP2's) through a 30 battle campaign against huge odds.

Generally I like to set the AI buy point advantage to 300-800% when playing as the Western forces, to really bring home the massive local numerical superiority that the Warsaw Pact would have in a lot of places.

My current 4.5 Campaign is 1985 as the UK, a reinforced Mech Bn with an understrength early model Chieftan company (off the top of my head I think they are Mk 9's, with laser sights and stabilisation, but without TI), going up against what has turned out to be massive Russian and Polish forces.

It would ruin the fun somewhat if I was rolling around in Challengers, as really the only serious trouble they could get into is if they take flank shots, and are basically as destructive as their ROF allows.

However, using the Chieftans makes it far more of a challenge tactically, and I really have to think through the movements of every platoon, because while I can take out the majority of the Russians armour with a well placed HEAT round, from memory even their T62's can take me out.

Also, I decided to go for a Mech Bn because I wanted to go for a bit of realism, and wanted to concentrate more on combined arms than is normally the case when you simply buy a couple of companies of the toughest tanks you have.

One final note is that I only repair my equipment once ever 3 or 4 battles, which means that I often have to roll into an assault with whole platoons missing, or with half my tanks immobilised on the starting side of the map.

I would, however, like the ability to vastly restrict the amount of buy points available, since except under the worst circumstances (eg. battles where you've lost 70-80% of your troops/equipment) you always have enough to refit your entire force in one hit.

[Ramm]

Originally Posted by plastictree

I'm having a bit of a World War 3 fetish at the moment (I mean, the Gen. Hackett books on World War 3), so I've been playing a lot of campaigns based around scenarios in the books, from most sides.

My favourite campaigns are those where I have to babysit a force of elderly tanks and mech/motorised infantry (in M113's or the equivalent tin can, rather than in Bradleys or BMP2's) through a 30 battle campaign against huge odds.

Generally I like to set the AI buy point advantage to 300-800% when playing as the Western forces, to really bring home the massive local numerical superiority that the Warsaw Pact would have in a lot of places.

My current 4.5 Campaign is 1985 as the UK, a reinforced Mech Bn with an understrength early model Chieftan company (off the top of my head I think they are Mk 9's, with laser sights and stabilisation, but without TI), going up against what has turned out to be massive Russian and Polish forces.

It would ruin the fun somewhat if I was rolling around in Challengers, as really the only serious trouble they could get into is if they take flank shots, and are basically as destructive as their ROF allows.

However, using the Chieftans makes it far more of a challenge tactically, and I really have to think through the movements of every platoon, because while I can take out the majority of the Russians armour with a well placed HEAT round, from memory even their T62's can take me out.

Also, I decided to go for a Mech Bn because I wanted to go for a bit of realism, and wanted to concentrate more on combined arms than is normally the case when you simply buy a couple of companies of the toughest tanks you have.

One final note is that I only repair my equipment once ever 3 or 4 battles, which means that I often have to roll into an assault with whole platoons missing, or with half my tanks immobilised on the starting side of the map.

I would, however, like the ability to vastly restrict the amount of buy points available, since except under the worst circumstances (eg. battles where you've lost 70-80% of your troops/equipment) you always have enough to refit your entire force in one hit.

Welcome plastictree!

You sound like you have some skills, I haven't even mastered using mech forces, how come you haven't posted here before? You can private message me if you want

Andrew

[PanzerBob]

In regards to limiting points if I'm not mistaken you can adjust the point value of the Victory Hexes, I beleive they default at 250 per hex or maybe even vary. This may solve the point problem.

Bob out

[Imp]

Originally Posted by PanzerBob

In regards to limiting points if I'm not mistaken you can adjust the point value of the Victory Hexes, I beleive they default at 250 per hex or maybe even vary. This may solve the point problem.

Bob out

I was talking about purchase points Bob & setting the AI so it gets more.

[gila]

I don't go beyond vietnam,my skills in modern warfare are little.
Take as much as you can handle if it gets beyond your means back off,it's learning processes after all, have fun but don't go over your capabilities and get frustraded then it's not as fun

[Ramm]

Word to that.

[gila]

When I get to thinking of all complex values of modern forces in SPMBT,
I go back to SPWW2 where war was little less tech and thats good

[Sniper23]

I would, however, like the ability to vastly restrict the amount of buy points available, since except under the worst circumstances (eg. battles where you've lost 70-80% of your troops/equipment) you always have enough to refit your entire force in one hit.[/quote]

that would be cool if it could be done