CMBS Formation Guide: Stryker Infantry Battalion

This is a guide to the Stryker Infantry Battalion in Combat Mission Black Sea. Timestamps here:
0:37 Background
4:16 Rifle Platoon
4:37 Rifle Squad
7:45 M1126 ICV Stryker
12:30 FGM-148 Javelin
14:03 Rifle Platoon HQ, Weapons Squad and Fire Support Team
15:34 Rifle Company
14:44 M1129 Stryker Mortar Carrier
16:32 RQ-11B Raven Drone
17:16 Rifle Company HQ
17:25 M1131 Stryker Fire Support Vehicle
17:48 Sniper Team
18:56 Headquarters Company
19:11 Sniper Section
19:16 Scout Platoon
20:02 MGS Platoon and M1128 Mobile Gun System
21:19 Mortar Platoon
21:31 Battalion Headquarters
21:54 Quick Battle Points Costs
This is the tie-in/lead-in to the Eight Wheeled Handicap series, where I'm commanding a Stryker Infantry company against AjarmanG's Russian combined arms force.
Combat Mission is a game developed by Battlefront.com. One of the most realistic tactical simulations ever made, Combat Mission covers a wide variety of military settings, from World War 2 (Normandy, Market Garden, Sicily, Italy and the Eastern Front) to fictional modern conflicts in Syria (Shock Force) and Ukraine (Black Sea).
You can find out more about Combat Mission by visiting www.battlefront... and especially the forums.
Conceived and written before the real conflict began in 2014, Combat Mission: Black Sea is a military simulation depicting a fictional 2017 conflict between NATO and Russia in Ukraine. Command American, Ukrainian, or Russian ground forces in the increasingly sophisticated and deadly environment that is modern combined arms warfare.
Buy Combat Mission - Black Sea here: www.battlefront...

[@usuallyhapless9481]

This is the lead in to the next turn-by-turn series, which I'll kick off Monday morning.

[@PitterPatter20]

I've spent a lot of time trying to track down a source about what would have happened if Iraq had invaded into Saudi Arabia, and I can't find any which mention this claim that if they had the 82nd Airborne would have been steamrolled. I'm really interested in reading more on this particular topic, maybe even get my hands on a summary of one of the wargames you mentioned. Where did you hear about this?

[@sirfanatical8763]

Fun fact, I've seen someone fire an SPG-9 at the ERA blocks of an Abrams. It worked wonders.

[@LegateImperator]

This was amazing. Really hope you do more force composition breakdowns.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Cheers man. More Formation Guides are definitely to come.

[@lil__boi3027]

@@usuallyhapless9481 please do more of those man, also using existing vehicles to recreate formations and units and tactics of other countries that combat mission doesn't cover will be amazing (china, japan, korea, France)

[@4rnnr_as]

So happy to see you're doing a Black Sea scenario. The game is underrated. Thanks hapless!

[@GuidoMillonezz]

What game is that ?

[@kashawashatvop203]

@@GuidoMillonezz combat mision black sea is about a conflict in unkraine

[@joseywales3848]

A well researched and nicely presented video.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Cheers man! Let me know on the FGM if you ever fancy a game. Be interesting for people to see both sides of a game.

[@joseywales3848]

Sounds good. I'm working through my challenger queue and will give you a shout when I have a free slot.

[@MrTotalAhole]

Just found this today. I love smartly played CM videos. Even more so since I dont see a lot of Black Sea ones. I think Im going to be binge watching this series today. That is if I can keep from loading up CMBS about three or four videos in. So let me end by saying "Thank you" for sharing the fun.

[@michaelwestmoreland2530]

This sim is mind blowing. Thank you for covering it. Look forward to more. Your videos are troves. Honestly, the breakdown on the HEDP grenade and the discovery the M25 is even a thing are worth supporting a patreon.

[@arjunarabindranath]

This is really helping me, just started the 'Charge of the Stryker Brigade' campaign. Thank you!

[@CrownVicFanboy]

Nice video of introducing SBCT, strange the Antitank Stryker with TOW missile was left out

[@usuallyhapless9481]

I did consider it- but its not part of the formation in CMBS. It *is* part of the SBCT, but formations in Combat Mission don't go higher than battalion, so they're tagged on as a separate Antiarmour Company. You can attach them as single vehicles, but I personally get a lot more use out of the MGS Strykers. Which is a shame because the top-attack mode for the TOW is ingame and its really cool.

[@carsonstephens2508]

This video is on the Stryker Infantry Battalion. The M1134 ATGM Stryker is in the CAV Squadron's AT Platoon

[@rickytorres8566]

Great video hope you continuw the trend with other formations. Also more AAR's please.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Thanks very much! AARs are coming out about as fast as I finish the games off, I'm aiming to roll out a formation guide video to the force I'm using in each one.

[@markmcleod5595]

Great video, it was very informative and detailed. I'm hoping to see more of these videos!

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Definitely more formation guides in the pipeline.

[@THECAPI13]

Quite the detailed guide, interesting to watch. Might consider picking this game up, since it seems so different to the WW2 CM games.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Best to give the CMBS demo a try first, or if you want a marginally less modern but more complete title, the revamped Combat Mission Shock Force should be out this summer. That's US Army, USMC, Brits, Canadians, Germans and Dutch fighting the Syrian army and Middle East Insurgents.

[@THECAPI13]

Usually Hapless will do, thanks!

[@GuidoMillonezz]

What game is this ?

[@thatltsmash]

Great video! Very informative.

[@kevinacres1699]

Instant subscribe thumbs up and I pressed it for 2 thumbs :) well done.

[@EvilTwinn]

I was hoping to see you make this sort of video! Stryker units are in a bad place in Combat Mission because Combat Mission is too small. An operational level game would show their strength as opposed to light infantry much better.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Hit the nail on the head. Its a huge shame that operational level Combat Mission is a pain to pull off: 2 players, a non-player to set up the maps, outside systems for moving units around the campaign map... a lot of work.

[@EvilTwinn]

Yep. I'm just praying that someone eventually will do a Command Ops 2 style game with a more modern setting (post 50s Cold War counts as modern enough for me). There's a real shortage of operational level electronic wargames, when it seems like the addition of a computer would make them so much easier to play.

[@bwcmakro]

@@EvilTwinn check out Armored Brigade if you haven't already

[@EvilTwinn]

@@bwcmakro Hot take: it's not a good game.

[@lil__boi3027]

@@EvilTwinn if the developers will get their head out of their own ass and make a multiplayer and add an RTS mode they might keep developing it into a a good game, but apparently "they dont have any plans for that'

[@leesnotbritish5386]

I have never heard of this game but really enjoyed the unit breakdown, I’d love a usmc battalion breakdown if that makes sense in the game, and if your taking requests

[@Yt-gd8ps]

You realize this video is 4 years old right? Id be surprised if he'd still read these comments.

[@leesnotbritish5386]

@@Yt-gd8ps yea I realize, I figured it doesn’t hurt to ask,and i couldn’t find other videos on the channel breaking down modern unit formation so I asked here ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@usuallyhapless9481]

I still read most of them :) Marines are a definite possibility- especially when they reach CMBS- but in the meantime there's always Battle Order: kzbin.info Think they've done the switched up modern marine organisation recently

[@aaudi6365]

This video seems really good! However, you should take note of the volume ingame from completely muffling your voice, like at 4:54

[@ironstarofmordian7098]

4:48 this is just a regular rifleman. Their is no designated marksman in the rifle squad. Just a rifleman who has an M4A1 with some sort of optic.

[@eab06]

there was a time when there was a tanker section attached to each line company aswell

[@usuallyhapless9481]

In Black Sea there are some mixed formations with Infantry and tank platoons.

[@KaszanaKaszani]

Great video, just one thing. HEAT projectiles are purely kinetic in nature, there is no molten metal involved. There are high temperatures involved but they are nowhere near the melting points of copper or any other metals used in HEAT munitions.

[@mymneisadj]

I recently got the expansion pack for black sea the u.s. campaign core unit is a stryker tactical group I am on the 4th mission and to be honest am finding it pretty hard to play and a hell of a lot harder than the task force 3 69 campaign.. I was wondering if u have any thoughts on it

[@d.c.6065]

Which map will you be playing on? Could you do an OCOKA analysis of it for us?

[@usuallyhapless9481]

First episode is the map analysis, planning and force selection. Might kick that one out Sunday morning so people have more time to digest it. As for OCOKA, its not very explicit and not up to Hardenberger status (community.battlefront.com/topic/126922-cmsf-2-%E2%80%93-us-syria-combined-ops-tactical-report%E2%84%A2-beta-aar/), but I'm pretty sure I cover all the bases there.

[@Spider-Too-Too]

i wish bfc remake afgannistan in 4.0 engine

[@PitterPatter20]

I've spent a lot of time trying to track down a source about what would have happened if Iraq had invaded into Saudi Arabia, and I can't find any which mention this claim that if they had the 82nd Airborne would have been steamrolled. I'm really interested in reading more on this particular topic, maybe even get my hands on a summary of one of the wargames you mentioned. Where did you hear about this?

[@usuallyhapless9481]

The quick version is it's a 3 year old video and I can't remember! The slightly longer version is that a light infantry unit in the open desert terrain fighting a much larger armoured force is unlikely to have a good day- even if they score some tactical successes and inflict some damage, the enemy can always just bypass them.

[@braendofc]

You forgot the R in Stryker

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Good spot! Fixed.

[@Spider-Too-Too]

the one downcote came from an ambram tanker

[@christopherpeck4567]

How do you have supply, headcount, and vehicle status options? I don't have that thanks for the help.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Those are options in the scenario editor.

[@mackdyegames3035]

"Stryker Brigades have no WW2 lineage." Actually they do. I served in a Stryker Brigade Infantry unit. One of my Staff Sergeants did the research and found out the Stryker Brigade all the way down to the squad level was an exact copy of the German WW2 army mechanized forces. The loadout of the infantry squad is wrong. The Squad Designated Marksman should have an M14 rifle from WW2. That is what my infantrymen had in Iraq back in 2005-2006. Tanks were never a problem for us. We just called up our ATGM equipped Stryker and problem solved. Also your missing the cage armor that wraps around the vehicle so RPG's will explode on the cage and not the actual hull of the Stryker.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

This is just the Stryker Infantry Battalion in a hypothetical 2017 conflict that never happened (at least, not with the US involved), so it's a little different from the Strayker Infantry Battalion of Iraq 05/06 (ie. M110s instead of M14s and M320s/XM25s instead of M203s; ERA instead of cage armour). I probably meant no US WW2 lineage- Stryker units don't look a lot like US WW2 Armoured Infantry units- it does somewhat mirror Panzergrenadier organisation though. I hadn't considered that.

[@rick3461]

Say thank you to Canada. The LAV III is a troop shitting, 25mm spitting dragon. Why you yanks ever took the cannon off is beyond me. I had the joy of watching things turn to dust because of this piece of kit in Kandahar. Good times. 🇨🇦

[@GuidoMillonezz]

What game is this ?

[@Primetime397]

You might want to cover: The Stryker 105mm MGS The upcoming version mounting a turreted 30mm autocannon, and about time, why they wasted the chassis by mounting a puny .50 cal is beyond me The upcoming version mounting a 5KW laser (soon to be upgraded to 10+) for targeting UAVs, mortar rounds etc While the Javelin maybe nice, the fact is that it and all ATGMs etc are about 5 years away from being obsolete. Look at the APS system mounted on the Armata, Boomerang IFV and T-90 AM. It will reliably defeat all incoming PGMs and even incoming sabot rounds, and this has been proven. Western military leaders have not yet gotten their heads around this, unlike the Russians. This is one reason why Denmark dumped its Javelins. In the near-term you may be looking at something like grenade launchers and autocannons firing kinetic-pumpedEMP rounds.

[@leevincent6523]

I am involved in this field, mostly on the AI side, with specific application to UAVs and autonomous combat systems. You cannot imagine the sorts of systems on the drawing board. If anyone is interested I would be happy to give some outlines.

[@Primetime397]

Ah ok you covered the MGS.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

I'm only covering the stuff in CMBS, so no laser Strykers (unfortunately!) and the Javelins are still in date. Off the top of my head- I really don't know- I'd guess the reason they didn't equip Strykers with 30mm cannons in the first place is to keep the weight down so they remains air transportable.

[@Primetime397]

US infantry is also being equipped with he Carl Gustav re-usable recoiless launcher, an excellent weapon.

[@espartaco7210]

Dog videos bro GG (y)