Combat Mission Basics: How to Move Your Infantry

Getting around the battlefield on Mk1 Landmine Detectors.

[@nova_the_maid]

0:25 - 2:04 Waypoint Controls 2:05 - 3:00 Selecting Multiple Units 3:01 - 3:30 Specific Movement Position Markers 3:30 - 4:47 Specific Unit Self-Preservation Explanation and Tac-AI 4:48 - 5:20 Type of Move Orders 5:20 - 6:21 Fast 6:22 - 7:13 Quick 7:13 - 8:05 Move 8:05 - 8:45 Stamina and Combat Efficiency and More Move Order Info 8:46 - 9:45 Slow 9:45 - 10:55 Hunt 10:56 - 13:10 Final Tips for Movement You're welcome.

[@ravenwargaming5612]

I wanted to say thank you for doing all of these tutorial videos. I also really enjoy your campaign videos with detailed terrain/battle-plan analysis, as well as your army formation analyses. You're probably the single most active content creator in terms of keeping the series alive and accessible to newer players. Keep up the good work! It's appreciated.

[@user-bj4dw3cv3f]

Short orders have a downside - units tend to stop and assemble on every waypoint, as you can see at 12:08 You can achive same route using only 4 waypoints.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

True. The trick is finding a good balance between speed and simple pathfinding.

[@norwegianwiking]

I always felt they needed a "move to contact" or "patrol" movement that functions like "hunt" but is less tiring. Think they had that in the very early CM games

[@lutherburgsvik6849]

Yeah, for the infantry there is a 'contact' order, so they move until they spot an enemy unit or get shot at, then stop moving and attack it. For AFV there is an identical 'contact' order (for all enemy unit types), and also a 'hunt' order (for enemy AFVs and guns) which is slightly different: the AFV moves until it encounters an enemy AFV or gun, engages it, and if the enemy target is destroyed then it continues moving until it reaches it's given destination.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Being able to set your own SOPs, or having behavioural stances would probably be enough. Combining that with the different move commands and the player has enough flexibility to do almost whatever they like.

[@norwegianwiking]

@@usuallyhapless9481 at times instead of using the assault command over longer distances, I set up my own bounding overwatch using quick, frequent waypoints and the pause function to stagger movement.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

That's what I do. I think the assault command leaves too much to the TacAI. Assault, Blast and Mark Mines were in the video orginally, but it was getting a bit too long, so they'll be coming later.

[@norwegianwiking]

@@usuallyhapless9481 my biggest gripe with the assault command is when it decides the distance is just long enough it needs to advance by a couple of bounds and halts one of the elements just short of the end, usually in the most bare-arsed, utterly devoid of cover point that just happens to be exposed to the combined fires of half the enemy force.

[@CharlesvanDijk-ir6bl]

In Vietnam there was a different patrol speed for Australian troops and US troops. The Australians patrolled at something like half the speed. In this game you can finger point enemy spotted units by placing a movement (I do slow 'O' Key) and press the pause button. That way you can use indirect fire and area fire right to the spot(painting the target). The lower quality troops I use for scouting even when you have a huge battle with 2 or more companies. 1 Company I use for finding and engaging to make the opponent reveal his positions. The higher rated combat units to destroy the revealed positions. Once a key enemy unit has revealed its position split your unit has the sergeant to pop smoke and disengage. Once you see signs that the enemy is losing morale and breaking you lower rated units of course can play a more active role in combat. Maintaining morale is the key to win in this game. It is also crucial to maintain contact at all times once you order a mortar strike for example no good to blast at an empty trench or foxhole.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

It's always going to depend on the situation, but personally I like having all my troops at the same level. That way I have a good baseline for how each unit will perform and I have a lot more flexibility. If my lead elements find a situation they can exploit then they can go ahead and take advantage while the opportunity exists. Having lower quality troops up front might mean that opportunities are wasted because they're incapable of exploitation and the higher quality troops can't get there in time. Personal choice though: if it works, it works.

[@gareththompson2708]

5:05 I don't use assault anyway. I always break my squads down into teams at the start of every mission (this is on the advice of Armchair General's 'Combat Mission Normandy Tactics' since it makes it possible to get better dispersion, and it's worked out great so far so I've never gone back). So when I want them to bound I manually micromanage their bounding orders, instead of trusting them to do it right through the assault command.

[@mikevargas809]

Your content is amazing my man

[@detroxlp1]

Thanks a lot!! I downloaded the demos a few weeks ago to find my favorite game. It seems I've been confusing the 'fast' and 'quick' commands the whole time And now I understand why they so often stopped doing my commands, because I was using hunt in the wrong situations lol Very helpful!

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Glad it's been some help!

[@detroxlp1]

@@usuallyhapless9481 and such a big thanks for not wasting any time! That’s so good and so rare to find

[@scottjoyce702]

This is very helpful. So much depth to this game and appreciate the teaching

[@user-tb4hd1pw7o]

thx clean and simple good work!

[@HolgerHendel]

Great, thank you.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Cheers man!

[@Tomatow]

I've found that the move function works rather well when you have a tighter timetable in an environment that would likely produce close contact, like racing an enemy to the top of a wooded hill. It lets you keep the bulk of your force close to your scout and if you make contact you are almost always already in a good formation to deal with it. It can also work simliarly if you're trying to get a platoon across a field and you've decided that if the enemy present them selves at the other end then you will assault them but otherwise you will just occupy the area. typically this would be done under and overwatch by another platoon or platoon heavy weapons. I guess essentially what I'm trying to say is that I use the move command to move behind a hunting screen of scouts.

[@danbuter]

Very helpful video! Thanks!

[@WhisperStrategy]

Can we get a video on firefight tactics?

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Yes. I have no idea when, but yes.

[@jeffreyallan1312]

I wish the Assault command only used the place waypoints as stopping positions. It would make using it much more useful. I know you cam achieve the result by splitting your squads up. However, in doing so, you either have to wait until the end of the next turn to move the follow on team, or guesstimate how long it is going to take the first team to get into position. The advantage of the assault command is that the TacAI handles that level of minutiae for you. Also I wish selecting multiple squads and giving them movement commands worked like how moving a squad with multiple teams did where they stop and consolidate before moving to the next way point. Maybe having a link waypoints button. Obviously it would require a C2 link, but it would mean you aren't worried about a single squad getting too far separate because they were traveling on slightly different terrain.

[@allenpollack3514]

Thanks my guy. Love from Ohio. Gonna spend hours more watching you

[@Yskonyn]

Thanks for these excellent videos! I am getting back into the game and its great to have some tutorials / advise videos at the ready. I learn a lot tactically as well, which is nice for someone llike me without real life military training.

[@evilsix6149]

Mk1 Landmine Detectors ahahahahaha! Got me good. Kind of like Mk-11 EyeBalls

[@KurtG85]

If that really is true that troops moving in column by default can be killed more easily from the front the game really needs troop formation commands.

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

Pixel what?

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Pixel-Truppen. Just means Pixel Troops.

[@CODRD]

Can we get a spotting video? As I have trouble finding sound contacts and I'm unsure what I'm doing wrong.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Its on my list.

[@CharlesvanDijk-ir6bl]

A well camouflaged enemy is impossible to spot. 1 scouting unit is unlikely to spot anything. You need at least a whole platoon to do a sweep through an area. 2nd platoon providing over watch, 3rd platoon engaging and destroying an enemy. That's why an attacking force need 3 times superiority than the enemy. The individual scouting units checks sound contacts they don't find them. A standing patrol is also called a listening patrol. Once an enemy is known they should be toast done by units who have not given their positions away. I love this game and I am now retired.

[@DK-pz6qq]

Thank you

[@milsimer9826]

bruh I swear this game is way better than Minecraft tho!

[@4rnnr_as]

do you have nay vids that can tezch us more about how to find the best position for a line of sight? I know how to use the Target orders to see as unit's LOS, but the game has not LOS tool for me to see the LOS from any given point, which would be awesome when issuing movement orders. How do you do it? Is it really as simple as putting my camera in the spot and surveying the terrain there?

[@usuallyhapless9481]

You can draw target orders to check LOS from movement waypoints, so if you want to check you can draw a movement order on the position, then select it and check the LOS. The LOS line will still come from the unit, but it is calculating it from the waypoint. It sounds a lot more complicated than it is.

[@4rnnr_as]

@@usuallyhapless9481 I did not know this! Wow. So the LOS line is drawn from the unit's physical location but if a waypoint is selected it is actually showing me what the unit sees from that waypoint (dot)? Mind = Blown.

[@ashiltokhai6673]

It always bothered me how in this 'simulator' you can't split your sections down to individual fire teams. The closest you get to this is splitting the scouts or AT team. But you can't split machine gun teams of a section or riflemen.

[@Choffixx]

But you can though... You can split squads in teams, not just AT or scouts, but actual teams

[@ashiltokhai6673]

@@Choffixx You can't split them into fire teams, you can split a platoon into sections but that's the extent of it.

[@uberpotato379]

@@ashiltokhai6673 There is a command button you can use to split squads into fire teams, you can't split platoons. Unless of course you move the elements of the platoon to different places.

[@ashiltokhai6673]

​@@uberpotato379 ​ Sorry I mistook the nomenclature without realizing it. But my point stands. A fire team in Canada is a two-man team, a section is a 8-10 men strong. You can't split a section (not a platoon) into fire teams, so 4-5 two-man teams in-game.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

I think it's just a terms problem- what you're describing is what I'd call a "buddy team". There are actually some squads where you can get close to that: Ukrainian Mountain Infantry have one 3 man team and two 2 man teams; but its mostly limited by the UI only having space for maximum 3 teams in a squad.

[@Wabaanimkii]

I could use some help on the deployment of smoke. I dont understand the deployment timing or order. Here is my scenario. I have a platoon of infantry advancing on a farm, the central house is occupied, but the rest seem to be empty. between the house and my infantry is a long narrow wood, and a large barn. I move my infantry up the wood, using it as a sight block. One squad puts suppressing fire from the edge of the wood onto the house, while my other two squads advance to the barn. staying out of sight. SURPRISE! an enemy BMP rolls up beside the occupied house and starts shooting up 1st squad in the woodline. Its BAD. My plan is to have 3rd squad pop smoke, suppress the house using 2nd squad, then 3rd squad will rush across the short field, storm the house, and kill the BMP with rocket fire from the side. all while 1st squad retreats. instead what happens is, 3rd squad rushes across an unsmoked field, and gets mown down by the housed infantry. clearly I messed up my orders here. "Do what I want, not what I say."

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Pixeltruppen tend to pop smoke when they're stationary, so best to give them a pause order or even throw smoke, wait a turn and then go. Takes some practice.

[@Wabaanimkii]

@@usuallyhapless9481 Thank you.

[@MannyS9000]

I have a question say your men are lined up on hedgeline a platoon size and the enemy are on the other hedgeline across the field also platoon size do you let the AI do its thing during and engage on its own or do you put target marks near or on the enemy unit

[@usuallyhapless9481]

It would depend a lot on the circumstances. Handing out target orders is good for focusing on specific targets or for getting the pixeltruppen who can't see anything to contribute, but it uses up a lot of ammunition.

[@MannyS9000]

Thank you

[@MannyS9000]

It's the only thing I struggle on is the infantry engagement

[@buckplug2423]

Are running troops significantly easier to spot than walking/hunting troops?

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Possibly. It's always difficult to nail down exactly what's going on with the spotting. In theory, the human eye is more likely to latch onto a fast moving target than a slow moving one, so I want to say yes but it's hard to prove.

[@dartvader4081]

What about the mysterious "Assault" command? I never managed to use it and it s not always available...for what reason? I don t know.

[@littlearvin1641]

If you've 2 teams in your squad. They'll perform a Fire & Movement manoeuvre. 1 team will cover team 2 so they can advance. Eventually team 2 will cover team 1 so they can advance. This command is best done manually, thus split troops and do it yourself. But in Real Time it's a huge time saver. I sometimes do it since i'm too lazy to do it manually :)

[@okroon256]

Is there anyway to make them go unprone once you use hide ?

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Not really. It's generally up to the pixeltruppen- though they should be more likely to go prone if they're out in the open. They like to take a knee next to low cover like walls and hedges

[@aaronjones2117]

What is Assault for?

[@aridk10]

which version of Combat Mission is this one? I

[@usuallyhapless9481]

It is Combat Mission Black Sea, so Ukraine 2017. Production started before things kicked off for real over there- Battlefront have this knack of picking potential flashpoints that actually happen.

[@4rnnr_as]

@@usuallyhapless9481 but you do have a few mods going here? my CM:Black Sea running on vanilla looks way brighter

[@usuallyhapless9481]

@@4rnnr_as There's Kieme's CMBS textures, then a mix of shader mods. The first shot is with Barbarico's Shader in movie mode. Then I filmed the next few but forgot to turn movie mode on, so it'll look a lot more darker and washed out. Then I noticed and took the mod off entirely.

[@Wyn_Wins]

is there a way to move a unit in a building without them going out the balcony?

[@JohnDoe-xl8fr]

Hey , i need help . When i order any movement its just waits and moves after literally 1 hour . Could you help me ? Highly appreciated

[@JohnDoe-xl8fr]

Can you do a video about " Vehicles does move but infantry doesnt " ?

[@pissfather6798]

where did you find that reskin mod?

[@calumlittle9828]

Pixel cringe

[@vladikruk]

Sooo.... FAST - Basically "run for your life" QUICK - "Morons if we wont be at the city earlier than this time we are fuvk ed up" MOVE - "Watch how this landscape is so nice" SLOW - DONT get caught by this BMP. HUNT - You see contact? - You stay on your place.