Combat Mission Basics: How to Move Your Vehicles

How to drive your units around... and not get stuck.
Filmed totally unmodded on Steam version, courtesy of Slitherine.
#CombatMission
#CombatMissionBlackSea

[@kristofferjohansson3768]

Me: all I care about is the hull down command. Hapless: you’re welcome.

[@nickcory360]

Great to see a return to these basics videos. Looking forward to an explosion once the Steam World realises how great Black Sea is.

[@arquebusier1995]

What is Steam World?

[@BBBJOT]

There was a good shell burst when SF2 hit steam. I feel like a lot of people found CM just because of that.

[@nickcory360]

@@arquebusier1995 just people who only find games on steam

[@Princey92]

Yeah tell them to upgrade their engine or lower prices....

[@d.c.6065]

I think there's an important part about the Hull Down and hunt commands that you didn't mention: if/when your vehicle reaches a point where it is hull down or spots something, it will cancel any other move orders it has scheduled. It's tricky to use hull down to scoot and shoot, because you can only say to shoot one turn and scoot the next.

[@darugdawg2453]

Ive read in a furom that you can incorporate pause to reverse after a hull down

[@Swede4Trump]

Would be great with a elevation mod, it's often extremely difficult to see if you don't micromanage all units. And that is time consuming in large/huge battles

[@decimated550]

I really miss the shoot and scoot from the first combat mission. Here you have two. Set a timer and hope that your vehicle doesn't shoot before it begins moving backward because that will probably throw off the accuracy by a massive amount

[@345firee]

Play in real time 🤷‍♂️

[@RayLovesToMakeMusic]

Thanks for sharing the safer way to use the Hull Down command. I’ve lost more than one vehicle from getting it wrong.

[@AnAmericanDodo]

Thank you! Hull down has always confounded me in CM.

[@nbr1rckr]

Oh, dude, yes. Yes. Give me more. I love it. It took me about 10-20 hours of fiddling around in the demo to realise how the hull down button worked because the manual's wording kind of confused me. Then again, I was trying to peek through the trees on the training mission so I was probably expecting too much of the AI :p I solely use the second method for this reason now.

[@CarlosZig]

THIS. At one point i thought i knew what was supossed to happen (And i was correct as i saw in this video), but then one time i had a bradley just go beyond my battle lines (For reasons shown in the video), and i just gave up on the command, Time to try it again today.

[@nbr1rckr]

Yes

[@battleshipfreez2344]

@@CarlosZig Don't use the 1st Hull Down command for your own sake, I've sent too many poor IFVs on suicide movements like that. R.I.P

[@Spider-Too-Too]

Black Sea will be on steam in a week.

[@joker_g7337]

$$$

[@CarlosZig]

Great video as always! You introduced me to the series and now i am hooked! Can you do a video about "Special" infantry engagements? I am talking about forest and building engagements. I seem to always fail in those 2 areas when comes to infantry. In the building i now i can use pioneers and blow the wall off, but is not every mission that you have c4 for that, And forests are just a head scratcher. I am trying to bring the supperiority of fire to the engagement and the hunt command, but my man always seems to get ambushed. Besides throwing tons of HE in the trees, i am lost

[@d.c.6065]

I think that would cover the idea of gaps and surfaces, and would be a fun video

[@richardhutchinson4740]

Really useful! I've always been perplexed by hull down and never got it to work properly. Reinstalled Black Sea to remind myself how brutal it is... thinknI need to get the battle pack now as well...

[@ctrouble2309]

Thank you so much for all of your work. CM has always seemed too dense to get into. Tomorrow I'm taking the plunge. Can not wait to see what you make next.

[@decimated550]

how did your plunge into CM go? what title did you buy?

[@ctrouble2309]

@@decimated550 began with shock force 2, but the asymmetry of the prominent nations and the general lack of cover in the desert made it feel like a poor entry point. Ended up switching to Battle for Normandy, where the strategies seemed more straight forward. So I got a handle on the systems by running through its campaign before returning to SF2. After putting a hundred hours or so into each, it's impressive how the different settings each call for a unique approach.

[@decimated550]

@@ctrouble2309 just curious , did you *really* want to play the Shock Force title because you have an interest in that time period ? In my case, i'd never want to play Shock Force, it doesn't interest me, while on the other had, i have 50 books on Cold War and only realy want to play that in Combat mission. I'm just obsessed with the weapons and context of that Central Europe "what if"

[@ctrouble2309]

@@decimated550 pretty much. From all the searching I did, your first CM game should be your favorite setting.

[@decimated550]

@@ctrouble2309 I think I'm so sick of all the video games and movies about the saving private Ryan scenario. You know Normandy Battle of the bulge American GIs, that I only ever played 99% of the time combat mission barbarosa to Berlin. The beyond overlord early game and the later title called Combat mission Africa core didn't interest me at all. I just needed to relive those massive eastern front battles where fascist and communist died by the tens of thousands

[@immersion5939]

Nice video! in my experience, vehicles on a fast move will force them to drive and ignore laser warnings and threats more often.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

That's right. It's a little less obvious in the modern titles- something effectively stabilised like an Abrams or a Bradley will carry on shooting whatever speed its going at. Much more noticeable in WW2.

[@hamishneilson7140]

Thank you for explaining how to use the Hull Down command, would've been a useful piece of information in so many of the campaign missions I've played to date.

[@majormuckup373]

Great to see the training / information videos back. Thanks heaps Hapless

[@paulbaker45]

These videos are amazing. So helpful. Thank you

[@tomhighway6465]

yeah, i would like a infantry video to. great stuff!

[@yojohnyy]

I'm so mad that this is the 1st time I've understood the Hull Down command

[@usuallyhapless9481]

It does take a bit to get your head around

[@ricaki5405]

Wonderful content. Thanks.

[@RockyPolska]

Great channel, I love CM games

[@norwegianwiking]

For bogged vehicles I generally give them a reverse command to try to get them unstuck. I find I get far fewer immobilized vehicles this way as they more often than not are able to get unstuck and reverse out of the terrain that caused the issue.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Oh nice! I'm going to have to try that.

[@burningphoneix]

Speaking of variations in the height of terrain, can you do a video explaining how to use it to the best effect? I think its a bit more advanced than Combat Mission BASICS but a lot of people come from titles with very convenient chest high walls and clear trenches laid out by map makers that the more naturalistic gentle sloping hills of CM throw them off completely. Many times I have thought I placed my infantry team in the perfect position to lay down some covering fire only to discover they need 0.5 meters more clearance and to do that they need to move forward something like 60 meters lol.

[@purpheart23]

Keep em coming Hap.

[@danbuter]

nice video!

[@FubarX]

Thx man for tutorials videos :D I wish you can make one with chain of command and HQ unit ... cheers

[@HolgerHendel]

Thank you!

[@DrewShotsFan]

Fab, as always UH....thanks

[@cremasca]

Thank you very much!!!

[@calogerosalvaggio1075]

Thank you very much for your videos. They are always very useful. Since we're talking about vehicle movement here I would like to know what in practice are the info at the bottom of a vehicle lua: speed, power, off road, turning. Although some of them, like speed, can be self explanatory, there's nothing on the manual that addresses them. Is off road the speed off road? Or is it an indication of how likely is the vehicle to bog on a difficult terrain? What is power and how that affects movement? Is turning the turning speed? Why do we need to know the weight? Is that an useful information at all? I've searched the Web a lot for answered but never found any. Has anyone got any clue?

[@rl2204]

For Hull Down command: Do you set the "target" at the beginning or the end of the Hull Down waypoint?

[@usuallyhapless9481]

At the end ;)

[@rl2204]

@@usuallyhapless9481 thanks man.

[@soap_off]

@@usuallyhapless9481 why use the second technique for hull down order, i didn't encounter any problem so far by using the first method

[@MarcinP2]

Does Hunt improve spotting over let's say Hull Down or Slow? I am using slow but do not see much spotting before I am spotted. I am playing Cold War, the desert campaign and many aspects are quite odd like being hull down basically does not seem to be of benefit - enemy spotting is very good.

[@decimated550]

i wonder if being skylined is penalized compared to having a forest or hill behind you ...i've seen old manuals which alert crews to this

[@WekBenHelix]

Is there any way ingame (or via experience) to tell which vehicle speeds correspond to which foot speeds? Like does "Slow" = Walk for infantry, and "Move" = Quick for infantry? I imagine Quick and Fast for vehicles can't be matched by infantry, of course. Asking because sometimes it's nice to try to move a vehicle at a slow pace while dismounts escort alongside or in trail behind it.

[@brainfart22]

At the end, the way you talked about not giving the enemy a target and only popping up when an enemy presented themselves made it sound like there was a command to get this done, is that the case? I would think I need to order this manually, and I'm not excited about the prospect of potentially waiting a full minute before my tank even starts to get into position

[@joker_g7337]

This hull down is a nightmare. The vehicle keep advancing, even if there is an obvious hull down position!!! I am unable to click on a freaking button or what?

[@miller8097]

hello, I was wondering weather I should buy shock force 2 or black sea when it comes to steam. Which would you recommend? I dont have any combat mission games also.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

It's mostly personal preference. Black Sea has more trees, Shock Force has more sand.

[@miller8097]

@@usuallyhapless9481 fair, thanks for responding. Does the more modern setting for black sea make it play signifigsntly different than shock force 2?

[@usuallyhapless9481]

@@miller8097 Black Sea is a LOT less forgiving than Shock Force. Shock Force is quite unbalanced: the Syrians really have no chance against NATO. In Black Sea, the Russians can put up a much more even fight against the US and can seriously challenge the Ukrainians.

[@miller8097]

@@usuallyhapless9481 ok thank you, i will probably go for black sea so I can feasibly play as opfor :)

[@buckplug2423]

Could you make a video on topics such as supression, grenades or cover?

[@battleshipfreez2344]

Haven't test it yet - is there a speed limit for TOW lauching on Bradleys in CM?

[@whya2ndaccount]

Just like real life. The Bradley needs to be stationary (the missile launcher folds down when the vehicle moves to protect the mechanism). It also needs to be on fairly level ground.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Yep. You can't fire TOWs on the move. Pretty sure that applies to all SACLOS type ATGMs whether wire or laser guided (moving the firing platform will majorly screw up the guidance). Unlike reality though, you can fire the TOW from a slope in CM.

[@blackburn1489]

can you make a video about how to deal with ingame camera) it is not too easy for new player)

[@dartvader4081]

Could you make a video on the "Assault" command for the infantry? I am a veteran at CMFB and I still don t know and understand how to use it. The button is not available on the menu most of the time. I don t understand why.

[@TopHatHat]

+1 to this, have no clue what it does and can't find it in the manuals.

[@clusterstudio18]

You can only use it with squads that have at least two fire teams. So that one team can provide cover while the other is moving.

[@dartvader4081]

@@clusterstudio18 I remember reading this in the manual... but STILL can t figure out how to use this command efficiently.

[@battleshipfreez2344]

@@dartvader4081 CMFB - Italians don't have autonomy beyond squad level, so they can only act as a single squad without fireteam maneuvers.

[@andreashampel9775]

My experience is that its good for attacking buildings. one team provides fire support while the other moves. Also good if in real time and don't have time to manage each fire team and want to do fire and movement.