Combat Mission Basics: Machinegun Theory

[@Euan_Miller43]

‘A new and exciting career as a colander’

[@Truth_Hurts528]

On the head of a Pastafarian.....

[@sarahconnor2129]

@@Truth_Hurts528 you got a problem with pastafarians?

[@laurinjoelschafhausen]

I learned that 20 years ago in the German army as MG3 gunner (and much more). Cool to see that in a game, good job explaining the basics. 👍

[@timucintarakc2281]

where can i learn what you learned mister

[@DancerVeiled]

Something that escapes a lot of people is that machinegun teams really are more similar to small, direct-fire artillery units than individual rifles in their employment, so things like a beaten zone and plunging fire become factors.

[@dob7343]

You did well on this. Felt like I was back at basic expect this wasn't 2 hours. Excellent job and quite the refresher.

[@michaelsaunders6877]

Usually Hapless, an excellent video describing the fundamentals of. " The Theory of Machine Gun Fire" . As an ex professional light infantry Platoon Commander I think you described it well and succinctly and ventured ( but not too far into tactics). Its always a compromise between what is best and what is sustainable. In this case the best was. as we called it , was "chasing ground". The holy grail is, "mutual supporting enfilade fire from defilade positions , preferably on a reverse slope position. Perhaps you can explain all that in your next video. Best of luck !!

[@AgxntAqua]

Does that mean multiple machine gunners in cover firing downhill onto exposed enemies? That's a lot of big words 😂

[@donotlookherethereisnothing]

Man, I really need to get back to work and - oh look another Usually Hapless upload!

[@Spider-Too-Too]

600 meters, the front iron sight is twice the size of a soldier

[@USARvideo]

This video demonstrates a better grasp and explanation of gunnery theory with machine guns than many soldiers have. I'd recommend using this in a real class to teach machine gun use to military personnel.

[@longstreet0163]

That was really informative. Thanks for putting that together. What I find very surprising is that all this Ballistics stuff is actually modelled into the game !! Amazing attention to detail.

[@Matias-ub9pz]

Great video. In the book Battle Hardened, the author, a MG platoon leader, talks about using the MGs almost like mortars. It was the first and only time I had read something like that. Now I think that might be plunging fire.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Yep, long range plunging fire is definitely a thing. Certainly the Brits used it in WW1 and WW2: machinegun batteries functioning similar to artillery.

[@Lykas_mitts]

IIRC the American 50 Calibre machine gun was also supplied with range tables for said usage. In the film Fury (however flawed that movie is), when they move to receive their orders there is an M16 firing at a target using plunging fire.

[@jankutac9753]

​@@usuallyhapless9481is this some mod for Mius Front? Thanks

[@clee5653]

And today we have Ukrainians using drone to correct their 50 cal plunging fire

[@Cplblue]

Just got Black Sea and decided to get the bundle of Battle for Normandy. I'm so used to other styles of RTS games that these tactics don't register in my brain. I gotta play 3-D chess now. Thanks for these dope vids, brother.

[@arthurbalourdos4212]

That was a great video. I often put my MG teams in second or third floor of building s and they never seemed to be very effective. This will now change for me. Thanks!

[@geekstradamus1548]

Some pointers to add to this: In a company defense, you’ll want your MGs on the ends of your line so they get a defilade effect, and crossing fire, along the anticipated avenue of approach, instead of in then middle of the defense shooting directly into the enemy advance. In an urban area place your MGs behind your front squads, ground floor where they can shoot down key roads. This will keep the enemy from laterally reinforcing their positions, and deny dismounts use of the roads for several hundred meters, while keeping your MG teams out of direct LOS of the enemy.

[@FUNshoot]

I don't know anything about this video game but this is a solid explanation of gunnery with machine guns.

[@wanderingsurvivor]

Man your videos for Combat Mission are a real help. Thanks so much for doing them. I'm getting back into it after years and you made it much easier.

[@jad2290]

What is this?

[@justina6176]

Thanks hapless. I look forward to all your videos, gives me something to listen to while working. I appreciate it.

[@joseywales3848]

Useful and interesting indeed!

[@voakk4062]

Legends do talk to each other it seems

[@fontaine717]

hey Josey are you done making AAR? I really miss your vid.

[@d.c.6065]

He's ALIVE!

[@joseywales3848]

@@fontaine717 for the moment I'm not really playing CM as I'm into some other games. I'm still into the game which is why I watch videos like this, but playing CM & making vids takes a lot of time which I don't have right now.

[@RayLovesToMakeMusic]

BAFTA nomination for “Most useful Combat Mission video for 2021”.

[@mr.fantastic7756]

This Concept is completely new to me 🙏

[@markraffety3246]

This was a very informative video. I knew about the different types of fire but I had not given dead space that much consideration. US 60mm mortars now occupy a whole new level of importance in my thinking. Thanks.

[@vinnart]

I almost like watching Hap's awesome vids more than playing. Well done, and good info!

[@SturmgeistMD]

These videos are so very helpful for other games as well, especially ArmA3

[@SeffyRoth]

Definitely some insightful information for my current job, I'm glad I came across this video

[@MarkusMaki]

Good stuff, would definitely watch if You made more content on machinegun theory.

[@keaganlindsay]

That was brilliant. i love how you can expand on topics with so much useful information.

[@refugeeca]

I really admire your CM skills and your effort to disseminate them in video form

[@MadraktheRed]

Hans. Hans! Hannnnnnnnnnnnnsssss!!!!! ‘Was ist los?!’ ......Danger zooooneee

[@MrKKmusic]

This was excellent… Many Thanks!

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Thanks you so much man!

[@asborgeirssoneiriksson9053]

Thanks for your informative videos. As a beginner, I've got a problem with finding the best spots for MGs and the like in pre-battle phase. Is there a mod that gives you something like elevation lines of the terrain, like classic topographic/military maps? Would help a lot in finding the critical spots. Thanks again!

[@jeffjensen8]

Hey Hapless (or anyone else reading this), I have a related question to this, but regarding MGs in the modern games (which seem to operate a bit differently). For awhile now I've been struggling to use them effectively. It seems I have no idea how to use them or other weapons teams effectively (IE: deployable MGs, grenade launcher teams, etc.. Basically, anything that needs to be deployed with the exception of ATGM teams). Originally I would move the typically 3 to 4 man teams forward with the rest of my infantry, trying to keep them away from the thickest of the fighting (because 3 dudes with an undeployed MG aren't the greatest asset). Once the initial 'line' of enemies is cleared out I would post the teams up into the spot (or spots) that I believe has the best view for my upcoming moves. But after quite a few injuries and casualties having them up front, I stopped being so aggressive with them. Now I tend to lag them behind and only enter buildings or positions after I've cleared them. But I still try to do the same thing as before (set them up into overwatch positions, hoping that they will have LoS on enemy positions). And then I keep moving the up from spot to spot, but always a 'layer' behind my main infantry. The issue with this is that I find that by the time I get them redeployed, the fighting is almost entirely done up ahead. And so the teams typically end missions with no kills, barely any rounds fired, and me feeling like I'm doing something very wrong. I know MG teams are more about suppression than kills, but I'm not using them for either role at this point. It's gotten so bad that I sometimes do not even have the teams exit their transports because I just end up wasting time giving them orders that amount to nothing. Now I entirely rely on Bradleys and Strykers (and M113's in Cold War) instead of my MG teams for suppression and softening up the enemy. So, what am I doing wrong? Is there a way to use them better that I'm just not seeing? Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[@nafsiammara]

As I go through these I realise it's never the soldiers fault, I'm just either missing data or doctrine and that's on me. re my ammo issue; this should change things

[@stardekk1461]

Perfect tutorials !

[@ctrouble2309]

Hapless's Art of War

[@whya2ndaccount]

I was worried when I saw plunging frontal fire. but then you fixed that with grazing, enfilade fire from a defilade position.

[@doodguytheblank2403]

Interesting. Never heard of this game before.

[@timucintarakc2281]

best edumcational video i ever watched.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Can't beat some good edumucation

[@TopHatHat]

Great video as always!

[@pauldangel734]

Excellent review. Well done. Thanks.

[@SuperAwesome6969]

GOOD MORNING!

[@jaimealemanycodina7325]

Good night in Europe

[@arikcarmi]

Lovely video, well made, accurate and informative. Would you consider making a video about CQB in CM?

[@GenBuBlu]

Very good video! :) Thanks! It's just a pity that it's fiddly to make MGs fire along fixed lines. If you have no LOS on a spot, you can't area fire on it. This makes MGs much less usefull than they could be - e.g. firing along a wheat field that may conceal enemies. It's also fiddly to find good (grazing) trajectories by area-firing, but sometimes it works. If you set the point close, the rate of fire but also the spread of the bursts will be greater. Area-firing at a more distant point will decrease the rate of fire and the spread.

[@sowhoareyou]

Nice vid! From which field manual are the pictures of?

[@omisan771]

From my experience with Combat Mission, I would leave the MG in the building and just give it as shorter firing arc so it engage the enemies when they are closer. Infantry just survive much longer inside buildings than anywhere else.

[@romanium365]

So THAT'S why everyone always moves in diamond formation in arma! All jokes aside, nice video, very helpful, 10/10.

[@pulido6974]

1st watching one of your videos. Good job bro very informative and well said. 👏

[@ahoosifoou4211]

the best, thanks my bro.

[@frostyrobot7689]

Another informative upload PixelKapitan Hapless ...

[@universal1014]

F in the chat for Heinz the mg gunner

[@lolasdm6959]

You should cover CM:Afganistan as well.

[@juansimon5802]

taking cover behind a wire fence had me rollin. lol

[@anonimo2932]

it's over yankee, i've the lower ground!

[@danbuter]

Cool video!

[@sbreheny]

Maybe I am missing something but it seems to me that the elevated firing position isn't all that bad. You can maintain a line of sight to a vast space of ground and you don't have to move the MG around. The disadvantage of a small beaten zone could be overcome with volume of fire, skill of the gunner, and the use of tracers to "walk" fire onto individual successive targets. The number of rounds expended per casualty would be massive but if you have the ammo, it doesn't matter, and it may be more advantageous than having to move around a lot.

[@hmabboud]

Thank you!

[@Eponimo]

So how the team resupplies the weapon? It is automatically if an ammo bearer or vehicle is near?

[@DrewShotsFan]

Another interesting and informative production, UH, thanks. What map is that, please?

[@usuallyhapless9481]

It's part of the Soutmont Master Map that I cut out while messing with the editor. The village on the hill is the eastern end of Chenuex.

[@DrewShotsFan]

@@usuallyhapless9481 thanks

[@silverfoxsimulations]

Hi , good looking video , how do you record without seeing the command panel at the bottom of the screen , usual in combat mission games ?

[@usuallyhapless9481]

I just cut the top and bottom out when editing.

[@jaybzjaybz]

If the second position is (in game) better than the first, then why does the first inflict more casualties? (does the game model the 'beaten zone'?)

[@usuallyhapless9481]

The key problem for both is that they can only really engage individual targets: Position 1 because of the plunging fire and Position 2 because of the frontal fire. The difference is that Position 2 is closer to the enemy, who can see it and suppress or destroy it much faster than they can Position 1 far away on top of the hill.

[@wartsnall7332]

Great little video.

[@ONosbor]

Hapless, could you make a video comparing the Mk19 and the M2 Browning? Like, is it better to have your Strykers equipped with M2s or with Mk19s?

[@usuallyhapless9481]

I actually almost did this video in CMBS because you can really see the difference in trajectory between the M2 and the M19. Chances of a specific video are pretty low, but I've done plenty of Stryker related stuff- I think it broadly comes down to personal preference. The Mk19 is more broadly effective when it hits, but less accurate (especially in game), has less ammunition and can only conduct plunging fire.

[@roninsct7017]

..on paper the mk19 is better..real world could be different...in Afghanistan we found due to the nature of most structures..ie 4-6 foot mud walls, the fragments just got absorbed to little terminal effect..solution was more 50 cal but with SLAP ammo...also for vehicle or light armor the m2 is better especially for moving targets or anything past 600m....I'm a retired US Army Master gunner for 19K, 11B and 19D ( weird career) started as a 19K, then 11B after GW1 then retired as 19D ..

[@defalt9417]

Hey i was wondering where i could pick up the ww2 versions of combat mission as steam only has modern titles

[@usuallyhapless9481]

They're all here: www.battlefront.com/index.php?p=home

[@defalt9417]

@@usuallyhapless9481 thank you very much I've been enjoying your videos

[@ToppaliniTube]

do you have a video that explains how to use the stinger missiles best ?

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Not really. Probably the best way is to stick the operator out in a field somewhere where he can see a lot of sky. They usually come in a vehicle with extra ammo, so could be worth keeping that nearby too (ie. within 16m for auto reloads)

[@ToppaliniTube]

@@usuallyhapless9481 i just started playing again and was playing the small stryker mission. the first time i played i didn't get hit by russian air power but still managed to lose. when i went back to replay, things went a little better but then i got hit by the russian missiles!

[@majormuckup373]

Thanks Hapless

[@sproge2142]

D-D-D-D-DANGER ZONE!!!!

[@toasterdestodes8034]

Very interesting

[@seanpowers4515]

Very informative video. I recently started playing the game. I notice these are WWll units. Is this a WWll mod?

[@usuallyhapless9481]

Nope, it's Combat Mission: Final Blitzkrieg. There are 3 more WW2 games (Normandy, Italy and Eastern Front) but they haven't made it to Steam yet.

[@JoaoLuisAngelo]

Yesterday I posted a comment that isn't here anymore. If it was Hapless who moderated it, I apologize in advance for bringing it up again. Just in case it was our lords and masters who took exception to it, I'm going to paraphrase the content and expand the context. What I posted was a link to a site purporting to be from the Royal Canadian Regiment (regimental rogue dot com), where in a subsection titled "Tactical Narratives" can be found a four-part article "Rise, Fall and Re-Birth of the Emma-Gees". The context expansion follows: Some twenty years ago, when Combat Mission first appeared, I dabbled in it, strictly solo, never very good at it but I tried to learn as much as I could and the Battlefront forums were a good resource, which is where I found a link to that article. Now to see how long this post survives...

[@usuallyhapless9481]

I certainly haven't deleted any comments for a while- it doesn't sound like something I would want to get rid of either. KZbin does some weird things sometimes.

[@JoaoLuisAngelo]

@@usuallyhapless9481 Thanks. I do recommend reading the articles in the tactical narratives, they're absolutely not technical dry for stuff originally printed in inhouse military newsletters.

[@ЕвгенийВороницын]

One would wants to see a machinegun in advance.

[@MrTotalAhole]

Lana. Danger Zone!!

[@lewcrowley3710]

A related issue is the sMG (German name for Heavy Machinegun) modeling as far as firing. German SOP was to fire a few short bursts to get the range using tracers. Then a 50 round burst was used on the target (about 2.5 seconds). In the game, the sMG fires like a LMG.

[@nbr1rckr]

Ahhh, yes, here's the private video

[@anchorthesun3438]

Game ?

[@EntryLevelLuxury]

So is this the new game with mods or what? Doesn't look like its from 2002...

[@usuallyhapless9481]

This is Combat Mission Final Blitzkrieg. Came out in 2016ish, but not on Steam yet.

[@EntryLevelLuxury]

@@usuallyhapless9481 Yeah I just went to the dev website and figured it all out. I used to love this game as a kid, I just might have to shell out some shecks for it. Thanks!

[@fracapolligummala3548]

The reason the casualties are so low is because soldiers in CM are very poor at aiming and exploiting oportunities to kill.

[@usuallyhapless9481]

I feel like that's a good topic for a Basics video, no you mention it.

[@fracapolligummala3548]

@@usuallyhapless9481 That would definetly be interesting why games like CM are all seem to be like that. My guess is its a combination of realism, trying to portrait the average conscript acting under stress and exhaustion plus a artifical shift from permanent casualties to this really powerful suppressed and pinned states, where they reliably become kind of temporary casualties to increase the time avaiable for tactical maneuver and retain its decisivness. After all its a game where you should be able to win with maneuver tactics.

[@mcsmash4905]

i hope they put all the combat mission games on steam , and somewhat reduce the price cause frankly 50 euros is a bit much

[@usuallyhapless9481]

The plan is for everything to go on Steam. I don't think the prices will change, but they will get a chunk knocked off in Steam sales.

[@Arthsycz]

50? damm i wish i lived in europe .all base games cost around 103 for me lol

[@maxasaurus3008]

Danger Zone Lana

[@TheBlueSamurai28]

What game is this?

[@denneledoe873]

It's in the title my guy; Combat Mission: Normandy

[@sajasajasinking4591]

Anybody got ArmA3 softcopy, pse share

[@Tom_Quixote]

Good points on elevation. But I'm not sure the enfilade fire will ever be relevant in a WW2 setting. It seems more like a WW1 doctrine to advance in lines like that.

[@steretsjaaj2368]

That's why in Napoleon total war you need horse artillery at flanks. It's devastating for AI

[@roninsct7017]

..machinegun ballistics simplified think of water leaving a hose.. gravity explained...you want more range you angle up or increse the pressure (velocity) as regards to creating a beaten zone one of the machingun drills we teach is a vertical zig zag pattern..this allows you to engage in depth with the same burst by creating a curtain of bullets..this is where a slower rate of fire like the old M60 was great, I suspect this technique probably stems from WW1 mg tactics as most of the era Maxim based designs had a really slow rate of fire 450-550 rpm. Now there are two schools of thought on this, sustained or hasty engagement...very high rates of fire MG (1100-1400 rpm) like the MG42 typify putting as much lead on a fleeting target or area denial/ suppression for low rates of fire. Modern post WW2 MG tactics has mostly gone over to the latter method but 750-900 rpm is more the norm. The real limitation for volume of fire asides from ammo is thermal limits on gun barrels, about 200 rpm on 5.56 size calibers and around 100 rpm on 7.62 size calibers. The only differing one is the Pecheneg variant of the PKM which has an increased surface area but fixed barrel. Interestingly US Socom has a requirement for a low RPM MG but they use their MG's as individual weapons rather than crew served. Until recently (within the last 10 years or so) the Rangers used to run 3 guys on their MG teams but eventually switched to 2 man teams like the rest of the Army. I suspect with the incresed variety, lethality and accuracy of current and future Infantry weapons.The new 338 norma mag MG being developed gives you 50 cal ballistics with 30 cal weapon/ ammo weight ergos..gonna be a game changer. In Ukraine you see the KORD and converted DsHK'sbeing used in the bipod role..going to see how much that's gonna affect future TTP's..

[@roninsct7017]

..one new TTP I've seen are both sides using their AGL's on indirect using drone spotting to correct in real time..has me thinking why not MG's?

[@roninsct7017]

..every time I got pinned down by smallarms fire, machinegun or otherwise my anxiety is what comes next...RPG, mortars, indirect or even a VBIED or command detonated IED..why? coz that's what I would do..any veteran combat arms nco will say the same..

[@HolgerHendel]

Thank you!