US Army Stryker Infantry Assault Built Up Area Defended by Unconventional Forces

[@ONosbor]

UI advice: use the hunt command. Your unit will move slowly scanning for targets and then stop and engage if they see a threat. When you were moving your strykers forward into Bronze or cleaning up with your tanks, it would have been more efficient than having them move quick to a destination and then giving them a target order. It could perhaps have prevented that rear RPG shot against your tank as the tank would have stopped to engaged the target it spotted. Same with CQB, once inside a building, you could "hunt" from one floor to another so your men are more careful as they clear the next floor. Also try to keep an eye on the ammo count of your tanks, save main gun ammo by using the target light command so the tank will only fire the .50 and coax. Using your tanks to engage that command post was inefficient because they were only firing APFSDS by then. Another tip would be to re-watch the turn you just played multiple times to improve your situational awareness. I suspect the anti-tank threat that hit your mounted squad late game also disabled the second stryker you lost earlier in the battle. You could have spotted the AT threat sooner by re-watching your second stryker being engaged from the vehicle's POV. great video though, please post combat mission more often.

[@AR-GuidesAndMore]

If you dont want to do bounding movement manually, you can use the "Assault" command for Infantry squads, they will then automatically move in a fire and an assault team overwatching each other.

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

Nice. That's very helpful. Thank you!

[@shade9272]

To use javelins you have to mount infantry and have them pick it up. You can do it while the entire squad is already on it, or you can detach an AT team or fire team to go get it.

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

Awesome thank you!

[@SmokeDog1871]

@@ControlledPairsGaming Yes, one of the best things about this game is being able to modify squads with equipment in the vehicles and rearm ammo. Javelins fucking OP as well

[@nicktiger4]

@@SmokeDog1871 I just wish you didnt have to mount into a vehicle to grab more ammo

[@Kesen2003]

@@nicktiger4you don’t. If they are near they will grab ammo. But only if they run out, and only 1 mag worth at a time.

[@rollgybe86]

If it's not already in the squad inventory, just remember to use the 'Acquire' command when embarked, to pick up the CLU as well as ammo

[@kokolekroko882]

Oh DUDE! I love your Combat mission videos! You got me into this game, and I sunk more than a 100 hours into Black Sea! I know these are a lot of work for you, but please make more, they're awesome

[@half.blight]

Gotta say, these top-down pausable RTS are really your type of video games with the way you can stop the game to explain the strats

[@TheLonelyViper]

Viewers: oh this is interesting *1 hour later* Viewers: I am now qualified to direct combined arms maneuvers 😂😂😂

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

🤣 Not many watch these in full, but the ones who do love it.

[@Dash62g]

Kids in these comments woulda burst into flames if they touched a Playsatation 2 lol. Game industry has done a great job at convincing people that good graphics is what makes a game worth playing.

[@WekBenHelix]

If anything the lackluster visuals/animations/sound effects tell me that the vast majority of the budget and time in these games goes towards the calculations/computations and the processing behind the scenes. So long as those things don't fall short, then the game does exactly what it needs. Graphical fidelity is just a lame curve--the more real it gets, the more noticeable the errors/inaccuracies are. But when it looks like this you just go "Yeah okay it's not a pretty game, but it does its job better than any other." Sexy AAA games are one-and-done. Games like this are for life.

[@Marlon044]

im 40 and have to say kids today or dumb...also this simulation is doing alot on the backend in term of calculations. 1 mortar going off in this game is calculating where the fragment is going and the damage it will do if the fragments is hitting something...

[@zaponator]

I like to think of this game as the Dwarf Fortress of milsims. It may not be much to look at, but under the hood is a freaky level of simulation.

[@aanders1990]

Was not expecting more Combat Mission gameplay here but it's a pleasant surprise.

[@dv6000islame]

Love Combat Mission, Pairs. It's what helped me discover your channel. Keep 'em coming! I've been playing CM since its first iteration a couple of decades ago... yikes. I understand they take a lot of time to do. You could do it with less editing and do a few turns per video. Totally fine with that. I'd be totally fine with an unedited video, watching you talk through your move / decision making process as well. Some KZbinrs do that (see Usually Hapless) from time to time and churn out one video per turn. Some pointers: * Use Fast move (orange line) sparingly with infantry, it's basically a full-out sprint and they aren't exactly holding up their rifle to guard against threats, so they won't return fire if shot at. It's good for getting out of ambushes or into cover or away from incoming arty. Better to use Quick commands (yellow line) when assaulting an objective (Vehicles can shoot on Fast move). * Also, use multiple way-point commands with infantry to help them choose the desired approach / door. At each Quick way point they'll take a knee for a few seconds, do some spotting and will return fire. You can even put pause commands on individual way points if you want an element to do a bit more spotting before moving onto the next point. (The TacAI does some really numb-skull stuff if you just say move from point A to point B without helping them out with multiple way points.) * Fill up on ammo from Stryker before commencing assault so your base of fire has a bit more ooomph than side arms later on. :) To target a structure with Javelins, just target the building with the Javelin team and they'll send it the missile. Again, for anyone interested in learning more, I highly recommend Usually Hapless's CM channel, he has a whole video series on how to play the game.

[@statstats3724]

Really good stuff - love the narration, especially acknowledging the risky bits and setting out your moves step by step. That final 'sweep' / 'thunder run' with the Abrams had me in kittens, though you talked through the why so I ended up sort of on board with it. I think part of the reason for the draw might also have been the enemy's parameters? Keeping unoccupied buildings intact seemed a lower priority by the end, with the tanks blowing down buildings to clear firing lines - it might be that the scenario designer had it set up so that the enemy got points for each 'unoccupied' building you damaged (to the tune of 7000 points, including whatever they got for inflicting casualties on your force, based on my read of the summary. Also, they have to designate the buildings in advance, so it's possible enemy forces fled into an 'unoccupied' building which you then blasted. Such are the limits of the mission designer I'm afraid). A draw seems a tad rough though - usually an enemy surrender is a total victory. If I might be so presumptuous as to offer advice, despite being a relatively inexperience Combat Mission player; some 'movement tech' is that infantry will assemble at each waypoint given. As your squads aren't split, that's actually waiting for all three fireteams to get into position before they go for the next waypoint. In the dash into the first layer of buildings, if you'd set the waypoint right behind the building they were sprinting for then that has them assemble there before bursting into the building. Good for when the enemy aren't in that building but a nearby one on the other side; gives the squad the best chance of winning fire superiority as they all burst in and shoot up the target building immediately, and it also stops them 'wandering off' and finding another entrance - in the case where your squad went around the side, I think the 'centre of mass' of the squad was off to the side of the building, and so their 'shortest path' went through the side. You can also order the squad to shoot up a different nearby building when they get inside without even waiting to spot the enemy (especially if you have a less solid enemy spot) or split the squad so that you can split your fire on multiple suspect buildings. Your troops and vehicles do all have smoke, too, which can also help - smoke into the road or even into a building you want to go into lets the squad get in there and set up, so even if it only delays the firefight it means you have an even start rather than running into a prepared position. Smoke is used by selecting a waypoint, using the 'face' target to set direction, then pressing the 'smoke' button in the special menu, resulting in a purple line in the direction of the smoke (infantry are not guaranteed to throw it that way though, I'm afraid). Infantry and I think NATO launchers throw/fire 20m forwards in a fairly protective manner, while Pact (and so the older Russian, Syrian, and Ukrainian?) launchers fire 100m forwards (with slower-acting but longer-lasting smoke too) in a more 'offensive' manner. My more subjective view is that it might have been worth having a team (or, in truth, I'd have sent the whole platoon) walking across the open ground at a leisurely pace on your right-hook force. It is somewhat at risk of MG and mortar fire (AK fire at 200m+ isn't that effective, as uncons don't have scopes as standard), though spreading them out greatly mitigates this, and it encourages the enemy to open fire too early (before you're in the streets with them) and under the watchful eyes of the strykers. You had 90 minutes, so time wasn't an issue, and while there might have been the odd casualty your platoon would have gone to ground fairly quickly, and your strykers would have shut the enemy fire down even faster. Plus, a firefight at 200m is something your troops still do better than the Uncons (the Marines and British forces have ACOG scopes, I think, and so are really good at that sort of skirmishing, so if you had a Blue v Blue exercise then it might have been another story). That's absolutely a debatable point though.

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

Appreciate the thoughtful feedback. The AI pathing advice is really helpful. Uncertainly could have dismounted the Infantry prior/during the right hook but it's not something I would be comfortable with in real life, so I didn't do it here.

[@dv6000islame]

Also, you prob know this, but if not, until you start the next turn's orders you can rewatch the current minute of action as many times as needed from different angles or from different units perspectives to improve situational awareness. It looked like you were playing on extra hard mode by virtue of watching each turn only once and potentially missing some intel. It would also add a little more visual appeal to your CM video to zoom in on a particular squad or vehicle during crucial moments or engagements. I find those smaller stories of individual "pixel trupen" fun to watch. But yeah, that requires more editing, not less, so might not be what your after. I totally get it. Anyway, very well played and explained. Loved your analysis and explanations.

[@Victor-vc9br]

Awesome video. Quick note; if you want to target 1 guy but not for 60 seconds long, you can use the J key or 'Target Briefly'. It'll give you 15 seconds of fire, and you can increment it by that period of time aswel

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

Great tip. Thanks!

[@anthony4331]

Love settling into bed on a winters evening with a nice cup of hot chocolate and an hours long exposition on urban warfare

[@Iyizilla-abayomi]

Ngl I love the tactics and the way you walk us through your planning.

[@tylerbeckwith8537]

Select the infantry squad in the Stryker and I think under the special commands you should see “acquire” and they can take ammo or Javs. I think you have to take the launcher and the rockets unless the squad has the launcher. already. Then when you target they’ll shoot their rifles but eventually they should launch a rocket at their target.

[@trofchik9488]

This was very entertaining to watch. AFAIK, the developer of this game was a publisher to another interesting old game called Iron Warriors T-72 Tank Command (cold war era soviet tank sim).

[@virtuallyreal5849]

I was reading through a CAR *tome* on how to do urban ops when I got the notification. Loving it. ❤

[@johannesschroder1704]

Really loved the video, the way how you were explaining what you are doing and also how you commented the action. UI-wise, you must be careful, when sending troops into buildings with balconies. If they are on a level which also features a balcony, they're bound to walk out on it.

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

Ha good to know!

[@TheTerminatorCarrot]

I was gonna watch this straight away when it first uploaded, but man am I glad I saved it for when I had a bunch of updates to download.

[@bensmith6868]

Love it I want to see you play as the insurgents next time

[@noahyoung7276]

Love your CM vids. Hoping for more in the future 🤞I've played this mission a while back, its def a complex one lol For the javs, others have already said how to pick them up quite easily (I've found using the acquire on inf squads before their initial dismount to grab extra 556 is good practice; especially for FIBUA where ammo expenditure is crazy. It can help avoid that moment when they had to use their m9 lol). Use "Target" on a building with the squad with the jav and usually they'll use it ; pretty cool stuff (detaching an AT team is a good idea to help wasting too much other ammo - the temp target option can work but is more finicky) As for UI tips, youve got a great handle on it ; a few pointers on how you use the "Target" option : you can point target an enemy by clicking their icon, this means the unit will focus their fire more effectively and stop firing once the target is dealt with. Sometimes area firing can be preferable though, even with PID, but it can help with ammo and speed. Second tip on the target order : when targeting buildings, you can target specific floors! Where the cursor goes is important. I've noticed you tended to target roofs (which is normal, clicking on a building tends to do that) even when targets were lower, which can lead to overshots and less efficiency when area firing. Clicking on the side of the building at the desired floor helps a lot (and itll be extremely useful when using those javs to blast walls 😁) Another quick one for building entry with infantry : set a path right next to the door you want to take, add a quick pause (5-10s) coupled with a face order or target order towards the building, then a "quick" entry. This means theyll be able to shoot through the door if they spot someone, have the time to assess, maybe lob grenades in too; and the "quick" order is one of the best for reaction time when moving ("fast" theyre too focused on running), kinda like a dynamic entry where theyll avoid staying in the fatal funnel but still acquire targets as they go. CQB will still be deadly as hell in CM, but every bit helps... Aaand I've been gushing too much, I hope all this is helpful to you and I'd love to see more ❤ Good work on the vids, keep it up!

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

Very helpful! thanks!

[@noahyoung7276]

@@ControlledPairsGaming Happy to help mate!

[@PiresArsenalLegend]

there's an old saying on the combat mission forums "balconies invite death". looks like you ran into that one pretty hard. otherwise really enjoy your tactical planning approach to cm. please keep em coming!

[@AR-GuidesAndMore]

As far as i know you can not choose to target with specific weapon systems, expect for when using "target light" wich ecludes heavy weapons. Meaning if you want a Jav on a building you can only target it and hope your team wants to see the building go boom as much as you do. 😅 By the Way, when you are concerned with certain turn because your vehicles get exposed, you can just pop smoke into that direction, as long as enemy doesnt have advanced optics you are golden.

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

Yeah I wasn't sure how to use smoke this run. Need to go back and mess with it.

[@AR-GuidesAndMore]

@@ControlledPairsGaming Its the "Pop Smoke" Command, its available for many infantry teams and most Nato Vehicles smoke deploys in the same way as it does when activated defensively, if you want it in a certain direction, the face command is usually helpfull to use first, however "Pop smoke" is irreversable as a command, if its clicked i personally dont know of a way to get rid of it on a given way point. Edit: If i remember correctly it deploys about 20 Meters away in the face direction of the troop/vehicle.

[@gr1m375]

It’s always fun to watch these videos to see how your mind works on larger objs and commanding a large force.

[@nickcory360]

The Combat Mission stuff that you do is great. If you get chance to have a look at the Cold War game it's well worth a go in my opinion.

[@davidingbar846]

The WWII titles are my favorite. Currently playing through the Operation Market Garden campaign in CM:Battle for Normandy, whose designer is clearly a fan of A Bridge Too Far.

[@Archangel-pd1rn]

Fight a more fair battle in CMBS! P.S.: Strykers are good as long as they don't have to fight!

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

Might try that.

[@thephlyingphish5104]

Hey controlled pairs, are you ever going to do an H2H match? Imo its the best way to learn the game (coming from someone whos been playing for like 10 years) love the content!

[@liameyles1450]

another vid from the master taction himself keep it up man love your vids assault mission is a good sires sadly have not been able to play them

[@ExecutiveTrainingGroup]

Hey sir, Good opord ;)

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

🤣🤣

[@brandonwestfall3241]

Excellent stuff, any chance we'll get to see any Combat Mission: Black Sea?

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

For sure.

[@Marlon044]

Also, has to be a nightmare fighting in the middle east, they use cement and concrete for houses unlike thin wood board here in North America, it means anything lower than a 12.7mm is hard to penetrate in terms of walls and deflect most of it.

[@JoBo431]

Love the combat mission videos mate 👍

[@BroFiST13]

loved playing this mission against a buddy of mine lets just say he didnt have any survivors in the town lol

[@XMadManX]

Two minutes ago is crazy.

[@madeleineollerton5993]

hell yeah been waiting for more CM

[@AR-GuidesAndMore]

Combat Mission needs a record function for Battles. 😭

[@notmetal0-130]

My guy really teaching us Infantry Tactics in Minecraft.

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

Wait till you see Joint Strategy in Tetris.

[@TrailXpert]

More of this game

[@holymosey2556]

You should check out call to arms. It's an rts set in the present day and it's level of complexity is nice and as expected from the makers of men of war. I also want to mention, like all their games, that there are many mods. If you haven't played it, I'm sure you'll be happy.

[@WekBenHelix]

Call to Arms has the worst AI of any strategy game I know, but the core game is awesome. But for decent AI, the WW2 follow-up "Gates of Hell" is much much better. AI actually use the maps, and they don't just endlessly suicide-charge you in lines. The engine Men of War / Call to Arms / Gates of Hell runs on is definitely one of the highest-potential strategy game engines out there, but the devs refuse to develop actual AI.

[@holymosey2556]

I know what you mean, as someone who's spent 100's of hours in those games, there are some moments that make me so angry.@@WekBenHelix

[@Dirt1061]

Yay Combat Mission is bad! My favorite game you play and walk through!

[@ialphasoul2460]

This game never gets on sale cheap 😂 still on my wishlist till goes down to 50% sale or 75%

[@GrumpyReaper2525]

I very much enjoyed this video. Unfortunately, this game's TacAI is notoriously bad when it comes to execution of even mildly complex manouvers with the whole squad. I can relate to the tedium of braking down each squad into fire teams and every manouver into the simplest actions, then overseeing and controlling them each step of the way, but, as one shiny guy once said: 'This is the way!'. Embrace the suck, I guess.

[@kirabodaniel-connell5283]

Noice!

[@magnusred2945]

When you entered the city you led with the Strykers, is that what you should do or should they always be behind the boots?

[@d_ruggs]

I started trying to play this a few years ago, but it feels like you need a degree to play this game lol. Last time I played it (maybe 6 months ago) I had a _bit_ of a better time, but my god, it's hard to figure out how to get your troops to do what you want lol

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

It is a huge challenge to learn. Definitely recommend "Usually Hapless" on KZbin for great tutorials.

[@WekBenHelix]

You'll learn it! Patience and dedication. Some games are hard to learn but for totally arbitrary and "I'm 12 and this is deep" reasons (like Paradox's strategy games, which effectively simulate very little, but require vast inputs and plate-spinning for the illusion of complexity). And then some games, like Combat Mission, are hard to learn because they are incredibly deep simulations, but by joining the small group of people who play these games you're learning to play arguably the most realistic and authentic wargame available, short of zooming out to theatre-tier warfare like "Command: Modern Operations".

[@Rainbing]

Hey is door kickers 2 available on Apple cause I got door kickers 1 and it kinda sucks

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

Not yet.

[@UnexpectedInquisition]

Good thing the enemy does not have drones or mortars

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

Or tanks and fighters

[@starchykid]

👀

[@colbyphilpott970]

Hello pairs

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

👋

[@jordanford8071]

Using a bit of METT-T I see

[@memecraft835]

Fourth to comment love your videos pairs and I am going to try to play door kickers 2 in a week or so idk when but I am because I am going to by it on your game store

[@byronontop]

first

[@VichingoAlchemico]

These graphics are terrible

[@ControlledPairsGaming]

Uh yeah this game isn't about graphics.

[@orangeops8875]

​@@ControlledPairsGamingbased answer. Keep dunking on haters!