Hill 1056 - Combat Mission: Fortress Italy 02

[@shelovevanilla]

keep up these videos we need more combat mission content creators

[@HelixWek]

A new ep should be ready very soon! And I've got a joint AAR on a multiplayer game with Chap in the works

[@kodiak2fitty]

Nicely prepared AAR!

[@KilroyJTF2]

Another great AAR. Definitely look forward to watching you continue to learn. Especially when you’re ready to give it a try in multiplayer.

[@bitdancer1005]

Nicely done and thank you!

[@jaydevaux28]

My comment deleted itself. Glad you uploaded was waiting for some more of this I just got into combat mission too nice to see someone else learn too

[@HelixWek]

I'm really glad I got into the series! And yeah I've got more Black Sea content coming next.

[@jaydevaux28]

@@HelixWek fantastic looking forward to it. Till then have a nice week

[@CODRD]

To learn combined arms, at least in the WW2 setting I recommend the first US campaign in Battle for Normandy.

[@arng93]

Helix posting again? Hell yeah man

[@kirabodaniel-connell5283]

This was awesome dude

[@kashk42]

Black Sea is, in my opinion atleast, the toughest to get into. Modern weapons and a peer enemy makes it s really hard option for getting into the games. My personal favourite campaign is Shockforce 2's american army campaign. It's still very much modern warfare, but you are fighting a lot of unconventionals. It's still tough though as you are expected to take minimum casulties due to your massive advantages. It's less "can I win?" and more "Can I win with acceptable losses?" as you've seldom really in a position where you are in a position to actually be beaten, but then there are of course factors such as IED's, carbombs, and ambushes, with ANY losses being a pretty big deal. I'd reccomend you give it a try for a different feel from both Black Sea and the WW2-titles. It has very much a second Iraq war-theme, but with you commanding a Stryker-based taskforce, although when you do get to play around with your Bradley-equipped combat-engineers platoons that is also a pure joy as they wreak havoc.

[@HelixWek]

I actually own Shock Force 2! I was going to release a video of it soon-ish after another round of Black Sea. You're right about Black Sea though. Modern warfighting is played along a razor's edge compared to the blunt and analog nature of WW2.

[@wojszach4443]

and that was my first pick into combat missions :d yes, everything is just too deadly, so deadly that me thinks next combat mission for me should be italy maybe

[@wolfewatson]

good videos! Subbed :)

[@wojszach4443]

that was intensive

[@wartsnall7332]

Another well put together video. Your casualties were a bit on the high side. Knowing when, and when not, to have your men hide takes a lot of learning, and a bit of luck. Perhaps if you continue with Fortress Italy you can boost your men's morale with some period music. "Isle of Capri" by Wingy Manone should do the trick.

[@bpeyman68]

What was the song used in the intro?

[@HelixWek]

The Theme to Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault!

[@andrewsterge4089]

Great video! You were unlucky to lose your bunker MG so quickly! In my experience they can hold up to insane amounts of small arms fire. Are you using a uniform mod for the Germans?

[@HelixWek]

It seemed rather unlucky, yeah! And I'm using the All in One mod for FI so that might be doing it

[@LolLol-ub8gd]

What game is this? Looks very cool

[@HelixWek]

Combat Mission: Fortress Italy!

[@GrumpyReaper2525]

It is hard for me to accurately judge the whole picture, of course. That said, it seems that you've suffered from a common tactical pitfall. You've prioritized holding the ground over inflicting damage on the enemy and preserving your own force. The latter is the primary goal of defense, not the former. This led you to a questionable use of terrain and fires. You have concentrated too much troops on the obvious forward slope positions vulnerable to the enemy direct fires and on the obvious spot for the indirect fires. Moreover, you have decided to open fire from a relatively long range, revealing your positions quite early while having modest effects on targets. You have under-utilized your indirect fires, especially your organic mortars, by giving them a fire mission over the terrain already covered with your direct fires. It is better to cover with your indirect fires avenues of approach hidden or masked from your direct fires. Regardless of my tactical criticism, this video was a very pleasant one to watch. Thank you for your work and effort!

[@HelixWek]

This is honestly very helpful advice! As someone learning proper tactics and techniques I seriously value comments like this. It's very tempting to bolster positions on advantageous terrain, when in reality that's the FIRST place an enemy is going to barrage/smoke. It's difficult to find "secondary" positions from which you should be doing the most damage, because they are often weaker or more subdued positions. Fighting the temptation is difficult especially when the easy option is right in front of you. I lost a PBEM engagement last week because my enemy smoked my primary base of fire immediately--I was predictable. But I couldn't figure out what other terrain to use! It was very messy and forested, and so the cluster of buildings seemed like my best BOF. But he smoked the buildings and then shot them to hell with targeted fire before I even revealed my MGs inside. I'll need to learn better use of the field, especially on defense and meeting engagements.

[@GrumpyReaper2525]

​@@HelixWek It is a good idea to minimize your angle of exposure, i.e. the angle from which your troops can be shot. Think of them as a lethal keyholes: small and narrow at the shooter's side but gradually opening up at a distance. Firing slids in the Medieval castlel's walls are built in such a manner. Defender tends to prefer a short-range engagements, because they allow him to produce as many casualties in as short time as possible. This, in turn, allows to hold a larger force with a smaller one - a key principle of defence. One more thing you will do well to consider is depth of your position. Instead of having one, tightly packed line of defence consider dispersing your forces over multiple, thinner-held lines providing mutual fire support. You don't necessarily need to have boots on the ground to hold said ground. You can hold it with fires instead, destroying any enemy the approaches or sets foot on the position you want to hold. Join TheFewGoodMen community if you haven't done this already. There's plenty of people and materials that will be extremely helpful to mastering tactics and Combat Mission games and, most importantly, having fun in the process.

[@HelixWek]

@GrumpyReaper2525 All makes a lot of sense! And I hadn't heard of that community. I'll sign up this evening!

[@GrumpyReaper2525]

@@HelixWek Glad to be of assistance!

[@bazeye]

Nice video, but playing the AI is a waste of time IMO, it's so bad that the games aren't competitive. I would like to see you play against a human opponent.

[@HelixWek]

Working on a PBEM with someone now actually! They're very experienced in CM so it's not going as well for me but it's still fun!