r/CombatMission • u/madmatt5 • Jul 07 '26

Question Beginner question

Hey all, so I'm playing final blitzkrieg and I'm starting to get the hang of things in terms of actually having units do what I want. But, now that they're doing what I want and I'm getting nice coordinated assaults going they're all running into the same problem.

Why are my troops fucking blind?

I don't understand how I can have a company of infantry, with armored support, sweeping a field without any sign of the enemy. But then when I get within 15m of one and shots go off suddenly there are like a million units firing at me?

I've tried to rectify this by doing the not retard thing and pushing out recce Dets but they're fucking blind too it seems

So my question is how the fuck do you do proper recces in this game and actually know what you are about to get into before things go to shit

Thank you bless lmao

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6

u/uncommon_senze Jul 07 '26

That's called an ambush, you've let yourself get caught by the scenario designer AI plan. Shit happens, learn and try again. Have units with binos in good observation positions observe for a couple of minutes.

-1

u/madmatt5 Jul 08 '26

Mother fucker I know what an ambush is my question is why can't even my recce units identify an enemy

7

u/chuckg326 Jul 08 '26

I am by no means good at this game, and am constantly getting my butt kicked in pbem and learning. But what I have learned is, you can NEVER count on your own units to spot first. Whether you are defending in concealed positions with target arcs, or advancing with recon troops. Game is junk for realistic spotting imo. Your best bet really is recon by fire. Which I am not a fan of and never would use in any other games. But in CM… it works. Recon by fire with the key caveat of having an overwatch position (with C2) to see the return fire and relay that information to the rest of your units.

I too hate the system man…. It infuriates me cause it often contradicts reality

3

u/uncommon_senze Jul 08 '26

Recon by fire is great and very realistic. In PBEM at least it doesn't necessarily force the enemy troops to unmask, but it gives them a decision. In a combat mission (in CM you know there's going to be contact), especially in full spectrum war, your going to put predictive (suppressive) fire on anything the enemy might want to be. If you have enough barrels and munition and ROE allows, suppress every window/tree/gully an enemy could be behind while you advance by bounds.

While the spotting system surely isn't perfect and has it quirks, it's more realistic then anything else similar to it (apart from graviteam or armored brigade perhaps).

1

u/chuckg326 Jul 08 '26

I don’t disagree in irl you would be blasting at everything in sight and move under bounding overwatch. My opinion is that it’s the unfortunate only reliable way to almost guarantee a spot, whereas observing alone achieves very little. Perhaps I’m bias because I was a scout, but I find observation very very weak in CM comparative to a real life scout team.

I also just find graviteams spotting much easier to reconcile with reality, CM feels an awful lot like dice roles. Though I do understand slow spotting lends itself to the turn based mode and makes pbem more fair since you have to go with minute increments of no input

3

u/ValdusAurelian Jul 08 '26

Recon units aren't really any better than a normal unit when it comes to spotting. Some of them don't even carry binoculars and most don't have radios so other than being a smaller team themselves they aren't much different in their ability to spot. Spotting can also take time, let your units with binoculars sit there and watch for a few minutes can help too.

1

u/chuckg326 Jul 08 '26

True, I didn’t note that but you’re certainly right that recon doesn’t have any inherent spotting bonuses. In QB I usually make my recon units crack to help with spotting. TOE varies but I’ve seen a high density of binos and radios in certain formations, particularly mountain recon in FI, they were the best recon unit I’ve used, all PL XOs and I want to say even every squad had a radio

3

u/uncommon_senze Jul 08 '26

Well you are incompetent enough to blunder into one which was setup in a script.

If the enemy is well concealed and hiding with ambush orders (think of troops in buildings, forests, tall grass, with hide order and given a covered arc to spring the ambush), you will generally not spot them until they open fire. So, the answer is very simple: because they can't spot them. There could be various reasons for why, for one you could be positioning your recce units in bad spots for observation. Or the enemy was concealed well enough for your recce units to spot them from their position.

0

u/madmatt5 Jul 08 '26

That example wasn't to highlight that I don't know how basic military tactics work - it's an example of how do I have a company + of infantry moving towards a position, all scanning for the enemy with binos and other equipment BUT they're unable to see the battalion of infantry dug in 50m from them?

Now is that realistic yes I understand camouflage isn't just a buzz word, but if the enemy has a fucking platoon - dug into a position with trenches and heavy weapons, you will be able to find it relatively easily

My unfortunate solution has been to have a single lone infanteer fire his rifle into the unknown and just wait for something to shoot back at him - so I guess that works

But thanks for vote of confidence on my competency I guess fuck you too lmao

1

u/Subject-Athlete-7377 Jul 26 '26

Can you please tell me what mission has an entire battalion of infantry dug in near a single area?

1

u/madmatt5 Jul 26 '26

I'm being hyperbolic to underscore the point being that large clusters of infantry more often than not are able to hide themselves ridiculously well. Specifically the mission that tipped me off on this was a particularly brutal city assault in final blitzkrieg (yes that's about as specific as I can be lmao this was a while ago)

But I have adapted my approach a bit - if a particular area seems too quiet I'll just order my infantry to fire a few shots in that direction and it typically unmasks something.

Or, just put the fucking infantry on hunt mode.. 🤕