Combat Mission Afghanistan - Surprise! We are not dead ... we are just suppressed!

Although I'm not Battlefront's biggest fan, I am having a great time with Combat Mission Afghanistan.

This week I had a rude tactical awakening while storming a trench line with my Soviet paratroopers.

Men from the 2nd Squad, 1st Platoon, A Company move towards an enemy trench. No enemy has been seen in this trench after sustained suppression from the rest of the platoon.

Privates Sukhodolets and Nudler are the first ones to arrive to the edge of the trench and everything looks like the enemy fled. Note the facing of these two comrades. 

Two seconds later, the Mujahideen pop out and shoot our brave paratroopers.

Suppression is a must-do tactical task. But keep in mind that our mission is to kill the enemy, not just annoy him.

My tactical mistakes were multiple. Just to mention one, the 80's Soviet tactical atom was the platoon and I (kinda) tried to keep this in mind. The trench was technically being assaulted by the entire 1st Platoon, but the problem was that at the moment of truth (one squad arriving at the edge of the trench), the two other squads were providing over watch to something they couldn't see (the guts of the trench). Battlespaces, folks, is a concept that is hard to learn for the tactically challenged like me.

Other crucial mistake I made was not properly using the wide range of orders available to the player.When Sukhodolets and Nudler arrived to the edge of the trench, they were facing in the direction of the last movement order, not in the direction of the trench. In Combat Mission, it is sometimes advisable to issue a firing arc (or "target light" if you are in deep caca) order at every movement node. These "watch there" type of orders provide a tactical movement menu that is incredibly satisfying.

Cheers,