Best Way to Learn This Game?

[goofey]

What is the best way to learn this game?

Thus far I have read about 1/3 of the manual, which I intend to finish, just not in one session.

I have also watched a ton of YouTube videos.

I have also done about half of the flight tutorials. Nothing else game-wise. Just working through those. I don't seem to be getting anywhere in those tutorials though. I get about 24 planes flying at the same time and things get pretty confused pretty quickly.

Old age probably has something to do with it for sure.

So what should I do to get better at this?

Thanks.

Michael

[Nukkxx]

I had hard time too with CMO in the begining. It took me time to know what I'm doing.
My advice. Don't rush, don't try to swallow it in one piece. It WILL take time. Just enjoy playing. Don't try to much to learn but play and have fun. Try small/medium scenarios. If you don't understand something, do not insist too much. Don't spoil your pleasure. CMO is by far the best wargame/sim all times. You will LOVE it past the initial learning period. And yes, the learning curve is steep.

Otherwise, yes, tutorials are the best way to learn. If you find one tutorial too hard, skip it and try again later.

Others might disagree with me :-)

[--Nico--]

Hi,

I think you dont need to read the manual right now.

You will learn everything you need to know in tutorials, i advise you to do them all.

It will take you around 30 hours of play.

When you will play a real mission, you will need from time to time the manual for a better understanding of specific points.

[goofey]

It was mentioned that thirty hours is about right but I have already played for 53 hours. Wouldn't care if I was making progress, but I am not. Heck just managing the planes feels like I'm running a day care center.

[SuperSeanics]

I have found that creating a blank scenario and playing with combat in a one on one (example: one fighter against one SAM site) is a good way to understand all aspects of the game:
- scenario building (sensors,doctrine, weapons and magazines) I also spend a lot of a time researching the scenario I want to build... forces, strategy, geopolitical implications. I don't use time acceleration so combat can be a game of patience (especially if the bombers are flying in from hundreds of miles away)
-platform capabilities (air vs. naval vs ground combat)
-unit commands (group, move, attack, defend)
-tactics (EMCOM, WRA & auto vs. manual attack)

After a few rounds of 1 vs. 1 I start to stack the odds against me... 1 fighter against 2 then 3 then 4 then 4 + SAM. I get to a point where it is impossible to survive then start to add other units (think supplemental platforms and/or capabilities not just more fighters) that can make survival possible.

I then start over and begin to mix in air + naval vs. air + ground... starting with the 1 unit approach (example: 1 fighter + 1 ship vs. 1 fighter + 1 SAM) and again start building up opposing forces until I can't possible defend against an attack and then start adding assets on my side.

For each platform, I create a cheat sheet (paper and pencil that one day I'll put in electronic format) if you plan on fighting 24 planes against a similar force + SAM + naval assets think of the skill set needed similar to playing chess, risk and hold'em at the same time... doable but you have to be prepared and practice before you get to this point or you'll be very frustrated very quickly!

I play CMO to create real life scenarios based upon real events so I spend just as much time creating scenarios as I do playing them. I've gotten to the point where Lua programming is required to maintain realistic capabilities when I'm playing against the computer so if you want to be serious start early! This is the resource I've been using https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Lua_Programming

[SuperSeanics]

Originally posted by goofey:

It was mentioned that thirty hours is about right but I have already played for 53 hours. Wouldn't care if I was making progress, but I am not. Heck just managing the planes feels like I'm running a day care center.

To go from daycare to doctorate you need to be sure you are setting the correct Doctrine and WRA or you're going to need to be changing diapers and refilling bottles left and right.

[goofey]

All I can say is that the Tutorial mission called "Peeling the Onion" or whatever is a pretty bad mission for new people. Jeez, you have 24 planes to maintain and way more SAM coverage than you can deal with. I think I scored maybe 20 on about my seventh time playing the thing.

[splashonebandit]

After Air tutorials, you can try a small mission.

I personally like "Raid on Kismayo":
It's simple and pretty linear, but you have a good variety of air assets (even if only a few of each type) IMHO a perferct scenario for beginner.

-Take the time to read and understand the briefing to have a global vision of tactical situation (very important)
-Take time to inspect all units under your command, Their capabilities, speed, weaponry etc... If you don't know some of them (or their weapons) do not hesitate to use google.
-Once you have assimilate briefing (tactical situation) and assets availables, you will probably already have an idea of how to conduct the mission: wich unit you will send for reco, which ones will stay on your CV (but ready to take off if needed)

I personally don't like to play with time compression, so each scenario can take hours, or days!

After successful Raid on Kismayo, you can be able to try some more complex missions ;)

[goofey]

Good advice. Thanks!

[Darkaisa]

@goofey

I decided to buy CMO too, and I am also at this point. There are so many tutorials but they are all fragmented. I wish I could find a big comprehensive tutorial that divides into multiple easy to digest segments rather than finding a lot of smaller tutorials without a structured order. Anyone knows about such tutorials if they exist at all?

@goofey, what did you end up doing after all?

[{DDB} Ghostface and chill]

3rd party Youtube tutorials and dont think of it as a game. The problems you face require real solutions so come up with a plan from the doctrine all the way down to the tactics and then learn how to implement it.
edit: also learning by playing will help you see where you need to improve your knowledge.

[ShelLuser]

Originally posted by Darkaisa:

I decided to buy CMO too, and I am also at this point. There are so many tutorials but they are all fragmented.

Keep in mind that you're posting to a thread which is over 3 years old, so I wouldn't expect the original posters to reply; it's not even sure they're still playing ;)

Anyway, the in-game tutorials are pretty decent to be honest. Also don't underestimate what you can learn from just going with a bit of a trial and error; the editor is pretty good for that.

[rogeriovela]

Originally posted by goofey:

What is the best way to learn this game?

Thus far I have read about 1/3 of the manual, which I intend to finish, just not in one session.

I have also watched a ton of YouTube videos.

I have also done about half of the flight tutorials. Nothing else game-wise. Just working through those. I don't seem to be getting anywhere in those tutorials though. I get about 24 planes flying at the same time and things get pretty confused pretty quickly.

Old age probably has something to do with it for sure.

So what should I do to get better at this?

Thanks.

Michael

Wait for the next patch. And hope its stable (and doesn't break what's already working, creating yet another mountain of new bugs). The way the game is now, it is unplayable.

[d.anderson]

Also try setting up some quick battles. They typically have only one to a few units per side, so you can concentrate better on what you are doing without feeling overwhelmed. There are many options, so they stay fresh, and many scenario types. They are quick and easy ways to practice searching and engaging the enemy.