Skip all the skirmishes

[Jet]

For anyone looking to play the new campaign, do yourself a favor and skip the skirmishes just like before. Like every one of the past its just a tank spamming rush after half way. The first half is super fun getting to seize points by picking your tactics and attack vectors but once you reach half way the AI just decides to spawn waves and waves of tanks at you until they either break through and take everything back, or you spawn enough tanks to finish the mission.

The endless waves of tanks is very "other rts game" feeling and its not why we (I) chose the more realistic, slower paced game. Really just kills the mood every time I sink a bunch of time slow playing the start of the match only to be met with both AI and I spawning tank waves by the end.

I dont know if this was the intentional style of these missions but I just skip all of them at this point and would advise everyone else do the same. :/

[jpvignoli]

i am playing with the idea of making a simple mod to limit the maximum usable mp on both sides;
but i dont know exactly how to proceed.
would be cool if somebody here were to help.;

[kampfer91]

Eh . I would advice you do yours but dont tell everyone how to play , that not gonna work and dev made these skirmish mission for those who enjoy those same mission back in assault squad 2 .

Also instead of tank spamming . You can try something else . After all you not only have tank ,but also heavy arty and elite infantry to play with , both have theirs own way to fight tank .

Try Finland skirmish ,most of the time Soviet will field better tank and AT gun than you so you have to be more crafty with infantry and theirs molotov instead of tank.

[Jet]

Originally posted by kampfer91:

Eh . I would advice you do yours but dont tell everyone how to play , that not gonna work and dev made these skirmish mission for those who enjoy those same mission back in assault squad 2 .

Also instead of tank spamming . You can try something else . After all you not only have tank ,but also heavy arty and elite infantry to play with , both have theirs own way to fight tank .

Try Finland skirmish ,most of the time Soviet will field better tank and AT gun than you so you have to be more crafty with infantry and theirs molotov instead of tank.

Play the campaign skirmishes on hard and let me know your thoughts.

The unit spam the AI deliver is not one that can be solved with "better tactics" or "getting creative with your units" its simply just convoys of tanks, assault guns and tank destroyers getting sent down the map over and over.

I'd love to hear your expert tactical prowess on what the best approach is for this. I've setup extensive front line defenses after the 3rd capture point because I KNOW whats coming and they still send enough armor to eventually end up exhausting every AT gun, AT Infantry, or tank of my own. My last skirmish ended with 109 enemy AI vehicles destroyed only after I spawned 10 tanks in my base and sent them straight to their base together.

[kampfer91]

I have played all the skirmish on Hard mode with fog of war on while writing my guide , so i know the in and out of each scenario and how much vision it impact the game .

After you capture the 3rd CP , usually medium tank CP , enemy do send attack wave but it is not infinite till you start to own either Heavy tank or Heavy arty CP .

Or you can specify which scenario that give you problem and i can help .

[Jet]

Originally posted by kampfer91:

I have played all the skirmish on Hard mode with fog of war on while writing my guide , so i know the in and out of each scenario and how much vision it impact the game .

After you capture the 3rd CP , usually medium tank CP , enemy do send attack wave but it is not infinite till you start to own either Heavy tank or Heavy arty CP .

Or you can specify which scenario that give you problem and i can help .

I had it happen in all of them, but ended up just pushing through with little to no enjoyment.

I was doing Hurtgen Forest today when I was just too bored with killing waves of tanks with no progress to continue and skipped it.

It doesn't really seem like a skill issue (at least not in the way I feel the game is meant to be played), more than a game mechanic that seems really lame.

I have found that the spawns are infinite - even to the point where I can sit in the area they are spawning and watch them come in, eventually the units watching that area just end up dying because they keep spawning.

[kampfer91]

Hurtgen forest huh , what doctrine ? By this time the American already fielded some good units that can deal with heavy tanks head on . 10.5 will decrew Panther tank while Jumbo tank is immune to Panther gun .

And it is only infinite spawn if you just doing nothing , or else it would be easy win if the A.I just stop producing at some point . See CoH , even if you push at theirs doorstep the A.I will still build unit or even call in a tank .

Think this way , if A.I not send anymore attack wave , someone will complain why the mode is too ez and provide no challenge .

[Jet]

Originally posted by kampfer91:

Hurtgen forest huh , what doctrine ? By this time the American already fielded some good units that can deal with heavy tanks head on . 10.5 will decrew Panther tank while Jumbo tank is immune to Panther gun .

And it is only infinite spawn if you just doing nothing , or else it would be easy win if the A.I just stop producing at some point . See CoH , even if you push at theirs doorstep the A.I will still build unit or even call in a tank .

Think this way , if A.I not send anymore attack wave , someone will complain why the mode is too ez and provide no challenge .

I played offensive doc that time and the 105 and Jumbo were helpful but its hard to push forward while also just fighting off waves of tanks as well. The enemy still have emplacements that must be dealt with (like 8.8s) while also trying to make sure their TDs arent crew shocking or even penning your side.

Maybe I just dont understand how people play the game - its entirely possible. Maybe people do spawn a ton of units and just kind of send them forward but I've always tried to do things with minimal losses in a more realistic focused method because that's the vibe this game has always given me.

I feel the AI not being able to spawn infinitely *would* be a good thing. Thats not how it would work in reality - you have a set amount of reinforcements and if the enemy were to beat them all back, thats it! I think its fair to do that with both sides.

I like the comparison with CoH because I think it makes sense for the team who has the most map control to have the stronger army. Sure you could pull off an awesome tactical move that gets you back in the game but to be spawning units like no tomorrow while only controlling one last final point seems pretty silly to me.

[kampfer91]

You can just fire smoke round between you and the Pak 43 position then send a 10.5 round at it , as long as nothing see your tank . Even if you toggle off fog of war , enemy A.I still obey the rule of vision .

I also can sneak in infantry from left flank and approach the 8.8 one by one then send them a grenade . Smoke is incredibly useful .

Attack wave is not constant , not like A.I immediately replace a tank the moment you destroy it and send it out again , they have hidden timer till next wave .

[Jet]

Originally posted by kampfer91:

You can just fire smoke round between you at the Pak 43 position and send a 10.5 round at it , as long as nothing see your tank . Even if you toggle off fog of war , enemy A.I still obey the rule of vision .

I also can sneak in infantry from left flank and approach the 8.8 one by one then send them a grenade . Smoke is incredibly useful .

Attack wave is not constant , not like A.I immediately replace a tank the moment you destroy it and send it out again , they have hidden timer till next wave .

We are clearly just not playing the same game.

I always play with fog on, and assaulting an enemy position is not just "smoke and charge an infantry squad in." They have multiple infantry squads, MGs, AT guns, etc all covering eachother including more of those emplacements covering the other emplacements longer.

I dont know if its just a lone AT gun when you play but for me there are well designed and fully functioning defensive positions that take time to whittle down. Clearly the meta is to just charge in regardless of losses like a typical RTS and I just dont jive with that.

I think there's a large portion of this community who plays the game because they dont jive with the meat grinder style of many other RTS games.

It's for that reason I would encourage any player playing this game to skip every skirmish still. They are designed poorly and serve as mere speed bumps to slow campaign progress.

RE: Attack waves not being consistent that isnt my experience, including the sessions Ive screen recorded just to make sure I wasnt crazy and looked at after. There are no times where there is no enemy armor for more than 3 mins.

[jswarpaint]

Originally posted by jpvignoli:

i am playing with the idea of making a simple mod to limit the maximum usable mp on both sides;
but i dont know exactly how to proceed.
would be cool if somebody here were to help.;

The ultimate would be for the AI and the Player to get the same number of resources or money the stuff we use to buy stuff with the ribcage looking thing.

Easy level player gets more ribcages

Medium level is balanced

hard enemy gets more ribcages but its a FIXED AMOUNT at the beginning of the campaign

so if ya take out a unit it means something...

it means somthning in a battle but not in the campaign because no matter how well one does the enemy gets to send more stuff ..

the campaign would get super easy and boring at the end perhaps because you have wiped them out but I guess peeps would not like the "realism" this basically is what happens during a campaign during a war.. the side that wins usually has it easy the last few battles ... attrition of men ... equipment .. trench rot .. malaria .. side effects from taking prescription meds... football season over with that sort of stuff .

[kampfer91]

You gotta have to tear down each element one by one . And no , you don't do the rushing in like real life assault . Use the officer with binoc first to identify what is cover what , then question if you can blind side them . And smoke do work as A.I rely on vision of each other to identify what target to shoot .

Choose what path you gonna approach with scout unit , of course it is a terrible idea to cross open area , use bush , and smoke the way if you can . Unit hiding inside smoke is pretty much invisible to A.I until you get very close , at that time it is already too late for them as it is in range of grenade .

Can you shoot the MG element while outside of Pak gun range ? Can you use mortar behind cover ? Etc.

And once again , you can cheese the entire defense with smoke and grenade .

[Jet]

Originally posted by jswarpaint:

it means somthning in a battle but not in the campaign because no matter how well one does the enemy gets to send more stuff ..

the campaign would get super easy and boring at the end perhaps because you have wiped them out but I guess peeps would not like the "realism" this basically is what happens during a campaign during a war..

100% this this this.

[dave-isaac-93]

the skirmishes are the only bad part of the game, I hope they dont include them in upcoming dlcs

[kampfer91]

Just because you hate it doesn't mean everyone does , and i hope dev update the current skirmishes and then add more when new factions come .

Also you can , ya know , don't play those ? It come with the package without additional charge and let other have fun with theirs favorite missions instead of telling them what to do .

[Ch53dVet]

Kampfer91, (I enjoy and appreciate all the work you've done in your guides)
I am with you to the nth degree, if it wasn't for the skirmish packs I would've left this game on the shelf a long time ago. I hate dynamic missions where you have to storm the beaches at Normandy under the countdown of a mission timer, that type of mechanic leads to the run, gun, spray and pray type of gaming.

Skirmish missions let you survey, build your army, plan the attack, execute plan A. After taking half of the maps bases, which grant me access to specialized troops and equipment, I will halt moving forward and re-tool and enlarge my fighting forces and as long as I hold in place the counter attack will not trigger (Automatic Game Save indicates the trigger was pulled), My tactic is to employ numerous recon scouts, snipers and Lt's and put them on hold fire and secrete them forward to reveal the enemies gun emplacements, etc...

When the trigger gets pulled my mortar teams and arty (if available) have already knocked out the fixed gun emplacements due to my hidden observers, plus tank crews nearby can actually target the enemy at max range when the scouts have cleared off their fog of war.
The main counter attack does not last forever, as long as I let the enemy come to me he will suffer greatly from my heavily built up defensive forces. When the enemy gets bloodied enough his attack will wane and eventually stop and go dormant , allowing me to replenish, re-build, repair and capture enemy tanks into my fold, then I inch my scouts forward till the next obstacle(s) are located.

What I dislike is other people telling me what to like or dislike because its not their cup of tea. I'm getting tired of this "Influence/propagandist" mindset to stop you from thinking for yourself because you're just too childish to know better.
I say to everybody else, "Try it, you just might, or, might not, like it" find out for yourself.