[CloseWombat]

Hello y'all,

this is my first post here so I'm saying HI to all of you!

I bought CC-COI quite a while ago, and recently installed it again.
It is still as much fun to play as it used to be!

However, I have found some problems, with which I hope you can help me:
I'm playing the grand campaign (41-45), and by now arrived at the 'Prelude to (Destruction?)'-OP, defending against Russian attacks in the gullys & hills of the map.
Now:

1. How can I kill the Russian tanks, esp. the KV-I? I have a StuGIII, a PzIII (Command), and a PzIV - but they get kiled by the first shot of the enemy tanks, be it their M3, T34, or KV-I. Can someone please enlighten me?

2. My mortar is behaving strange: I order fire, it fires, then reloads. After reloading, I get a message that it has 'no target' - while ordering fire to the exactly same spot as before. It just won't fire any more (having ammo enough)...
Why is this?

3. I saved before the beginning of the new OP. I had to start over many times, since I always get overrun by the Russians. Now, my old savegame-title is still there, but reloading it puts me at the beginning of the OP again, WITH the lost units still being lost! Is there a limit of the number of savegames, or what is going on here?

I have many more questions, because I think the manual, while written very well, gives too little information...

But these questions (esp. the strange savegame-thing) are really frustrating me.
So, any help you might be able to give, is greatly appreciated!

Bless y'all!
CloseWombat

[southern_land]

I'l answer #1 because I don't know the answer to number's 2 and 3.  For the first 3 years of the CG (until the tigers and Panthers arrive) the best way to win as germans is to stay mobile... basically shoot and scoot.  Most of the time you're out gunned, out armoured and out pointed.  A pz III can take out a KV, it just takes anything from 30-50 shots in the flank at 50 metres, a Pz IV will do it easier (except the D varient) and an 88 flak or 75 pak hidden in the brush somewhere will do it better than anything.  

Better still group your forces so you have 2-4 barrels for their one.  nail them one by one through sheer weight of fire

Sometimes you just have to stalk the damned things with a flamethrower and othertimes you have to retreat from a map to recoup.

[papa_whisky]

I don't know about COI but each weapon is given a set of allowable targets. If the mortar is set for terrain and infantry for example and you place the cursor over a tank they will not fire. If you offset it a little you will find that it fires.

[vonB]

1.  AT, AT, AT.  In the early years, the best way I have found to neutralize the Soviet Armour is by using Anti Tank Guns, while using your own Armour to wipe out their Infantry and nail their AT Guns when spotted.  The 50mm PAK38 is going to be the foundation of your AT to start with with an 88 if it is available, though they can get killed easily.  If you are using an 88, deploy it as far away from the enemy as possible.  it has excellent killing power at any range, but the further away it is, the more likely it will survive.  If there is nothing else available than the 37mm 'Door Knocker', still use them.  A disabled enemy Tank allows you more scope for manouvre and can reduce the threat.  Also, good advice from Southern Land.  Concentrate and combine fires where possible.

Simple truth is in the beginning of the GC, the Soviet Armour is just plain superior (T34/KV) and you will lose if you try and take them on H2H with your own Armour.  Also, there are no Panzerfausts or Panserschrecks, so your infantry have to get up VERY close, and that is always a risk as you can lose an entire team in the blink of an eye to Armour.

2.  Not sure as I have not come across this.  Are you using the Mortar(s) in direct or indirect fire?

3.  There are no limits (as far as I know) to the number of saved games.  I'll have to check this out, but I think that when you finish a Game, the file that launched the Battle is overwritten, even if you save it as another name.  You can copy a saved game file easily in Windows Explorer and give it another name.  Also, you can save it to as many names as you like, so when saving the result from the last Battle of an OP, save it to 2 names (one as a backup and one to use to continue to the next OP).  I too have found on occasion that I wanted to go back to a previous Battle, but found that the saved game file had been overwritten.  The only way I know to preserve a saved game file is not to use it again, and if you do, make a copy to launch a Battle from, not the original.

Not sure if that helps any...