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Close Combat Series -> Close Combat Last Stand Arnhem

#1: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: Uberdave, Location: Kansas, USA

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 6:23 pm
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Recently finished playing LSA, and I must say that it is indeed the most 'polished' of the re-releases. I loved the strat map and the pressure to capture bridges!

Played as the Allies vs German AI. Hardest settings, 15 min battles, FM on. Lost lots of bridges on the first day before I realized that speed and mobility were key. Territory up to Nijmegen was taken and held by Allied forces on 1500 of Sept 18th. All units south of Nijmegen were in full supply. By 1800 on Sept 19th, 504/82 (combined) broke through WAAL/North Bank to Oosterhout....makes contact with 4/1 UK AB on 0000 of Sept 20th @ Elst. As of 1500 on Sept 20th, all units on strat map are in full supply. GC ended on 1800 of the 21st, total Allied victory. Never got to use the Poles, lol.

Cohesion: Allies 73%, Axis 43%
Axis losses: 688 KIA, 1450 WIA, 21 Armor, 21 Vehicles, 16 Guns
Allied losses: 310 KIA, 658 WIA, 21 Armor, 4 Vehicles, 0 Guns

Pros:
-Best strat map yet! It is a game within itself.
-Smaller unit actions on large maps was very challenging.
-Less armor! Yay...an infantry game that doesn't have 50 King Tigers in one BG!
-More historical...less arcade
-Static BGs are a great idea...keeps the player from covering too much ground too quickly in the GC.
-Most satisfying GC vs AI I've played in years!
-Merging BGs is a very useful option
-The point/purchase system ala CC2/CC3 was incorporated effectively and kept BGs from being too overpowered or mismatched

Questions:
-What does 'KM' stand for on some German units? I know NL means Netherlands...
-No regular American army units at Op M-G? They were all AB?
-Luftwaffe personnel had green rank badges?
-What is a 'four shot salvo'?? I never understood this concept, even after 17 years of playing the game. I noticed a bazooka crew reporting this after firing on infantry in a house.
-How to improve a BGs 'cohesion'? Does it naturally degrade irreversibly?

Observations:
-Mortars are much more realistic than in WAR (where they had god-like abilities). They aren't KOing halftracks and armored cars in less than 3 shots any more.
-Halftrack armor is much more effective vs small arms fire. German HTs zipped past my infantry teams on several occasions, without their crew getting afraid due to being under fire. Grenades were less effective against them as well. Much more difficult to kill them with vanilla infantry, which is more realistic, IMO. I could even cruise my little Daimlers around without being wiped out by a burst of MG fire.
-Vehicles painted on the maps were too large and disproportionate to actual moving vehicles and soldiers.
-KG Becker has a duplicate 'FJ 8.8cm Flak36' in its FPool.

Suggestions:
-Foreign MGs in German service need NEW sounds...not duplicates.
-Cromwell and Stuart V were observed to have same 'very fast' speed, even on paved roads. Maybe I'm wrong, but HTs, ACs, and small tanks like the Stuart should be zipping around the map much faster...especially on paved roads. It was their speed that helped them survive and be effective recon and anti-personnel vehicles.
-Beef up German defending BGs in GC vs AI

#2: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: Uberdave, Location: Kansas, USA

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 6:30 pm
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Some other things I noticed:

-UK AB units armed with M1911A1 Colt pistols instead of Webleys? Was this historical?

-UK AB Flamethrower has 20 ammo? Did the UK version of the flamethrower have that much fuel?

#3: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: HogansHeros,

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 7:16 pm
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I assume "KM" stands for Kriegsmarine

#4: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: Uberdave, Location: Kansas, USA

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 7:36 pm
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Ah yes, that would explain it. Naval men diverted to infantry roles. Makes sense, especially with Antwerp nearby.

#5: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: sample,

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 8:35 pm
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Uberdave wrote (View Post):

-UK AB units armed with M1911A1 Colt pistols instead of Webleys? Was this historical?

According to various sources both standard M1911A1 Colt and chambered in .455 Webley variant (via RAF), were used by British Airborne troops at Arnhem (and in fact in all Airborne Operations). Even in one of the most famous picture taken in Oosterbeek, (http://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/Photos/PicPilotOosterbeek_high.jpg) one of the soldiers is seen armed with a Colt pistol. On the same site, one british veteran recall his experience inside the Oosterbeek perimeter, how he choosed a Colt pistol during patrols.

regards,
m

#6: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: Tejszd, Location: Canada

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 3:54 am
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Good review Uberdave!

Cohesion Lost
- moving
- battle (much higher than just moving)

Impacts of low Cohesion:
- On a BG level; as a BG fights and moves its units would get spread out and communication would be harder which lowers cohesion. Once cohesion hits a certain lower level disorganized units appear within BG's which will not get replacement troops and can not be swapped out. It is a penalty for not allowing a BG to rest.
- In battle; as cohesion falls you will have disorganized units (units with missing men). Unconfirmed but some think troops perform a bit worse and morale falls faster.

Cohesion Recovery:
- Requires a BG to rest. Resting at night adds the most Cohesion back in a single turn....

#7: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: Uberdave, Location: Kansas, USA

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 4:46 pm
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Thanks Sample!

Tesjzd, thanks for the bit of info! Makes sense that 'resting' the BG would influence a change. That also explains why I was seeing lots of 'disorganized' troops in BGs.

#8: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: platoon_michael, Location: Right behind you

Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 7:15 pm
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This and tLD are re-releases I just cant play.
Both have the most Horrible UI and Strategic map graphics.
Add to that the new Icons and I just cant stand it.

And I just cant spend the Hours needed to correct it.
They both sit in my Junk drawer.

#9: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: papa_whisky,

Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2014 8:51 am
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LSA certainly is a good game although for me it is trumped by GTC.

#10: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: Uberdave, Location: Kansas, USA

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 12:30 am
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@ Michael, I like the BG unit icons waaaay better in TLD and LSA than those cartoony looking sketches in the original CC4. To each their own...

And "horrible UI"? You can actually see certain tabs and buttons, whereas they are obscured in CCWAR.

@ whisky - I haven't played Pitf or Gtc yet...I'm still playing all the re-releases and related mods first. Can't wait though. Twisted Evil

#11: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: vobbnobb,

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 4:46 am
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KM is

Naval Battalion 10 / KG VT Kapt. Lt. Zaubzer
Kriegsmarine (part of wermact)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriegsmarine

I find it interesting and neat that LSA included them in the battles and I didn't notice them before.

The bazooka guys announcing something about a four shot salvo being completed is what I remember as well, but no clue what it was in a bazooka?

In the greyhound/stuart and others it's the canister shot for anti infantry probably.

bump for anyone else that understand why they announce the salvo stuff? Is it for range judgement?

Are the bazooka guys using HESH rounds on certain targets? They could also attach two grenades on 1 rocket motor for hedgerow use. Found this on another forum

" The HESH munition (High Explosive Squash Head) developed by the British originally as a bunker buster proved to be a very effective tank killer by causing extensive spalling of the armor in the interior of the tank without actually penetrating the armor. The HESH round consisted of a soft nosed projectile containing a quantity of plastic explosive that would spread out somewhat on the exterior armor surface after impact, and then detonate shortly thereafter. My understanding is that the shock wave from this powerful blast is what caused the spalling inside, and penetration wasn't even necessary. The terrific blast from these HESH rounds could also bend barrels, blow off tracks, crack optics and vision port lenses, and generally wreak havoc on the outside the tank, so even if the spall did not kill or maim the guys on the inside, being hit by a HESH could make quite a mess of the tank and it's sytems. Modern tanks have spall liners in the turrets, and HESH rounds are apparently not effective against modern MBT's like the Abrams, Challenger, Leopard and others, but I think they are still in use as bunker busters."

#12: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: Uberdave, Location: Kansas, USA

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 4:03 am
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I always seem to notice it the most when bazooka crews are attacking houses or structures, not vehicles.

#13: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: vobbnobb,

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 6:02 am
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Is it possible the bazooka loader is judging range somehow? Is it a target marking round a wonder? Possibly incendiary T31 round?

OR a WP round to smoke then out?

#14: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: Uberdave, Location: Kansas, USA

Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2014 9:54 pm
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I think it has more to do with ammo, ROF, and perhaps the fatigue level of the crew (?) Pretty sure it doesn't have anything to do with targeting. Smoke rounds are ineffective, IMO. Burning houses down with incendiary rounds is a nice future CC idea. Twisted Evil

#15: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: schrecken, Location: Sydney, Australia

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2014 5:03 am
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Easy trick as the allies is to avoid inflicting casualties until key VL's are taken.

The final battle washup

Congratulations to my opponent for sticking with a total lost cause, he never lost his sense of humour and used what forces he was given with energy and imagination.

25 turns required to achieve total victory
31 turns not played

About 6 maps that took more than one battle to clear - Pannerden was a beauty, Arnhem Heights and Dinther were tight.

Nearly all the others were simply a walkover.

The Axis forces are so weak they can't cover all map VL's and as soon as they are assaulted their morale breaks.

more to follow.....

#16: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: Uberdave, Location: Kansas, USA

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2014 11:56 pm
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Schrecken, are you referring to your own LSA GC vs AI experience?

I found the Germans to put up a reasonable fight on some maps....but on the larger ones they were so scattered in deployment mode that they couldn't fight cohesively, thus they get picked off and cornered.

#17: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: schrecken, Location: Sydney, Australia

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 1:10 am
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I pointed you towards a H2H run through and that was easy as the allies.. it's just a joke against the AI

I think I captured the entire Ruhr when playing v the AI

#18: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: Uberdave, Location: Kansas, USA

Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 10:53 am
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Well it goes without saying that CC is primarily a H2H game. Its widely known that the AI can't put up a decent fight, and I wasn't surprised to find that in LSA.

#19: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: stiener, Location: Gibsons B.C. canada

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 5:28 pm
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i like LSA....love all the options...a very polished game IMO....ive found that the germans need to be played on recruit to get the points they need to buy the equipment that is availible to them in there rosters. they put up a way better fight played that way. allies on Line.
i only play H2H ...no use playing against the AI.

uberdave...where do u live? im in vancouver canada...are you up for a H2H GC?

#20: Re: LSA, my review, thoughts, etc Author: Uberdave, Location: Kansas, USA

Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2014 8:55 pm
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Playing against the AI can be fun if a) there is a vetmod available, or b) the mod-maker or dev sets certain conditions to make it so (like less BGs available, weaker morale, more difficulty to stay in supply on strat map, etc). Unfortunately the AI is limited and can't be tweaked much more than it already has.

Close Combat Series -> Close Combat Last Stand Arnhem

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