CMCW - The Citadel - Need advice

[Bobsenjr]

Hi everyone! Newbie here. (Both to the game, and to the forums!)

I've been going through the 1978 version of the US campaign in Combat Mission Cold War. A tough start for a newcomer, but so far i've managed decent results (with a lot of reloading). However this latest mission, scenario name The Citadel, is really doing me in.
Essentially, you are defending three hilltops that are all very exposed and offer very few reverse slopes against an absolutely gigantic Soviet force. I tried setting up strong points in the valley below, some reinforced areas with ATGM's and the M48 tanks I have, but they get rolled up quite quickly. My latest strategy has been moving everyone up to the hill tops, out of sight of approaching Soviet tanks, and forcing the Soviets to roll up steep terrain, hoping that some of their forces will get bogged down, but even then I am struggling just due to sheer lack of anti tank weaponry. Pixeltruppen, as I have learned they are called, have a real knack for using every single LAW against one target, and missing with every single one of them.

Any advice for me on this scenario/map?

Thank you for your time!

 

[Shady Side]

I own the game but have not played the campaigns but there are some really good right ups about it over on the battlefront forums.

 

[Brille]

Hello to you @Bobsenjr !

Do you have a save file of said battle? I don't have much time so I haven't managed to touch any of the campaigns so far.

Reading the map right is one big part on the road to victory so I can't give out any significant tips without seeing it before.

Guess the tanks of that time would be at least on par, so you should set up your tanks in keyhole positions, so that they attack (and can be attacked by) only one or two foes at a time.
Split your infantry into even teams. That lowers casualties if they get spotted and fired upon and it distributes the laws evenly.

And if you have big caliber artillery: Use it! Even on tanks. It might not knock them out (only with a direct hit) but any external system is vulnerable to it, including the tracks.

Edit: And, if you haven't done already, make sure to read the briefing (including notes). Often the sulution to victory is hinted there.

 

[Bobsenjr]

Hello to you @Bobsenjr !

Do you have a save file of said battle? I don't have much time so I haven't managed to touch any of the campaigns so far.

Reading the map right is one big part on the road to victory so I can't give out any significant tips without seeing it before.

Guess the tanks of that time would be at least on par, so you should set up your tanks in keyhole positions, so that they attack (and can be attacked by) only one or two foes at a time.
Split your infantry into even teams. That lowers casualties if they get spotted and fired upon and it distributes the laws evenly.

And if you have big caliber artillery: Use it! Even on tanks. It might not knock them out (only with a direct hit) but any external system is vulnerable to it, including the tracks.

Edit: And, if you haven't done already, make sure to read the briefing (including notes). Often the sulution to victory is hinted there.

Hi! I'll attach two of the saves in this message, one from each of my setup attempts. I've been trying some of these tips, but there is just such a massive wave of Soviet tanks that come in that I can't seem to find any positions where they aren't eventually completely flooded with ATGM's or tank fire. The map is also quite tricky because there is a third invasion route that isn't mentioned in the briefing. A massive Soviet force always suddenly appears on your eastern flank, and they often knock out anything that has a decent position to guard against the northern approach. I've been trying with artillery, but I find it really tough to use artillery effectively on the defensive, as I often end up just shifting dirt rather than hitting anything. Too slow or too fast for their movements

Thank you for responding, i'll take your ideas into consideration for my next attempt!

(Link to the save file, couldn't attach it directly so it'll be via google, hope thats alright:

For exporto.zip

drive.google.com

 

[Bobsenjr]

I own the game but have not played the campaigns but there are some really good right ups about it over on the battlefront forums.

I checked around on the battlefront forums, but it seems like very few people have played through the campaign(s).

 

[Brille]

Hey again ! I just watched the map roughly and it seems to be a big battle. I only started turn one up, without changing anything and Ivan seems to have heavy artillery and air support. So first of all spread your men out and make sure that your anti air units have a free look all around so they can deal early with these threats.

My plan would be to abandon the two hills almost entirely and drive as much stuff as I can to the woods and villages in the west, north, north west and north east. It seems that your entire battalion is mechanized, so I wouldn´t dump the vehicles in the back and instead use them for quick transportation. The tanks I would park behind the woods so that they have good flanking shots if the soviet armor goes around them. I would always use them in close pairs so that one is always ready to fire or finishes a kill if the other tank misses. Shoot & Scoot tactics preferable and try to keep them hull down.
The infantry in the woods and village guards the tanks and deals with infantry and their bmps, trying to enter them. Maybe put a target reference point some few meters in front of the infantry, so you have guaranteed firepower on call if you need it. Use dragons to deal with tanks that are a direct threat to the woods and can´t be reached by your armor.

I guess most of the TOW vehicles I would leave on the hills, so they can use their advantage in range. But I would park them in a save spot somewhere further back and drive them into position when the artillery on the hills dies down.
This shouldn´t be a problem, since the soviets seem to use scout vehicles first, before the tanks come sometime later.

If the pressure grows to strong you can still retreat further back, while the hills themselves should be your last stand.

I just don´t know what to do with the air support. If you know exactly when the tanks arrive, you could time their arrival and blast them pretty early. But I guess the soviets have manpads, shilkas and maybe some other aa units to deal with them. If you call them in later (and deal with the aa first if possible) it takes ages till they arrive. So it is hard to predict where the armor will be then...

That would be all for now. I hope you understand what I mean. I would build a setup myself to be more precise but like I´ve said I don´t have that much time myself.

 

[Bobsenjr]

Hey again ! I just watched the map roughly and it seems to be a big battle. I only started turn one up, without changing anything and Ivan seems to have heavy artillery and air support. So first of all spread your men out and make sure that your anti air units have a free look all around so they can deal early with these threats.

My plan would be to abandon the two hills almost entirely and drive as much stuff as I can to the woods and villages in the west, north, north west and north east. It seems that your entire battalion is mechanized, so I wouldn´t dump the vehicles in the back and instead use them for quick transportation. The tanks I would park behind the woods so that they have good flanking shots if the soviet armor goes around them. I would always use them in close pairs so that one is always ready to fire or finishes a kill if the other tank misses. Shoot & Scoot tactics preferable and try to keep them hull down.
The infantry in the woods and village guards the tanks and deals with infantry and their bmps, trying to enter them. Maybe put a target reference point some few meters in front of the infantry, so you have guaranteed firepower on call if you need it. Use dragons to deal with tanks that are a direct threat to the woods and can´t be reached by your armor.

I guess most of the TOW vehicles I would leave on the hills, so they can use their advantage in range. But I would park them in a save spot somewhere further back and drive them into position when the artillery on the hills dies down.
This shouldn´t be a problem, since the soviets seem to use scout vehicles first, before the tanks come sometime later.

If the pressure grows to strong you can still retreat further back, while the hills themselves should be your last stand.

I just don´t know what to do with the air support. If you know exactly when the tanks arrive, you could time their arrival and blast them pretty early. But I guess the soviets have manpads, shilkas and maybe some other aa units to deal with them. If you call them in later (and deal with the aa first if possible) it takes ages till they arrive. So it is hard to predict where the armor will be then...

That would be all for now. I hope you understand what I mean. I would build a setup myself to be more precise but like I´ve said I don´t have that much time myself.

Thanks for the reply! I will be giving this set of tactics a shot