Combat Mission Fortress Italy

[jomni]

Isn't it that in real life, soldiers will do rehearsals before the actual mission?  Treat your several run throughs as rehearsals.  :)  [Or maybe this is just for special forces and not WW2 grunts].

I only play CMx2 games in real time.  Why?  Because I'm not satisfied with the AI of your own troops.  Sometimes they will not react properly (as trained) when left alone.  At least in real time, I just let them march on in normal mode.  Pause the game immediately when we make contact and react accordingly.  Also easier to time and coordinate bounding overwatch.

[TheCommandTent]

Does anyone know how the different difficulty levels affect the AI.  I.E. bonuses etc?

[Sir Slash]

I've been struggling with this game too. It reminds me of when CMBN first came out the AI would kick my butt royaly, it always spotted my troops first and then the one shot hit would occur( the Cats chasing Dogs scenario was the worst). The result was I played paranoid, barely creeping forward and then having to rush to complete the vic. condition before the turns ran out. After a while and the first good patch came out, I got better and now usually play on the Warrior level and win mostly. CMFI I'm having the same problems, the AI always sees me first and then usually kills my forces with some incredibly accurate shooting. The Cosa Nostra scen. I won after dropping the difficulity down to Veteran but only barely and only after the Italians, who were suppossed to be poor costal infantry, fought like lions and after plastering the target building with mortars and mmg's and then crawling forward. The scen. went well past the turn limit. I think this game will improve significantly after a patch or two. Now it feels more difficult than CMBN.

[LongBlade]

You guys both make valid points and I fall somewhere in between.

I don't expect to lose nothing. However, I'm getting my head handed to me even at the easy level. That normally doesn't happen. Clearly I have more to learn about the game.

That said, I find it strange that little of my previous experience is helping me here. I've wargamed a long time. Fortress Italy is a different game. I guess I'm going to have to dig deeper to discover more of how it works.

[Ashcloud]

For an edge of your seat moment by moment AAR go here:
http://www.theblitz.org/message_boards/showthread.php?tid=62660

[Father Ted]

I think this topic actually raises a wider more general issue...real war is NEVER fun (unless you're a complete psychopath).  Seriously, its either totally boring, totally tedious or totally terrifying.  The more realistic a game models it, the less enjoyable it should, theoretically, be.  Perhaps this is the reason why some people do not like CMBN? Because in some ways, its authentic...

Excellent point - I always raise it in the "realism" discussions about FPSs.

Sorry to go OT, but it just leaped out at me.