Tutorial for Cmak demo mission "Line of Defense"

• Cmak demo, download here
• A bit time
• Interest in WW2 (knowledge about equipment useful, but not essential)
• Understanding of basic infantry tactics
• A cup of coffee/tee

Installation

Not much to say here. Simply run the exe and point the installer to a directory. During the first start the game asks for a preferred screen resolution. If you say "no" next resolution apperas. It is not possible to change that ingame! To undo this you have to delete the file named "Combat Mission AK Demo Prefs" in the directory where you installed the game.

Choosing scenario and setup

At first we start the game and skip the intro picture. Now we are in the main menu. Klick "Start game" now. Then the Menu appears:

Setup phase

After the briefing we will see this:

In front our infantry in the vineyard, behind our tanks

1. Viewing controls

If you move the mouse at the left/right side of your screen, the camera rotates. If you do the same at the lower left/right side, your view will move sideways. You can do the same with the ingame arrow buttons. With Numpad + and - you can adjust the height.

2. Infantry

Lets have a look at the infantry first. To do this we scroll a little bit forward and choose a "Platoon Headquarters".

Platoon Headquarters

A Platoon Headquarters is represented through a single soldier model equipped with a pistol. If you click on it you will see that other units are connected to this unit. That shows you, which units are under the command of the Platoon Headquarters. An infantryplatoon usualle consists of one HQ, some infantry groups and some heavy weapons (mortar or bazooka).
(tip: if you select the Platoon Headquarters with double click, all units in command will be selected).
A Platoon Headquarters has a command radius. If you move a unit to far away from their command units, the connection will turn black. This units will carry out orders more slowly and with less enthusiasm .
We have three such platoons. 4th platoon at our right flank has only heavy weapons. Lets look at our heavy machineguns:


Our goal should be to setup these heavy weapons with a good view at our enemys in order to support our attacking troups effeciently. Not an easy task, but we´ll do it!
At last our artillery observer. Behind our infantry there is a little house, which is transparent. One the right hand side there is our artillery guy:

Artillery observer

This unit has a radio (other have to rely on cable, but we are late in war), to call atrillery strikes. The other unit inside the small house is the company headquarters. This unit can command all other infantry units on the map, which are in its command radius. This is useful to command heavy weapons and broken or fleeing units.

3. Weapons and characteristics of the infantry

Ok lets click on a infantry unit and click "enter". We will see that:

The weapons and firepower of the particular soldiers are displayed here. In our case 11 M1 "Garand" rifles and a light machinegun "BAR". This means that the units has good firepower on medium and long ranges. In close combat this units is not so strong due to the lack of machine pistols. More weapons are displayed right under "transport class". In our case two rifle grenades and two satchel charges. Satchel charges are useful for blowing up buildings, tanks and minefields.

4. Tanks and AFV´s

• The Sherman tank

Now we will click on a tank. A group of them is located behind the infantry. Like before there is a commanding unit. Its a unit of "Shermans":


Shermans are good tanks. They are fast, reliable and with the fast turret there are perfect for fire and move tactics. We will try to get to the vulnerable flanks of the german tanks, where the sherman can even hurt a Tiger tank.
Additionally with three machineguns and the good 75mm cannon the Sherman tank is very useful against enemy infantry. With the "enter" key you can look at more details.
• The Stuart tank and the Greyhound AFV

To the left on the street two Stuart tanks and one Greyhound AFV are waiting for the battle:


The Stuart tank is a light tank with a 37mm cannon. This cannon has less "bang" than the 75mm from the Sherman, but it can penetrate much armor for its calibre. The Greyhound has the same cannon, but its a wheeled vehicle with less armor. But for both is important that they dont have a chance against german tanks frontally. There are useful tools though.

5. The tactic / our plan


the tactic

At point 1 there is a hill with woods. This will be the start for our attack. There we will setup our machineguns, the mortars and the artillery observer. The infantry will advance as close as possible to the town. Then the troops will charge across the wheatfield. A short time before the attack, the artillery will fire a barrage of smoke grenades to cover the advance. The shermans will support and keep the heads of the defending germans down .
The light tanks will advance along the streets in order to provocate the defenders.(point 2). But they souldn get involved in heavier fighting.




6. Custom setup (optional)

With the key "P" or "M" the setup can be changed. But this is not very important her against the KI.

7. End of the setup phase

Press "Go". Now the enemy will setup its units (that doesnt take long against the KI, but with a human opponent this can last longer) and we are ready to go.