Scouting (CMBB)

[Herr Kruger]

Hello board!
Okay, so how do you scout? On the attack? What about outposts or feelers on defense? I'm looking to create a little discussion on scouting in CMBB. I'm looking for tips a little more in-depth than one line posts saying "yeah, use half-squads!" Thinking of situations in which your forces are at 10% casualties or less. I'm sure if you have a squad that is half-gone, ie/ 5/10 guys are casualties in the setup phase, that squad might be a candidate to use as a scout right? One of the coolest features in CMBB I like is that you can have Green, Regular and Veteran in a platoon which was part of a Regular company when it was bought. So, if you have two Regulars and a Green in a platoon, would you use the Green squad? If it runs into an ambush it would be better because they are less valuable to your force, right? At the same time, the command delay of the Green troops is larger...
How far ahead do you send your scouts? Do you make a real effort to keep them under command of their HQ? Or do you just send them 100 or 200 m ahead?

I've been wondering 'cause I've only played a few CMBB against humans and wanted to address this topic so I can learn something!

[ January 07, 2003, 08:07 PM: Message edited by: Herr Kruger ]

[xerxes]

Remember, higher quality units spot much better then lower quality ones. Also, HQs have the binoculars, so they get an additional long range spotting bonus.

On the attack, my inclination would be to have a 1/2 green squad forward "overwatched" by better quality troops. Using extra HQs as spotters is also good.

On the defense with EFOW it's pretty easy to pull back, I'd go with higher quality squads forward. Generally I want to have enough firepower to eliminate enemy scouting units.

[Slappy]

The question you have to ask, and that leads to the variation of answers that you'll likely get, is 'What do you want your scouts to do?'. The answer is obviously, at one level, 'To scout damnit!', but you have to be more specific.

There is a continum from cheap but very unsurvivable scouts (green half squads out of command) to expensive but likely to survive initial contact and maybe deal out some damage (veteran full SMG squad in command). When you scout, you put the scouting unit at risk. There is a tradeoff between the robustness of the scout and the value of the units you put at risk. All types have their uses in the game.

I tend to pick based on several factors including:
- Likely separation between myself and the enemy (pretty easy to predict in a QB ME)
- Likely enemy opposition
- Terrain
- Many more

Example 1: I probably have 400m or more between the forces. It's an open map with only moderate cover. Here, a sharpshooter can move up initially. They're hard to see, and will probably not come into direct contact with anyone. For the first 100-200m, they spot really well. I'll move them up into positions with good LOS to narrow down where the enemy will be.

Example 2: I'm in a fairly dense forest (some open, some scattered trees) and I expect to make contact in the next 100m. I will probably do my scouting at the platoon level with a full squad 30-50m in front of the rest of the platoon with the HQ cheated up to provide command to the scout. In this situation, a small scout like a sharpshooter or a half squad of low quality could easily disappear in the first volley and provide no information about the enemy at all! I want my scout to find the enemy, survive the first volley and hold until I can bring the rest of the platoon (and possibly artillery, heavy weapons, etc.) up to the party.

In reality, I tend to break off and reabsord all sorts of scouts from and into the rest of my force as the game goes on. It all depends on the situation.

Remember 'What do you want your scouts to do?'