Мануал для combat mission

COMBAT MISSION II

Game User Manual

PDF Addendum

Safety Information

A very small percentage of people may experience a seizure when exposed to certain visual images, including flashing lights or patterns that may appear in video games. Even people who have no history of seizures or epilepsy may have an undiagnosed condition that can cause these

.photosensitive epileptic seizures. while watching video games.

These seizures may have a variety of symptoms including: lightheadedness, altered vision, eye or face twitching, jerking or shaking of arms or legs, disorientation, confusion, or momentary loss of awareness. Seizures may also cause loss of consciousness or convulsions that can lead to injury from falling down or striking nearby objects.

Immediately stop playing and consult a doctor if you experience any of these symptoms. Parents should watch for or ask their children about the above symptoms.children and teenagers are more likely than adults to experience these seizures.

The risk of photosensitive epileptic seizures may be reduced by sitting farther from the television screen, using a smaller television screen, playing in a well-lit room, and not playing when you are drowsy or fatigued.

If you or any of your relatives have a history of seizures or epilepsy, consult a doctor before playing.

Table of Content

Please note that parts of this manual are contained on the CD in PDF format.

The Environment

“The effect of climate in Russia is to make things impassable in the mud of spring and autumn, unbearable in the heat of summer and impossible in the depths of winter. Climate in Russia is a series of natural disasters.” — General von Greiffenburg, Chief of Staff 12th Army

(War on the Eastern Front, the German Soldier in Russia 19411945, James Lucas, pg 78)

The Environment

Many things can influence the outcome of wars, but among these the environment where a battle takes place – be it the weather, the lay of the land, the ground conditions and even the time of day – is generally regarded as the most influential in a military sense. The beginning of the mud season, the near standstill of combat in the winter, the unreliability of equipment in the hot summer months in the steppe – were all deciding factors in the outcome of the struggle on the Eastern Front, at both the strategic and tactical levels.

Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin simulates many different environmental conditions, from the seasons to the time of day, to the weather, temperature and ground conditions. Each mix can be a unique challenge. From fighting in a foggy night in deep snow, to struggling through deep mud on a rainy day in spring, to sweating in extreme heat on the steppe – the possibility for scenario designers and armchair generals are manifold. The

The Environment

following chapter explains the various settings and their effect on gameplay.

Terrain

There are many different terrain types in the game. Each one has an impact on lines of sight, cover, concealment, and movement. What you need to understand to play the game is that what you see in the game is merely a visual representation of the underlying mathematical 3D battlefield and some abstractions are necessary to keep the game (dis)playable.

Trees are one such abstraction. Although you see individual trees on the map, their actual placement plays no role for the game as such, as can be seen by the fact that tree density can be toggled by the user to fit hardware performance ability. What counts is the “woods” terrain “tile”, as seen by the different kind of ground beneath and around trees. Same applies to – for example — brush terrain, and “graveyards”.

“Open ground”, although seemingly “empty”, is not. Bushes, small dips, high grass and other random features are all taken into account, and so the LOS cannot be traced endlessly even across open ground. More importantly, weapons accuracy decreases dynamically with range, not only because it is harder to hit something farther away, but also because it is harder to see the target at all.

The LOS tool is a very useful aid to understand the terrain on the map better, as it shows what kind of terrain is used for the in-game calculations. You can pinpoint the exact end of woods, the exact corner of a building, the exact point where a wall or hedge starts, etc. Most of the time such things are clear from looking at the map (and your judgement will become better with playing experience), but when in doubt, the LOS tool provides the answer.

Terrain also changes with the different seasons. For example, depending on the scenario’s time and date trees can be dense and thick (summer) or leafless (winter). Grain fields also change dramatically with the seasons and

The Environment

weather. This has a direct impact on the concealment and cover provided by such terrain.

Buildings

There are various types of buildings in the game: wooden shacks

(considered extremely light buildings), small farm houses (light and heavy), a tall light building (2 levels), a big blockhouse (2 levels, heavy), a church (basically a special type of the big blockhouse, i.e. 2-level heavy building), and large factory complexes (considered 2-level heavy buildings). Buildings have an impact on concealment and cover, with heavy buildings being more protective than light ones. Light buildings also tend to be reduced to rubble much more quickly than heavy buildings, with a few highexplosive rounds of 75mm caliber or higher being enough to achieve this (one such round is often enough to destroy a wooden shack). Any unit inside a 2-level building which collapses will usually suffer serious casualties.

Lines of sight can be a bit tricky around buildings at first, but most answers are easy when you think about it. In order to be able to look outside of a building without restrictions, a unit needs to be within a few meters of the outside wall (i.e. to peer through windows or other openings). If it is further away than about 5 meters, it can still “see” a few meters into or out of the house, but not far beyond that.

When a building or a unit in a building is fired at, regardless if it is direct fire or indirect fire (from mortars for example), most of the fire hits the outer walls of the building. Units hiding within can still be hurt by the blast from flying stones, glass, shrapnel or even just the blast. However, some rounds can also make it into the building and explode within, e.g. through holes in the outer walls or roof, blasted doors or windows. Such shots can cause severe damage. There is even a very small chance that a round can make it into and THROUGH a building, exploding on the other side!

The interiors of buildings are abstracted and included into combat resolution calculations. Although you can trace an LOS within a building without restrictions (though with

The Environment

limited range) the chance of enemy units hiding within the same building and remaining unspotted is relatively high (imagine them hiding in another room), but drops dramatically the more time your units spend inside.

There are also two different height levels for buildings. Level one, the ground level, simulates houses that are one to two stories high. Level two simulates houses three to four stories high. These are the only available levels for Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin. You cannot place units in church towers.

One thing to keep in mind with buildings is that they are a confined space and can contain only so many soldiers at a time. The general rule of thumb is one squad per corner of a building. But if you try to put a whole platoon into a small farmhouse, don’t be surprised to find that one squad has to leave and wait outside.

Watch out when you want to fire weapons with backblast (like bazookas and Panzerfausts) within buildings — this often suppresses the firing unit and there is a good risk that the building will catch fire from the backblast. Vehicles and guns are not allowed to enter buildings. Mortars can enter a building, but cannot fire from it.

Building Damage

Buildings and bridges display “damaged” or “heavily damaged” labels according to how much damage they have received, and the “Warning Labels” option is on. Additionally, they’re listed with a ‘*’ attached, like “light building*”, or a ‘**’ for heavy damage. The building will begin to show damage visually after 40% of the structure is damaged.

Rubble

These are the leftovers after a building has collapsed. Vehicles may not

enter rubble. It provides excellent cover and concealment for infantry. LOS is heavily restricted across rubble, but only to a certain height (which is naturally much lower than the building previously was). There are two forms of rubble in the game – rubble as it originates from a

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collapsed building, with parts of exterior walls still standing, and “flat” rubble, which can simulate debris piled up on roads for example. The difference is visual only, as both types of rubble behave the same and cannot be, for example, entered or crossed by vehicles.

Scattered Trees

These are single trees with little or no brush, standing in loose groups together or along a road. Orchards fall

into this terrain type as well. They provide only light cover and concealment, but are certainly better than open ground. Do not expect miracles, especially in winter when even a single squad has trouble hiding in scattered trees.

Note: Scattered trees can also be used to simulate narrow paths in forests, allowing tanks and other vehicles to pass at a slow rate and considerable risk of bogging down.

Woods

This is the “usual” woods terrain, which includes mixed types of trees, and fairly thick underbrush and bushes.

Woods provide good cover and concealment. No vehicles are allowed to enter woods in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin.

Tall Pines

“Tall pines” represents dense woods terrain, but with only little underbrush

and bushes, and provide cover and concealment similar to “Woods”, except that the pines are taller and so are more likely to block elevated lines of sight from tall buildings or hilltops. Movement through tall pines is faster than through woods, and LOS can be traced further due to less underbrush.

Hedges

This is the common type of hedge and is about one meter high, planted or

naturally grown, and is passable for tracked vehicles and

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infantry (with some impact on speed, however). It provides decent concealment for prone units, but little cover.

Stone Wall

A man-made stone wall, about 1 meter high, and thick enough to block even a direct hit from a tank main round. Walls are passable for tracked vehicles and infantry, albeit at a lower speed. Vehicles behind stone walls can achieve hull-down status, unless the enemy is on a higher elevation. Stone walls provide good cover and concealment, especially for prone units

behind it, but not when the attacker is at a higher elevation or attacking from the sides or rear.

Wooden fence

A man-made fence, usually to separate fields, but also very often found in Russian villages around each house. This is only a small obstacle to vehicles and infantry, and can be crossed by all unit types with a small delay. It provides nearly no cover and very little concealment.

Brush

Brush can be used to simulate several things types of terrain such as

bushes, wild fields or low trees. It provides good concealment and restricts LOS, but offers little cover. It tends to catch and spread fire quickly.

Grain Fields

Grain fields are just that. The concealment and cover they provide vary with the seasons. Basically

considered open ground in winter with not much to hide behind, they can provide decent concealment in summer and less so in fall or spring. Cover, however, is almost nonexistent. Grain fields also increase the chance of vehicles bogging down in them, even with otherwise dry ground conditions. This type of terrain tends to catch and spread fire quickly.

The Environment

Marsh

Marsh is swampy open ground, providing little more cover than some bushes and grass. It is difficult to walk

on even for infantry, and cannot be entered or crossed by vehicles or heavy support weapons of any type.

Soft ground

This can be a muddy field, a shallow marsh or a small stream, and although passable to all units, dramatically increases the danger of vehicles bogging down as well as slows down all movement. It provides no extra cover or concealment.

Rough

Rough represents heavily broken or rocky terrain, impossible for vehicles to cross and

accessible only by infantry. It provides good cover and concealment.

Rocky

Similar to “rough” terrain but more easily passable — with usually a number of large rocks or debris to provide decent cover and concealment, but also enough open space for vehicles to pass through.

Roads

Roads come as two types: dirt and paved. Dirt roads are the main type of

road encountered in Eastern Europe outside of the big cities. There is no cover or concealment on a road, but movement is fast.

Paved roads have gravel or hard concrete surfaces and are relatively easy to drive on even during muddy ground conditions or snow. However, besides some few main highways and city streets, paved roads are not encountered very often on the Eastern Front.

The Environment

Bridges

There are three types of bridges — wooden bridges, often encountered across small streams or creeks and two

elevations high; stone bridges, spanning small rivers at two elevations high; and tall stone bridges, across major rivers or valleys, four elevation levels in height which allow vehicles and troops to pass under them.

Railroad Tracks

These offer little concealment and almost no cover, and troops do not gain

much speed advantage on them (in fact, wheeled vehicles are slowed down, and chances of bogging increase due to the rough surface).

Water

Water tiles are used to simulate rivers or lakes, and cannot be entered by any units except infantry embarked in assault boats. Regardless if there is

snow on the ground or not, when temperature is set to freezing and below, water becomes frozen — vehicles and guns are not allowed to enter, but infantry is able to cross ice.

Fords

CMBB features two types of fords, which allow crossing rivers on foot or with vehicles. Shallow fords can be crossed (slowly) by all units, although the chances for bogging down are high – especially for non-tracked vehicles. Deep fords can only be used by infantry units.

Slopes

These are inclines steep enough to prohibit vehicular travel. Infantry can still climb them, albeit slowly.

Cliffs

No unit is allowed to traverse a cliff.

The Environment

Steppe

This is a special type of terrain, found mainly in Southern Russia. It consists of waist-high grass which provides excellent concealment for hiding infantry, but very little cover. The random map generator in Quick Battles and the editor will use “Steppe” as the default terrain type for all southern maps with “rural” and “flat” or “gentle slopes” settings (see Editor). Of course “Steppe” terrain can also be used to simulate “high grass” on any map.

Fortifications

Fortifications (bunkers, pillboxes, wire, and mines) are available only for the defender, and never in meeting engagement scenarios. They are granted to a side by the scenario designer or can (and in the case of Assault type battles MUST) be bought for Quick Battles. During the Setup Phase of a battle, you are free to move and place them within the constraints of the setup zones, but they cannot be moved during the battle itself.

All forms of fortifications (including mines) may be placed only within a valid setup zone. A minefield is 20m x 20m in size (except for daisy-chain mines, which represent hasty laid mines not dug into the earth, and which are slightly smaller than 20m in diameter), with the mine marker placed in its center. The defender can place minefields next to each other, thereby creating larger minefields, but for game purposes CM treats these as separate 20m x 20m elements. Once a minefield has been spotted, the TacAI will try to move units around it during the Action Phase, or simply refuse to enter minefields and stop a distance away from them. You can not force units to enter minefields, as the movement line will turn red trying to do so, until these have been cleared by engineers using demo charges.

Fortified Firing Positions

Bunkers and pillboxes have a firing arc inside which they can engage targets through a frontal firing slit. Outside of this arc, they are basically impotent. The rear of a bunker or pillbox is its weak point — since this is where the exit doors are located — and can be penetrated even by light ordnance. From close range, however, a bunker/

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pillbox is always vulnerable to infantry, which can throw grenades through firing ports. Flamethrowers are especially useful for knocking out bunkers/pillboxes, as well as grenade bundles, demo charges and molotov cocktails. Additionally, ordnance can occasionally score a lucky hit to a pillbox’s frontal firing slit, possibly knocking out the pillbox in the process. But this is generally only possible at close range (within a few hundred meters).

Note: AT gun Pillboxes receive an accuracy bonus, vs. a normal AT gun, because such fortifications have already “ranged in” the area within their firing arc. Range determination is one of the greatest contributors to aiming accuracy, so predetermined and reliable range information greatly increases accuracy (all else being equal).

Barbed Wire & Roadblocks

Wire can be crossed by infantry or fully-tracked vehicles, but only at a much slower pace. Roadblocks can be

crossed by infantry (at a slower pace) but are impassable to vehicles. Roadblocks and wire cannot be placed on water and marsh terrain, as well as not inside buildings. There must be sufficient space to place wire and roadblocks, so when two houses are too close together it might be not possible to do so (or you will have to rotate the wire or roadblock marker to fit in between).

Trenches and foxholes

Each defending infantry unit in an eligible location (i.e. not on paved surfaces, in marsh or water or other

unsuitable terrain) can dig in at the beginning of a battle, creating a foxhole underneath. The foxhole remains on the map for the duration of the battle (or operation), and can be used by other units (including the enemy) to gain its defensive benefits (mainly cover). Digging in occurs automatically but the player can toggle it on or off with the “Dig In” command.

Also, depending on the parameters of a battle or operation, the defending player can create additional fallback positions using the ALT-F hotkeys during the setup phase of a battle. These additional foxholes can be created

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anywhere within a valid setup zone on the map by leftclicking on the map while in ALT-F mode, and the number of available foxholes is equal to the number of non-heavy infantry units on the map. Left-clicking on an already existing foxhole makes it disappear and return to the “foxhole pool”. Hitting ALT-F again exits the foxhole placement mode.

Note that in Quick Battles which are Meeting Engagements or Probes, neither side is allowed to dig foxholes. And Assaults are the only Quick Battles in which the defender may dig fallback foxholes.

In regular scenarios, neither side may dig in during Meeting Engagements. Otherwise, the ability of the defender to dig in is determined by the scenario author.

Trenches are similar to foxholes except they are much larger and provide considerably more cover and concealment for their occupants. Further, they may be placed and rotated during the setup phase like any other unit. In addition, they can be used by infantry to move from one location to another while staying inside the trench, thereby benefiting from its defensive bonus on the way. In fact, it is possible to place a whole trench system on the map by simply linking trenches together (placing them adjacent to one another). Trenches can be rotated like any other unit in any direction desired. Trenches cannot be placed on unsuitable terrain (marsh, water, fords and in buildings), and remain on the map for the duration of the battle (or operation).

Only fully-tracked vehicles are allowed to enter or cross trenches, but do so very slowly and at great risk of bogging.

Mines

There are three types of mines in the game.

Antipersonnel Mines

Lethal to infantry and can cause several casualties within seconds when stumbled upon. Casualties are higher

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for infantry units moving quickly through a mined area than when crawling or moving slowly. Once spotted, a mine marker appears in the area. Infantry will refuse to enter such a minefield even when ordered to. They may, however, enter it when in panic or rout. Since mines are dug into the earth, they cannot be placed on paved surfaces or in buildings, in water or marsh or rough terrain.

Sneak (crawl) is always less likely to set off a mine.

Mines are also much less likely to go off if they’re *known* (i.e. one already went off, and your men are now assumed to be paying more attention and doing things like moving in a single line (or a couple of lines) to minimize further explosions).

So the least mine explosions happen in a known minefield to crawling units.

Note: Dug in mines are never spotted unless one actually explodes!

Antitank Mines

Dangerous to tanks and all vehicles, and although not always lethal, can at least immobilize them. Antitank mines are harmless to infantry because infantry is not heavy enough to detonate them. Since mines are dug into the earth, they cannot be placed on paved surfaces or in buildings, in water or marsh or rough terrain.

Daisy-Chain Mines

Hastily-placed anti-vehicle mines that are easily spotted by the enemy because they are above ground. They do not generally cause direct harm, but rather deny the enemy certain approaches, generally across road surfaces. Their real life advantage is that they can be placed MUCH faster than normal minefields and hence were used often in hasty retreats. Daisy-Chain Mines cannot be placed on water or marsh, and not in buildings.

Clearing Mines

Engineers and Pioneers with demolition charges are able to clear gaps through minefields. Simply move them within 25 meters of the minefield and wait. It takes a few

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minutes (turns) to clear a gap through the mines. You can of course also target the minefield marker manually.

Additionally, engineers can clear Daisy-chain mines without the use of demolition charges. The number of engineers and their experience affect their speed in clearing mines. Generally a near full squad is needed to accomplish clearing a particular mined area.

Minefields can be reduced or eliminated by shellfire (though this will not be explicitly shown — you just have to judge roughly by how many craters you see, and hope).

Weather

It is common military knowledge that weather can in fact dictate the outcome of wars. The German progress (or lack of it in the winter) during Operation Barbarossa — their assault against Russia — is a good example. The Russian ability to bring their air superiority to bear (with decisive results) during periods of clear weather later in the war is another. At the tactical level, bad weather means troops tire more quickly and vehicles get stuck more easily. Movement is generally slower during periods of rain or snow, and visibility can be seriously impaired as well. Simply changing a battle’s weather settings can fundamentally alter the way the battle plays out.

Time of Day

There are four daylight conditions simulated in CM: dawn, mid-day, dusk, and night. Visibility is reduced during dawn and dusk and heavily restricted during night. Nighttime fighting also creates a risk of misidentifying one’s own troops as enemy and friendly fire can result. Keep this in mind when separating your forces and/or moving close to enemy positions, and occasionally check your unit’s target orders to make sure they have not by mistake decided to fire on their own troops.

Atmospheric Weather

Clear — a nice sunny day with few or no clouds, offering good visibility across long distances. This is the only weather type that allows airplanes to operate in the game.

Overcast — the sky is full with dark, low hanging clouds. Visibility is somewhat reduced.

The Environment

Rain — Visibility is reduced substantially. Noises are muffled and sound contacts are considerably more difficult to obtain.

Fog — a light mist covers the battlefield and visibility as well as noise are reduced.

Fog and Rain — a mix (or more like an addition) of the two above. Visibility and noise are heavily reduced.

Thick Fog — you almost can’t see your own hand if you stretch it out in front of your face. Visibility is reduced to a mere few meters and the fog reduces the chance for sound contacts.

Snow — reduces visibility and has a slightly lesser impact on sound contacts than rain.

Blizzard — very heavy snowfall reduces visibility and noise substantially.

Ground Conditions

Very Dry — very dry ground conditions increase the chance of fires substantially.

Dry — dry ground.

Damp — early in the morning or after several days of overcast weather or fog, ground conditions are often damp. This raises the chance for vehicles bogging down when off dirt or paved roads.

Wet — after rain showers you tend to have wet ground. The chance of bogging down when off roads is substantially increased, and even the dirt roads pose some danger of bogging.

Mud — when it has been raining for a few days, wet ground will turn into mud. Vehicles tend to get stuck in muddy ground (even on dirt roads) quickly and mud also greatly reduces the speed of vehicles and infantry.

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Deep Mud — after long periods of rain or melting snow, the ground can become a quagmire, what the Russians call “Rasputitsa”. Vehicles should stick to roads (paved if possible) and even infantry will find the going slow and tiring through such ground conditions.

Light Snow — a few inches of snow. The chance for bogging is increased slightly and the snow affects movement speed a bit, but most vehicles can handle it well. Soft ground remains uncovered by snow during this condition.

Snow — roughly 8 inches of snow. Wheeled vehicles will get stuck frequently and even tracked vehicles will find the going tougher. Infantry moves more slowly.

Deep Snow — 12 inches or more. Most vehicles will get bogged eventually and infantry movement is slowed down substantially.

Fire & Smoke

If there is anything to be found on a WWII battlefield more often than casualties, it is smoke and fire, from burning terrain or vehicles, or from smoke rounds used to cover the attacker’s approaches or defender’s line of retreat.

Smoke

Smoke in varying sizes comes from burning buildings, fields, woods, vehicles, and smoke rounds from tanks, guns, or artillery. Small smoke shells or small burning vehicles (e.g. Kübelwagen) degrade, but do not always block, LOS through them.

Designer’s Note: Infantry smoke grenades, a source of smoke commonly found in other WWII games is not available in CMBB. Our research shows little credible evidence that this type of smoke was used regularly at the squad level in WWII for tactical purposes. Instead, it appears to have been used for signalling mostly, and we have therefore decided to exclude it from CMBB to prevent its potential unrealistic overuse.

The Environment

Fire

The chance of a piece of terrain catching fire depends largely on ground conditions and weather. You will see fewer terrain fires during rain or with wet or snowy ground. On the other hand, very dry ground increases the chances for fires, and sometimes even tracer ammunition from an MG can be enough to spark a blaze.

Terrain fires often start off “small”, and at this stage have no effect on the game except for some smoke. But small fires have the chance to grow and spread depending on overall conditions. If a fire becomes “big” (the whole terrain “tile” (20m by 20m) is burning) units located in that tile are forced to exit the area immediately. If for some reason a unit cannot do this (say it is immobilized), the unit will be destroyed by the fire and any remaining crew will abandon the vehicle/gun immediately and run to safety. Units will also refuse to enter terrain burning with a “large” fire.

Burning terrain and vehicles remain burning for the duration of a battle (and can, in fact, cause adjacent terrain to catch fire eventually). Fires and smoke will cease, and burned buildings will collapse to rubble between the battles of an operation.

Fog of War

Unless you choose to play with “Fog of War: none” (in the Options menu at scenario startup), only friendly forces will be visible on the map initially. Enemies must be spotted by one of your units before they appear on the map. Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin uses a complex spotting model to simulate the limited knowledge of a battlefield commander and what is generally known as Fog of War.

Enemy units can be displayed on the map according to five “spotting levels”:

No Contact — Level 0

No enemy unit is displayed. It’s still out there, but you can’t see it, because none of your units are able to see or hear it. Keep in mind, though, that the enemy might see

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you! If you’re walking down a quiet road and the enemy is hiding behind some hedges, he might have identified all your units before you even catch a glimpse of him. In fact, your units might be dead before they see where the fire is coming from in such a situation.

Sound Contact — Level 1

Most wargames allow spotting only when a line of sight exists between the spotter and the target. In Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin, sound also plays an important role. If you are close enough, or if the target is loud enough (e.g. a tank racing down a road at full speed or an infantry squad firing its weapons), you can “spot” a unit even when no line of sight exists. Such units are displayed as generic gray icons, and clicking on them reveals SOUND CONTACT in the unit info window. The general type of the unit is displayed as well, e.g. infantry? or tank?, but do not rely too much on this. Additionally, the enemy unit is shown at a location which may be somewhat incorrect (your soldiers are making their best guess by listening), so don’t be surprised if the enemy unit seems to move through impassable terrain (or even off-map), and then suddenly “moves” into line of sight in a different (but nearby) location.

First Contact — Level 2

The enemy unit has moved into line of sight and one of your friendly units has caught a glimpse of it or the enemy has opened fire at you and you see the muzzle flashes. At this point only sketchy details are available. When you click on such a unit, a general unit type is given (Infantry? or Tank?), but not much more than that. Enemy infantry units are always displayed using one soldier figure, regardless of the actual type. Enemy vehicles and guns are always displayed with a generic grey model.

Contact — Level 3

If the enemy is close enough, is exposed, or has been firing at you for a while, more information becomes available. Enemy infantry units now are classified as squads or teams (e.g. mortar teams, anti-tank teams) and weapons can be spotted, too. Vehicle types — tanks or tank

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destroyers or assault-guns — are usually identifiable at this stage.

Infantry is displayed with the corresponding number of figures based on unit strength and vehicles are displayed as a common model of vehicle for the identified vehicle type and the given month and year.

Take careful note of the fact that sometimes your troops — especially the inexperienced ones — can incorrectly identify enemy vehicles, usually as something bigger and scarier than they really are. However, once the spotting reaches level 4 (see below) any “mistakes” are corrected and the true identity of the vehicle is displayed.

IdentifiedLevel 4

If the unit is sufficiently close or exposed, one of your units will identify it fully. This means that the number of soldiers in a squad or team are displayed in the unit window, as well as the correct model of vehicle, experience of the unit, and more. This is as much information as you will ever get about the enemy.

Lost Contact — Generic Unit Marker

After a unit has been spotted, it is possible to lose contact with it. The “lost” unit will be graphically replaced by a generic unit marker (each nationality has its own unique marker typestars for Russians, crosses for Germans, etc.), showing the last known position of the enemy unit. Clicking on such a marker will display the last available information about the unit.

These markers stay on the map until the same unit has been spotted again (even if in a completely different location) or if you approach near enough to the marker to verify that the previously spotted unit is no longer there. In such a case the marker disappears, regardless of whether the enemy has been spotted elsewhere.

Option — Extreme Fog of War

With the option set to “Fog of War: extreme” it will take a lot longer before your units are able to fully identify enemy units, i.e. reach spotting level 4. Enemy units must

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come into very close contact with your troops before headcount, experience and armament become “visible” to you, and many units in cover or far away will never be fully identified for the duration of a battle. In fact, reaching identification level 4 and even 3 will be a rare occurrence in most situations. While more realistic, this option requires more attention from the player, and is therefore not set as default. Otherwise, this option works the same as “Full Fog of War”, which is the default setting explained above.

Option — Partial Fog of War

With the options set to “Fog of War: partial”, enemy units must still be spotted, but every spotted enemy is automatically fully identified from this point on. This is a good way for less-experienced players to get used to the game system.

Option — No Fog of War

With the setting “Fog of War: none”, all enemy units on the map will be shown and fully identified, regardless if they are spotted or not. This is a great way for beginners to get a feel for the game, but also for scenario designers who wish to test a battle they made. Mind you though, this works both ways, your opponent is able to see all of your units also when this setting is in effect, even the computer player!

SPOTTING

Units spot best when stationary. Movement, especially running, means that a unit’s field of vision is generally restricted to the direction in which the unit is moving. The same is true for vehicles, as the driver and tank commander are (at least partly) focused on getting to their objective without colliding with obstacles or bogging down. Hiding units also spot worse, as their main task is to keep their heads down, not watch for the enemy.

Spotting is always worst to the rear of a unit, and panicked or broken units relay almost no useful spotting information to the player.

Vehicles are generally much poorer spotters than infantry, especially when buttoned up. In fact, most tanks

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have large blind spots within a certain distance around the tank when buttoned up due to the heavily restricted field of view. In CMBB, this has been abstracted into a general rule: Buttoned vehicles have a blind spot for infantry (which is NOT currently targeting the vehicle) within 15m provided the infantry is not in the front 60-degree arc centered on the turret facing.

So don’t be surprised when one of your tanks with closed hatches suddenly runs into an anti-tank team hiding just a few meters away from it. Also don’t be surprised when YOU (as the player hovering above the battlefield) can see a target that your tank simply will not engage. What you can see is not necessarily what the tank can see!

It’s often tactically wise to keep some units stationary on overwatch duty while others advance. Unfortunately, one cannot always afford the luxury of being cautious.

Designer’s Note: In order to prevent the abuse of bailed out crews as disposable scouts, we drastically reduced their ability to spot enemy units. Be warned that if you go moving your crews off into enemy territory the first unit they spot might be their last!

The Men and Machines

“In addition, a fire fight with Josef Stalin tanks should not be undertaken at less than platoon strength; employment of individual Tigers means their loss.” From Septemer 1944 issue of the Nachrichtenblatt der

Panzertruppen, report of a Tiger unit which had met the IS-II Stalin tank in combat (found in: Soviet Armor Tactics in World War II, Charles C. Sharp)

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Units in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin represent squads and teams of soldiers as well as individual vehicles and guns with crew. These are (with a few exceptions) the smallest tactical elements that can receive orders – in other words, in Combat Mission you are not telling every individual soldier what to do, but issue orders from the position of a squad or team leader to the whole group.

This is obvious from looking at your units – although you will see individual figures standing on the map, these do not represent single men, but rather a group. In the case of squads, usually three figures (two if you use the “reduced figures” option) represent anywhere from 7-14 men. Teams (including HQs and gun crews) are usually shown as one figure regardless of the actual team size – a design decision to keep squads and teams easily recognizable.

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Designer’s note: We would have loved to show every single man on the battlefield, but have decided not to because of restrictions of current computer hardware to display and animate thousands of soldiers on the map, and in order to keep the interface from getting clogged. Individual soldiers and their positions on the battlefield ARE tracked with regard to casualties, however, albeit somewhat abstractly.

Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin features a tremendous number of units for each of the six nations, including infantry formations, guns and vehicles and other heavy weapons. Listing them all even with a brief overview would be totally beyond the scope of this manual. However, each unit’s detailed information can be accessed from within the game and in the editor, by clicking on a unit and hitting the ENTER key. This opens the Detailed Unit Information window in the upper left corner. Detailed stats for each unit, its weapons, and capabilities are displayed here. On the following pages you will find a short explanation of what is shown and tracked by CMBB.

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Men

Nationality, Division and Type of Unit

This shows the nationality of the unit, its parent division type, and the unit type, similar to what is shown in the unit information panel described earlier.

Speed Class

The speed class determines the speed at which the infantry unit is able to move. The speed class a unit belongs to depends essentially on how much heavy equipment it is carrying. There are three speed classes for infantry units (there are some more for other units, explained later in this chapter):

Slow — most heavy equipment (e.g. the MG42 heavy machinegun) but also units carrying a lot of extra equipment like artillery spotting teams without radio sets

Medium — light machineguns, light mortars (e.g. the 60mm mortar), and spotters with radios

Fast — squads, sharpshooters, and other small and mobile infantry teams

Slow and medium speed units CAN use RUN movement orders, but will tire a lot faster than FAST units; if you do not want to exhaust your troops too quickly, RUN orders

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should be given to slow and medium units to cover short stretches in emergencies only.

Transport Class

Ranges from 1 to 9, with 9 representing the largest heavy equipment in the game. Units can only mount vehicles which offer at least the same or higher transport class.

Leadership Abilities

If the selected unit is an HQ unit, its leadership abilities (if any) are displayed as, for example, “Morale +1” or “Command +2”.

Special Equipment

If a unit is carrying special equipment (e.g. Panzerfaust, rifle grenades, demolition charges, Molotov cocktails, magnetic mines etc.), the type and quantity is mentioned here. Hand grenades are NOT mentioned here seperately. Also, if the unit has binoculars (greatly enhancing its long range spotting and identifying abilities), this will be noted here as — you guessed it — “has binoculars”.

Weapons & Firepower

A list of available small arms for the selected unit is displayed. Which weapons are available depends on the nationality and type of the unit. Note that some captured weapons can be assigned to units from game start, depending on their documented historical use (the Germans reportedly loved the Russian PPSh submachinegun for example, and you will often find a number of these assigned to German squads and HQ units)

As the unit takes casualties, individual weapons disappear from the list, showing that the soldier carrying that particular weapon has been put out of action. Sometimes, however, soldiers can exchange weapons. For example, if the soldier carrying a squad’s machinegun is hit, another soldier of that squad might drop his own weapon and pick it up.

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Beside the weapons listing, a firepower table shows the firepower of each weapon according to the range to a target. The firepower (FP) is shown for all weapons of the same type, e.g. a German Rilfe 44 squad has 6 K98 rifles. That means 6 x fp 3 at 250m = 18 fp. However, the firepower as shown in increments of 40m, 100m, 250m, 500m, and 1000m is a reference for the player only — the game engine uses a more precise system measuring down to the meter.

Eligible for exit

If a unit is eligible for map exit (as part of a scenario’s victory objectives), this will be noted in the right upper corner of the detailed unit info screen.

Info/Kills

By clicking on the white Info/Kills box in the upper right corner of the info screen, you can toggle the display between unit stats and a summary of how the unit fared in the particular battle so far. To preserve the “fog of war”, only verified kills are shown — so if your mortar team takes out a squad hiding in woods and nobody sees it, the “kill” will not be shown here until the battle is completely over.

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Machines

Nationality, Division and Type of Unit

This shows the nationality of the unit, its parent division type, and the unit type, similar to what is shown in the unit information panel described earlier.

Maximum Speed

This states (in miles per hour and meters per second) the maximum speed the vehicle can go on a paved road. Cross-country movement is generally much slower.

Weight

Measured in tons (U.S. and metric).

Engine

The horsepower is used for speed and acceleration calculations. Diesel-powered engines are slightly less likely to catch fire when hit.

Ground Pressure

Measurement of the vehicle weight and the surfacecontact area of its tracks. Higher ground pressure increases the chance of bogging down.

Silhouette

A numerical value representing the size of the vehicle, modified especially by its height, that affects gunnery accuracy and spotting against it. A value of 100 is “medium size”.

Transport Class

A vehicle can only transport (tow) other units with the same or lower transport class.

Passenger Capacity

Can be squad, team or none. Units may ride on the deck of a tank for example, or within a passenger compartment on transport vehicles like some halftracks and trucks.

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Armor

The armor table gives the thickness and slope of armor for various tank parts (usually turret, upper hull, lower hull, and top) for the front, sides and rear. Other information may include armor quality (values lower than 100% represent manufacturing and metallurgical flaws, common in early Allied vehicles and some late-war German vehicles). Special features like armor skirts (Schürzen) or partly-open vehicles (open top and/or sides) are also noted here, along with “curved” mantlets such as the famous “Saukopfblende” of the German StuGIII, which can provide an effective armor protection substantially higher than the base thickness and slope indicate (depending on which part of the curved armor is hit, thickness and slope can vary to a large degree within a fairly small hit area). When you see a value like “50+20”, then the 50 represents the tank’s base armor, and the 20 additional bolted-on armor, either as field modification or done by the factory. This increases armor protection somewhat, but bolted-on armor is usually a somewhat less effective than the armor of the same thickness made from a single piece of metal.

Special Equipment

Smoke Dischargers — small chemical packets mounted on the outside of a tank that can create a smoke cloud.

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Nahverteidigungswaffe — close defense weapon — hurls an HE or smoke grenade from the inside of the tank against any enemy infantry approaching the tank.

Alternate Rear-facing Driver — some German armored cars were equipped with a second driver seat in the rear of the vehicle, allowing them to reverse quickly out of enemy view.

Cupola — some tanks feature a tank commander’s hatch with cupola allowing the tank commander a 360° view around the tank even with the hatch closed. It enhances a tank’s close range observation against infantry assaults, even from from the rear.

1 man turret — some early war tank models with a crew of 2 have only one man in the turret — meaning that the tank commander is usually also the gunner and loader, and therefore cannot remain unbuttoned and fire the tank’s main armament at the same time. This greatly diminishes a tank’s spotting abilities while firing and affects rate of fire and accuracy also, as the tank commander has to reload by himself and therefore is forced to take his eye off the sight for each shot.

2 man turret — many earlier T-34 models have only two men in the turret — usually a loader and the tank commander/gunner. This greatly diminishes a tank’s spotting abilities while firing, rate of fire and accuracy — albeit not as much as a 1 man turret layout. The tank must button up to fire its main armament.

Radio — many early war Soviet tanks were not equipped with radios, making inter-platoon communication for armored formations very difficult, having to use hand signs, flares and even whistles to communicate. Tanks without radio have to stay a lot closer to the formation’s parent HQ to remain in command, and also lose any command bonus when either the HQ or subordinate unit (or both) are buttoned up.

Optics

All vehicles in game are rated for their optics (described in more detail later in this chapter). When a vehicle or tank has optics better than STANDARD, this is listed here.

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Special Features

Burns Easily — some vehicles stow ammunition and/or fuel in such a way that internal damage regularly causes the entire vehicle to catch fire.

Shot Trap — certain vehicles (like the early Panther model A) have a design flaw in their external shape, which creates a “shot trap” — a curved surface on the underside of the turret front which deflects incoming projectiles downward into the turret ring, or the weakly-armored hull top, where it often penetrates easily.

Slow ROF — certain vehicles are known for their slow “rate of fire”, i.e. long reloading times for their main gun. This can be due to design flaws (e.g. a cramped crew compartment) or especially bulky ammunition or cumbersome loading mechanisms.

Turret Speed

Turreted vehicles (mostly tanks but also some armored cars) are rated for their ability to rotate the turret. Five different speeds are possible: Very fast turret, fast turret, medium turret, slow turret, very slow turret.

Machine Gun

Most vehicles have one or more machineguns mounted in various places. Most common are bow and co-axial MGs, with the first able to fire only within the vehicle hull’s front arc, while the latter can be directed wherever the main gun can point. “Flexible” machineguns, usually top-mounted and meant for antiaircraft purposes, have a full 360º traverse but can normally only be operated when the vehicle is unbuttoned, though some German vehicles have remote-control capability for these weapons (which, if applicable, is also listed here). Some Russian tanks feature an MG mounted on the rear of the turret, but this usually cannot be fired at the same time as the main gun, as there is no extra crew to man this MG at all times. Machinegun ammo is listed in brackets.

Flame

Vehicles equipped with a flamethrower have this entry, together with the available “ammo”, i.e. flamebursts. Note

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that flames fired at longer ranges can use more than one “ammo point” per shot.

Main Weapon

Gives the caliber, muzzle velocity and blast strength of the main gun, as well as any other special info, e.g. “rearfacing” for vehicles with guns (or mortars) only capable of firing towards the rear of the vehicle. The blast strength is a rough measure that represents, in a single number, the values tracked by the game engine, which are the explosive power and the shrapnel generation of the gun’s shells.

Armor Penetration

The penetration table states how many millimeters of armor the shell can penetrate at four ranges (100m, 500m, 1000m, and 2000m), for three different armor slopes (0°, 30° and 60°) and the various anti-armor ammunition types that the gun can fire. These values, however, can vary a lot in the heat of battle, and are supposed to give a rough idea only. Also, although only four ranges are shown, the game engine uses much more precise algorithms (down to a fraction of a meter). The table is color coded to correspond to the colors shown for the various armor parts in the unit interface. For each ammo type, also additional information is listed, like the muzzle velocity and type of ammo (explained later in this chapter).

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Guns

The details screen for guns is a mix of the entries available for infantry units and tanks. Most entries are the same as for infantry units. Additional to that, the MAIN WEAPON is shown, including caliber (e.g. 57mm), muzzle velocity (e.g. 823 m/sec) and a blast value. The latter indicates roughly how lethal the weapon is within a certain range from the impact point.

For guns, the optics (explained in detail further below) are listed here as well, if they are classified as better than STANDARD.

Below that is an armor penetration table, which is intended to give a rough idea of the potential of the gun. It’s a rough idea only because a lot of factors influence the actual chance of armor penetration in the heat of battle.

The penetration table states how many millimeters of armor the shell can penetrate at four ranges (100m, 500m, 1000m, and 2000m), for three different armor slopes and the best anti-armor ammunition types that the gun can fire.

Two additional speed levels are available for guns:

Immobile — the unit cannot move on its own and has to be towed (usually only heavy guns, e.g. the 88mm

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Flak). Additionally, guns which took an exceptionally long time to be prepared for towing after having been setup for firing, will be noted as “cannot embark during battle”. Such units can enter the game map towed and move into position, but cannot embark once they disembark. Keep in mind that vehicles can only tow guns with the same or a lower transport class.

Very Slow — usually used for heavier guns which can be pushed by their crews, albeit slowly (e.g. the 75mm AT Gun)

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Weapons

Small arms

“Small arms” is a military term describing rifles, pistols, machineguns, and other small-caliber bullet-firing weapons wielded by the individual soldier. Although Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin simulates squads and teams rather than individual soldiers, it does treat all weapons of an infantry unit individually.

Small arms and MGs use abstracted “ammo points”. When a squad or team fires it expends one ammo point. Infantry units never run completely out of ammunition to simulate the scrounging of ammo found on the battlefield or taken from fallen comrades. Instead, when the last ammo point has been used, ammo is considered to be “low” and the unit tries to conserve its last ammo. Such units fire their weapons rarely and even then primarily in self-defense.

Machineguns on vehicles are treated like other Small Arms. Unlike these, however, ammo counts for MGs are displayed in the unit’s Detailed Unit Information window, and the vehicle MGs CAN run out of ammo. Vehiclemounted flamethrowers sometimes consume even more than one “ammo point” per shot when the target is near the maximum flamethrower range.

Long Distance Targeting

In the case of infantry squads, all weapons of a squad which are effective at the particular range to the target are fired automatically. This means that usually past 400 meters, only the squad’s light automatic weapon will fire. As the target comes closer first rifles, and then submachineguns, join in.

Ammo Loss Due to Casualties

Ammo points are reduced whenever a moving teamserved weapon (not squad!) suffers casualties. This simulates the “lost” ammo carried by the nowincapacitated men. Take a bazooka team for example. It consists of two men; a gunner and an ammo bearer. If one

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of them is hit, expect to see the ammo available for the unit cut significantly. The same is true for machinegun teams, although these usually have more than one ammo bearer which means the ammo loss is not as dramatic.

Extra and Reduced Ammo Levels

During prepared defense situations, units often are awarded (by the scenario designer) extra ammo to “stockpile” within their fortified positions. Even if a unit suffers no casualties, the extra ammo is lost once the team decides to leave its defensive position, because there’s no one to carry it!

Units can also start out with less ammo than they normally can carry. This would be done to simulate units that are under-supplied or have recently had intense combat and have not yet had the chance to acquire replacement ammo fully.

Effects of Small-arms Fire

When a unit fires, the firepower rating is used to determine the chance of causing damage. Many factors are used in the calculations, like exposure of the enemy unit, the terrain it is in, the activity and suppression of both firer and target (running, crawling, hiding), the marksmanship (experience) of the firing unit — just to name a few.

Generally, the higher the outgoing firepower and the higher the exposure of the target, the more casualties can be expected with each “shot”. A random factor is built in, however, as “lady luck” always takes part in any combat situation.

Suppression

Even when no casualties are caused, incoming fire always has a chance to suppress the target and other units nearby. The higher the effective firepower, the higher the chance of suppressing the enemy.

But suppression does not always mean that the enemy goes prone or runs away. Sometimes incoming fire will “only” change the enemy unit’s status from OK to Alerted

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or Cautious, which might be enough to cause it to reevaluate its orders or return fire less effectively.

Small arms fire from a unit (simulating sometimes the firing of a dozen rifles and machineguns at a time) is NOT directed at one pinpoint area only. Instead, each “shot” affects an area around the target unit or zone, in which it can cause casualties or suppression. This area is bigger for the “area fire” command.

Infantry Casualties

Casualties for infantry squads and teams are tracked on a man-by-man basis instead of an arbitrary “unit strength” rating. When a squad is fired at, the game determines how many and which of its members are hit. When a man (or men) of your unit has been hit, you can see this immediately in the detailed info window, because the weapon carried by that particular soldier is removed from the list, and the firepower ratings adjusted accordingly.

Example: a German Rifle 1944 squad consists of 6 soldiers armed with the K98 bolt action rifle, two MP40 submachineguns and one MG42 light machinegun. If the squad is hit and suffers one casualty, one of these weapons (and the soldier carrying it) is removed. You might lose a rifle, the submachinegun or — if you’re unlucky — the MG42 gunner.

However, important squad weapons — like machineguns (e.g. MG42s) as well as light anti-tank weapons — might be picked up by another squad member even if the man initially carrying the weapon is hit. In such a case, one of the squad members drops his own weapon and acquires the more important one.

Casualties do not necessarily represent dead soldiers. In fact, most of the soldiers regarded as casualties are not dead, just (more or less) seriously wounded. But the end result is the same since the soldier is not capable of fighting any more and is removed from the squad as a casualty. Only at the end of the battle is the actual distribution of wounded vs. killed determined (randomly). A portion of the casualties sustained might be wounded just lightly and return for subsequent battles (during operations).

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Casualties for infantry units have several effects during the course of a game. Besides an adverse effect on a unit’s morale, there is a loss of firepower as individual weapons are removed. Additionally, if a heavy infantry weapon (e.g. most mortars and heavy machineguns) loses most of its crew, not only is ammunition lost if the unit attempts to move, but when only one man remains the weapon becomes entirely immobilized because a single man simply cannot effectively carry the weapon, ammo, and personal equipment by himself.

Hand-To-Hand Combat

Up close and personal, this kind of combat usually does not last very long, as one or the other side (and often both) are decimated quickly and either surrender or are completely annihilated. Close combat starts when two infantry units are within approximately 20 meters or so from each other. You can recognize hand-to-hand combat by the sounds of shouts and rifle butts knocking on helmets, as well as liberal use of grenades by both sides. The victor usually is the one that had some combination of superior numbers, close-range firepower (e.g. SMGs), better experience, and suppressing fire from other friendly units.

Normally, small arms like rifles and machineguns are too weak to cause serious damage to armored vehicles. The exception is lightly-armored vehicles like halftracks and armored cars, or “soft” vehicles without any armor (e.g. jeeps, trucks, and assault boats). These can indeed be penetrated and even destroyed by small arms fire. The penetration chances decrease with distance, but the HMG42 can destroy lightly armored halftracks or armored cars out to as much as 200 or 300 meters depending on angle.

But even if no penetration is achieved, small arms fire can still be effective against armored targets. It can cause crew casualties if the target vehicle is “unbuttoned”, or force it to button up. Open top vehicles, like the SU-76M tank destroyer or the Hummel assault howitzer, are also vulnerable to small arms fire. Firing rifles from a higher elevation right into the top of such a vehicle usually

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achieves good results in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin, as it would in real life.

The closer the armored target, the more options are available to destroy it. Many units have specialized antitank weapons available later in the war (see SPECIAL EQUIPMENT section), but all infantry squads and HQs have hand grenades, which can be used for a close assault against a tank. Hand grenades work best against open-top vehicles, but can also be used — albeit less effectively — against buttoned up tanks. This simulates the occasional hero climbing on, or right up to, an enemy tank and placing the grenade in a vulnerable spot. Demolition charges and grenade bundles are very useful anti-tank weapons at very close ranges by providing extra “punch”, as are rifle grenades (used by the Germans), which can take out light armored vehicles at medium distances. By the far the best close distance anti-armor weapon are magnetic mines, which are placed or sometimes thrown on enemy tanks and stick to the metallic surface of its armor; Molotov cocktails can also be used effectively against opentop vehicles and — to a limited degree — against armored targets.

The main problem with using these weapons is that the infantry unit often needs to get within throwing distance to an enemy tank, and often expose itself to the tank or — much worse — other enemy units covering the tank. There is a good reason why most nations awarded medals for individuals close-assaulting enemy armor, and why a good number of those individuals didn’t survive the war…

Special Equipment

Panzerfausts, demolition charges, rifle grenades and other special infantry squad weapons are handled automatically by the TacAI. The player does not give direct orders for the use of these weapons; their actual use is determined instead by the TacAI, but by manually targeting a close-by enemy tank, the TacAI is “encouraged” to use special equipment against that target – if in range.

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Panzerfaust

A short-range, one-shot antitank rocket launcher commonly used by late-war German infantry squads. They come in four different types and three ranges (two types are 30m, one each is 60m and 100m) depending on the scenario date.

If an enemy armored vehicle comes within range, your squad tries to fire its Panzerfaust. However, suppression can reduce the likelihood of this significantly, and additionally your troops will be reluctant to fire at distances close to the weapon’s maximum effective range as the chance for a miss is high. Sometimes your troops might even fire a Panzerfausts at enemy infantry if the enemy is heavily dug in and/or your unit is carrying several Panzerfausts and feels it can spare one for antipersonnel use.

Demolition Charges

Usually carried only by engineers, these bags of explosives are automatically used to clear minefields, destroy enemy units in close combat, or knock out fixed fortifications. This weapon packs a lot of punch and will usually be enough to at least immobilize a tank!

Rifle Grenades

German squads might be armed with special grenades which can be fired using a modified rifle. They provide a light anti-tank capability at greater ranges than hand grenades or demolition charges.

Grenade bundles

A bundle of six or more grenades to provide extra “punch” — used often against lightly armored targets, which would normally withstand the impact of one hand grenade alone. An improvised anti-tank weapon. It can take out a tank or most often at least immobilize it, but don’t count on it.

Magnetic mines

Anti-tank charges designed to stick to the metal surface of tank and vehicle armor. Usually placed on a vulnerable

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spot on a tank, like top armor, engine compartment cover, the tracks or hatches to maximize damage. During the war, Germany developed a special anti-magnetic paste called “Zimmerit” to prevent magnetic mines from sticking to the tanks. Ironically, Germany’s opponents never used magnetic mines.

Panzerwurfmine

These are hand-held shaped-charge grenades with fabric “wings” or a directional strip that help the charge arrive “head on” when contacting armor after being thrown through the air. The Russian “RPG-43” (not to be confused with the modern Russian RPG) is a similar weapon.

Molotov cocktails

Essentially, a bottle filled with a flammable liquid, designed to burst into a ball of flame upon impact. There are various designs of Molotov cocktails, ranging from rude (a bottle of gasoline with a piece of cloth, which is ignited before throwing) to sophisticated (specially manufactured glass containers with a mix of gasoline and other chemicals and a more effective ignition mechanism). The end result is usually the same — the target is engulfed in a ball of flame which continues to burn for some time. It’s meant for use against armor, though its effects are limited, unless a critical hit against the engine compartment can be achieved, or the armored vehicle is open topped or unbuttoned. The Russians also developed a special launching mechanism for Molotov-like projectiles, called Ampuloment, which was able to hurl a Molotov across bigger distances, and even though widely used, this mechanism never proved to be very effective.

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Anti-tank

Ammo Types for Guns/Mortars

Ammunition is tracked individually for heavy guns (tanks, ordnance, infantry anti-tank weapons, and mortars). The five types of ammo are:

“he” — High Explosive (HE)

Rounds of this type carry a significant explosive charge and are intended to generate on impact as many shell fragments (shrapnel) as possible, thereby increasing the lethal radius against soft targets (infantry, lightly armored or open-top vehicles) but sacrificing penetrating power against more heavily-armored targets.

“ap” — Armor Piercing (AP)

This type of shell (or shot) uses kinetic energy to punch through armor plate and has little or no explosive charge. This makes it ideal for use against armored vehicles but generally ineffective against soft targets.

“hc” — Hollow Charge

Also referred to as HEAT ammunition, this projectile uses a “hollow” (or “shaped”) explosive to focus a thin jet of hot gas against armor plate, literally melting a hole through it instead of smashing through with brute force (like AP ammunition does). Because it does not rely on kinetic energy, a HEAT round’s penetrative capability does not decrease over long range.

“c” — Canister

Canister ammunition is not unlike a shotgun cartridge — a lightweight shell breaks apart (intentionally) and releases several hundred steel balls that spread out laterally. It’s deadly against soft targets at short range (within about 200m) but ineffective against hard targets or at long range.

Russians use it in 57mm and 76mm tank guns. Germans use it in their 75mm “short” gun, like on the early StuG III.

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“t” — Tungsten Core

Known by the Germans as PzGr40 (Panzergranate 40). This type of projectile is lighter than a standard AP round and can be fired at a higher muzzle velocity. It has a highdensity shatter-resistant metal core (usually made of tungsten) with greatly improved penetrative power against armor. The drawback to tungsten ammo is that its smaller (core) caliber and lighter shell mass mean that kinetic energy is lost more rapidly over long distances, and the shell has a tendency to ricochet off steeply sloped armor. But the increase in velocity and shell strength almost always make up for these drawbacks. Tungsten is a relatively expensive material meaning these shells are generally rare. By 1944 Germany suffered from a severe shortage of tungsten and other metals, and so had virtually no PzGr40 available.

“s” — Smoke

These projectiles are designed to generate a thick smoke screen as cover for other friendly forces. Smoke ammo causes no damage if fired against enemy infantry or armor, but generally blocks LOS through it for a short time.

Designer’s Note: understand the above five ammo types as basic categories, used to describe the countless types and models of projectiles used during the war. Internally, Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin tracks the weight, muzzle velocity, ballistic coefficient and size of explosive charge of all the different shell types from all the different guns in the game individually. The AP ammo generally used by the Soviets until April 1944 (uncapped AP) is NOT the same that they use thereafter (ballistic-capped APBC — exceptions: 122mm switches over in August and 100mm never switches to APBC). The APBC is generally more powerful partly because AP ammo was poorly manufactured, especially in 1941, and also because Russian APBC has a blunt nose shape which ‘grips’ on contact and does reasonably well against highly-sloped armor. NOTE: Russian 45mm AP ammo in 1941 is especially poorly made.

Selecting Ammo Type

Your units decide, based on your orders and the type of target they are about to fire at, which ammo type to use.

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You cannot order a tank specifically to fire tungsten ammo, for example. The tank commander (read: TacAI) is responsible for the choice of ammo and usually tries to first fire some regular rounds to “bracket” the target. The tank commander uses special ammo once a hit is likely to be achieved, but only when the standard type proves ineffective.

Anti-tank gunnery

The phenomenon of armor penetration by projectiles is a complex matter. Unlike many other wargames, Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin simulates the process by modeling real-world physics instead of abstract CRTs (Combat Resolution Tables).

Hit Chance

First of all, an anti-tank round — regardless if fired from an anti-tank gun, a light infantry anti-tank weapon like a panzerschreck or another tank — has to hit its target. As a guideline, a Hit Chance is shown whenever you order a unit to fire at an enemy armored vehicle. The hit chance is calculated based on many different dynamic factors, which also change constantly during the course of an Action Phase — but it does give the player a rough idea about the capabilities of the firing weapon.

Some factors taken into account when calculating hit chances are

•size of the target (the silhouette rating)

•facing of the target (vehicle sides are usually bigger — longer — than the front)

•distance between firing unit and target

•exposure of the target (it’s much more difficult to hit something which is obstructed from view by trees, a stone wall, a house or a slope — see HULL DOWN)

•the accuracy of the firing weapon, which is often directly proportional to its muzzle velocity, i.e. a faster shot means a flatter trajectory and easier aiming

•the experience rating of the firing crew

•number of previous rounds already fired at this target, which allow the gunner to “bracket”

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•ammunition type, caliber, and weight

•the optics of the firing unit

•if the firing unit and/or target are moving. The hit chance is dramatically reduced when the firing unit is on the move.

Hull Down

One of the best tactics to enhance the survivability of your armor is to occupy hull down positions. “Hull down” means that only the turret or superstructure is visible to (and hittable by) the enemy, thereby minimizing the target area tremendously (the silhouette of a vehicle is reduced) without sacrificing one’s own ability to fire. Hull-down vehicles are also harder to spot in the first place.

Hull-down positions are not as easy to find as one might think, though. What makes it so difficult is that a hull-down position is always relative between the firing unit and the target. It is entirely possible to be hull-down against one tank, while being in full view of another one. Only rarely will you find a natural dip in the terrain large enough to fit a tank which also provides hull-down status in multiple directions. (Note: in some scenarios you might be allowed to dig in your tanks, however, which achieves exactly this result).

Experience is what it takes to spot good hull-down positions. Hull-down positions can be found anywhere, all the time, and not only in “holes” but even on top of a hill. If your tank is far enough off the ridge, only its turret/ superstructure will be visible to targets on the opposite side.

The “seek hull down” order in Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin is intended to make finding hull-down spots relative to ONE specific spot on the map easier for the average player, but it is a command best used while out of contact with the enemy and represents the ability of pretty much any tank crew to find a hull-down spot given enough time and preparation. For getting hull-down during the heat of combat, you might be better off scout the map yourself and use your best judgement. Here, the LOS or TARGET tool will aid you, as the words “hull down” will

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appear over the targetted area or unit as soon as your unit has reach a hull-down position.

Misses

If a shot misses, it does not magically disappear. Instead, the round is tracked to its impact point. Since the trajectory of gun rounds is modelled realistically (i.e. rounds drop by gravity as they travel), this might mean that a missed projectile ends up somewhere behind the missed target in the ground or, if fired too short, in front of it. But elevations can change this dramatically, and when a target on a hill is missed, the round can easily travel hundreds or thousands of meters further.

Wherever the impact point lies, damage is caused. If a round which missed the intended target sails further and lands near another unit, damage is assessed just as if the unlucky target was the intended one. It won’t happen often, but it can.

Armor Penetrations

When a gun round hits an armored target, it does not mean an automatic kill. Far from it — both Axis and Allies had tanks in service which could shrug off direct hits, especially if the shell came from long range and at an oblique angle.

Some factors taken into account when determining whether a round penetrates armor are:

•armor thickness for front/side/rear as well as top/ turret/upper hull/lower hull

•armor slope for all of the above

•Side angle (i.e. obliquity)

•Striking velocity (reduced by air resistance as the shell travels)

•Armor quality (i.e. metallurgical flaws)

•Face hardened or homogeneous armor plate

•Brinnell Hardness Number (BHN)

•Shot-to-plate diameter ratio

•Shell “cap” type and strength

•Special ammo (like tungsten rounds)

•Shot shatter

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•Shot traps (a design flaw in the vehicle shape which tends to “catch” shells rather than let them ricochet away)

•Armor skirts (“Schürzen”)

Note: Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin does not use a generic armor “strength”, but real-life values taken directly from historical sources: armor thicknesses in millimeters and slopes measured in degrees.

A successful anti-armor round penetrates the armor, sending molten metal fragments and spray into the crew compartment, and — if the shell also contains an explosive charge — exploding inside the vehicle. In many (but not all) cases this means that the penetrated vehicle is either physically damaged in some fundamental way, members of the crew are incapacitated or panicked, or both. A vehicle so damaged is called “knocked out”, and surviving crew members hastily “bail out” of their wrecked vehicle before the next shell arrives. Sometimes the results are even more horrific. If the penetration contacts live ammunition inside the vehicle, or a tank of gasoline, the whole vehicle can burst into flames, otherwise known as a “brew up”. Sometimes no one escapes these deadly infernos.

The lethality of a penetration takes into account the mass of armor sent into the interior, the likelihood of the armor to fragment, and the size of the bursting charge of AP ammo, if any (and the chance it might not function properly on penetrations which don’t make it cleanly through). You’ll find that AP “shot” (which has no explosive capacity) tends to to a better job penetrating armor, but less damage once inside compared to AP “shells” which have an explosive charge. With small guns — especially antitank rifles — it often takes multiple hits to knock out tanks, and often this will be from injuring or killing the crew rather than significant physical damage to the tank itself.

Armor penetrations that penetrate less than 15% “beyond” the armor resistance will be displayed as “partial penetration” and often are less dangerous to the crew of the tank which was hit. (Note: the reduced lethality is not a hard cutoff at 15%, that’s just the cutoff to show the ‘partial’ message).

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