CM4 Strategy Guide

[bamcgee]

Does anyone know if the CM4 strategy guide is worth getting?

I played a fair bit of CM3, but I would love to know more about the training and tactics. Here's a list of questions that I am seeking out answers for:

-how does the coach's preference and styles impact their training? More importantly, does that impact my success in a match?
-why do scouts have other ratings than player ability and potential?
- are my players training on match day? Do matches affect the training schedule - i.e. are certain drills skipped? - or are matches ignored in regards to training?
- A rhetorical question - if the tactical training or walkthrough drill is best one or two days before a match, do they really expect me to manually adjust the schedule every week?
- can coaches be overworked? Are there consequences to assigning them to more than one schedule? What if that custom schedule only includes one or two players? How do I judge the coachs' workload?
- classic stupid American question - what is a "through ball" and how is that played out on the pitch?
- do players with ok or poor morale play worse? Early indications suggest no.
- if your best player's condition is 100 for every match due to good stamina, is it wise to start him in every match or will this adversely affect form? My experience suggests that rests are needed, as if there is a hidden fatigue rating.
- why does it take so long for my scout to scout individual players? Will they only scout those players if otherwise assigned to scout their respective league, country, etc.?
- is there a hidden rating for potential? Right now, it seems that the best young players are the ones with the highest current ratings - Rooney comes to mind. But what about the less obvious talents? Scout reports tell me nothing other than current stats and whether he's a hot prospect or not.

hmmm... that's all I can think of for now. Does the strategy guide offer any insight into these questions? Better yet, do any of our CM fans have any hard facts about these?

Thanks a million. Great game, will get even better over time.

[Marc Vaughan]

Strategy Guide - its pretty good, on a par with other Prima guides (ie. readable and factual).

I'm releasing a CM4 hints and tips file for download later this week which might also be helpful to you.

[GrantDawg]

I can answer two. There are hidden rating for pontential and when a scout (and leter a coach) tells you a player has good/great potential, he is giving you a hint.

A "through" ball (and anybody with more knowledge can correct me) is when a player tries to pass the ball in the attack area setting up another player to run on into to take it in to the goal. It is like passing to "space" and you only want players with good passing a vision doing this or it will be an easy turn-over.

[moriarty]

I'll let Marc (or someone else) correct me, but ...

- For scounts having more ratings … I believe the answer is that many scouts can be hired as coaches or Asst Mgrs (hence they need full ratings).

- For taking so long to scout players, I think it takes time for them to actually watch a few games. (Can't recall in CM4 how long is 'too long').

- For playing people every match, I know in previous versions of CM, the youngsters could 'burn out' if you played them in too many matches.

[bamcgee]

I know the scouts vaguely indicate the overall potential, but I presume that there is no way to tell which particular attributes are most likely to improve. For example, if a young striker has poor finishing, there is no way to tell if it's even possible that that attribute can be trained higher, right? Or am I missing something?

Also, I can indicate a player I want to be scouted, the entire season can go by and no one will get around to scouting him. My question is are assigned scouts able to also scout individual players, even in different regions, at the same time? Do they have to be unassigned to get around to it?

I'll be looking for the tips and tricks when it comes out - thanks for the support!

[Tekneek]

If you think you'd like to play the "LLM" way (lower league manager) way, then you'd avoid things like the strategy guide for sure. You can check out the "Lower League Managers" forum over at the sigames site for the "rules." I always play this way, and even play other games with a very similar style, and it greatly enhances the fun... IMHO.

[JHandley]

I know that if you have a scout that is not assigned anywhere, you will get a report fairly quickly from him. I am not sure, but I suspect, that if the scout is assigned to that region or country, you will get a report from him as well. I do know that if all of your scouts are assigned elsewhere, you will have to wait until their assignment is over.