So I'm setting up a 1000 point meeting engagement Quick Battle, with random terrain, and I'm picking out my troops, when I realize I've been playing Combat Mission for more than a year, and I've never played with Conscript troops yet. God, they're cheap! I can buy a buttload with my 1000 points! So I do. I chuck in a few conscript halftracks and some tanks, but I make the tanks Regular troops. I let the computer pick the Germans, they will have Regular troops against my conscripts, but I outnumber them 3:1.
Now the map. Three Victory flags, left, right, and center. I need to advance and take the flags, the enemy will do the same. I have good cover, trees, etc on the left, not much in the center, and almost none on the right for the advance. No matter, I think, my swarm of conscripts will take that flank. I put my tanks to the left with another swarm. I'm weak in the middle but they are just going to move up to cover and engage. I'll sweep in, then crush the center.
I have a lot of troops, but moving them is a snap. I can set up complex move orders with a few clicks. Run to cover, move cautiously to the edge of the trees, go prone and engage, click, click, click. On the right flank, I just drag select the whole swarm and tell them to march to the flag. The center and left flanks get more detailed orders as I want to be sure they get there in one piece.
Now I just have to hit Go and see what happens. The first few turns are uneventful. Finally, gunfire.
And there, I see why they are called conscripts. With the first shots, at least a third of my right flank panicked and hit the dirt. More shots, and my massive onslaught was in shambles. The whole flank was either eating dirt or running for whatever cover they could find. One more turn, and my plan was in shambles. The tanks had managed to take the left though. I moved whatever infantry I had into buildings and set up a defense there. The center was pinned and not returning fire. To the right, there was one little clump of trees, and half my troops had hightailed it there, while the other half were running for the hills.
Now here, I zoomed in on that clump of trees and just kept hitting end turn. More shots would come in, and everyone was panicked or pinned, but I noticed that I had very few casualties. Basically, the sound of gunfire was enough to totally stop them. But by and by, they started to get comfortable with it as long as they stayed in the trees. More end turn. Near the end of the game, their morale had returned to the point I was able to order them, so I ordered them to engage. By now, I think the Germans were low on ammo from plinking away at us, so our fire was having an effect. In the last two turns, I took my least panicked troops and ordered them to advance to cover near the flag. By turn 30, I had put the ownership of that flag in question, and managed a draw.