Animal_Mother

No, I'm in the U.S., so no problems there. Actually I think I might be able to afford the video card before release (if there's 4 more weeks) so not only will I be able to play Commonwealth but I'll be able to do it on my brand new GTX580 Anyway thanks for the help.

Hey guys, if I wait until after release I won't have problems getting a hard copy of the Commonwealth module will I? I have to have one to avoid DL due to crappy internet but atm am trying to save up for a new video card. But I definitely am planning on getting it.

But if your scout unit has a short covered arc they won't stop & hide unless fired upon or the enemy they see is actually inside the arc, right? Or does it work differently with the hide command at the end? If so I might try that. But it seems to me that if you used no covered arc and a hunt order with hide at the end they would hide immediately upon seeing enemy, and being hidden wouldn't fire on anything. Darn it, now you've got me thinking & I'll have to go try it.

I'd like to see this feature, I'd use it constantly.

When scouting I always use small infantry elements--the 3-man scout teams are best but I always use random force selection so these are not always available. Extra arty spotters, ammo bearers, LMG teams also work, binoculars are a plus but not absolutely necessary. Use the Hunt order. The idea is that if they get wiped out you've only taken a couple of casualties. Now once the enemy has foolishly given away their position firing on your scouts it's time for payback. My favorite unit to cover an advance with is light mortars, firing directly--they'll put a serious hurting on anything they see, unless its armor. Remember the idea is not to take no casualties yourself but to make the enemy take MORE casualties, and HE is the way to do that.

They had something similar but I think it was a generation or two down the line, I can't remember exactly what the designation for it was. It definitely didn't weigh 500 pounds though. I remember it had parameters for things like weather, wind speed & direction, ect.

Should have also added that there should be a random variation on where your repeat FFE actually hits, depending mainly on the quality of the spotting unit. Repeat FFE uses same target area (circle of standard/nonstandard size, line, or point target) as original fire mission. You can repeat as many times as you want as long as the above criteria are met, but all targets must be within 100-200 meters of original.

Artillery changes: The ability to call for repeat FFE within a certain distance of the original target without having to start a new fire mission from scratch (maybe 100-200 meters) with the tradeoff being that each type of artillery gun/mortar/rocket/whatever has a default target circle that, if deviated from, adds significantly to the fire mission time. Also repeat FFE should have to be requested immediately following the original fire mission. Cover armor arc would be nice as well.

So when you play Combat Mission you have ambient battle sound coming from outside...cool! And now I think about it I think PADS stood for Position and Azimuth Determining System.

It was inertial but I don't remember it being referred to by either INS or IMU. They called it PADS: Positional Azimuth Determining System. It weighed probably at least 50-60 lbs and occupied a cube about 2 1/2 feet a side. You would enter your map coordinates at whatever registered point was available with a plumb bob out the back of the jeep and then drive to where the battery was set up, and it would do all the calcs. to give you the orienting line. Nifty piece of equipment for its day. I don't know about other applications, but artillery survey has been gone since approx. 1992. Don't know for sure but I seriously doubt the army uses survey for anything anymore. We better hope our tech doesn't fail us since we really don't know how to do squat anymore, huh? So where were you stationed? I of course did basic/AIT at Fort Sill and then served in units in West Virginia & Minnesota.

Actually I started in field artillery survey--mos 82C--in 1989. A few years later they introduced a new system for deriving the orienting line for the howitzer battery...involved a big gyro driven unit that you could mount in the back of a jeep (we didn't have Hummers yet) Anyway, when that happened 82C became obsolete, so they put me in FDC instead. I was in the National Guard in a couple different units, 155mm mobile howitzers and 105s. I can't remember exactly what year I started FDC, but I got out in 1995. And no, I never got to do any FOing, but I do remember getting to accompany them just to see it at least once.

As for me I haven't even played CMSF, was still playing CM1 and waiting for CMBN.

Couldn't this just replace the present bottom UI when no unit is selected? Right now it's blank if you don't select anything. Good idea though.

Yes that's what I meant. But maybe the circle should be different sizes depending on the firing unit. A battery of 105s using a bigger standard circle than, say, 60mm mortars would. Also if you are going to repeat FFE you should have to do it immediately following the original mission, at least with higher level assets. A battalion level asset might wait a little longer for you to decide if you want to repeat before going on to something else while brigade level might not, ect. At present my favorite trick when trying to take out a single target like an AT gun is point target, harassing fire, max. mission length. This way I can continue fire until the target is destroyed without having to restart the fire mission from scratch, but once it is destroyed I can cease fire without wasting too many rounds. It doesn't work too badly but imo is a little gamey and is not what a unit would do irl.

OP--I used to be in FDC as well, so I can sympathize. The artillery system could stand a little additional work. My recommendation would be having repeat FFE within maybe 100-200 meters of the original target (of course there should be some random variation on where this actually falls, one factor being the experience of the FO) with the tradeoff being that each arty type has a standard firing pattern and deviating from this will result in longer fire mission times. Maybe not all that is needed but I think it would improve things.