Two requests for help.

[pilgrim]

Hello all!

Based on the reports of 1.05, I finally bought CMSF two weeks ago. So far, I'm really enjoying it, and my kids (mainly my two older boys, 12 & 10) have become really interested while watching it. They're now asking to try it, but I fear they'll be overwhelmed.

I have two main problems, I think. First, with boardgames and pc games, I've always played (and nudged them) in the direction of WWII and medieval, so while they have an understanding of WWII equipment (Axis & Allies miniatures, etc.) and knights and castles, they have no clue what a Stryker is, or a Bradley, or an AT-4, etc. Secondly, while they're used to RTS type of games (drag a box, select the units, and throw that at the enemy horde, ala Age of Empires II), they'd be a bit overwhelmed with the scenarios on the disk that I've played. I thought that the "2-man" icon would be somewhat small battles, but even those contain 12 or so Bradleys, and that's about 10 too many to start with.

So, here are my requests. Would any kind soul be able to help?

1. Is there a nice slideshow of modern equipment on the web -- especially in the Iraq setting, since the desert/buildings will make more sense to the game setting -- that I could show them? I'm just trying to give them an overview of the equipment, uniforms, etc. (If it helps clarify things, here's another example: I grew up watching Nascar, etc., so I have a liking for cars driving around in circles. I've never really watched it with my kids, so when I bought them a Nascar game, they just had no "connection" to it...they knew what they had to do to win, but it just had no ties to anything they'd seen before.) I'd like CMSF to make a good first impression -- if it's "too confusing" or "too boring" when they try to play themselves, they'll give it up. I don't need technical specs, etc.; nice pictures of equipment/soldiers -- especially in action -- would immediately impress them.

2. I need a small intro scenario. I tried the one "1-man" icon scenarion (ATGM Ambush, or something like that), but I'm not sure it shows off CMSF at it's best. Is there a very small, simple, occupy-a-village scenario that someone could recommend? Is the editor easy enough for me to make one? Has someone made one but never posted it to a download site, but you'd be willing to email it to me?

I know it sounds like I'm begging for handouts. I'll admit it. Right now I'm working two jobs while trying to refinish our basement in my spare time. I took a couple of days off over the holidays to play the game, and that's when the boys saw it, so I'd like to capitalize while they're still interested.

Thanks for any and all help that you can give, even if it's just pointing me in the right direction of "google _this_".

[SgtMuhammed]

Well, for the first one the best answer is probably to google for pictures from Iraq. There are a ton out there.

For the second I would download the Demo. It has a little villiage fight with tanks and infantry that isn't too big or difficult. Plus the Demo has a small training scenario to help get to know the commands without getting killed.

[Guest Guest]

deleted per user request

[JasonC]

US land warfare systems. Lots of them, many older, in a flat page of bare links. Look at the highlighted ones for a more limited set.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/index.html

A less detailed, more visual site, restricted to current equipment. Some menu browsing to see it all -

http://tech.military.com/equipment/category/3/ground-vehicles.html

Threat equipment, slightly older source. Look under the Russian flag entries for most of the Syrian equipment in the game -

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/row/index.html

I hope his helps.

[JasonC]

P.S. if those are all too "tech spec"-ee, you might look instead at -

http://www.goarmy.com/about/tanks_and_fighting.jsp

[pilgrim]

Wow.

You guys are awesome.

Thanks ever so much for the help! One hour after I post, I have a scenario recommended, a scenario hand-generated, and links with enough pictures to keep my boys busy until summer.

Thanks again, guys.

[Meach]

cmmods.com has a whole host of user designed maps and scenarios along with a Tiny Map pack made by the Quick Battle Group.

Check these out.