Yet more questions about CM:Normandy

[Dietrich]

About three months ago, I started a thread presenting several questions I have about CM:Normandy. That thread got the least traffic of any of the CM:Normandy-related threads; it ended up so many pages back that I figured I might as well re-create it. Also, many of the questions I posed in that thread have been answered (at least partially) in subsequent threads, so I have pared down the questions to ones which have yet gone undiscussed.

Thus, I say again...

- How will artillery support be handled? Will calling for support be limited to forward observers? Will HQ units be able to call on and/or spot for artillery (presumably not as accurately or quickly as FOs)? Will units with C2 to their parent HQ be able to ask for artillery support (with perhaps an even greater accuracy/promptness penalty than the HQ itself requesting said support)?

- Will on-map mortars need their own LOS to a given targeted area? (I suppose this would apply more to 81mm/3-inch "medium" mortars than 50mm/2-inch mortars.) Will mortars be able to fire indirectly (though presumably with relative inaccuracy)? Will HQs be able to spot for mortars within their command radius?

- Will units which do not have radios or field telephones and which are out of visual/voice range of friendly units have some means of communication? TacAI-controlled signal flares, perhaps? (According to a post by Steve, inter-unit runners will be abstractly simulated.)

- Will TO&Es and unit purchasing be CMx1-like or CMSF-like? Will we be able to give units particular names (and with an HQ's name reading "Lt. Murphy" instead of "Lt. Murphy HQ"*)?

- Will tactical resupply include handgrenades? Will handgrenades always explode on impact (as they do in CMSF), or will they have realistic fuse delays, as in CMx1? Will infantry be able to pop smoke, whether for expedient concealment or for signalling? (I understand that infantry smoke-popping was omitted from CMx1 so as to obviate its gamey use/overuse.) Will smoke-popping be aim-able?

Please understand, though, that I don't mean to imply "if the game lacks any of the above-mentioned things, I will consider it broken"; I ask these questions with a view inciting thoughtful (and respectful ) discussion.

* I noticed that in the CMSF scenario "Bomber Takedown" (thumbs up to the scenario designer, by the way), several of the units had specific names like "Sgt. James Wheeler" and the unit leader's name (the name by the upper left box beside the unit portrait) was the same (i.e., "Wheeler"). I thought it wasn't really possible to make the unit leader's name a particular name; I thought it was more or less random. Could this be because the scenario is a "baked" scenario? (I don't remember if it actually is baked or not.) Any ideas?

[mike_the_wino]

From Winecape's synopsis thread:

Quick battles

A completely new QB system is the primary game mechanics focus for CM: Normandy (things like equipment, units, terrain, weather, etc. obviously must come first!). The new system will be more like CMx1's system in that people can Cherry Pick once again. More details later.