kipanderson

Hi, All previous versions of CM are just R&D for the Eastern Front titles... . Although I am hugely impatient for the Eastern Front I was in a way relieved that the first outing of CMX2 WWII was in the west. It means the Eastern Front versions will be the perfected versions. Remember CMBB was the second in the series. Because of my interest in the subject I still regard CMBB as the greatest wargame of all time in any format. Relative to the technology of the time I am still shocked a wargame could be so good, so historically accurate it was a form of military history . But I consider the CMX2 engine a big advance on CMX1 so am confident that when the new engine reaches the Eastern Front the title of “greatest wargame of all time” will move to the new title. In my version of the prefect world the Eastern Front would be the next title but believe it or not, and Eastern Front enthusiasts like me find it very surprising, but Western Front settings sell far more copies. They are more popular even in this niche market. Anyway.... The Bulge is my favourite Western Front battle so that followed by the Eastern Front is still not bad . We are lucky to have CM... All the best, Kip.

George, hi, Looks great... can’t wait...! All the best, Kip.

Vein, hi, Cannot believe me luck.... just posted how I was looking forward to your mod on the other thread... . Great... Congratulations... ! All the best, Kip.

Vein, hi, Looks great. Looking forward to the mod . It is strange but true that the shipped graphics are probably more realistic but your mod will still “look... seem...” more realistic . They will just look better for the purpose. As to some extent the colouring of the Band of Brothers series, far from realistic, looked great within that setting. All the best, Kip. PS. Thanks to the genius of Charles we can just swap them in and out at will in a few seconds.

George, hi, Absolutely great to see what you are up to.... with me it is close to being love match between CM and the Eastern Front . All previous versions of CM are just R&D for the Eastern Front . You are also correct, historically not just CM wise, that Panthers v T34s/Shermans are far from invulnerable. A classic example is during the attempted relief of the Korsun Pocket in February ’44 when the newly equipped Panther battalion from Gross Deutschland tried to break through Soviet lines to no effect. At the time it was the most powerful German armoured battalion in the East, first generation Panther battalion of 60 tanks. On the first morning of the attempted breakthrough 17 were lost, the end of the second morning just 15 were still running. German estimates of Soviet losses were 13 T34s and half a dozen AT guns. The problem for the Panthers was their very thin side armour. In the open, undulating, village Russia landscape the number of opportunities for side shots from the Soviets meant the Germans had to advance in line. Say on a front 2000m wide. Any attempt at a narrow “breakthrough” lead to the Panthers being lost. This in turn lead to grinding, slow village by village, ridge by ridge advance along a large section of front. The standard Soviet 76.2mm AT round of ’42 – ’45 could penetrate even the heaviest sections of Panther side armour at a 45 degree strike angle at 1000m. At closer to 90 degrees at any range the Soviets managed to hit them. As you can see I am ranting at the thought of War on the Eastern Front and CM once again coming together . Will leave you alone now.... but hugely looking forward to what you are producing and then CMX2 moving to the East. We are lucky to have CM... All the best, Kip.

Hi, Ramadi is the finest CM map so far produced in any title in the last eleven years. So as you can guess I am hugely looking forward to final product . Great to see you are off the mark on another record breaking project! We are all lucky to have CM, All the best, Kip.

Hi, I think there is a good chance that they will do North Africa with CMX2 one day. Eastern Front winter 42/43 must be high on the list of likely titles for a “winter...” Eastern Front setting and that would mean Battlefront would have the models, AFVs, AT guns and such, readymade for North Africa. But it will be a long-time off. With the now relative spotting engine it would be good. All the best, Kip.

Hi, Well.... I would go even further; to me all previous versions of CM are just R&D for the Eastern Front titles . I was truly relieved that Battlefront was starting with other theatres because by the time they reached the Eastern Front the CMX2 engine would be perfected. As CMBB was when compared to CMBO. Why the Eastern Front...? There are many reasons that overlap. Scale in numbers of troops, casualties, duration of time and geographical space and more. All leaving the two sides with the opportunity, no necessity to take WWII warfare to its ultimate level tactically and operationally. From Germanys’ own military records 76% of their “military” casualties were suffered on the Eastern Front. With Commonwealth Forces and the US each accounting for between 10%-12% of Germanys military casualties. The entire campaign in North West Europe from D-Day to the end of the war accounted for just 14% of Germanys’ military casualties. The geographical scale also allowed for textbook scale combined arms operations in way only really approached in North Africa but there of course the troop numbers were about 5% - 10% of those in the Soviet Union. The nature of the natural environment, climate and cityscape all adds to the mix. All other fronts in WWII were really just side shows. However that does not belittle the suffering and sacrifice on those fronts. My father did most of his conventional fighting in Italy and all any can do is their utmost against the enemy squad opposite them even if strategically they find themselves fighting on what they know to be something of a “sideshow....”. All must hope war on the scale of the Eastern Front in WWII is never repeated but as history it does make for a fascinating subject and setting. CM being so good it is a form of military history. That is why more than ten years ago I became a fan and still am. But... of course, each to their own... . Looking forward to many more titles and modules, which I do believe will arrive at increasing speed, All the best, Kip.

John, hi, thanks... will go and have a read.... All the best, Kip.

General Solomon, hi, I have the book so am OK. But thanks for the offer. We all have limited time but I hope to build and play as many scenarios as possible. I prefer CMA to CMSF but we are lucky in that there is flood of CMX2 titles and modules coming our way... . All the best, Kip.

Hi, During CMA testing my PC was dying so played no part in it and can take no credit. After reading some of the best books on the subject, The Bear Went Over the Mountain, Afgantsy and The Soviet- Afghan War/The Russian General Staff Report I built a scenario with the terrain taken from Google Earth and maps and the forces and context from the above books. I was shocked just how well CMA modelled things. I played real time for two hours and didn’t want the game to end. The Soviets were tasked with opening a road that had been closed by Mujahideen as it ran through a village in Helmand Provence beside one of the canals. The total Mujahideen force was 63 strong and their casualties 23 or 37%. Total Soviet strength was 116 men and 15 AFVs. Soviet losses 8 men and 1 BTR. Less than 10%. However in two hours only half the village was cleared. From all I have read on the war CMA looked, sounded and felt realistic and delivered a credible outcome. Totally immersive. By high intensity warfare standards not an exciting outcome but what impressed me so much was the way the game modelled the challenges of trying to clear the village with minimum loss. And this hooked me, I did not expect it to but it did. As I say... CMA is an overlooked gem... its real, it happened and CMA models it superbly. Hugely immersive and atmospheric. Looking forward to many more such games.... . All the best, Kip. PS. Will release the scenario when it has been tweaked with Flavor Objects and briefings done.

Hi, My vote would go for The Pacific and Band of Brothers by Spielberg. Unoriginal choices but for high intensity warfare of any era I think the two above the best. With The Pacific being by the thickness of a cigarette paper the best. Das Boot is also great.... my number three. Interesting that all three are made for TV.... not really movies... All the best, Kip. PS If The Forgotten Soldier is made to Spielberg standards it will be a stunner... .

Hi, If I were the “powers that be” I would put together a Afghan reading list and make it a sticky. Afgantsy : The Russians in Afghanistan 1979 – 1989 by Rodric Braithwaite. Outstanding and very readable. Written in the style and to the quality of books by Rick Atkinson such as An Army at Dawn. The Bear Went Over the Mountain. Edited By Lester W Grau. After-action tactical study. The Soviet Afghan War, The Russian General Staff Report edited by Lester W Grau. After-action tactical study. All the best, Kip.

Hi, This is a great thread... always refreshing to have it from the Horse’s Mouth as to what the future holds. The official version. Is as I thought but good to know that as of today the plan from a year or so ago still holds. I greatly look forward to having a menu of different settings to choose from to get my CM fix . And we are very close to that. We have CMSF then there is also CM Afghanistan and Normandy close to showing its public face. It is refreshing to jump about from setting to setting. I plan on building a CM Afghanistan scenario today to celebrate a new and possibly definitive account of the war that has just been published. Afgantsy : The Russians in Afghanistan 1979 – 1989. By Rodric Braithwaite. CMX2 is very much a long-term work-in-progress that gets tweaked and improved with every outing which is why I am glad the Eastern Front games come later in the more perfected version of CMX2. But lots and lots to look forward to... We are lucky to have CM.... All the best, Kip.

Hi, There is a new book on Afghanistan that is already being called the “definitive..” account. Afgantsy : The Russians in Afghanistan 1979 – 1989. By Rodric Braithwaite. He was “our man in Moscow..” British Ambassador from ’88 to ’92. Very much a Cold War Warrior but like many without any anti-Russian bias. In fact a steely eyed Russophile would be a good description. The Russians were far better at what they did there than they are given credit for in the West. As books such as The Bear Went Over the Mountain make clear. Interesting stuff... gives context to CMA. All the best, Kip.

Mike, hi, Thanks.... my PC was down during most of the NATO module work so could not remember.... I fancy some Battle for Ukraine... Red on Red play... . All the best, Kip.

Hi, Quick question... Does the NATO module have any new Red equipment... anything at all...? I have forgotten... Thanks, All the best, Kip.

Vark, hi, Thanks... am very grateful for the hint. Looks good. Cheers . All the best, Kip.

Wicky, hi, I know, a patch processing section to remember .... However, I have not gone mad. There was indeed such a mod out there in Golden Age of CMBB... very good it was too. All good fun, All the best, Kip.

Hi, Well I am tempted to relaunch on CMBB after a break of many years but struggle to tolerate the very vivid colours. I remember from times gone by that there was a very good mod that de-saturated the colours.... is it still out there? Thanks for your help... All the best, Kip.

76mm, hi, Crikey...! It may well be a good idea but still makes me smile... . BTW.... I forgot to mention that... yes... I do agree with those who say “scaling...”... map sizes, battle sizes, how to scale down battles that are too big is a major problem. All the options have their weaknesses. All very interesting and fun, All the best, Kip. PS. For Geccos contact “aka Hawk”. He posted earlier..

Steve, Agreed, maps made from imagination often seem scaled wrong. When it comes to technique I just copy others as I am not artistic. But scale and what major features to include comes off Google or topographical maps. Also yes.... I agree with both yourself and The Capt that brigade is probably the right size for player manned units. But as you will have seen from my earlier posts I am keen to mix the player manned units with operational level only playing pieces. In fact I imagine a game that is operational first and could be resolved entirely at the operational level. With the players having roles as divisional staff. But in each turn some of the battles being resolved by playing CM. The particularly critical clashes that turn. But with some CM games being player v player, some player v AI and some player v umpire. When it comes to how to play out the operational level Geccos is designed for games such as these and like most things designed for a specific purpose does that job very well. But will investigate using an actual “game” such as the new Bugle game. But I remain a fan of Geccos. Maps are the real time killer.... no doubt about it... All the best, Kip.

Hi, Thanks for your help... I am a CMBB veteran of many years but have not played since XP days.... or before... . Thanks... All the best, Kip.

Hi, Just a quick post to ask if the experience with CMBB on Windows 7 has been OK....? Did search but found nothing useful.... Thanks... All the best, Kip.

Aka Hawk, You have broken your own cover... . I.... and I am sure all those interested in using CM within an operational game are hugely grateful for your efforts. Geccos and the programs before it really are stunning... . Thanks....! Ted, We think along similar lines. Your list and my list would be the same. I guess we are after the same thing....! All the best, Kip.