Other Means

Yes, I think you're right. But before we can start to comment on /exactly/ what the AI should do to act against the general rule, I think it might be useful to define what that rule is. And then we can start to talk about how to combine them. You see what I'm trying to do I think, define the tectical background against which to have these discussions.

pub time.

I thought I'd try and invoke some debate on what universal tactical rules we can think of that may be of use in CMx2. Simple, atomic things that can used as parameters for the fuzzy logic of the AI. BFC have obviously been through this process themselves but it might pass us some time while we wait. Some initial things i can think of: <ul> [*]MG's placement (although this is an area they are good at now) <ul> [*]Need to be in cover [*]Need to be as far back as possible [*]Need to be able to see at least 20% of the horizon [*]Better to be covered from the front with a diagonal view of the map [*]Attack should go through covered ground <ul> [*]Infantry should not get closer than 25m between squads [*]If attacking through no cover a call to arty for smoke should be made (arty will be handled according to need) [*]Squads should advance in formation [*]Formation should change according to threat level etc <ul> I add more later, after the pub.

I'd guess he means develop your own AI. Making an AI to beat a human is actually a lot harder for an open, free form game like CMAK than for Chess. A lot of Chess is remembering moves that have happened before and it's fixed on squares after all )I know CMAK is too, but they're a lot smaller). People are now saying a true test of computer AI, in the Turing test context, is a computer that can play Go. IMHO, CMx is a lot more involved even than Go. Charles has a task on his plate.

Exactly. All the above is good but the best advice is - be where it isn't. get to cover, try to draw it forward and set traps. It's well armoured all round so infantry attack is the only reliable way to take it out. The other thing to do is what was done historically - hail fire. Have everyone shoot at it and a hit may knock out the gun or break a track. If both happens the crew generally bail (I know I would). Are you sure it's a KV2 not a 1? the 2 have the huge gun & the big square turret. If so I'm surprised it killed flankers as the ROF is very low & the shells very inaccurate. The 2 was basically an anti-infantry weapon.

...when you remember to. In the Tips & Tricks forum is an anthology of useful posts, which you may find...useful. Welcome to the forum.

you do know the difference between "firing plan" and "arty strike"? a firing plan is pre-planned and can't be changed, but you can do it out of LOS & it will always hit the target. an arty strike must (for an accuracy) be in LOS & will incur the delay of the guns being brought to bear.

if a squad has a disembark order within 12m of the vehicle, they will get out immediately. if the waypoint is beyond this you will incur the order delay. bear in mind, angle on the target is a force multiplier. if you get 2 shooters at 90 degree separation on the unit they will break a lot easier. more angle increases this. a MG in cover is one of the hardest things to fight - that's why they make tanks. bring your HE chuckers up & drop a few on the foxhole & the MG will soon break...of course if you haven't killed all the ATG's you'll lose too much armour & make the assault falter later on but that's the fun of the game, seeing how the elements interact & learning how to use combined arms. MG's stop infantry, tanks kill MG's. ATG's kill tanks, mortars kill ATG's. big arty kills everything but doesn't achieve a damn thing on it's own. infantry is the eyes for everything & gets most kills on the battlefield per arm. of course, ATG's can kill arty spotters, broken tank crews can kill MG's & crack Tigers can bail under small arms fire - but hey, if you wanted something predictable play cards.

I've seen many pictures of mortar rounds & many tubes but i don't think I've ever seen one of a round with the propellant attached. does it get dropped down the barrel separately or it it attached to the base? does anyone have a picture of one? thanks.

it's been hours. will there be an Allied arty fix?

yeah they mentioned dynamic lighting with moving skies etc. enough to make us drool & start a million "what about the..." etc etc threads.

woohoo! as it's been finalised, can you tell us about the Allied arty issue? has it been addressed?

using the power of positive thought, i've deduced that this is the final UAT of the new functionality. ergo, patch tomorrow.

mmm...cheesecake. i think the measure of being able to handle easily must be related to weight/RPM. the MG42 was only slightly heavier than the Bren buy with the energy it was having to absorb must have been a lot harder to handle. enough to rule out walking fire, i would have thought.

...or click the 'hotkeys' button on the GUI.

in the correct terrain Molotovs were deadly. this is not modeled in CMBB where they do little but give the infantrys position away. have a look at this thread for a discussion of them: here

The adjective "imminent" has 2 senses in WordNet. 1. at hand(predicate), close at hand(predicate), imminent, impending -- (close in time; about to occur; "retribution is at hand"; "some people believe the day of judgment is close at hand"; "in imminent danger"; "his impending retirement") 2. word used by forum admins to tease hard working game buyers with enough information to sound exciting but not enough to actually give anything away.

Folke, two things that would really help me are: 1) the delay times for arty - does anyone have this info? 2) of course - the prices. i don't suppose BFC would part with that info, or does anyone have it?

May I suggest for Brits in Italy Small Battles, Recon North of Rome Small Battles, Hussars at Medicina Small Battles, East of Elba (New Zealanders actually) If you like green European landscapes (versus just wanting Italy) then their are a number of Brits vs German scenarios set in 1940. If interested I'll list those out also. </font>

the mods cannot affect gameplay, they are for the look & feel rather than the nuts & bolts. guess you'll just have to wait for CMx2 liek the rest of us.

with the new baby i can't commit to TCP/IP, but with the hunger i've got for it i usually get between 1 to 8 turns a (week) night out to each of the 4 guys i'm playing. weekends i can really go mad. i usually play QB's but i'm looking for a good scenario. i like to play British, preferably in Italy. anyone got any suggestions?

nice one, cheers.

can you change the hotkey? this is new to me if so.

oh yes, they also had their own staff college at this time, together with engineers, logistics officers, quartermasters, spy handlers, map makers, hospitals...quite advanced really. i think they would have beaten any army in history up to the widespread use of gunpowder.

the disposition of the Mongol army under Ghengis Khan: Tulughma A Mongol battleformation Tumen 10,000 man division, made up of ten minghans, led by a noyan appointed by the Khan. Minghan 1,000 man regiment, made up of ten jaguns, led by a noyan appointed by the Khan. Jagun 100 man squadron, made up of ten arbans. The arban leaders selected their own leader for the jagun. Arban 10 man unit and smallest unit in the army. The men in the arban selected their own leader. Each arban had two or three yurts for food distribution, supplied by a regular corps of provisioners. i've read the Mongols kept a single scout out ahead of his unit, which were ahead of the Jagun. so i'd guess that unit would be his Arban, which took independant tactical action at times. this would make it a platoon i think. all this was 12th century.