SgtMuhammed

Can they jump the Javelin? I know the Dragon was a bitch but I got out just as they were starting general issue of the Javelin and haven't heard anything from the Paratroopers.

I think I have seen that in some other scenarios that have buildings that have a U or Y layout. The AI often seems to occupy the courtyard rather than the buildings.

Maybe. I haven't gotten around to playing with the editor yet. I don't know how the building was sitting in respect to the terrain grid.

As in can hide a tank platoon in sized craters. They also take out anything within half a click.

So are you saying that we are becoming like Delta and Omega houses?

I guess everyone has their own experiences. I was in Germany during the height of Anti-Americanism during the initial phase of the war and visited France several times. In touristy spots I found the same attitude that you find in tourist traps all over the world, "Give me your money and stop asking stupid questions." In the country my experiences were uniformly good. Sure I have run into rude people but you find those everywhere. Much of the "rudeness" that you hear from both sides of the Atlantic is very overblown in my opinion. As far as a French module, I wouldn't mind seeing one although to be honest, other than changing the skins I really don't think there would be a fundamental change in switching between the major Western armies.

I agree with you by the way. I'm just trying to stay awake here at work.

Balance, in an online discussion? Are you crazy?

I just had one of those, "Why the hell can't they do that all the time!?" moments. Playing Normaldude's airfield scenario, I ordered a squad to enter a building using a quick command. The squad ran across the street and did a proper stack at the corner away from the windows and then entered the doorway. They entered the room and rapidly cleared it, sustaining no losses. I was pleasantly surprised so I decided to keep a close eye on the rest of my squads during movement so I could see if they were all doing this. Unfortunately they weren't. Other squads who were ordered to enter buildings seemed to make it a point to expose themselves to as much fire as possible. They seemed to pick a rally point about 5 meters from the door, in the middle of the street and then sprint from there into the doorway. On the whole I am getting much better with these digital troops but sometimes they make me want to drop them for 50 right in the middle of a fight. I guess in that respect this game is quite realistic. One other question: Do the new 203 rounds have tracers? I don't remember them having them but they do in the game. Or is that just a visual aid?

Was that a characterization of your career?

I would like something like that as well. While it doesn't bother me as much playing WEGO it is still a pain to have to click on a unit just to see what it is. I can see how having everyone look the same would be a real problem in RT. I also agree with your point on enemy icons. They should be much more general. Especially with infantry. How do you know that that RPG team isn't just the only part of a squad that you can see? Are commanders carrying their guidons with them into battle? As a side note, it would actually be quite easy to identify an American command group. While company and below might look like a normal squad with a couple extra radios a battalion command group looks like a bloody antenna farm. My old BC when I was light used to have an entourage that looked like a platoon and every one of them had a long whip antenna on his back. Then again my old BC was an idiot so that may not normally be the case.

Come on MD, you know Larry, he's that guy, no not him the other one. I don't pay attention to reviews good or bad. Sometimes I will read them if the game gets and extreme score, like a 10% or 98%. Usually I just buy games I think I will like and decide once I get it. If you know your reviewers then it is easy to get a good score. With PC Gamer, for example, if it is a FPS or a C&C clone you are guaranteed at least a 75%. The others have their own prefered genre. So I really don't pay much attention to good reviews. Now really bad reviews usually mean that the game suffers from game stopping bugs so I will usually check for those. I have had close friends and long time gaming partners love games that I hate and vice-versa so I don't put too much stock in anyone's opinions other than my own.

That's because looking through the sight, trying to line up your shot or trying to get the little brackets to lock around the target will give you a headache. That and you are waiting for the thing to explode right next to your head.

Yes that is the guidance wire and it does spool out behind the missile. The American TOW and DRAGON have the same thing. The Javelin uses an infrared tracker to track the target after the Command Launch Unit locks it on and does not need to be guided after launch so no wires.

John, You missunderstand me. I am talking about the explosion of the round itself not the target. Of course the shaped charge warheads have a 360 blast that is quite powerful but when compared to an HE round of the same callibur the HEAT warhead underperforms by a good margin. This is by design as we both know because the HEAT warhead is designed focus force in front of it rather than project force around it. It is just like the claymore mine. The main force and projects the shrapnel ahead of it but there is still a blast zone all around it. What Oren has noticed is that a single Javelin is capable of bringing down an entire building. This is simply not true. During the Somalia campaign US forces hit a building with 16 TOW missiles, all of which were aimed at the same floor and then Delta went in to pick up the pieces. This would not be the case in CMSF as the building would have collapsed. I have also seen from personal firing and had it confirmed from friends who have fired them in combat that firing the AT4 at a cinder block building tends to put an 83mm hole in the wall rather than blasting the structure appart as the force is focused on cutting into whatever it hits. HEAT rounds have enough residual explosive power to make them usefull but the army still relies on arty for any heavy HE work. Even the 105 M1 did not carry an HE projectile. Against hardened positions the HEAT warhead is better as it will project more of its force through the outer walls and increase fragmentation effect inside the structure even though its overall blast effect will be lower. In game terms Steve has already acknowledged that the secondary blast effects of AT ammo has been over modelled and will be changed later.

Yes

I think they should at least put in the collision model from CMx1. Vehicles should be able to push lighter vehicles out of the way. I will say though that tankers can be real weenies about hitting things with their babies.

John, I've seen my share as well and yes they put on quite a show. The fireball, however is not always indicative of the blast strength. A can of gasoline will blow up with a very nice light show but has little force behind it. I'm not saying that there should be no effect but the effects in the game are a little much.

It still shouldn't leave a crater in the ground that is like that of a 120mm mortar. The AT warheads in the game have way too much blast value especially as most of it goes forward rather than out.

No, you can see dust clouds even if there is no possible way to see the vehicle. I presume that the AI can see yours as well. I think there should be some way to make them visible but not as precise as they are now. When out of LOS dust will often rise and give you a general idea that something is coming but you shouldn't be able to see the rooster tails that you can now.

I noticed one of my sniper squads doing this. I had just used them to spot some arty and the next turn they crawled to the other side of the little hill I had them posted on. I don't know if they were trying to get a better view or not but they ended up laying prone on the enemy side of the hill. I don't know if I was just lucky or not but no one seemed to notice them.

Just played the new version through. It ran better this time. I don't know if it was something you did to the map or if it was the patch but everything was smooth as silk. I had a crash in the middle of one runthrough so I ran it twice and the AI defended different each time. Had some pretty tense moments dealing with the enemy vehicles. The fight in the terminal was epic. Lots of guys running around shooting through the ceilings and floors. Pretty neat. I called in an airstrike on a strongpoint and ended up putting a crater about 50 meters across in the map. I didn't know that could happen. I was so shocked I almost forgot to order my attack. You might consider making the fighers in the outlying areas move about taking pot shots at the Americans. As it is there is really little chance that they can take out the American command groups. I think it would also work if you put more low level fighters scattered about to simulate local security and police. I am going to play again to try and see the other plan. I didn't get to see it completely before the game crashed (which was a first for me). You may already have it in but I think a counter attack by a QRF platoon would be a nice possible event. I scored a total victory losing 13 guys total while inflicting 200 casualties and killing all the vehicles, one with the .50 sniper. One nice difference from the first run through was that my snipers actually fired. Again I have no idea what may have made the difference.

WTF! LOL

I actually used to like C-rats when my dad would bring them home. Of course all civilians seem to like rations a lot more than the guys who have to eat them all the time. Must be the novelty.

ROFLMAO! I remember those. Even more fun was using MRE main meals to simulate shrapnel with arty sims. Covered many a bad guy with Chichen-crapatori.