BFCElvis

Coming right up. There are a LOT of pictures so I will have to spread it over a few posts. It may help continuity if comments were held until I finished. It takes a little time to set up all the screen shot links....

When issuing movement orders to a wall, fence or side of a building in any CMx2 game there is an action spot that is a rectangle rather than the normal square. When I unit moves to that action spot they line up against it rather than around it.

Sorry. I forgot. 434m

Sniper unit spotted in 11 seconds. Shot fired at 15 second mark.

I'm gonna load up that turn again to check both time and distance.

Well, the snipe team was in the open and the Sherman didn't move to the position so it didn't strike me as odd that it saw it as soon as the game started.

The Sherman fired one shot. It spotted the sniper unit in the first 2 seconds of the game. The range was probably about 450m. No other units saw it before it was knocked out. Most of my units were still in the back set up area when it happened.

No it was an internet hoax that went around. And then people started putting his face in every major scene of all time. Kennedy assignation, Super Bowl sideline, next to Mother Teresa..that type of thing.

Anyone remember this guy? The funniest things were all the follow ups that had him at everything that ever happened...ever..

Also on my right flank my probing squad has safely (minus the one guy from the screen shot with my first casualty..may god have mercy on his poor pathetic soul) arrived at a wall with a decent view of the hill to the right of the villa. They are able to spot a man in a officers uniform with binoculars and clear view of their position. Full size Full size Again, I think that I have to worry about this once I have a flank position on the entire battlefield. The march up the hill is going extremely well. I have lost 2 men. One from a mine and the other I can’t tell the source. There is so much smoke and the ground is shaking from the 105mm artillery pounding the top of the hill. All hell is breaking loose and because I caused it I couldn’t be happier. Full size The advance of 2nd Platoon is going so well I throw caution to the wind and take advantage of the smoke by ordering 1st Platoon and a Sherman and both trucks with the 57mm guns to get up the hill as fast as possible. This is working far better than expected. I have to get up there while the smoke is still thick. Full size As I near the top of the hill I seem to be taking fire but through all the chaos I can’t tell where it’s coming from. Men from 1st Platoon are taking casualties from getting too close to the incoming artillery. All in all it looks like I’ve taken about 30% casualties in a very short time. If you had told me before the advance that I would take 30% to bring 2 platoons, a Sherman and both guns to the top of the hill I would have taken it in a New York second. Full size

(In the interest of being able to keep track of whats going on when I'm going to include the approximate time of day but as a starting reference point this post starts around 10 minutes into the battle) 1430hrs It’s on…No turning back now. 3rd Platoon A Company 741st Tank Battalion begins to lay down smoke on the hillside. Working to create a smoke shield from any possible hostile fire coming from my right. As they begin their task I see a Jagdpanzer IV come into view. Full size It fires. The first shot bounces off the Shermans turret. The second shot goes high. During this the Sherman is able to get off a shot (see front screen shot of the BFC site …I had almost the exact same shot ready to post). But the third shot is enough to take out the Sherman. The crew bails out. In this shot you can see the smoke screen forming on the right. Too late for these guys though. Full size The advance up the hill begins. There is no way to stop it now. The artillery is falling on the tree line and the Shermans are doing their best to create a smoke shield for the advance. Full size Meanwhile on my right flank I notice another Jpz IV making its way to my right flank. Just what I need. These things are tough as nails and I have no confidence that a frontal shot from any armor I have will be able to knock them out. For now I have to focus on the left side and take care of business there. I’ll worry about this guy when the time comes. Full size

Hiya Mord. It is a baz. Hope he gets to use it.

I think Steve mentioned recently that the UI graphics are still being finished so they aren't ready for prime time yet. The infor on the firing unit is that it was a M4 Sherman (late) firing 75mm HE. Regarding fences, I forget what was or wasn't mentioned in the Normandy announcement but in CM:A tanks driving over walls and knocking them down was modeled.

Forgot this...sorry.. Issuing a hide order is normally enough to prevent a unit you don't want to fire from firing. Ordering a unit to hide and issuing a very tight covered arc order will prevent it from firing under all but the most extreme conditions. CMSF, CMx1 and CN:A are similar in this way

He should have. He was just sitting there in the open in the first second of play.

At that point it was out of my control because of the WeGo PBEM thang but that is a good question. Knowing how I play, I probably would have tried to get off a shot. But, as I said, it happened so quickly that it wasn't until the second or third replay that I saw it. And even then it was because I saw the icon briefly appear while watching something else. My guess is a second or 2 as a MG icon (and the man you see running) and another 15 seconds as a "?" icon with no men seen.

On my right flank I am concerned that the squad taking the small hill may have gotten some attention. The last thing I want is for any German artillery to start coming down on that position so I decide to have 2nd squad advance out of the patch of trees as the HQ unit and MG team near the hill. I am hoping if any are seen FOW will confuse him enough where he thinks the squad leaving the trees is all that was there. I’ll hide the HQ and MG when they arrive just to reinforce this. This move leads to my first friendly casualty. Full size On the left flank everyone is in place. Full size Suddenly a German MG team comes to the edge of the woods. It is obvious it did not expect the greeting it got. Or perhaps he has seen my setting up and moving men into position to deal with me. Full size The result….3 dead Germans. This is the last thing they saw. If you are familiar with how CMx2 works, all the brightly lit icons are units that have an LOS to the selected enemy unit. Full size There are a lot of eyes on those and guns on those poor guys. My biggest fear now is that Jon will guess what I have been setting up to do. The Shermans are in place to provide smoke. The first rounds of arty are staring to fall. It’s time to head out….. Full size

Things begin very well. The first, and most surprising thing, is a German sniper unit exposed on the hill of my main advance. He is just outside of the tree line and in full view of one of my Shermans Full size Well, that is not a good idea for them. Full size No need to worry about them anymore. On my right flank 2nd squad safely reaches the small hill and determines that the view isn’t as perfect as I had hoped but it is still good enough. I’m going to move a radio up there at once. I am also going to move a MG team to provide cover up there in case things get nasty. Full size On my left flank everyone is getting into position. There has been very little enemy contact beyond the initial sniper unit when, inexplicably, a previously unseen German squad hidden along the tree line leaves their foxholes are retreat deeper into the woods. Full size It happened so fast no one got a shot off. The set up for the assault continues. (I have more to put up but the forum only allows 5 pictures per post...I'll be back shortly with the rest)

I forgot to mention a point about this thread. As new posts are made Moon will create a link in a table of contents made in my first post. This can get you straight to my Hemingwayesque writing. How does Jons look? I bet he has better opening screen shots.

Some maps and scenarios have the dark and gloomy atmosphere that you have seen in some screenshots. But not this one. Bright summer day.

Bois de Baugin My mission for this battle is to advance south and secure la Campagne and the surround areas. If possible I am to continue south to secure the roads. La Campagne occupies a key crossroad on the drive to Toruni and Conde. Full size Full size Tasked to secure this area is 2nd Battalion of the 38th Infantry Regiment. The battalion is reinforced with a couple platoons from the 741st Tank Battalion. On map at the beginning of this battle I have infantry companies F and G along with a heavy weapons company containing 4 towed 57mm AT guns and the battalion HQ Company. When looking over the map I decided that, instead of attempting to take the villa and then move onto the surrounding areas, I would work on the flanks first holding back my armor and a portion of my infantry until the hills to east and west are secured. Once I control them I set my AT guns up and advance through the center with the fire support from the hills. The hill to the east on my left flank has plenty of trees on it and large open field running up to the woods edge. My plan is to line 1st and 2nd Platoon F Company along the road and wooden fences below the hill. Once in those positions 1st Platoon will prepare to advance up the hill with support from 2nd platoon. In addition to 2nd Platoon I will call in mortar fire from the on map mortars and position Shermans to provide smoke cover to the right flank of my advancing platoon. Full size (I’m not the best at using Paint so please be kind) The blue area is where the arty is being called into. The white where I plan to move my Shermans to a position where they can fire smoke. The yellow is the location I plan to move 2nd Plt F Co. and the pink are is where I plan to move 1st Plt F Co to prepare for their advance. My right flank is a whole different story. On that side there is a small patch of trees on a small hill that I hope will provide an excellent vantage point to call artillery in to both the hill on the west flank and the villa itself. So my plan there is to advance 2nd squad from 2nd platoon of G company to recon the position to see if they encounter any enemy fire and determine if the spot is good for the task. Full size With everyone set up and my brilliant and fool proof plan in place it is time to begin!!!

This is my first public AAR/DAR, so I hope everyone will bear with me. As of this writing we are about 10 minutes into a 1 hour 20 minute battle. When thinking over how I would present it I decided to not do a turn by turn post but rather post as major parts of the battle come together. Sometimes that may be 3 minutes of battle, sometimes 10 and sometimes 1. An idea I also had is if there is any part of the battle I haven’t shown, that you would like to see, let me know and I’ll try to make it happen. I am playing JonS. He will be starting his own thread. Neither of us will peek at the others. Mine, of course, will be much more entertaining and engaging so you probably won’t even want to bother with his. The scenario is set on a fantastic map with rolling French country side. JonS designed it and knows every inch of the terrain (yes, I am setting up my excuse in case I lose) but he and I have played parts of this already some from each side. That means I am aware of his forces and know the default set up locations. Another major point to keep in mind is that the game is still in the beta stage so not graphics are final and some graphics are not complete. You may also notice and odd thing here or there in some screen shots, so please keep in mind this is not the finished game. TABLE OF CONTENTS: First installment Second Installment Third Installment 1430 hrs 1430 hrs II 1436 hrs 1436 hrs II 1436 hrs III 1440 hrs 1440 hrs II 1449 hrs III 1445 hrs 1445 hrs II 1446 hrs 1446 hrs II 1446 hrs III 1446 hrs IV 1450 hrs 1450 hrs II 1502 hrs 1502 hrs Part II 1502 hrs Part III 1508 hrs Part I 1508 hrs Part II 1512 hrs 1512 hrs Part II 1519 hrs 1519 hrs Part II 1524 hrs 1524 hrs Part II 1527 hrs 1527 hrs Part II 1531 hrs 1531 hrs Part II 1533 hrs 1533 hrs Part II 1541 hrs End Game Heroes (unit achievements)

Last Defense.

I'm with you. Unless there are some particular targets I need to focus on. It is great hoe squads and vehicles fire on multiple targets at the same time.

Now now, Mikey. One mans lameness is another mans game breaker.