MikeyD

Forget about feedback, forget sharing with the community and grand plans. I wonder how many folks posting here have made scenarios for their own gratification?
Actually constructed a map, placed units on it, and got the AI to move them around in a coherent manner. I don't care if you shared them, if they were historical or fictional,  if the locations were real or even if the scenario was any good. All I care about is if you've made-your-own then had fun playing it afterward. If you haven't done that at the very least then you're just talk.

Forget about feedback, forget sharing with the community and grand plans. I wonder how many folks posting here have made scenarios for their own gratification?
Actually constructed a map, placed units on it, and got the AI to move them around in a coherent manner. I don't care if you shared them, if they were historical or fictional,  if the locations were real or even if the scenario was any good. All I care about is if you've made-your-own then had fun playing it afterward. If you haven't done that at the very least then you're just talk.

In a weird circle of synchronicity Emrys plays CM, CM is based in Maine, Maine's most famous son is Stephen King, and Stephen king was himself run over by a pickup. A couple more degrees of separation and we could probably link him to Kevin Bacon too.

In a weird circle of synchronicity Emrys plays CM, CM is based in Maine, Maine's most famous son is Stephen King, and Stephen king was himself run over by a pickup. A couple more degrees of separation and we could probably link him to Kevin Bacon too.

Arena is tagged at a max velocity that it can intercept. I want to say 900ms, though I may be all wet on that number. If your round falls below that velocity then it's susceptible to interception. I believe 120mm HE would start out at around 950ms. Firing across a big map the round would of course slow its flight, possibly bringing it just inside the capabilities of Arena

Dang, man, 'real world' stuff ain't suppose to happen to posters here! We're all meant to be spirits that haunt the internet immune to the travails of real life.
I'm reminded of something I once told a sick friend. You may not believe it now, but someday this is will all be nothing but a colorful anecdote you tell people at dinner parties.

Some irony people talking about 'ethnic self-determination' and Putin's Russia in the same breath. I suppose Cossack underworld bar flies deserve to have their own independent fascistic state... in eastern Ukraine.

The best way to play the AI is to forget the AI exists. Don't try to leverage AI quirks to your advantage, just play the situation like it was reality. One of the nice things about triggers in the game is they're often entirely invisible to the player. Unless its something obvious like being attacked as soon as you reach a crossroads. Usually the chain of events is more subtle than that. I'm of course talking properly made scenarios.

The best way to play the AI is to forget the AI exists. Don't try to leverage AI quirks to your advantage, just play the situation like it was reality. One of the nice things about triggers in the game is they're often entirely invisible to the player. Unless its something obvious like being attacked as soon as you reach a crossroads. Usually the chain of events is more subtle than that. I'm of course talking properly made scenarios.

Exhausted troops is often a function of 'user error'. If you're planning to send your men on a run its best to not max out their load limit with everything you can acquire out of the vehicles first. CMBN has few problems with exhausting troops. Why? No body armor and no rocket launchers for the men to lug with them. Oh, and check the temps. Mid July can get pretty hot out.

One nice thing about the Bulge battles is its one of the few theaters of operation where CM-style 'meeting engagements' feel legitimate. You've got two opposing tank armies both on the move. Often in the fog! Most other CM theaters of operations attack vs defense is the rule. Attack vs attack seems 'gamey' somehow, opposing tank battalions would never really stumble upon each other blindly, right? In the Bulge maybe they would! Also most other theaters German armor would never outnumber American armor in a battle. In the Bulge maybe they would!
There's another advantage - in my mind at least - in that the opening engagements are so badly documented. That's a good thing. All was confusion and panic. So you can construct imagined 'semi-historical' scenarios of the wildest sort without guilt. No references to consult. Nobody's going to call you out for using Hetzers instead of Jpz IVs in a particular engagement, excepting in the better-documented encounters.

One nice thing about the Bulge battles is its one of the few theaters of operation where CM-style 'meeting engagements' feel legitimate. You've got two opposing tank armies both on the move. Often in the fog! Most other CM theaters of operations attack vs defense is the rule. Attack vs attack seems 'gamey' somehow, opposing tank battalions would never really stumble upon each other blindly, right? In the Bulge maybe they would! Also most other theaters German armor would never outnumber American armor in a battle. In the Bulge maybe they would!
There's another advantage - in my mind at least - in that the opening engagements are so badly documented. That's a good thing. All was confusion and panic. So you can construct imagined 'semi-historical' scenarios of the wildest sort without guilt. No references to consult. Nobody's going to call you out for using Hetzers instead of Jpz IVs in a particular engagement, excepting in the better-documented encounters.

One nice thing about the Bulge battles is its one of the few theaters of operation where CM-style 'meeting engagements' feel legitimate. You've got two opposing tank armies both on the move. Often in the fog! Most other CM theaters of operations attack vs defense is the rule. Attack vs attack seems 'gamey' somehow, opposing tank battalions would never really stumble upon each other blindly, right? In the Bulge maybe they would! Also most other theaters German armor would never outnumber American armor in a battle. In the Bulge maybe they would!
There's another advantage - in my mind at least - in that the opening engagements are so badly documented. That's a good thing. All was confusion and panic. So you can construct imagined 'semi-historical' scenarios of the wildest sort without guilt. No references to consult. Nobody's going to call you out for using Hetzers instead of Jpz IVs in a particular engagement, excepting in the better-documented encounters.

Some irony people talking about 'ethnic self-determination' and Putin's Russia in the same breath. I suppose Cossack underworld bar flies deserve to have their own independent fascistic state... in eastern Ukraine.

Talk about rifles, the Russians are also replacing their primary infantry rifle with the AK-12, another wholly new weapon with every conceivable bell & whistle attached. It seems the Russian military is to Putin as the Palace of Versailles was to king Louis XIV. What we seem to be looking at is a 'vanity project' on a huge scale with little thought to practicality or economy. Hardly the first country to be guilty of that particular sin. Remember the Beijing Olympics? 44 billion and that's probably a low-ball number.

Talk about rifles, the Russians are also replacing their primary infantry rifle with the AK-12, another wholly new weapon with every conceivable bell & whistle attached. It seems the Russian military is to Putin as the Palace of Versailles was to king Louis XIV. What we seem to be looking at is a 'vanity project' on a huge scale with little thought to practicality or economy. Hardly the first country to be guilty of that particular sin. Remember the Beijing Olympics? 44 billion and that's probably a low-ball number.

The sheetmetal body around the turret reminded me of an anecdote I once heard. US tests on the Italian Centauro 8x8 armored car back in the early 2000s, while they were still working on Stryker, they found firing the 105 gun over the bow tended to smash the vehicle's headlamps. Ooops! That test was one reason why Stryker MGS gun never got a muzzle brake.
Looking at the sheetmetal shell on the Armata turret I get the impression the Russians probably found they needed to give minimal blast protection to their sensor array from their own exploding APS projectiles. The active defense involves popping a charge a few feet above the tank then BLAM! Quite a violent event. alternately - or in addition - the sensors get some small protection against airburst artillery too. If those high tech sensors are 1/3rd the total price of the tank you'd want to give the sensors a little cover. 

Armata in the game isn't entirely a dead duck. CMBS is like the other CM titles, eventually there's going to be a 'vehicle pack' or whatever they're called. If by then they have all the proper drawings and specs of the new Russian armor its going to take a will of iron for them not to add them to the game. But we're talking some ways into the future. They've been known to bend the rules a bit when doing later packs on their non-historical titles.

Americans have their cowboy movies which have only a nodding acquaintance with historical reality. Russians have their WWII films.  'White Tiger' is a popcorn movie, not a historical document by any stretch of the imagination. One word of warning, you might want to shut off the film before the final scene - An interview with Hitler that is nothing but tacked-on propaganda. 100% Putin totalitarian state anti-western raging paranoia. It was stomach-turning to watch, ruined what was otherwise a light weight shoot-em-up.
 
Watching 'Fury' last year I got the impression that film was the American version of 'White Tiger'. Not the same fantasy story line of course, but the same colorful tank crewmembers, the drab wartime surroundings, the same somber tone, very nearly the same cinematography. And with is own somewhat stomach-turning world view that ruined the film for me.
 
Interestingly, the Fury Sherman wasn't an M4A3 but a diesel engined late war M4A2 Lend Lease Sherman.

The sheetmetal body around the turret reminded me of an anecdote I once heard. US tests on the Italian Centauro 8x8 armored car back in the early 2000s, while they were still working on Stryker, they found firing the 105 gun over the bow tended to smash the vehicle's headlamps. Ooops! That test was one reason why Stryker MGS gun never got a muzzle brake.
Looking at the sheetmetal shell on the Armata turret I get the impression the Russians probably found they needed to give minimal blast protection to their sensor array from their own exploding APS projectiles. The active defense involves popping a charge a few feet above the tank then BLAM! Quite a violent event. alternately - or in addition - the sensors get some small protection against airburst artillery too. If those high tech sensors are 1/3rd the total price of the tank you'd want to give the sensors a little cover. 

Armata in the game isn't entirely a dead duck. CMBS is like the other CM titles, eventually there's going to be a 'vehicle pack' or whatever they're called. If by then they have all the proper drawings and specs of the new Russian armor its going to take a will of iron for them not to add them to the game. But we're talking some ways into the future. They've been known to bend the rules a bit when doing later packs on their non-historical titles.

I think we're having altogether too much fun hazing poor Armata. Every new weapons system has its teething problems.  Armata looks pretty much like a 'lessons learned' design exercise based on every U.S. DARPA and Pentagon technology project of the past 30 years. I recall reading of American crew-in-hull and overhead gun design studies in the 1980s. Then there were the integrated sensors studies, the active defense system studies, modular bolt-on armor studies. Its our own fault if our own studies so rarely bear fruit.

I think we're having altogether too much fun hazing poor Armata. Every new weapons system has its teething problems.  Armata looks pretty much like a 'lessons learned' design exercise based on every U.S. DARPA and Pentagon technology project of the past 30 years. I recall reading of American crew-in-hull and overhead gun design studies in the 1980s. Then there were the integrated sensors studies, the active defense system studies, modular bolt-on armor studies. Its our own fault if our own studies so rarely bear fruit.

Please note the top announcement was posted roughly 11pm on a Friday night (west coast time). Three cheers for ChrisND's unstinting dedication to the cause!  

Please note the top announcement was posted roughly 11pm on a Friday night (west coast time). Three cheers for ChrisND's unstinting dedication to the cause!