MikeyD

There have been comments in the past that the American way of waging war resembles American football while for other countries it more resembles soccer. (Generic statement alert) Americans mass their forces, rush forward, regroup, mass their forces again, repeat as needed, always with their eye on the clock. For others its a running battle without breaks that covers the whole football pitch, where a 0 to 0 score at the end can be considered a great victory. That comment is decades old and may or may not still be applicable in the age of occupation wars.

There's a danger to being over-ambitious. Green scenario designers often dream big then become discouraged. If you've never built a CM scenario with proper AI orders before I suggest you first make up some tiny scenarios just for fun then play them to see if they work as you imagined. Then work your way up gradually 'til you can tackle your magnum opus.

There's a danger to being over-ambitious. Green scenario designers often dream big then become discouraged. If you've never built a CM scenario with proper AI orders before I suggest you first make up some tiny scenarios just for fun then play them to see if they work as you imagined. Then work your way up gradually 'til you can tackle your magnum opus.

Its rare that you find pictures like this. The famous pict of 752nd Tank Battalion in Plaza Emanuel, Bologna with M18 Hellcats from 701st Tank Destroyer Battalion, May 1945 I think.
You can pick out individual vehicle types. Mostly 76mm M4A3 (76mm), early narrow mantlet M4A1 (75mm) sprinkled in. I also spot a single M4A3(?) 105mm howitzer tank. Plus one flail tank at the back (borrowed from the Brits?), two M3-based recovery vehicles and one M4-based recovery vehicle (I forget their names).

Its rare that you find pictures like this. The famous pict of 752nd Tank Battalion in Plaza Emanuel, Bologna with M18 Hellcats from 701st Tank Destroyer Battalion, May 1945 I think.
You can pick out individual vehicle types. Mostly 76mm M4A3 (76mm), early narrow mantlet M4A1 (75mm) sprinkled in. I also spot a single M4A3(?) 105mm howitzer tank. Plus one flail tank at the back (borrowed from the Brits?), two M3-based recovery vehicles and one M4-based recovery vehicle (I forget their names).

Buy it now or buy it later. The v201 patch will be an easy free download. What's being complained about isn't a 'bug', anyway. Its a behavior that some players object to. Before the behavior change was made to the v20 patch players had been complaining that their troops made no attempt to save themselves when artillery started falling.

Buy it now or buy it later. The v201 patch will be an easy free download. What's being complained about isn't a 'bug', anyway. Its a behavior that some players object to. Before the behavior change was made to the v20 patch players had been complaining that their troops made no attempt to save themselves when artillery started falling.

Buy it now or buy it later. The v201 patch will be an easy free download. What's being complained about isn't a 'bug', anyway. Its a behavior that some players object to. Before the behavior change was made to the v20 patch players had been complaining that their troops made no attempt to save themselves when artillery started falling.

Lots of nomenclature to unpack
CMx2 is the overall engine designation (ancient games like CM:Beyond Overlord are CMx1). Of the CMx2 family the most recent common game engine across the titles is Engine 4 (earlier iterations were 1, 2, and 3). CMSF1 and CM:Afghanistan are not considered active titles so haven't been kept current. Looking at individual titles, in the lower right you see a number representing which patch update is installed. Most titles say 'v2', CMSF2 currently says 'v2.1'. CMBN is the oldest of the current  titles with most patches & upgrades to count so it says 'v4', but its to the same standard as the others. The v2.1 patches for the other titles are on the near horizon. CMBN will of course be called v4.1. Same patch, different name.

In CMSF2 you can purchase BM-21 Grad MLRS. CMBS kind'a got short-changed on artillery rockets. Pesky Javelin teams can't shoot at you if they first die under heavy artillery bombardment! Russian army was known for its artillery back when the Soviet union was at its peak. After playing CM:Afghanistan I joked that the best tactical use for a Russian infantry squad is to move forward and occupy ground over the charred bodies of the already-fallen enemy.

You can build your own scenarios using QB maps as a base (just remember to rename and save them in the Scenarios folder).
These have the advantage of having EVERYTHING available for purchase and there's no points limit to worry about. If you want you can have your uncons backed up by massive 130mm artillery barrages or BM-21 artillery rockets. You can also go into the generic QB AI orders and tinker with the timing and movement to suit your needs. Its a simple starting point for anyone who someday wants to generate his own original scenarios. Playing the game is just the tip of the iceberg.
 

There have been instances where BFC couldn't locate so much as a rough set of scale plan of a vehicle (a very rare occurrence these days). So what's a guy to do? I sat down and drew up a proper set from-scratch myself, then submitted the art to 3-d artist Webwing to make a model from. I was a scale plans makin' maniac back-in-the-day. Its funny hunting the internet for references and stumbling on my own artwork from 20 years ago.
Here's something you won't find anywhere else. A V100 Commando armored car configured for domestic police duties. If Steve ever needs it I've got scale plans for it! 
 

Here's another 'won't find anywhere else' piece of art. V150 Commando with Cockrill 90mm gun turret. I'd kill to get this vehicle into a game but there's literally no place in the BFC canon that it could go.
 

There have been instances where BFC couldn't locate so much as a rough set of scale plan of a vehicle (a very rare occurrence these days). So what's a guy to do? I sat down and drew up a proper set from-scratch myself, then submitted the art to 3-d artist Webwing to make a model from. I was a scale plans makin' maniac back-in-the-day. Its funny hunting the internet for references and stumbling on my own artwork from 20 years ago.
Here's something you won't find anywhere else. A V100 Commando armored car configured for domestic police duties. If Steve ever needs it I've got scale plans for it! 
 

As a test I threw together a Brit/Syrian QB that included Syrian airpower. 3/4 the way through the scenario I was winning handily and was set to publically scoff at the notion of Syrian airpower. Then the Hinds showed up. I've got to hand it to them, they did a commendable job of systematically shooting up all my armor. That was FUN!

BFC very nearly forgot to include Blue AA units at all in the Beta, they were among the last things added. Because Syrian airpower is merely an afterthought.  Syrian airpower was introduced in CMSF1 NATO because it was the final module of the series and players had begged for its inclusion. Players knew up front that it was gamey and they'd be defenseless against it but they wanted it just for fun, regardless. 'Please please please, we promise we won't complain after we get it!' Its ironic that one of the solutions posted above was to strip Syrian airpower out of the game. Syrian airpower was never meant to be a serious component of Red defense. It was an end-of-title Easter Egg for the fans. 

I've stopped giving Blast movement waypoints to the far side of a wall. I've instead been placing them on the same side of the wall as the troops, just slightly offset. That way they won't try to seek an alternate route around the wall to the waypoint, and they won't jump up and run blindly through the opening afterward.

Since the Turkish mods/scenarios are third party there's no reason to stick to the official 2007 timeline. The camou schemes are 2018, it was the Turkish army's incursion into Syria in January that piqued peoples' interest.
I just can't get used to the weird Turkish camou.
 

You can build your own scenarios using QB maps as a base (just remember to rename and save them in the Scenarios folder).
These have the advantage of having EVERYTHING available for purchase and there's no points limit to worry about. If you want you can have your uncons backed up by massive 130mm artillery barrages or BM-21 artillery rockets. You can also go into the generic QB AI orders and tinker with the timing and movement to suit your needs. Its a simple starting point for anyone who someday wants to generate his own original scenarios. Playing the game is just the tip of the iceberg.
 

I do wonder how often players these days go into the editor to play. You only see a few people (a.k.a. tpr) doing 'test scenarios' to test theories anymore. You certainly don't see many players excitedly uploading a new scenario they just built for everyone to try. Which is a shame. The editor is your playground.  Here's a screenshot of a scenario map I threw together just last night after supper (no, really). If you're worried that opponents will take unfair advantage of you because of their better knowledge of terrain, I'd bet most players wouldn't have a clue which terrain type was under feet on this particular map

I do wonder how often players these days go into the editor to play. You only see a few people (a.k.a. tpr) doing 'test scenarios' to test theories anymore. You certainly don't see many players excitedly uploading a new scenario they just built for everyone to try. Which is a shame. The editor is your playground.  Here's a screenshot of a scenario map I threw together just last night after supper (no, really). If you're worried that opponents will take unfair advantage of you because of their better knowledge of terrain, I'd bet most players wouldn't have a clue which terrain type was under feet on this particular map

I do wonder how often players these days go into the editor to play. You only see a few people (a.k.a. tpr) doing 'test scenarios' to test theories anymore. You certainly don't see many players excitedly uploading a new scenario they just built for everyone to try. Which is a shame. The editor is your playground.  Here's a screenshot of a scenario map I threw together just last night after supper (no, really). If you're worried that opponents will take unfair advantage of you because of their better knowledge of terrain, I'd bet most players wouldn't have a clue which terrain type was under feet on this particular map

One issue with comparing this game to real world is that often the game's virtual general (or human general) is as profligate with the lives of his men as any French WWI general. Under real world circumstances losing 15 APC would effectively end the assault. But both the AI and the human player insist of pushing forward. That kind'a skews the behavior. Maybe its appropriate for battling through WWII Berlin or Stalingrad but its unusual behavior in modern conflicts.
An old joke of my is the best way to deploy troops in buildings is to put them BEHIND buildings. Buildings are a death trap more often than not. If I've got troops in an upper story I often need to 'face' them away from the lethal side of the building and give a 'hide' command in the hope that the incoming fire will abate. Then I revive them and send them back into the fight. If they stay in place they die.

You know that old phrase "There's many a slip twix the cup and the lip". I've gone over soon-to-release Beta builds from top to bottom with a fine toothed comb and found nothing wrong. Then the title gets compiled for the installer just before release and suddenly its "Hey, where did that piece of art go?" or "Hey, I thought that behavior got fixed long ago!" or "Hey, why is the game now crashing when this happens?" Testing and retesting can't counter 'gremlins'  sabotaging things for spite in the most obscure corners of the game at the last minute. And it happens every time.  Most of the time the alarm bell is sounded and things quickly get re-fixed and re-complied. But those gremlins are sneaky little buggers.

Ack! Looking at those Volkssturm weapons makes me want to post screenshots of the new weapons in the module. They're my babies and I'm proud of them. But everything in its own good time. Steve's got too many irons in the fire at the moment to concern himself with throwing bones to the hungry hounds. Can't jump the gun (so to speak).