Sgt Joch

I rechecked and Akd is correct, it is only non-vehicle units that get the generic infantry icon in Iron (there were so many changes to the game that I have trouble keeping everything straight ). However it leaves me confused as to exactly what GaJ is asking for?

Fog of War, old man. Your troops don't know if the enemy troops are all dead or just hiding. When you lose contact, the troop icon is replaced by a "?" icon showing its last known position. If your troops receive no further visual/sound/intel info (i.e. theyre all dead), the "?" icon will gradually fade away over a few turns.

GaJ, the way it works now is basically: 1. Hint -> Question Mark Icon - no details at all 2. Visual -> Generic Infantry Icon - you see what you see, you get no extra info 3. Confirmed -> Correct Icon - you still see what you see, but you now know exactly what it is. This is a change in CMBN from CMSF because a lot of players felt CMSF gave the player spotting info which was too precise. In CMBN (and I believe this is only in Iron/Elite), when you first spot the AFV but you are not sure what it is, you get the generic infantry Icon. When you get enough info to ID it as a tank, you get the correct AFV icon. In Warrior and below, I believe it works as you want it to work. ( I only play iron). This was worked on a lot to improve FOW and I personally feel it is an improvement over how it worked in CMSF. Spend some time with the new system and if in a few weeks you still have issues, come back and we can discuss them.

Re: sound contacts. There seems to be some confusion. Sound contacts are IN the game, you just don't get a specific sound contact marker as in CMx1. The player can't hear unspotted enemies, as explained above, but your pixeltruppens do. A pixelgrunt can spot an enemy in one of three ways: he hears it, he sees it, some other grunt tells him it's there. If you see a "?" icon pop up and you have no clue where it comes from, it is probably a sound contact spotted by one or your pixelgrunts.

That means that if an enemy unit is unspotted, you will not hear the sounds coming from that unit. That was done somewhere along the way in CMSF to prevent the gamey issue where you could roam over the map with the camera and hear the voices of unspotted units, letting you know where they were. (not that I ever did that, of course ). For the same reason, you do not see/hear the muzzle flash/firing sounds of unspotted units.

AFAIR, in CMSF, the effect of artillery had been slightly toned down vs infantry to compensate for the fact that they would bunch up more than real life. I have not checked out if this is still the case in CMBN. Although bullets/ordnance are tracked, infantry gets the benefit of micro-cover in various terrain. For example, in open terrain, it is assumed that motionless infantry would try to hide in depressions in the ground/behind rocks. In modern squads, there are various formations which can be ordered. In CMBN, you can split your squad and generate similar formations, but it requires more micro-management than in RL. All minor points as far as I am concerned. Others may disagree and are free to pipe in if I have forgotten anything.

That is part of a long running discussion with GSX and others about the accuracy of infantry/formation modeling in CMSF and how much of infantry combat is still abstracted (obviously less than in CMx1). Although some of his comments have merit in the context of modern combat, they are less relevant in the context of WW2 infantry combat. Squads can be split, so you can use proper covering fire/maneuver tactics. Infantry probably still bunches up too much, although that was more common in WW2. In other words: ignore him. (ps- GSX or Geordie and I go back a long time, all the way to CMBB PBEM games at the Blitz ).

while we are waiting, I thought I would start an informal poll about what aspect of CMBN interests you the most: infantry combat or tank combat? Although I of course like tank v tank battles as much as the next player, my favorite battles have been infantry focussed going back to CMx1. CMSF with its 1:1 modelling did a very good job with infantry, but modern warfare has always been a combined arms affair. US/UK/NATO units are generally light on infantry and heavy on supporting AFVs/vehicles. In CMBN however, infantry is very much at the forefront with large infantry units light on support. So while some only feel safe going into battle surrounded by tons of steel and packing a big gun, I am most at home crawling around in the brush leading my platoon. So sound off: infantryman or tanker?

woops , yes you are right.

remember... although I would guess at this point, some of you may be thinking...

I have said too much already. Just what has come out already, it will be against a major power in a temperate setting.

well on that point, many including me, are eagerly looking forward to CMSF2 and some preliminary work has already been done.

{ = lowers texture quality. (on my keyboard, it is alt+7) } = increase texture quality.(on my keyboard, it is alt+8) model quality cant be changed in game, you have to set it in the "options" screen.

this is already in game. In a scenario, you can have reinforcements arrive at any time in the game. In the campaign, you track a core unit, usually a company throughout the campaign. However, you can receive additional forces in any one battle. It all depends on the imagination of the scenario designer.

you should test it out. Balanced/Balanced can triple your FPS in certain cases, but has little impact on visual quality. The vehicles and soldier models look the same, the terrain is impacted, but you really have to examine it in detail to make out the difference. I have started playing with that setting over the past few days. The game is very fluid and looks the same as before while playing. Some testers use Best for 3d models/Balanced for texture. If you want to compare texture quality, there also a hot key: { or } to allow you to do it on the fly in game.

true, there are RL MG tactics which are not modeled. Hopefully BFC will eventually get around to it.

yes, you can mix and match. I doubt the QB grogs will have much to complain about...not that it ever stopped them in the past.

Bear with me because I have not done this in a while so I may be remembering wrong for #2, but: 1. for the moving guys, you give them their movement orders, click on the starting waypoint and increment the "pause" order until "pause 20 seconds" appears over the 1st waypoint. Then they will wait 20 sec. at the start of the turn before moving; 2. for the covering unit, give it an "area target" order and then an order to face slightly away from the current position. Click again on pause and increment for 20 seconds. They should fire for 20 secs and then cease fire as they execute the change in facing. Someone should check with the demo. If #2 does not work, there is another way of doing by giving the covering unit a movement waypoint, i.e. area target + quick move one action spot over + pause order 20 seconds on 1st waypoint. edit - I see others beat me to a reply.

no doubt, but I have never had a situation in CMSF where I needed a infantry unit to area target more than one spot in a 60 second turn. You can limit how long it shoots an an area by using a pause + face order. This can be useful for AFVs where the number of HE shells is limited and you want to pump just a couple of shells in each area, but this already possible by combining short movement + pause + face orders. http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=82036 http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=82035

On this issue, please keep in mind that CMBN is very much a work in progress and we are now at v 1.0. All the basic elements of WW2 tank warfare are there and work well enough, but no doubt this as well as other aspects will be further tweaked as we go though patches/modules and on to the Bulge/late war game.

no you cant, you have to order it to cease firing, easy to do in RT. In playing WEGO, you can area fire one turn and assault the next. If you want to get fancy, you could order your unit providing covering fire to area target for, say, 20 seconds and give your maneuver unit a pause command for the same 20 seconds, so it will start to move as soon as the firing stops.

yes, pretty much standard tactic in WW2 and in CM, jump under cover as soon as you smell incoming artillery (there will usually be a first spotting round way off target) and then pop up to waste any incoming attackers. Now that the AI can also call in artillery anywhere/anytime, you are not even safe in SP games.

the other feature you will notice which was introduced in CMSF is that if you "area fire" an action spot, even though the target line points to the center, the weapon will rotate right-left and spray the entire action spot. so for example, if you order a MG to area fire on the 2nd floor of a building, even though the target line is pointing to, say, the middle window, the MG will gradually work over the entire area, including any windows to the right or left.

I always plot the return waypoint right next to the vehicle to avoid that. It basically comes back to the same spot.

Yes, you can use it to represent going into battle cold or attacking a position which has been fully reconnoitered.