hellfish

Um.. the Modern Naval Battle games I'm seeing on their website are modern, yet the game BFC is advertising is WWII (which I wouldn't consider modern). I do see an upcoming "WWII At Sea" game, though... Am I confused? :confused:

Well... CMBO was in desperate need of some modding. I still wince whenever I see that pink Panther. CMBB and CMAK have been substantially improved in the eye candy department.

Whooops... double post.

I think I know where this idea was spawned from...

Wow. What's the maximum age you can be to join the Canadian Army? And I know that women are allowed in combat arms, how often do they actually make it into a squad?

July 1995: Joined Illinois Army Guard A/1-131 Inf June 1996: OSUT Infantry 11B, Fort Benning. B/1-19 Inf. July 1997: OPFOR Augmentee, NTC (TF Ripper IIRC - actually a lot of fun) July 1998: OPFOR Augmentee, CMTC Germany (drank more than fought) June 1998: Attached to 1-106 Avn for BLUFOR JRTC rotation (with Hawaiian & Samoan 29th Infantry Brigade - lots of fun!) January - October 2000: Volunteered for duty in ARCENT-Kuwait supporting Op Desert Spring. Took off from Kuwait one hour before the USS Cole was hit. The time I spent over there was easily the best time of my life, believe it or not. July 2001: Retired. :cool:

Same. Email this morning, big honkin' envelope in the mailbox at noon.

Huh? :confused:

After reading about those Indo-Pakistani battles, I think it'd be pretty cool to fight with them in CMX2. I'll never get tired of WWII, but I would like to see CM move beyond. I mean honestly, I think they've done such a great job on two of the major fronts of the war (soon to do a brilliant job on a 3rd) that I really can't say that I'd be thrilled to revisit them, even with a new engine. And as mentioned by BFC before, WW2 in the Pacific wasn't all that interesting (outside of Guadalcanal) for this type of wargame. What new ground is left for a WWII CM game? I'd much prefer seeing something new. If we're going back to central Europe with the new engine, I'd like to do it with M-48s and T-62s on my flanks. Or into the sands of Israel and Southern Asia.

What are some good books about later-war German paradrops?

This'll probably sound stupid, but I'll say it anyway. Your desert really looks like a desert. In nearly every other game I've played, the designers just plopped down some sandy tile and maybe a palm tree here and there, but they totally ignore the fact that the deserts really do have a lot of diverse terrain. When I was in Kuwait, I was shocked to see so much... not green, but vegetation. Shrubs and arid grasses that look exactly like what you've got there. More rocks and hard dirt than sand. So thanks for doing another thing right that so many others before you have screwed up. I look forward to being back in the desert.

1 Which feature would you instantly add to TacOps given the opportunity ? Scenario editor. I've had TacOps since December of '94 (IIRC), and there haven't been a whole lot of new single player scenarios since then. I can only play Gallagher so many hundreds of times before I get tired with it. And I'm not a fan of multiplayer, so TacOps' current replayability is almost nil. 2 What aspect of TacOps do you find the most rewarding ? Tactical problem solving. 3 What aspect of TacOps do you find the most problematic ? Lack of dynamic AI in that once you've played a scenario enough times (see above) you have a very good idea of what the AI is going to do. It stops being a challenge. 4 What area of TacOps do you feel future efforts should be aimed at improving ? Ideally, I'd like to have TacOps in 3D (I'm an eyecandy slut and would love to see a modern battlefield ala TacOps portrayed in 3D - not necessarily high detail or anything, but as something more than a map exercise), with a scenario editor and/or a dynamic scenario generator, multiple elevations, optional user-editable database(s), scriptable AI, and the ability to combine dissimilar units - like model a platoon of HMMWVs with Mk19s and .50cals together. 5 In what way does playing TacOps improve your life ? It has always been a form of entertainment for me, but I did use it as a training tool when I was in uniform.

I would pay double the asking price for a post WWII version of CM-X. Modern/Semi-modern warfare is what got me into wargames (esp. the Twilight 2000 RPG and Command Decision miniature rules). I grew up reading Harold Coyle, Tom Clancy (RSR was good) and Larry Bond. I want to create battles from those books. I want to take my old army air assault unit into combat. I like WWII a lot but I'm getting a bit worn out with it, if that makes any sense. Besides, aren't M-1A2s the modern day equivalents of King Tigers?

If modern conflicts were so boring, then why do so many people play modern tank sims (M-1TP2, Steel Beasts) and modern wargames (TOAW2, Steel Panthers II, III, MBT)? No, it may not be as superficially balanced as CM is, but how many people would actually only play as the US? I'd be looking forward to playing anyone but them. South Africa vs. Cuba would be my tops, or any other "bush war" type of scenario.

They did. It's a special version called Virtual Battlefield System 1. They use it for squad and platoon level infantry training while on ship. Check out the website and google at all the pics: VBS1 Web Site [ March 09, 2003, 01:47 AM: Message edited by: fytinghellfish ]

I work on saturdays, so I don't know if i'll be able to make it. I'll have to suck up to my boss for the day off. I DO love ostrich burgers, though. So, does anyone have a laptop to bring? I don't...

I'm interested... let me know what works best. My schedule is pretty flexible.

Hark ye merry gentlemen, and listen to me: I cannot imagine a more exciting game than CM:Modern Battles. Or '65-85. Either. I have longed for the ability to watch my M-48A5 tanks loom over a ridge and fire into the T-62s in the valley below. I have ached to command the Israeli 77th Armored Brigade in the Golan Heights, their Centurion/Ben Gurion tanks firing into the T-62 in the valley below. However - I'd like to see Combat Mission: Med Theater first. Why? Because that is where BFC can perfect the terrain and models they need in the desert. And because that is the most logical place to expand our beloved game into. And, because it is really, really interesting. I think a lot of people forget how interesting the Med theater was, and I know for a fact that the D-Day/Northwest Europe campaign overshadows all other American campaigns in WW2. Once the Med game is done, BFC will have no problem importing desert (and, indeed, all other) terrains into a Modern CM that lets us fight all over the world, saving them some more time and energy to more thoroughly research twenty years of OOBs and TO&Es from around the world. But, in all franknes, I can't imagine why the Early War '39-40 is so interesting. I look at the possibilities, and only a commando raid on Eban Emael looks interesting. I really can't imagine what an Early War CM would offer that isn't already covered (or will be in CM:Med).

TacOps4 currently has truly multiplayer capability. I haven't used it yet, but I've read all the reports - looks like the bee's knees. You've got something like 16 players (8 v. 8, 15 v. 1, etc.) who can command units (designated by a GM or commander, I think) and I'm pretty sure that there is room for spectators as well. I don't know how buddy-buddy BFC is with Major H, but hopefully they can scratch each other's backs. Wouldn't it be great if the Major was given permission to make a modern CM? A TacOps and CM hybrid would be something I'd shell out $100 for (I've payed more on dates where all I got was a smile, fer chrissake). [ December 03, 2002, 04:23 AM: Message edited by: fytinghellfish ]

Yeah, I'm finding that the AI rarely picks regular infantry in QBs and instead goes for Recon and Pioneers. I think rarity would help this.

Wow. Is the grass the only mod?

I, too, would like to see CMMOS come with CMBB/CM3. Sure, people could download it fairly quickly, but just having it already there on your system, maybe even integral to the game would be so nice.

I'm all psyched up to play CMMC2, so I thought I'd 'relive' the background of my character for the game and play a game set in December of '41, during the battle of Moscow. It was just a quick battle on an excellent pre-made map I got at that mod website of about 1250 points, German attack. It was a really hard fought battle, but in the end, the AI Germans kicked my sorry butt. First time it's happened in CMBB (excepting Citadel Schwerpunkt in the demo, which I am convinced is TOTALLY UNWINNABLE as the Soviets - but that is an argument for many months and battlefields ago). I'd been so used to trouncing the AI with T-34s, that I forgot how delicate the M40 and M41 models are. Especially with conscript crews. In the end, I had seven burning T-26s, ten knocked out T-34s, a bunch of dead German infantry (gotta love cannister!) and no victory locations. A sad day for me indeed. I'd always mirthed at all the complaints from you layfolk about how the AI was entirely too difficult, then go and slaughter the Das Reich division with a T-34 and a barrel of monkeys. I have seen the white elephant now. You are my comrades in arms. [ November 19, 2002, 01:58 AM: Message edited by: fytinghellfish ]

I feel a bit wierd saying this.. but that really looks.. well.. real. Amazing.

HOLY HIBISCUS! :eek: Those are amazing. I've never been a fan of winterized mods (most have always been simple white washes) but those mods are outstanding. You, sir, have just won yourself a fan for life.