Pak40

Steve, I think the vehicle cover arc that was implemented in the CMx1 engine was perfect for these situations. It seemed to work as advertised back then, so why can't it be implemented for CMx2? I seem to recall someone saying that you said the coding was complex for this, but rather than to speculate on rumor I'd like to hear it from you. Or can someone link to where you've already talked about this? thanks, Jeff

I've wondered about this for years. Once CMBN came out I just reconciled that the third squad was the two .30 mg sections including the ammo bearers.

@ Nik - It as nothing to do with degrees. The MG team on the right can target the leftmost building. @Alan - I don't think it's an action spot issue either. As the second picture shows, I can target the building behind the big building. Any unit should be able to area fire on any building they can see, even if it's just the rooftop. Mortars should be able to area fire on rooftops especially. In any case, there wasn't one square inch of that big building that was targetable. Not the front, side or roof. The mortar team also could not target the leftmost building. The MG team could target the leftmost building and the smaller building to the right of the big building, but it could not target the Big building in the middle - the one that was most visible.:confused:

I should have clear LOS to this larger building but don't. Is anyone else occasionally seeing issues like this? I can clearly see the ground in front and the smaller building to the rear but not the big building.:mad: Neither my mortar crew or the mg crew in the just to the right can see the big building. This is in the Road to Montebourg Campaign.

Not sure if this has come up before but I played a quick battle the other day and during the setup phase the enemy's foxholes were visible in places where I had absolutely no chance at a LOS. Anyone else seen this?

Yes, I had the same issue with my 60mm mortars. The first two times it happened I had just cancelled a direct fire order. The next turn they continued to fire so I thought I was either mistaken. Later in the battle another 60mm fired without any orders whatsoever at a unit that I wasn't even aware that he could see.

I'm not sure about your specific situations that you mention above, but I can tell you that the 57mm, 3inch, and 76mm guns had AP Shot as well as APC rounds. The Shot rounds typically penetrate armor better but don't explode when they penetrate. The APC doesn't penetrate as well but explodes soon after impact. As to what the typical ammo loadout of tanks, TDs, and AT guns were at this point of the war, I have no idea. As to what BFC is modeling, I also have no idea. Maybe someone else can provide more info. However, I think your theory about frontal armor penetrations being more dangerous to the crew isn't right. I think you need to think in terms of minor penetration and major penetrations. Even though both frontal and side penetrations are categorized as "penetrations", they may not be equal in devastation. In other words, a side penetration has a better chance to totally penetrate and therefore flake off more armor. It also allows the round to completely enter the tank and cause more damage either with kinetic energy or with an explosion deeper in the tank. Frontal penetrations may just be barely getting penetration and therefore not have enough Kinetic energy to flake off too much metal. Another issue is that side penetrations have a better chance of hitting ammo or fuel.

Tomorrows lottery numbers are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 oh wait, that's my locker combination

Damn, I'm good.

I agree, but be honest, it's way more fun to complain when you're on the internet. And speaking of complaining, When's that patch coming out, Steve!!!???

MikeyD, I think I have only used the assault commands in close combat situations, usually within 75 meters of the enemy held position. Quite often I'll use quick or fast to get a squad within closing distance and then use the assault command the last 50 meters or so, depending on the situation.

Dellinger, Some more advice: I know the campaign you're playing and I understand your hesitation to "waste" ammo at long range. However, once you can pinpoint enemy positions, even if they are ?, I would lay as much cover fire on them as possible, especially from your MGs. The object is not necessarily to kill your enemy but to keep their heads down as much as possible while your squads close the gap. My tactic on this map was to pound the hedgerow with mortars (line option). Then close the gap leapfrogging platoons using quick movement orders. I took some casualties but not too bad.

SteveP, check out http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=99073 Looks like what you're trying to achieve.

Well, I don't think they have to model 122 projectiles, it's more like an exploding shell but with a directional spray pattern. It would have to be abstracted like they do for artillery explosions. They don't track every piece of shrapnel, do they?

Canister was used in the 37mm AT gun(M3A1), and both models of the tank guns(M5A1 and M6) used in the M5 tank, M3 tank, and M8 Greyhound. From the American Arsenal pg 266: Canister, M2, as the designation implies is little more than a can filled with approximately 122 lead balls which are imbedded in a resin matrix. The canister is used primarily as tank armament against personnel. The shock of discharge ruptures the case and the canister leaves the gun with a muzzle velocity of 2500 ft per second. The case bursts within 100 ft after discharge...[further explanation about the powder used.] No mention about dates used but I'm almost positive it was used since the U.S. entered conflict in 41. I'm not positive but I could have sworn I saw the canister round in CMBO.

SteveP, this is all about the effect you want an "orchard" to have and nothing to do with how CMN models line of sight. You obviously want the orchard to have a fair degree of visibility. In order to achieve this you're going to have to make your trees more sparse. To be quite honest, if you were an owner of an apple orchard and you planted your trees only 8m meters apart you'd probably run yourself out of business. It provides no accessibility to harvest the fruit and the trees would end up competing for light and room to grow. The photo that akd has posted clearly shows gap rows that are at least 8m in width. I suggest you do the same.

This is a VERY generalized statement. I've been in many forests where you can't see more than 20 feet in any direction. Also have been in other forests that didn't have much undergrowth at all and could see for well over 100 meters. The same can be said for orchards. It depends on the crop, time of year, and spacing of the trees. Do the Google image search I mention in my previous post.

The first time I laid out an orchard in the editor I did 1 tree per 8m grid but found it to be way too cluttered. You need to spread out the trees more, try 1 tree every other grid and stagger the rows. You might even want to skip a row if you're doing big trees. @ GB Scurlock: Did a google image search for Normandy Orchards and got a mix of photos showing both cases - some show low hanging branches but others are trimmed and very visible straight through the field. Interesting enough, there were also screen grabs from other wargames in the search result :-)

I think the only advantage to using 2 tubes is that the other two tubes will be cool. So, if you do an immediate barrage after the 1st barrage then you don't have to wait for your tubes to cool down.

Hey, I had a MkIV get immobilized on a paved road while going at a Fast speed. It was near the beginning of a battle and there no enemy units anywhere in LOS of it and there was not any artillery. It just threw a track. $hit happens.

This has been one of the most disappointing things about the game IMO. I can't fathom that distinct sounds are what's going to push this game over the edge. Are we going to have to suffer through this with the add-on modules also??? Is the Sten going to sound the same as the Thompson? Will the Russian guns also use the same files if/when the modules are released?

as of 9:25 central, the link doesn't work at all.

XO's don't typically have the radios which makes their role as artillery spotters limited to onboard mortars that are close by. Does anyone know if the CO unit dies, can the XO pickup the radio through buddy aid?

Heck no! I like my panties in a bunch. :cool:

I recently saw some old demonstration footage that would surprise you about the mobility of the 57mm. I wish I could remember where I saw it. Basically, the footage showed a truck towing a 57mm gun, the crew jump out and quickly unhitch the gun, run the gun about 10 meters - set it up by putting boxes under the arms to stabilize it, and quickly fire 3 rounds. The whole process took about 10-15 seconds. This footage was obviously rehersed and the crew was large, maybe 10 men, but it was still an awesome display of how mobile the gun is.