Renaud

The changes in tech since 91 would not materially affect the modeling of a 73 easting cmx2 scenario. Use the M1A1 heavy model without the CITV, that's basically what Eagle Troop had. The cav version of the bradley is about the same. The monkey-model T72 is available. There's no ZU-23 AA gun though. In any case, when the M1 gun hits any Iraqi vehicle it explodes, when any Iraqi/syrian-cmx2 vehicle hits the M1 nothing much happens. That really hasn't changed since 91. Not that Eagle troop had much chance to find out...they hit immediately and decisively, while the Iraqi units were encountered piecemeal, at one point still in their coil formation, and fired sporadically with no hits on Eagle Troop. The action lasted exactly 23 minutes from first engagement to last and covered about 6 kilometers of desert between 67 Easting and 73 Easting. I have a minute-by-minute account of the action as related by Captain H.R. McMaster from a detailed interview, also multiple maps with phase lines, times, formations and the locations of every individual vehicle and complete TOE. This scenario is begging to be created, however the value is completely in the historical recreation and documentation as there wouldn't be a lot of play or replay value from the Iraqi (syrian) point of view. I haven't received the full game yet so someone will undoubtedly have a go at this before me. CMx2 can only do 4 km long maps, right? Probably close enough to give it a go anyway. Would be nice if you could do 1x6km though. *edit: there's also ghost troops epic defensive stand against an entire brigade+ that night. However this lasted 5-6 hours so you would have to just do 1 cm-size chunk of it. [ August 05, 2007, 05:02 AM: Message edited by: Renaud ]

Hopefully the full version will run as well as the demo on my box, which runs totally smooth at 1450x920 (something like that, it's my 22" flat panel native res) and high settings, with like 25 vehicles and 20 squads on-map. I discovered turning shadows off makes a noticeable difference. (1.6 Core2 duo, 1gb ram, nvidia 7600GT) On the other hand, TOW is always quite slow (and crashy too - though not so often as to be unplayable). No crashes as yet, from the demo anyway...and i've played a lot, heh. (too cheap to buy download version, have to wait for shipping)

Or, you could agree not to cheat until they patch it.

Yes, I am surprised by how much I like the demo. I did not expect to really want to play modern combat, but this is just cool. Of course it helps that it runs perfectly for me. Ordered the game that night, should be here in a week-10 days. It's miles beyond anything out there right now (or that is likely to ever come from another company), but then CMx1 is still miles beyond in terms of pure wargame and it's 7 yrs old. Until cmx2 wwII versions come out, i'll still be making cmbb scenarios, maybe even after that...

ahhh...nice touch. Loader doesn't unbutton until you use target light. Wow, that model is just amazing isn't it?

ahhh...nice touch. Loader doesn't unbutton until you use target light. Wow, that model is just amazing isn't it?

ahhh...nice touch. Loader doesn't unbutton until you use target light. Wow, that model is just amazing isn't it?

now he's finally out...he had to club the last bad guy with the launcher, causing a terrible smear of tomato ketchup to appear on his face.

no wait, he just found another one in his bandana.

It's the Wand of Unlimited RPG Rounds. I guess he finally ran out, cause he just strangled a guy with the launcher.

Yea, hard to believe i've been playing CM since the CMBO demo...Wow, i'm getting dated. I wonder why the SEP doesn't have it...I presume because the new FBCB2 panel and ICT got in the way of the old remote control and sight? Another thing I noticed is that in Elite mode (the only way to play) I noticed a buttoned M1A2 SEP registers "?" marks for friendly vehicles. Does the FBCB2 system tell other FBCB2 systems the vehicle type too? I myself am not clear on that. ps. Congrats on this new game, the demo is the biggest gaming thrill i've had since playing CMx1 the first time.

Yea, hard to believe i've been playing CM since the CMBO demo...Wow, i'm getting dated. I wonder why the SEP doesn't have it...I presume because the new FBCB2 panel and ICT got in the way of the old remote control and sight? Another thing I noticed is that in Elite mode (the only way to play) I noticed a buttoned M1A2 SEP registers "?" marks for friendly vehicles. Does the FBCB2 system tell other FBCB2 systems the vehicle type too? I myself am not clear on that. ps. Congrats on this new game, the demo is the biggest gaming thrill i've had since playing CMx1 the first time.

Yea, hard to believe i've been playing CM since the CMBO demo...Wow, i'm getting dated. I wonder why the SEP doesn't have it...I presume because the new FBCB2 panel and ICT got in the way of the old remote control and sight? Another thing I noticed is that in Elite mode (the only way to play) I noticed a buttoned M1A2 SEP registers "?" marks for friendly vehicles. Does the FBCB2 system tell other FBCB2 systems the vehicle type too? I myself am not clear on that. ps. Congrats on this new game, the demo is the biggest gaming thrill i've had since playing CMx1 the first time.

Funny thing is, I turned off CMx1 detailed armor hit messages almost immediately and played without them for 5+ years...just destroyed my sense of immersion to see giant neon descriptions of hits floating above the tanks. Regarding the M1 side armor...IIRC I compared the side armor in an M1A1 'heavy' to the front and the front armor looks to be an incredible 30" inches thick...of course there might be styrofoam peanuts in there for all I know. The side turret however is only about 6-8 inches thick. As others have noted thickness is hardly the sole indicator of protection. The top is incredibly vulnerable, only 1" steel. I only have the demo right now but I noticed the buttoned M1 commander does not seem to be able to use his M2 when really it is intended to be used that way (remotely operated). Maybe the right situation hasn't appeared. You would in fact rarely use it from outside the hatch because the sights and control is downstairs...also when you unbutton the loader is not there which is too bad, I wanted to see the loaders M240 fire. Is it just me or are the GI voices and verbiage copied directly from CMBO?? That cracked me up. I guess you have to cut expenses somewhere. ps. Love the demo...the scenario could be more interesting, but you can't have everything.

Funny thing is, I turned off CMx1 detailed armor hit messages almost immediately and played without them for 5+ years...just destroyed my sense of immersion to see giant neon descriptions of hits floating above the tanks. Regarding the M1 side armor...IIRC I compared the side armor in an M1A1 'heavy' to the front and the front armor looks to be an incredible 30" inches thick...of course there might be styrofoam peanuts in there for all I know. The side turret however is only about 6-8 inches thick. As others have noted thickness is hardly the sole indicator of protection. The top is incredibly vulnerable, only 1" steel. I only have the demo right now but I noticed the buttoned M1 commander does not seem to be able to use his M2 when really it is intended to be used that way (remotely operated). Maybe the right situation hasn't appeared. You would in fact rarely use it from outside the hatch because the sights and control is downstairs...also when you unbutton the loader is not there which is too bad, I wanted to see the loaders M240 fire. Is it just me or are the GI voices and verbiage copied directly from CMBO?? That cracked me up. I guess you have to cut expenses somewhere. ps. Love the demo...the scenario could be more interesting, but you can't have everything.

Funny thing is, I turned off CMx1 detailed armor hit messages almost immediately and played without them for 5+ years...just destroyed my sense of immersion to see giant neon descriptions of hits floating above the tanks. Regarding the M1 side armor...IIRC I compared the side armor in an M1A1 'heavy' to the front and the front armor looks to be an incredible 30" inches thick...of course there might be styrofoam peanuts in there for all I know. The side turret however is only about 6-8 inches thick. As others have noted thickness is hardly the sole indicator of protection. The top is incredibly vulnerable, only 1" steel. I only have the demo right now but I noticed the buttoned M1 commander does not seem to be able to use his M2 when really it is intended to be used that way (remotely operated). Maybe the right situation hasn't appeared. You would in fact rarely use it from outside the hatch because the sights and control is downstairs...also when you unbutton the loader is not there which is too bad, I wanted to see the loaders M240 fire. Is it just me or are the GI voices and verbiage copied directly from CMBO?? That cracked me up. I guess you have to cut expenses somewhere. ps. Love the demo...the scenario could be more interesting, but you can't have everything.

But combat loaded T72's ARE filled with explosives. When a T72 (or t55, 62, etc.) is hit in combat by a 120mm APFSDSDU-T, it explodes alright. If the turret doesn't simply launch, along with the engine, you see massive blowtorches of flame shooting up out of the hatches, like 20 feet high for an extended period of time. However the non-kill hits, such as a AP hit from 125mm on the front turret of a M1, make large HE type explosions which are weird. Not that I actually know what that should look like. According to an account of the 1st AD in ODS, one M1 took a 125mm sabot in the turret and it simply stuck there like a big knitting needle, half embedded. I believe a non-penetrating hit should look more like what the arty impacts look like, with the particle shower. I think it's safe to say a stryker will immolate if hit by a TOW. But take down buildings? That's kind of like the old nuclear explosions in CMx1 which occured when buildings collapsed.

I played as syrians first cause I figured that would be the harder of the two. It is, slightly. Lost 4 bimps, both AT4's and 20 men but wiped out the US (AI doesn't favor moving M1's to the hilltops). Then I played US of course knowing where the syrians would appear so I was aggressive. Lost an M1 and 2 crew with 1 infantry later wounded, otherwise it's a massacre. 1 M1 did take 3 frontal 125mm hits, I was worried there as this could take you out with a lucky hit from 400 meters. I suffered only minor track damage. I don't know how CMSF models critical hits, but a flat trajectory 125mm shot from that short range could hit the turret ring or drivers hatch (slim chance, but it would be a total loss). I was slightly higher than the firing 72s, so this would lower the chance of either type of hit. I was surprised to miss several shots at that range, but then again this was after my bell was rang a few times which can't be good for the gunner's concentration or the targeting system. In non-combat conditions it's virtually unthinkable to miss with the 120 at 400 meters vs stationary targets. You don't need to lase the target, just clear your firing solution and aim centermass.

Ahh...I was in dire need of a good belly laugh and along comes this thread. There is hope yet.

I played the Demo and vastly enjoyed it. Played first as the Syrians, then US, elite difficulty. I did not expect to enjoy CM2 as much as I have and that's just the demo. In fact I haven't enjoyed a game this much since I fired up CMBB the first time years ago (and cmbo before that). The vehicle animations are a joy to behold. The sound is high quality. The ballistics are great. The graphics and sound are very close to the experience of a squadron live-fire night exercise at NTC, except the bad guys are real and we're firing service ammo! One thing that I wasn't looking forward to was seeing types of vehicles that I served in blown up...it was rather shocking. I actually got a sickening sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when I took out 2 M1's with multiple cross fires from hidden AT-4's. For this reason I would rather play historical settings. Anything prior to 1990 really. The graphics, sounds and immersion are spot on. I have enjoyed TOW, but this is light years beyond in terms of fidelity and immersion. CM2 also runs a lot smoother. TOW is to CM2 as CC was to CM1. All that being said, obviously there's room for improvements which I'm sure will be added over time with patches and new 'modules'. I'm just happy someone is making games like this. Everything else out there is fluff (perhaps fun, but still fluff).

My vote for this. I loved the right click order menus. Group select units with a drawn box and right click any unit to get the orders menu...incredibly great UI feature! Unless it's just impossible to implement within CMx2 engine for some reason, please bring it back.

I try to write briefings providing what I think the commanders must have known in the historical situation, either based on some explicit account or implied by actions taken during the course of the historical battle. Other times I simply make up something that is sensible or contributes to game balance. Not that some of my historical scenarios are all that balanced. A few of them are straight interpretations of available historical accounts with balancing applied only in the form of bonus points or flag count/placement... I also have a kind of 'golden rule' which states that I must limit each briefing to 2 CM display pages (2 for scen brief, 2 for axis, 2 for allied). Otherwise I get way too wordy. The optoinal fun stuff goes into designer notes, historical outcome notes, photographs, extra maps and so forth packaged in the scenario download.

Well, nothing has worked for me, at least for this game. There's simply no way for me to attack with the AT guns. I haven't been able to figure out the trick to roll my at guns forward with the shield toward the enemy. According to someone's post in the tactics sticky, this is possible but I can't make it happen. The default is to pull it in reverse, which gets the crews wiped out. I'll just have to start this scenario over and place my guns on the crewst of the ridge to wipe the germans out on the road before a stalemate has a chance to occur. I'm not planning on applying the patch until i finish the russian campaign, then i'll start fresh with the patched version.

I only have 1 ME - "Trappenjagd" at Scenario Depot. Smallish and only 22+ turns. There is airpower on the german side, so if you detest that best avoid. ** nevermind, i see you downloaded it on 3/28...you weren't lying about cleaning out TSD [ June 26, 2007, 10:37 PM: Message edited by: Renaud ]

the other end, just past the ruski trench line and almost to the village. I'm manuevering 2 trucks with AT guns around the back side now. Just have to figure out how to get the AT gun crews to roll forward, not pull, the last few meters into LOS of the AC's. To have a chance I think I will have to rush from all sides. In the meantime i've been creeping up 2-man teams and sniping their infantry 1 at a time...very slow work.