jgdpzr

You are the man!!! Thank you, these are absolutely gorgeous and I will be downloading and installing these as soon as I get home.

Bump. Because Mr. Noobie mustn't rest. He must finish these and find someone to host them. And I mean NOW!

Brrrrilliant! I mean, what's an IS-2 without the racing stripe? I'm slapping this puppy in my bmp folder pronto. Thanks for sharing, great work!

Just to repeat what has been stated, the quality of the AI is relative. Does it compare to a highly skilled human? Absolutely not. Does it compare favorably to other games? Only in that it is far superior to any I have played. Organizing and sustaining a well-coordinated attack is a deceptively difficult task. Without in-depth scripting, it is a herculean task. However, given the right parameters, the AI will still surprise the most experienced human player, even when it is attacking. In summation, please don't let concern over our complaints of AI shortcomings deter you from purchasing the finest computer wargame ever created.

I have to admit I agree that even the minimal tree setting blocks my ability to see my little cyber soldiers. I really liked the idea of transparent trees someone posited. I am sure that such an option would be difficult to implement, however. One option that will help you out eventually is when people start modding more tree bases. This should at least help you differentiate the type of tree cover with no trees shown.

Personally, I doubt you will ever see such a thing in this type of game. From my knowledge, these vehicles did not operate under fire. Perhaps there may have been the odd case of that happening, but I doubt you would be able to convince BFC that such a vehicle was used in this situation often enough to warrant inclusion.

Sounds like a glitch with the rarity system that may have drastically upped the price of the entire battalion as one unit. Thus, some of the individual assets within the battalion were really skewed.

What Steel Rain says is historically accurate. The Soviets simply did not coordinate their artillery like the Germans and the Western allies did. They massed a ****load of guns at the divisional and above levels, usually tied to inflexible fire plans laid down by corps and army level HQ's. They didn't disperse their batteries so as to be attached to the level of units as usually seen in CM battles. The offshoot of this organization was that they tended to mass fire in prepatory barrages, and did not worry about attaching forward observers to smaller units to be adjusted on-the-fly as required in CM battles. So, to be accurate, the Soviets should suffer in CM type battles. Brigade and below level assets, i.e. primarily medium mortars, didn't suffer quite so much from this arrangement. But within the context of the battles as usually fought in CM, the big stuff is basically assumed to have already done it's business (outside of the prep barrage feature represented in the game) before the troops roll off their start line. It does present a challenge, as this type of imbalance certainly didn't exist within virtually any of the weapon systems of CMBO. It makes it tougher to play the Soviets, that's for sure.

IIRC, the Stug accounted for more armor kills than any other German AFV. Most of these came on the Eastern Front. I'm fairly certain that Stug batteries formed the backbone of the 'fire brigades' dispatched to armor-infested hotspots, at least prior to the introduction of the Tiger and the Schwere Abteilungs. As others have alluded, the Stug was produced in large quantities. Three of the principal reasons were: 1.)Factories were still geared up to produce the Panzer III chassis in good numbers, but the chassis was incapable of accepting a turret with a long 75. 2.)German experiences in Russia proved that the long 75 (initially the L43, and then the L48) was needed to combat the T34 and KV series. 3.)In addition to the larger gun, the absence of a turret meant more armor could be placed up front. Plus, at least part of the front aspect of the vehicle could have well-sloped armor. Add these up and you have a recipe for a wonderful tank-killing machine, especially before the Soviets could mount a gun capable of defeating the frontal armor at longer ranges (the 85mm). As an aside, if anything, I was a little surprised at the ease with which 75mm Shermans could defeat the frontal armor of the Stug in CMBO. I'm not saying there may not be a little room for improving the CMBB model as I'm not well enough acquainted with the penetration tables of the Soviet 76.2 gun. However, I think part of the issue may be we are facing an adjustment from the way the Stug was modelled in CMBO. As wwb_99 said, fear the Stug. [ October 05, 2002, 11:56 PM: Message edited by: jgdpzr ]

Yes, diesels were a problem in the cold. I have heard tales of them improvising pans to place under the engine compartment and using some sort of fuel (can't remember what) to burn and warm the engine. Also, I'm not sure what role they played, but they had tanks of compressed air that were used to somehow assist in cold-weather starting. Incidently, even the Germans with their gasoline engines struggled to start them in the coldest conditions. I believe they too resorted to fire under the tank to warm them.

I just completed my first go at this battle. I got a total victory as the Germans(84-16; sustained 30 casualties, inflicted 91). There were a few keys to the battle: 1.)Placement of the infantry gun is critical. I placed it at one of the zig-zag corners of the placement zone so as to have LOS to as much of the town and trenchline as possible. I also placed one of the MG34's close by. These were under command of the coy commander, who also spotted for the two 50mm mortars. 2.)I laid a base of fire from the front inside the treeline(I snuck one of the recon platoons up to within ~20m of the treeline, in hindsight it may have worked better to use the pioneers as they have more ammo.) 3.)I flanked from from the right edge with one of the recon platoons and the pioneers. Once again it was critical to use as much firepower to suppress and overwatch the advance of the infantry. I was able to move up an AC which promptly drew fire from an ATG. The next turn I opened up with everything I had to take out the gun, before it did any damage. I was lucky there. 4.)Once I was able to get a recon platoon and the pioneers into the woods astride the road on the German right, I then rolled up the Russian line continuing to use my infantry gun, an MG, two armored cars, and one recon platoon to lay the base of fire to pin and suppress the enemy in and around the town. Also, by this time, I had loaded one of the flamethrower teams into the halftrack and used the HT to transport it on pace with the rest of the advancing infantry. I then positioned it so as to torch the church to prevent Ivan from using it as a strongpoint. Also by this time, I had leveled all of the front buildings with my infantry gun, the rubble providing excellent cover for my advancing infantry. I then advanced my remaining infantry platoon into the trenches using smoke to protect the advance from the one MG bunker that could fire into the line of advance. The battle ended around turn 24. This battle does an excellent job of demonstrating the need for suppression and bounding overwatch. One of the trickiest elements is managing ammo. It was a balancing act providing enough covering fire while maintaining enough ammo to bring the assault home. When it was all done, I don't think I had a unit with more than 3-4 ammo count. For me, the infantry gun was the difference maker, chalking up 20 casualties. Excellent battle! After getting my tail handed to me in a couple of other battles against the AI (Balkovzy Surprise as the Germans and Borisovka Station as the Russians), it was nice to get a hard-fought victory.

This was the first battle I played. My hat's off to Rune (nice guy who can whip up a mean scenario!). When tackling the AI, this one is definitely meant to be played from the Hungarian side. My favorite battle so far, although I've just scraped the surface. No crashes on this one, though. I had some problems with others until I switched video drivers, but this one ran fine.

So my question is: are you using the map / photo montage (on the right) for your intro screen to CMBB? If you are: Pleeeease send me a copy! I love the whole look of that picture! Sorry BFC, it just looks 100x cooler than the high-stepping infantry advancing on the Soviet soldiers. And if you're not using that as your main screen...how about I commision you to knock one out for me using that pic? Cheers, Chris</font>

Nah, I prefer to see them burning, or at least with turrets akimbo, once the battle is over. Plenty of time to admire the paint jobs then.

Let me just pile on to say these are sweet, especially #1. I'm off to download those right now. Thanks!

The early Panthers had no kugelblend (ballmount). Working from memory, I believe the kugelblend was introduced midway through the production run of the Panther A. Prior to that, there was simply an opening for the machine gunner/radio operator to insert and fire a machine gun. In other words, the machine gun was not permanently mounted. This was similar to the arrangement of the machine gun in the jagdpanzer.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think they can. A pbem opponent opened a file from a demo scenario in the full game and it loaded and he plotted as normal. When I tried to load the file this morning, I did so from the demo and it wouldn't load. I didn't try from the full game, but I will give that a shot tonight when I get home from work.

It's not an IS-III. At least the model/texture set are not of an IS-III. The armour specs seem right from what I remember, but the model appears to be the same one used for the IS-II. It definitely does not look like the Stalin-III I remember. It doesn't have the extremely rounded turret, nor does it have the angular, pointed glacis. Not a complaint mind you, as I have never clamoured for the vehicle anyway. Just thought I'd throw this out there to see if my perceptions may be wrong.

What you see here is not the rarity system, but the pre-battle losses system. You might have noticed that you copuld purchase for much more than the battle size. It is one parameter on the top of the Quickbattle screen.</font>

I played it non-stop yesterday once the postman graced my porch with the red/white/blue envelope of mana. Played two scenarios and a quick battle. First battle I played was called "A Battle of Minors" (I think that was the title). I'll not give any spoilers except to say it was fun commanding Hungarians against Romanians. Damn tough battle as well, ending in a draw, which is unusual for me against the AI. The AI was attacking and I was happy to see there were no HQ rushes or any such tomfoolery. All-in-all, the AI coordinated a fine attack. The other scenario (death ride of the 424, or something like that) was a tussle of heavy tanks. A bit anti-climactic as the AI didn't do as fine a job on the attack this time. Cities and tanks appear to still give the AI a hard time, then again that combo can give me fits as well. Fired up a quick battle because I wanted to try out the rarity system and I wanted to play around with the Elefant. Well, the rarity system definitely seems to work as apparently the Elefant was too rare to actually arrive on schedule (at least in this battle). I bought two Panthers, a Nashorn, an Elefant, and a PAK40. I only got a Panther, a Nashorn, and the gun. The gun paid for itself with a KO of a T34/85 at 1K. The Panther got popped through the front turret at ~800M, just after it sent a round through the front turret of a T34/85. The Nashorn then picked off the offending T34/85 with one shot from ~900M. Tally: Three T34/85 and an armoured car and a smattering of infantry. I lost the Panther and the gun was reduced to one crewman. The Nashorn was deadly accurate, hitting vehicular targets at ranges of 900-1100 with 2 out of 3 shots. [ September 24, 2002, 11:23 AM: Message edited by: jgdpzr ]

Eventually, there will probably be some gridline mods, or at least grass mods designed to make height more easy to differentiate. Other than that, there probably isn't much you can do. Keep in mind, what some view as tedious, others view as realistic, or at least an additional element that adds wrinkles to gameplay. An example: You may want to exploit a particular terrain feature, however, without getting an eyeball there beforehand, you are unable to ascertain the precise los. While some may view that as an annoyance, others may appreciate the fact that you have to physcially reconnoiter the location before you can confirm its value.

You are welcome. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I have it sometimes as well.

Here's a trick: Right click on the picture and click properties. Copy the url and paste it in the address block of your browser and hit enter. This should bring the picture up and when you hit back it will also show on the thread page.

Yep, I've experienced the same bug in the same scenario. Although it has been crashing on me when I try to click on a bailed crew (I've only had one bailed crew so far). I haven't tried cycling through units however.

Yep, that's it. Mystery solved.