Seahawk-vfa201

Somehow the untold rule is that stranded units do not happen that frequently, hence the unwritten rule of one attached unit per battle. I also assumed one per battle (or when points are available).

K, takes note of that. For the time being 1.0.3 is the first self-contained version (ie the first that can start with: java -jar <file> [ April 21, 2003, 01:59 PM: Message edited by: Seahawk-vfa201 ]

Another point is: since the patch makes now the Editor fully usable there could be special treatment for HQ teams concerning their traits for example. The Editor allows for a fine tracking of various teams experience (with HQ it was all averaged out) hence we could think of adding traits and/or improving them with experience. Hail to the Editor! PS unfortunately there is no way to import units without a map. Would be nice though. Can't do it now but could that be to have a dummy map being there in order to hold the Battle Group then load it in the Editor, change the map and generating the battle? This way the dummy map could be re-used time and again just to deal with the Battle Group. Anyone willing to try that and report? [ April 21, 2003, 01:56 PM: Message edited by: Seahawk-vfa201 ]

Up to three attached units. After that points may be used to upgrade or get better units.

Biltong, is the v2.3 going to change rolls and modifiers? That is, is there any significant change for BiltAid? Currently the one missing rule is the CO death section. BiltAid does not compute whether the CO is dead at all. Concernign the suggestion on HQ experience. The HQ team (4 men) would be affected by the very fact of losing one or more men. The cohesive command experience would be reduced somewhat as the replacement(s) would have to integrate the command line. Experience should be lowered when losing even a single man. Maybe HQ (treated as for CO team) could see lesser experience loss if the killed/wounded man was not the leader after all (that is treat them similar to the CO unit) and suffer less experience loss wrt to other regular units if the roll determines the leader is still alive. One could argue that an officer might better integrate his HQ unit - hence be less of a penalty - than a platoon seeing 25% of its force replaced. Biltong? I would indeed favor HQs and CO suffer a bit less from man loss (experience-wise) then regular units. Your say? (and others of course) Anyway, although via BiltAid rules can be many and complex, one has to think as well of players using pencil and paper. Too many rules/options/exceptions might turn BCR impossible to play without BiltAid. [ April 21, 2003, 01:32 PM: Message edited by: Seahawk-vfa201 ]

Rules (and BiltAid) take into account that initial invasions meant lots of battles in few days. After the initial madness things get more relaxed and battles get more spaced than in the beginning days.

Happy Easter you all guys. Snowbart: Kiev Urban Chaos is the 4th battle of the 5-battle Kiev historical pack of the BCR Map Add-ons. These are a large set of battles to be used instead of the ones generated by the QB engine. Historical battle packs are to be used when the Campaign brings you close to the actual dates, then you may *enter* an historical pack and fight those on. Parameters are for the most set and fixed for those battles.

Hi Alex, if you have run the first BiltAid succesfully then you have a working Java installation alreay. The the .sit file is a Stuffit compressed format. You have to use Stuffit Expander to get to the files it contains. There should be two files in the archive: A ReadMe and BiltAid.jar. The ReadMe contains info on how to install Java on a Windows machine (OS X comes with it already) and some info on how to use BiltAid and some history of development. My additions are the new features at the beginning of the file, the rest was the status Pterk left BiltAid to cross other battlefields... BiltAid.jar is the - now - self-contained BiltAid program. For the command line you have to launch a terminal window. On OS X BiltAid starts by simply double-click on BiltAid.jar . I do not know whether that works on Windows as well, most probably you have to use the comman line. [ April 20, 2003, 03:26 AM: Message edited by: Seahawk-vfa201 ]

Hello Seahawk. I was wondering the same thing myself, is it time to try out the new beta patch? I hear it will fix the ammo problem with importing units with the editor, but I don't want to mess up anything. Also what is this Armor bug you mentioned? The darn Ivan's seam to be fighting a bit fiercer than I'd expect for low quality, unfit units. Most of my units are outta ammo, dammit! :eek: Snowbart </font>

It just happens I am online Right: no break allowed. You may buy what is available as a whole. And even if it is 1 point too much, then it is one point WAY too much! but read the note on buying units with left points from the rules. The note concers what the QB generates: Note 12 - Generating the real battle: "If you have points left after buying all the Task Force Offerings in a category or if you have points left, but not enough to buy a specific unit, you can choose what you want to buy from the normal QB unit list. In other words - buy as many Task Force units as you can from the generated units, but if you have points left - you win - you can buy what you want from the QB list. Remember: You can/must also buy individual teams such as MG teams etc that might be part of a platoon to use up your points. If you have points left in a category, but there's no generated unit or a unit on the QB list cheap enough, then you do lose those points. For infantry this will normally be just a couple of points, but for armor it can be a bit more. If you do not use a pre-generated list of units (with the QB) then spendpoints without breaking units in the proper category. Stick to rarity <= 40% a modifier will sometime allow to buy whatever you want whatever rarity as Berlin would give you prority for the incoming battle. Good luck\, man. It truly does that. PS I suggest using the new patch: it fixes the bug ammo wih the Editor where imported units, ie the Battle group, were always at FULL ammo. [ April 19, 2003, 02:28 PM: Message edited by: Seahawk-vfa201 ]

Hi Alex, in SuperSulo site the Read me file is now included. In previous pages I cut & paste the relevant information anad a short How-To on BiltAid. You better find them (I think page 8) and read them to have a clearer picture of BiltAid. If you have Java installed on your machine then the command is: java -jar BiltAid.jar On OS X it starts also by double clicking BiltAid.jar on the Finder.

BiltAid only gives you the points for the Task Force. Your Battle Group is a given. Its point though are taken into consideration to build the map size and force size for the Allied computer buyed units. So the imported Battle Group cost does not get subtracted from the Task Foce rolled points. This way - with imported Battle Group - when buying units it is even spedier: you rolled, say, 180 points for armor? That is the exact limit when you will buy Task Force armor in the QB (up to 180 points, that is). I favor the Editor in that it allows me to track down the exact experience for each unit rather then having random and different from battle to battle. I find it more *realistic* and allows me to count on my veteran units and know exactly who is going to be conscript :mad: next battle. [ April 19, 2003, 01:30 PM: Message edited by: Seahawk-vfa201 ]

Yes, the multiplier is included and just from the points you have I guessed it was 3 times what you would have gotten in a normal battle. Indeed, without premade battle it is more convoluted. You would have to have QB generate the map, buy your task force only, save the map, load it in the editor and enter your battle group only to have exact experience, ammo and names. [ April 19, 2003, 01:22 PM: Message edited by: Seahawk-vfa201 ]

Biltong, I downloaded current version of 42 south: modifiers and rules that depend on the year (and that do appear already in 41) are easy to put in, with relatively little effort. Enough to check the year in addition to month and week to apply the correct modifiers to the rule. For the optional (new) rules it would be domain of the initial set-up where the user could be presented with options to switch on/off [and stick for the rest of the campaign though]. Those have to be implemented from scratch which - of course - involve more time. This said: BiltAid covered rules can be extended to 1945 rapidly if that just means different modifiers and results, otherwise it is all brand new implementation (hence time to deliver will increase). If agreed we can go in two separate steps: extend BiltAid-as-it-is-now validity from just 1941 to the whole period 1941-45, then start with the new stuff. [ April 19, 2003, 12:39 PM: Message edited by: Seahawk-vfa201 ]

Heya Schoerner, in the CMBB QB you always put UNRESTRICTED in the initial paramenter then when you buy the Task Force you select units as per the rolled division and type and points. Note: In battle printouts, the actual value for Axis Nationality and Division Type should be Unrestricted in CMBB and the value on the sheet should only be used when purchasing units or when setting up the dummy QB to get auxiliary units. Some new players are forgetting to do this and end up in the problem you describe. Your Battle Group is fixed. The values you get in BiltAid for the Task Force is in addition to your battle group. From the allotted points I guess BiltAid told you you ended up in a Large Battle where notmal points to be spent for Task Force units are multiplied x2, x3, x5. From your point I take it is a x3 Large Battle set-up. What I do (and the patch solves the ammo bug, thanks BFC) is to load a map (Map Add ons) with my Battle Group already imported. This way I just buy Task Force units.

anyone tried the 103 latest beta patch? I have been hit from the Armor bug. Any news on how armor does behave with the latest patch? I'd like to fight last Kiev battles without the bug and go on with the campaign [ April 19, 2003, 10:23 AM: Message edited by: Seahawk-vfa201 ]

SuperSulo put the Readme file within the zip file containing previously BiltAid only. I have asked to put it as well as a separate download. The Readme file contains instructions to install Java on a Windows machine. BiltAid users running on OS X have nothing to do. Just double-click on it and BiltAid will start. When enough people has started using the new version and reported all systems-a-go I will begin looking at extending the tool to 1942 and subsequent years. That will be a quite a time consuming effort. [ April 17, 2003, 03:55 AM: Message edited by: Seahawk-vfa201 ]

and Biltong's signature has a link to BCR site. New BiltAid from there too. [ April 17, 2003, 02:50 AM: Message edited by: Seahawk-vfa201 ]

SS site features the new BiltAid already.

Last info on the new BiltAid. Previously it came with a series of files and resources. Now it is all self-contained into a single jar file to be easier to run it and distribute it. The command to start it (if you have a working Java installation: see the Readme on SuperSulo site) is: java -jar BiltAid.jar

BiltAid - part 2 info Play your CM game, write down the end of game info on your battle sheet and call Biltaid up again. Load the campaign dat file if necessary by selecting File/Load from the menu. Now, the state of this campaign is BATTLE IN PROGRESS which isn't quite true since the battle has ended. Select File/Advance from the menu and the End Of Game Wizard will appear to prompt you for the battle data from the game you've just played. Entering the data is fairly straightforward. One thing to watch out for!!! Tables on Windows don't behave exactly like Excel tables (yet) and you can't TAB from table-cell to table-cell. The way it works is you have to click in the cell you want to edit, you should see the cell change slightly to show it's now in edit mode. On OS X TAB advances as it should. When ou are finished, you have to either click in another cell or hit enter to accept the value you have just entered. Make sure you hit Enter on the last value you put into the table before advancing to the next step!!! If a unit has been eliminated only provide '0' for current men. None of the other values will be used if a unit has to be rebuilt from nothing. After all the data has been entered and you've exited the wizard, the state of the campaign is "BETWEEN BATTLES" and the battle section of the window should be empty and your battle group should have had their experience adjusted. Save the campaign. When you are ready to play your next battle select File/Advance from the menu and the cycle continues. As always, be very careful entering your battle data and double-check the values if necessary. Once you hit OK on that final End Of Battle Wizard screen, it's too late to go back and you'll be stuck with the results. The program is not industrial strength and does not validate every possible error. The program assumes the user is not evil and is not trying to make it crash. If you want to make it crash you probably will be able to do it quite easily. More validation will gradually be added as time goes by, so for now be nice to Biltaid. Note: In battle printouts, the actual value for Axis Nationality and Division Type should be Unrestricted in CMBB and the value on the sheet should only be used when purchasing units or when setting up the dummy QB to get auxiliary units. Some new players are forgetting to do this.

This is a quick tour of what you can do with Biltaid. 1. Initially the Biltaid screen is totally empty which is pretty boring. Choose File/New from the menu and Biltaid will start a new campaign for you. You have the choice of starting a default campaign with the default battle group and the default player skill (Regular) at the default start date of June 22, 1941. Alternately, you can configure a custom campaign where you set all the initial values yourself. Upon choosing custom campaign, fill out the general information at the top of the dialog. Now to enter your battle group, right click on the battle group table (when the table is empty, you have to right-click on the header) to get the battle group editing commands. Enter your HQ units first, and then enter the other units making sure to assign your platoons to their proper HQ. When adding Units to your battle group keep the following rules in mind, some of these rules are not validated by the program yet, so it's up to you to configure your group properly: 1. Every battle group MUST have at least 1 main HQ. The main HQ NEVER has any child units. 2. Make sure your Max Men field is set properly. Leaving this field at zero is a recipe for disaster. 3. Assign all your platoons to their proper parent HQ. 4. IMPORTANT. All unit names must be unique. This is very important! Be very careful and make sure everything is OK before hitting OK - none of this info can be changed again manually once you accept the values. Once your campaign is set-up, the main Biltaid screen will be partially populated. Choose File/Advance to generate your first battle. If you already have some favor, the battle generation may be interrupted to offer you the chance to use some of your favor to change some values. In the favor dialogs, the option which appears highlighted (thin purple line around the text) is the normal value. If you push that button OR exit by choosing the X button in the top right hand corner you will not be charged any favor. Pushing any other button will cause your favor to decrease. The battle screen will show you everything you already know about the upcoming battle to make the decision easier for you. The battle information appears at the top of the screen, the battle group appears at the bottom of the screen. You can slide the pane-divider up and down to see more/less of the battle/battle-group. You can click on one of the small triangles on the pane divider to display only the battle group, only the battle info or a mix of both which is the default. Now, you probably want to get all that battle info onto a piece of paper so you can enter the data in CMBB without flip-flopping between the apps. Select File/Print and choose a printer and you should get a nice hard-copy will all the parameters listed in pretty much the same order as you will need them in CM. don't want to lose your campaign information, select File/Save to save your campaign file. Biltaid files have a ".dat" extension and it will be added in for you automatically. Just type in a file name withouit the extension. You can close Biltaid now if you want. Save every stage of your campaign under a different name! The files are very small and it's the best way to go back and start over in case you find you made a bad mistake entering some battle results.

Schoerner: the previous version of BiltAid came with all the Readme file and how to install Java in order to run the program. This is just a new version. On the site those same instructions should have been kept available for people who download the program only now. I will send them again to be kept alongside with all new versions. They should have not disappeared. PS BiltAid is not mine: the original author is Peterk. I am just a previous user who wanted to have it cover BCR v2.2 and use it past 1941. Peterk is now up to other projetcs so no new development was to be expected. I am just taking over since I used BiltAid in its previous versions and liked it better then using pencil and paper. I sent the Readme and How-to-Install Java file to SuperSulo for inclusion on the web site. Didn't realize instruction were no more there. [ April 17, 2003, 03:44 AM: Message edited by: Seahawk-vfa201 ]

WOW, that would be rule settings for GOD-like player, way better then ELITE level

This said, I was not against what you said. [ April 16, 2003, 05:39 AM: Message edited by: Seahawk-vfa201 ]