Kingfish

You are correct, but you will also find that an onboard asset, such as a tank, will concentrate its smoke rounds in a much tighter grouping than an offboard asset. It is still spread out, just not as wide as arty. If you are trying to mask a point target such as a pillbox or gun emplacement, then a direct fire weapon would do fine assuming it has sufficient rounds to do the job. However, if your intention is to cover a flanking force as it crosses open terrain then you offboard arty would be the way to go, if only because of the wide screen it can provide.

Yes if you are firing HE in the hopes of getting a direct hit. I remember reading somewhere that the uniform armor rating for a CMBO PB is ~500mm. I assume this was carried over to CMBB and CMAK. No if you are firing smoke to mask your flanking moves. The largest calibur onboard mortar is the 81mm (3" for the commonwealth), and on average they carry 3-5 smoke rounds. That is not enough if you have a lot of open ground to cover (and the wind is strong enough). A one-turn smoke mission from say a 4.2" mortar will effectively cover the entire firing arc of the PB for at least 2-3 turns (again if the wind is right).

You can't change it manually. Instead, the unit's base color will change automatically in the setup phase.

All this talk of slit penentrations, flamethrowers and satchel charges...Has anyone bothered to see if by knocking on the back door and asking politely the crew would give themselves up?

Yes. The program, which is free and very easy to use, is called Pyewacket's map converter v.129. With it you can convert any map from any of CM game to any CM game, including scenarios to Ops and vis versa. Look here. I converted the map and used it for one of my semi-ficitional scenarios titled "Dueling Sledgehammers". You can snag the scenario here. Feel free to modify it for your own conversion. I know that Cintheaux was already converted, and I did the Op Perch-hill 213. As long as all you need is the maps then I can convert them for you and you can place the forces and briefings -or- you can convert them yourself with the above program. Again, it is super easy to use. 5-6 mouse clicks is all you need to convert the CMBO version of Crown of Thorns map to CMAK.

You may be right, but from this point on I am going to back up the originals. The Normandy horizon mods don't seem that out of place in, say, Tuscany, but the houses are region specific.

Finally got it to work now. Looks great with the Goodwood scenarios I have in the works. Thanks to everyone for their help.

OK, stupid question #1, I d/l and copied directly over the original BMPs, accepting the overwrite option, but the mountains remain. I tried relaunching the game, and even switching from Italy to all combined but with no luck. What is the "trigger" that gets the mods to appear?

OK, I've checked both options. Philippe, Thanks for typing the whole process out for me, but midway thru my head exploded. BTW, did you ever get your apartment situation worked out? Gaj, Looks like a killer program, but I'm only going to change the horizon, so can't see the need for DL the whole kit and caboodle for a couple of mods. So, suppose I wanted to change the horizon for good. No turning back to the default mountains. Can't I just d/l from cmmods, copy / overwrite directly to my bmp folder and call it a day?

Believe it. I still enjoy the neon green trees of CMBO on occasion. A part of me actually wishes I could play with the pre-Alpha, Charlie Brown Christmas, metal Pine tree graphics. There are pics of it somewhere on the web. Classic stuff. Edit: Here it is. Just click on the pic [ November 20, 2007, 05:21 PM: Message edited by: Kingfish ]

Lately I've been on a Normandy kick, and would like a horizon mod that would be better suited for these scenarios. I'm thinking gently rolling hills much like the English countryside that was used for the Sealion battle pack. Any suggestions? Oh, and how does one install a mod? 7 years into this game and I've yet to install one.

There is a definete reduction in a unit's FP when it is moving, not only in the shear volume of fire being put out but in accuracy as well. What that reduction is depends on many variables. The firing unit's experience, what type of movement command was given, if in command range to a superior HQ and what bonuses that HQ can pass on, even the unit's weapons loadout plays a big part.

Use the 'move to contact' command instead of hull down. Your tank will automatically stop at the first sighting, ensuring a hull down position every time.

Hmmm...that scenario sounds familiar...

Hmmm...that scenario sounds familiar...

My personal best was 26 vehicles with a MK IV in a PBEM of 'All or Nothing'. Ironically enough, I had positioned a Tiger in the lead, thinking the heavier tank would shrug off any hits, thus allowing the MK IV to plink away at leisure. However, the Tiger was itself plinked before firing a shot, leaving the paper-thin MK IV alone and greatly outnumbered. No matter, he took on all comers and lit them up. Shermans, Comets, Churchills, Halftracks, practically every vehicle type in the allied OOB showed up in that tank's kill screen. Another notable mention was 4 kills with an immobilized Marder III. What is more remarkable about this is the fact the battle took place in rain and fog, and that the last 3 kills occured after the Marder was immobilized.

Verrieres is indeed in France. To be exact, it is a small village of about a dozen or so houses, located about halfway between Caen and Cintheaux, just to the west of the Caen-Falaise highway. As for the forces involved, for the first scenario I have the reinforced Royal Hamiltion Light infantry (the "Rileys") launching a dawn attack on the village. However, due to problems securing their own start line the attack kicks off 40 minutes late. As a result the Candians have now lost the benefit of darkness, surprise and the supporting artillery barrage. Waiting in the village, now fully alert and in excellent defensive positions, are elements of the 1st SS PzGr Regiment, reinforced with Pioneers, heavy weapons, StuGs and PzIVs. The distance the Canadians had to cover was a bit over a mile across flat, open ground. The terrain south of Caen differs significantly from that found elsewhere in Normandy. Here the land is generally flat, with very few natural terrain features such as woods, bocage or tree lines. To make matters worse, the Germans hold the high ground, as the village lies at the foot of a broad, low ridge which bears the same name. For the second scenario we have the roles reversed, with the now heavily depleted Rileys holding on to the ruins of Verrieres in the afternoon, when they are hit by a German counterattack consisting of a German PzGr battalion, reinforced with PzIVs and heavy artillery support. Now the terrain works against the Germans, even though they have lots of firepower on hand.

I've designed two scenarios based on the battle for Verrieres (the village, not the ridge). One covers the Canadian attack in the morning, and the second covers the German counterattack later that afternoon. I have the maps designed, forces in place, setup zones defined, basically everything ready to go...but...I am drawing a complete blank on the briefings. I've tried countless times, never getting past the first sentence. These two scenarios would have been submitted a couple of weeks ago if not for the briefings. So...can anyone help me out by whipping up a couple of paragraphs? It would be greatly appreciated. I can provide research material to help the process. My address is in my profile. Thanks.

What's your limit as to size? I have a few small-ish scenarios floating around on the web. In fact, I'm working on one that I purposely kept both side's forces at 1000 pts.

They were called "Byte battles". Check out Andrea's "I wish it was Der Kessel" website, which I think you can find the link to by doing a search under his name in the scenario discussion forum.

Hide its car keys. Works everytime.

Does anyone know for sure whether this unit really existed? On the one hand we have the famous encounter with the pistol-weilding Hans von Luck, and the misidentification and subsequent destruction of two Tiger IIs by this unit. On the other hand there are quite a few out there who are convinced such a unit never existed. It is worth noting that this unit's supposed area of deployment (northwest of Cagny) would have placed them right in the path of the 2nd Fife and Fofar Yeomanry, yet this unit did not enounter any opposition (that I've read about) until the tanks were approaching Grentheville, and the fire came from Becker's assault guns, not flak 88s. So, does anyone know?

Axis forces are tipped off that the US has created an atomic bomb and is planning on using it on Berlin in an attempt to end the war. Because of security concerns it is decided to transport this bomb by air across the Atlantic. This requires the bomb to be first transported via rail to the Canadian airfield neat Halifax, then on to Iceland and the finally the UK. This rail line passes close to the small town of Eastpoint. An elite force of German commandos have landed undetected from U-boats... You get the picture.

Click on the unit and hit the enter button on your keyboard

This is one of two armored regiments that were attached to the 50th division on D-day. The other being the 4/7 Dragoon Guards. They were battalion-sized formations. 1st Royal Marines Armored Support Regiment. Basically a tank battalion fielding Centaur tanks armed with 95mm howitzers. Used in close support roles.