Macisle

I'm like you and Apa. I like to micromanage and a company plus change is usually the maximum I enjoy working with. But like Apa, I also find that the sweet spot for me is a really about two platoons. The micro-events in game can be so engaging and realistic--like when you have to get your bazooka ammo carrier back to retrieve the bazooka for the final shot that wins the game. Last week, I had one of those situations happen. Zook man taken out, ammo guy carrier makes it away. After four aborted attempts (too hot) at getting the zook, he finally does. Then he takes out an assault HT. The whole crew survives though and jumps out. I'm thinking he's a gonner, but a rifle team arrives just in time to decimate the crew--except for one guy that escapes into the trees. That man manages to keep several of my units occupied for awhile, and later finds and kills my heroic zook man. Finally, two of my guys spot the "hunter" HT crewman from their upper level building observation point and nail him. The rest of the battle was quite fun, but I barely remember it. However, the above drama was like watching (and directing!) a good movie and ended up being the juiciest part of the battle. Stuff like that happens all the time. I finally got around to playing the Devil's Descent campaign and am enjoying the scale so far. I just finished the second battle. I took no casualties on the first scenario and only had one man incapacitated on the second until the last few minutes. Then I got sleepy and broke SOP on recon. It cost me two dead (of course, one was a +2 squad leader!). Worrying about every man--and ammo (it's getting low!) --really adds something. So far, I've avoided the large scenarios. Like others have said, I wish there were a lot more scenarios built around a max of one company plus support units. One of the most enjoyable scenarios I've played was Hornet's Nest. My initial troops got about half of the map covered before the Germans came at them. Then, the battle fell into a line of mini battles. All my troops were in teams, spread out across a long meandering line. Each little clump of trees was like an island. Attrition in men and ammo was keeping the suspense up, but my guys held out until the cavalry arrived (The HT's alone were enough to win the day). There too, individual men did important things that I probably would not have paid attention to in a large scale battle. Oh, and the other day, I did a quick battle of four Panzer IVs vs. Four M10s. First contact cost my two PIVs. Then a flanking attempt cost me one. I was ready to give up and go to bed then, but managed to take out one M10. Well, to make a long story short, I ended up playing for another hour, but took out the three remaining M10s one by one with smoke, maneuver and spotting by everyone on foot. I even had a crew mount an abandoned HT and tear-ass across the map to get in a spotting position (and later to mop up some enemy crews). Anyhoo...the point is that the micro level of the game is GREAT and I don't miss or need the large scale. Over time, you might find yourself feeling the same. But even if you don't, I can't image that the OP would genuinely feel like his money was wasted. The combo would be like what, two meals at a decent restaurant? That's two or three hours of enjoyment vs. what will be many more at the minimum. Macisle

We had Airfix in the States, too. I had tons of those in HO scale and IIRC, 1/32. Gosh... All the WWII kits I could find, Revolutionary War, Civil War, Ancient Romans and Britons... Never did paint any, though! I just checked and they are still around. And the molds appear to be the same!

Wow. I think LemoN just just did the forum equivalent of blowing himself up with his own panzerfaust--ala the video he posted recently ( http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=102621 ). I guess in moments of extreme duration--unexpected things happen. Not so unrealistic after all!

Thanks for posting that. -Best laugh I've had for days.

An excellent point!

As a player who usually plays Allied, I'm looking very forward to the different style of play that British forces will require. From my understanding (and ASL), Brit squads are closer in size to German squads. That, combined with their similar use of bolt-action rifles, means that Brit to German squad firepower will be much closer than with US squads. With similar firepower and squad splitting abilities, tactics will need to change (when I switch to German now, it often seems noticeably harder to win). The piece of equipment I'm actually looking most forward to is the Bren LMG. I've always loved it for some reason and watching those vids that someone posted (Bren vs. BAR) has left me drooling. Oh, BTW, after watching the vids again, I want to qualify my earlier comment on the German camo. I think the problem is that the current vids and screens don't show the camo close up in full sunlight for long enough to see the detail. They tend to be night/shadow medium shots. So, for the next vid(s), I'd love to see some extended shots of both the Brits (Bren!) and the new German camo close up and from the front. A nice firing line shot would be great! Man...it's getting hard to wait for this module! Macisle

For the uniform grogs out there, can the German uniforms intended for the CW module be accurately depicted with new textures only on core module models, or do they really require new soldier models as well to be truly accurately represented? I'm not enough of a grog on this stuff to know, but perhaps that's what's not hitting it for me on the German camo in the vid. Or perhaps it's the lighting in the scenes, or the Beta-level of the variety mix amongst the soldiers. Just ponderin'... Thanks. Macisle

Thanks, akd. I thought so, but didn't type a qualifier. I was hoping one of the team would chime in to give status on that. And you did! Macisle

Thanks for the video bones! First impressions... On the positive side, the Brit regulars look great! A big "Nice work!" to the artist(s) who did them. I can't wait to take them into battle! For the core module, Vein's Germans and EZ's US uniforms are must haves for me, but these Brits look just as good stock. On the other hand, the German camo is underwhelming and they all look the same. Will this change? Also, the textures on the CW vehicles look underdeveloped as compared to the core module German gear. In terms of video impact, I think it would be greatly increased by more frontal action shots of the CW infantry where you can see the weapon details. I think there was only one quick hip-shot burst from a Bren and it was a rear camera angle. In general, most of the action was rear angle medium shots of CW infantry running around and getting picked off. Also, it would be nice to have seen a Cromwell. One thing did disappoint me. Although they got it with a PF (lucky! -Didn't think they would survive long enough), the 2nd vid (4:24) shows a moving BU tank spotting crawling infantry behind a hedge first and opening fire on them. Although it doesn't always happen this way, I'm leaning towards the camp that thinks spotting needs to be tweaked to make it almost impossible for this kind of thing to happen. Anyway, thanks again for the vids and I'm getting that waiting for Xmas feeling big time! Macisle

Well, that didn't turn out like I thought... I just pre-ordered the Commonwealth module! I was going to ebay CMBN and had "one for the road" this weekend. That reminded me just how one-of-a-kind awesome this game really is. And so, since no one stepped in to be a a Sir Lancelot to my Galahad, I'm just going to have to stay at Castle Anthrax and face the peril of time spent gaming. Oh well, wish me luck on time-management and bring on the Brits and gang! Macisle

Thanks, sburke!

Schrullenhaft, Thank you very much for the info update. Sorry for the confusion on my part. I have edited my original post to reflect your correction. (And FYI, it was uninstalled the from the old computer, prior to reformatting the HD. That laptop couldn't run it well anyway and it was uninstalled probably June-July of last year.) Macisle

(This email has been edited to reflect an information update from Battlefront. Thanks.) CMBN is the best video game I have ever played, and I hate to miss the CW module, but RL time demands are forcing me to give up gaming. If I ever free up again, I can buy a new copy, but I wanted to offer mine to players who would like to get into the game at a reduced price and get up to speed on things for when the Commonwealth module comes out. Here are the details: Total price: $40 USD (includes shipping and an SD card). Method of delivery: SD card via regular mail with online delivery confirmation. (SD is a newly purchased micro with standard adapter combo, worth five bucks itself.) Shipping is included in the price (yes, free shipping!). Status of Activations: 2 activations used since purchase in late May of 2011. This leaves 2 free activations. The new owner should be able to add 1 new activation after the third week of this coming May. Method of Payment: PayPal (we can set it up via email). So, to sum up, for a total of $40 USD, you are getting the full game with 2 activations now and another after the third week of May, a $5 micro SD with standard SD adapter and free shipping, including online delivery confirmation. Once I have confirmed that the new owner has received the game and successfully installed and activated it, I will of course, delete my copy and all backups and eLicense info from my files. If you are interested, please PM me on this forum and we can take it from there. Thanks! Macisle

Congrats to Battlefront on winning the Eurogamer.dk Strategy Game of the Year 2011 Award! I just caught the announcement and didn't see any other forum feedback on it, so I thought I'd give a shout out. It's well deserved and I'm lookin' oh-so-forward to the Commonwealth module! Macisle

I'll second that. -Can't wait to deal out some punishment with the Brens! Macisle

I had the first SL module as a kid, but could find no players for it. When CM first came out, I got it and loved it, as it seemed to be the closest thing to that dream game that I had wanted to play, but couldn't. Later, I found my old copy of SL in storage and that led me to getting into ASL. ASL eventually knocked out CMx1 (I had all three titles), as I felt that it was a richer game experience in the myriad of juicy game decisions available to the player. Then, I took up a non-gaming hobby and ASL got shelved for a couple of years. During that time, I kept an eye on CMx2 development (no interest in modern, though I played the CMSF and CMA demos) and jumped right in when CMBN was released. With CMx2 WWII, I am somewhat pained to say that my ASL hiatus is likely to be permanent. With things like squad-splitting into the various teams, CM has achieved parity or surpassed ASL in most of the ways that are important to me. And, 1:1 creates such a rich micro-level (the Hornet's Nest scenario is great for this!) experience, that for the first time, ASL seems to have a big hole when compared. A few things like re-crewing of ATGs and more detailed control of demo charges and individual AFV weapons systems remain, but these are very minor at this point. And by the time CMx3 comes along... So, I may be selling my ASL gear (all ET modules, complete set of mounted boards, etc.) soon and will definitely be buying the coming CM modules. $55 is perhaps the most that BF can charge without too much sticker shock, but if CM is your bag, I think it's dirt cheap. If enthusiastic players were to do the math, I bet CM would end up being the most cost-effective entertainment they enjoy. Last note, for anyone reading this thread who wants to try out ASL, it is still in production and there are starter kits. You can also play online via a system called VASSAL. If you like the board game environment, it can't be beat. Macisle

Thanks, MarkEzra. -Will do on that. Macisle

Most battles seem very realistic, but from time to time, odd things do happen that are jarring and which seem impossible vs real life. I actually ran a few test QBs (not enough repetitions to warrant posting a new thread, though) to test zooks vs tanks and also ATs vs tanks. In my zook test (RT SP, me as Amis), I had a -1 buttoned Panther round a road corner and spot a zook team hiding behind a hedge. Despite their cover arc, it saw then first and took them out. It then went off road and spotted a second team behind some trees nearby. Again it spotted first and got in the first shot, taking them out. Later, the same tank spotted a third team in open ground at 3 o' clock and took them out, too. Again, the team didn't see the tank (it had rounded a corner with a wall blocking the team part of the way), despite a cover arc right on it. This all happened in about a minute BTW. It was like watching the terminator at the police station. My jaw dropped. Open ground is one thing (still, the team was spotted and killed before it saw the Panther, even though it was in their covered arc!), but men hiding behind hedges/trees being spotted first by a moving buttoned (-1) Panther at an angle to them is very hard to justify. In my AT test, a Panther spotted 3 ATs hiding in light woods and took them out before they could manage a shot. Possible, I suppose (they didn't fire because they were hiding), but it all happened so fast, I was pretty shocked. Again--like a terminator with special vision and one shot kills. One thing that I've noticed two or three times now is a tank rounding a building corner and spotting AT guns on the other side of the corner first and killing them before the AT can see the tank. It seems like the MG in the tank sees the crew and starts picking them off. IIRC in all three cases, the tank never fired its main gun, it would just stop with the front edge of the tank peeking out from around the building corner and start cutting down the AT crew. In all three cases, the AT never spotted the tank, despite a cover arc right on it. Again, these things don't happen all the time (the AT/tank corner thing might--dunno. The situation's never come up in normal play), and I haven't done scientific testing. But they DO happen occasionally, and some tweaking might be in order. Love the game. It's the bees knees. -Just wanted mention the above in response the OP.

-Quick line to say I've noticed this happening occasionally, too--under both v1 and v1.01 (Win7-64Ult). I haven't done any specific tests. My play so far has always been single-player RT.

I caught this segment on the Daily Show this week: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-june-30-2011/moral-kombat The "action" in this game would qualify as one of the most appalling things I've seen. -Makes the gore in SPR's beach scene look like an old cowboy film. Sheesh.

I think Steve pretty much summed it up. It's not everyone's cup of tea--even if you have some CMx1 experience. For my part, I have CMx1 and ASL experience, but am not a hardcore gamer/wargamer. In fact, I'm coming off of two years without any gaming at all. I'm having no issues winning on Elite against the AI, or with map info/terrain features. The only surprise is that I've lost my taste for WEGO. RT with tons of pausing is my style. So, I think it really boils down to the individual. Some connect, others don't.

Please, please--don't make Elite level (or the game overall) any easier! If it's a must, lower the easiest level further. For folks having a very hard time, I suggest RT play with very heavy use of the pause button. A lot of bad stuff can happen in a minute and RT with pause allows for better micromanaging.

I learned this one the hard way, too. I thought it was regular smoke (didn't check the panel info). I ran a platoon in just behind the smoke and lost...10 guys!

-Saw the vid. I have no problems with what happened. As others have said, building interiors are abstracted. In the confusion inside a building with different rooms, furniture, darkness and gunsmoke, the German got the drop on the Ami. Simple as that. Frustrating for the player, but shouldn't be hard concept to take in and accept. Given the above--nothing unrealistic here.

Hi, all. My current (old) monitor is about to die the death. I would love to get recommendations from the community as to a great monitor for CM:BN. I will also use it for work--web and print stuff and some movie editing for my small business, using mostly Adobe CS5. I have an Nvidia GeForce GTX470 card (DVI Max Resolution : 2560x1600). 23" is about max size for my desk area and I'd like to keep it under $200 or so. Thanks! Macisle