phil stanbridge

Having only played on vet level forgive my ignorance here, but if I was to try my hand on a harder level, does the AI have the same implementation?

Hey that's interesting - that would rectify this problem! I've got the direct-download BFC version, as are all of my BFC games. My Caen is version 1.5. I thought Sneaksie said the two were the same. I can't really continue this until it is fixed as it puts me at a disadvantage.

German tank could see me, hence the immobilised Churchill in the distance there. My tank could see him. I eventually got this one to immobilise the Mark IV and waited for him to run out of AP which he did quite quickly. My tank had a green LOS line to the target but no target recticle so he wouldn't direct fire. I tried target ground, and he switched to HE and fired at the ground I eventually knocked him out with a single AP round, but it took quite some time which was ridiculous everything considered. There was only one place around the entire tank where I could get direct LOS and that was directly in front of him, even though in that screenshot you can see for yourself the proximity of both tanks and how the enemy tank is seen. Yet this tank had advanced forward slightly, let's not forget that point, so he wasn't even in his original surroundings. It was just some random hedge causing this blockage. I don't think something is working exactly as intended here, or if it is, it's damn complicated!

Okay, having spent some time on the campaign I've discovered a few weird little problems which is making the experience somewhat of a mixed bag. Here's the first thing. Two Mark IV's, one plain to see advanced forward and into my firing line - I eventually knocked him out and killed the crew. But the other, is immobilised within the hedgerow - I can see him clear as day but I cannot get LOS at all. My tank will simply not fire at it! I've tried moving my tank around the Mark IV. Fortunately he ran out of main gun ammo, so I have been able to spend some time on this. But I cannot kill it. Look how close we are!

That sounds like you will get slaughtered! Does he (or you) have any artillery assets? All he needs do is role in his light tanks, recon the area, and hit you as hard as possible in one area.

wow.. 5 hours. If only I could justify that amount of time on the setup phase What CMBB mission was that?

Nice post. I think there may also be some 1:1 representational problems to deal with here. As touched upon above, trees maybe represented in a different way to other foliage, so one tree top might block LOS but another (which looks identical to the human eye) might not. I think 'triggers' might have something to do with LOS as well, unless what I saw was a bug. As soon as one unit crosses a trigger, the LOS may change even in a minor way to reflect the new units position. For example, I couldn't see a line of dug-in 88's, until one of my men enabled the trigger. I couldn't use indirect fire at a position in this tree line UNTIL the trigger had activated.

I tried to resist the temptation but I just couldn't. Downloading now.. Will report back with my findings in due course. Looking forward to it.

You do need a lot of patience with any TOW title - and this is part of the problem for me. I'm as patient as a saint, and during the attacking battles it's not an issue because time isn't a problem - but during the defending games it's completely different. The AI will tend to charge it's victory locations, thus rendering your 'patient' defenses next to useless within no time at all. It's very hard to keep a check on things as the defender in most cases, which some would say is realistic I'm sure. The chaos of war and all that. But I disagree - it's one of the pitfalls of any type of game like this unfortunately. I'm still not completely sold however, and would like to know if there will be a forthcoming demo?

Lowering the difficulty doesn't effect AI as far as I know - it just means some things take longer, like buddy aid, and artillery calls, plus communications is more important I think. I play on vet, and I'm still getting owned. I ended up quitting in frustration. Part of the problem is the enemy forces (and they are a sizeable bunch!) are well dug-in. I'm sure there are plenty of ways to tackle this mission, but I didn't get very far to be honest, without horrendous casualties in the end.

a-ha that's the puppy, cheers Michael.

Hey I nearly completely missed that bone - nice. So who's up for naming the tanks? Do I see some 76mm there, and is that the M10 TD up top there? Plus that SPG but I can't remember what it was called. God, it's been a long time since I have fired up CMBO!

That's a very good point that Sneaksie raises. As much as we'd like to see a campaign based on the Waffen SS I guess we have to respect the harsh reality. Although we also need to remember this is 'just' a game as well.

LOL You can 'group' them into squads, you just have the extra feature of micro management if you want it. Works for me!

Because they have been working on both titles at the same time - they recently hired a second programmer too, so they are definitely making inroads if you ask me.

I've seen it before now too, and most recently in NATO as the Germans, except I was on the receiving end. A HE round from a T72 flew directly 'over' my squad. But closer inspection revealed that the single round had decimated all by one of the men, without even exploding. It was a bit of a surreal moment as it was eerily quiet. The round cut through the air without any indication of noise, and didn't explode at the other end. Yet virtually my entire squad were KIA or incapacitated as a result. They all collapsed at the time the round flew overhead. Would be cool to be able to record a moment like this.

Sounds interesting then but no German campaign!! Well that's a bit of a low blow although I'm not really that surprised. The strengths in this game are definitely with the attacker. Seems strange not to include a German campaign however. There were some epic German counter attacks around Caen if I'm not mistaken.

That's a good question. I realised now that I had installed the base mod and then the distant explosions over the top. But I was reading your instructions file and it said that you cant easily mix and match the different artillery sounds due to limitations which are out of your control.

I have been able to use the Hummel indirectly, but it was difficult. It was certainly not as easy to use as the Wespe. I think it may have something to do with ranges (possibly?) but it might also have something to do with type of ordance used. If for example, it is set to use AP rather than HE first, it won't allow you to fire indirectly until that AP round has been fired first. Or something like that?

I've got all the TOW2 series including Kursk and have seen improvements every release. I am tempted to invest in Caen as well, as it is a theatre that really appeals to me. Unfortunately my heart is saying buy it but my head is saying wait - I've not been able to find out much about it either which doesn't bode well usually. How are the early adopters finding it?

Cheers mate much appreciated. Am I right in thinking these sound completely different from your last release? Or maybe it's because they are distant/nearer? Either way, very nice. Only thing I'm not entirely sure about is the artillery. It seems that some rounds sound really weak - the 155mm in particular - and I don't want to have to forgo the lesser artillery rounds.

/\ I've seen that behaviour with other vehicles too. Only the passengers will spot the target, even if they are 'buttoned' up within the IFV.

I actually thought the red force had a battalion or thereabouts and BMP/tank support plus plenty of artillery (rockets) and air support from the off. Both forces must be pretty evenly balanced? That's the difference I think. I'm playing it as red now, and indeed it is a bit surprising but it just goes to show how damn well the scenario has been designed. It's really difficult as blue, and not much easier as red tbh.

Yeah you make some valid points. I was thinking about vehicle damage myself when my Leopard was taking hits from an ATGM (as you do). It suddenly dawned on me that apart from the damage info box you couldn't actually physically tell the thing had been hit at all which struck me as a bit odd. Funny how I've never really thought about that before either! Now it really sucks

Has anyone noticed how inaccurate the Milan seems whilst on the subject? In several missions here I am having the majority percentage miss badly, like half the distance also. But it could be the trajectory and the terrain, because they are generally fired from Wiesles which are very low to the ground, but it could be a problem. Incidentally the dismounted Milan is also troublesome in this respect and wildly inaccurate.