Pvt. Ryan

I have seen the Soviet tanks unbutton, but not the German tanks. Maybe it is because I keep up the fire and don't give them a chance. It would be great if they do unbutton though.

I believe the game will be available to order on 9/20 with shipments beginning immediately thereafter. There may be a pre-order period before that. Most games require more lead time because they have to be shipped to stores by the release date, whereas CMBB does not. That means the "gone gold" date can be closer to the release date.

I haven't knocked any tanks out yet, but I had one tank at close range and every shot hit him. After each hit he would move a little forward, get hit again and move a little in reverse, and so on. It was funny to watch. One use for ATRs when playing against the German controlled AI is to button up the tanks for the rest of the game. It is a bit gamey, though!

Plus, every time someone has suggested a feature that the current engine can't handle, we are either told by BFC or assume on our own that the feature will have to wait for the new game engine. With all the cool features that we have come to expect in the re-write (CMII), the next CM is going to be the mother of all computer wargames!

Is it considered gambling because you can potentially get so much more than $45 of enjoyment out of the game. I think your friend is messing with you.

They initially intended to make it backward compatible with CMBO, but they came up with so many new features that would require so much recoding of CMBO that they felt it was better to make as many improvements for CMBB as the engine could handle rather than go back to a product that was done. I'm sure most of us wish we could use the new features in CMBO, but it isn't going to happen. For most games update packs are not much more than patches to get the game working as it should have when it was released. BFC spent a lot of time listening to our feedback and making as many corrections and improvements to CMBO as they could until they simply had to move on. There are numerous subtle changes to the game that we haven't even had the chance to see yet. The whole unit purchase system has been changed and the enhanced FOW really changes the game. There are so many differences that it really feels like a different game, although with the same look and feel as the original. Future versions of CM with the new engine should be amazing, but I think most of us will be quite happy with CMBB and also the classic CMBO to occasionally return to.

In my last game the German tanks didn't make it past my first line of defense. I lost 4 AT guns for 15 KO'd German tanks.

It took BFC over two years to create this "update pack." CMBB is so different from CMBO that it can't be made backward compatible with CMBO. CMBB is not CMBO with Soviets in place of Americans and Brits. To me it is as much of a step forward as any other sequal.

It feels like deja vu all over again!

Since you are in the US you can only get it online from www.battlefront.com . However, seeing as you are in Maine, you could walk over to BFC's house and pound on the door until they give you a copy.

I am pretty sure they are on the cell phone arranging for a rental car. I have seen crews bail immediately to taking up to a full turn. Sometimes they suffer more casualties during that period as the enemy pumps in more shells.

I converted the CMBB Demo Read.me to an Adobe Acrobat File in case anyone wants it. You can get it here.

Is the identification of command tanks more of a bug than a feature? Identifying the Soviet command tank before radios might not be too hard, but how easy would it be to identify the command tank when they are all using radios? I think the different unit graphic is intended to aid the player commanding the tanks, but the unintended consequence is that it also helps the other player identify the commander.

This is not the Peng Thread you are looking for. That plunger is around here somewhere...

Dan, if you aren't hearing positive comments it is because we don't complain about the things we like. There is a thread called Neat New Stuff or somefink.

I had a KV fire at a PIV that was outside of the arc. I think it engaged because it had been spotted and the PIV was preparing to take a shot.

As far as the crew problem, Madmatt said he was able to duplicate the problem in the demo but that it did not happen in the full version. Hopefully that problem will go away for all of us when the full version is released. It is a quick way to exit the game though.

Another change I have noticed from CMBO is that the idle chit chat seems to be gone. None of that "OK Sarge" stuff.

Does anyone know if the AI will launch human wave attacks? I tried one in the tutorial and it was cool. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of one.

I believe it is unit experience level that determines whether you can set a covered arc. I think anything other than conscript can do it. There doesn't seem to be any "in command" requirement.

In my last go as the Soviets I knocked out all the German tanks. I finally learned how to use those Soviet tanks.

At least in CMBO some troops would get shot after surrendering. Sometimes they were caught in the crossfire and other times it was remaining incoming rounds that were fired before they surrendered. It doesn't happen that often, but it shows that surrendering does not guarantee safety.

That's going to delay CMBB by 2 weeks. Thanks a lot!

Wow, that is really a great improvement. I really don't like the solid yellow tanks. Thanks!

What they are good for is getting the Germans to reveal their positions so that the tanks can do their work. They are just cannon fodder. More where they came from.