TheBlackHand

Note to self: When your intelligence has been insulted by someone with a higher post count do not respond to this provocation in direct terms as you will be sent to the corner while Teacher's Pet gets to gloat. Now, back to tearing the room apart in a futile search for ancient jewel cases emblazoned with secret codes with which to access a game that I've payed hundreds of dollars for. Yes, I'm sure this is all my fault and I should be more careful with my money.

I've been playing the game since about the year 2000. I've purchased every iteration and expansion module. Yes, it is rather difficult to maintain the discs and keys and everything else that it takes to play this game in 2018. Of course, it's easy for someone like you. So is being an asshole.

The anti-hacking methods have become anti-player methods.

You will need all your licence keys This is my problem. It's inevitable that a few key codes will have gotten lost over the years. I have most of them but they are mixed up on different jewel cases and I've found that even the ones that I have marked as this or that don't seem to work. Then there's the ones which I've lost completely. Of course, I have proof of purchase via the Battlefront Account page but it is a major PITA to cut and paste and email and all of that. I wish there was an all-in-one option for people who either want to buy all of the games or for those of us who already have (and can prove it). As of now, I've just given up on ever playing these titles again. A shame because I was a loyal customer and a dedicated player.

Agreed. I've just given up on trying to reinstall the game(s). I've lost a few of my key codes and the ones I do have don't seem to work. It's a major bummer because I've been playing this game since the very first incarnation and I've purchased every single WW2 game and module they've put out. I would be willing to spend even more money for an all-in-one install. As it is, I really have no idea where to begin with a reinstall and I honestly don't have the patience. It is such a great game . . . but I really have to weigh the fun of playing with the frustration of TRYING to play.

For starters it seems that none of my activation keys are working and having purchased every WW2 title and upgrage . . . there are a LOT of activation keys to wade through. I would very much like to play these games again but, man, it is not easy. Just kind of frustrated.

If you don't announce that you know the map or the opposing lineup . . . it's cheating. I would not want to play any battle or map with a human opponent if I or they . . . had prior knowledge. It's not fair and it would not be any kind of challenge. No fun at all.

Yup, I just joined FGM. Gonna look into that. I'm sure I'll find some folks to play over there.

I honestly haven't played CMX2 via PBEM much at all. I played a few battles when the game first came out years ago, but soon it seemed that the same maps/battles always turned up and that led to the idea that people could be cheating. I didn't want to play a battle on a map that I had already played before (I'm not into cheating). The thing I liked about the CMX1 PBEM battles was that A. there were soooo many to choose from and B. the map maker insured that each map would be new. I also found the process for choosing units in CMX2 quick battle to be laborious compared to the ease of picking them in CMX1. I do miss the thrill of playing a human opponent and with the release of the battle pack I'm hoping that I might find someone who hasn't played any of these maps/battles. I'm a fair player and am very consistent in my turns. Moderately skilled. I will absolutely do one turn or many per day. I believe in playing a battle to it's natural end and will NOT drop out unexpectedly halfway through. If you'd like to play, just PM me or let me know here. Also, I seem to recall that with the CMX1 games there were online campaigns that took place where you'd play one battle in a larger campaign. Do these still happen?

I saw it last week and was expecting it to be awful . . . and it wasn't. Yes, it has a number of real-world mistakes and inaccuracies, but this is to be expected because . . . it's a movie, not a documentary. As a movie, it tries to wrap up a whole lot of history in about two hours. I'd like to see any of you armchair screenwriters try it. As someone who has studied the history of WW2 and who has served in a theater of war myself (although not in direct combat), I could relate to practically everything that was depicted because everything that was depicted DID and DOES happen in war. There is no "Good War" and there never was. We won, so you don't hear much about the bad **** that we did too. If they had won . . . well, I'm glad they didn't. I thought the acting was actually quite good. I think most of the negative critics seem to have personal grudges against this actor or that. Whatever. About the climactic battle . . . sure, it was a bit unbelievable . . . but read up on Audie Murphy or any number of Medal of Honor or Knights Cross citations and you'll realize that these incredible/unbelievable feats of valor did occur. . . . and you really should see it on the big screen while you can. I think that if you go into a movie like this with the intention of picking it apart with your big brain full of field manual tactics and costume minutiae . . . you're missing the point . . . and you're probably kind of an *******.

Played it. Minor victory. Lost one of the mortar teams within the first couple of turns to that pre-planned mortar strike. Sneaky trick, that one. (I did not re-deploy because they had a good line of sight. I guess the joke was on me.) Lost the Marder pretty quick but he did take out two armored vehicles. The Stug kept the Russians out of town but the gunner and commander eventually went down (they have to expose themselves to fire the MG). I would be very surprised if anyone were able to take back any of those VL's against all of that Soviet armor and infantry. Not on a higher difficulty anyway. Maybe with the inclusion of one more armored vehicle (a real tank would be nice). A good battle and a good test of skills. Would've liked to have had a better chance at a better outcome.

Ten dollars to ship a CD seems a bit steep to me. I have an online business and I know that I can ship a CD for less than two dollars via 1st Class Mail. I could put it in a Small Flat Rate Priority box for about five bucks. So, where's the extra $$ that I'm spending actually going?

It seems as if all of the large caliber muzzle blasts are too small in-game. Read some descriptions of a Firefly's muzzle blast, for example. This is part of the reason why I was so frustrated in the Neerpelt Breakout that I recently played. The Paks were extremely hard to spot, even with a direct line of sight. I would hear the gunshots but see absolutely no indication of where they may have come from. Smoke from the muzzle blast of both AT guns and bazookas/schrecks/fausts would be nice. It would give you realistic idea of where the shooting is coming from.

I know what you mean. I'm not looking for easy and enjoyable . . . but just because the Allies lost the real deal . . . does that mean I've been set up to lose the game unless I play better than Monty? In that last battle I believe I took all but one VP, but at a fairly steep cost in manpower and I actually ran out of time. The battle ended on the dot, no extra time. Perhaps with five more minutes I'd have been able to move into the last VL, but . . . I guess it really wouldn't matter because by that time I'd have too few men left for the follow on battles, which I would certainly lose, barring some type of heroic display of tactical genius. I believe the Allies were outnumbered by at least a dozen men in this scenario and while the Germans were said to be of lesser quality, they sure seemed to be fairly steadfast and quite deadly with their shooting. No, I was not rushing headlong across open spaces. Not without plenty of covering fire anyhow. O'well. I am rather skeptical when I hear claims of "Total Victories" on battles such as these. Particularly on the first run. You folks should apply to be Generals in someones real army (or maybe you already are). One thing about that Neerpelt Breakout scenario . . . yes, there was a lot of artillery but you're told (if I recall correctly) to use it sparingly since you'll need it later. OK. I used it to pretty good effect, but that was only after I found out the hard way where the enemy guns were. The Tiffies were nice, but the wait is sooooooooo . . . soooooo long per sortie that it's difficult to use them to any great effect. At least, it was for me. Also, just one FO to direct the aircraft? As in, one individual? The junionr team member cannot direct the AC so if the main man dies, you're done. (Found that out the hard way as well.) OK, whatever. If that's the way it was, that's the way it was. Makes them even less handy but . . . so be it. (I seriously wouldn't want to add anything that would make the game less correct and more gamey. That's not what I buy CM for. I'm not sure I buy it to get my head bashed in either, but . . . ).

I've been playing this one and I just completed the "For Those About to Die" battle. Minor defeat . . . and that was after the second time trying it. Seems like an impossible task. Oh, maybe I could get it right the third time, but where's the fun in that? The first time I tried it I got cut to ribbons in short order. Seems designed to fail. Attacking a numerically superior foe with no support and having to move alllllllllll the way across the map with little time to do so. Very frustrating. Same went for that breakout scenario the Irish tanks (Neerpelt Something?). I had to restart that one three or four times until I finally got it right. I don't expect to win every time easily . . . but it's kind of a drag to be set with something that just seems as though it requires the skill of Patton and a lot of luck. I'm hardly a newbie either. Makes me very hesitant to even bother with the campaigns that come with the game. Seems like every version has had a couple of battles that are practically impossible. Been much happier with the user created stuff.

I don't want tank crews acting as infantry any more than say 10% of the time (if that). Only a few members of the crew should be armed, if at all, depending on the severity of the event that disabled the AFV. As a long time customer who pays good money for this stuff, the fact that a beta tester is defending this ridiculous behavior is worrisome.

Sorry for being late to my own thread. Computer was down for the last few days. Anyhow, the unit involved in the arty mishap was a German FO team. I do not have the saves. If it happens again I will make sure to save the turn. My game is all patched up to the latest version . . . 2.01, I think? Now I get it about the panzerfaust. Surprised I didn't think of that earlier. The HMG team thing really does seem pretty silly. I'm not a coder but it doesn't seem like it would be too hard to fix . . . but what do I know? The "50 round" thing also doesn't seem to make too much sense. It seems that a guy should be able to carry (at least) twice that much on his person, along with the gun.

Just played a HTH game (Deville) where I noticed a few things that seemed rather odd. 1. I had a Veteran, +1 FO team with clear LOS to the target. I adjusted their fire three times. When the full mission finally fell . . . all of the rounds were about 100 yards from the linear target. They landed in an empty field. I've seen this happen before but never thought much of it because I was playing the AI. This time I was playing a person so, naturally, it mattered. 2. I had one split team with 30(!) panzerfausts. How is this possible? I thought perhaps I could ration these out to other teams but that was not possible. No wonder these guys were "tired" all the time. Of course, when it came time to use one of those fausts, they missed and were greased within seconds. 3. I had a HMG team reduced to one guy. This guy must've been REALLY strong because he continued to carry the teams 2000+ rounds. This was helpful because I was able to reload a nearby LMG team which had also been reduced to one guy. This guy must've been a puny girly-man because he could only carry 50 rounds. That's about one belt, I figure. Has anyone else reported these bugs?

From "German Automatic Weapons of World War II" by Robert Bruce: Firing the FG42 The compact dimensions, excellent balance, and superior pointing characteristics of the FG42 combine to produce a weapon that can easily be employed in the semi-automatic mode by virtually any solder trained in marksmanship fundamentals. From the prone, bipod-supported position the rifle is steady, and provides a good platform for medium range marksmanship using the flip-up post and aperture metallic sights, or the x4 power sniper scope. In a prone position without bipod, the rifleman's eye is at the correct height for both the flip-up and optical sights when cheek pressure is maintained on the buttstock. The top lip of the buttstock anchors it comfortably against the shoulder in just the right position. Remembering that the rifle is 2lbs heavier than the Kar98k, it has more than sufficient recoil-absorbing mass to give it good stability at slow to moderate rates of fire. Again, owing to it's balance and the angle of the grip (FG42/1), the FG42 is a superior performer for snap-shooting from the hip and at a crouch. This was important to fulfilling it's role as a replacement for the machine pistol in urban and woodland close combat. However, when the muzzle is brought down to waist level and the rifle is fired while standing, the effect of the fireball and the extreme sonic/shock wave set up by the powerful cartridge add up to significant discomfort levels for the shooter. Fully automatic fire with the FG42 should be limited to extreme emergencies only. The high cyclic rate of over 750rpm, the relatively light weight of the package, and the high powered cartridge combine to disperse the projectiles wildly before reaching the target area. Given it's stated role as a replacement for the sub-machine gun, the rifle and the light machine gun, this is a serious defect. Also, since the barrel is quite light and short it tends to overheat quickly, with resultant loss of accuracy. The dispersion problem is minimized by firing short bursts from the bipod support, but even then we experienced problems. The flimsy sheet steel bipod has no real lock, so it tends to rock backward with the recoil and even to collapse. This was overcome by concentrating on keeping a steady forward pressure on the gun - but who needs this sort of distraction in the middle of a firefight? Fully automatic fire from kneeling, crouching, and hipshot positions was only marginally effective except at short range.

Just chiming in to say (if I haven't already) that I would gladly fork over my hard earned money to play CM:Korea. I'm sure most if not all of the old school players would as well. I'd even chip in for a team of modders to do it, if that were possible.

Got my game working. Turns out I was entering the license key that I purchased for CMAK, not for CMBB. Duh! The CMBB key worked just fine. I do appreciate the response though because it got me to take a second look, which helped me fix the problem.

K, I did find my old license key in my account. Order Number: 00216876. When I enter the key in my game it gives me error code 501 & tells me the license key was not found. I assume this is because it has expired. Is there any way to get a new key?

I recently reinstalled CMBB so that I could play a few battles with a local fellow. Unfortunately, I've long since lost my License Key. I did pay for it when the patch was released a few years back. I've since gone through two computers and am now using Windows 7. Is it possible to verify my previous purchase and have that license key sent to me?

I can see now that artillery, early and often, as well as putting a spotter on that hill to the right is essential. My guess is that the people who have made it through this battle on the first try have utilized that approach. My mistake was not seeing the hill as a great perch for an FO. In hindsight, it seems like a really poor choice on my part. The brief does mention that arty is necessary. I don't remember it saying anything about the hill, but that's something that a good player should be able to find on their own. Failure to recognize the utility of that hill seems to spell certain failure for the whole scenario. I think I'll give it one more try, from scratch.