Col Deadmarsh

http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/mods?author_id=384&game_type=5

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/c6h9av8gykyru4n/AABbOn-tLEgqbX2godY7OE5pa?dl=0 Here is LukeFF's idea in practice.  This is a link to a scenario with all the tile types as 4 action square boxes. There is a landmark over each terrain box to help you identify the tile type.  I have also included a small forest with light forest cover and one with heavy forest cover.  I also made a forest similar to those in game with brush tiles and tall grass, moving to bushes, brush and tall grass to light forest with trees and then heavy forest with trees. 
 
There is a tank, halftrack and jeep included so you can drive around and see how the terrain effects vehicle movement and lines of sight.

All the above...but I do sympathize with Colonel_Deadmarsh.
 
Just throwing out ideas...I like the idea of an in-game Terrain Effects Chart. Some sort of toggle which would pop open a window showing a single grid of each type of terrain with a brief description of its effect on vehicle and infantry movement and possible LOS/LOF issues. I'm an idea guy. I'll leave the implementation to someone else.

Just a tool tip for the 37 base tiles would be nice.
 
After 2 years of playing the game, I'm now starting to recognise all of them, but I still sometimes wonder if it's a forest or a heavy forest tile.

I love CM...but my biggest pet peeve about this great game has got to be the complete lack of detail about what type of terrain is on the battlefield. This info was in there before in the old games and served its purpose well but for some dumb reason was taken out in CMBN. 
 
Case in point, there is some kind of brown grass between my tank and where I want my tank to go. Is it harmless or a swamp I just don't recognize because I'm not a scenario designer or coder for Battlefront?
 
Now, to find out what terrain is what you have to open up the friggin' editor to see what you're looking at...and that is ridiculous. Why can't there be some tool tips that pop up when you target each hex just like there was before?  This is an easy fix and I would like to lobby for this change in the next update. It's frustrating not to know what you're even looking at on the battlefield.  Please do something about this.
 
 

I love CM...but my biggest pet peeve about this great game has got to be the complete lack of detail about what type of terrain is on the battlefield. This info was in there before in the old games and served its purpose well but for some dumb reason was taken out in CMBN. 
 
Case in point, there is some kind of brown grass between my tank and where I want my tank to go. Is it harmless or a swamp I just don't recognize because I'm not a scenario designer or coder for Battlefront?
 
Now, to find out what terrain is what you have to open up the friggin' editor to see what you're looking at...and that is ridiculous. Why can't there be some tool tips that pop up when you target each hex just like there was before?  This is an easy fix and I would like to lobby for this change in the next update. It's frustrating not to know what you're even looking at on the battlefield.  Please do something about this.
 
 

I love CM...but my biggest pet peeve about this great game has got to be the complete lack of detail about what type of terrain is on the battlefield. This info was in there before in the old games and served its purpose well but for some dumb reason was taken out in CMBN. 
 
Case in point, there is some kind of brown grass between my tank and where I want my tank to go. Is it harmless or a swamp I just don't recognize because I'm not a scenario designer or coder for Battlefront?
 
Now, to find out what terrain is what you have to open up the friggin' editor to see what you're looking at...and that is ridiculous. Why can't there be some tool tips that pop up when you target each hex just like there was before?  This is an easy fix and I would like to lobby for this change in the next update. It's frustrating not to know what you're even looking at on the battlefield.  Please do something about this.
 
 

The reason is that the game doesn't track independent piles of HE and Smoke artillery ammunition.  All ammunition can be used as HE unless you want to fire smoke.  If you want to fire smoke then there is an allocation for that, but since the smoke is not coming from a separate pile of ammunition once all your HE is gone then all your smoke is gone too.

The naming of weapons and the ammo they use are completely separate. It is NOT, and never was, a case that the M1 rifle used M1 ammo.
 
The naming schemes used by the US military* is also highly inconsistent. The previous riffle was the M1903 (based on the year it was introduced into service), while the next rifle was the M16 (based on ... who knows?).
 
M1car is carbine ammo, as @Baneman noted. And yes; @Marco's UI helps a lot keeping this stuff straight.
 
BTW, this isn't BFC's "fault" - they're using the correct weapon and ammo designations. They could, I suppose, try to 'simplify' things by renaming the M1 Garand to Standard US Battle Rifle and the .30 cal M2 ammo to Ammo For Standard US Battle Rifle, but that would run into justifiable howls of outrage from purists, grogs, and anyone else with a passing interest in this stuff, it would create problems with the UI because of the length of the names, and it would still be confusing because Ammo For Standard US Battle Rifle is also the ammo used by the M1919 .30cal MMG (or 'Standard US MMG') and the BAR, and the M1903 scoped rifle, and probably a few others.
 
* and all other militaries at various times.

I thought Mr Kettler's layout might be a bit unclear for those without exceptional punctuation-fu, so here's a re-presentation:
 
.30cal M1Car is used in the M1 Carbine .30cal M2 is used in the M1 Garand, M1919 MMG, M1917 HMG, M1918 Springfield (scoped, bolt-action marksmans's rifle), the BAR. .45cal ACP is used in the Thompson, M3 Grease Gun and the M1911 pistol As JonS says, the US Army's "M" designations are deeply and thoroughly confusing to the uninitiated. For example, the armour piercing round in .30-06 (same as M2) is also designated M2. So the Springfield-chambered weapons in the middle bullet-point above can fire two different kinds of M2 ammo... But they can't fire an M2 Mortar...

I believe the "car" stands for "Carbine" - so that ammo is useful to your squad leaders and such.
 
Personally I use Marco's UI mod which shows the ammo type on the gun portrait. Comes in very useful for the very problem you're having.

I've never understood how to use this word even though I hear it used by others a lot when talking about something.
 
In the dictionary, it's described as "(of a process or system) characterized by constant change, activity, or progress."
 
That definition though doesn't seem to explain how I hear the word used in every day conversations. Take this sentence for example: "Going from traditional employee reviews to peer reviews changed the dynamic of our office."
 
Is this the correct usage of the word?  Does it describe how the relationships between employees changed or am I saying something else here?

Kettler is not the only source of information. Often, his information, while correct, has little to do with the way the game interface displays things. Read my post again, and see whether that matches what you see in-game.
 
Remember that (since we have no scroll bars) there is a limited amount of information that can be displayed in the white-on-black element ammo pane; there are only four lines on which to display ammo types, and the first three of those in an american rifle squad are taken up by M2 ball, .45 ACP and grenades. So there isn't room to display the presence of the M7 HEAT round, nor, when there's one present, the zook HEAT rounds in that list. That's one of the reasons they're there as icons in the information pane, next to binos and the zook tube if present.

The way I look at experience levels in the context of WWII is pretty much the same as above:
 
-Conscript: very little or no training and no experience whatsoever, e.g., Volkssturm. 
-Green: trained units, but no combat experience. Or, alternatively, units being used outside of their intended role (Luftwaffe & KM infantry (yes, at the least they did go through basic infantry training at least once in their military service), army support & maintenance personnel being pressed into the front lines (many examples of this during Bulge), etc.
-Regular: trained to a higher standard than regular line infantry, or line infantry that has seen a good amount of combat. Airborne formations are a good example of this. Alternatively, veteran units that have been brought back to full strength with green replacements.
-Veteran: very reliable units that have been there and done that.
-Crack & Elite: the very absolute best of the best. The Wittmans, Cariuses, Audie Murphy types, etc.

Colonel_Deadmarsh,
 
I believe part of your problem may be the way those grenades were designated. Properly speaking, you should have, in shorthand, M9A1, HEAT and Mk II (or Mk IIA1) , HE Fragmentation. Obviously, the way the rifle grenades for your launcher are described in the UI is confusing and needs to be fixed. Here's a pic which should help. In proper configuration, the familiar from the movies HE Frag grenade would have the usual flyoff handle and hold down pull pin. With a hit in the right place, from the side and at perpendicular (or close to it) angles M9A1 can kill a Tiger 1 through the hull side and the turret side (20 mm penetration overmatch vs both). That said, be sure your Serviceman's Insurance paperwork is correct and allotments made before trying this! This is even more true when engaging frontally, where you've really got only three hopes of succeeding: driver's vision slot, bow MG and tracks.
 
http://inert-ord.net/usa03a/usarg/rg/index.html
 
This shows the all-up Mk II, the simplified design MK IIA1 and several other goodies. 
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mk_2_grenade#/media/File:Hand_grenades_US_-_Battle_of_the_Bulge.jpg
 
A brief tutorial on the M7 GL and the usefulness of the grenades for it. 
 
http://www.ww2gyrene.org/weapons_m7.htm
 
Regards,
 
John Kettler

These are BFC's definitions of what the various experience factors mean.   Like all these things you can argue the toss about should be what but that's how the game 'sees' these soft factors. So re your question I guess it would depend on what the unit was and the designer's interpretation of what that unit's experience would translate as?   - Conscript: draftees with little training and no combat experience whatsoever.   - Green: draftees with little training and some combat experience or reservists with some training and no combat experience. Green can also represent professional soldiers whose training is substandard in comparison to another force.   - Regular: professional soldiers who went through extensive, quality training programs, but lack combat experience. Or, Regular can represent troops that received mediocre training that have a fair amount of combat experience.   - Veteran: professional soldiers with standard military training and first hand combat experience. Alternatively, it can be professional soldiers who have trained to a slightly higher standard than Regulars, yet lack combat experience.   - Crack: exceptional soldiers with more than the average training and plenty of combat experience.   - Elite: the best of the best. Superb training, frequent combat experience, and generally all around tough guys.

A great scenario for H2H play in the MG Mod is "Borderland"
 
 
 
++++++++++++++Spoliers++++++++++++++++++
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This is a mainly infantry contest (Germans get three small tanks) simulating the shrinking British pocket at Oosterbeeck.
Heavily wooded terrain with small villages and buildings scattered about. Deadly close quarter fighting. I suffered shocking losses as German player...you just keep walking into one ambush after another. So much fun! Probably easier for the Germans against the AI, but smart human defender (which I had) makes every inch of ground forward a deadly chore.

Colonel_Deadmarsh,

The position manning should now be: Gunner commands the tank and operates the cannon and coax; the Loader loads, and the Driver drives. This preserves minimum combat functionality. If this tank is from an AD which had two years of workup before entering battle, then it's conceivable your Gunner might have a considerable amount of cross training, but he might very well be like Robert Irwin, that guy who got only two weeks of gunnery training in the States before being shipped to the repple depple, then found abruptly found himself not only gunner, but in practically the lead tank for the 3rd AD as a major offensive began! Your Gunner is going to have to fight the tank (move, communicate and fire) and still handle the gunnery--all of it--personally. Thus, your theoretical ROF remains as before, but your practical ROF drops, because it now takes longer to scan the battlefield through pretty narrow FOV optics, find the target, select the ammo, issue the fire order, sense the round (muzzle blast obscuration the TC could see over may block your view of the round altogether), adjust and so forth. Imagine trying to run a platoon while in this fix! Nor, since the radio operator is gone, can I say what kind of radio capabilities your Gunner has. In terms of its fighting capabilities, your tank is significantly crippled and should, if possible, be pulled out of the fight or at least not in the thick of it. Circumstances may not permit this, but that is the way to go if you can. Think of it as not just trying to box while hobbled, but trying to control other boxers who aren't, while trying to avoid a haymaker headed your way. Possibly while also partially deaf. Other than the items listed, you'll be fine!

Regards,

John Kettler

The BA2 screenshot reminds me of Spaceballs the movie

Wait a second....
 
Who's the Hollywood star?
 
BA2:

 
CMRT:

Great job Bud. I will handle the advertisements!

 

Also along the same lines if a CM title (CMRT) has tank riders infantry units that get on the tank can use the tank's radio. The below screen shot was taken from CMRT to demonstrate this ability.  The scout team, was selected from specialty teams during the QB purchase phase and had no radio assigned to it.  The scout team was able to use the tank's radio for C2.  I dismounted the scout team and positioned them next to the tank.  No more radio contact.  The scouts had to be on the tank to use the tank’s radio for C2. The scout team was assigned to this tank platoon.

 
 
Maybe the new Battle of the Bulge title will allow tank riders ............................  

Every few months I read a thread where C2 is discussed to include how best to use the XO team.  (Most of the time I use the XO as a medic).  It is often brought up if the XO team can take over from the CO.  So I thought it would be interesting to share the below screen shot where the CO was KIA and the XO takes command.
 

Another thing that will stymie you is trees in the bocage. Short tree trunks don't show up in "Tree trunks only" mode. I find that a tree in the centre of the AS will prevent a vehicle from getting any LOF through the hedge. Further, bocage on the diagonal is more restrictive of target angle than orthoganally-placed hedgerow.

ANYTHING WITH AIRBORNE TROOPS ON 5-6 JUNE 44!
 
I always like the "last stand at the Alamo" style battles.
Put the player in a small rubbled town 208x208 map and have the enemy try to wipe him out.
5 AI plans to work with so you could have enemy coming at different times from different directions.
Write 1 AI plan, then copy and paste to the other 4 slots and edit the times.
Big ranges in the enemy R arrival times to keep a random die roll excitement. 
Will your ammo last until your reinforcements arrive? (simulated by end of battle).
Start your troops off already with low ammo. low head counts, destroyed vehicles nearby.
maybe one team is trapped away from your main defensive position.
you get points if you get that unit back to safety (an exit zone).
Keep the battle length medium maybe about 35 minutes. 
Don't forget the dead cows...