Vergeltungswaffe

Wow that seems a bit unfair. Sorry, not sorry, you aren't getting new toys fast enough.

It is all Putin's fault I guess.

More volunteers to the front ! 😉😜
The Campaign "Five Bridges" is ready for starting the (hopefully) final testrun 👍
Regards
Mr.X 

Having playtested several missions I can say that the work done by Frank on these campaigns is top notch, and on par with the quality of officially released battle packs.
The completed product will surely be lots of fun!

35%…that is pretty good.  One thing I do regret is the last battle of the campaign - Alsfeld.  Not the scenario, the one last push with everything one has left is solid.  No, it was the work we put into the map and the scenario knowing that few people would ever play it.  We did up all the US Campaign scenarios as stand-alones but not the Soviet for the reason that those ones need to be earned (the master maps are avail though).
When we sat down with the scenarios and campaigns we decided to do “reality first”.  What did the doctrine of the day say?  Bil was a Int NCO during the Cold War and has a lot of experience there.  Where would each side realistically be at that point? What time and space made sense for the fight?  We did do balancing at the end - some got too brutal even for us.  But we tried to get as close as possible.  Fun, was something we really left to each player to decide for themselves.  Also why we created levels of accessibility as not to alienate anyone totally.
Anyway, glad to hear you enjoyed it.  We got a lot of positive feedback from the core community on this title.  We can live with those outside maybe not loving everything. So long as the fan base is happy, we are happy.  (And we know the fan base is a bunch of grognards so “happy” is a relative term).

As someone who has done game design then you know that your own experience is not necessarily reflective of everyones experience.  Take a look at the Cold War forum.  A few people before you have come out not liking the Soviet campaign, or even Scenario 3 but it is not overwhelming by any stretch.  In fact most of the feedback we have received has been overwhelmingly positive from the community we built the game for.  And we do have some new folks getting into a whole new era of warfare they did not know about before.
As to skill, well I beat Scenario 3 (after more than one try) and felt like I had to use skill.  I even learned something about how the Soviet system could work in this situation.  There is a counter-point, and based on feedback I know I am not the only one.
So I read your points and do not even entirely disagree but as far as CMCW is concerned, but the core community has already spoken.  We must be doing something right.  Handholding is a plague on modern gaming.  So much so the retro Rogue-like movement is very alive and well.  For this community, spoon feeding post-game solutions or explanations kinda takes away from the community as a whole in trying to figure a game out.  Go online and see how many videos have been made of folks playing CMCW.
So I am not claiming CMCW or the Soviet campaign are perfect.  But they are squarely in the red rings as far as the primary audience is concerned.  Not going to mess around with that solution to much - if it ain’t broke don’t fix it…kinda thinking.  As to market growth.  Look, first rule of game design as far as I am concerned is the same as warfare - know what game you are in.  CM is a niche within a niche.  It will never, and has never gone mainstream.  This is a point of pride for all these weirdos, some who have been with this whole thing for over 20 years.  We welcome new gamers with open arms.  This has to be one of the last non-toxic gaming communities left.  But we aim to target the fan base.  If we can do that and pull in some new interest, great.  In many ways CMCW pushed the envelop of what CM can do.  We used huge maps and large forces…that was a turn off for some.  But we adhered to realism and authenticity.  We made a game designed for the community, by members of that community.  The only reason I got engaged in this discussion was that you seemed to infer that we did not do QA/QC and that is why you had a bad experience.  Not how it went down.  Deliberate design decisions.
So when we get BAOR done, it will have an easier, middle and hard campaigns. Some scenarios bordering on unfair but a lot of real war scenarios are unfair.  We won’t be dropping hints or suggestions…let the grogs grumble.  But the right people will love it to death, and maybe some new ones too.  
 

I thought it was your imagination.

I am following the topic "annual look at the year to come - 2023" and have seen, that the planned BattlePacks for CMBN and CMFI will probably be delayed due to the real life obligations of the creators 😢
To be honest, until recently, I wasn`t sure whether my huge project could actually be realized in the end.  But to spread some optimism: NOW, I am absolutely sure 👍😎
I`m continually working on it and so far there are enough volunteer testers. At this point, many thanks to you 🙏 without your help, it wouldn`t be possible to do this work...
My very special thanks go to @Phantom Captain, @pintere and @M.Herm for your fabulous efforts and the helpful and detailed AARs and valuable suggestions !!! 
So what`s the next plan?
As of today, a precise schedule has been set as to when the last finished campaign will begin its beta test. This date will be December 1st. From then until January 11th, I will continue to pursue my professional obligations during the final test runs. From January 12th I will be active again and will make the final improvements. From then on it will only take a short time until the release. 
Since we are now in a period of 3 month before the release, I have taken the liberty of opening an additional topic, where the final version of the BattlePack is described in detail and pre-orders can be made. 
More to come...
 
Regards
Mr.X

The final version of this Battle Pack will consist of the following stuff:
1. Campaign "Partizans Land":  6 missions in a period from May 31st to June 6th 1944 
Player will command Axis Anti-Partizan Forces in a small operation along the railway line Orscha - Lepel.
 
2. Campaign "Into Hell": 8 missions in a period from June 8th to June 23rd 1944
Player will command units of German 252nd Infantry Division during the defensive actions north of Witebsk
 
3. Campaign "Our Father": 7 missions in a period from June 27th to June 29th 1944
Player will command mixed remaining units of German 12th, 31st Infantry Division and Panzergrenadier-Division "Feldhernnhalle" 
during the encirclement of Mogilev.
 
4. Campaign "Five Bridges": 12 missions in a period from June 26th to July 2nd 1944
Player will command units of German 383rd Infantry Division and 20th Panzer Division during the desperate pocket battles
around the city of Bobruisk.
 
5. Campaign "Tiger Trail": 17 missions in a period from July 17th to July 26th 1944
Player will command units of 3rd SS-Panzer Division "Totenkopf" during their counter offensive actions around the 
city of Grodno.
 
6. There will be included 16 Mastermaps
 
 
In summary the Battle Pack will contain 50 single missions from tiny sized to huge. All the campaigns can be called as 
"semi-historical". The player will command units that are as historically accurate as possible. A large number of the maps are 
based on original/historical maps. Much time and effort have been invested to the detailed research of the historical battles.
Some historical participants of the events are introduced with additional information. 
 
The whole Battle Pack is a fan made project of my own without any financial interest. I have created it just for my personal fun.
And now important information for everyone interested:
There will be no option to download this Battle Pack from any website. Because it is an exclusive product, I also chose a special way to order it:
If you want to pre-order the Battle Pack (or order it after the release), you have to pm me here in the forum. Give me your e-mail adress and forum-name and I will register you. As soon as the Battle Pack is released, I will send it to you.
In this way I will keep an overview of how many people will actually order the Battle pack - regarding this, I currently have no idea/expectations of numbers.
 
Estimated date of release is February 1st in the 80th anniversary year of Operation Bagration.
Pre-orders are open now !!!
 
Regards
Mr.X 

Stug F8 snowy with original BF.c bmp (seems to have no winter textures in FI).
View:
https://www.mediafire.com/view/et9jowjzzqbn632/Stug_F8_snowy.jpg/file
Zip:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/aqsy77eshcaui6n/Stug_F8_snowy.zip/file
 

I can't remember if I posted this once before when CW first came out, but I have still a small pocket handbook that was issued to all FIST Chiefs in the 1/320FA back then. At the time I got this book I was a FIST Chief in A Btry, 1/320FA (Abn), later a Fire Direction Officer at battery and battalion level (in 2/321FA (Abn), and later still a Fire Support Officer (at both Bn and Bde level in 1st Bde). 
It's 5 separate pdfs. The first one has a lot of info on how a Soviet MRR would operate in the attack, which may help with tactics opposing them. It describes the recon element, the advanced battalion, with tactics and TOE. There is a nice table on how each element is organized and fights, along with (importantly!!) vulnerabilities. There is a lot of fire support information which will be more useful for background information, but does include a lot of specs of both US and Soviet equipment - rates of fire, shell weights, even airlift requirements to move a battery and supply it by air. In those tables DRF and DRB refer to the Division Ready Force, and Division Ready Battalion, referring to the artillery units associated with the infantry brigade that is on "Mission" cycle - the ones who are always ready to fly away at a moment's notice. One battery is direct support for an infantry Bn, one artillery Bn in direct support of an infantry brigade. Back then those direct support roles remained rigid, so that the same units batteries always supported the same infantry. For example as a FIST Chief, I supported C Co, 1-325 Inf (Abn). We trained with them in the field all the time, so we built a good working relationship. 
The TOE for US is specific to the 82d Airborne so you can't really apply it to a US mechanized unit. More men per squad, limited vehicles, etc. The 82d is kind of unique, and keep in mind that it's walking infantry, and the tactics for defense are described as the 82d being put in a position to oppose a mechanized Soviet advance, but in general terms, they still apply pretty well. 
Hope you find it useful. Feel free to download and save copies for yourself. This was freely given out, never classified in any manner, and we carried them around. 
They may help with tactics opposing Soviet advances, which in the AI scripting are pretty well based on how it's described here. Any fans of Flashpoint Campaigns (either Red Storm or Southern Storm) may also find them useful there - easier to see the larger scale Soviet organization unfold.
Enjoy.
Dave
Fire Support Handbook -5.pdfFire Support Handbook -4.pdfFire Support Handbook -3.pdfFire Support Handbook -2.pdfFire Support Handbook -1.pdf

We appreciate you and all the content creators for this game.
We're very blessed to have such talented, dedicated people.

We appreciate you and all the content creators for this game.
We're very blessed to have such talented, dedicated people.

We appreciate you and all the content creators for this game.
We're very blessed to have such talented, dedicated people.

I admit it. When it comes to CM stuff, I am like a guy with about a half-dozen girlfriends. I get all into one and spend a lot of time with her and then - "poof!" - she just doesn't do it for me as much anymore and I head over to another hot chick instead.  FRANCE 1940 keeps calling me but it always goes to voicemail and I haven't taken her on a date in a while. CMAK2 AFRIKA I have some excitement going on. With that series I can roll in the hay (sand?) with British and various Commonwealth birds, French Mademoiselles, exotic Polish and Indian ladies, Italianas, German frauleins and even some 1940's Apple Pie American babes.  I have a real faded relationship with my Russian Barbarossa beauty. I built a sauna for my fond memories of my time or 2 with that fine female from Finland. I confess I have been eyeballing a Spanish Blue Division senorita upon occasion. ...BUT...KOREA 1950 has got me doodling her name at work and daydreaming of her all day. I told her to enjoy it while she can.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In this thread I will yammer on about my creation of a scenario for the CMFI KOREA 1950 MOD. It should eventually end with the PBEM DAR. It is another ASL translation. Gary and I just finished it in VASL and I lost. Sort of just barely I lost. ASL scenario victory conditions can be complex and always need the human player(s) to be involved in the victory analysis and determination. Right now I enjoy ditching CM's normal points and victory determination and shifting over to the ASL style.
What is the scenario you big mouth?
It is another great scenario based on historical events written by Pete Shelling. It came out just this year in an ASL related periodical PDF I pay for. 
"ROCK OF CHICKAMAUGA"
KADONG-NI, KOREA. July 15, 1950.
Here is the publicly available online description of the scenario. https://www.aslscenarioarchive.com/scenario.php?id=66450
Here is the ASL map...

The US Army official history is free online https://history.army.mil/books/korea/20-2-1/toc.htm
Here is page 136 that covers the action the scenario is based upon.
Page 136 SOUTH TO THE NAKTONG, NORTH TO THE YALU
The men in B Company saw an estimated 300 to 400 North Korean soldiers on high ground southwest of them-already safely across the river. And they saw that crossings were still in progress downstream at a ferry site. Enemy soldiers, 25 to 30 at a time, were wading into the river holding their weapons and supplies on their heads, and plunging into neck-deep water. [44]
From his observation post, Colonel Meloy could see the crossing area to the left but few details of the enemy movement. Already B Company had called in artillery fire on the enemy crossing force and Colonel Meloy did likewise through his artillery liaison officer. Capt. Monroe Anderson of B Company noticed that while some of the enemy moved on south after crossing the river, most of them remained in the hills camouflaged as shrubs and small trees. Lieutenant Early, fearing an attack on his rear by this crossing force, left his 3d Platoon and moved back to a better observation point. There for an hour he watched enemy soldiers bypass B Company, moving south. [45]
By this time it seemed that the North Koreans were crossing everywhere in front of the regiment. As early as 0630 Colonel Winstead had reported to the regiment that his command post and the Heavy Mortar Company were under attack and that the center of his battalion was falling back. The enemy troops making this attack had crossed the river by the partly destroyed bridge and by swimming and wading. They made deep penetrations and about 0800 overran part of the positions of A Company and the right hand platoon of B Company behind the dike. They then continued on south across the flat paddies and seized the high ground at Kadong-ni. Lt. John A. English, Weapons Platoon leader with B Company, seeing what had happened to the one platoon of B Company along the dike, ran down from his hill position, flipped off his helmet, swam the small stream that empties into the Kum at this point, and led out fourteen survivors. [46]
This enemy penetration through the center of the regimental position to the 1st Battalion command post had to be thrown back if the 19th Infantry was to hold its position. Colonel Meloy and Colonel Winstead immediately set about organizing a counterattack force from the 1st Battalion Headquarters and the Regimental Headquarters Companies, consisting of all officers present, cooks, drivers, mechanics, clerks, and the security platoon. Colonel Meloy brought up a tank and a quad-50 antiaircraft artillery half-track to help in the counterattack. This counterattack farce engaged the North Koreans and drove them from the high ground at Kadong-ni by 0900. Some of the enemy ran to the river and crossed back to the north side. In leading this attack, Maj. John M. Cook, the 1st Battalion Executive Officer, and Capt. Alan Hackett, the Battalion S-1, lost their lives. [47]
Colonel Meloy reported to General Dean that he had thrown back the North Koreans, that he thought the situation was under control, and that he could hold on until dark as he, General Dean, had requested. 
 
[44] Interv, Blumenson with Early, 26 Aug 51. [45] Ibid.; Ltrs, Meloy to author, 4, 30 Dec 52. [46] Ltrs, Meloy to author, 4, 30 Dec 52; Notes, Logan for author, Jun 52; Ltr, Meloy to author, 29 May 52. [47] Notes, Logan for author, Jun 52; Ltr, Meloy to author, 29 May 52: Interv, Mitchell with Meloy, 30 Jul 50; Intervs, Blumenson with Early, 26 Aug 51, and Cutler, 27 Aug 51: 24th Div WD, G-3 Jnl, entry 583, 160730, Jul 50. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later I will show the Google Earth image of the actual area and slowly develop my CM map and scenario. Then eventually Gary and I lock horns and go at it. Along the way I will try and develop some new [korea] flavor objects and try to make a quality KOREA 1950 map.
 
 
 

Yes.  
Please be aware that the Battle Packs are led and being made by volunteers who have day jobs/mortgages/bills/significant others etc. I can't speak for the others, so maybe they have less demanding jobs, are retired or have secretly won the lottery and are living an Armchair General's paradise I'm just not sure.  Just please be aware we aren't employed by Battlefront working full time on content creation.
The first half of this year virtually nothing progressed because of my real life work skyrocketed, dominating my waking hours. If you can pull a 10-12 hr work day five days a week and then back that up with an additional few hours a night in the editor let me know.   Progress jumped ahead as I took much needed extra time off work in August. Two of three planned campaigns are now in the testing phase. My own testing for my vision of the Carentan campaign also didn't play out as expected. It just wasn't fun. I had to rejig that. It all just takes time.
Maybe I'll be able to post a bone or two soon.
I keep @BFCElvis in the loop on developments as they occur.
My personal secretary trying to keep my life balanced and on schedule, seen here looking up at my monitor trying to work out the differences between a StuG III (mid) and StuG III (late).

Next call for volunteers 😎:
between 20th and 28th October, the Campaign „Five Bridges“ will be ready for its final playtesting before the release. At the moment, single parts of the campaign are running tests. 
The player will lead various forces, mainly from 383rd Infantry Division and 20th Panzer Division through the pocket battles around Bobruisk from 26th June to 2nd July 1944. 
12 missions from tiny to large. 
 
PM me and get this one 👍🏻😉
Regards
Mr.X

Just going to pull on this one here.  So we knew from the start what audience this game was going to appeal to - I personally think that is probably the most important rule of design.  We knew exactly who we were designing for from the start - the obsessively detail orientated grognard.  If anyone else wanted to play the game, great, but the core audience was not the casual gamer.
So this meant that our audience within this community already likely knew more about Soviet doctrine than we did.  We decided very early on to focus less on hand-holding and more on realism over form, and let the customer pull the "fun" out of that.  This is very niche market focus.  So our core demographic is not looking at this scenario wondering what is going on, they already know that three battles in on this axis of Soviet advance is going to get pretty hard.  They also are not looking for luck, they are looking for a realistic starting position and then the ability to see how they would fair within it - that is the "fun".
Now of course we knew we could not make them all brutal so trade-offs were made and we scaled them to ensure we did not totally alienate.  The Soviet Campaign was specifically designed to cater to the truly crazy type who would find this fun...you were warned.  We put a LOT of content into this game - this on top of what CM delivers wrt editors and multiplayer options.  So we did not feel bad about making the really hard campaign.
*Spoilers below - read with caution*
Now as to your experience, well you are making some pretty wide assumptions here.  The first being that no skill can win this fight.  That is not true.  We beta-test every campaign and scenario and they do not pass until someone can beat them through skill.  Our beta testers are one skilled bunch an they found this one challenging, we scaled it back quite a bit to balance it better.  But they could beat it through skill.  They came up with some pretty creative ways to do it but it can be done.  My way, when I went through is what I typed up awhile back.. I went left.  The only real cover exists far left or right.  Left axis through the trees is a hard push but you avoid the Bradleys, while pounding them and has a lone US infantry platoon dug in which can be overrun.  Once you do that you are behind the urban area and can advance outside of the killzone.  The fact we dropped you right into a killzone at outset should be obvious, the challenge is to get out of it and still advance.
So you did not find this one fun?  Well there is a big ole editor and a bunch of master maps, go make one you do find fun.  There is also a really large community that does this for you so I encourage you to explore it out.  Just know we knew exactly what we were doing when we built the scenario.  This is not a failure in QA/QC, it is the direct result of those processes. This was not neglect or laziness, it was deliberate.  Scenario 4 in the campaign is also pretty hard, you are on defence on that one.  5 is more fun, we decided people needed a break.  And Alsfeld is one massive game of smash face in a culminating battle - I found that one to be a blast but not too many actually get to it. 
So difficulty does not preclude "fun"...for some.  And it was those "some" we were doing this game, and the Soviet Campaign in particular, for.  If that ain't you, well no worries, lots of other content to go and play.  A lot of really well balanced scenarios you can enjoy - (although I would really stay away from Valley of Ashes played from the Soviet side if you found this scenario "not fun", that one is brutal). 

Heh, you guys were warned. The Soviet campaign is not to be taken on lightly.  It was designed to be brutally realistic.  If a player can pull “fun” out of it (and they have), well good on them.  I think one has to be a special masochist to really enjoy some of these fights, but they are extremely realistic.  We pulled straight from Soviet and US doctrines, and period plans.  Eirterfeld is straight out of a staff wargame from back in the day.  We knew the CM crowd was not “casual” to begin with so catering to the upper end of challenge was a design decision early on.  
I saw one video of someone actually completing the Soviet campaign, respect.  So if you did not enjoy it, well that was kinda expected.  The US campaign is much more forgiving.  The NTC one is pretty kind as well.  The Soviet one is basically the CM version of Punishment mode, especially March or Die.  We knew this when we built and tested them.  Trust me, we dialled them back off historical difficulty.  Soviet tactical forces did not get a lot of time and space to plan,  So if Div or Regt Recce failed, and by the halfway point of a fight they would, then lead tactical units - who by this point are 2nd ech - were going to be driving into a lot of fights that look like this one.
S’ok to hate the Soviet Campaign…it can take it.

Working is going on very very well 😎
Again I need volunteers. Part II of the "Five Bridges Campaign" is almost ready for its run as Betaversion.
1x tiny mission + 1 huge mission + 1 medium/large mission. 
PM me 👍
 
Regards
Mr.X

And here some new impressions - today  a comparison "original picture vs game" 😉

 
"Bobruisk Pocket" - then and now: