Vergeltungswaffe

To promote more people using this tool I'm going to write a quick guide and offer help for people in this thread.
I'm going to show you how to get the program running. We will be using .tif files which are just black/white maps that show the elevation of areas through different shades of black/grey.
 
This process is a lot easier than it might seem, especially once you have the .tif map downloaded.
 
Step 1: Download QGis and CMAutoEditor from these pages:
 
Install QGis 30.0.0-1 (IMPORTANT!)
 
https://github.com/DerButschi/CMAutoEditor
https://download.qgis.org/downloads
 


 
Step 2: Extract CMAutoHelper to somewhere easy to access. I extracted the "Release" folder right to my desktop.
create two sub folders in the "release" folder. One will be for current files (I named this "Convert"), and one will be for old files that you might wish to access again in the future:
 

 
Step 3: Make an account on this website. It's for getting free satellite-created .tif maps. The downside to using these files is that they can't distinguish between the ground or houses, trees, whatever. So it's best to use terrain without these if you don't want to have a weird result. You can use other .tif files if you have another source. Tif files can be the height of the ground (DTM.Tif files), or they can be the height of what the satellite sees (DSM.Tif files) - which includes houses, treetops. Not all .tif files show elevation so make sure you have the right file. They are images so you can look at them and make sure they're the right thing.
After registering with the Japanese website check your email for your account information. They supply you with a password to make sure to have your browser save this information.
Revisit the link below and access the tool with the link in section 4. Log in with your information when prompted.
 
SEE SECTION 4 OF THE LINK TO CREATE AN ACCOUNT AND DOWNLOAD
https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/ALOS/en/dataset/aw3d30/aw3d30_e.htm
 
Step 5: Open Google Maps (Or whatever) and find the location that you want CMAutoEditor to auto-elevate for you. Match this area with the map from the Japanese website. Download the file below.
 
If you don't know how latitude-longitude works I will provide a video below in the next post. Longitude starts at the Prime Meridian and increases in value from 0 to 180 degrees going East. It then goes from -180 back to 0 degrees as it returns to the Prime Meridian from the West. Latitude has positive values North of the Equator and negative South of the equator.
It will be somewhat important to understand this concept during this process. You don't really have to know anything more than this. After you download your package it will look like this (Below):
 

 
The package that I chose to download (The area South of Prokhorovka, Russia):

 
Step 6: Once you have your .tif (Make sure to open it and make sure it looks like a black/white elevation map) then open QGis.
At the top click "Project" -> "New".
Then at the top click "Layer" -> "Add Layer" "Add Raster Layer"
Click the box on the right with the three dots and navigate to your .tif file (It can be DSM, DTM, others too I think).
Click "Add" and then close the old window if it doesn't close automatically.
 
Step 7: You have to match the latitude/longitude of the area you want to use in Google Maps with QGis. You can left or right click in Google Maps to select a point (One corner of your map). Google maps should display the latitude/longitude for you. Keep that data open on the side or temporarily saved until you can import that data into QGis.
 
Step 8: We will draw a rectangle (a 2x2km area wont look square most likely) in the general area that you want to map out. It doesn't have to be the correct coordinates, just somewhere on the screen somewhat close to your map. We will correct it manually.
To do this:
Click "New Temporary Scratch Layer". Assign it a name, and in the second box on screen choose "polygon". Click ok to close that window.
Then click "Add Polygon" up top. Click four points on your map to draw a rectangle. Right click outside the rectangle when you're finished creating it. If you mess up, right click the layer on the left side of the screen and delete it. Re-do the process starting from "New Temporary Scratch Layer".



 
Step 9: Now, we will edit the rectangle to make it perfect. You will now need the latitude/longitude you saved from Google Maps.
Select the "Vertex Tool" and right click on a corner of your square. If your Vertex tool is not selectable, then click the rectangle layer on the left side of your screen first. Now you should be able to open the Vertex tool.
After you right click the corner you will see a new menu on the bottom left under your layers. Expand it so you can see all 5 values. Ignore the top value.
You have to think about the latitude/longitude values now. The area I have chosen is Prokhorovka which has positive latitude and positive longitude values. The first point you want to edit is the point you have chosen in google maps. The first point I have chosen is the bottom left point in Google Maps. So - I will look for the lowest values because that is the bottom left point (If you don't understand this, then look at the lat/longitude globe I posted earlier). The point can also be highlighted on the Rectangle if you click the box with the numbers.
Replace the numbers in the chart on the bottom left by double clicking on it. You will see your bottom left point shift (Or whatever point you choose to edit). Even out the rectangle by choosing values which are the same for the X and Y. I will provide a crude example below.
WHEN YOU ARE DONE, you will want to measure your rectangle to make sure it's the right size for CM. 4x4km is probably the largest you want to go with these maps. I'm unsure what dimensions CMAutoEditor can do (One edge larger than 4km). Choose the ruler up top and measure the sides of the rectangle and adjust the lat/longitude values if needed.
IMPORTANT! TAKE A PICTURE OF THESE COORDINATES OR SAVE THEM. YOU NEED THE BOTTOM LEFT AND TOP RIGHT COORDS SPECIFICALLY. Make sure to label them as top right and bottom left when you save them.
'




 
Step 10: Great! Now the easy part!
Click the hand under "Plugins" up top so you don't screw anything up. Zoom into the rectangle but keep a lot of dead room on the edges (The zoom in the above picture is perfect).
On the top click "Raster" -> "Extractions" -> "Clip Raster by Extent".
For your Input layer just choose the "ALPSML" layer (Or whatever it's called for you. It's the very first layer you started with.. the black/white elevation map in the background of all the pictures). Then click the little box at the end of "Clipping Extent". It will automatically add the coordinates of what you see on your screen. This includes everything outside the orange box on your screen.
Then click "Run" at the bottom and let it finish. You will now have another layer on the bottom left called "Clipped (extent)". Drag the orange box to the top of the list on the bottom left so it displays again. You can adjust the visibility of layers by swapping places like this.
At this point, you can click the check mark on your original layer to hide it, since it's not necessary anymore. My original layer is called "ALPSML" but it may be different for you.
Zoom out and you will see that the rest of the map has disappeared. That's what you want.


 
Step 11: Almost there! This is the hard part, which isn't even hard but it might annoy you. 
On the top click "Raster" -> "Projections" -> "Warp"
For the Input Layer choose the "Clipped (extent)" layer that you just created a minute ago.
Skip the "Source CRS".
For "Target CRS" You will want to click the little box on the right. You need to search through these lists and find your map within the red box. If you don't do this, the accuracy of your map can be significantly off. You can expand the folders, and then hold down the arrow keys to quickly move up and down the examples. It will take a long time to click through everything. You want to find something that's particular to the country or region that you are choosing to map. This will ensure a higher accuracy. Generally the smaller the area you can get, the higher accuracy your projection/warp will be. This isn't always true but generally it is. You can't choose a red square that encompasses the entire earth unless you don't care about things being completely wrong. Also it has to say meters in the attributes/description, and must have an EPSG number.
Save your EPSG Number with the two coordinates I asked you to save earlier.
The reason why we have to do this will be explained in a video in the next post. In short - the earth isn't perfectly round and it needs areas to be specifically measured.
When you find the correct one, click on it, and then click the blue arrow up top. It should now display in the "Target CRS" section.
Set "Resampling Method" to something, Butschi likes to use Cubic Spline, so that's what I choose too.
Finally, for "Output file resolution" just click the little arrow up twice so it shows as 1.000000 (For 1m resolution).
If your page looks similar to mine then click Run. The file should begin to process eventually. If it doesn't start after 30 seconds then chances are there was an error.
 



 
Step 12: If you did everything right, then you should have a new layer called "Reprojected". Also your map might tilt a little, this is fine. The important thing is that your orange rectangle is still over intact data and isn't over any black marks. Uncheck the "clipped extent" layer to see the difference that the new layer created.
 
If everything's good, then up top click
Raster -> Conversion -> Translate
You want to select the "Reprojected" layer (Not the clipped layer or the original) and click the box with the three dots to save it on your system as a final product.
Click "save to file" and make sure to choose ".xyz" as the extension after giving your file a name. I suggest saving the file into the "Release" directory for the CMAutoEditor and in one of the two folders I asked you to create. I save my files in the "Convert" folder as shown earlier in this post.
Note: You can only have one file at a time in your "Convert" (Whatever the hell you name it) folder at a time. So that's why I asked you to create a second folder for older files, if you choose to revisit them or whatever. As you can see I already have a file in this folder called 2 IISS. So I won't be saving another file into here, or I will move it afterward.
 



 
OK !!!! Now that was the hard part! Now we can run the tool!
Step 13: I recommend you keep QGis open for this part. You will want to see the coordinates of the orange box you created. To see the coordinates in QGis, see Step 9 again. Or, if you saved the top right and bottom left corners as I had asked, you can just use these values instead. It helps to keep QGis open for your first few times anyway.
Run the Dgm2cm.exe tool provided in the Release folders that you downloaded from Butschi's CMAutoEditor. Wait a minute for it to start. When it starts you need to select the FOLDER where the .XYZ file you created is located (This is why you can only have one file in this folder at a time). I will be using the 2 IISS file I already have. Then you need to replace the "Coordinate Reference System (CRS) of data: EPSG". Replace this with the EPSG I asked you to save earlier.
Name the file something. Then, skip the rest and go straight to the two X and two Y values the program is asking for. One is the lower left, and one is the upper right. If you saved the values I had asked you to earlier (The two corners of the orange box) then please input them and click "Start". The program should run and once it's finished it will output five files for you. Two .csv and three images. If everything worked, you should see an image file with a red square around the area you chose.
YOUR COORDINATES AND EPSG WILL BE DIFFERENT THAN MINE BUT I WILL PROVIDE AN EXAMPLE IMAGE BELOW
ALTERNATIVELY You can run the program through anaconda (Which you need to install to run this program anyway).
To do so:
Start an anaconda prompt. Then you want to "navigate" to the CmAutoEditor folder.
My CMAutoEditor folder is on my desktop.
So I will use the "CD" (navigate) command.
I will type : cd c:\users\tyler\desktop\release
This will bring me to my CMAutoEditor folder, since it's located on my desktop. After you successfully do this, you can type dgm2cm.exe and press enter.
The benefit of doing this is having a log if the program crashes, and it gives you some information too. Ignore the information, you just want to make sure the program works.
This is my preferred way of running the programs in case something goes wrong, I can check it. You can also run CMAutoEditor.exe this way too.
 

 
THE FORMER ORANGE BOX IS NOW REPRESENTED BY THE RED SQUARE. EVERYTHING ELSE IN THIS IMAGE WAS MY "CLIPPED EXTENT" WHICH I REPROJECTED. THIS IS NOT THE SAME ORANGE BOX AS THE ONE I USED IN THIS TUTORIAL BUT THIS IS WHAT YOUR FINAL PRODUCT SHOULD LOOK LIKE. THE DIMENSIONS SAY THAT MY RED BOX IS 4x4KM APPROX WHICH IS PERFECT:

Step 14: Now that you have your .csv files created you can open CMAutoEditor.exe and set the settings. Open the correct game, go to the editor, then go to map -> elevation -> and click on "direct". Don't touch anything else.
Alt tab and go to CMAutoEditor and start the program. Immediately alt-tab back into CM and let the program work. I let to go overnight so I can use my PC during the day.
 
It should work and you should have an elevated map now!
This process should be easy to remember after a couple tries! Have fun with it! It's quick to do all of this so don't be afraid of experimenting!
Good luck and ask for help below.

You can download them straight from the source KI OB shared site.

All of us that have communicated with Mr. X to receive his Battlepack know full well there is nothing monetary involved and I'm sure Elvis will get it sorted quickly.

All of us that have communicated with Mr. X to receive his Battlepack know full well there is nothing monetary involved and I'm sure Elvis will get it sorted quickly.

All of us that have communicated with Mr. X to receive his Battlepack know full well there is nothing monetary involved and I'm sure Elvis will get it sorted quickly.

All of us that have communicated with Mr. X to receive his Battlepack know full well there is nothing monetary involved and I'm sure Elvis will get it sorted quickly.

I am very very irritated to see my topic locked because an anonymus weirdo named JoMac has claimed that I would sell any of my content of my coming BattlePack.
I don‘t even have a PayPal Account. 
Thank you Battlefront.com for this great reaction. This level of communication is shameful.
Mr.X
 

This video might be of interest to thsoe who have purchased the battle pack (thank you!) which showcases content from the Combat Mission Red Thunder Battlepack 1 released by Battlefront.com. There are NO spoilers in the video chapters below.
 

Paper Tiger! One of the best scen crafters ever. Erwin gave you some great advice, take some time and relax a bit. Two things about CM scen... They're always slow to develop and great when we finally get to play them.

Sorry lads.  Sworn to secrecy and all that.  (Now that last statement does imply there are indeed secrets….sweet delicious secrets).

Well, this will probably surprise you but I've made up a new core unit file for Dinas and have imported the new units into the first few missions and started play-testing them. I am going to focus on getting THIS finished before I do anything else, or at least that's my intention for the time being Why the change?
Hasrabit is the oldest of all my campaigns and there's an enormous amount of work involved in updating it. For example:
Almost every mission has an AI attack and quite a few of these missions are meeting engagements which, as you would expect, are probably the hardest to pull off. The maps were very outdated and basically were 'Normandy in Syria' because, whether I like it or not, I really wanted WW2 with CMx1 and was trying to make it all feel as 'familiar' as possible*. The maps are green with LOTS of trees. The original OBs were the CMx1 OBs which are different from the CMx2 OBs for the same formations so both side's unitrs need to be repbought, replaced and regrouped. The AI placement is non-existent with units just plonked down in a place where they have good LoS but no protection and are easy to spot and kill. The AI that IS there is abysmal and sometimes doesn't even follow through to capture all the objectives - a small number of AI groups with large numbers of units, sometimes two+ platoons, just have three large order zones painted with some times on them. Sure, the AI does its best with that but I really didn't know much about the system when I made this and it shows. Anyway, Dinas is mainly all player attacks against fixed defensive positions with only one AI attack mission in the 14-mission campaign and that's MUCH easier to manage and rework. Quite a few of the maps need to be reforested (not deforested) as orchards and that's what I've been doing these last few days. Most of the maps are ready and a small number are pretty much done already with new OBs imported and placed for both sides except for new AI plans. I've reworked some compounds because I've grown more familiar with Syrian residential blocks which are small compounds so I've integrated those in Suib and Sabatani.
With the exception of Petani, the opener, I've also elected to keep the maps largely as is unlike Hasrabit. Sure, compounds will be improved and orchards will be pretty ubiquitous in each mission  but otherwise, I'm trying to keep it as close to the original as possible. I extended the east map edges to give the player a larger entry zone for Suib and SAM Hill yesterday and it allowed me to add a new compound to make it more interesting. Dinas's set up zones are probably the weakest thing about the campaign so this work is really needed and largely done. But otherwise, it will be more or less the same.
I updated some of Dina's original maps for USMC Gung Ho! a long time ago, in particular Flintstones (Petani), Detectives (Sabatani) and Bridges (Farmers). While Flintstones is being expanded even further to make it all look and feel new, I've decided to use the original versions of Sabatani and Farmers instead so they might feel similar to some who have played Gung Ho! but are much, MUCH smaller and less built up.
So there we have it. Hasrabit is not abandoned, just delayed while I get Dinas working. Instead, i'm going to try and stick to my 'one company with support' per mission so that battles are manageable on real time without pausing (that's how I play) so no 2-3 companies of mech infantry missions. Yikes!!! There were only 2 - Sagger Point and Dinas itself so maybe Dinas might have 2 but Sagger only 1 with support.
 
* This attitude absolutely all changed after I was asked to do the NATO campaigns for CMSF and by then, I LOVED the Syrian theatre and still do, probably more than I do WW2 now funnily enough.

CM is unique and awesome.
That said, I think we all want better performance, cleaner UI, more fronts, era's and more.
I am happy that Battlefront has managed to stay in business selling Combat Mission games, and I choose to see the glass half full and enjoy what we have.

Got them all, but not comparable to CM. 

Yeah, that will teach them a lesson. 😄
Here's a thought. After BF has finally closed business (and long mey they rule), NO ONE will ever produce this kind of complicated and labour intensive wargames anymore. So let's praise ourselves lucky we've already got his much.

From today onwards the final phase of the WIP starts with the aim of release on February 1st 😎
The plan provides for the following:
= 3-4 single missions have to be reworked after they failed during the testing. That is a manageable number.
= It still takes some hard work to place flavor objects in a few missions and make minor adjustments.
= Finally, the 20 master maps have to be „cleaned up“  for the players who want to use them. 
 
= And at the very end - if I still have time 🙏🏻 -
I might add a little prologue mini action 😉
 
At this point, thanks again to everyone who helped and to those who are still working hard at the moment 👍🏻
 
Regards 
Mr.X

Scenario depot:
https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tsd3/cm-black-sea/cm-black-sea-add-ons/cmbs-ua-with-will-and-iron/
Situation
27th June 2023
Time 10.30 hrs
Mission time 30 minutes.
Weather Clear
Wind Light, From North
Ground Condition Dry
The Ukrainian army began offensive operations along the entire front. The 28th mechanized brigade covers the right flank of the 3rd assault brigade and must support it with its auxiliary attack across the canal near Kurdyumivka.
Mission
A mechanized platoon on BMP-2 must capture the enemy's first line of defense as quickly as possible. After that, the platoon must cross the canal occupy the enemy's defensive positions, and gain a foothold on them.
 

@wolfgang500: 
„Fruehlingserwachen“ is one of my Eastfront favorites, too 🙏🏻
Great sources, huge variety of units and weapons, interesting regions 👍🏻
Let‘s see…

Scenario Depot:
https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tsd3/cm-shock-force-2-2/cm-shock-force-2-scenarios/cmsf2-iiw-operation-dawn-8/
Situation
10th February 1986
Time 6:20 hrs
Mission time 60 minutes.
Weather Hazy.
Wind Light, From West
Ground Condition Dry
On 9 February 1986, the Iranians launched Operation Dawn 8, in which 100.000 troops comprising five Army divisions and 50.000 men from the Pasdarian and the Basij advanced in a two-pronged offensive into southern Iraq.

Thanks. More than 70km2 of maps to fight over in this Battle Pack. I'm still creating two more smaller maps for two scenarios. Using a lot of BIGOT maps from 1944 and aerial photos for reference. Some master maps will have variants that will also be provided with the historical German Fortifications placed and ready to go. (<-- That took a while...)
As per last year's bones on the pack, geographically the fighting is focused on the Utah Beach area itself and the area heading south towards and beyond Carentan. All scenarios/campaigns occur between 00:05 hours on 6th of June through to the evening of the 13th of June. Don't expect all of them to be brutal slog fests, particularly the D-Day ones where the Allies at times had significant advantages. I'm going for more of a focus on narrative and experiencing that first week coming off Utah Beach rather than slug fests designed for competitive tournament play. (Master Maps are there if you want to create your own matches though). If you play the pack chronologically and come out the other end content and with a greater appreciation of the challenges the forces faced, then I've done my job.  
The content in this part of the Normandy theatre, though popular, couldn't be created by BF as part of the CMBN base game given the absence of Fallschirmjager and Waffen SS forces in the WW2 titles at the time.

Can't thank you enough for this @Paper Tiger
People like you are the reason I have been playing CM since 2000.

Map: https://www.thefewgoodmen.com/tsd3/cm-black-sea/cm-black-sea-add-ons/cmbs-ua-pro-libertate/
 
Situation
20th October 2023
Time 11.00 hrs
Mission time 30 minutes.
Weather Light Fog
Wind Gentle, From West
Ground Condition Dry
The Russian army punched a hole in the first line of defense north of Avdiivka with heavy losses. And now they are ready to break through the second line of defense.
Mission
The Ukrainian dismounted company of the 110th mechanized brigade, on the second line of defense, must repulse the massive assault of the enemy motorized rifle battalion.
Friendly Forces
Mechanized Company:
1x Command squad.
4x Mechanized infantry squad(dismounted).
Anti-tank platoon:
2x Jevelin team.
2x Sniper team.
2x Recoiless team.
Mortar Battery:
1x Headquarters team.
1x Forvard observer team.
6x 120mm mortars 2B11.
Howitzer platoon:
6x 155mm Self-Propelled Howitzer M109A7 "Paladin"

Enemy Forces
At 10:50, reconnaissance drones spotted the deployment of battalion-sized enemy motorized units with additional tank cover.
Plan
The plan is to fire three 155mm howitzers at the place of movement of the column in order to disable as much of the enemy's equipment as possible, and blind it with dust raised into the sky. After that, use Jevelin anti-tank missile systems exclusively on enemy tanks to destroy them. A few minutes later, redirect the fire of an additional three 155mm howitzers onto a minefield in front of the defensive positions to cut off the enemy's main forces from advancing.
Mortars should preferably be used later on the right flank to blind enemy columns. Or you can use them to destroy enemy infantry that will leave armored vehicles to storm defensive positions. After the enemy approaches the first row of mines (about 500 meters to the positions), use spg-9 recoilless anti-tank grenade launchers on the enemy's light armored vehicles. When the enemy approaches approximately 200-300 meters from the positions, fire from all types of weapons, including RPG-7 grenade launchers and flamethrower systems. Simultaneously deploy snipers against enemy armored vehicles to disable critical elements and crew inside.
Notes
The creation of the scenario was inspired by the battle that took place on October 20, 2023, when the enemy column of Russian troops was almost completely destroyed before reaching the defensive positions of the Ukrainian Army. The map of heights and combat positions may not always reflect the real picture of combat operations, but thanks to a detailed study of this battle, everything was done to reproduce it as realistically as possible.
Created by Dmytro Gadomskiy

That would be so cool - take my upvote