Treeburst155

OK Steve, I want the option to play CM at the level of Battalion commander exclusively. I want to sit in my command vehicle and receive reports, look at maps, place pins on these maps, and write on these maps. I want reports from the field by radio and runner. I want to be able to initiate communications by radio and runner. I want to be able to leave the command car to see things first hand. I want to get requests for reinforcements and arty strikes from company commanders. I want my HQ to be overrun if the situation warrants it. When this happens I want an FPS shooter option to fight for my life. Treeburst155 out.

Against you, Walpurgis, nothing will save me; but at least I won't bombard my own men with arty anymore. Treeburst155 out.

Other Means, I've tested it. LOS is only important the instant the FIRST spotting round is due to go out, and during initial targetting. Give it a try. Verification is always nice. Just throw a couple direct fire smoke rounds in front of a spotter with a fairly long delay. Make sure the smoke is gone before the first spotting round is due. Timing this is not too difficult. Wind helps clear the smoke. The strike should be good. If it isn't, PLEASE send me the scenario file. General Colt, Thanks for the link!! Kanonier Reichmann, You're welcome! Treeburst155 out. [ February 11, 2005, 07:23 AM: Message edited by: Treeburst155 ]

This is a little thing I put together for a PBEM buddy. I thought I'd post it here just in case some might find it helpful. If you think anything below is incorrect, please post. How Off-map Artillery REALLY Functions There are two types of off-map artillery, rockets and guns. Rockets do not fire spotting rounds, guns do fire them. I'll start with rocket artillery. Rocket artillery is very inaccurate. Any friendlies within 500 meters are in danger, even if the spotter has LOS to the target. This is because the impact pattern is a large "target wide" pattern, and because the strike can be off-target even with spotter LOS established at the time of targetting and maintained throughout the bombardment. "Green line" adjustments to the target point may help bring the center of the impact pattern closer to the desired point, but there is no guarantee. The only way to be sure of an accurate rocket attack is to fire at a TRP, or to target the rockets during Turn 1 (prep bombardment). The large "target wide" impact pattern will still happen when targetting TRPs or doing prep bombardment; but the center of the impact zone will be on-target. Blind rocket attacks (other than TRP or prep bombardment) are VERY risky, and work the same way as blind gun strikes. Blind strikes are discussed below. Off-map guns differ from rockets in several ways: 1) Spotting rounds are used. 2) The player can choose between two different impact patterns, "target" and "target wide". 3) The impact patterns cover a smaller area than rocket patterns, making fratricide less likely. 4) The player can be positive that a strike will be on-target before the first full salvo goes out. Blind Targetting (Guns and Rockets) Targetting a point out of LOS of the spotter almost guarantees an off-target strike. There will be no spotting rounds fired by guns when targetting blind. Subsequent adjustments to the target point may or may not bring the center of the impact zone closer to the desired point. I have occasionally managed to get an accurate strike with blind targetting; but it doesn't happen often. I'd guess the odds are no better than 1 in 6, probably much worse. Impact Patterns for Guns You have two choices here, "target wide" and "target". The first gives you a circular impact pattern. I like to make sure friendlies aren't within 120 meters of the target point when using "target wide". Most rounds will fall inside a circle of this radius; but even at 120 meters distance, friendlies are at risk. With the "target" command you will get an elliptical impact zone, the deadly area being about 160 meters by 80 meters centered on the target point. The orientation of the long dimension of the ellipse can be north/south or east/west, depending on how the friendly map edge parameters are set. When the north map edge is friendly to one side, and the south edge friendly to the other, the long dimension of the impact pattern will be north/south. If one side has the west edge friendly, the other the east, the long dimension of the arty pattern will fall east/west. In cases of ambiguity, the program will cause the long dimension of the impact pattern to run east/west. This means that in most cases arty will fall parallel to the axis of advance, rather than along the front lines; but a tricky designer can easily make it so the impact pattern is the opposite of what is expected. How To Hit Your Target Every Time This section deals with guns ONLY. There is never any guarantee with rockets. I'm also assuming the spotter remains unmolested during the delay period, and while the strike is underway. Accurate arty strikes require the following things to happen: 1) The spotter must have LOS to the target point when it is targetted (blue line). 2) The spotter must have LOS at the exact moment the first spotting round is FIRED. That's it! The strike will be on-target EVERY time if you make sure these two things happen. However, #2 can be a bit of a problem. This is because spotting rounds are fired during the action phase of the turn, when you can't give orders. If smoke, or more likely dust, blocks spotter LOS, even briefly, at the exact moment the FIRST spotting round is due to fire, the spotting round will NOT fire, and the strike will be considered a blind strike by the program. There is nothing you can do until the next orders phase. Fortunately, the next orders phase is usually soon enough to prevent much wasted ammo and large scale fratricide due to the blind (inaccurate) strike. The key is to monitor your spotters closely during action phases to make sure spotting rounds do indeed fire. If they don't, you can bet there is an LOS obstruction. Cancel the strike during the next orders phase because, at that point, the strike IS blind and will likely be off-target. Watching For Spotting Rounds Don't do it! They are easy to miss on a busy battlefield, and where they land is irrelevant. Instead, select your spotter during the movie phase. This way you can watch for the beginning of the 60 second countdown and monitor the ammo counter. What you are watching for is the FIRING of spotting rounds. Depending on arty caliber, spotting rounds will fire at the beginning of the 60 second countdown and/or the 30 second mark. As a general rule 105mm and up will fire two spotting rounds, one at 60 seconds and one at 30 seconds. Smaller guns and mortars will fire a single spotting round at 30 seconds on the timer. It is important to know the spotting round behaviour of the particular arty you are using. Run a quick test if necessary. No arty fires more than two spotting rounds, and only the first one means anything. The second spotting round is pure eye candy stuff. In the case of 105mm, the first spotting round fires at 60 seconds on the countdown (right after the countdown begins). If you do not see the spotter's ammo count reduced by one at this point, spotter LOS is obstructed and the strike is blind. Cancel the strike promptly. With mortars you're watching for the ammo count to drop by one at the 30 second mark. If the FIRST spotting round goes out, your strike will be accurate no matter where the round lands. You can even move the spotter out of LOS in the next orders phase. The strike will continue to be on-target. His job is done unless you want to adjust the strike. It is very possible that the first spotting round will not fire; but the second one (at 30 seconds) will. This is because the LOS blockage, which prevented the first round from firing, cleared before the second spotting round was due to fire. The strike will still be off-target! Only the first spotting round matters. Be sure you know when this FIRST spotting round is supposed to fire for the arty you are using. It will either be at 60 seconds or at 30 seconds. You need never again be surprised by a haywire arty strike that you thought was an observed strike. EDIT: Green-line adjustments of ongoing ACCURATE strikes will always result in an accurate adjustment. Treeburst155 out. [ February 10, 2005, 10:53 PM: Message edited by: Treeburst155 ]

Thanks, Kingfish, for all the hard work you did getting the tourney rolling!! Treeburst155 out.

These types of errors are incredibly easy to make. I know. Take your time. Relax. Heck...fix it later if you want. Treeburst155 out.

I'm having trouble with the German side of "Action at Wet Triangle". The password does not work. Anybody else? Treeburst155 out.

Let us hope Longhorn never appears. Here's one little tidbit from a pro-Longhorn site: "Another significant change in Longhorn involves device drivers. In the past, Microsoft allowed customers to use non-signed drivers, which helped compatibility, but caused stability problems. No more: In Longhorn, users hoping to take advantage of the system's exciting new capabilities will only be able to use signed drivers." Not only will they break your CM, they will make sure you can't fix it. Treeburst155 out.

The Axis has ALWAYS gone first. After all, they started the war, right? Treeburst155 out.

I'm thinking my GF4 4200 with 128 MB RAM may not do too well. I'm preparing my wife for the vid card upgrade. Treeburst155 out.

I hope Steve doesn't mind you quoting him out of context. As for moaning about halfsquads in a competition AAR, not me. You should know by now I expect gamey stuff in a tournament. Treeburst155.

The only thing you have missed is doing the test yourself so you can see for yourself and avoid unnecessary speculation. BTW, my test involved one Regular Russian Rifle squad (FP125 at 40mm) vs a split Regular German Squad with FP 62 each. Do anything you want with the whole squad. They will lose, and lose badly. Treeburst155 out.

This is VERY interesting. I'll be trying it out. Thanks for tip, Cpl Carrot! Group 4, Let's kill two birds with one stone. As a comms check, send me your unconditional surrender. Treeburst155 out.

LOL! Great flurry of posts, guys. Treeburst155 out.

I prefer a base 2 numbering system for my turns. Will that work for you, Redwolf? Treeburst155 out.

Redwolf, I use Windows XP with the integrated Outlook Express. I stay updated. The only problem I seem to have with any regularity is that of the attached CM text file showing up in the body of the email with some senders. This only becomes a hassle with very large files (everything slows down drastically). By having them zip the files, the problem is solved. Sure, unzipping is a bit of a hassle; but it isn't THAT bad, is it? As for turn numbering, correct clocks/dates/time zones, I agree. These are simple things that should be done to make turn processing more efficient. Treeburst155 out.

I'll write an especially good AAR for my Walpurgis Nacht game, win or lose. It won't be very military; but I'll write it so you know my thinking every step of the way. I'll probably try to make it entertaining. Treeburst155 out.

...and $20 US will be sent to the highest scoring of the three winners so he can get some cheese to go with his wine. Cpl Carrot's program put me with Walpurgis Nacht?! Hehe....excellent! On the shortage of reserves, I will try to recruit a few people for the reserve list. If several of us do that on an ongoing basis, even after the tourney is underway, maybe we can stay ahead of the dropout rate. Winecape, After I win this tourney I would like my white wines to come from grapes blessed with Noble Rot, even the dryer whites. The complexity added by Botrytis Cinerea I really enjoy. I'm getting a little culture, you see. Gone are the days of guzzling Budweiser, except when I'm taking a turn in my Walpurgis Nacht game. Combat with him will definitely require large quantities of Bud. Treeburst155 out.

Mr. Kingfish, For the good of the tournament, I think I should be sectioned with Walpurgis Nacht. I had a list of reasons why this would be beneficial to the tourney; but, I lost it. So, just take my word for it and put me in Walpurgis Nacht's section. Please. Thank you. Note: This is not a request for special treatment. I realize you can't do this type of thing for everyone. So, consider it a request for special MIS-treatment, something nobody else wants. Treeburst155 out.

Hehe....maybe I can talk the ROW organizers into putting me into your section. I wanna see what you got in an all-out competition setting. Hehe...yeah....I'd love it. Treeburst155 out.

...and this stuff is supposed to work against ME??? Seriously, it's very nice of Walpurgis Nacht to take the time to share what he has come up with. I admire that. Some would keep their discoveries to themselves. Thanks, Walpurgis. Treeburst155 out.

LOL! No, but I grew up within 50 miles of San Francisco. I had to get out of there though...lot's of gamey stuff going on out there. Treeburst155 out.

I would not play a squad-splitter in a non-competition setting as it detracts from the OVERALL realism of the game. In a tournament, I would expect to run into the tactic because it works so well, IMO. I would happily play a squad-splitter in a tournament. Treeburst155 out.

It's good that people know where you stand before a competition begins. This prevents lots of misunderstandings and general hard feelings later on when the intensity of competition is at its peak. I'm not saying I'll play straight. I'm just saying I'll play at least as straight as my opponents choose to play. Treeburst155 out.

I would think that, in a tournament setting, players should expect anything the engine allows. I will let my opponents decide just how far we twist the game engine by observing their play. If they play straight, I will play straight. If they put a corkscrew to the game engine, I will do likewise.....maybe....if I need to. Treeburst155 out.