handihoc

Personally, I think the Pacific Theatre has a lot to offer. I remember playing Steel Panthers Pacific War (not sure if that was the title), and it was a great addition to the series. Medal of Honour and Call of Duty have done Pacific Theatre, to tremendous effect. Some SF scenario designers (The Phantom and Cabal23, to name but two) have produced very challenging battles with maps that give an authentic Pacific jungle feel. As a wargamer, I've always lamented the lack of Pacific Theatre games. I'm sure the CMx2 engine could produced an excellent game or modules, featuring Pacific-style war in both the modern and WW2 eras. It's simply different to Europe, and the tactics required for play are likewise somewhat different. But it appears the main issue is, as has been mentioned, that the Pacific Theatre - at least in terms of land warfare - is not generally popular among western wargamers (dunno why), and hence not an attractive business proposition for games companies. Is BF any different? Well, if you'd asked me two years ago if I was interested in a modern war game/sim set in Syria, pitching US armies against Syrian, I'd have said a quite emphatic no. And here I am, and Shock Force is the ONLY game I've played for many months. I'm greatly looking forward to CMxWW2, and would love to see a Pacific add-on at some point. Sadly though, I'm pretty sure Steve has ruled that out somewhere else on this forum. All I can say to that is, Steve, think again!

Cool - and looks like another good campaign I've somehow managed to miss. Have to check that one out soon.

Damn! I've had to stop playing the campaign as I've hit the Very Big Map Bug (game won't save very big maps. When trying to save it locks up and also corrupts previous save). I'm pretty sure this is being looked into, from posts on the Tech Forum, so with luck it'll be fixed for Brits and v1.12. Pity. I love huge maps, and this was a great one. I was really enjoying Mission 2. Even playing the same map twice, there was sufficient variation to make it a lot of fun. I hope to get back onto it before too long.

Dunno how I missed it, as your scenarios tend to be high amongst my priorities along with a few other designers'. Probably I was smack in the middle of the Marines Campaign or PT's Road to Dinas or something and it just slipped my mind. I've only just realised I'd missed George Mac's Forging Steel - but it's a testament to the richness of this community that there are some many great campaigns and scenarios available. And so little time. . . . But yes, I'd love to give it a try if you can be bothered to remake it. Thanks.

Just downloaded Sense of Urgency and, on trying to start it, got the OUt of Memory error message at 29%, and the game crashed. Never had this before. However, I have found recently in some very large maps (George Mac's Forging Steel and SnakeEye's Counterattack at El Derjine for example) the game sometimes crashes when trying to save. In fact, El Derjine refuses to save at all - just locks up. In those two cases the problem does seem to be due to the size of the map, although it shouldn't affect my pc, which is quite powerful. Is Sense of Urgency a particularly large one? Crashing on loading is unique in my experience. Hopefully, BFC are on the case now. btw, I'm on XP MediaCentre, so the problem's not just limited to Vista.

Black Moria, Your results are hugely impressive. I found this mission quite deadly, and could never have succeeded without reloads (which is kind've cheating, I know, but hey . . .) I'm wondering what skill level you played at? I had a couple of similar experiences. I parked my BFIST Bradley right next to Syrian FOs, who managed to immobilise it with grenades before it killed them all. I parked an M1 right next to another FO, but fortunately it spotted and annihilated them very quickly. I also ran a recon squad right past Syrian infantry in the woods, and only found out when I checked the map after winning. Couldn't manage to get to NIA 5 - that really is impressive! I play at Iron level, though, and the enemy tends to be very alert and accurate!

Many thanks ,Todd. CMMODS has been a lifeline for myself and many like me for many years. You've provided a fantastic service and I hope you know how much we have appreciated it. I - and I'm sure, everyone else here - wishes you every success from here on. Salute!

And we keep appreciating the fact that you do!

Hi George, Just had a great time completing battle one. Got some nasty shocks and had to restart several times. Some of those enemy units are very artfully placed! Anyway, eventually did get a major victory, even if it did take numerous attempts. But now I'm a bit confused. Battle two puts me on the same map, but back at the original starting position. At the end of battle one I'd taken Buford, and NAI's 2 and 4. Why I gotta fight for them again?

Nah. Shock Force fills out my 'realistic enough' desire, and I'm gambling that CMx2 WW2 will do likewise. I bought ToW1 and found it atmospheric and enjoyable but fiddly, with some very 'unrealistic' actions from infantry and vehicles alike at times. Additionally, some of the scenarios felt a little gamey and contrived. When CM Shock Force came along, even with all its initial problems, I never booted up ToW again. In the end it's just down to personal preference I guess. ToW has some very positive things going for it - I particularly like the damage modelling - and I may give this demo another run through at some point. But I think my future wargaming dilemmas are going to revolve purely around whether to play CM Modern Warfare (SF and it's modules) or CM WW2. As for real warzones, I'll leave those to real men.

I found the UI difficult to use. I was expecting a walk-through with the demo, but there's nothing, just orders which leave you to work out what to do. It certainly looks good but, as with ToW1, it's a bit fiddly and something about it just doesn't feel quite realistic enough. It hasn't made me want to abandon CMSF, and I think I'll probably pass on this one as a purchase and wait for CM2 Normandy for my next WW2 gaming experience.

To be honest, while I love the concept, I found it a bit confusing to use. I am but a simple man with a very small brain that seems to be shrinking by the day. I tried to set it up as per the read me, but it didn't make any changes in-game. I've no doubt that it's my denseness, rather than the app, that's to blame, but a brief, v simple, clear and to the point Mod-Manager for Morons Manual would really make my day!

c3k, I started a thread on this one a way back, and someone else started another more recently. Seems there's a bug in there that prevents a Blue victory, no matter what. I don't think it affects the next battles - can't remember exactly, but I know I went on to complete the campaign with no serious consequences, so it's probably best to just carry on. Good luck!

Hi Snake Eye, I just played the first battle, Crossroad. Absolutely love the map, and really enjoyed playing it, but have to say I was disappointed to get a Total Victory after less than one hour's play. It's the kind of battle I love, where much planning, use of combined arms and careful tactics are needed. I played WEGO, Iron, level, and was having fantastic fun, but. . . * * * * ******SPOILERS***** * * * ** I kept my force well hidden, except for putting javelins on crests, running back to resupply as necessary. Bombarded high ground with mortars at the start. When the enemy armour attack came, the javelins, followed by TOW Humvees and M1s, annihilated them in some very exciting fighting with the loss of one M1, one TOW Humvee, two M1114s and an M707. Then I quickly withdrew the M1s behind the crests to avoid hidden ATs, kept the javelin teams and snipers in overwatch, and sent a platoon of inf forward across the open ground to take the first objective (Bronx, if I remember correctly). I also sent a couple of AAVs forward into concealment on the left of the ruined roadbridge, and debarked a squad plus snipers to the roadside. Any enemy infantry spotted were hit with artillery fire until my inf reached Bronx and were able to engage as well. The infantry achieved that with 7 casualties. And then the enemy surrendered. So my overall verdict is this is a superb map and was almost a truly great battle, but I was really looking forward to fighting my way onto the high ground and then getting troops into the built up areas for some dirty MOUT. I really recommend toughening up the resistance so the player gets to make the most of that map. I'm gonna go on and play the second battle now, and will let you know how it goes. I really think this could be an excellent campaign, and you've plainly put a lot of work in. Just needs a little tweaking, for me at least.

AKD, I installed your base sound mod just the other day, and love it. Now there's a new, enhanced version? Cool! I'm gonna download it right now. Not much time for playing atm, unfortunately, but I'm looking forward to hearing the new one asap.

I'll give it a try as the Syrians. You're right, it would probably be a stiffer challenge, and I always like that.

Cabal23, I just played Clear And Present Danger, and loved it. Great map, very tense, some terrific battles. I have just one slight criticism, which is that I got an Uncon Surrender a little too easily. I had forty minutes to spare, and hadn't occupied the airstrip (would have been on it a minute later) and had just touched the perimeters of the coca fields. The fighting had been great up to that point (I'd installed AKD's sound mod, too, which is really cool!) - lots of searching out enemy positions, repulsing a major counterattack - and I was anticipating a very hard battle for the strip, but it didn't come. One other point, which is about the Tac AI rather than the scenario: I encountered a lot of Uncon pickup trucks, but not a single one got a shot off. I destroyed them all relatively easily, even at fairly long distance. I think those gunners would have fought back at least a little - instead they were sitting ducks. So I'm wondering how Pickups are programmed to respond to threats, or whether they were very low quality troops who simply panicked at the first bullet? Anyway, great fun, and I'd love to see more in a similar vein. Jungle style combat works really well in this game.

****Spoilers***** I had a similar experience to Falconander. A fast and very furious battle from the off. I took a lot of punishment, but held my tanks back while charging infantry with javs to occupy the village. Two squad and their Brads got toasted but others got in safely. Several of my M1s were destroyed, but they took out a hell of a lot more of the enemy vehicles. Artillery and copters did a lot of enemy damage and I got an enemy surrender after about fourteen-fifteen minutes. I agree with Falconander - the central village could be larger and/or more villages added around the map, and while it's a great opening with some major action everywhere, it needs more of a challenge later to justify the longer time limit. It's good enough for me to want to try it again, though. Don't know how many AI attack plans you have, but I'd like to see what happens with another enemy attack.

Cool. I'll check it out.

I like the idea of this one. I've just finished ThePhantom's USMC Clean Sweep, which is an excellent scenario set in a jungle landscape with a very Pacific WW2 feel. The game lends itself well to that kind of terrain, and it does have a very different feel to any other scenario I've played. So stick with it, Afreu. It could be a great one.

****Slight Spoilers***** Somewhere deep in the dark, festering recesses of my mind the names 'Old Baldy' and 'The Turkey Knob' were registered, but have been long forgotten, so it wasn't them that made me think of the Pacific. It was simply that, right from the off, I felt the dense jungly terrain, isolated outposts, jungle trails, 'primitive' huts and buildings etc were reminiscent of Pacific island locations. Even more so as I stumbled on trenches and dugouts concealed in the undergrowth, populated by quite deadly and determined enemy fighters who were plainly prepared to die for their cause just as long as they could take as many of my boys as possible with them. I've finished it now and it really has been a great fight. I scored a Total Victory with 12 dead, 40 wounded and 4 vehicles lost. Had I played it through without pause or reversion to saves, though, I'm in no doubt my losses would have been much higher, and I don't think I'd have won. Holding the Lima line turned out to be not such a problem. I spread my men along the vicinity of the line and waited. The 'banzai' charge was fun to witness, but something of a turkey shoot. Didn't lose a single guy there, but the enemy paid very heavily indeed. But the sweep part of the mission was a very different kettle of fish. Some very tough firefights in numerous locations simultaneously, with extremely well set-up ambushes and a very convincing foe. I really had to rethink my tactics quite a lot in order to put massive firepower on single enemy positions. Had quite an interesting time with my artillery, too. Twice it was inaccurate, bombarding empty jungle some distance from its intended target, which played havoc with my plans. There was no enemy artillery strike, which surprised me, particularly as in the latter stages I took out a spotter who I would have thought had a good line of sight on me throughout the battle. I'm wondering if there's more than one AI plan, as I'll play it again at some point? Anyway, anybody reading this, if you fancy a tough infantry-based challenge with a strong jungle-combat feel, this one's highly recommended. Thanks, Phantom.

..Heh-heh!..

Meach, Thanks. Will do. In fact, have done. . .

I was anticipating excellence here, based on the quality of your previous scenarios, and boy, I have not been disappointed! This battle is an absolute blast! I'm about 40 minutes in, so still haven't completed nor (by what I pick up from the posts above) have I reached the high point. But it's getting hairier and hairier! I love the jungle/forest terrain - it gives a feel of the Pacific, or 'Nam. Quite different to other battles. Given your briefing proviso on restricting friendly casualties, I've taken it fairly slow so far. Even so, a couple of incautious early advances cost me dear, and sent me back to the beginning. I have no problem with the mines (apart from the fact that my men ran into them!). I cuss like hell when that happens, but it's hardly a surprise to discover that your enemy has anticipated you in the nastiest possible way. I'm playing WEGO and having great fun going back over most turns to check out the hotspots and action points. Very much looking forward to completing it. Definitely one of the best single scenarious out there.